Weekend News

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Occasionally, weekend news shows fill empty air time with meaningful coverage. On Saturday, two pundit panels actually discussed topics using first hand information and intellectual value. The first is about Donald and whether the religious right will support him (Tony Perkins from Family Research Council is interviewed). The second, perhaps more substantive, is about the county clerk (Kim Davis) who was jailed for contempt of court. Her attorney, Matthew Staver, is interviewed.

Several video clips were run of Donald that implied he wasn’t too religious. One clip showed Donald being very uncomfortable when asked if he had ever asked God for forgiveness; Donald hemmed and hawed finally saying he doesn’t ask for forgiveness, he tries to make it right. Another clip from 1999 showed Donald clearly supporting pro-choice; today he supports pro-life. The questions posed to Tony Perkins wondered whether the religious right would support Donald.

Perkins’ answers dodged the heart of the questions. Instead, he took the position that evangelicals were so frustrated with failed politics and politicians who refuse to take action that they are attracted to anyone who demonstrates a different approach to leadership – even if the politician’s record is less than perfect. Perkins said that religious conservatives understand that a person’s heart can change over time. In the end, however, Perkins had to acknowledge that Donald’s dismal religious commitment likely will be his downfall with evangelicals voting in the primaries. The mariner felt that Tony Perkins, both a republican leader and an evangelical leader, was caught in the middle trying to defend a republican candidate and evangelical principles at the same time. Due to good interviewing, Perkins finally had to sacrifice Donald.

The refusal of Kim Davis to issue government marriage licenses to homosexuals raises conflicts on several levels. One level is the interpretation of the first Amendment as a genuine separation of church and state not to be in conflict – the position Thomas Jefferson took (see mariner’s post “Church or State?” for a review of secularism versus religious opinion). In his interview, Matthew Staver avoided this interpretation. Instead, he talked about the legal shutdown caused because Davis cannot be fired and will not quit – which is legal regardless of the contempt of court citation.

This level of argument is not broad enough to revisit the historical trends that have allowed government to perform what the church calls sacraments but which are performed by the state without religious opinion. Precedent for recognizing civil marriage was justified early in the 1800s because a couples’ relationship with the state changes due to race, different tax law, divorce settlement, child ownership, citizenship, abuse and many other legal acts managed by government. The government also manages equal rights.

Tony Perkins also was asked about this issue and took the point of view that there are many occasions where the state grants leniency through local law and regulations when there is a conflict in roles, that is, the line of separation between church and state is smudged. The mariner believes “smudging” does not resolve the oil and water relationship between religion and secularism.

The Founding Fathers knew from personal experience that there are many religions – some demanding both civil authority and religious authority, some with different definitions of God, some preferring different opinions from others about polygamy, race, etc. – but there can only be one government guaranteeing freedom for all religions to have their religious opinions and at the same time assure equal justice for all citizens. The Founding Fathers chose a government run by the people, by all the people. One nation, one set of laws, thereby bestowing liberty for all people in their opinions about religion and bestowing equal liberty for all through democracy. One person, one vote. Religious opinion does not work this way hence the separation of church and state as expressed in the Bill of Rights.

It has been a good weekend for meaningful news.

Ancient Mariner

 

Donald, Ben and Hillary

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Does the reader remember when the County Fair opened how much anticipation there was to roam the midway, ride the rides, eat the obligatory funnel cake, stroll ignorantly through the livestock barns, and gamble for a prize? Then, after four hours, it was the same old tiring experience with nothing left but to retrieve one’s car from a nightmare parking lot? That’s how the mariner feels about the 2016 election. He anticipated a fun ride with as many as twenty republican candidates and the backdrop of a failed Congress – not just for one year but for eight years! Surely, the campaign trail would be tantamount to a ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl.

Sigh. Already the mariner is willing to face the parking lot from hell. Sitting in his car – which has not moved for six months – the mariner cannot wait for the real campaign to begin in February. We have been watching the freak show for too long. This is what happens when everyone has a loaded PAC. What was the Supreme Court thinking? Money is not speech; money erodes speech. For the moment, at least, there are three anomalies on stage at the freak show: Donald, Ben and Hillary. If the reader doesn’t know who I’m talking about, you are blessed.

