Re Putin Power: fascist Russia is a weak, terrorist state. This is what Republicans wish for America: a weak, terrorist, apartheid, fascist state with a weak military, little influence internationally and weak alliances.
I had an email discussion with my insurance agent about climate change. He didn't want to discuss climate change but he told me that the companies he represented had stopped writing policies for Florida. The rates for Texas are dependent on hail damage from large storms. Will local govenments have to step in and provide insurance?
Will someone PLEASE teach Republicans the definition and spirit of "freedom." While the President and fellow democrats are working toward individual and collective freedoms, Republicans are trying to paddle everyone and stick them in corner for breaking some rule in their conceptual Book of Rules and Myths.
While the President and fellow Democrats are working for a more open and accepting society, Republicans are trying to restrict everything they can get their hands on and exclude anyone who doesn't look, think, or behave exactly like them.
While the President and fellow Democrats are working for a cleaner and more sustainable U. S. and world, Republicans are against any measure that halts the decline of our planet because . . . because . . . Tell me why again? It's like saying we can't eat apple pie because it might put a smile on our faces, and lord forbid we have anything we really want or need, particularly if it makes us happy.
Republicans are so busy going through their list of "shoulds," mimicking the lessons they apparently were taught -- the very lessons that have made them into the control freaks they are today -- they have lost the ability to see how encouraging people to be the unique selves they are manifests in free, productive, generative citizens that benefit all of society with their ideas and hard work. It seems they prefer the kind of tight-lipped, tight---ed, switch carrying, do-good-or-I'll-beat-the-devil-out-of-you meanness machines they have become. Come on guys (and gals), take the stick out!
DeSantis IS doing something about climate change by doing nothing. His behavior is intentional. Business 101 teaches that tenet. Doing nothing is an ACTIVE choice, one I sometimes counseled my marketing clients to make. DeSantis is playing a dangerous game by pretending to be an ostrich. He thinks this wins him the MAGA battle. Maybe so, but he'll lose the war.
Property insurance in hurricane-corridor states (my experience in SC) is already grossly unaffordable. Many homeowners who can (i.e. don't have a mortgage) choose to "go bare." This has been escalating for at least the last 10 years. We paid for 3 policies -- primary property, FEMA, and Lloyds of London reinsurance -- to meet our coverage needs. Even with that, there was a crucial carve-out delivering much lower payouts if the damage-causing storm was "named". Virtually all storms are now named; homeowners are left holding the bag even if "fully insured." This issue will become even more severe as the ocean warms and major hurricanes proliferate.
Finally, at the risk of sounding heretical, i suggest we all keep our GOTV powder dry until 6 months before the 2024 election (~ March/April 2024). My advice stems from 40 years of successful persuasive communications. The new voters we want to engage are "theory of recency" activated, especially students and young people. They act on a sense of urgency, so it makes sense to engage them much closer to the election. I know this is nerve-wracking, but we don't want to alienate them and inadvertently create a dead pool. Remember Mel Gibson in "Braveheart" yelling at his soldiers to "HOLD. HOLD. HOLD!!" Timing in GOTV is everything, especially for new or reluctant voters. Please think about my entreaty to strategically engage rather than meet our emotional needs to Do Something Now.
Thank you for listening, and have a restorative weekend. The endless effort against our adversaries begins anew each week!
We live in California, about a mile from the Pacific coast in an area that is relatively cool and is covered by the marine layer three months a year. There is some wildfire risk. The closest major fire in this century was in Laguna Woods, about fifteen miles away from us.
Every year, the OC Fire Inspector surveys our neighborhood and tells everyone to cut back their brush, and we dutifully do so. Some neighbors are installing a sophisticated Frontline system that protects individual houses during a wildfire.
Last year, our homeowners policy more than doubled in cost, primarily due to the increasing threat of wildfires. Farmers, our insurance carrier, told us initially that they were not writing any new policies in the state because years of drought and wildfires had wiped out their profits. It now appears that they are writing a small number of new policies, while State Farm and Allstate are not. Farmers also dropped our earthquake policy, but they helped us find a new provider.
This is the future we face in California, but for us it is still more than worth it. It sounds like that isn't the case in Florida anymore.
I know that, but maybe that has to do with listening to mostly divisive and negative reporting for such a long time. Also, I think the pandemic really does have a lingering sadness to it which is understandably dispiriting. Add to that being lied to on a daily basis by the DT con man who many, many people truly wanted to believe, and others truly detested didn't help. Hearing good news may seem like just more lies and idle happy talk. I just remembered yet another quote by Eleanor Roosevelt: "Small minds discuss people. Average minds discuss events. Great minds discuss ideas." Right now we need ideas.
Thanks for the excellent analyses about voting in 2022. Still, it is so important to do everything we can to increase the vote nationwide.
