Alderin Ordell's Blog

 

The animal rights movement has been led by many heroic, heart-centered individuals who have sacrificed much of what they have to help the helpless and give voice to the voiceless. I have watched over the years as these individuals gave impassioned pleas to save the whales, save the salmon, end the torture and destruction of animals in slaughterhouses, etc., and for me, that has been motivation to go vegan. I, too, am a heart-centered individual. However, The cold reality is most Americans are not. They might tell you they are, and they might wear t-shirts suggesting as much, but Americans are primarily not motivated by empathy. I think it’s time for the animal rights movement to recognize that people are more motivated by social status and vanity.

The Heart-Centered Approach Hasn’t Worked

I think Anonymous for the Voiceless in Portland is an excellent organization. It is a powerful visual to have people dressed in black with masks on holding up a screen showing the horrors of animal abuse. The idea is that by holding these demonstrations in public places, people will stop and watch the videos, and care about the animals. But the hard, cold reality is that Anonymous for the Voiceless and all the other animal rights organizations across this country have only managed to convince .5% of the total population to become vegetarian or vegan. Compare that to Canada, where as much as 10% of the population is vegetarian or vegan. In Japan, the rate is 1.5 percent. In Korea, the rate is 2.5 percent. Even the UK has doubled the number of vegetarians or vegans to 1%.

I contend that this heart-centered approach to animal rights is not working in this country. I don’t believe the right approach is appealing to people to save the animals.
We need to change the messaging from saving the animals to improving ourselves. We need to show people that not eating meat will benefit them in many ways.

The Benefits of Going Vegan

Imagine for a second that instead of showing videos of animals being tortured, we showed videos that compared the faces of vegans to the faces of meat eaters. The truth is that meat contains over 200 horrible chemicals linked to cancer and other terrible health conditions. They are also linked to premature skin aging. The fact is that vegans have much nicer skin that some say even glows!

Research has shown that vegan athletes are also significantly more capable. A recent report I read showed that vegans experienced 30% better muscle growth and recovery from athletic stress compared to non-vegan athletes. So, we could also show videos of vegan athletes from around the country beating those who eat meat. We can show how lean and muscular their bodies are. We could demonstrate how their blood pressure and metabolism are improved, and they’re likely to secure a spot on the professional sports team over a meat-eating athlete.

Besides nicer skin and better athleticism, vegans also enjoy more energy and more sex drive, and we live longer.

Vanity-Based Campaigns

We need to create a campaign based on those facts.
Want a better sex life? Go vegan!
Want to make it into the NFL? Go vegan!
Want to have the face of a 20-year-old? Go vegan!
Appeal to their vanity and not their heart, and I think we will see change.

The Inside-Out Approach

The other aspect of the animal rights movement I want to comment on is the outside-in approach we seem to be taking. The current strategy is to hold demonstrations and convince others to change. That immediately makes us the outsiders in any given situation. We are the outsiders at Pioneer Square trying to get the attention of the concertgoers. We are the outsiders of the daily commute, holding signs for the commuters to save the whales. We are the outsiders posting signs in our neighborhoods to save the salmon.

Combining that with the fact that most of us are already social outcasts, I don’t believe this is the most effective approach. Let’s be honest with ourselves; many of us are GLBTQ+ or tattooed or wear our hair differently, etc. You know what I mean. The mainstream doesn’t care about social outcasts. Not unless they have to, like some major disaster forces them to change. Hell, most Americans struggled to listen to SCIENTISTS during a PANDEMIC! Outside of a major disaster, a bunch of social outcasts trying to convince the mainstream to change their behavior is a nearly impossible task. That’s why we have been so incredibly unsuccessful.

Humans are Tribal: We Must Influence their Leaders

As a psychologist, I know that humans are inherently tribal. Everybody belongs to different tribes. Their tribe at work. Their sports team that they follow. Their school. Their church. Each of those places has its own culture and group identity. There are also leaders within each of these tribes that the others follow. In the high school, it’s the stars on the football team. At church, it’s the pastor. Online, it’s social media influencers within the groups. Those leaders are the ones that set the path for the rest of the group to follow. In my opinion, the only way to get America’s tribes to change is to influence their leaders and to effect change from within. This is an inside-out approach.

For example, if you want high school students to become vegan, I would target the high school football team quarterback and convince him that being vegan will give him the best shot at getting into the NFL. He’ll tell his buddies on the football team. Those buddies will tell their girlfriends and friends. Soon, you’ll see a movement within the high school to go vegan.

At the church, you target the pastors and other church leaders. Online, you convinced the influencers within any given group to adopt a vegan lifestyle. We outcasts operate behind the scenes because if the tribe gets suspicious that outsiders are compromising their leaders, the change won’t happen.

The bottom line is that we can save the animals better from an inside-out approach versus an outside-in approach. We can target the leaders of America’s tribes and appeal to their vanity.

