MANY LAYERS IN AMERICA

 

Dear George,

Was everyday life simpler Mr. Washington when you took office in the 18th Century? Plumbing was certainly simpler because there wasn't any--though chamber pots under the bed and a trip through snow or rain to the outhouse might have seemed complicated. 

But here in the 21st Century there seems to be a surplus of stuff 'we-the-people' really don't need making aspects of daily life more cumbersome than convenient. 

Though I'm not about to give up my indoor plumbing the technology that harnessed electricity--seems to have compelled certain compulsive people to sit up nights to create more and more--for its own sake. We can't live without toilet paper, but we can certainly live without Alexa or Siri--and likely should for our own personal private security...

*STREAMLINE: If it's a truism that "less is more" then let us examine the proposed additional staff of 86,000+ IRS employees. [Though, from where these additional people will be sourced is a puzzle since employers everywhere across this nation are short staffed and 'Now Hiring'.] 

Anyway...Simplify the U.S. tax code to a flat rate system -and- completely update the entire IRS computer technology infrastructure [software-hardware-telephones] into the 21stCentury--before it's over... 

In 1913 the U.S. Federal Tax Code pamphlet was 4 pages! Count on one hand with a digit left over! Those four pages included forms and instructions! [Sometimes I really hate where my research takes me...] Okay, I'm calmer...

One hundred years later, the U.S. Tax Code is 6,871 pages 'not' including 'any' forms or instructions! [Back to being tense.] Adding the Tax Regulations and Official Tax Guidance the entire U.S. Tax Code publication is just under 75,000 pages. [Tolstoy's "War and Peace" said more with less.] 

Presently our taxing structure is a patched arrangement of 70s & 80s & 90s programing, software and hardware. [The Smithsonian Museum's income tracking technology is more UpToDate!] A flat tax rate - with no loopholes - paired to a replaced computer network will support efforts by the present staff [of 93,000+] to solve their back log then keep pace with future deadlines, scams and identity issues.       [Jan 20, 2021 Blog: INFRASTRUCTURE IN AMERICA]   

*PURPOSE: Historically, NASA has never been on time nor on budget. That aside--with a planted flag and bragging rights what did landing on the moon offer Earthlings in the way of progress for their civilization? In fairness, many NASA research spinoffs found their way into mainstream commercial products and applications. Some made their way to store shelves because they were rejected by NASA as not viable under space conditions. Regardless, some medical advances/devices, technological advances and lifestyle advances came our way. NASA spinoff technologies - Wikipedia 

However--were those advances worth the millions [now billions] in research and development cost overruns? Could private industry have ultimately made the same discoveries for less? The Mars Rover program $1.08 Billion, the WEB telescope at 1.04 Billion, the Artemis program 93 Billion [estimate]. Could some of that money have been used to develop better recycling breakthroughs for plastics, toxins and other trash in landfills and our ocean? Further NASA isn't tasked with reusing or recycling. Every rocket has been a one-off. NASA began to make salvage strides with the Space Shuttle program that returned 133 of its 135 missions safely--but ceased in 2011.

And--unless the [environmental] plan is to make Planet Mars our landfill for the tons and tons and tons of accumulating and future toxins from batteries, solar panel parts and wind turbine blades--WHY--are we spending precious resources and billions [$$] more on Mars? Ahhh, wait there's more. We have an even greater paradox for our Climate Czar/John Kerry, for Green Peace, Siera Club & the Paris Climate Accord... I don't hear anyone speaking up about the malicious toxins emitted with literally every-single-rocket-launch by NASA and Musk/STARSHIP and Bezos/BLUE ORIGIN. 

IF every adult human and every chimpanzee drove a diesel guzzling Hummer back and forth down every California freeway for a year the damage to our air/ozone still wouldn't compare to the Tourist-Space-Program, the Mars-Space-Program or the Moon-Space Program or satellite space programs. NASA has no [disclosed] study on the climate impact of rocket engine emissions, but Carbon Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide, Acidic Water, Black Carbon and Aluminum Particles are all discharged by solid rocket booster motors. Bezos' VSS Unity Rocket used a hybrid mix of solid and liquid propellants while Space X Falcon used liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene. Both fuel sources emit 4 to 10 times EPA accepted Nitrogen Oxide levels. And--Starship flights emit 2,683 Tonnes of CO2 plus 1.7 Tonnes of nitrous oxide. Nitrous Oxide is 298 times more harmful than CO2...

Did Mr. Kerry--our Climate Czar with his BA in English--miss the nitrous oxide chapter on hazardous greenhouse gases? Further, [hypocritically] while Kerry travels extensively around the Globe via private jet [still holding major amounts of oil & gas stocks] little is known about his off-the-books appointment. His position is called a black-box. Someone who is Black Box is considered a Mission Critical Expert. Heaven help the environment of our planet from 'experts' like John Kerry and Al Gore. Many--sober prayers--please.  

If you're hyperventilating and need to find a brown bag, I totally understand...  

*CAUSE-AND-EFFECT: Do career politicians have a short attention span? The only long-term planning I see in any political strategy is an individual politician's quest to remain in office. Other than that, the vast majority of 'their' planning is limited to slogans for the next reelection campaign and maligning the character of any competition. In other words, mostly short-term. But worse yet, do voters have an attention deficit? 

Josh Sager in part wrote in his October 2014 feature titled "The Shockingly Short Political Memory of the American People" "The average American is categorically incapable of remembering political events that happened more than a few months in the past, never mind accurately assigning blame or credit to the politician involved. Unfortunately, this is extremely dangerous as it makes it virtually impossible to achieve democratic accountability at the polls. Crimes and triumphs from last year[s] are forgotten rather than used to make decisions. Americans tend to vote based on a snapshot of their circumstances at the time of the election and this problem has been worsened by the incompetence of the mainstream media." [Jan 15 2021 Blog: JOURNALISM IN AMERICA]

What individual politicians 'cause' has important social 'effects', especially when with arrogance they stubbornly 'refuse' to listen to their electorate--any electorate. Politicians continue to debate valid gun-safety, but voters know exactly what 'they' want to see changed and how. Politicians continue to intrude beyond any mandate into medical decisions. An inflation rate of 2% began to rise steadily from January 2021 to 9.1% in June 2022 [it was actually higher] because a major element in modern-day life [fossil fuels] continues to be vilified. And that same steady inflation rise gets amplified by supply chain shortages because steadily over the last 25 years lobby pressure steered misguided politicians to tolerate manufacturing profits and jobs [and taxes] relocated overseas and into the control of autocratic governments. 

Someone posted a question on Facebook a few weeks ago that caught my attention. The post was in response to Putin's invasion of Ukraine. "If shutting down Russia's oil pipeline system was intended to hurt the Russian economy--then what was intended by shutting down the Keystone Pipeline project?"  [Coincidently, if left in place, Keystone would now be ready to go onstream this Mid-Term election.] 

The quest for energy independence 'was' identified as a national security strategic goal of administrations before Regan. An increase in North American fossil fuel production [and reserves] was seen as a military advantage and benefit to the decades of OPEC oil pricing dominance that risked fuel and heating prices for American citizens volatile and vulnerable. 

With that, in 2005 a Phase I pipeline proposal was made by Alberta based TransCanada Corporation then approved in 2007 by Canada's National Energy Board. [Canada, United States and Mexico make up one continent--so none of this early planning--post 9/11--happened in a vacuum.] 

