. . . intelligent (and articulate) president . . .
(from https://www.merriam-webster.com/news-trend-watch/trump-there8217s-many-per-capitas-20200521)
". . . And, you know, when you say “per capita,” there’s many per capitas. It’s, like, per capita relative to what? But you can look at just about any category, and we’re really at the top, meaning positive on a per capita basis, too. They’ve done a great job.
— Remarks by President Trump in a Meeting with Governor Hutchinson of Arkansas and Governor Kelly of Kansas, whitehouse.gov, 20 May 2020. . . "
(from http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/)
". . . The Promise: "We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem."
Update June 2nd, 2017: Trump delays moving U.S. embassy to Jerusalem
The Promise: "We’re going to cancel the Paris Climate Agreement and stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs.”
Update June 1st, 2017: Trump says U.S. pulling out of Paris climate agreement [rendering the country one of three of the 178 attending nations not to sign]
The Promise: “I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid.”
Update May 26th, 2017: White House budget cuts Social Security disability benefits
The Promise: “And if people don't like it, we've got to have a country folks. Got to have a country. Countries in which immigration will be suspended would include places like Syria and Libya. And we are going to stop the tens of thousands of people coming in from Syria.”
Update May 26th, 2017: 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds block on Trump’s travel ban
The Promise: "I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great great wall on our southern border and I’ll have Mexico pay for that wall."
Update May 24th, 2017: Trump’s 2018 budget requests $1.6 billion for border security [Mexico vows NOT to pay]
* John McCain: "I have long called for a special congressional committee to investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 election. The president's decision to remove the FBI Director only confirms the need and the urgency of such a committee."
* Jeff Flake: "I've spent the last several hours trying to find an acceptable rationale for the timing of Comey's firing. I just can't do it."
* Ben Sasse: "Regardless of how you think Director Comey handled the unprecedented complexities of the 2016 election cycle, the timing of this firing is very troubling."
* Richard Burr: "I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey's termination."
* Bob Corker: "While the case for removal of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey laid out by Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein was thorough, his removal at this particular time will raise questions."
(http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/27/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-house-intelligence/index.html)
The House Intelligence Committee, as well as its Senate counterpart, are investigating Russia's alleged attempts to influence the election, including any possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. FBI Director James Comey disclosed publicly last week that the FBI is doing the same.
(http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-cuts-billions-urban-areas-he-vowed-help-n734516)
President Donald Trump is proposing slashing billions in federal funding that helps heavily minority urban communities - just months after appealing on the campaign trail to residents of cities like Detroit, asking "What the hell do you have to lose?" . . . the budget calls for $6.2 billion of cuts to the nation's Housing and Urban Development agency, putting the already strapped federal housing authority under even bigger strain. . .The reductions come in a spending plan designed specifically to keep the president's many promises - "if he said it on the campaign, it's in the budget," Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters Wednesday - and one that advocates say will have disastrous effects in the largely African-American communities that Trump promised he'd "fix."
T - the number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50 percent in one year
Fact - the number of law enforcement officers killed on the job has increased 8 percent, compared to this point in 2015.
T - homicides last year increased by 17 percent in America's 50 largest cities. That's the largest increase in 25 years. In our nation's capital, killings have risen by 50 percent. They are up nearly 60 percent in nearby Baltimore."
Fact - the percentage increase was large because the number of homicides in 2014 was relatively small. Meanwhile, homicide trends have been split in the major cities so far this year: Out of 63 agencies reporting to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, 32 cities saw a decrease in homicides in the first quarter of 2016, and 31 cities saw an increase.
T - Nearly 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records, ordered deported from our country, are tonight roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens.
Fact - in fiscal 2015, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported nearly 140,000 convicted criminals, but ICE has estimated that nearly 1 million noncitizens with final deportation orders remain in the United States. Crimes committed by this group are not documented. A significant percentage of their crimes involve immigration violations and nonviolent offenses, according to historical records.
T - The number of new illegal immigrant families who have crossed the border so far this year already exceeds the entire total from 2015. They are being released by the tens of thousands into our communities with no regard for the impact on public safety or resources.