Donald. The mariner grows more confident by the day that Donald is similar to the asteroid that sails into the Earth’s atmosphere: A bright light flying across the sky that distracts and entertains. But it lasts only two seconds before it burns out, leaving nothing to see. Donald is popular for the same reason Ben is popular: they aren’t professional politicians. It is extremely obvious that the American electorate has no respect for professional politicians. John Boehner is now paying the price for stonewalling Obama for eight years. It is a mistake to re-elect him as Speaker of the House for the 114th Congress. Samo, samo.

 Ben. It is so bad that the republican party, AKA the “white” party, is paying attention to a black candidate. Ben is very much to the right and would be a darling of the tea party if he didn’t have rational arguments for some of his positions. Rational is not good. Ask Glenn Beck. Ben’s shtick is to have manners and let his successful career as a neurosurgeon carry him – at least he isn’t a professional politician. But alas, Ben will not make it, either. Ben is a holding place for voters. When the real race starts, Ben will fade. After all, the republican party is the “white” party.

Before we leave the republican side, keep in mind the Republican National Committee is just beginning to flex its muscle in state primaries. Note that yesterday Donald signed a pledge not to run as a third party candidate. That was a big power card for him; why did he throw it away? The RNC has started pulling strings in South Carolina: Pledge or you can’t run in the primary. Good bye, Donald. Good bye, Chris. Good bye, Scott. Good bye, at least ten more. The last mystery is whether Jeb! will be in the mix. The republican party, AKA the “white male” party, still has Carly. Good bye, Carly.

Hillary. The House Committee dragging out the Benghazi investigation has added the email issue and continues to have the job of slowing Hillary by increasing her negative numbers – not the job of reconciling Benghazi. This will not stop Hillary from being the democratic nominee but it makes the republicans feel good. The Bill and Hillary Clinton record is spotty in the first place having proved many times that winning is more important than ideology. Nevertheless, Hillary has built such a juggernaut for the nomination and beyond to the election that it will be Hillary versus the last standing republican nominee.

Sigh. The election is so far away. It’s like sitting in the parking lot for forty minutes before that car that blocks your way moves four feet….

Ancient Mariner

 

Church or State?

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The mariner thought he understood the legal and philosophical intent of the separation of church and state. However, when he reads the news of the day, confusion seems to reign over the subject and affects everything from getting married, to pro-choice or pro-life, to the rights of execution and euthanasia – not to mention many other conflicts between citizenry and the Constitution of the United States. Consequently, the mariner is confused as well.

For the benefit of the reader as well as the mariner, he will go back to the beginning. As a legal basis, the Constitution of the US, written in 1787 and the Bill of Rights, written in 1788, says exactly:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent figure during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the Encyclopédie. Diderot was a partisan of a strict separation of church and state, saying in 1747, “the distance between the throne and the altar can never be too great“.

In English, the exact term is an offshoot of the phrase, “wall of separation between church and state”, as written in Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802. In that letter, referencing the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Jefferson writes:

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.

Jefferson was describing to the Baptists that the United States Bill of Rights prevents the establishment of a national church, and in so doing, they did not have to fear government interference in their manner of worship. The Bill of Rights was one of the earliest examples in the world of complete religious freedom. [Wikipedia – church and state]

For our purposes, make note of the phrase, “…that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions…” meaning that the government will not interpret or reinforce religious definition and will limit government action to matters of governance. The inverse of this, applying the intent to religion, means that there is freedom for any religion to practice and believe as they choose but religious opinion will not apply to matters of governance.

On the surface, the separation appears to be clear and distinct. Why, 277 years later, is the citizenry having so much difficulty?