In 2008 ConocoPhilips acquired a 50% stake, and the United States Department of State under President George W. Bush issued a Presidential Permit authorizing the construction, maintenance and operation of facilities at the U.S. Canadian border. Phase II, operational since 2010 delivered Canadian crude oil to U.S. Midwest markets and Cushing, Oklahoma. Phase III opened January 2014 completing the pipeline path from Hardisty, Alberta to Nederland, Texas. Phase IV became temporarily delayed by President Obama as a classic political 'hot potato' after it attracted opposition and negative attention from environmentalists as part of the battle over climate change and fossil fuels. In January 2017 President Trump renewed the construction permit-that-met with renewed theater then was promptly revoked by President Biden, January 2021. [June 2021 Blog:  FOSSIL FUELS IN AMERICA]

Because there's more to fossil fuels than combustible engines in vehicles--halting the fourth and last phase of Keystone along with slowing other petroleum production interrupted major manufacturing and supply chains right here. Everyday products [from medical equipment to disposable diapers] account for about 500,000 individual manufactured goods. The 'cause' of revoking Phase IV [and other permits] 'effected' not only prices at the gas pumps--but everything else----everything.

PROPAGANDA: If we tell a lie long enough, even we can begin to believe it and we can believe it so devoutly we might swear to it in a court of law. How amazing is that? 

Included with the definition of propaganda are two other words I found both interesting and disturbing: a] misinformation and b] indoctrination. So, propaganda covers a wide area of puffery, but there's no way to justify either misinformation or indoctrination in a functioning democracy. Busy with our lives, Main Street America believed propaganda and indoctrination only happened in communist countries with a single state-run news source. [We bought into a slick Madison Avenue style marketing-message for generations.]

Regardless of what you think of Donald J. Trump--his stick-in-the-spokes of traditional politics and media reporting exposed a major amount of 'dirt' swept under the rug of polite political society for       d-e-c-a-d-e-s. We-the-people just had no idea, because the rigged-game [against you and me on Main Street] was never openly discussed. 

When Trump descended that New York escalator June 2016--he quite literally became a bull-in-a-political-china-shop [policies & statements] that made fixed members of both the Republican and Democratic Party panicky. Former FBI Director Comey--loyal only to his own interests--initially set out to cover-his-career-butt when he began to expose Democratic Campaign meddling. Comey swiftly reversed course after he realized that Trump didn't have--and would never have--anything to match the rooted DC political machine. 

Make no mistake, the citizens who voted 'for' Trump knew exactly who and what he was--but what millions of Main Street citizens were 'actually-voting-for' was a long overdue shake up of DC. The Swamp is 300 years deep--with too many entrenched people who had [and still have] too much to lose with someone like Trump around. 

We can call and write and speak up to our state governors and legislators to insist they force Federal Term Limits and Age Limits on this 2022 Mid-Term Ballot--using the same wording and the same ethical arguments that Congress used in 1951 to limit all Presidential Terms...

We're not stuck. The ratio of [legal] citizens over the age of 18 in the U.S. compared to state and federal legislators is 3,273 voters to one politician. Even though I haven't counted the 499,686 elected members of city councils, county officers or school boards [nationally]--Main Street still outnumbers politicians in elected office. They need us--we don't truly need [all] of them...  

Without a government for a year, Belgium shows what happens to politics without politicians - The Washington Post  

Sherry Todd-Beshore is an award-winning novelist and former journalist.

Shadows And Light-Chapter 1 | Mystery Podcast (podbean.com)

Woodrow And Wren...The Rule Of Three-Chapter 1 | Mystery Podcast (podbean.com) 

Patchwork Publishing, LLC

  

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CHOICES IN AMERICA

Dera George,

When you formed your cabinet, President Washington, your choices were several uniquely qualified people from an impressive list--mainly the very folks who 'built' the new Republic's Constitution from the remains of former British America. 

George Washington's 4-member Cabinet was: *Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State [lawyer, architect & philosopher] *Henry Knox as Secretary of War [Senior General of Continental Army During Revolutionary War] *Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury [lawyer, MA philosophy--founded Federalist Party] and *Edmund Randolph as Attorney General [lawyer]

Scoot ahead from 1788 to 1861 and Abraham Lincoln's 7-member Cabinet had expanded by three. During his administration Lincoln filled the position of: Postmaster General, Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of the Interior. 

Leaping into the 20th Century--in 1945 Harry Truman's Cabinet grew to--11. Along with circumstances like war[s] and massive manufacturing growth and governing a greater land mass, Truman needed to add: a Secretary of Defense, a Secretary of Agriculture, a Secretary of Commerce and a Secretary of Labor. 

Mary, Mary quite contrary how does your federal government 'grow'?  Substantially... And, not necessarily in keeping with the actual needs of an increase in population. 

The original intent was for DC [District of Columbia] to function as a 'minor' federal body with 'major' influence and authority entrusted to each state government. States were granted sovereignty--because state legislators lived and worked closer-to-their-peers/voters. However, after World War II that began to mutate, because our federal law makers went from a strict isolationist policy in global affairs to one with our noses in everyone's business. [CIA formed 1947] Our elected members of Congress and the Senate saw communists and fascists and Marxists and anarchists--hiding under beds and in closets--everywhere...

We have now arrived at our destination--2022 and "we-the-people" still get to vote George, but 234 years later there's a massive, unwieldy governing layer of people who are chosen for us... 

Joe Biden's Cabinet has 23 appointed people. We didn't vote for any of these 23 people. People with Cabinet positions [with qualifications often arbitrary] who are permitted to head up a vast network of federal departments with substantial discretionary budgets and vast influence. [Example: Trump didn't make Ben Carson who was an actual medical doctor, our Secretary of Health and Human Servies--instead Dr. Carson became Secretary of Housing and Urban Development?? Then, Trump appointed former socialite Betsy DeVos [w/a BA in Business Economics] as our Secretary of Education??  

 [Resisting the urge to scream into a pillow I'll remind everyone here that I'm a Registered Independent, who has voted for candidates from both major parties though sadly, not necessarily for the one who could do the best job--but for the one who might do the least harm!] Moving on...

1.] Secretary of State  Anthony Blinken--BA Social Studies from Harvard with a J.D. from Columbia School of Law. The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate is the President's chief foreign affairs adviser and carries out the Presidents foreign policies through the State Department and the U.S. Foreign Service. [2022 Budget $58 Billion]

2.] Secretary of the Treasury  Janet Yellen--BA from Brown in Economics with MA and PhD in Economics from Yale then taught at Harvard. The Department of the Treasury is responsible for crucial functions that help keep the government running, that includes paying all U.S. bills and obligations, collecting taxes and managing all federal finances. [2022 Budget $1.7 Trillion--down from 6.8 Trillion in 2021.]

