You Are On Your Own
29/05/25 07:55
May 29, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 22) - Even with today's news of Elon Musk's departure as the Trump Administration's main hatchet man, I am concerned about the damage he has left in his wake. As one who has spent most of his adult life working, covering or researching emergency management, I am especially concerned after the damage Musk wroth to the health of safety of people facing disasters. In that vein, I'wish to share with you a letter published in today's Lawrence Journal World:When a disaster strikes, the reality is that, at least for a period of time, those affected are on their own. That's why mitigation efforts, such as having a first aid kit and storing emergency supplies, are important. However, the expectation has always been that the government will soon come to the aid of victims through either rescue or recovery efforts.
Under the Trump administration, there is no such expectation. Through reckless and undisciplined cuts, there is an increasing likelihood that when disaster strikes, you will have to fend for yourself
Under the guise of the constitutionally questionable Department of Government Efficiency, the Trump administration has fired or offered early buyouts to more than 1,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency employees. DOGE has recklessly cut research grants and community resiliency programs designed to mitigate disaster effects. They have denied emergency relief funds for disasters in Arkansas, Missouri and North Carolina. The administration has also slashed weather service funding that has left some areas of the country, including western Kansas, without 24-hour weather coverage.
Instead of making America great, the Trump administration has made us less safe. That leaves us with two conclusions. First, you will be well served to visit the FEMA or Douglas County Emergency Management websites for valuable information on how you can prepare your home and business for the worst. Second, when a disaster comes, at least for a while, you are on your own because Donald Trump doesn't care about you.
I could have said a lot more, but the newspaper has a 250-word limit to its Letters to the Editor. Needless to say, it is painfully clear that these and other DOGE cuts are designed to do one thing: Pay for the administration's proposed tax cuts for the uber-rich. In my well-considered and somewhat expert view, it is immoral for the government to provide the basic services - especially emergency services - as outlined in the preamble the United States Constitution. But Trump doesn't care about the Constitution. And as I said in my letter, he also doesn't care about you. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle. Photo courtesy of the American Red Cross.
Public Enemy #1 (of 215)
23/05/25 07:41
May 23, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 21) - That smiling mug belongs to U.S. Representative Tracey Mann, the person who is allegedly my congressman. Keep in mind that he represents the ridiculously gerrymandered Kansas First Congressional District, which reaches out to Lawrence (the most liberal community in the state) before engulfing all of Western Kansas (see the map below).
That map is an obscenity. And so is Representative Mann, especially after voting along with 214 other Republican colleagues for Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill." In its present form, the bill effectively raises taxes for the poorest of Americans while rewarding the richest among us with a tax windfall. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the bill's effect - thanks to budget cuts in food aid and Medicaid - would lead to the bottom 10 percent of Americans seeing their household resources reduced by 4 percent, while the top 10 percent would see their increase by 2 percent. That's Robin Hood in reverse. In what world does "take from the poor and give to the rich" square with a professed American value of all people being created equal? Under this legislative monstrosity, parents and older American face more stringent work requirements for food assistance - requirements designed to trim the food stamp roles to help pay for Trump's tax cuts for the uber-wealthy. The bill also spends $46.5 billion for a border wall (which won't work), $4 billion for border agents, imposes a fee on migrants seeking asylum (as if they had any money in the first place), $25 billion for Trump's spurious and ridiculous "Golden Dome," and a $330 billion assault on higher education. In the end, this "Big Beautiful Bill" adds $4 trillion to the deficit. There are also hidden provisions within the bill designed to undermine the ability to courts to put a check on Executive Branch overreach. While the Senate may soften some of the more obscene aspects of this Bogus Boondoggle Bill, the fact remains that Congressman Tracey Mann voted for it. And now he owns it. What he has done is unconsciousable, immoral and unforgivable. And I am going to make certain that every voter in this congressional district knows it. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.The Journey
18/05/25 09:58
May 18, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 20) - It is graduation season across the U.S.A. From kindergarten ceremonies to doctoral hoodings, this is the time of year we mark milestones and passages in our lives. However, as we are often reminded, it is not the destination that matters as much as the journey. That it is why I wrote my newest novel, In the Moment: The Journey of the Class of '70, to be released by Pegasus Publishers on May 29. It follows the exploits and times of students in a small rural town during the turbulent 1960's. Its setting is St. Michaels, a historic community located on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It is a time and a place with which I am intimately familiar. I went to school in St. Michaels (pictured above) during the 1960's and graduated from nearby Easton High School in 1970. While the story about students such as Blake Hopkins, Freddy Harrison, Liz Langford and Sammy Releford is purely fictional, the surrounding narrative in which the story is set is not. For kids growing up in Talbot County schools, it was a period of civil rights, integration, war and political upheaval. While I don't envy the young men growing up in today's discordant society, at least they did not face the very real threat of being drafted into military service to fight in a war few understood and even fewer supported. The first time I ever saw a black person in one of my classes was the seventh grade. A young man named Gilbert became my first black acquaintance. (I wrote about that experience in a February 16, 2013, blog post.) After losing touch with him after transferring to Easton two years later, we have reconnected in recent years. In fact, his insights into being one of the first black students to attend a previously all-white school were invaluable. It was a time dominated by bigger-than-life personalities, such as John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. There were a number of cultural interlopers who many today may have forgotten, such as George Wallace and Spiro Agnew. Of course, there was the music that matched the time's sometimes inspirational, sometimes revolutionary, often times reactionary and occasionally raunchy vibes. For those of us in the Class of '70, they were exciting times. However, I have no doubt that the students graduating from high school and college this month - most of them born after the 9/11 attacks - believe this is the most interesting of times. And yet I hope that as they cross that stage to be handed their diploma, they have been instilled with the same values my generation and those before were. I'd like to think those are values of decency, humility, kindness, compassion and a willingness to demonstrate a generosity of the heart. I know that I have not always lived up to those values. But I have tried. As, the students of the Class of 2025 embark upon the next phase of their lives, I hope they recognize it is not about the piece of paper they've just been handed. It's about where they've been and where they're going. It is not about the destination. It is about the journey. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle. (Photo courtesy Talbot County Historical Society)Beware of False Economies