At this point, the reader must tolerate the mariner’s meandering. To state the conflict succinctly, the confusion is caused by secularism. Secularism excludes religious opinion. This seems to be in concert with the 1st Amendment and Jefferson’s letter. But this is simpler said than understood. If we can travel back to the time of the Mayflower landing at Plymouth Rock (1620), we would be in the midst of the Reformation (1517-1685). The established church still was the law of the land in most intra-human activities. In fact, the Pilgrims combined religious opinion and governance into one authority. The political leader also was the interpreter of the faith.

Ever so slowly, it became clear that there must be some separation so that government could govern without having to judge every opinion raised by the common folk. There had to be rules applied to situations that were stolid and did not change with every change in opinion. This slow, evolutionary process continues today. We are not finished with the separation of church and state.

The role of government, with its authority to govern without opinion, has expanded to include virtually all elements of intra-human activity. One can get married in a government agency – without opinion, mind you. But one may also be influenced by opinions of faith. The religious element takes umbrage that the government can perform the same ‘action’ as the religion but without the religious opinion.

The mariner now understands why there is conflict. For the conclusion, we must wait for the movie version – perhaps released in 2150.

Ancient Mariner

 

Reverence is not Advocacy

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Tim Pitt, City Council member in Knoxville, Iowa, recently wrote an angry article on facebook denouncing the intent of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The atheist organization was challenging the decision of the City Council to place a memorial art piece in Young’s Park – a government sponsored park – that included a cross similar to the crosses familiar in military cemeteries.

Knoxville

In Part, Councilman Pitt wrote:

Knoxville IA

Concilman Pitt continued at length to berate the organization for its disrespect of valid and reverent feelings for fallen soldiers. There is conflict in the atheists’ case because similar crosses are in many government cemetaries around the Country – including Arlington National Cemetary. Clearly, this is headed for the court system – if the courts choose to hear the case.

Broadly speaking, the atheists are a counterpoint to those who would establish a Christian theocracy, primarily religious conservatives fighting similar battles from the opposite side of the issue. Similar conservative events are Chick-Fillet, Hobby Lobby, the clerk in Kentucky who refuses to grant marriage licenses to homosexual couples in spite of high court injunctions against the clerk, the insistance of creation history as valid history in public school books, vocal prayer in schools, etc.

The mariner believes those tangled in symbolic issues like crosses, Stars of David and even secular memorials, are distracted by irrelevant idol worship. Memorials, regardless of their shape, are simply memorials, perhaps suggestive of a legitimate association with religious reverence but certainly not a tool of proselytizing and, as Tim Pitt contends, not representative of a state church.

It is insane to separate church and state with a cataclysmic act like removing crosses from graves or religious icons from past sites of remembrance. Such an act would be comparable to ISIL destroying temples and historical artifacts. The rows and rows of white crosses only speak loudly of a long age of human desecration.

In 1982, a Vietnam Veterans Memorial was built in Washington, D.C. commemorating 58,272 killed in that war. There is no cross, yet the “wall” is one of the most powerful commemorations ever dedicated to soldiers killed in action. When it was built, a mother refused to believe that her son would be remembered among the tens of thousands who died. Her friends traced his name from the wall and took it to her; she clutched the drawing as if it were the American Flag at a military funeral. A simple wall as powerful as 58,272 crosses.

The point is this: The role of religion in society is changing as secular awareness grows in an age of information. There is no blame in this transition nor is there permanence in religious beliefs – else we still would worship the Gods of the Pantheon. The separation of church and state is a Constitutional requirement assuring religious freedom for all – and thereby preventing a “State Church” from existing.

It is not the crosses or Stars of David that are sacrosanct. It is the soldier buried in his time, in the way of his faith. The crosses, Stars of David and non-religious memorials are for us to remember the heavy price we asked them to pay.

