Friday, February 24, 2017
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
The Demise of the Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta is slowly disappearing. The Delta was formed during the melting of the great ice sheets of the last ice age which began around 8000 years ago. Since then the Delta has been slowly sinking. It is true that sediments from the Mississippi River have continued to build land in the Delta, however they no longer can keep up with the land loss.
Geologically, this picture is the normal progression of deltas during the latter stage of an inter-glacial period. The sediments of the delta were deposited during the time that the great glaciers were melting and huge volumes of water were rushing down the rivers. Great to volumes of sediments were eroded from the mountains as the glaciers melted and carried down and became our deltas. Now the melting is complete and the amount of water and therefore the amount of sediment is greatly reduced. The result is that the deltas are sinking as their organic material is degraded and compressed along with the sediments themselves. There is nothing we can do to stop this process. Deltas are a dynamic feature. We would like them to be static and fixed forever for ourselves and our children but it just is not going to happen. We can throw billions of dollars at the problem and nothing we do will have any permanence to it. The work on Elmer's Island will last until the first major hurricane impacts it and then it will be gone. We need to learn to live with nature as it is not the way we would like it to be.
Meanwhile, our clueless politicians continue to throw huge amounts of money into the wrong places trying to stem the tide of land loss. Freshwater diversion projects are expensive and essentially only help the oyster fisherman keep their leases producing good oysters. The oyster men provide no direct support for this expenditure. We have to ask ourselves is it better to spend money moving populations out of the lands that will soon be submerged or at very least devastated by even the smallest tropical storm. We in America love to live by the water but there are dangers and living close to water and risks. I think governments that allow development in areas that have significant geological risk should be penalized and further I think that insurance companies that allow people who insist on building and risk prone areas should also be penalized. I myself would be one of those penalized.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
IMMIGRATION POLICY
IMMIGRATION
Now that the balance of government has shifted it is time to tackle the immigration problem. This is a critical problem that needs to be solved. Our immigration laws are in a turbo mass and enforcement is in a worse match. Families are being torn apart people are being allowed in the United States that are either criminals or are totally unknown to us. People are being deported who would be valuable citizens if allowed to stay. We must address this problem.
One. The immigration law is horrible mess that does great injustices and needs to be changed.
Two. The immigration law needs to provide a path for citizenship that is reasonable but not exceptionally easy.
Three. Children should never be separated from their families because of the immigration law.
Four. Social welfare programs should only be available to immigrants that are legally and gainfully employed and registered with the United States government
Five. Fences, immigration employees, and border patrols need to be beefed up so that no one comes into this country without our knowledge and permission. In other words we need to know exactly who enters our country and what their history is. True refugees need to be handled expeditiously and with compassion.
Six. People who come to this country with work visas or student visas need to be checked on often and without fail and when they disappear from the grid they need to be hunted down and deported. Countries who students frequently disappear should be removed from the list of acceptable sources of foreign students.
Seven. Foreign aid should be totally focused on the social problems of of those countries especially the gauze immigrants to come as refugees our borders. We have wasted billions of dollars sure enough the military parts of foreign countries and nothing has been done for the poor. Diplomatic pressure should be part put on all dictators who maintain governments that have no concern for their own poor. This includes all Central and South American countries whose populace are continually trying to escape the oppression of dictators to the south of our borders. We need to put a stop to this by diplomatic and economic pressure.
Eight. The current immigration laws need to be enforced rigorously. Work visas need to be required of all employees and employers to hire illegals who do not have valid work visas should be arrested and punished within the confines of the law. We have turned our backs on the enforcement of immigration law and this must stop now.
Now that the balance of government has shifted it is time to tackle the immigration problem. This is a critical problem that needs to be solved. Our immigration laws are in a turbo mass and enforcement is in a worse match. Families are being torn apart people are being allowed in the United States that are either criminals or are totally unknown to us. People are being deported who would be valuable citizens if allowed to stay. We must address this problem.
One. The immigration law is horrible mess that does great injustices and needs to be changed.
Two. The immigration law needs to provide a path for citizenship that is reasonable but not exceptionally easy.
Three. Children should never be separated from their families because of the immigration law.
Four. Social welfare programs should only be available to immigrants that are legally and gainfully employed and registered with the United States government
Five. Fences, immigration employees, and border patrols need to be beefed up so that no one comes into this country without our knowledge and permission. In other words we need to know exactly who enters our country and what their history is. True refugees need to be handled expeditiously and with compassion.
Six. People who come to this country with work visas or student visas need to be checked on often and without fail and when they disappear from the grid they need to be hunted down and deported. Countries who students frequently disappear should be removed from the list of acceptable sources of foreign students.
Seven. Foreign aid should be totally focused on the social problems of of those countries especially the gauze immigrants to come as refugees our borders. We have wasted billions of dollars sure enough the military parts of foreign countries and nothing has been done for the poor. Diplomatic pressure should be part put on all dictators who maintain governments that have no concern for their own poor. This includes all Central and South American countries whose populace are continually trying to escape the oppression of dictators to the south of our borders. We need to put a stop to this by diplomatic and economic pressure.