Vanity is Reality

Sadly, our country is not led by its heart. But getting upset about it isn’t going to make it any better. We must work within the psychology of the people we want to change. The end goal is to get people to stop eating meat. Lowering the demand for meat will destroy the meat processing infrastructure that is so devastating to animals. I would love to live in a country where this was accomplished by heart, but if we can accomplish it by appealing to vanity, the result is still the same. The animals get saved.

The post Appeal to Vanity, Not Heart! How to Revolutionize the Animal Rights Movement appeared first on Alderin.

Tyler Toney of Dude Perfect,

I took my two kids to see Dude Perfect Live last night. While the show was fine, I’ll have to say that I was incredibly disappointed to hear Tyler Toney preach Christianity at the end and both my kids are really upset about it.

Not all Dude Perfect fans are Christians. Many are Jewish, Muslim, Atheist, Native American, etc… The fact is there are thousands of belief systems and religions in the world.

These kids from different belief systems are part of the fan base that has propelled Dude Perfect to success. Tyler Toney really let them down last night. By preaching Christianity, he separated non-Christian children from the rest of Dude Perfect fans.

That’s simply not fair to them!

Secondly, Jesus is a fictional character and I’m tired of white men using their influence to push fictional stories on children. The story of Jesus originates from Pagan myths about the sun’s travel through star constellations. The path of the sun starts at the North Star, where the Gospels say that Jesus was born. He travels through Virgo, which is the bread constellation. Bethlehem translates to House of Bread so they say Jesus grew up in Bethlehem. When the sun travels through Aquarius they say Jesus walked on water. At the end of the sun’s path, it sits on the Southern Cross for 3 days, and then it is “resurrected” as it travels back up to the North Star.

You don’t have to take my word for it. This documentary called Zeitgeist explains the Christian myth. Fast forward to minute number 11 to get to the part on Christianity.

Thirdly, Christianity has a very nefarious past. Crusades, child abuse, repression of minorities, executions, etc. Currently, it is a major component of the military-industrial complex, fueling crazy organizations like the Heritage Foundation who combine corporate greed and Christian philosophy to push a one-world vision at the expense of anyone who opposes it.

I wrote a novel about a US uprising against the military-industrial complex. It’s called While White Men Sleep. It’s critically acclaimed and available on Amazon.

The bottom line is that I challenge Tyler Toney to own up to the damage he has done to the children who look up to him. I challenge him to investigate his beliefs further before using the Dude Perfect platform to push them on others. Ultimately, I challenge Dude Perfect to make a video where Tyler apologizes to his fans.

Let me know if you’d like to continue this conversation. I’d be happy to talk, meet with anyone in your organization.

Alderin Ordell

Calling Out Tyler Toney of Dude Perfect

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I first learned about this book on NPR.  It is an essential read!   Most Americans who rally for the second amendment are not aware of its history.  As Carol Anderson points out, the Second Amendment was initially created to protect the rights of state militias.  Why?  Because those militias hunted down escaped slaves and committed massacres against the black community amongst other nefarious deeds.

The Second Amendment also is not applied equally.  White people often use the Second Amendment as an excuse to brandish weapons and even kill minorities and they do so often without consequence.  However, an armed black person elicits a massive response from white police.  Even the hint a black person might have a weapon can get them killed.

Carol Anderson convincingly argues that the second amendment isn’t about guns, it’s about anti-blackness.

Take the time to read this book today! Click on the link below:

 

Book Description:  

 

From the New York Times bestselling author of White Rage, an unflinching, critical new look at the Second Amendment–and how it has been engineered to deny the rights of African Americans since its inception.

In The Second, historian and award-winning, bestselling author of White Rage Carol Anderson powerfully illuminates the history and impact of the Second Amendment, how it was designed, and how it has consistently been constructed to keep African Americans powerless and vulnerable. The Second is neither a “pro-gun” nor an “anti-gun” book; the lens is the citizenship rights and human rights of African Americans.

From the seventeenth century, when it was encoded into law that the enslaved could not own, carry, or use a firearm whatsoever, until today, with measures to expand and curtail gun ownership aimed disproportionately at the African American population, the right to bear arms has been consistently used as a weapon to keep African Americans powerless–revealing that armed or unarmed, Blackness, it would seem, is the threat that must be neutralized and punished.

Throughout American history to the twenty-first century, regardless of the laws, court decisions, and changing political environment, the Second has consistently meant this: That the second a Black person exercises this right, the second they pick up a gun to protect themselves (or the second that they don’t), their life–as surely as Philando Castile’s, Tamir Rice’s, Alton Sterling’s–may be snatched away in that single, fatal second. Through compelling historical narrative merging into the unfolding events of today, Anderson’s penetrating investigation shows that the Second Amendment is not about guns but about anti-Blackness, shedding shocking new light on another dimension of racism in America.