Ancient Mariner

Fivethirtyeight

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Nate Silver wrote one of the best books on probability that will ever be written. The mariner reviewed it a couple of years ago paying tribute to Silver’s explanation of Baye’s Law of probability. It is a rich mixture of analysis, statistics, theory, and human nature. The book is titled, The Signal and the Noise: The Art and Science of Prediction. It was released as a paperback in March, 2015 and climbed to #4 on the best seller list. Silver’s original intent was to show how he had been successful as a handicapper in basketball and baseball but his methods were so pure and correct that he had no choice but to apply his skills to other fields – such as politics. Nate has astounded the world with the accuracy of his predictions. It is with that promotion that the mariner recommends using Nate Silver’s website as a key source of opinion and insight during the 2016 campaigns. His home website, where many articles and projections are available is:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/

An article on Donald Trump’s chances is at:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/donald-trumps-six-stages-of-doom/

Please add 538 to your favorites list. It is one thing to interpret the rhetoric of the politicians, another to suffer the TV pundits, and another to see the elections from your foxhole in the midst of it all. Instead, do a reality check with Nate’s website every once in a while. The information is current and has a freshness and accuracy about it that the reader will find nowhere else.

While poking around in 538’s many branches, the mariner came upon some statistics that just about lock Hillary as the democratic nominee (see:

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-endorsement-primary/#endorsements )

Some of the older readers may have just a slight memory of the old precinct days when precinct captains had the important job of assuring that voter turnout was in favor of one candidate or another. Rolling up the precinct votes to local, county and state accumulations determined who would go to the party convention or, during the actual election, who may win (remember Joe Kennedy and the Chicago vote?).

These delegates were bound to their candidate for the first round of voting. If no one had a majority, then everyone got out their cigars and went in the back room. The nominee clearly was picked at the convention. After some long meetings, the mariner remembers delegations saying, “Mr. Chairman, the great State of so-and-so switches their votes to Candidate X, the next President of the United States!”

No doubt, the deal making in that smoke-filled backroom was closer to a cattle auction than a debate for the best candidate. Eventually, political parties were forced to yield authority to the primary system we have today.

A study was done in 2008 regarding candidates who were successful in past Presidential elections. It turns out there still is an “invisible primary” that has more influence than the primaries of the fifty states. If the reader thinks back to the last convention during the 2012 campaign, they may remember a few comments about Governors and Senators playing important roles because each of these elected “super delegates” had a vote politically comparable to a State delegation. This collection of super delegates acts very much like the Federal electoral college is intended: If there is a populist surge for a questionable candidate, the super delegates can directly influence the final outcome. The elected politicians and party leaders constitute the invisible primary.

A comparison of democratic candidates shows Hillary historically ahead in the invisible primary:

Candidate   Representatives    Senators      Governors

1 point each        5 points each   10 points each      Total points

Hillary Clinton     105                145                      70                       320

Joe Biden               1                                             10                         11

Martin O’Malley      1                                                                             1

Bernie Sanders                                                                                     0

The citizenry has a difficult time redirecting its nation when redirection is needed. What can be said? Power yields only to greater power – something not owned by the citizenry EXCEPT AT THE BALLOT BOX. Citizens truly must be determined to have the government do their bidding.

Ancient Mariner

 

The Ancient Mariner Fears the Electorate’s Lack of Wisdom

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The mariner was sitting at a lunch counter the other day with a few of his acquaintances. It was his first encounter with avid Donald fans. These were good, loving people, active in church life, not the extremist type in any measure. The acquaintances had great disdain for the professional politician no matter the party or even some of the views about abortion, states’ rights, or immigration. More important, they were professional politicians – a species to be despised. Other republicans the mariner had conversations with on other occasions were disdainful of the whole lot, including Donald. They had a hard edge to them; heavy duty pro-gun, no abortions under any circumstance and, sadly, much in line with the Deep South’s resistance to homosexuals. These hard-edged folks were the tea party kind he understood. They carried paranoia with them like others carry a lunch box.

Carefully entering the conversation at the counter, he asked, “What is it about Donald that appeals to you?”

“He never lies,” they said. “Every other politician lies – all the time.”

The mariner didn’t pursue a response as they continued to laud Donald for being his own man, spending his own money, and again saying that, “Whatever Donald says, he never lies! He says what he means!”