3.] Secretary of Defense  Lloyd Austin--4Star General, Graduate of West Point with a BA Science, MA Arts in Counselor-Education and MA Business Administration. The Constitution rests all military authority in Congress and the President. However, it's impractical for either Congress or the President to participate in every aspect of Defense affairs, therefore the Secretary of Defense and reporting officials exercise military authority. [2022 Budget $722 Billion]

4.] Attorney General  Merrick Garland--BA Harvard in Social Studies with a J.D. from Harvard Law. The Attorney General is the Head of the Justice Department and attorney for the United States in all legal matters. The A.G. gives legal advice to the president and the heads of other government agencies on request. The Attorney General overseas the federal prison system and all other systems pertaining to incarceration. [2022 Budget $7 Billion]

5,] Secretary of the Interior  Deb Haaland--BA English with a JD in Indian Law from University of New Mexico. The Secretary of the Interior manages the conservation of federal land and natural resources along with other agencies: Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Geological Survey [USGS], Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Parks Service. [2022 Budget $17.6 Billion]

6.] Secretary of Agriculture  Tom Vilsack--BA Arts from Hamilton College, Pennsylvania and J.D. from Albany Law School.  The USDA provides leadership on food handling, all agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition and related issues based on public policy and available science for its related effective management. [2022 Budget $26.55 Billion]

7.] Secretary of Commerce  Gina Raimondo--BA Economics with a MA in Philosophy & Sociology with a J.D. from Yale Law School. Primarily responsible for creating conditions for economic growth and opportunity. [2022 Budget $11.5 Billion]

8.] Secretary of Labor  Marty Walsh--BA Social Science from Woods College of Boston College and former President of Labor Union Local 223. Department of Labor is responsible for standards and issues of wages and hours worked, occupational safety, employment services, unemployment benefits, labor statistics, work related rights and workplace conditions. [2022 Budget $504.5 Billion]

9.] Secretary of Health and Human Services  Xavier Becerra--BA Economics from Stanford and J.D. of Law from Standford. Responsible for health, welfare and income security programs--overseeing other agencies such as: Food and Drug Administration [FDA] the Center of Disease Control [CDC], National Institute of Health [NIH], Administration for Children and Families [ACF]/Foster-care and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS]. [2022 Budget $131.8 Billion]

10.] Secretary of Housing and Urban Development  Marcia Fudge--BA of Science in Business from Ohio State University and J.D. from Ohio State Marshal College of Law. HUD is responsible for ensuring all communities provide housing and building handicapped accessible. Also fair, equal and affordable housing--both rental and owned. [2022 Budget $68.7 Billion]

11.] Secretary of Transportation  Pete Buttigieg--Began at Harvard with a major in History & Literature then won a scholarship to Oxford where he earned a BA of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Transportation oversees the: Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Highways Administration, the Federal Railways Administration and the National Highways Traffic Safety Administration. It is responsible to develop and coordinate policies that provide an efficient and economical national transportation system with regard to need, the environment and national Defense. [2022 Budget $88 Billion]

12.] Secretary of Energy  Jennifer Granholm--[Had early ambitions for a Hollywood career and appeared on The Dating Game] then earned a BA Political Science and French from California Berkley, later earned a J.D. from Harvard.  Department of Energy is responsible for managing the U.S. nuclear weapons program, energy infrastructure policy and funds scientific research related to energy production and distribution. [2022 Budget 227.8 Billion] 

13.] Secretary of Education  Dr. Miguel Cardona--BA Science Education from Connecticut State University, followed by a MA Science in Bilingual & Bicultural Education, then a PhD in Education. Mainly oversees [recommends] matters related to education in the U.S. from kindergarten to college and university. However, since education in the U.S. is not centralized as it is in most other nations, the department scope is limited. [In 1993 public school education in America was rated 6th globally, by 2018 global standards for public school education rated America at 27th! What happened?] Since Covid, the numbers are not clear. [2022 Budget $188.16 Billion]

14.] Secretary of Veteran Affairs  Denis McDonough--BA History & Spanish & taught History in Belize then earned a MA Science in Financial Services from Georgetown School of Foreign Service. The V.A. is charged to provide health, education, disability, funeral and financial benefits earned by all veterans who served in the United States Armed Forces. [2022 Budget $301.4 Billion]

15.] Secretary of Homeland Security  Alejandro Mayorkas--BA Arts from Berkley and J.D. from Loyola Law School. Post created by former President George W. Bush [after 9/11]. This new department oversees the Coast Guard, Federal Protection Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration, the Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA]. NOTA BENE: Since this new cabinet post was also included in an amendment [H.R. 3199] to the presidential line of succession--this post should be filled by a U.S. citizen by birth. Since Mayorkas was born in Havana Cuba, how was this appointment confirmed?] [2022 Budget $52.2 Billion]

16.] Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency  Michael Regan--BA Earth & Environmental Science from North Carolina State University then MA Public Administration from Georgetown University DC. The EPA oversees national efforts for clean air and water, ensuring contaminated lands and toxic sites are cleaned by responsible parties and enforce environmental standards and regulations as directed by Congressional Laws. [2022 Budget $11.2 Billion]

17.] Director of National Intelligence Agency  Avril Haines--BA Physics and J.D. from Georgetown University. Has principal authority to ensure maximum availability of and access to [any/all] intelligence information within the intelligence community, consistent with national security requirements. Oversees and directs the implementation of the National Intelligence program and acts as principal adviser to the President and Homeland Security. [2022 NIA Budget 4.2 Billion, CIA $62.3 Billion, Military Intelligence $23.3 Billion]

18.] United States Trade Representative  Katherine Tai--BA History from Yale University and J.D. from Harvard. The USTR works toward opening world markets and to create higher living standards for other nations. Provides trade policy leadership and negotiations for multilateral trade and investment. [2022 Budget $73 Million] 

19.] U.S. Ambassador at the United Nations  Linda Thomas-Greenfield--BA Arts from Louisianna State University and MA Public Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Represents U.S. interests globally and keeps the U.S. State Department informed of events at the United Nations. [2022 Budget included in State Department]

20.] Council of Economic Advisers  Dr. Cecilia Rouse--BA Economics from Harvard and PhD. in Economics from Harvard.  CEA assists and advise the President in preparation of the Economic Report. Gathers timely and authoritative present economic information and trends. Appraises various economic programs. Develops and recommend national economic policies that foster free competitive enterprise to avoid economic fluctuations. [2022 Budget $132 Million]

21.] Administrator of Small Business Administration  Isabel Guzman--BA Science from University of Pennsylvania, Warton School of Business. SBA mission is to provide small business owners with resources and support to start, grow and expand their business. Offers financial counseling, contracts loans and loan guarantees by partnering with local and national banks. [2022 Budget $1.06 Billion]

22.] Office of Budget and Management  Shalanda Young--BA Psychology from Loyola University of New Orleans and MA of Heath Administration from Tulane University. Prepares the President's budget proposals. Budget development and execution for government-wide implementation of policies, priorities and actions in everything from the department of defense to NASA. [2022 Budget $98.5 Billion]

23.] White House Chief of Staff  Ron Klain--BA Arts from Georgetown University and J.D. from Harvard Law. Managing and designing overall White House staffing system, control flow of people into the Oval Office, managing flow of information and decisions to and from President's desk, directing and overseeing all policy development, advise on various issues set for the president, protecting all political interests of the President, negotiating for legislation support and appropriating funds with Congressional leaders, Cabinet secretaries and additional political groups to further the President's agenda. [2022 White House [staff budget] of $49.6 Million for 567 people.]

*Vice President  Kamala Harris--BA Political Science & Economics with J.D. from Hastings College of Law...The V.P. is second in the presidential line of succession. As President of the Senate the V.P. operates in both the executive and legislative branches of government and is sometimes formidable [Dick Chaney] but too often marginalized. 

**United States President  Joeseph R. Biden--BA double major History & Political Science, minor English with J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law.  Harry S. Truman described the job of the U. S. President [besides the obvious] as responsible for Foreign Policy, is the Social Head of State, spends a lot of time persuading people to do what they 'should' do without persuasion, has the most authority but believes in the Magna Carts and the Bill of Rights and should be a Cincinnatus [of civic virtue as understood by the concept of citizenship]... [2021-2022 Budget $6.011 Trillion]

............................