 

 

The post The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America by Carol Anderson appeared first on Alderin.

Alien Visitation is No Longer a Secret

I watch many documentaries and read throughout the day.  It is very rare for me to learn something that totally blew my mind.  Dr. Steven Greer is on a quest to get as much information as possible on US government programs related to alien visitation and crash spacecraft through the Freedom of Information Act.  This documentary exists because he’s been successful!

For the first time ever high-ranking government officials go ON RECORD to talk about various secret US programs related to aliens.   Yes, they have recovered crafts.  Yes, they have recovered bodies.  Yes, they have been reverse-engineering what they’ve found and developed new technology.

Watch the trailer below.

Here are all the details for you to learn more:

Dr. Steven Greer presents brand new, top-secret evidence supporting Extraterrestrial contact including witness testimony, classified documents, and UFO footage while also exploring the consequences of ruthlessly enforcing such secrecy. DIRECTED BY Michael Mazzola STARRING Richard Doty, Giancarlo Esposito, Steven M. Greer WEBSITE: http://siriusdisclosure.com/unacknowl…

​ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Unacknowledg…

​ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/drstevengreer

​ NOW ON DIGITAL AND ON DEMAND: http://radi.al/Unacknowledged

​ — THE ORCHARD FILMS WEBSITE: http://www.theorchard.com/filmtv

​ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/OrchFilms

​ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/OrchFilms

​ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/orchfilms

The post Undisclosed — The Best Alien Visitation Documentary I’ve Seen appeared first on Alderin.

Solutions for Portland and Other US Cities

Below is a letter that I wrote to the Portland City Council.  Portland has been in the news these past several months and many of the images show run down streets, out of control homelessness, trash, rioting, vandalism, and more.  Unfortunately, much of what has been shown is true.  Portland has serious problems.  As someone who visits Portland daily, I have ideas on how to solve some of the biggest problems.

This is a good read for anyone because other US cities have many of these same problems.

2/26/21To: Portland City CouncilSubject: Evergreen Initiative Proposal

Introduction: My name is Alderin Ordell. I am a resident of Beaverton but, as a part-time Lyft driver, I spend twenty hours a week driving all around the Portland area. Every day I drive past homeless people in crisis, boarded-up businesses, and through dilapidated neighborhoods. During the summer, I drove people to and from the ongoing protests and made it a point to talk to each of them.

When you combine my driving experience, an advanced degree in Psychology, many years as a counselor and non-profit volunteer, the novels I’ve written, and my social-justice blog, I offer a unique perspective on the ills that plague Portland.

The following addresses some of the main problems I’ve identified and offers humanistically-based solutions designed to ease tensions and strengthen community. I suggest creating a plan based on these solutions called something like THE EVERGREEN INITIATIVE. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Like Roy Orbison used to sing, “When love is evergreen, it will last through the summer and winter too!”

This city needs love. Love that’s evergreen.

The Portland Protests – Untapped Talent

I think last year’s weeks and weeks of protests have shown that Portland is full of young leaders without a role. Before I identity problems and solutions, I first want to direct your attention to the huge untapped resources at your disposal – talent, passion, and ability.

As I drove people around for Lyft during the protests, I saw all kinds of passionate and capable people giving speeches, serving as medics, patrolling around on bicycles to keep motorists safe, etc. Contrary to how the media likes to portray those protests, I thought they were mostly well organized. Had the media covered them correctly, there should have been headlines every day from the various speakers and the points that they were making. But the headlines were always the vandalism that happened well after the protests were done. That’s an issue with corporately owned media, often connected to think tanks trying to perpetuate a social agenda. That’s not my point here. You can read my book and blog for more on that.

My point is that here’s an immense amount of talent throughout Portland. Passionate individuals that need to be given leadership roles. These individuals should be put in charge of various citizen groups for safety, outreach, medical care, and all the other needs of Portland communities.

From my perspective, you have talent and capability and you have need. Right now there is not a solid bridge between the two. You have an immense amount of suffering and an immense amount of restless spirit. If you direct the restless spirit into the task of easing the suffering, everything can get better!

This outreach will improve race relationships in Portland as well by putting more minorities into leadership roles. Under the umbrella of the Evergreen Initiative, these hires can be fed to various media outlets in a very palpable and exciting way, with plenty of photo ops for various Portland leaders (you guys).

As you read the following problems and solutions, keep in mind the young and passionate leaders you could hire to lead the new programs.

Problem 1: Homeless Population, People Suffering on the Streets

Solutions:
* A Large Care Facility
* Work for Housing and Food Programs
* Designated Homeless Areas

Recently, I heard on the news that a new task force has been assembled to respond to 9-1-1 calls from the homeless population. Mayor Ted wheeler seemed very excited about this during his speech. This is NOT a solution.

