Captain Jim's Green Flash Sightings

2016 Election For the last seven years, the President of the United States has worked with unprecedented opposition to his initiatives, and the American electorate has stood by and accepted the dysfunctional way our national government has been doing the peoples’ business, or not doing the peoples’ business. Now there are divides and ideological differences, but in the end the business of governing has to go forward, smoothly and reliably. The opposition raises their issues, voices, and argues their points; but the imperative is to get the job done, find the compromise and common ground that allows the certainty that the programs are funded and the bills paid. At least that is what I expect of these duly elected representatives. In the coming election, I do not see a candidate that if he or she were to win is going to be able to change the way Congress functions for the better. The entire Republican field is campaigning in undoing the ACA, imposing Christian values as protected...

What will be the prospects for Americans this time next year, 2017? Another year has passed and we are a world with a full plate of issues and concerns. It is a long list. Climate Change, Immigration, Muslim fundamentalism and thuggery – ISIS and al Qaeda, IRAQ and Afghanistan US military commitments, China flexing its military muscles and expanding its influence in the Western Pacific, and the list goes on. Internally, the 2016 Presidential Campaign has provided convincing evidence that national level politics have gone awry in a big way. Politicians making personal attacks and outrageous statements, and winning in the national polls. There is no civil discourse among the opposing sides. The entire run-up to the primaries has centered on Donald Trump and his vision of American greatness and the general and often specific unworthiness of his rivals and opponents. Generally, concerned Americans are voicing their disgust with Congress for not doing its business. There is no...