Trump vs Harris - 2024

No doubt about it. 

But let's not quibble over who is better at name calling and creating distractions. Instead, let's compare the candidates' respective platforms, past practices and behavior. 

Remember, along with Trump comes his cabal of crazies such as Steve Bannon, Steve Miller, appointments of federal judges as well as more far right US Supreme Court appointees, and control of both the Senate and the House. 

Oh, and Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz and of course Marjorie Taylor Green. But, why don't we compare platforms and policies? 

Foreign policy: Positions/Policy on Russia and Ukraine. NATO - 

Joe Biden expanded and strengthened NATO. Trump wants to reduce it. 

Biden stood up to Vladimir Putin Trump sucked up to Vladimir Putin 

Economy: 

Joe Biden created 15.7 million jobs since he took office https://www.factcheck.org/2024/01/bidens-numbers-january-2024-update/ 

Donald Trump lost 2.9 million jobs. 

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/ 

Climate change: 

Biden produced the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.

https://www.transit.dot.gov/BIL

Trump thinks climate change is a hoax ("Drill baby drill") and took the US out of the Paris Climate Accords. He also offered oil industry executives preferential treatment if they contributed $1Billion to his campaign.

Will our government be for sale?

Pandemic (COVID-19): 

Donald Trump eliminated the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and advised people to inject or ingest a variety of cleaners. 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-team-left-pandemic-playbook-for-trump-administration-officials-confirm

The Biden administration developed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a US$1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill. 

Donald Trump produced a $1.7Trillion tax cut mainly for his ultra-rich cronies.

https://www.investopedia.com/taxes/trumps-tax-reform-plan-explained/

Veterans: Donald Trump mocks our veterans, saying they're suckers and losers. 

Joe Biden ends every speech with a tribute to our armed forces. 

Immigration:

When the Senate crafted a bi-partisan comprehensive immigration reform bill Donald Trump personally had it rejected by members of the House of Representatives since he needed the immigration dilemma to continue to avoid giving Joe Biden a success.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1196052048472755

Do not sit this one out. When you don't vote, you surrender your voting rights to someone else. You can only choose from the options in front of you, not what you wish they were. Do not leave a vote for Trump go unmatched. Vote for Kamala!

Ranked Choice Voting

Restoring Democracy in America

Overview
Regardless of which end of the political spectrum you may hail from, one principle we all can or at least should agree on is that in any election, primary or general, state or federal, the candidate most broadly preferred among the electorate as a whole should prevail - i.e., the wisdom of the crowd will in the end make the best choice.

But, as it is, our current binary election system, when it includes more than two parties/candidates, all too often results in the least desirable candidate emerging, simply because the most widely acceptable candidate will have had votes siphoned off by the third (spoiler) candidate and we are left with the 2nd choice.

I am of course referring to the familiar examples of this phenomenon, which include the 1992 Presidential election in which H. Ross Perot's candidacy, it could be easily argued, resulted in the election of Bill Clinton. (Whether that result was good or bad is irrelevant.) Or, the 2000 election which included Ralph Nader.

In these and other cases, the will of the people did not prevail.

So, the current system of choosing our leaders is obviously producing a polar  choice of candidates. And the broader, and frequently more moderate candidates, are left out of the process. As a result, we are becoming increasingly polarized. (I realize that is a huge, unsubstantiated claim but I think you will agree.)

Proposed Alternative and Benefits

As an alternative, we need to take a good, hard look at systems such as Ranked Choice Voting (known by various other names). 

I'm sure you are all familiar with this type of system, which has been implemented in several states, municipalities and school districts, as documented here.

To illustrate how it could change the political discourse, an example is the issue of a Howard Schultz candidacy throwing the election to Donald Trump would be rendered moot by having rank order elections. So, we wouldn't have to have the needless discussion of whether or not he should run. The multiple candidate selection process will take care of that.