Just yesterday, I saw a woman dancing near a crosswalk. Every few seconds she would stop, slap herself in the face, and start the dance over again. She was thin, disheveled, self-abusive and in obvious crisis. She’s not going to call 9-1-1. By the time you read this, she may be dead.

This woman was only one of many people I saw in crisis yesterday. I saw a man walking with his clothes so torn and tattered, they barely clung to his body. It was about 35 degrees at the time. Then, I saw a woman suddenly stop, brush away some dirt on the sidewalk, and fall down and seem to pass out. I saw many homeless “camps” full of trash, with occupants clearly hoarding. Meanwhile, people I’ve given rides to recently have told me they often walk around discarded needles in Portland, especially around China Town.

My point is there isn’t a single person who is homeless and camped out on the streets of Portland or nearby natural areas who is there for good reasons. They could be mentally ill, they could have a drug problem, they could be suffering post-traumatic stress from a domestic violence incident, escaping child abuse, or other terrible reasons. At the very least, Portland’s homeless population is in dire straits unable to maintain a job and provide safe and adequate housing for themselves. That means…

Every single person on the streets needs help!

This is not a matter of assembling a task force to respond to 9-1-1 calls.

It’s also not enough to provide cold weather shelters and free meals and supplies. Much more needs to be done!

Solution 1: A Homeless Care Center Campus

There is a care facility in San Antonio Texas called Haven for Hope. Their mission statement reads:

Haven for Hope and our partners, address the root causes of homelessness by offering programming tailored to the specific needs of the individual. Our approach is person-centered, trauma-informed and recovery-oriented. The goal is to meet individuals where they are and support them as they move toward self-sufficiency.

Haven for Hope has reduced homelessness by 15% and put into motion several programs to treat the remaining population.

From the LA Times: “In seven graduating classes, nearly 3,500 people have progressed from the transitional campus into permanent housing, and 90% retained their homes for at least a year…”

Portland should be the city that builds upon existing successful models like this one and strives to eliminate homelessness by 100%. In my opinion, Portland needs to start by building one of these care centers.

The costs and details probably seem overwhelming. But I think businesses and other organizations will donate and help raise money for such a center once they realize the tremendous economic advantage. Let’s face it, homelessness hurts Portland’s economy in every which way possible. An Evergreen Initiative solution to homelessness, even if a few years down the road, could renew interest in Portland and bring back investors.

I also think that businesses, doctors, psychologists and everyday people would be willing to volunteer at such a care facility. With a big enough spotlight, the community could really rally behind the idea of helping our most needy populations.

The homeless at these facilities can also help maintain these facilities. As they get healthier, they can begin to take up jobs within the facility to help maintain it. This a great way for them to feel a part of our community again. Responsibility builds character and creates direction.

Solution 2: Work for Housing and Food Programs

In addition to a large care facility, I think work programs would also be effective. If done right, I think many people would appreciate the opportunity to get safe housing and nutritious food in exchange for work. This is not just a solution for the homeless, but people nearing homelessness, people in a domestic crisis, etc.

These wouldn’t be forever solutions. The idea is these work programs would help people transition to self-sufficiency.

There’s certainly enough work that needs to be done around Portland and there seem to be plenty of empty buildings that could be converted to housing. Let’s connect the dots!

I see these work programs as serving as a next step for those in the care facility. Meaning, once you graduate the care facility you go into the work program. Once you graduate from the work program, you enter into self-sufficiency.

Solution 3: Designated Homeless Areas

It’s not safe for homeless people to camp anywhere in Portland. They deserve better. They deserve designated homeless zones that are secured by police and have food and supplies for them to use and professionals to monitor their health and well-being. This will keep the streets of Portland cleaner and safer and provide the beginnings of a comprehensive homeless solution.

Problem 2: Poor, Unsafe Neighborhoods

Solutions:

* Citizen-Led Task Forces
* Community Mentoring and Skill Building Programs

It isn’t just the homeless that are in desperate need in Portland. When I drive around North and East Portland, especially areas along Powell Avenue and Division Street, I’ve noticed that people who are housed are also struggling tremendously. These neighborhoods are unsafe. They are filthy. The schools are rundown and inadequate. The parks are filthy. There’s a feeling of unease in the air, like something bad could happen at any moment.

When I was stopped at red light along Powell Avenue in the middle of a Tuesday, I suddenly saw a white SUV run over a pedestrian and then turn in front of me. The female driver nearly hit me and then crashed into a car making a left. Then she continued on hitting several more vehicles. She screamed obscenities and flipped off every one she hit. I followed her up Powell while calling 9-1-1 and gave police a full description of what was happening.

Solution 1: Citizen-Led Task Forces

To help these areas of town, I propose expanding the citizen neighborhood responsibility model. This is where safety and sanitary citizen task forces are formed and assigned to take care of troubled neighborhoods.

