#AncientTexan

Our money is unraveling.   Congress spends money we don't have, and the Fed prints money in the trillions.  Countries are starting to lose confidence in our ability to support a financial system with an unsound money supply.  And we are accelerating the process of de-dollarization by kicking countries like Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and others out of the system.  We want to...

I grew up in a fundamentalist religion.  The voices raining down on me these days sound a lot like the voice of the preacher falling on the young man in a hard pew a long time ago.  Righteousness on both sides.

Girls as young as eleven are undergoing irreversible hormonal treatments.  Why?

We have made choices that raised our energy costs.  It is very doubtful that most of these choices will lower our CO2 emissions.  For instance, electric cars do not lower CO2 emissions unless you build more renewable energy power plants first.   When four out of the biggest economies in the world are still expanding coal production and building coal power plants, our money is n...

Putin is in a corner.  He is out of options except for one.

The beat, beat of her drum Coming for me from deep within the forest of my mind Beats like footsteps coming nearer My heart pounding in my ears. Perhaps she will turn away, Her steps receding into the distant business of life But what if she turned this way Noticing me as I hide underneath my fear. What if she saw me And I her. The flow of light intense between us Would I burst into flames At bein...

What is Christian Nationalism, and how big is it?

What group should go in the blank?  And why?

Putin is attempting to take over some of the largest deposits of rare earths, lithium, manganese, coal, natural gas, iron, titanium, etc. in the world.  Many of these minerals are needed for our green evolution.   And yet, we chose to believe Putin is just a madman trying to restore the Russian Empire.  Perhaps, both stories could be true.  In either case, trillions of dol...

There is a lot of Ni, Co, Cu, Mn metals in seafloor nodules.  Mining them could be as destructive as open pit mining, who really knows?  But we need raw material resources to be able to build the new-green world, especially all the new electric vehicles.  So what is the plan for going green?  Do we have a master plan?  Is this where we expect to get the raw materials? &nbs...

The current status quo concerning Abortion gives the Democrats more power and new moderate voters, both independents and moderate Republicans.  The Republicans are losing voters in the Red States while voters in the Blue States are more motivated.  Why would the Democrats want to change the status quo?  Lindsey Graham's proposal shows that the Republicans have no viable options to d...

Indisputable evidence exists that the world is becoming greener because of fossil fuels.  A 200 ppm increase in CO2 in the air gives rise to about a 20% increase in plant growth.  Additionally, nitrogen fertilizer, made from fossil fuels, has led to a massive reduction in the footprint of farming freeing up land to return to nature and support biodiversity.

Have you ever sung away all the world's troubles with a group of friends or strangers?

Have you ever wished your children were more loving when they view you?

Imagine as a poet, you got to select your reader.  What would she look like?  A woman in a dirty raincoat?

Just a short poem by Billy Collins read by the Ancient Texan.  (Some improvement in his reading skills are warranted.) 

We can't believe that Putin is the kind of bully that hurts others without regard to the amount of harm he causes humanity and the kind of bully that doesn't back down when you stand up against him.  But, I think Putin has already shown us the type of bully he is ...  So you believe because the thought of nuclear weapons is so bad it couldn't happen ... therefore it won't.  But, it...

The American energy plan is decrepit in attempting to pick winners and accomplish everything with only carrots and no sticks.  The Plan ignores the role of the market in picking winners and assumes the average consumer will want electric vehicles.  Step technologies like natural gas and hybrid cars are ignored; the darling of R&D, hydrogen, is promoted despite little interest in the...

The American energy plan is decrepit in attempting to pick winners and accomplish everything with only carrots and no sticks.  The Plan ignores the role of the market in picking winners and assumes the average consumer will want electric vehicles.  Step technologies like natural gas and hybrid cars are ignored; the darling of R&D, hydrogen, is promoted despite little interest in the...

Sometimes, doing what is right means you lose your job.  Sometimes, it means the people you stood with, betray you.  Maybe you vote with the Democrats to impeach trump and then they hang you out to dry and step on you?

Language compulsion laws in Canada and book bans in Texas put freedom of speech at risk.  Republicans are successfully recruiting Hispanics into their party.   What does the Democratic Party have to offer Hispanics?

If a very small minority controls who gets nominated for an election, that is called Tweedism, I'm told.  Hong Kong riots occurred because China proposed a small minority, 1200 people in the communist party, would nominate the candidates that ran in the pre-elections. China said they modeled it after the system in America where mostly the rich fund the nominees for the pre-elections and gener...

Perhaps you have just noticed the outer layer of the unraveling: wars, de-globalization, inflation, polarization, etc.   But, underneath, there is more. 

High tech outsources our jobs, parks their profits offshore to avoid taxes, fosters divisions among us, controls politicians with money for re-election, abuses workers and the environment overseas and yet we worship them like gods.  Look at what is happening to our values; where does all this lead?

There is no magic line to cross where a group of cells becomes human life.  There is no magic point in time where an old person becomes senile or dead.  It is a continuum, sometimes extended as in birth, or in some forms of death, where a series of small changes over time transforms life into being or death into reality.   Where the arbitrary line is placed costs lives, there i...