Fact - From October to June, just over 50,000 families were apprehended at the southwestern border, up from about 40,000 in all of the previous fiscal year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. But overall apprehensions, including of unaccompanied minors, are running only slightly higher than in 2015 and remain far less than in 2014, 2013 and 2012.
T - Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African -American and Latino workers.
Fact - Distinction must be made between legal and illegal immigration. The flow of legal immigrants has increased over the past four decades, stabilizing at roughly 1 million people obtaining lawful permanent resident status every year since 2001. The unauthorized immigrant population increased from about 4 million in 1990 to about 12 million in 2007. But researchers estimate that the number of illegal immigrants has been essentially stable since then because of the large number of unauthorized immigrants who left the country during and after the Great Recession.
T - 2 million more Latinos are in poverty today than when the president took his oath of office."
Fact - From March 2009 to March 2014, the most recent year for which statistics are available, the number of Latinos in poverty increased by 750,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But the overall number of the Latinos grew by nearly 7 million. So the percent of Latinos living in poverty declined from 25.3 percent to 23.6 percent.
T - Household incomes are down more than $4,000 since the year 2000 - 16 years ago.
Fact - Median annual household income was $57,206 in June, down slightly from January 2000, when it was $57,826 in 2016 dollars. So household income is essentially flat, not down $4,000.
T - Forty-three million Americans are on food stamps.
Fact - This is the lowest number of people receiving food stamps since the program reached its peak in 2013, a sign that the economy is finally improving enough to help the desperately poor families who depend on it.
T - Fifty-eight percent of African American youth are not employed.
Fact - According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate among blacks 16 to 19 years old was 31.2 percent in June. This official unemployment rate refers to people who are actively looking for work, as a percentage of the total available workforce.
T - Another 14 million people have left the workforce entirely.
Fact - Half of the decline in the labor participation rate since 1999 is due to the retirement of the baby boomers. Economists estimate just 15 percent of the drop in the labor force involves people who want a job and are of prime working age (25 to 54).
T - America has lost nearly one-third of its manufacturing jobs since 1997, following the enactment of disastrous trade deals (by previous administrations)
Fact - The economy has added nearly 1 million manufacturing jobs since 2010, the low point after the Great Recession.
It is simplistic to pin blame for the decline in manufacturing jobs on trade agreements. Increased efficiency and technological advancement have also played a major role.
(thanks to http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-donald-trump-convention-speech-fact-check-20160721-story.html)
My latest solo offering, No Frills, is now available at - No Frills
(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)
. . . the attractive surface, lies some not-so-obvious truth. . .
(https://www.ajot.com/news/trumps-wasting-time-trying-to-save-factories-michael-schuman)
". . . Listening to our political leaders, you’d think everyone on the planet works in a factory. . . (candidates) want(s) to stop China and Mexico from “taking our jobs” by preventing factories from moving there—and (are) willing to launch a trade war to do so. Michael Short, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, recently claimed that a loss of 264,000 manufacturing jobs under President Obama was “a stark reminder of the failure of his policies,” as if the nearly 10 million other jobs added on Obama’s watch didn’t matter. . . This obsession with factories threatens to undermine sound economic policy. The notion that economic strength should be measured by how many assembly lines one country hosts compared to another is based on outdated thinking. And frantic attempts to save factories are a distraction from the real challenge of preparing economies and workers for the demands of the 21st century. . . in the modern age, it’s debatable how much value a physical factory delivers to most national economies. . . It’s also doubtful whether factories will remain an important source of new jobs in the future. Automation, advances in robotics and artificial intelligence are making it possible for machines to perform more and more of the manufacturing work currently done by people, resulting in “dark factories” that don’t need lights since only robots work there. The Boston Consulting Group figures that by 2025, some 25 percent of all tasks in manufacturing will be automated, compared to around 10 percent today. . ."
