Happy Birthday USA: May your childish tantrum soon be over

Happy Birthday USA:

May your childish tantrum soon be over.

May you grow up soon.

May you reclaim your sanity before it is too late.

May this man who is your President – at least for now – realize he is making America small. Making America small – for the first time. THAT is what Trump has accomplished in his first half year in office.

America has always been an aspirational nation. Through all its dysfunctions and incomplete and imperfect history, America has always counted on robust – if oftentimes ruckus – leadership.

Even in our darkest hours top leaders in the USofA have always conveyed a sense of optimism and a better future – unless they were deranged and on their way out of office (i.e.: Nixon.)

I will certainly celebrate this 4th. But, it will be a celebration as if your child was in the hospital in “stable, but serious” condition. Looking forward to tomorrow when things get better, but certainly not enjoying the moment.

Worse yet, it a self inflicted condition. Something that could have been avoided… Oh but some were so gullible! So easily swayed by visions of sugarplum sugarcoated with overly simplistic view of a very complicated world, and promises of a past greatness that never existed but for a select few.

The disarray, disrespect, distractions, and distrust that Donald Trump has managed to instill in our nation’s psyche is truly awful – and dangerous.

This man is simply a disgrace. An embarrassment. A lousy excuse for a president.

His complete and total lack of demeanor, of seriousness, of intellect is numbing – and dumbing America in the process.

He is giving real estate developers a bad name. Heck, he is giving game show hosts a bad name!

He might have made billions by dealing and negotiating in the world of business. But, he has proven without a shadow of a doubt that those skills are simply not transferrable to the world of governance, diplomacy, and foreign policy.

His epic Tweeter wars with the media is nothing short of sick – and dangerous to the core.

Trump has managed to make not only the US, but also the Office of the Presidency small.

Even in the rare moments I agree with him, his sneer comes across as disingenuous, dishonest, and disinterested.

DO YOU KNOW OF A SINGLE PERSON THAT ENTHUSIASTICALLY AND AUTHENTICALLY WOULD SAY “PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS THE MAKING OF A GREAT PRESIDENT. HE IS A WONDERFUL ROLE MODEL FOR OUR YOUTH”?!?

Would you not – minimally! – want to say that about our President this 4th of July? I certainly can’t… And that is too bad. Too sad.

Sure, 1/4 of America may be lulled by his dynamic lies and showman antics… And 1/4 of America may see him as a “useful idiot” to achieve their well intentioned policy objectives… So that leaves about 1/2 of America committed to #RESIST… And resist we will.

Happy Birthday America.

This too shall pass.

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It’s About Policy: Trump’s Top Ten Bad Policies

Forget the character. Forget the lies. Forget the allegations of obstruction of justice.

Forget the tweets. Forget the insults. Forget the craziness.

Let’s focus on policy.

The Trump administration is swiftly enacting policies that many Americans – dare I say the majority of Americans? – oppose.

Most of these policies are intended to thank a particular segment of his political ‘base’… And, that is understandable. That is how traditional politics plays out.

Most of these policies seem to be about ‘shock and awe’:  Intentional ‘disruption’ to the way things were going so as to leave no doubt that he intends to take the country in a different direction.

The general thrust of that direction seems clear:

  • An America that is more nationalistic than global;
  • An America that cares more about the immediate future than the far away future;
  • An America that emphasizes the needs of the traditional white ethnic majority and focuses less on the needs of the minorities – be them ethnic, sexual orientation, faith, or limited physical or mental ability. (Unless, of course, you are a minority group that supported him; i.e.: the decreasing number of old school Cubans in Miami.)

Regardless of whether you agree with these policy directions or not, they are – except the ones that are illegal – legitimate policy options for America. Some of us may think they are bad policies for America. But, they remain legitimate (except when they are illegal.)