When Donald says he will remove 12 million Hispanics from the US and “ship them back to Mexico,” isn’t that a lie? Can’t anyone in his audience understand he can’t do that even if he put up the money himself? The audience likes his arrogant and irreverent homiletics but can’t they see it is a lie? It is pure bullcrap. He says he will overturn the Fourteenth Amendment to prevent immigrants from coming over the border for “one day” to have an anchor baby. This is a lie, too – regardless of one’s opinion. Donald’s cadre of “expert lawyers” is a lie, too. No honest lawyer would dare go near the Fourteenth Amendment, a cultural precedent that is older than the US and traces all the way back to pre-American times in Great Britain. And the mariner suspects Donald knows it’s a lie as well – or maybe he believes he can do it. Either way, an incongruous falsehood. Sadly, his fans distrust non-whites in the first place and would rather enjoy a lie told as a truth than give Donald’s words a second thought.

When Donald says he will build a 12 billion dollar fence along the border with Mexico, it is a deliberate lie. Congress cannot possibly afford to spend that much on a fence; 12 billion is more than even Donald can spend. Adding the army and air force flies in the face of credulity. Who wants a war with Mexico?

The mariner has offered a taste of the truth as told by a careless fabricator. Yet Donald sits firmly at the top of polls in popularity. He is there because a homophobic, xenophobic, and racist vein runs through American culture. How many are out there? The mariner fears there are enough to derail a truly historical moment in US history that will position us to survive a while longer.

Ancient Mariner

 

More about Liberal Arts

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There were a number of responses to the previous posts about a liberal education, including face-to-face conversations. Most were about the disappearance of the liberal arts curriculum in small colleges. For readers who want to delve a bit more deeply, the mariner iterates reference to Fareed Zakaria’s book, In Defense of a Liberal Education, W.W. Norton, 2015, ISBN 978-0-393-24768-8.

The mariner overlooked mathematics in his post about self taught education. There are reams of math sites, even reams about every segment of math from arithmetic to quantum mechanics. One site that may be useful rather than stressful is:

https://www.khanacademy.org/ This website was created by Salman Khan in 2006; it covers a great deal more than math. Khan has developed a psychology for learning that is popular and quite helpful to those struggling to learn on their own. See the following website for a review: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/top_right/2011/08/salman_khan_founder_of_khan_academy.html

Now to the subject of this post.

If one marries a librarian, especially one who remains a bibliophile in this age of gadgets, not only is there a loving relationship but a door into the vast universe of printed knowledge. The mariner has been fortunate in his selection of a spouse who is an anthropomorphic version of liberal arts. Oh – and a wonderful wife! She told the mariner about a blog she reads every Friday. Sadly, the author is dying of cancer. In the final post, the author bids farewell using the phrase, “So long. Thanks for all the fish.”

The mariner may well count on one finger the number of readers who know the context of this phrase. In the context of the author’s final post, it is quite poignant and gives the reader a meaningful moment of reflection.

The phrase comes from a science fiction book titled Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. In the story, humans are the third most intelligent species; the second most intelligent are monkeys and the most intelligent are dolphins. The Earth is in trouble and will be uninhabitable in a short time. The dolphins know this and consistently try to warn the humans that they must leave Earth. The humans never leave because they can’t understand the dolphins. Finally, the Earth has reached its last day. All the dolphins in the world rise out of the oceans and fly up into the sky, leaving Earth for the last time. As they leave, they say, “So long. Thanks for all the fish.”

The mariner includes this moment of unfortunate passing and the use of the phrase to point out how important it is to read and learn for one’s entire life. The mariner doesn’t think everyone should know about the dolphins – no one can read everything. Still, a meaningful exchange between author and reader will be missed when the original context is unknown. When similar moments arise with readers of the mariner’s blog, the reader should realize that something occurred that was unknown or not understood. As soon as possible, the reader should repair that unknown item. There is nothing in the entire world better than your search engine. Because of computerization, information has exploded in volume; access is the new king. Despite the ease with which we can acquire information, we are not compelled to do so. The Age of Enlightenment has long passed. It is the Age of Information. There is little need to appear informed when anyone easily can have access to the same information. What we overlook is the insight provided by a liberal and continuous education – turning information into knowledge.

