I like to philosophy on our heritage as an amateur. I do that - mainly referring to our primitive roots - to try and understand and perhaps accept human behavior that seems disturbing to me.

I do think we have inherited a degree of tribalism genetically from our ancient ancestors, probably from when we were early hunter/gatherers and became social creatures. I would guess those groups were highly suspicious of any outsiders, particularly if they looked or behaved differently - as groups competed for food and security. And, I'm thinking back to times when there was no language, things were very brutal and humans struggled to survive.

If I'm right, then as our children instinctively socialize and identify with a group (as they do in most societies), then that would be when that tribal nature would become a part of their psychology and they may feel suspicion or even fear toward anyone "different".

After that point, then youth may become infused with specific racist tendencies that are learned from parents and peers in their environment. However, as logical and rational adults, we should see the dangers in this and reject that behavior - as most progressives do. Unfortunately, those raised in fearful conservative authoritarian groups usually bypass that phase and become life-long racists.

Just some thoughts to throw your way!......

It's a failure when we look at the history of this conflict which started as a local demonstration against Assad. Now we have a nation bombed to rubble, a half-million lives lost, and millions more displaced. Then, we also look at recent actions in Burma and Yemen, and further back at Iraq, the utter disregard for human life and security astounds me.

It's as if the international players consider it their right to intervene in any way they please to defend their "interests", and to hell with the interests of the affected nation's populace, existing structure and resources.

My knowledge of the U.N.'s structures is limited, but from what I know, I don't see a way to end these bloody cycles. As long as we have massive quantities of guns and bombs under the control of stupid, selfish psychopaths, it probably will never end.

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You hit the nail in the head. Most all right-wing talking points they parrot are supposed to be instant emotional or patriotic triggers, so as to leave you with no defense.

Your technique immediately quenches that trigger process by using a contrary emotional trigger (angst).....

Sprinkler systems for high-rise buildings are very expensive to install and maintain. That's probably why New York developers fought to avoid the installations, and they probably made compromise deals with the code people for installation of extra fire walls, automatic-closing doors, etc. to avoid sprinklers.

The primary reason they are so expensive is because of water head. If you were to supply one sprinkler head at the top of Trump Tower from a street level water source with no intermediate booster pump(s), it would require around 300psi of pressure - which is not practical. Therefore, booster pumps have to be installed in equipment rooms at various levels to achieve sufficient sprinkler head pressure at nominal flow. And, it may well be that an emergency electrical power supply (diesel or NG generators) for the pumps would be required as well.

Further, city water mains must be able to supply adequate volume for worse-case fire situations, and do so without completely starving the mains of water for other fire fighting needs.

In addition to all that, the codes always require stringent annual maintenance, inspection and testing of these systems, further adding to long-term cost.

It's very complex and requires a lot of design and planning to implement. Retrofitting an existing building is an even bigger mess. I'm just trying to provide an off-the-cuff perspective to help explain why Trump and other developers would fight against sprinkler codes.

* Chinese retaliatory import duty on soybeans, ethanol and pork.
* Farm equipment and machinery prices rising due to steel tariffs.
* Healthcare costs rising and will get worse, and many rural clinics are closing.
* In time, their taxes will go up substantially due to the Repug's tax bill.
* Farm worker costs will go up due to loss of immigrant labor.
* Borrowing costs may go up further, as FED raises rates.
(I'm sure several more can be added)

But man, how they love those MAGA ball caps..............

I'm sure the residents in that area have been terrorized by this event, and are probably now watching their neighbors with a suspicious eye.

But, this guy will probably never have the label terrorist attached to him. If he was dark skinned, an immigrant, a Muslim or even atheist, he would have terrorist on his gravestone.

and they're few and far between.

Thanks for your post, Steve. It got me thinking about my depression (treatment resistant) and you're right that we are still in the dark ages on this issue. And, most of the shrinks are nothing but pill pushers.

I am glad to see this get more into the sunshine, although I fear we will continue to be pushed into the margins of society and kept closeted.

The internet can be a double-edged sword for depression sufferers: it is an excellent source of valid info if we seek it in the right places, however it can be a disaster if we allow ourselves to become closeted within in it socially, as a means of escape. I'm working on that one now!

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Trump's minions act as if they believe anything he said on the campaign trail could be implemented by the executive. He in turn worsened those beliefs by showing his ass with his trite executive order signings.

Apparently, they are not aware we have government with three counter-balancing branches.

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The ultimate purpose is to demean and degrade any professionalism previously seen in our government, thereby decreasing our people's trust and dependence on government. All a part of "drowning it in a bathtub".

De-fund, degrade, demean, disassociate, then destroy.

Oh wait...that would be the wise, compassionate, long-term, minimal return thing to do.

I hear crickets from Wall Street.

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