And, now--Fellow Travelers--you may have notice that one million dollars doesn't go as far as it once did--quite scary. You also know who to call or write to...Please do.

Sherrie Todd-Beshore is a former journalist and award winning novelist.

Patchwork Publishing, LLC

2022 SO FAR - IN AMERICA

 Dear George,

When you were president the budding republic of 13 original colonies [that became states] would be considered far more manageable by a 21st Century comparison. Then at the writing of the Declaration of Independence you only had an estimated 2.5 million [opinionated] people to govern.

If you've been 'watching' over us and puzzled by our rather messy 'progress' since 1776--you know there are 50 states [somewhat united] and five territories [Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa & Northern Marina Islands] with a revised 2021 estimate of 331+ million [opinionated] people to govern. [I use revised numbers due to a steady southern border invasion of 7,400+ people daily after the calendar flipped over to 2022.] Moving on...

Since June marked the halfway point and 18 months of a new administration with our 46th President and 117th Congress--what have these people been doing about some of the major headlines? 

Well, the President revoked 65 of Trumps Executive Orders then signed 77 of his own Executive Orders and Congress has passed 85 of the 9,633 bills introduced--of which 42 made it to the President's desk for signature... And since this is a mid-term election year--IF--you hear an incumbent politician brag about the bills they introduced or voted for, don't be too impressed. Because--as you can tell by the math 93% of each typical 15-page bill never makes it off the House floor. 

And of equal note most proposed legislation does not make the news either unless IT IS news like...

INFRASTRUCTURE: Virtually all of our aging and vulnerable infrastructure that was 'new' post WWII and Woodstock--is still aging and vulnerable. 

In my January 20, 2021 Blog titled "Infrastructure In America" I highlighted AIRPORTS--MASS TRANSIT--U.S. SEA PORTS--WATER--BRIDGES -and- INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY directly tied to: Federal Defense, Unemployment Insurance Benefits, Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, Medicare, State Department & Transportation Department.

What I selected 18 months ago [as Biden took office] was only the tip of a very tall pyramid of a seriously neglected 50 years of general maintenance. And - Fellow-Travelers 18 months ago every item then was beyond critical.  

Bush and Chaney wasted time and spent our money chasing weapons-of-mass-destruction. But, Obama attempted to address this [federal & state governmental] negligence with a 2015 Executive Order. However, key Democrats and 'progressive' groups objected to "permitting provisions as a possible erosion of environmental protections". Trump tried again several times, first when he had both the House and the Senate in May 2018. But his 1.5 trillion infrastructure investment plan faced major objection by his own Republican Senate as too costly. They should have done their homework then because five years ago more than that was needed, and the money would have gone farther. In April 2019, Trump and Democrats agreed on a $2 trillion plan, but for some reason the Dems objected to a local, state, federal and free enterprise cost sharing structure. There was a $1 trillion pared down version that surfaced in February 2020, revised back up to $2 trillion in April--then everything shutdown due to Covid. 

Okay. Short-sighted-self-serving-bureaucrats aside--where is the $1.2 trillion bipartisan November 5, 2021 Infrastructure Bill now? 

Funding was slow. [No surprise there because securing loans took longer.] By April, 2022 - of the $110 billion actually released only $52.5 billion went to federal highways and $20.5 billion for public transit leaving $73 billion, still unspent [supposedly] for some high-speed broadband infrastructure. An additional $27 billion for bridges, airports, drought resilience and rural highways is to be released over the next five years. Really? Everything I identified and more is still aging and frankly a national security threat - like our water supply and our electrical grid. But there seems to be no end of funds to subsidize wind, solar, EVs and various war/military actions - why is that? And, has some of the attention/funding toward updating our infrastructure list been hijacked by the new Computer Chip Bill? Gosh, didn't that happen in a blink.... 

Dear George, please come back or at least send sober reason from the Cloud......Anyway...  

INFLATION: Our 2022 inflation of 9.1% is tied to a convoluted fraud exploiting fear of an entirely human-compromised environment. Remember warning the deterioration of our ozone layer was due to the use of aerosol sprays? Well that trendy-villain has since been replaced by claims of lawless and immoral fossil fuels.  

For a resource that quite frankly launched the American economy and revolutionized so much international industry everywhere on Earth [after he left federal politics] Al Gore began to systematically target any fossil fuel as singularly responsible for harming Earth's entire environment. The focused campaign for which he was a nationally and internationally recognizable spokesperson was initially labelled Global Warming, but more recently in the last few years, it's now Climate Change. 

Environmental concern began from a sincere base then became deceptive, so stay with me...

Just as industry abuses of factory workers spawned the creation of unions--early government/military and industry abuses of our environment created environmentalists...Specifically Sierra Club founded, 1892 and Greenpeace formed in 1969. 

Initially and for several decades' unions played a valuable role in improving working conditions and wages, but by the 1980s unions had evolved into more of a hindrance than a help. Unions ceased focusing on their 'members' in favor of flexing major influence to justify their continued relevance then pervasive corruption caused trust to decline.

The Sierra Club's original focus was the national parks and preservation of unspoiled natural resources. Greenpeace got its foothold initially in 1971 when founders managed to organize 7,000 protestors to block the Peace Arch Border Crossing between British Columbia and Washington. The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission planned a test of its Cannikin underground nuclear weapon in a tectonically unstable island off Alaska called Amchitka. [Obviously, no one at the department of Atomic Energy consulted with anyone at the U.S. Geologic Survey or Army Corp of Engineers--because the possibility of triggering multiple earthquakes causing a tsunami didn't occur to any of the excited nuclear physicists.]

Success, typically, breeds more success and it can also breed a sense of not just justified power, but too often it can breed as sense of entitled authority. And so, from a justified halt of an unnecessary and dangerous experiment grew 50 years of blocking, new nuclear power plants, new hydroelectric dams and water reservoirs, routine sabotage and protests of oil drilling, mining, fertilizer farming, anything genetically modified - regardless of benefit.

As union leaders expanded their influence and became bullies - so has the environmental lobby. I explained in even more detail several major contradictions with policies and subsidies that assert 'saving' our environment in my October 13, 2021 Blog "Green And Clean In America" then a follow up Blog June 2, 2022 "Fossil Fuels In America". 

N.A.T.O. MEMBERSHIP: And the point is? And the point of the U.N. is?

Human history is packed with the exploits of tyrants masquerading as leaders. I truly thought Putin was wiser, but regardless of his 19th century thinking in the 21st century - our species truly needs to move beyond this primitive [war] mentality or regardless of technology, true progress via peace isn't possible. 

While Russian tanks spent literally months lining up along the Ukraine border - Putin was 'testing' just how far he could go 'this-time' as he had been successful capturing Crimea with really no Global consequences. NATO and the UN failed that test. So, what if Ukraine wasn't [still isn't] a NATO Member it was a sovereign nation of progressive hardworking people intent on continuing an evolution to full democracy. [Isn't this the form of government we sought to push on Iraq and Afghanistan?] 

NATO with the UN could have resolved to put out the 'fire' Putin started before it spread. Instead, Putin's bold invasion and NATO's reluctance along with an inept U.N. sends exactly that message to China and Iran and North Korea and others which has a high possibility to escalate even greater military actions.  Now what?

GUN SAFETY: Oh, George, there's that pesky 2nd Amendment again. But when you and the rest of our founders entrenched "the right to bear arms" into our Constitution - citizens and the military only used single shot muskets. So, 300 years later those [now] entrusted with the responsibility to lead do need to amend some of this Amendment because the intention and the original meaning of the-right-to-bear-arms is being abused...     