That's a horrifying story about Ron De Santis and his total disregard for the citizens of Florida. I think that this alone makes him unelectable, but then, who knows?
I'm hoping that Florida's insurance situation will weaken the Florida GOP. As for me, global heating has gotten a lot of frankly scary publicity of late, including some excellent coverage in the WaPo. Yesterday, my border collie, Natalie, and I took our usual walk in Provincetown, for when we are staying on the Cape. I don't know what the temp was, but it was uncomfortably warm, and Natalie was frequently drinking from the water dishes some businesses leave out for dogs. After we started walking back to the car, she insisted on going into a gallery that had the AC on. The women running the place were happy to have us in, and we must have stayed for at least 20 minutes.
I'm not used to feeling uncomfortably warm on the Cape in the summer. That, and the the articles I've been reading--including the flooding in Neighboring Vermont, and a statistic I heard on NPR, which I haven't verified yet, that global warming is sticking the heat equivalent of 3 nuclear bombs PER SECOND into the ocean every day are truly spooking me. (I am skeptical about that latter statistic though, and they did not say what size nuclear bomb.)
My favorite possession--if I don't count Natalie as a possession--is my '08 Honda Civic with the stick. Driving is one of my favorite activities, and this car is peppy, and it carves corners. It's probably as much fun to drive as the Corvettes of my youth. But yesterday, I felt bad about it, because internal combustion. No, I'm not about to get rid of it, because I know I'd miss it badly if I did, and this was just a temporary malaise, and my carbon emissions are low for an American. But it was weird to get that feeling.
Reader Joan Lessing sent this comment to me for posting:
I do not understand why deSantis is still considered credible by anyone. Perhaps the decision by the insurance companies to leave Florida will wake up some of his supporters. Or perhaps they just (hypocritically) plan on taking FEMA money, paid for by taxes paid in ‘blue’ states? I assume that it would be nasty to suggest that as Florida refused help pre-catastrophe, they should be denied help after the fact?
There was a comment about abortion rights and the anti-abortion views of Blacks. I think that what needs to be emphasized is not so much ‘abortion’, but rather women’s health. Statistics have shown that Black women are at greater risk during pregnancy and birth than others. The new laws in some states are so draconian that all women are at greater risk if there are complications during pregnancy.
It's about time the insurance companies put the pressure on stupid politicians who won't acknowledge the climate change mess we humans have made. I have been waiting for them to begin withdrawing from the no-win market in Florida where these firms routinely lose money.
I'm very disturbed by Senator Tuberville single-handedly holding up 250 military confirmations over women in the military having access to reproductive care. Military bases are federal property not property of the state. Since the Extreme Court has washed their hands of reproductive rights there is NO federal law on abortion. Making it just for the women of the military is targeting one particular group of women so it would seem that wouldn't be legal if appealed to the Courts. Seems like if a woman takes off from one military base and goes to another, she is never stepping into any state so the state has no jurisdiction over her. And, if the Senate passes the Defense bill with the restriction on women flying somewhere for an abortion, then let the military doctors fly to the women. Just hearing that the NDAA just passed. Sounds like it was passed with the "wokeness" removed. VOTE in 2024. Vow to throw the MAGA/FEDSOC Republicans out of all elected offices - local, state and federal! Do you know what you call a woman Marine? Answer: a Marine! Always liked that!
My heart breaks, for my sisters-in-law and their families, the closest remaining links to Penny's side of the family, in the Spring Hill area, the closest remaining links to Penny's side of the family, for both our son and me. It breaks for my cousins, in Naples,Venice, Orlando and Boca Raton. It breaks for my financial advisement team, also in Spring Hill; for the dedicated environmental scientists in Big Cypress and for the precious youths I met at Osceola Tiger, in the Seminole lands, in May, 2022; for the people of the Keys and those on the northwest Panhandle; for the good-hearted folks of north Tampa and the musical couple in Clearwater; for the gentle elderly man whose greatest joy comes from visits to Sams House Natural Preserve, south of Cape Canaveral. Florida is, at its heart, a place of the soul. It is being ravaged by the present cast of charaders, posing as leaders.
Thanks for covering one aspect on the impact of the climate conflagration. What people need to understand is what is happening this summer with the wildfires, floods, air quality and heat is just the beginning. It is going to get much worse! The climate events will stress all aspects of life on earth. As land goes under water or becomes unlivable there will be wars over the land that is left. Agriculture impacts would mean food shortages at crisis levels. There are solutions that can mitigate climate changes especially in agriculture where farms can take carbon out of the air and into the soil. So farmers are critical to the climate solutions. Let's get busy!!
Follow the money that fossil fuel billionaires give to Red State Senators who insist on denying global warming - AND - the real-time extreme weather conditions in their states. Who do these Republicans really represent - their voters or billionaire fossil fuel donors? https://thedemlabs.org/2023/07/15/climate-collusion-how-fossil-fuel-donations-manipulate-republican-stance-on-global-warming/
Thanks for sharing this
Great read. Good to have you back full steam. Get well.