My latest solo offering, No Frills, is now available at - No Frills
(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)
(from http://www.npr.org/2016/04/15/474102626/now-hiring-low-pay-terrible-benefits-and-an-unmatched-view-on-life)
". . . the job of bridgetender might not be the most attractive you've ever seen. For 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the person at the controls of the Ortega River Bridge in Jacksonville, Fla., must sit in a tiny booth, opening and closing the bridge so boats can pass. . . Sounds like an awful job, right? . . . Welcome to your office! Watch your head. This is the tenderhouse at the Ortega River Bridge in Jacksonville . . . "The pay's horrible, the benefits are worse," admits Barb Abelhauser, 51, a former bridgetender there, "but I have the most gorgeous view in the entire city. I mean, executives who make hundreds of thousands of dollars do not have my view. And I'm getting paid to stop and look." . . . "
My latest solo offering, No Frills, is now available at - No Frills
(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)
(yes . . . it appears to have come to this . . . )
“. . . Presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina says too many Inspector General reports state that Federal employees can watch porn all day long and get paid exactly the same way as somebody who’s trying to do their job. . .”
'. . . Celebrities caught doing the walk of shame . . . "
'. . . Tom Cruise's admission is Scientology's worst nightmare . . . '
' . . . simple method regrows hair . . . '
'. . . dogs show their deepest shower thoughts . . . '
OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak. Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com
My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music will be released April 7, 2014 Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak
(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)
Maybe it's me. The stories of Chuck Hagel's resignation and speculation about the reasons has been varied, believable and interesting. They've even been uncharacteristically (for the press) objective.
All sound plausible from McCain's explanation that the administration micromanages and that Hagel, like his predecessors felt they were inhibited to the administration rep's comments on Hagel not being up to the job.
The photo above right is the more interesting of the two but the one left is there purely for contrast. Whatever the mutual feeling on the left, (when Panetta left and Hagel joined) all appear relaxed and, for lack of a more descriptive term: happy. The one right clearly portrays something practically opposite happy. And while the resignation of a cabinet officer is certainly not a happy occasion. But I detect in the one on the right, something more; deeper. Maybe the version that Hagel was forced out?
OHO's
"Ocean City Ditty," the
CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if
you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak
My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
. . . I'm reading about politics, government, representation and LIFE. . .
(from "A Fighting Chance" by Elizabeth Warren)
". . . as the crowd thinned out a bit, a woman in her mid fifties walked over. Her face was flushed and her hair was a tangle of tight curls. She looked hot and tired, maybe a little angry. She stopped a few steps away from me and said, "I walked two miles to get here."
Okay. She had my attention.
She dropped her voice a notch. "I walked because I don't have a car that runs. I don't have a car that runs because I don't have a job."
As we stood facing each other, she laid out her life in just a few sentences.
I have two master's degrees. I'm smart. I taught myself computer programming. I've been out of work for a year and a half. I've applied, I've volunteered, I've gone everywhere, but nothing.
She paused for a long time, then plunged back in. She explained that she had held one job or another since she was seventeen. She had put herself through school. She had always, always, always worked hard.
Then she stopped, took a step forward, and lowered her voice to a whisper, as if she didn't want to hear what she was about to say.
Now I don't know if I'm ever going to get a real job again.
I held out both hands and she took them. We stood there, not moving, just holding hands. I muttered something bland like "I'm so sorry," but she didn't give any sign of hearing me. She was well past the polite social conventions. She was hot, and she was exhausted-mind, body, and soul.
She focused again, looked me straight in the eye and said: I'm here because I'm running out of hope. I've read about you for a long time, and I'm here to see you in person, to tell you that I need you, and I want you to fight for me. I don't care how hard it gets, I want to know that you are going to fight.
OHO's
"Ocean City Ditty," the
CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if
you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak
My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
How many times is a good employee tossed under the bus in favor of one who used his carefully honed political strengths to succeed instead of real job skills? Is this really “constructive confrontation” and is it professionally healthy to force participants to defend their positions thoroughly? A study of 400 U.S. workers by staffing firm Robert Half International says that nearly 60 percent of workers believe that involvement in office politics is somewhat necessary to get ahead. Instead of succumbing to down-and-dirty office politics, why not lobby for the respect and trust of all your colleagues? Forge strong alliances by sharing credit for successes and delivering on promises. Focus on facts and completely avoid gossip. Participating in it only damages your credibility. Stay true to your values. Character and credibility always prevail. Connect with your constituents. In other words, communicate effectively with others. Play by the rules. Observe the official protocol.
(thanks to
http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2013/04/14/office-politics-must-you-play-a-handbook-for-survivalsuccess/)
OHO's
"Ocean City Ditty," the
CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if
you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak
My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
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