RIGHTS TO CONTRACEPTION: Who invited any of our 'elected' public servants into the nation's bedrooms? Nowhere in our Constitution anywhere does any governing body have the authority to dictate reproduction...

And speaking of the U.S. Constitution the original concept of the new Republic was of a single party that consisted of both liberal and conservative ideas and policies structured to benefit the majority of citizens. Further, the intent was for the central government in the District of Colombia to play a minor administrative role with major governing settled at the feet of each state legislature. What has evolved since WWII is more and more and more federal oversight and infringement - everywhere. 

IMMIGRATION: The unregulated, steady flow of people we-know-not-who may finally get attention since the governors of Arizona and Texas began to bus the thousands of illegal immigrants from their states to DC. After struggling to cope with the financial and resource drain with no help from federal legislators or current cabinet members, finding these thousands of people on their doorstep changes the picture substantially. 

Besides the primary crime of innocent migrants dealing with human smugglers the secondary crime of these same folks vacuuming shelter and food and other resources from our homeless citizens is an extension of our broken immigration...   

Because this is a Mid-Term Election year - we can get the attention of people who want to keep their elected jobs - so make sure they 'do' their jobs...Call and or email and call again and email again...

Sherrie Todd-Beshore is an award-winning novelist and former journalist...

Patchwork Publishing, LLC 

 

FOSSIL FUELS IN AMERICA

Dear George,

When you were President Mr. Washington, what caused inflation in the colonies? For heat there was wood, coal, peat and/or colonizing other warmer countries.  For light there were candles, that too often set things on fire or oil lamps that weren't much safer. For clothing there was wool, cotton, linen and silk. For transportation there was horses. But, in Colonial America, no oil...

The discovery of oil in 1859 changed everything. Though the invention of nylon was another 76 years away with Spandex and Lycra an additional 24 years beyond that. When nylon surfaced in 1935 the fashion world took swift notice. 

Leap two decades into another century and by 2022 thousands of clothing items from formal evening wear to workout togs contain some or mainly Spandex. I'm not sure the Olympics or even any sport is possible today without clothing made from Spandex! 

My convoluted point here, is, that none of these inventions [or the 500,000 others] were possible without the discovery of oil--of which [most critics 'still' drive vehicles with combustion engines] none have seen objections even though plastic-based products increased by 8.7% each year--every year--since 1934...

None, that is, except those plastic straws. When the entire population of Baby Boomers were in high school [never mind 'when' that was] we only used paper straws. But by the end of the 60s plastic had replaced paper as cleaner and more durable. In the scheme of things why the organization "Lonely Whale" targeted the humble, tiny drinking straw as an environmental pariah when every day in America we use 60,000 plastic water bottles--is a puzzle...Why didn't they malign plastic water bottle manufacturing? Why indeed...

Since mock environmental activists like [child-star] Greta Thurnberg are quick to accuse the older generation of planet mismanagement I'd like to point out that the vast majority of Baby Boomer offspring began life and graduated to potty training in 'cloth' diapers. 

The [Jan 2018-Jan 2019] estimate for the number of disposable diapers just in the United States for one year was between 28 and 34 Billion! For America alone this meant about 250,000 trees were used as well as over 3.4 billion gallons of oil. For that amount of fossil fuel we could have powered over 5,222,000 cars in that same 12 months. [Do I see a show of hands from the gallery of environmental activist switching immediately [back] to cloth???]

But hey - I'm just getting started so strap in with your tray tables up...

Let's continue with WIND!...Building 'one' wind turbine requires 900 tons of steel, 2,500 tons of concrete and--drum roll please-- 45 TONS of  [NONRECYCLABLE]  PLASTIC. [And ohhh the math on this one is a stunner.] To make one ounce of plastic requires 4 gallons of crude oil. Because there are 42 gallons in one barrel, it takes one barrel of oil to make about 10.5 ounces of plastic. [Stay with me now.] One U.S. Ton equals 32,000 ounces, but 45 Tons breaks down to 1,440,000 ounces of plastic--therefore in one moderately sized [250 foot] wind turbine, in the production of plastic alone requires over 13,700 barrels of oil! Okay John Kerry what 'shade' of 'green' might that be...

When I was contracted by Oil Week Magazine in 2010 to write a feature on wind-power, my research did 'not' make several advertiser/investors happy - at all. They weren't happy because even with huge government subsidies wind-power wasn't ever going to be cost effective nor was it ever going to supplement our energy needs/electrical grid--unless--there were much smaller turbines beside every chimney on every roof.  AND-- none of the utility companies would allow that. Infact--they have steadily acquired vast acres of land for wind farms and solar-farms and no longer encourage individual solar panels on residential or commercial roof tops.

And speaking of SOLAR...Making one 320 watt solar panel requires 16.4 barrels of oil. [One barrel of oil refined for vehicle gasoline use equals 19 gallons.]. However, not all solar panels are created equal which means the best [golden] efficiency standard of all available photon rays emitted by the sun and absorbed, is 24%.

Then too - if you're curious about the toxins and landfill issues created by wind turbines and solar panels - I was down this [similar] road with my October 13/2021 blog GREEN AND CLEAN IN AMERICA. 

We absolutely need to be responsible caretakers of this planet we all share--but not at the fraudulent expense of creating pseudo solutions with consequences that are more trendy than remedy. One prime example has been the push for gas powered vehicles to be more fuel efficient...Great cause, but in order to make our trucks, vans and cars more fuel efficient they had to be lighter. But, in order to be lighter many parts and the outer shell designs had to be made from plastic instead of metal. Today 50% of our cars are plastic including safer/softer dashboards and durable airbags. [More plastic, as you realize now means more fossil fuels.]

From oil industry byproducts 21st Century consumers [here and everywhere] have toys, car seats, small and large appliances, computers and cell phones, IPads and electronic Notebooks. There's synthetic rubber for tires, doors, window profiles, flooring, insulation. From paraffin wax there's shoe polish, cosmetics and safe covers for wires that conduct electricity. Farming uses fertilizers synthesized from fossil fuels like nitrogen and potassium - as well as pesticides. Detergents, made by heating fats and oils react with alkali and glycerin in soap making. Besides Tupperware and Glad food containers there's shipping and packing materials - and - furniture...And...

To even suggest purging America of fossil fuels [by 2030] is somewhere between ignorant and irresponsible.  [Just visualize the few items I listed above as gone by 2030.]  A good deal of the 'supply-chain' begins with the 131 operating refineries. Eliminating them eliminates most of the U.S. manufacturing sector. Just the medical field alone requires ultrasound systems, defibrillators, exhalation and inhalation valves and tubes, CT systems, X-ray machines, dozens of types of surgical and general band aids, protective masks, gloves, gowns...Just the numerous types of sanitized packaging alone is critical to medicine. 

This brings me to the latest 'green' trend - which is the mega-push for electric vehicles. Hybrids like the Prius make more sense, but costly EVs  would not bother me so much IF the same environmental-mentality that seeks to eliminate all fossil fuels by 2030 wasn't the same short-term thinking that halted development of new reservoirs and hydroelectric damns. Granted hastily planned damns indiscriminately set to block the natural flow of rivers disrupted fish and certain animal species, but those same fish and wildlife found homes in and around the damn created lakes. 