Re Putin Power: fascist Russia is a weak, terrorist state. This is what Republicans wish for America: a weak, terrorist, apartheid, fascist state with a weak military, little influence internationally and weak alliances.
I had an email discussion with my insurance agent about climate change. He didn't want to discuss climate change but he told me that the companies he represented had stopped writing policies for Florida. The rates for Texas are dependent on hail damage from large storms. Will local govenments have to step in and provide insurance?
Will someone PLEASE teach Republicans the definition and spirit of "freedom." While the President and fellow democrats are working toward individual and collective freedoms, Republicans are trying to paddle everyone and stick them in corner for breaking some rule in their conceptual Book of Rules and Myths.
While the President and fellow Democrats are working for a more open and accepting society, Republicans are trying to restrict everything they can get their hands on and exclude anyone who doesn't look, think, or behave exactly like them.
While the President and fellow Democrats are working for a cleaner and more sustainable U. S. and world, Republicans are against any measure that halts the decline of our planet because . . . because . . . Tell me why again? It's like saying we can't eat apple pie because it might put a smile on our faces, and lord forbid we have anything we really want or need, particularly if it makes us happy.
Republicans are so busy going through their list of "shoulds," mimicking the lessons they apparently were taught -- the very lessons that have made them into the control freaks they are today -- they have lost the ability to see how encouraging people to be the unique selves they are manifests in free, productive, generative citizens that benefit all of society with their ideas and hard work. It seems they prefer the kind of tight-lipped, tight---ed, switch carrying, do-good-or-I'll-beat-the-devil-out-of-you meanness machines they have become. Come on guys (and gals), take the stick out!
A few thoughts:
DeSantis IS doing something about climate change by doing nothing. His behavior is intentional. Business 101 teaches that tenet. Doing nothing is an ACTIVE choice, one I sometimes counseled my marketing clients to make. DeSantis is playing a dangerous game by pretending to be an ostrich. He thinks this wins him the MAGA battle. Maybe so, but he'll lose the war.
Property insurance in hurricane-corridor states (my experience in SC) is already grossly unaffordable. Many homeowners who can (i.e. don't have a mortgage) choose to "go bare." This has been escalating for at least the last 10 years. We paid for 3 policies -- primary property, FEMA, and Lloyds of London reinsurance -- to meet our coverage needs. Even with that, there was a crucial carve-out delivering much lower payouts if the damage-causing storm was "named". Virtually all storms are now named; homeowners are left holding the bag even if "fully insured." This issue will become even more severe as the ocean warms and major hurricanes proliferate.
Finally, at the risk of sounding heretical, i suggest we all keep our GOTV powder dry until 6 months before the 2024 election (~ March/April 2024). My advice stems from 40 years of successful persuasive communications. The new voters we want to engage are "theory of recency" activated, especially students and young people. They act on a sense of urgency, so it makes sense to engage them much closer to the election. I know this is nerve-wracking, but we don't want to alienate them and inadvertently create a dead pool. Remember Mel Gibson in "Braveheart" yelling at his soldiers to "HOLD. HOLD. HOLD!!" Timing in GOTV is everything, especially for new or reluctant voters. Please think about my entreaty to strategically engage rather than meet our emotional needs to Do Something Now.
Thank you for listening, and have a restorative weekend. The endless effort against our adversaries begins anew each week!
We live in California, about a mile from the Pacific coast in an area that is relatively cool and is covered by the marine layer three months a year. There is some wildfire risk. The closest major fire in this century was in Laguna Woods, about fifteen miles away from us.
Every year, the OC Fire Inspector surveys our neighborhood and tells everyone to cut back their brush, and we dutifully do so. Some neighbors are installing a sophisticated Frontline system that protects individual houses during a wildfire.
Last year, our homeowners policy more than doubled in cost, primarily due to the increasing threat of wildfires. Farmers, our insurance carrier, told us initially that they were not writing any new policies in the state because years of drought and wildfires had wiped out their profits. It now appears that they are writing a small number of new policies, while State Farm and Allstate are not. Farmers also dropped our earthquake policy, but they helped us find a new provider.
This is the future we face in California, but for us it is still more than worth it. It sounds like that isn't the case in Florida anymore.
I know that, but maybe that has to do with listening to mostly divisive and negative reporting for such a long time. Also, I think the pandemic really does have a lingering sadness to it which is understandably dispiriting. Add to that being lied to on a daily basis by the DT con man who many, many people truly wanted to believe, and others truly detested didn't help. Hearing good news may seem like just more lies and idle happy talk. I just remembered yet another quote by Eleanor Roosevelt: "Small minds discuss people. Average minds discuss events. Great minds discuss ideas." Right now we need ideas.