Except when they are illegal, they are pragmatic, practical, and aim to capture the gut, if not the heart, of his core political base. These are the folks that feel that government has for too long focused on special needs populations. They feel government has relegated its responsibility and turned against the very people that founded this nation. These policies are aggressively defensive, and take a “circle the wagons” posture. These policies represent, in many ways, the last gasp of the shrinking demographic group that feels their country is being taken away from them… (Think White South Africa before the end of Apartheid…)

However. They are still in power. And they are playing for keeps. They will do what it takes to stay in power as long as they can… It is only natural… (Think the Chavistas in Venezuela…)

What are we who oppose this direction to do? #RESIST, or course!

One way to #resist is to throw the legal book at him. That’s our right. Fight him in the courts; investigate any allegations of wrong doing… All of that is fine… But, let’s be careful that while we are protesting, litigating, and investigating him, his team is not pulling fast ones by us, enacting new policies that advance his – and the Conservative Republicans – agenda… Let’s be careful lest we wake up one day and find that government sanctioned practices are in place which violate our core values and there’s little we can do about it but wait till the next election cycle…

There are 10 such bad policy shifts that come to mind… I know there are 100 others, but these are my top ten most dangerous policy shifts of the Trump Administration:

  1. Immigration Raids: Our Latino community is scared. ICE raids are increasing. (Good people are being deported.)
  2. The Wall: The Request for Proposal to build it is now let. An idea to fund it by placing solar panels on top of the wall is taking shape. Some version of this will happen. (The optics remain horrible.)
  3. Healthcare Intent and Process: Watch out! The Republican Senate may be in the verge of passing a sweeping law without as much as a single hearing. (And millions of poor Americans will be left without insurance.)
  4. Military Build Up in the Dark: Remember the days when we knew how any troops were being deployed? No more. Secrecy is the new game. (We will have to wait until we are counting caskets as they arrive back home before we know where we are fighting.)
  5. Travel Ban: Religious discrimination. Luckily the courts are working on this one. (But, tourism to America has dipped over 10% just because of the confusion and threats.)
  6. Pulling Out of the Paris Accord: This is the poster child of shortsighted policy. (Just ask folks in Miami Beach, New Orleans, or the Great Lakes area if climate change is real or not.)
  7. Dodd Frank Reversal: Some may think this one is only for the policy wonks. It is not. Nothing short of a plot to help the rich. (When a new financial crisis erupts, we are going to wish this reversal had never happened.)
  8. Misguided Abortion Limits – The Mexico Gag Rule: No funding for any institution or government that funds abortion in any way. On the surface a good thing. (In reality: Abortion will skyrocket as the poor will have no access to constructive family planning or prenatal and early childhood health care.)
  9. Cuba Policy Reversal: This one is personal. Limiting people-to-people exchange is a counterproductive, old policy that will fail. (Trump is simply handing Cuba back to the Russians.)
  10. Budget List of Agencies to be Cut: Budget is policy. The list of what Trump proposes be cut is truly the most telling piece of work that clearly demonstrates his intentions. (See the list here.)

These ten policies – and I know there are 100 more like them – do NOT make for a Great America… These policies makes for a meaner, leaner, smaller, shrinking, paranoid America.

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Budget is policy: Agencies to be eliminate under Trump’s proposed budget

Just for the record. Just for history’s sake.

Budget is policy.

Beyond the rhetoric, beyond the outrageous lies, beyond the talking heads: Want to see (not hear!) where President Trump stands on social programs? Then, look at this proposed budget.

Here is the list of agencies he is proposing to eliminate:

(The following list shows independent agencies first, then multi-agency cuts, and then is organized by department name alphabetically. Under each department name, the largest cuts in terms of funding are shown first. The savings figures show the administration’s estimates of how much would be saved in the coming fiscal year, unless otherwise noted.)