Presently U.S. electricity by [aging] sources are:

*1,793 Natural Gas-powered plants, generating 34% of our electricity;

*400 Coal-powered plants, generating 30% of our electricity;

*61 Nuclear-powered plants, generating 20% of our electricity;

*1,444 Hydro-powered plants, generating 7% of our electricity;

*999 Wind-powered plants, generating 6% of our electricity;

*1,721 Solar-powered plants, generating 1% of our electricity;

*1,076 Oil-powered plants, generating 1/2% of our electricity.

Question: with wind and solar only providing 7% of our present needs then 'how' in the next eight years or even 18 years will wind and solar leap to supply the remaining 93% without producing thousands 'more' turbines and panels - that require more fossil fuel to produce? 

An environmental tug-of-war between special-interest-groups [Green-New-Deal] who perceive the rest of us [Main-Street] as living with a callus disregard for the planet's environment - shouldn't be an all-or-nothing attack. What happened to major recycling? The recycling rate in the U.S. stalled at 34.6% in 2014. Since then greater federal subsidies went to far more expensive programs like solar, wind and EVs, while scaling back on the smaller residential and community based collection projects for paper, plastic, metal and glass has caused increased dumping in our oceans and landfills. 

**Inflation and supply-chain issues can be resolved by increasing oil production and the refining of our cleaner gasoline and clean natural gas. And a more "thoughtful-transition" will improve our ability to reduce threats to ocean life and land, but understand the climate IS changing because Earth's climate has been changing for 4.3 billion years...Just saying...  

Sherrie Todd-Beshore is an award-winning novelist and former journalist...

Patchwork Publishing, LLC  

 

    

DIVIDE IN AMERICA

 Dear Geroge,

When you became President Mr. Washington, in the 'blossoming-stages' there was a widening gap between settlers loyal to the king versus those who felt the tight control of governing from the crown was out of balance. So, from our beginning dualling-division was part of colonial America's rebellious foundation--correct! 

And, three centuries later that same governing style is still functioning well with dueling conflicting sides inflamed and fanned [literally] by an openly biased Press--protected [ironically] by our Constitution in order to expose bias. 

LIBERAL vs CONSERVATIVE DIVISION...Truly--a progressive, functioning culture needs a balance of both liberal social programs in partnership with [healthy] conservative free enterprise to support them. 

Having said that 'truly' too much of either, for too long throws cultures 'out' of balance. You likely noticed this tug-of-war - amplified since the 2016 election that exposed a sleeping partisan volcano. There's no finishing-school that could have polished several of Trump's cringe-worthy remarks [planned or off-cuff]. Even more galling it's not that he didn't understand social-graces -worse- he didn't think they applied to him. However, his presence shook up the artificial polite society of DC. 

Steadily over the decades after George Washington left office in 1797, America's elected members began to hide behind a mask of civility to screen their true [personal] intentions. Prior to seeking America's top public office [as global businessperson] Trump had spent years in upper political circles federal, state and city here then too in other countries so he knew how favors were parceled out and by whom. 

The American Republic was orchestrated originally as a single party government. There was no intended hierarchy, only regular people from the ranks of farmers and soldiers, merchants, clergy and educators offering their services to coordinate the building of a functioning infrastructure. In 1789 when Geroge Washington was elected his main job was to identify the best possible person or group of people to resolve new issues or needs as they arose. Once the issue was resolved everyone who worked on the task was expected to return to their regular lives. 

*The early approach was always-always-always with sights clearly focused on a goal that was best for the nation as a whole... 

ABORTION vs LIFE DIVISION...This issue [settled decades ago by every other country on this planet] has been meddled with by both Church and State...Neither medicine nor science has been factored into the debate for long enough to remove the 'drama'. 

The State gets involved prior to nearly every election because one side or the other is seeking votes. The Church[es] get involved [historically mainly Catholic] because they seek more 'flock' to lead, to provide ongoing contributions in the collection plates. It's a numbers thing--like calculating the odds in Vegas. What became an impasse for women [mainly Catholic] was the church's stand against 'both' abortion -and- birth control. Any birth control. This meant, regardless of a couple's ability to support more than three or four or five [or more] children the only accepted birth control was either abstinence or the rhythm method.  [In theory a human female can only become pregnant a few days each month so by tracking the female period cycle her fertile days could be avoided...In theory] 

Since artificial birth control was a sin and abortion was a sin [& illegal] over the centuries tens of thousands of women [married or not] died having too many babies or from self induced abortions in a struggle to keep their family sizes manageable and authority over their own physical bodies. 

Getting the right to vote took American women 70 years [Canadian women got to vote 95 years sooner]. It's been 49 years since Rowe v Wade and more than that for a woman's right to choose--even birth control! Enter Gloria Steinem who in the late 1960s almost single handedly upended the logjam of women's issues from birth control, to equal pay to equal career opportunities and holding public office... Very interesting reading.  [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Steinem]  

 *Regular Birth-Control can prevent an abortion decision dilemma. 

GUNS vs SAFETY DIVISION...Like everything debatable, interpretation can also be contentious - and so too our Constitution's 1791 2nd Amendment: "the right to keep and bear arms."  This was partially based on the 1689 Bill of Rights in English common law that supported; the natural rights of self-defense and resistance to oppression. [However, three hundred years ago those who could afford one carried only a single shot musket...]

The most influential framer was James Madison who felt a Federal army could be kept in check by State militias [of ordinary citizens] able to repel the danger of a federal army. Then I found this telling 1876 Supreme Court ruling [United States vs Cruikshank] "The right to bear arms is 'not-granted' by the Constitution; neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence. The Second Amendment means no more than it shall not be infringed by Congress with no other effect than to restrict the powers of the National Government." Then in 1939 [United State vs Miller] the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment 'did not' protect weapon types...So understanding the original 'intent' [on the heels of independence from England] was that ordinary citizens had the right to defend themselves against a rogue-government...

To that end three centuries after independence perhaps: a] education programs that identify and help at risk children at a younger age who live in troubled homes; b] raise the age to purchase 'any' automatic weapon to 25 with safety training and follow up; c] make detailed background checks and longer wait times mandatory; d] stronger soft-target security; e] make the manufacture, sale and promotion of assault style/automatic weapons -and parts- more of a liability to stores and factories; f] provide zero media attention or notoriety to a perpetrator--no name no photo...

*Question: Why do we have a Hate-Crime designation? Isn't any murder hateful all on it's own? 

HOMOSEXUAL vs HETEROSEXUAL DIVISION...My younger brother's twin boys turned 11 and are heading to Middle School in the fall. On the phone a few days ago I had a brief conversation with him about how he and his wife were approaching the topic of the birds & the bees--since these days addressing puberty with boys and girls is not simple...

Coming to terms with 'who-am-I' is challenge enough for a boy attracted to a girl or a girl attracted to a boy - so adding in a boy who is attracted to another boy or a girl attracted to another girl is a harsh twist of nature. I'm not even going to pretend I understand the emotional and biological mechanics of either level of attraction, because none of us [heterosexual or homosexual] understand it either. What I do understand is that within the majority-straight community is a minority-gay community of people who are full contributing members to society en masse from whom we benefit.

Mixed in with our cultural confusion around the gay community--more recently--bloomed a focus on transgender people. Somehow transgender people have become lumped in with gays and lesbians which has added more fear than resolution by education. It's not enough to say; "just accept them" - we need to understand. A [true] transgender birth is an anomaly that occurs with 1 in 83,000 live births. It's the result of a hormonal imbalance occurring in the fetal brain to differentiate development as a male/brain or a female/brain. Typically, there is also both male and female reproductive organs present--with an underdeveloped uterus, penis and scrotum. This is a correctable medical condition...     