05/05/25 12:47
May 5, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 19) - I may not be the one in my household who balances the checkbook or regularly checks our bank account, but I’m obviously someone who knows a hell of a lot more about the economy than the fool in the White House. Donald Trump is ruling the country by fiat. He believes that in what is supposed to be a constitutional democracy, what he says goes and cannot be challenged. His attention to things such as illegal immigration, tariffs, and liberal universities is what I would call an attack on the margins. These are not really things that Americans think a lot about. In fact, for the most part, these are things Americans benefit from. For example, let’s look at illegal immigration. Trump‘s rationale is that these “illegals“ are bringing crime and drugs to our country. Yes, there are some instances where that is true. But it is not true to the extent that Fearless Leader would have you believe. Drugs are not brought to this country by just "undesirables" from Central and South America. They’re also brought in by white collar, well dressed, well-educated Americans looking to make an easy buck. (If you really want to stop the flow of drugs into this country, stop the flow of American-manufactured guns out of the country financed with drug money.) But Trump has overreacted and overreached, as usual - and on purpose. Immigrants have become his straw dogs for vilification. What the Orange Fuhrer wants to do is round up the 11 million undocumented persons in this country and send them packing. However, he does so at the risk of our economy. The dimwitted governor of Florida seems to understand this. He’s talking about of a shortage of farm laborers because of deportations. Of course, his response is a purely Republican nonsensical approach: Let’s lower the working age so we can put children to work in the fields. Of course, Elon Musk believes Social Security - a program you pay for - is a Ponzi scheme. He wants to get rid of it and has made its services less accessible to those who need it. Then there’s Trump‘s attack on universities, such as Harvard. They are too liberal, too "woke," for his liking. He wants to take a slash-and-burn approach by denying them their federal funding. Of course, doing this undermines the very research and education components of our economy that has - to borrow a phrase - made America great. For example, does it make sense to slash funding that might help find a cure for cancer, cheaper energy sources, or safer modes of transportation? Of course it doesn’t. But that doesn’t matter in Trump World. There is no strategic vision coming out of Washington these days, just retribution. In turn, it is creating a false economies that will lead this country toward an unpleasant reckoning. What Mr. Trump isn't smart enough to realize is that this ugly reckoning will also become his own. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.Governments Are Not Run Like Businesses. Nor Should They.
27/04/25 11:38
April 27, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 19) - The Elon Musks and Donald Trumps of the world are quick to tell all who would listen that government should be run like a business. Of course, in the case of Musk and Trump, this sage advice comes from people who have famously run businesses into the ground. (RE: Tesla and Trump Casino.) However, government should not be run like a business. The ultimate goal of a business is to make money for its owners and shareholders. Its efforts are focused on producing goods and services that will prove most profitable. Government, on the other hand, must produce the goods and services that meet the needs of everyone without regard to whether doing so is profitable. For example, pharmaceutical companies produce and price their products based upon consumer demand. If you are someone with a rare, therefore less profitable disease, tough luck. On the other hand, the U.S. Postal Service is expected to provide mail service everywhere from New York City (population 8,8 million) to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska (population 1,300). While there is undoubtably waste in government, the same is true in spades for businesses. The difference is that governments operate in the open. Businesses bury their mistakes. While publicly held companies and non-government organizations face certain disclosure requirements, that is nothing compared to the transparency under which governments must operate. Frankly, a lot of business disclosure is gobbly-gook. I defy you to read any company's creatively crafted 10K filing and to come away with a sense you have received the straight scoop. Financial analysts are experienced at reading between the lines to unearth hidden truths. Of course, the Trump administration has adopted a psuedo-businesslike approach which places cost-savings ahead of agency missions. Does anyone really believe that gutting the Centers for Disease Control and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are good ideas? The DOGE slash-and-burn approach to budget cutting has been anything but strategic. Musk's minions have been cutting entire agency budget lines without regard to their congressionally mandated missions. That's how they wound up firing all the folks who oversee the nation's nuclear arsenal, only to have to call them back (if they could find them). That's also why judge after judge has reminded DOGE that it is Congress, not the White House, that dictates the role and existence of federal agencies. There is one other key difference between government and the private sector: government's mandated transparency over the private sector's often spurious self-policing. As a result, the incidence of business corruption is much higher than you will find it in the public sector. If you want to know where corruption exists, just follow the money. An obvious example of how some businesses put greed over public needs is the Trump Organization. (How's that Trump University degree working for you?) The next time someone tells you that government should be run like a business, laugh in their face and hold tight onto your wallet. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.