 Independent Agencies

• Corporation for National and Community Service — $958 million

• Corporation for Public Broadcasting — $454 million

• Legal Services Corporation — $351 million

• Institute of Museum and Library Services — $207 million

• Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation — $148 million

• Appalachian Regional Commission — $119 million

• National Endowment for the Arts — $119 million

• National Endowment for the Humanities — $106 million

• US Trade and Development Agency — $48 million

• African Development Foundation — $22 million

• Delta Regional Authority — $22 million

• Overseas Private Investment Corporation — $22 million

• Inter-American Foundation — $17 million

• US Institute of Peace — $16 million

• Denali Commission — $8 million

• Northern Border Regional Commission — $7 million

• Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars — $4 million

• Chemical Safety Board — $2 million

• Securities and Exchange Commission’s Reserve Fund — $200 million (over five years); $450 million (over 10 years)

 Multi-Agency

• Repeal and replace Obamacare — $15 billion (over five years); $250 billion (over 10 years)

• Allocations to the Housing Trust Fund and Capital Magnet Fund — $1.043 billion (over five years); $2.846 billion (over 10 years)

• Workers’ Compensation (WC) Reverse Offset — $39 million (over five years); $164 million (over 10 years)

 Agriculture

• Rural water and wastewater loan and grant program — $498 million

• McGovern-Dole International Food for Education program, which aims to reduce food insecurity — $201 million

• Rural Business and Cooperative Service programs — $95 million

• Rural single family housing direct loan program — $61 million

• Interest Payments to Electric and Telecommunications Utilities — $685 million (over five years); $1.377 billion (over 10 years)

• Rural Economic Development Program — $477 million (over 5 or 10 years)

• Eliminate Harvest Price Option for Crop Insurance — $5.102 billion (over five years); $11.923 billion (over 10 years)

• Eliminate Small Programs — $1.402 billion (over five years); $3.077 billion (over 10 years)

 Commerce

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grant and education programs, including Sea Grant, the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, Coastal Zone Management Grants, the Office of Education, and the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund — $262 million

• Economic Development Administration, which provides small grants — $221 million

• Federal funding for Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, which subsidizes state centers that provide consulting services to small- and medium-size manufacturers — $124 million

• Minority Business Development Agency, which promotes minority business entrepreneurship — $26 million

 Corps of Engineers

• Divest federal government of the Washington Aqueduct, which is the wholesale water supply system for Washington, D.C.; Arlington County, Virginia; and parts of Fairfax County, Virginia — $119 million (over five or 10 years)

 Education

• Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants program — $2.345 billion

• 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, which supports before- and after-school programs as well as summer programs — $1.164 billion

• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program, which delivers need-based student financial aid — $732 million

• Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants — $277 million

• Comprehensive Literacy Development Grants — $190 million

• Strengthening Institutions — $86 million

• International Education and Foreign Language Studies Domestic and Overseas Programs, which are designed to strengthen the capability and performance of American education in foreign languages and international studies — $72 million

• Impact Aid Payments for Federal Property — $67 million

• Teacher Quality Partnership — $43 million

• Account Maintenance Fee Payments to Guaranty Agencies — $443 million (over 5 or 10 years)

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness — $10.213 billion (over 5 years); $27.471 billion (over 10 years)

• Subsidized Loans — $14.297 billion (over five years); $38.873 billion (over 10 years)

 Energy

• Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy — $316 million

• Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility — $61 million

• Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program and Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program, which are involved in disruptive energy research and development and innovative technologies — $21 million

• Repeal Borrowing Authority for Western Area Power Administration — $3.99 billion (over five years); $4.425 billion (over 10 years)

• Divest transmission assets of the Power Marketing Administrations, which include Southwestern Power Administration, Western Area Power Administration, and Bonneville Power Administration — $3.583 billion (over five years); $5.512 billion (over 10 years)

 Environmental Protection Agency

• Geographic programs — $427 million

• Energy Star and voluntary climate programs — $66 million

 Health and Human Services

• Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program — $3.384 billion

• Community Services Block Grant — $714 million

• Health professions and nursing training programs — $403 million

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality — $333 million

• Social Services Block Grant — $8.085 billion (over five years); $16.47 billion (over 10 years)

• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Contingency Fund — $2.999 billion (over five years); $6.039 billion (over 10 years)