These citizen task forces work closely with the city to clean up neighborhoods and report unsafe situations. Their presence alone has significantly reduced crime and other problems in other cities.

There is a general disconnect between communities members and the problems within those communities. Our society is designed where community members vote for leaders, pay their taxes, complain about problems, and then expect those problems to be solved.

The disconnect is very harmful.

The people of Portland need to be at least partially responsible for their own well-being. There are certainly enough able-bodied and mentally fit citizens that can help, as long as they have the right guidance.

Solution 2: Community Mentoring and Skill Building Programs

Beyond citizen task forces, there needs to be more community programs where professional and successful Portlanders mentor at-risk community members. It seems that poor neighborhoods are places people try to leave and never return to. Once someone can afford something better, they move to the suburbs, etc.

This doesn’t help all the people that are left behind!

The solution is that there should be a constant influx of capable community members giving speeches and teaching classes of various skills within at-risk neighborhoods.

The kids need positive adults to look up to. The adults need knowledge and skills that can translate to better employment.

The cost of college is INSANE. Knowledge building and skill training should be free.

Problem 3: Downtown Portland Businesses Boarded Up

Solutions:
* Survey Existing Business Owner, Assess Needs
* Clean Up and Security Patrols

The fact that so many businesses are boarded up should let you know that things are not going well. There is absolutely no way that vandalism should be tolerated. It is not free speech. It is not part of the Black Lives Matter movement or any other movement. Crimes are crimes and should be treated as such. Downtown Portland HAS to be protected.

Other parts of Portland are also in terrible condition. Theft, graffiti, drug deals in business parking lots, prostitution, human trafficking and more are killing businesses and neighborhoods.

I think that the relationship between Portland businesses and Portland government are very damaged. The first step is making a connection again.

Solution 1: Survey and Meet

Portland City Council needs to send representatives to meet with every single business owner and talk to them. Ask them what they need. Make a list of priorities for what needs to be done. Use this information to create a plan of action. These surveys can also include community meetings between business owners and city council members.

Solution 2: Safety and Clean Up

At the very least there needs to be security patrols at night, working with police. They could be citizen-led or a private security group. I actually think the City of Portland owes it to its businesses to hire a private security group to keep watch. The police are too thinly stretched. There needs to be a constant eye keeping watch.

Also, ideally, those who are attacking businesses should be arrested and eventually put to work fixing those businesses. The punishment fits the crime.

Local prisons shouldn’t be a place where people go to rot. There should be programs in place to get more prisoners working on outside community programs. They can gain skills and purpose working in such programs so they are better equipped for success when they leave prison.

Problem: Traffic Deaths, Unsafe Road Conditions

Solutions:
* Reflective tap, blocks on most roads
* Repair streets, potholes, no more “not maintained” streets.
* Signs that illustrate upcoming intersections, especially if they are not four way stop.
* Lyft/Uber loading and unloading zones.

Last year Portland had 55 traffic deaths even though it was a pandemic year. As a Lyft driver, it’s not hard to see why. Portland streets are unsafe. Especially when it is raining. When turning left, many intersections flat out don’t have a guiding line to direct you to the correct lane. This happens a couple times along Interstate avenue. The intersection near Broadway has a giant section of no lines at all where cars constantly drift into the wrong lane. Meanwhile many parts of the city have very dilapidated roads that are difficult to drive on. The lines are faded. Stop signs and lights are hard to see. Some roads aren’t publicly maintained which is absolutely insane. Sometimes I’ll get on a road that is full of potholes or made of mud. In the city!

Solution 1: Reflective Strips, Repainting

In general, I believe that every street in Portland needs reflective strips or bumps. If you go to Vancouver, you’ll notice bright lines and reflective strips on most roads. This alone makes it way safer to drive during weather.

Solution 2: Street Maintenance

Streets also need to be repaved, potholes filled, lines repainted, stop signs and lights fixed so they are more visible, etc. Not investing in our roads is saying that it’s okay people are dying on them.

Solution 3: Intersection Diagrams

I also think there should be more signs indicating upcoming intersections. Some intersections have stop signs one direction, but not the other. How is a driver to know this if there isn’t a diagram before they enter the intersection?

Solution 4: Fix Lane Merges so they are Safer

There is also a horrible lane merge on the 1-5 merge onto 84 going north out of the city. Two lanes suddenly merge into one with virtually no warning and, because of the curve, it is mostly blind. There are many times when lanes just drop off or become a left turn with no warning. More signs and diagrams will help drivers with this.

Solution 5: Lyft and Uber Loading and Unloading Zones

It is very dangerous for us to pick up our passengers in many parts of Portland. There’s no street parking, no places to safely pull over. There needs to be loading/unloading zones throughout Portland for drivers to meet their passengers, much like bus stops. The apps can direct people to these zones where they can wait for their driver, like at the airport, and this will stop all the unsafe loading and unloading that happens.