Exaggerated division permeates our news and social media. Why do we have hate-crimes vs regular crimes? Why is there black vs white? Why gas fueled vehicles vs electric powered vehicles? We have thousands of civil rights lawsuits that when we plough through the decades of so many cases, the fillings actually begin to contradict each other...

*We have been conditioned to accept an us vs them mentality instead of giving careful thought to varied opinions because distracting us with commotion sells more newspapers or attracts more viewers or gets someone elected or re-elected... 

Sherrie Todd-Beshore is an award-winning novelist and former journalist...

Patchwork Publishing, LLC 

BIRTH-CONTROL..IN AMERICA

 Dear George,

After you became President Mr. Washington - I understand the War of Independence left the original 13 Colonies in a somewhat wobbly social condition., but oh George - nothing in your wildest dreams would prepare you for how human-reproduction in the Republic you struggled to form has evolved since...

After the Roe vs Wade ruling [1973] prior to every election cycle as predictable as bird migration specific segments of voters take to the streets - then we're back to ABORTION...

But in 2022, we're seeing thousands of women marching in the streets again because according to social-allegations a clerk in the Supreme Court office of Justice Sotomayor has leaked a draft copy of how the majority of the court [heavily weighted on the conservative side] may rule in June on a contentious Mississippi abortion legislation case.  

I feel rather qualified to "enter-the-Lion's-Den" on this storm. Like the Pilgrams who landed on Plymouth Rock as some of the 'first' to colonize in the launch years of America - I was in junior high school when the launch of this controversy exploded [literally] as I reached puberty then carried into my early adulthood. [*Unlike America, the rest of the globe [that uses the metric system and prints difficult to counterfeit currency] has moved on.]

As a young adult two major contradictions swirled around abortion covered by an emerging TV media that scrambled to keep up with each day's baffling event.  At 13 I remember watching the 6o'clock news in horror as people picketed with signs printed with [among other expressions] RESPECT  LIFE also using those signs as clubs to attack clinic staff.  Frenzy 'against' abortion was so intense people either participated in -or- cheered when clinics were fire bombed ending the 'lives' of nurses, doctors and staff inside. The flipside to the 60s abortion madness was a subgroup [organized by mostly churches] of people who opposed an emerging medical solution to abortion---the PILL. Since new medical research offered a pregnancy prevention alternative, one would expect that to be embraced...Nope. 

Since the use of contraception was common from the time of the Minoans, Ancient Greeks and Egyptians and Earth's population is careening toward the 8Billion mark by 2025 - why do staunch conservatives and religions decry both abortion -and- birth control? 

Caught in the middle of this big cultural-religious-ethical quandary [as usual] sits the vast majority of citizens. Millions of couples and women and men...but mostly women [because typically the male of our species is not like the seahorse] felt damned either way. Women in the 60s and the 70s who opted for the pill and freedom from the worry of an unwanted pregnancy were considered immoral - another contradiction - another social double standard. [Have we moved on from that?]  

However, in 2022 why is a woman's choice only between abortion or carrying an unplanned pregnancy to term? Why isn't our [third] choice to seek as much information as possible about 'avoiding' a pregnancy dilemma in the first place?  

*The estimated total cost to raise one [healthy] child from birth to age 18 is between $200,000 to $250,000.

*Average cost of birth control for 18 years [using the patch] is about $10,800.  

*If you're certain you do not want any children at all -or- you have reached your 2 to 3 child limit then a tubal ligation [with or without insurance] is between $1,600 to $7,000.

Our federal government does support reproductive health [Planned Parenthood gets most of the press] and has mandated insurance companies [including Medicaid] to cover all forms of contraceptives making many co-pays $0 to $50 depending on the women's birth control selection...Insurance carriers eagerly embraced this directive because even an uncomplicated pregnancy with a vaginal delivery can cost an average of $2,000 for nine months of prenatal care then delivery [nursing, doctor, medication] and hospital stay $4,000 to $37,000...[Triple that for complications or C-Section deliveries.]  

·         Depo-Provera – around $30 to $75

·         Implantable Rod – around $400 to $800

·         Patch (Evra patch) – around $15 to $50

·         Intrauterine Device (IUD) – around $500 to $1,000

·         Vaginal ring – around $15 to $80

Schoolboards and teachers' unions across the country are pushing for classroom discussions on gay, lesbian and transgender issues targeting children still learning to color inside the lines - but not pushing for middle school classroom information on BIRTH-CONTROL or the true emotional impact of what a teen pregnancy can mean...Obviously we're 'not' having those discussions, because if we were then we wouldn't be presented with 'only' a Pro-Choice or Right-To-Life conflict. 

Fortunately, there are dozens of community programs for teen parents who select to keep their baby to raise. Teen moms can finish school then get housing, food and further training assistance if neither her family nor the teen father's family can step in with financial support.

The alternate direction for an unplanned/unwanted pregnancy brought to term is ADOPTION private or foster care. Pregnant women [of all ages] can surrender their newborn via an arranged adoption handled by a law firm [at no cost to them] or in the hospital or anonymously at designated community firehalls. Private adoptions are immediate. Children who are State Wards in foster care typically wait one to two years to be adopted, most wait five years for a permanent home. 

Both abortion [medical or surgical] and a full-term pregnancy carry health risks short and long term especially for girls under the age of 15 and women with underlying heath issues like weight, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc... So let's have some logical dialogue about contraception and NOT include women of color or the disadvantaged because everyone can access county, state and federal support programs.

And while we're discussing CHOICE...Perhaps abortion is 'not' specifically written into our Constitution - but the FREEDOM of CHOICE 'IS'...So--maybe the U.S. Supreme Court could remember 'that' when they pen their final RULING -and- follow in the footsteps of former Justices like Sandra Day O'Connor...

Sherrie Todd-Beshore is an award-winning mystery-suspense novelist and former journalist...

Patchwork Publishing, LLC 

*Life in small town Montana is not as quiet 

as you might think.

DECEPTION IN AMERICA

 

Dear George,

When you became President, Mr. Washington - were you typically upfront and transparent or did you use detractions and misdirection to accomplish an objective [that might not have been popular or even fair] with most citizens of the new nation? 

       *Side Note: I'm recovering from Covid myself  [OmnicromBA2] and of scientific research interest as well because like Tom Brokaw I too have Multiple Myeloma. Which-'Fellow-Travelers' brings me to my first point of discussion. 

PANDEMIC: Covid by any other [variant] name has been/is a flagrant abuse of taxpayer funds and deliberate infringement to every citizen's personal liberty. It has also exposed just how inept management at the CDC [Center for Disease Control & Prevention] and National Institute of Health truly are...[See Jan 9 2021 Blog "Health-Care In America"]  With that-for all we know the high [reported] Covid death rate could be attributed to a major CDC failing to address chronic HAI [Hospital Acquired Infections].  People admitted to a hospital are susceptible to a colonized infection [perhaps, from a poorly sanitized ventilator?] Even prior to Covid, 1 in 25 hospitalized Americans actually died as a result of Hospital Acquired Infections.

INFLATION: The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank - established in 1913 is owned 57% by the Rochchild family of London in partnership with the U.S.  Rockefeller and Morgan families. [Only 3 countries in the world are without a Rothchild-owned bank; Cuba, North Korea and Iran.] The American based Reserve Bank has absolutely nothing in their "tool-box" to address U.S. across the board 11% increase in goods and services - because - this round of runaway inflation has not been due to a typical supply and demand cycle - it's been artificially caused. 