 Homeland Security

• Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis Program — $190 million

• Transportation Security Administration Law Enforcement Grants — $45 million

 Housing and Urban Development

• Community Development Block Grant program — $2.994 billion

• HOME Investment Partnerships Program, Choice Neighborhoods — $948 million

• Choice Neighborhoods program — $125 million

• Indian Community Development Block Grant — $60 million

• Self-help Homeownership Opportunity Program — $56 million

 Interior

• Abandoned Mine Land Grants — $90 million

• Heritage Partnership Program — $19 million

• National Wildlife Refuge Fund — $13 million

• Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act unobligated balances — $230 million (over 5 or 10 years)

• Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act Repeal — $1.685 billion (over 5 years); $3.56 billion (over 10 years)

• Repeal Enhanced Geothermal Payments to Counties — $17 million (over five years); $37 million over 10 years)

 Justice Department

• State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which reimburses states for costs of incarcerating certain criminal undocumented immigrants — $210 million

Labor

• Senior Community Service Employment Program, which aims to transition low-income, unemployed seniors to unsubsidized jobs — $434 million

• Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Training — $82 million

• Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Susan Harwood training grants — $11 million

 NASA

• Five Earth Science Missions — $191 million

• Office of Education — $78 million

State Department, USAID, Treasury International Programs

• Development Assistance account — $2.509 billion

• P.L. 480 Title II Food Aid — $1.713 billion

• Global Climate Change Initiative and Green Climate Fund — $1.59 billion

• Earmarked appropriations for nonprofits: The Asia Foundation and East-West Center — $34 million

 Transportation

• National Infrastructure Investments, TIGER program, which awards funding for projects — $499 million

 Treasury

• Global Agriculture and Food Security Program — $43 million

• New grants to Community Development Financial Institutions — $210 million

To see other aspects of Trump’s budget proposal, click here and here.

#RESIST we must.

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Getting to a reasonable budget: It’s time to work around him, not with him

… the President’s proposed budget challenges us to revisit some very basic assumptions regarding the role of government…

At one end of the spectrum is the position that government exists to provide principally and primarily – if not exclusively – for our common defense and security. At the other end of spectrum is the position that government has a primal role in providing for our common good and a responsibility to take care of the poor.

Both of these positions are valid and merit thoughtful consideration.

However: Neither extreme seems to have workout too well in real life situations. The first has led to chaotic cultural disarray and rampant uncontrollable poverty – think the U.S. before the Great Depression. The other is infected with and leads to inefficiency and mismanagement of epic proportions – think any communist country before the fall of the Berlin Wall – or Cuba today. Both extreme lead to authoritarian systems.

They survive only when information is controlled and the few get richer at the expense of the masses. In rampant capitalism the masses are conned into the addiction of the opium of entertainment, materialism and extreme religion. In centralist communism the masses are forced fed the opium of false collectivism, acceptance of scarcity, and embracement of extreme ideology.

Beyond the philosophical debates, here we are in the good U.S. of A debating a proposed budget submitted by the President that would increase military defense at the expense of all else. Proposed cuts to social service program run deep. The examples are endless. Deep cuts to food stamps; deep cuts to government funded help for seniors and the disabled, on and on… All in the name of efficiency, streamlining a bloated federal bureaucracy, and resetting our priorities.

And, much of it explained away by alleging that there is waste in the existing system. (Some of us inside the system would argue that it is not so much waste as redundancy and inherent inefficiencies – if measured by private sector standards.)

It is as if Republicans want to shine a headlight on the bad apples (the few cases of voter fraud, the few folks taking advantage of the system), while Democrats want to discuss the plight of those relatively few disenfranchised at the fringes (the transgendered, the disabled.) The Republicans have little patience – and are simply do not care to pay the price – to accommodate the needs of these special populations. The Democrats have little patience for the idea that helping the rich will eventually help the poor.

The Republicans want the government out of the charity business. The Democrats want the government to steward the charity business.