Solution 6: Get bad drivers off the roads. 

There needs to be harsher punishments for traffic violations, including more suspension of drivers licenses. Either you can follow the rules, or you can’t. If you can’t, you shouldn’t be allowed to drive!

I’ve noticed a huge increase in bad, defiant drivers in the past few years. They put everyone’s safety at risk.

Problem: City Finances, Not Enough Revenue

Solution: Tax corporations a higher amount! Seriously! Work with Salem to make it happen. Corporations are not paying enough (or at all), especially after the 2017 Trump tax law. Meanwhile, corporate profits are through the roof!!! They feed off of the people of Oregon, they can pay their fair share.

Problem: Food Scarcity

I heard on the news last week that Kroger had to throw out hundreds of pounds of food because of the power outages caused by the snow storm. They threw it all in the dumpster. When citizens showed up to try to get the food, Portland sent police officers to keep them away from the dumpster telling them that they would be arrested.

Of course the police officers showing up to protect a dumpster instead of helping to distribute the food in a fair and equitable way is a huge problem. I will get to the problems with the police in a second. But my point here is that there is a ton of food wasted every single day in Portland and in surrounding communities.

Solution: Many businesses throw away edible food. Many farms throw away food that doesn’t look quite right. There is definitely enough food out there to feed those who are hungry. Portland just needs to create the right programs to collect this food and distribute it. I know that there are already some non-profits that work with some businesses to do this. But this has to be expanded and run by the city.

Why should food go to waste when so many are hungry?

Problem: Portland Police

There is huge public mistrust of the police. The problem has to do with police unions. Police unions really protect their own. The result is citizen complaints against police are not taken seriously. Most officers that break the law and protocol are not disciplined!

Solution: The first step to fixing the Portland Police and other police departments across the country is to create a citizen-led council to investigate all of the complaints filed against police officers over the last several years. Those complaints need to be re-investigated and the police officers need to be disciplined and removed who have abused their community.

I understand that being a police officer is a difficult job but it’s also a job where there really isn’t margin for error. For example, if a surgeon botches a surgery and the patient suffers injury or death because of the bad surgery, there isn’t a union of surgeons that protect that surgeon so he can keep working. That surgeon will lose his job. The same sort of standard needs to be held for police officers. If you abuse the community you work for, you need to be fired.

Holding police officers accountable is the first step in repairing relationships between the public and the police. I also think there needs to be more attention paid to officers who go above and beyond the call of duty to help their community. People need to be aware of officers who are behaving exceptionally and those officers need to be rewarded in a public way.

You can fix the police department by disciplining those who need to be disciplined and rewarding those who are exceptional. This stops bad behavior from being rewarded and it stops good behavior from being unacknowledged.

The post Fixing Portland: A Special Report appeared first on Alderin.

How McCarthyism Became Common Republican Tactics

After President Harry Truman, who was famous for working with black people at the start of the Civil Rights Movement, Americans elected Republican Dwight Eisenhower as president. Eisenhower, surprisingly, continued the fight for civil rights by passing the Civil Rights Act. This angered many members of his own party and Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy’s popularity soared.

A Mad Dog to Stir Passion and Create Party Loyalty

McCarthy was already popular when Eisenhower ran. He was known for making crazy unfounded accusations against anyone he wanted to. He asserted that Truman was a communist. He really angered Eisenhower when he called Truman’s Secretary of State a communist. Eisenhower kept his opinions quiet while he campaigned, something he admitted that he regretted dearly.

As Eisenhower worked diligently on civil rights issues, McCarthy was a mad dog who said that 54 members of Congress were communists. This was at a time where relationships with Russia were breaking down and the US was locked in a cold war where each country emphasized its ability to blow the other one up with nuclear weapons.

This McCarthyism really appealed to Republican voters who were scared, especially those in the South. In fact, over half the country had a favorable opinion of McCarthy after Eisenhower was elected. McCarthy had no proof for any of his accusations. But that didn’t seem to matter to Republican voters. He made outlandish boasts about cleaning up Washington and he appeared strong and decisive. Sound familiar? McCarthyism is now defined as reckless and unfounded attacks on individuals by questioning their patriotism and character.

McCarthyism worked for Republicans! So McCarthy just kept on making false accusations throughout the fifties. He didn’t just stop at communism. At a time when homosexuality was illegal, he also accused prominent individuals in government, film, and other industries of being gay. His accusations had a devastating effect on the careers of those individuals. That’s why he did it!

This era became known as the Red Scare. And while most Americans were focused on Russia, McCarthy’s attacks on communists were very calculated for a very different purpose. Many prominent black leaders were members of the communist party. By associating communists with Russia and the possibility of being blown up by a nuclear bomb, McCarthy turned many Americans away from supporting the Civil Rights Movement.