Eight. The current immigration laws need to be enforced rigorously. Work visas need to be required of all employees and employers to hire illegals who do not have valid work visas should be arrested and punished within the confines of the law. We have turned our backs on the enforcement of immigration law and this must stop now.
Monday, August 26, 2013
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NEW PRINCIPLE BISHOP OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA
My congratulations and best wishes go to Elizabeth Eaton on her
election. I truly hope that you're the moderate that you are
characterized as being in the press. I especially hope that this quote
from your press conference is accurate: "we really have to free ourselves
of the siren song of a popular culture
that doesn’t understand where true joy and freedom can be found." I fully agree with that statement. The "I
don't want to offend anyone" attitude of the modern "Progressive"
society would mute the teachings of the Church.
My conviction is that we must learn to Hate Sin while Loving the Sinner, a most daunting but necessary task.Your charge is to find a way to Preach the Word, including God's commandments, without needlessly offending anyone, and yet inspire them to follow Christ. Granted, this is a nearly impossible task. You will have to develop a thin skin and become even more resolute in executing your authority as the voice of the ELCA in the world.
Your interview with TIME MAGAZINE was very interesting. I realize that you were trying to be honest but your response on the question of spiritualism was disquieting to me. I agree that spiritual people are not necessarily religious people, but that struck me as an unnecessary statement to make. In my opinion, this is where the impartial religious scholar and the true seekers for God part company. You come from an academic background and a milieu of agnostic and atheistic scholars and I believe that showed up in your response and apparently you regard this as a weak point in you religious self as well. I would suggest that you make this a very public struggle so that all of us in your fold can benefit from your insights and progress.
Your predecessor presided over a nasty schism in our ELCA synod. Although I personally supported the resolution on Sexuality, I know that many did not. I hope that we have all learned a lesson from this. Communication is sooooo important, and apparently not enough convincing communication was done. The issue is still rancorous in the wider Lutheran Community and the ELCA should lead on this issue rather than sit back and lick its wounds. In my opinion, the ELCA leaders and theologians need to be more aggressive in their teaching of the wider flock. They need to address what they think is Scriptural (God's Word for us) and what is Secular ( the common Societal Mores and Norms of the Biblical times) in the Bible. In my opinion, this is where the problem lies. Is every word of the Bible to be taken as literal truth? My Bethel Bible series experience has convinced me of the answer to this question but many of my fellow parishioners are more conservative (Greek thinkers) in their interpretation of scriptures. We need strong leadership on this subject IMHO.
Again Congratulations and Best Wishes
Philip W. Johnson
Augustana class of 1960
My conviction is that we must learn to Hate Sin while Loving the Sinner, a most daunting but necessary task.Your charge is to find a way to Preach the Word, including God's commandments, without needlessly offending anyone, and yet inspire them to follow Christ. Granted, this is a nearly impossible task. You will have to develop a thin skin and become even more resolute in executing your authority as the voice of the ELCA in the world.
Your interview with TIME MAGAZINE was very interesting. I realize that you were trying to be honest but your response on the question of spiritualism was disquieting to me. I agree that spiritual people are not necessarily religious people, but that struck me as an unnecessary statement to make. In my opinion, this is where the impartial religious scholar and the true seekers for God part company. You come from an academic background and a milieu of agnostic and atheistic scholars and I believe that showed up in your response and apparently you regard this as a weak point in you religious self as well. I would suggest that you make this a very public struggle so that all of us in your fold can benefit from your insights and progress.
Your predecessor presided over a nasty schism in our ELCA synod. Although I personally supported the resolution on Sexuality, I know that many did not. I hope that we have all learned a lesson from this. Communication is sooooo important, and apparently not enough convincing communication was done. The issue is still rancorous in the wider Lutheran Community and the ELCA should lead on this issue rather than sit back and lick its wounds. In my opinion, the ELCA leaders and theologians need to be more aggressive in their teaching of the wider flock. They need to address what they think is Scriptural (God's Word for us) and what is Secular ( the common Societal Mores and Norms of the Biblical times) in the Bible. In my opinion, this is where the problem lies. Is every word of the Bible to be taken as literal truth? My Bethel Bible series experience has convinced me of the answer to this question but many of my fellow parishioners are more conservative (Greek thinkers) in their interpretation of scriptures. We need strong leadership on this subject IMHO.
Again Congratulations and Best Wishes
Philip W. Johnson
Augustana class of 1960
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
How The Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) will affect peoples lives
Our Nation is divided into many ethnic/economic/geographic groups. ACA will affect all of us but was specifically designed to address some groups but not all. The long term welfare poor were the main focus of ACA with undocumented workers as a second strong focus. Medium term employed moderate income workers were targeted to pay for ACA either willingly or through expensive fines for non compliance. Long term high income employed workers were singled out for "income redistribution" by taxing their employer health plans (Cadillac health plans),
Here is how I predict these various groups will actually experience ACA:
The long term welfare poor will not readily sign up for a plan and welfare workers will have to go out and work them through the process. They will soon stop paying their monthly health care payments leaving the plans in the red. They will not go to their primary care physicians for preventive medicine and will continue their current practice of going to the emergency room when they are sick or injured.