> Can a robust charitable system replace government assistance? Can – in the USA – charities exist without being exempt from paying taxes, including the exemption from taxes of their vast physical plants and land?

> Why are we subsidizing the best off among us – homeowners – with the mortgage deduction?

> How come some believe that alleviating the tax burden of corporations will ‘lift all boats’, thinking that the private sector can invest funds in economic growth better than the government can distribute tax revenues through social programs?

Heavy questions… Unfortunately any attempt at a sensible debate in Congress on these philosophical / governance topics will be drowned by partisan memes, simplistic headlines, and the growing complete and total distrust of the capacity of our elected officials the govern, the growing complete and total distrust of the capacity of the press to report facts, and – most dangerous – the growing complete and total distrust of those other Americans that don’t think like us.

Ah, but do not despair! There remains a critical mass of folks – at all sides of the issues – that are willing to discern, debate, dialogue, and discuss… Most of these folks already agree on one thing: This President is not only a disruptor, but is also increasingly dysfunctional… His credibility is shot. His – and his team’s – capacity to lead is shattered.

We gotta work around him, not with him.

#RESIST

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America the Ugly?

Oh the irony and the hypocrisy of it all!

Rex Tillerson, Exxon’s ex CEO (and supposed ‘Secretary of State’ of the United States of America – yeah, right) just lectured Iran’s leaders about freedom of assembly and freedom of the press. He did this while standing next to Saudi Arabia’s leaders after signing a deal whereas the US sold them $110B worth of military equipment.

The USA just showed its true colors yet again. Values be dammed. Moral highroads just hit the gutter. A new low…

Does ANYBODY care that the first Country our illustrious President chooses to officially visit has a human rights record WORSE than Russia or Iran – or Cuba for that matter?

 “[Saudi Arabia] does not allow for the existence of political parties, trade unions, or independent human rights groups. One cannot worship any religion other than Islam in public. And public gatherings, even if they are peaceful, are prohibited.”… More

But hey, we just sold them billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment – and they have lots of oil… (Please spare me any reference to how ‘Obama was their friend too.’ That does not make this visit any less hypocritical.)

Here we go again. Seen this movie before: Arm our (supposed) friends because we are fighting a common (supposed) enemy – an enemy we helped create – and then in the not too distant future those same arms are used against us… Hmmm…. Who wins with this approach? You guessed it! The arms makers and the arms dealers… Who suffers? Everyone else.

(Are you watching Exxon stock while all of this is going on? Did you know that Trump registered eight companies   in Saudi Arabia in 2016?)

In the good ol’ days most of America’s foreign policy was guided by some semblance (at least in appearance) of aspiration; of moral leadership; of values driven endeavors… Nah. No more… Let’s just make sure we keep access to that oil – and Trump Enterprises prosper while at it.

Now foreign policy becomes transactional. ‘You buy weapons, invest some of that money in U.S. corporate world, make a few rich friends richer, create international chaos so we can sell more weapons, and the cycle starts all over again.’

=> No thought to how different a world it would be if we invested in other countries’ hospitals and schools instead of bullets and bombs.

=> No recognition that by being the world’s weapon producer and dealer we can guarantee only the establishment of order by force rather than goodwill.

=> No attempt at conveying expectations of respect and honor for civil discourse and pluralism because we have shattered all expectations that we will do that in our own land.

America is fast becoming a laughingstock. The Ugly American is rearing its very ugly head.

America the beautiful; America the graceful; America the caring is harder and harder to find… And it’s only being a few months.

Welcome to TrumpWorld. #resist we must.

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The intersection, balancing, and tension between Individual and collective well being

So much news coming at you so fast and so many places to follow it all!  It is becoming increasingly impossible to focus on any one singular issue and churn its deep meaning until a consensus, general conclusion emerges.

We are bombarded with not a trickle but a firehose of pertinent, important news tidbits followed by countless hours of talking heads repeating a slight variation of the same headline until another one shows up; and so they all move to the new headline, leaving the old one in the dust, inconclusive and without resolution.