The McCarthy Model of False Accusation is Followed Today

McCarthyism is still alive and well today. Many people think Donald Trump is a sociopath but I guarantee he knows McCarthy. Many of the tactics that Trump uses come straight out of McCarthy’s playbook – make false accusations (crooked Hillary), scare Americans (Democrats are destroying this country), make false promises (I will drain the swamps!), win political points (elected President).

Of course, Trump isn’t the first Republican to follow McCarthy. Conservative media hosts like Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs, Bill O’Reilly, and Tucker Carlson make their careers on McCarthyism. Their entire shows consist of making false accusations, spinning and lying about current events. When they attack Democrats, they even use the same vernacular, often accusing Democrats of being socialists and communists. Those labels still carry enough negative connations to do damage and win the Republicans votes.

The post Mad Dog McCarthy TAUGHT Mad Dog Trump appeared first on Alderin.

Corporations Force the Middle Class to Pay for Everything

A very common belief is that our country is struggling financially. If you asked a random individual, they’d probably agree that we simply don’t have enough money to fund the schools, fix the roads, feed the homeless, save the environment, provide healthcare, and everything else that’s needed.

In fact, we’ve accepted cut-backs as normal, especially when it comes to education. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, public investment in K-12 schools has declined dramatically in a number of states over the last decade. In 2015, 29 states were still providing less total school funding than they were in 2008!

So, what’s been cut due to this lack of funding? Band. Home Economics. Field Trips. Class sizes have gone up. Many sports programs have been canceled. So have afterschool education and activities.  Tenured teachers have been forced into early retirement. All at the expense of our children!

Education isn’t all that’s been cut.  While Americans are great at donating money and time to non-profits, our charity isn’t enough. Non-profits rely on Federal funding. In fact, about 80% of the typical non-profit budget comes from federal funding.

Did you know that, according to the Center for Non-Profits, Trump’s 2017 Tax Law cut funding to non-profits by 13 billion a year!

That’s less money for environmental programs, homeless programs, hospice, Meals on Wheels, SNAP, TNIF, and hundreds of other nonprofits.

The question is why are all these essential programs seeing the budget cut?  It’s not because America is broke.

IT’S BECAUSE OF CORPORATE GREED!!!!

This country has PLENTY of MONEY!!!!

Donald Trump lied to the American people when he said he needed to make these cuts because America was spending too much. The truth is he instead focused on tax cuts for the rich to bolster his own profits.

The belief this country is broke is TOTALLY WRONG. In fact, never in history has this country had MORE TAXABLE INCOME that’s not being taxed.

According to the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, when Donald Trump passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, he lowered the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. He also created massive tax loopholes. As a result, in 2018, 60 US corporations reported that they owed NO TAXES. Twice as many as 2017!

For example, Amazon made 10.8 billion in profits in 2018. Not only did they not pay the over 2 billion dollars that they owed, they actually claimed 128 million! Guess who paid that 128 million? You, me, and every other person who actually paid taxes! We paid Amazon to profit from us.

It gets worse. As I said, 60 corporations didn’t pay taxes. Here are some names you’ll recognize:

Netflix

Chevron

Eli Lilly

Deere and Co.

Delta Airlines

General Motors

FirstEnergy

Prudential Financial

Honeywall International

Halliburton

Whirlpool

IBM

Goodyear Tire

Occidental Petroleum

These 60 corporations made 79 billion in pre-tax income. With a 21% corporate tax rate, they were supposed to pay 16.4 billion in taxes. But, like Amazon, they took advantage of Trump’s loopholes and write-offs. Instead of paying what they owed, they instead claimed a net corporate tax rebate of 4.3 billion. (Center for Public Integrity)

Overall, revenue from corporate taxes dropped 39% in 2018 from 297 billion to 204 billion. That’s 93 billion in lost taxes!!!

Want money to fix schools, save the environment, feed the homeless, etc? Hold corporations accountable! Make them pay their taxes!

The post You Paid Taxes. Corporations Didn’t! Now Schools and Non-Profits Don’t Have Funding! appeared first on Alderin.

American Misery at Every Street Corner

I was stopped at a red light the other day in Portland, Oregon and I saw a homeless woman dancing on the sidewalk, but there was no joy in her movements. She would dance a few steps and then become very frustrated and slap herself in her face. She repeated this behavior several times while I watched.

It was clear to me that this woman was suffering from mental illness. Judging by her dirty and disheveled appearance, she was one of the 6000+ homeless people scattered on the streets of Portland (portlandoregon.gov).  I drive through Portland almost daily and tents and trash occupy virtually every median and city park area.  And all around these homeless camps are people driving cars, wearing clean clothing, just going about their lives as if all those homeless people were totally invisible or lived on another planet.