Thanks for the excellent analyses about voting in 2022. Still, it is so important to do everything we can to increase the vote nationwide.
That's a horrifying story about Ron De Santis and his total disregard for the citizens of Florida. I think that this alone makes him unelectable, but then, who knows?
Another great Today's. Thank you Robert.
I'm hoping that Florida's insurance situation will weaken the Florida GOP. As for me, global heating has gotten a lot of frankly scary publicity of late, including some excellent coverage in the WaPo. Yesterday, my border collie, Natalie, and I took our usual walk in Provincetown, for when we are staying on the Cape. I don't know what the temp was, but it was uncomfortably warm, and Natalie was frequently drinking from the water dishes some businesses leave out for dogs. After we started walking back to the car, she insisted on going into a gallery that had the AC on. The women running the place were happy to have us in, and we must have stayed for at least 20 minutes.
I'm not used to feeling uncomfortably warm on the Cape in the summer. That, and the the articles I've been reading--including the flooding in Neighboring Vermont, and a statistic I heard on NPR, which I haven't verified yet, that global warming is sticking the heat equivalent of 3 nuclear bombs PER SECOND into the ocean every day are truly spooking me. (I am skeptical about that latter statistic though, and they did not say what size nuclear bomb.)
My favorite possession--if I don't count Natalie as a possession--is my '08 Honda Civic with the stick. Driving is one of my favorite activities, and this car is peppy, and it carves corners. It's probably as much fun to drive as the Corvettes of my youth. But yesterday, I felt bad about it, because internal combustion. No, I'm not about to get rid of it, because I know I'd miss it badly if I did, and this was just a temporary malaise, and my carbon emissions are low for an American. But it was weird to get that feeling.
Reader Joan Lessing sent this comment to me for posting:
I do not understand why deSantis is still considered credible by anyone. Perhaps the decision by the insurance companies to leave Florida will wake up some of his supporters. Or perhaps they just (hypocritically) plan on taking FEMA money, paid for by taxes paid in ‘blue’ states? I assume that it would be nasty to suggest that as Florida refused help pre-catastrophe, they should be denied help after the fact?
There was a comment about abortion rights and the anti-abortion views of Blacks. I think that what needs to be emphasized is not so much ‘abortion’, but rather women’s health. Statistics have shown that Black women are at greater risk during pregnancy and birth than others. The new laws in some states are so draconian that all women are at greater risk if there are complications during pregnancy.
It's about time the insurance companies put the pressure on stupid politicians who won't acknowledge the climate change mess we humans have made. I have been waiting for them to begin withdrawing from the no-win market in Florida where these firms routinely lose money.
I'm very disturbed by Senator Tuberville single-handedly holding up 250 military confirmations over women in the military having access to reproductive care. Military bases are federal property not property of the state. Since the Extreme Court has washed their hands of reproductive rights there is NO federal law on abortion. Making it just for the women of the military is targeting one particular group of women so it would seem that wouldn't be legal if appealed to the Courts. Seems like if a woman takes off from one military base and goes to another, she is never stepping into any state so the state has no jurisdiction over her. And, if the Senate passes the Defense bill with the restriction on women flying somewhere for an abortion, then let the military doctors fly to the women. Just hearing that the NDAA just passed. Sounds like it was passed with the "wokeness" removed. VOTE in 2024. Vow to throw the MAGA/FEDSOC Republicans out of all elected offices - local, state and federal! Do you know what you call a woman Marine? Answer: a Marine! Always liked that!
My heart breaks, for my sisters-in-law and their families, the closest remaining links to Penny's side of the family, in the Spring Hill area, the closest remaining links to Penny's side of the family, for both our son and me. It breaks for my cousins, in Naples,Venice, Orlando and Boca Raton. It breaks for my financial advisement team, also in Spring Hill; for the dedicated environmental scientists in Big Cypress and for the precious youths I met at Osceola Tiger, in the Seminole lands, in May, 2022; for the people of the Keys and those on the northwest Panhandle; for the good-hearted folks of north Tampa and the musical couple in Clearwater; for the gentle elderly man whose greatest joy comes from visits to Sams House Natural Preserve, south of Cape Canaveral. Florida is, at its heart, a place of the soul. It is being ravaged by the present cast of charaders, posing as leaders.
Thanks for covering one aspect on the impact of the climate conflagration. What people need to understand is what is happening this summer with the wildfires, floods, air quality and heat is just the beginning. It is going to get much worse! The climate events will stress all aspects of life on earth. As land goes under water or becomes unlivable there will be wars over the land that is left. Agriculture impacts would mean food shortages at crisis levels. There are solutions that can mitigate climate changes especially in agriculture where farms can take carbon out of the air and into the soil. So farmers are critical to the climate solutions. Let's get busy!!