It is challenging to make individual sense of it all; and infinitively more challenging to know what it all means to the collective well being…

Surely we could look the other way. Surely we could say it does not impact us individually. Surely we could disregard it all as ‘inside the beltway (Washington, D.C.) speak’.

Surely we could do for the collective good what we can, focusing on our traditional networks, friends, and families; helping out with our own homelands of yesteryear and favorite unfortunate spots of today as if nothing has changed, as if today is no different than the recent past.

After all, we are all so busy, right? We all have lives to live; sports to watch; events to attend; rituals in which to participate; and a future to plan for.

… all of this murkiness will eventually play out. All the craziness will settle down. Impact on our individual, personal life will be minimal…

… there are lots of people that know much more than we do taking care of our collective well-being. They know best. They will do their dealing and wheeling to benefit themselves and we will continue existing on the crumbs. That’s just the way it has always been and will always be…

And surely some else is calling the politicians, writing the e-mails, and attending the rallies. I don’t really have to do all of that. I am busy with my individual life. America has been through much worse turbulent times.

I will just tune it out. Stop watching the news. Focus on the family.

Until.

Until your pregnant friend cannot access insurance because pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition, no longer covered except at high costs.

Until your niece who thought she had bought into the social compact guaranteeing that after working for a non-profit for 10 years her $120,000 student debt be forgiven, but now that is not so anymore.

Until vacationing in National Parks becomes impossible because of lack of staff and appropriate funding.

Until real news becomes impossible to access because of a combination of self imposed censorship and the government Orwellian tactics.

Until you wake up to realize that the tax system has been simplified to favor the 1% and screw the rest of us.

Until world leaders say out loud what they have been sensing recently: The political leadership in the US is laughable and simply does not merit respect – or trust.

Until crime spikes as a backlash to the top down law-and-order mandates and practices.

Until economic activity begins to be directly impacted by a serious labor shortage easily averted with reasonable immigration reform.

Until our children grow up being taught to question the legitimacy of climate change; and Canada warms up so we all simply move there to escape this madness.

Fearmongering? No. A reality check.

Individually #resist so we can collectively #survive

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Desperately seeking positive vibes – yet nada in sight

Desperately seeking positive vibes – yet nada in sight

===

I am by nature a compromiser. I want to find common ground.

For me, diplomacy rules. I can easily accept our disagreements and focus on where we agree.

I like to find where our agendas intersect and work on that ‘sweet spot’.

I don’t mind ‘sleeping with the enemy’, or ‘being in the belly of the beast’.

Of course I have my values, my principles. These drive me. They define me… I could say some are non-negotiable, but that implies an intransigent position that is not helpful… I’d rather say “let us respect each other, understand where we are coming from, and focus the headlight on matters of mutual interest.”

Throughout my life I’ve dealt with plenty of folks with whom I vehemently disagree – in small ways and in big ways.

  • I grew up in the South. I had to watch Dukes of Hazards and picnic in the shadow of Stone Mountain’s carving of the Confederate heroes.
  • I’ve returned to Cuba. I had to swallow hard in the face of pervasive totalitarian Castroism propaganda everywhere.
  • My views regarding where we need to focus regarding abortion puts me at odds with some fellow Catholics and does not satisfy some of my fellow Democrats.

Yet, I have friends – very good friends – in the Deep South; I remain in dialogue with Cubans that are part of the Castro regime; and, I pray with pro-life Catholics and do civic work with pro-choice Democrats.

I have made a living out of co-existing with people with whom I have major disagreements… And, that is a good thing. I am thankful for that.

But this Trump thing is giving me a challenge that I have yet to conquer.

  • I am trying – really REALLY trying – to find something – ANYTHING – positive and worthy of working towards in the Trump agenda.
  • I am trying – really REALLY trying – to understand this man, Trump; his style, his way of communicating, his matter of speech.
  • I am trying – really REALLY trying – to identify that issue I can say ‘ah, I can buy into that; yes, I will enthusiastically support that’.