Portland Oregon illustrates a fundamental problem with the United States. There are 550,000+ homeless people in the US suffering just like the woman in Portland (whitehouse.gov).  Plus, there are an additional 34 MILLION Americans who are poor (making less than $25,750 per family of four), living in crappy housing in unsafe neighborhoods, not drinking clean water, or getting healthy food to eat (census.gov).  There is also racial disparity in those who are suffering: 18.8% of Blacks and 15.7% of Hispanics are poor while only 7.3% of white people are poor. (census.gov)

Our country is full of resources, more than enough for everyone to share and be happy, and yet misery, starvation, disease, anxiety, and depression are rampant!

All of this human suffering a product of a REALLY FUCKED UP SYSTEM.  A rich ruling class, corporations, and governments have claimed our country’s resources and use them for their own profits and for some reason we’ve all decided that this is okay. It’s just capitalism, or survival of the fittest, or some other fucked-up reasoning that allows us to drive past the homeless people and continue with our lives.

This has to stop!  I believe that every person, by virtue of being born in this country, should be guaranteed a basic Human Bill of Rights:

1) Safe and Adequate Housing

2) Nutritious Food and Clean Water

3) Reliable Healthcare

No, this book isn’t about changing our system to socialism or communism. So, you can take those labels and shove them up your ass. This book is about rediscovering the heart of America and eliminating the institutions that are heartless. In the following chapters, I will present a 12-point plan to fix America so that no one has to suffer anymore.

We cannot witness all of this suffering and keep lying to ourselves that we live in a great country. I believe that we owe the self-hating homeless woman more than what she’s getting. And I believe there are individuals and businesses who are taking too much. Read on to find out how we can level it all out and improve the lives of every American.

The post Finally! A PLAN to FIX AMERICA (That Doesn’t Suck): Part 1 appeared first on Alderin.

Return the Control of Police Officers to the Citizens Who Pay Them

Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times while walking back to his car by Officer Rusten Sheskey. George Floyd was killed by Officer Chauvin. Then there’s Breona Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, Tamir Rice, Antwon Rose…and 558 more black people killed by white police officers in the last year! Yes, white police officers killing black people is THAT prevalent. Protests with impassioned speeches are a good way to express anger and demand change. But we need to do MORE. We need  to audit the police and the unions that protect them.

Police Unions Out of Control

Complaints against police officers rarely lead to discipline. Officer Chauvin, who killed George Floyd, had 18 prior complaints against him but was never disciplined and still on the streets. 98% percent of all complaints against police officers are dismissed with the officer facing no discipline. In Chicago, between 2007 and 2015, 400 police shootings were investigated and only 2 led to officer discipline. The reason for this lack of accountability and discipline for police officers is collective bargaining agreements which lead to virtually untouchable police protections.

A 2018 Oxford study of the hundred largest American cities found that the extent of protections in police contracts was directly and positively correlated with police violence and other abuses against citizens. What this means is, when a police officer abuses his power, police unions protect him!

Would You Trust a Surgeon Who Has 18 Complaints Against Him?

Police officers are, arguably, just as important to our society as our doctors and surgeons. When a doctor, surgeon, or even a lawyer receives a complaint, he or she is subject to a review board where they are often disciplined and even lose their licenses. Really, it only takes one botched surgery for a surgeon to be out of a job. But when a police officer kills an unarmed black person, they get to keep working like nothing happened because of their police union protections. Then those officers statistically continue on commit more abuses.

I believe that most police officers do good work. I don’t believe every police officer on the streets is bad, poorly trained, etc. So I don’t think we need to completely reinvent our police force. What we need is accountability. So here is my proposal:

Nationwide Audit of Police Departments

We need to dissolve a police department’s collective bargaining powers to remove unjustified protections. Then we need to subject each American police department to a third party, citizen led, review agency. Once that agency is created, it needs to immediately suspend any police office with a prior complaint against them. Those complaints then need to be thoroughly investigated and the office disciplined or fired as needed.

This would amount to a nationwide audit of all police department and officers. Yes, this is a tremendous undertaking. But the continued destruction of minority lives, the planting of evidence, the forging of warrants, and all the other police abuses need to STOP IMMEDIATELY!

I imagine that this audit would also reveal major corruption in police department administrations not to mention corruption between police unions and the politicians that they support. This audit will be ugly but completely necessary.

Americans simply can’t trust their police departments anymore. If we don’t audit the police, police killings and other abuses will continue. Also, anger is this country is reaching a boiling point. If something major isn’t done soon, we might have a lot more than just a few pockets of rioting going on. We might have a civil war.

The post Save Black Lives! Audit the Police appeared first on Alderin.

REVIEW FROM JENNIFER LOUWES OF REEDSY DISCOVERY

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