1. Caused by a swift rise in Federal and State Minimum Wage...Let's look at that. Everyone deserves a fair living wage, but what is a fair living wage? Typically, the cost of living is housing, food, transportation and clothing factored as basics. Then - if the wage of a 40-hour work week [after taxes] can't support those basics the employee's options are  a] pick up more hours, b] seek a promotion, c] find a better paying job, d] develop other skills/return to school...BUT the vast majority of any minimum wage job was originally intended for 'temporary' workers like high school and college students . Except for low and mid level management ALL fast-foot, general construction, unskilled labor or part time entry jobs were 'never' intended as sole support for anyone. Those temporary workers were typically under age 21 and still living at home then after graduation from an apprenticeship or college they quit and moved on at which point a new 'crop' of students filled open places while they finished school.

2. Caused by a sudden reduction of oil and gas production...Let's look at that. One of the several dozen Executive Orders Biden reversed only a few hours after his inauguration was the XL Keystone Pipeline. He recently quipped when asked about that in light of rising fuel shortages that; Keystone wasn't relevant because it was 2years out when he took office. True, but it was 2years out--14 months ago! If that project had been left in place production would by now be completed this fall. Keystone aside - as the days and weeks following Biden's inauguration came and went that pipeline wasn't the only transport system of fossil fuel interrupted. There are/were 210 already well established and safely functioning pipeline networks across the United States that also connected to systems in Mexico and Canada. For decades pipelines have been a proven means of providing fuel and heat safely from the oil rigs to refineries to homes and vehicles. And - the 6,000 various petroleum products needed [daily] for transportation of goods and people, the military, road building and maintenance, food packaging and medical equipment and supplies--have all been cost-hijacked because of an arbitrary [Green] cutback in petroleum production....

CLIMATE: Sooo - if each and every one of those concerned environmentalists pushing for a complete block of all future oil and gas exploration and development have stopped using plastic water bottles and disposable diapers and are walking to work or riding a bicycle to the grocery store they have my attention. However-they still aren't approaching even a basic 'transition' plan away from fossil fuels. In fact the pseudo-environment-protectors are [actually] responsible for exchanging one issue for another. The surface and undersea mining of rare-earth minerals for batteries and other techno electric vehicle parts are creating surface scaring and ocean dead-zones. Damaged and replaced wind turbine blades along with damaged, expired and replaced solar panel parts have created an even greater, extended landfill problem.  [See Oct 13 2021 Blog "Green And Clean In America"]  

IMMIGRATION: During the 2020 Election Campaign after it was made clear that work on the southern boarder wall would be halted - those seeking to expand their drug pushing, people smuggling, money laundering - enterprises into the United States saw that declaration as an invitation.  Our Border Guards saw it as a national nightmare. [Personally--if we doubled the salaries of all our border patrol officers, we still couldn't begin to compensate them for the high-stress, dangerous work they do.] 

Decisions coming from this 46th Administration and this 117th Congress are not even remotely astute politically...Will the millions of illegals crossing the southern border gratefully vote Democrat in all future elections -because- they will magically appear on voting lists, which is why so many Dems object to photo ID and proof of citizenship? [Do drug dealers and human traffickers vote?]  Or - will the millions of unskilled, marginally educated illegals become disillusioned because they get stuck with less than minimum wage jobs that too many college educated [legal] citizens won't do? [Perhaps Arizona Governor Dusey will join Texas Governor Abbot adding even more busses of illegals destined to Pennsylvania Avenue - since too many in public office make too many arbitrary decisions with no idea of any Dominio effect.]  

N.A.T.O.:  Just as Covid exposed the ineptitude of healthcare management in America - the Russian invasion of the sovereign Nation of Ukraine has exposed just how irredeemable the United Nations is and the weakness of NATO.  Oh, NATO Members have hurried to 'look' like they're united, but mostly they're in 'butt-covering-mode'. Each nation scrambling to protect their own interests with zip regard for the millions of Ukrainian citizens caught between a government struggling to emerge as a functioning democracy [much like Poland 30 years ago] and a Russian leadership struggling to remain relevant. What IS the rest of the world doing in this 21st Century to truly address Russia and Ukraine? Mostly just watching - which has exposed something else...We now witness weak, ineffective leadership in western countries globally - and don't think each of the decisive dictators in the rest of the world aren't paying attention. Because they are the very event inept western leadership are trying to avoid could become exactly that event.

PRESS/MEDIA:  Journalists with CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS-News Hour-Frontline  have all been exposed via Trump's time in office and Covid for their single-minded, open favoritism and/or their State-Influence bias... Journalism was 'once' a nobble profession, one I was once proud to claim as my writing launch pad...Now, not so much. [See Jan 15 2021 Blog "Journalism In America"] 

2020-US-MIDTERMS: We have "Truth In Advertising Laws", but it's not followed by election campaign ad producers -or- people running for public office - either before, during or after an election... Misdirection, "...the action or process of directing someone toward the wrong place or wrong view...". This is a common tactic in every performance by magicians and illusionists, but it has no place in public office and should 'not' be common practice for those seeking public leadership positions. 

Democratic leadership requires a high level of trust. Voters [who are in fact peers] offer to share their collective power in exchange for the management and coordination of all the moving parts with city, county, state and federal affairs. A 'trust' given to the people who were voted into public office - to follow through with integrity. To hold a duly elected public office is not a blank check for personal influence or enrichment - but domestically and globally it's clear that has reached a steep tipping point. 

Nancy Pelosi is quoted as stating emphatically that "...no one is above the law..." but Nancy only meant that for her version of what Trump was doing wrong, she didn't intend that meant her - or her circle...And instead of moving on to a balanced budget or much needed infrastructure or transportation/supply chain issues or enhanced education due to teacher's union influence -- Congress decriminalized marijuana! [Not even mentioned on the list of voter concerns.] The double standard between elected lawmakers and those expected to follow those laws applies to members of both parties and the gap is widening. 

RESPONSIBILITY:  In the movie "American President" there's a line at the heart of the entire plot. "To be President is entirely about character."  To which I would also add responsibility by those elected and those 'who' elect.  

In the 21st Century the vast majority of people truly do not need to be 'led'...We are better educated with access to more information than in any previous century. We can select a career and follow through or start a new business or fall in love and raise a family. The vast majority of people can self-govern; they don't steal from or vandalize businesses, they don't rob or hurt other people, they attempt to drive with prudence...What we simply need is competent executives to 'serve' with strong management skills. That's about it...

We don't need leadership who - 'defund-police' or make masks mandatory for preschoolers or ban the sale of vehicles with internal combustion engines by 2030 or create inflation and supply chain problems by slowing oil and gas production or encourage illegal immigration or supports surface and ocean mining of rare minerals or yields to unions that have depleted education standards and disrupted solid businesses - so they get reelected...

Somewhere in all of this is logical information that WE-THE-PEOPLE have not bothered to research for ourselves. Our responsibility is to know who we're electing then maintain supervision after they are elected and be more informed than those misdirecting us, so we can 'call' them on any slight-of-hand falsehood. 

Do we take back our responsibility for transparency control of this still evolving Republic, this unique democratic-experiment -or- do we let it dissolve...What do you want for your America this coming November 2022...

https://medium.com/@BraveNewFilms.org/heres-how-to-contact-all-535-members-of-united-states-congress-call-email-tweet-20b8a1c54195 

Sherrie Todd-Beshore is an award-winning mystery-suspense novelist & former journalist...

Patchwork Publishing, LLC