Nine Shift

February Report: New Green Deal

Top story of the month: New Green Deal.

Old people say there's no ROI in saving the human race, informing their grandchildren they won't make it past 2200.
Sorry, kids, it's just too expensive for the world's richest country to save the human race.  

But Gen Y is not buying the cost. They are seeing the benefits.  
The New Green Deal, like all movements initiated by young people (civil rights, peace, women's, gay, etc.) is said to be just not practical.  But don't be surprised if Gen Y indeed does save the earth.  

Trash while you can.   Photo: Kriket, one of the boys calling Julie "Mom" is visiting us in Puerto Rico. Here he is at the southwest tip of the beautiful island, an island that has outlawed plastic bags. Step one. 

February Report: Democracy Shows Life

This month democracy showed some strength and Americans got needed hope.

-Conservative Chief Justice Roberts seems bent on maintaining democracy.
-Big business, Congress, American people seem to be willing to fight for Democracy.
-President Trump gets called an asset of  Russia’s Putin for the first time.
-Department of Justice seems like it won't be shut up.
-Some Republicans also coming out for democracy.
-Bottom line, we get hopeful.

February Report: War Against Boys

A few more positive stories about boys  this month.
Society still firmly anti-boy and  the young men are still dying.
One of the boys we mentor/help just lost his best high school friend to despair. (suicide by intentional overdose). So yeah, we got some skin in this game.

HARD TO DENY
-Some feel-good stories about boys and young men saving lives, delivering babies, buying carnations for all the girls and teachers at their high school, and more.  The stories are always happening, but seemed to get some positive headlines this month. 
-The research keeps coming.  More research released supporting gender discrimination against boys in violation of Title IX. 

STEM CAMP LAWSUIT
-Watch out sexist colleges.  The first lawsuit against all-girl STEM camps, with boys not allowed and no alternative (violation!) was filed.-African-American boys, discriminated against on both race and sex, receive a little attention. Will be harder for the feminists to defend discriminating against black boys.
-The right wing college students have identified discrimination against boys in school as an issue. Uh oh. 
-Our ParentsOfBoys Facebook page off to a great start, with 90 followers already.

 

February Report: Trains

Here's our February Report: Trains. We move closer to the end of our story. Society enters fully into the new economic age of the Knowledge Society of the 21st Century, and the countdown begins. 

World.  Trains are gaining on cars.  
-Eurostar is adding another train from London to the continent, promoting the train's 80% less pollution as a way to save the human race (it is).
-The Netherlands announced a 2040 plan to connect its 9 biggest cities with trains leaving every 10 minutes.

USA.  Falling further behind, but still some positive action.
-Amtrak ridership sets another record.
-California does a strategic retreat but still will do the high speed train from LA to SF, they just aren’t saying so.
- The New Green Deal sets U.S. sights on high speed rail between big cities located 300-500 miles apart. We just need 50 routes. The 100 biggest cities generate 80% of the nation’s productivity.
-The New Green Deal prompts the usual wrong arguments against trains, but at least some headlines generated.

Photo: Eurostar train. 

ParentsOfBoys created, new Facebook page Gets Good response

A new citizens organization is being planned by myself and co-author Julie Coates called ParentsOfBoys.org

And our new Facebook page at  parentsandboys is generating a lot of interest, likes, followers already. It is just two weeks old.

With 100,000 young men probably dying again this year, same number as died in 2018 from the despair of being denied college, the issue is on our minds. We've been to the emergency room once in the last year (the boy lived) and Julie talked another kid out of suicide, so it is also personal.  Thanks to our early readers and supporters.

 

Could this be the Gen Y Revolt We Predicted?

This week AOC is getting a lot of support for her publicizing efforts to save the planet.  Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is the 20something congresswoman from New York who seems to be representing her generation as well as her district.

It comes after the BBC reported last week that the environmental activism by Gen Y is approaching a revolt world wide. And it comes during the polar vortex minus 50 degree cold weather, a result of climate change. 

Meanwhile, Presidential candidate Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks, says that it costs too much to save the planet. The ROI just isn't there, he maintains.  If elected, he will appoint his grandchildren just to shut down earth in 50 years. 

STEM Camp Girls Outraged

Millions of STEM Camp female graduates were outraged this week not to have been given the opportunity to discover the Apple Facetime bug, complaining about lack of access to their parents' basements and just not being told there was a bug.

Last week 14 year old Grant Thompson found the bug, which allows people to spy on each other without the other person even knowing. And his wonderful Mom, Michele, a lawyer, supported him and spent over a week trying to get through to Apple to tell them about it. 

Yeah boys, yeah moms.  While there was a 20% chance, or less, that a girl would discover the bug, the fact remains that a boy discovered it, once again.  Males have higher spatial ability than females; and they inherently challenge and try to break everything to discover a better way.