Undocumented workers and their families will have to be tracked down by social workers to get them enrolled because they are afraid of ICE and deportation. They too will continue their current practice of using the emergency room and will not continue to make payments on their ACA health insurance
The medium term moderate income employed will grudgingly sign up and pay for a while but will eventually drop payments on their ACA health insurance. They will not got to their primary care professional for preventive medicine and will use the emergency room when medical care is needed,
Long term employed high income folk will pay most of the costs of ACA through vastly increased costs of their health plans and through additional taxes. They will also see increased denial of services and increased cost sharing with medicare.
It doesn't look good economically nor medically and, as usual, retired people on fixed income are the big losers.
Here is how I predict these various groups will actually experience ACA:
The long term welfare poor will not readily sign up for a plan and welfare workers will have to go out and work them through the process. They will soon stop paying their monthly health care payments leaving the plans in the red. They will not go to their primary care physicians for preventive medicine and will continue their current practice of going to the emergency room when they are sick or injured.
Undocumented workers and their families will have to be tracked down by social workers to get them enrolled because they are afraid of ICE and deportation. They too will continue their current practice of using the emergency room and will not continue to make payments on their ACA health insurance
The medium term moderate income employed will grudgingly sign up and pay for a while but will eventually drop payments on their ACA health insurance. They will not got to their primary care professional for preventive medicine and will use the emergency room when medical care is needed,
Long term employed high income folk will pay most of the costs of ACA through vastly increased costs of their health plans and through additional taxes. They will also see increased denial of services and increased cost sharing with medicare.
It doesn't look good economically nor medically and, as usual, retired people on fixed income are the big losers.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
How does a Religious Radical become Dangerously Extreme?
Both Christianity and Islam have dangerous radical elements. Buddhism, though not technically a religion, has a few radicals as well (remember the self immolation by Monks during the Vietnam War and the war with China over Tibet). It seems to me that religious people are all supposed to be peaceful. Sure, the Bible and the Koran have violent passages and even urge their reader to enact violence on the "infidels or non believer or wrong believers". Catholics have fought wars with Protestants (I mean real wars with armies lead by Kings and Emporers). The people of Islam have fought wars between different factions such as Shiite vs Suni. Yes, the war between Iraq and Iran that preceded the first Gulf War was sectarian and the final battle was the largest tank battle since WWII. The majority of the casualties in the second Iraq war were due to sectarian violence in the form of car and truck bombs rather than American guns. The killing by American Christian radicals has been by bombs for the most part. The deliberate assault near Waco, TX that ended up burning men women and children in a Christian separatist sect in their compound was a terrible thing and a black mark on the reputation of Federal agents who "cowboyed" the operation when it could have easily been peacefully ended with the capture of the leader on one of his many trips to town for supplies. Oklahoma city was a revenge killing intended to kill as many federal workers as possible.
How do the architects of such heinous crimes justify their actions to themselves? I believe that it begins with a typical young "believer" who is following in parents foot steps and not really sure what he believes but goes through the motions to be socially acceptable. As time progresses and learning begins, either wisdom or zealotry begin to take over. The wise believer holds fast to his common sense and humanity while the zealot begins to focus on specific passages that demand action and obedience. The zealot may have too much humanity to go over the edge into radicalism, but if he does not then we have the makings of a pro-active radical extremist. In times past, contact with others of a similar ilk was less likely than it is today with the internet and social media. Once radicalized, a zealot also has a vast library of stimulating oratory to urge him on and many technical manual to teach him how to act out his fury in a violent way.
True Believers who are Humanly Wise must rise up to oppose these dangerous men. Neither Islam nor Christianity want their bitter wine. We must speak out against violence and bigotry while we still can.
How do the architects of such heinous crimes justify their actions to themselves? I believe that it begins with a typical young "believer" who is following in parents foot steps and not really sure what he believes but goes through the motions to be socially acceptable. As time progresses and learning begins, either wisdom or zealotry begin to take over. The wise believer holds fast to his common sense and humanity while the zealot begins to focus on specific passages that demand action and obedience. The zealot may have too much humanity to go over the edge into radicalism, but if he does not then we have the makings of a pro-active radical extremist. In times past, contact with others of a similar ilk was less likely than it is today with the internet and social media. Once radicalized, a zealot also has a vast library of stimulating oratory to urge him on and many technical manual to teach him how to act out his fury in a violent way.
True Believers who are Humanly Wise must rise up to oppose these dangerous men. Neither Islam nor Christianity want their bitter wine. We must speak out against violence and bigotry while we still can.
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