But nada yet. Nothing.

  • I am willing to separate the message from the messenger. I don’t have to like Trump to work with his folks. (I surely do not ‘like’ Raul Castro, yet I am willing to work with his folks.)
  • I am willing to dispel the past and focus on the future. I don’t want to re-litigate the campaign venom. (I don’t need to know how many slaves your ancestors owned or how you’ve benefitted from white privilege to work with you.)
  • I am willing to set aside fundamental questions. I don’t want to get bogged down on whether life begins at conception or when there is viability. (Yet, we can work together on prenatal care.)

100 days into this man’s presidency, and I have found zero, zilch – NADA – in common. Not a single issue I can proudly embrace. Not a single policy I can enthusiastically support. Not a single action I can say unequivocal ‘yes’ to.

(Not to say anything about his character… Can’t stand it. Can hardly listen to him when he speaks. His insulting, demeaning, incomplete sentences remain impossible to comprehend… He has managed to piss off Canadians, for crying out loud! How do you do THAT?!?)

… maybe someday that will change … maybe he will focus on infrastructure, reduce the tax burden of ordinary folks, or stick to providing healthcare regardless of pre-existing condition…

But, for now, #RESIST I will.

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The Revenge of the Nerds – and the Geeks; and the Scientists!

 

I truly never ever thought it’d get to this.

How can you possibly piss of the vast majority of (the mostly) introvert, quiet, patient, good meaning scientist community?!?

What is it about this President that nerds and geeks felt there was no option but to march against his total disregard for facts, analysis, and deliberate decision making?!?

The embracement of pseudo-science, token appointments of a handful of doctors that have fringe views, and wacko statements by this President has met with a visceral response from the people that have provided decades – no, centuries! – of scientific research and clear unambiguous fact-based conclusions.

The signs at the March For Science yesterday – Earth Day, April 22, 2017 – spoke for themselves. Below is their text, purposely void of the pictures to better convey their meaning. (You can see the pictures here.)

  • Back off, man, I’m a scientist!
  • Science saves
  • Ideology is never more important than facts
  • Science matters
  • Don’t tread on me – Science NOT Silence
  • No science, No beer
  • Marching for her (Earth)
  • Science > Stupidity
  • I may not like this rain, but it is a scientific fact
  • There is no planet B
  • You know you fucked up when scientists are marching
  • We matter because science matters
  • Not bad, huh? For some immigrants (the Manhattan Project, GE, Google, Tesla, Yay-Z)
  • Science is not a liberal conspiracy
  • Valid data = Good policy
  • End data censorship!
  • Science – Because Tweets are not peer reviewed
  • Science – Because you can’t just make up shit
  • Only a dictator would censor science
  • Keep on drinking the snake oil! Trump’s presidential snake oil: From the pipelines to you, as seen on Fox

(Again, you can see the pictures here.)

This is madness. Well, #resist we will.

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The White House Amateur Hour: It’d be funny if it wasn’t so serious

I just dont know weather to laugh or cry.

This President of ours is truly a handful.

His demeanor, his team, his whole Presidency is turning out to be quite a joke – if it wasn’t for the real damage being caused.

》Claiming Hitler did not use chemical weapons – during Passover, no less.

》Using up 49 Raytheon made Tomahawk missiles to punish Syria. The MOAB in Afghanistan. Raytheon stocks go up. Don’t know if Trump owns any; his taxes are still a secret.

》Exxon negotiating with Russia on behalf of the USA… I guess that’s ok, since corporations are people, right?

》Slashing the federal bureaucracy. A good thing, right? Except that draconian recommended personnel cuts would add up but to a tiny fraction of any meaningful budget reductions while causing massive disruptions in public good programs.

》Giving credence to pseudo science. Questioning efficiency of vaccines; questioning climate change science. May play well with the conservative base, but makes for horrible policies.

And that is just in the last week… on and on and on… with no end in sight.