A third party candidate then becomes viable. And, anyone thinking of voting for him or her would not feel they are "throwing their vote away". His or her candidacy may, as a result, bring more ideas and possibilities to the primary process, or the general election.

But, what gets me excited about the prospects of a wider method of selection is that these types of election systems do more than just prevent third party candidates from becoming spoilers. They make other candidates much more viable and consequently give voters more choices. And so, instead of restricting choice, we expand it.

And, in the end, such voting would enable more, potentially 3rd, 4th or even 5th, candidates and choices and encourage more participation among the electorate. 

Summary

As voters, I have to say we are exhausted by a system that "shoe-horns" our available choices into two polar extremes. 

If we want more voters to choose, we need to give them more choices.

For more information, visit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranked_voting 
or
https://www.fairvote.org/?gclid=CjwKCAjwvuzkBRAhEiwA9E3FUon0aer_8wH3vbaBy_d11R3w2gvYgQPChfFwaJgBcKJoC2bJlPXVLxoCmw0QAvD_BwE

Thank you.

William Shaheen
Gold Canyon, AZ

#RankedChoiceVoting

#RankedChoiceVotingAZ

Mountain in the Clouds

 

Photo of Superstition Mountain in Arizona overlaid onto pic of road to Picketpost Mountain.

Hoodoos on a Cutting Board

Kitchen Art - by Kathryn Shaheen

March, 2016

If you've hiked in the Superstition Mountain area, you'll recognize what are called "hoodoos" - outcroppings of rocks creating dramatic vertical structures. The scene below is very much what you see along the Hieroglyphics Trail, on which Kathy is a Trail Steward for the Superstition Area Land Trust.

Scroll down to see how she created the above image.



A strip of potato peeling left on a cutting board.

magicJack Call Forwarding

magicJack changed its menu and the call forwarding option is no longer under the "Call Features" menu/drop down box.

Here is a direct link you can bookmark or add to favorites: https://web04.magicjack.com/my/call-forwarding.html

Of course, it requires you to first be logged on to magicJack. After doing so, you can go to the above link.

Enjoy!

William

Update 4/11/16 - This has apparently been resolved sofr some time now and Call Forwarding does now indeed appear under the Call Features tab.

William

Snow on Thunder Mountain

Took this photo of the Sedona red rock country last weekend.

In the middle is Thunder Mountain; to the right is the "Coffee Pot".

Go shopping, America

Go shopping, America

It's good for your psyche.

It's a way of looking and moving forward. That's why it's so relieving and a satisfying experience.

It's also a way the 80% of us who are fortunate to either be working or have a decent income to lift the economy and not wait for someone else (governement, business?) do it for us.

We all have skin in this game.

On Egypt

To paraphrase Eisenhower ("People of the world want peace and governments had better get out of their way") - people of the world want liberty and governments had better get out of their way.

Don't be reluctant to use the DoNotCall Registry

Last night I received two completely different phone calls, just as I was engrossed in a TV program I've been waiting to watch. Both were "bots" (robots) and were of course annoying.

So, this morning I thought maybe it's time to update my phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry. In the process of doing so, I noticed the File a Complaint option.

I urge all my neighbors - If these companies/individuals never experience any "blow-back" from their intrusions, they will never quit. Please register your phones and don't hesitate to file a complaint.

Here's their address: https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

Notice that you can file a complaint even if your number was not on the registry at the time of the call, if it was from a robot:

1. You may file a complaint if you received an unwanted call after your number was on the National Registry for 31 days.
2. You may also file a complaint if you received a call that used a recorded message instead of a live person (whether or not your number was on the Registry).

August 2010 Rocky Mountain Grand Tour

Had a great trip to Yellowstone National Park, by way of Denver, and then some.

See the photo album at - http://www.pbase.com/wjshaheen/yellowstone_national_park_aug_2010

Check out the YouTube videos - http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=03DD8876DC8BF52D .

~~~