Ancient Mariner

How to Achieve Your Own Liberal Arts Education

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Having written recently about the demise of liberal arts in colleges, the mariner pondered ways by which each of us still could be broadly educated and “erudite.” One truly can become well versed in subjects that are part of a good liberal arts education. This free education is a gift from the Internet.

There is no subject that cannot be researched or help broaden one’s understanding. One can learn any language; become an expert about any place or period in history, any science category, mathematics, literature and poetry, biology, sociology, health and medicine, botany, geography, physics, astronomy, etc. The mariner suggests the reader try to name a subject for which there is no information on the Internet.

What the student must bring to the computer is curiosity. Curiosity is the engine that drives the education process. Ask the three “?” questions: What is happening? How does this happen? Why is it happening? Otherwise, there is no syllabus; no textbooks are required; no fees or tuition required. Just bring your curiosity. A little practice rapidly will expand your inquisitiveness. Below are a few sample websites mariner uses from time to time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=&go=Go Want to know what Bananas in Pyjamas is all about? It’s in the Wikipedia. The best definition of this website is “an encyclopedia on steroids.” The Wikipedia often shows up in search engine results. Always helpful and full of detail.

http://translate.reference.com/ This is one of the best dictionary/translator websites. The mariner typed “Where is the dog?” (German) and received “wo ist der Hund?” One can even practice as if $400 were paid for expensive language software. The website has several languages usually offered in a liberal arts curriculum.

http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-sees-unavoidable-sea-level-rise-ahead-180844156.html NASA predicts 3-foot rise in sea levels. All the larger search engines have current event screens; many have scroll bars for popular headlines. This is a good place to review once a day if the reader does not want to suffer cable news channels.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/events/the-next-america-opportunity-for-all-20150625 Video of a conference talking about how the United States can grow the middle class. Suggest viewing in segments. Key content is the breadth of the issue. The National Journal is an excellent source for those interested in ideas about culture and politics.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/05/ “The Man Who Couldn’t Stop Giving.” A fascinating article about why humans have generosity. The mariner subscribes to The Atlantic. This magazine, both online and in print, provides quality insights about many subjects.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/?no-ist Topics are diverse, covering culture, archeology, current trends, and interesting biographies. The mariner subscribes to the Smithsonian.

http://www.livescience.com/ Mentioned in an earlier post, this website covers many areas of science, including current events. Livescience.com easily covers one’s science requirement in a liberal arts curriculum.

http://americanliterature.com/ Did you know Kate Chopin wrote The Awakening in 1899? What other book did she write? How many short stories written by Kate can you name? To paraphrase Ed McMahon, everything you ever wanted to know about American literature is at this website. One can read many, many books at this website. If you are familiar with a big chunk of this site, consider yourself an English Major. The reader will have no difficulty finding similar websites for literature around the world.

http://ahs.org/ American Horticultural Society’s website. A comfortable site that ranges from gardening buffs to serious breeders of species. Every “trade,” (gardening, woodwork, welding, quilt making, etc.) has websites. There are many skill-related websites – detailed enough to fix a dripping faucet or repair an electrical outlet.

By now, the reader understands the method for educating one’s self. The important thing is to search and search again until you find something you don’t know about. One could even learn what a professional librarian does – something the State of Iowa doesn’t require of its public school “librarians.”

Ancient Mariner

Distribute Your Wealth Now!

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Yes, you. If you have the wherewithal to read the mariner’s blog, you have wealth. No one else can address the depravity, greed, ignorance, prejudice, starvation, disease, death, destruction of the biosphere, incessant war, and class abuse.

The United Methodist Church has a mission project called “Imagine No Malaria.” One can acquire a tee shirt that says, “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try spending the night with a mosquito.” This proverb is a fine challenge; it can apply to any issue around the world or around the corner. If you want to support this project, send a contribution to your local Methodist Church.