(Oh, and how about NO White House Correspondant Dinner participation; NO March Madness Bracket; and, NO Easter Egg Hunt – oops. Correction. There will be a White House Easter Egg Hunt. Woohoo!)

> This is not being disruptive to establish a new order.
> This is not being strategic to set on a new path.
> This is not being strong through show of force.

This is being childish, unprofessional, impulse driven, amateurish. This is no way to run a country.

> The damage being done will not so easily be reversed.
> The trust being broken will not so easily be re-established.
> The hurt being caused will not so easily be healed.

Four more years of this crazyness is four years too many.

We – the people – may be able to divert some of this madness; stop some of the most agregious initiatives; protest our way to policy.

> But will it be too late?
> Will irreversibly damage be done?
> Will we reach the point of no return?

Surely we could revert back to our cocoon position of individual self preservation, caring only for that which impacts us personally…

But to too many of us that is not an option.

#resist we will.

Even if the results are not readily evident, personally gratifying, or immediately fulfilling.

#resist we must.

Of course, taking time to smell the roses, enjoying family, and rooting for our team…

And, of course, never ever losing our sense of humor and capacity to laugh even during these most serious times.

#resist always.

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Danger, Danger!

Trump’s reactionary, bullying, simplistic, national narcissist approach to governing might have played well in the campaign trail but is proving to be right down dangerous – and possibly worse. Six examples:

[1] Emphasis on law and order policing rather than community policing will exasperate the built-up anti-police sentiments in disenfranchised black neighborhoods, leading to more crime.

[2] Insulting Latinos, yanking away undocumented parents of U.S. born children, and indiscriminate I.C.E. operations will convince many youth that the government is against them and they will begin to see gang membership as a real alternative.

[3] Branding a whole religion terrorist destroys decades of authentic efforts by American Muslims to become integral contributors to the American culture; and, will inevitably lead to increase in rare reactionary violence.

[4] Avoiding the plight of millions devastated by hunger and famine in Africa because it has to be ‘America First’ will only lead to more chaos and instability in that continent.

[5] Playing footsie in Syria and being cozy with Russia does nothing to alleviate the real human tragedy going on in that part of the world and instead de-stabilizes the region even more.

[6] Discarding diplomatic protocol and making willy-nilly comments/Tweets about the real dangerous nuclear North Korea does nothing to create peace through strength and rather may lead to the unthinkable.

Does he not get that governing is different from campaigning?

Does he not get that diplomacy is very different from real estate development?

Does he not get that reality is different from reality t.v.?

(Placating those that are with you no matter what may feel good. I guess he is counting on running the Country with 1/4 of the population fanatically with him and 1/4 tactically with him… I guess he is counting that the 1/2 against him will never tip the scale… After all, look at Maduro. He is still in power, is he not?)

This President’s decision making process seems to be the antithesis of what decades of common sense constructive governance has discovered. While far from perfect and very incomplete, we have seen over the last decades a movement towards sensible, inclusive, more democratic governance. We have seen that certain approaches to decision making leads to more sustainable, long term stability and security. Some key characteristics of these successful approaches include being:

  • Deliberate
  • Thoughtful
  • Discerning
  • Critical
  • Consultative
  • Scientific
  • Data driven

We’ve seen these approaches leading to actions that are:

  • Firm – and measured
  • Decisive – and respectful
  • Definitive – and explainable

And now we get Trump. An erratic, unstable, fanatical, ‘deal-maker’ that is putting us in a much more dangerous world internally – and internationally.

This is no longer political. It is increasingly becoming a matter of safety, security, and survival.

Not to be a doomsayer, but it is looking increasingly like by this hot summer we will be living in a much more dangerous world; a world in which we will see:

  • crime in black communities increase;
  • a resurgence of Latino gangs;
  • terrorist attacks by misguided Muslims;
  • more American troops in Syria;
  • Africa in more disarray; and,
  • a war in the Korean Peninsula.

(Oh, and did I mention a deteriorating environment?)

God, I hope and pray I am wrong.

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