Below are other efforts that need your wealth and your health.

Habitat for Humanity. (www.habitat.org) Builds homes for the homeless. This is an organization that has immense impact on a family’s life in a very short time. HH will accept your body and a hammer as well. Check the website for information.

Salvation Army. (www.salvationarmyusa.org) “ONE MISSION: Into the world of the hurting, broken, lonely, dispossessed and lost, reaching them in love by all means.” Contribute goods and cash. SA also helps those in disaster zones and ignores national boundaries. Check local phonebook for free pick up; donate cash on the website.

Religious Institution. Visit your institution or search for that institution’s website to find a magnitude of mission projects for people in need around the world.

World Wildlife Fund. (www.worldwildlife.org) “The group’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. Currently, much of its work focuses on the conservation of three biomes that contain most of the world’s biodiversity: oceans and coasts, forests, and freshwater ecosystems. Among other issues, it is also concerned with endangered species, pollution and climate change.” Visit website for gifts and donations.

Food and Water Watch. (www.foodandwaterwatch.org) “Food & Water Watch works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainably produced. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping the global commons — our shared resources — under public control.”

The mariner is a member of FWW. He feels there is a need to protect shared resources by keeping resource administration in the public sector where profit is less of a threat to our health and access to critical resources is not denied for any reason. FWW is an advocacy organization that responds to federal, state and local legislation that may be detrimental to the wellbeing of citizens.

Local charities. In your search engine, type “charities near me” to find organizations supporting every sort of need from homeless to abject poor to neighborhood cleanup to slum restoration to medical need to foster children services, even to homeless pets. There is no shortage of need for your wealth and your health.

Add to this list your commitment to improve local government by becoming active in local issues and participating in the primary and voting process.

The mariner has provided a short sample of ways by which the reader can become engaged in improving the world. One does not have to wait for an election.

Ancient Mariner

It is Time

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For the first time in many, many years across republican and democratic administrations, the US Presidential elections are poised for real change. There are so many broken processes, vacant ethics, criminal negligence, and greed that the mariner will not bother going into detail. Every reader, both democrat and republican, has their own list of grievances.

What is different this year is the state of Federal and State governments. Governance is in complete disarray. Following is the set of opportunities that exist for the 2016 election:

Whoever is elected in the states may well have an opportunity to draw new boundaries for congressional districts in 2020. If state legislatures have an infusion of democrats and independents, perhaps the intense abuse of districts to assure conservative voter majorities can be curtailed. Many other voter options are in play as well: modernization of state and Federal laws for who can vote, how they can vote and where they can vote; God be praised if congressional redistricting is removed from party influence.

If your Federal representatives have a seat on the science and technology committees, retrieve their voting records and consider their records carefully voting for the candidate that does not defy scientific indicators. If your federal representatives have seats on agricultural committees, consider their records in a similar manner. The same is true for infrastructure, banking, ways and means and commerce. Today, there is an organized republican resistance to any new rules, regulations or budget allocations that change the status quo for fossil fuels, energy, utility grids, environment, economy, taxes to reduce debt, minimum wage Social Security and Welfare, insurance fees, and health costs.

How the reader addresses these issues is to make every conceivable effort to participate in local politics – especially, ESPECIALLY attend your caucus or primary voting process. The reader’s vote and opinion are significant and will trickle up the ballot all the way to voting for President in November. In Iowa, one isn’t necessarily aware where the caucus will be held; location is minimally advertised to dissuade the riff-raff. However, it is easy to learn the location; one must make a small extra effort to know. More than any recent election, raising your participation a notch or two for this election season can pay off.

In recent posts, the mariner has focused on the fabric of our nation. That fabric is frayed, even missing for many citizens. The mariner has mentioned the nature of chaos – that there is no reason or foresight in chaos. But chaos can be brought under control if enough citizens insist on moral and statesmanlike leadership in the society. As a citizen, it is our time. It is beyond our time. Do your duty to heal your culture.

Ancient Mariner