This is almost a complete republish of last years article. In recent years, I’ve greeted friends with Happy Earth Day. We were beginning to recognize the importance of climate change and take steps to minimize the damage. But that was before less than 1/4 of American eligible voters got away with installing Donald Trump in the White House and giving the Republican Reich control of both branches of Congress. God help us!
[3/31/2017] In the past few weeks, the Trump administration has ramped up its efforts to make good on campaign promises to dismantle President Obama’s environmental legacy. Congressional Republicans have enthusiastically hopped on board, seizing the opportunity to repeal any environmental rules vulnerable under the Congressional Review Act and gunning to slash funding for critical environmental and scientific agencies and programs. The Trump Administration appointed Scott Pruitt, a man with well-established ties to the fossil fuel industry and a history of suing the Environmental Protection Agency, to chair the Environmental Protection Agency. On Wednesday morning, the Republican leadership of the House Science Committee convened a hearing for the sole purpose of challenging widely accepted climate science. And this past Tuesday, surrounded by coal miners and bosses, Trump issued an executive order on “energy independence” which, among other things, places President Obama’s landmark Clean Power Plan directly in the line of fire and temporarily lifts the moratorium on new coal leasing on federal public lands. Most of these developments have been months in the making. Trump and Congressional Republicans have never been quiet about their environmental agenda — namely, doing the bidding of the fossil fuel industry and making grandiose but ultimately empty gestures to prop up coal. Bottom line: it’s been a discouraging few months. This week alone has been bruising, and we’re in for a tough fight going forward. But the persistently negative headlines, emphasizing only the administration’s determination to wreak havoc on our environment, are misleading and can be counterproductive. Not because they misstate the priorities of Trump’s White House and Congressional Republicans; those are well established. But we can’t lose sight of D.C.’s real influence, or lack thereof, over energy markets and international environmental commitments — or of the power our towns, cities, and states can wield in this fight…
EPA Fuhrer, Scott Pruitt, may well be the most corrupt department head in US History.
I looked for a protest video more appropriate to 2018 and could not find one.
From <ExtraNewsFeed> We must all do every thing we can do at every level, because Trump and his Reich won’t quit. Donald Trump Is F***ing Our Planet, Happy Earth Day!
The time is now!
In the time I have available, I don’t think I can improve on last year’s Easter message, so here it is again, with one small addition. Whether or not you are a Christian, I respectfully invite you to join me in the celebration of the my faith’s most central holiday, even though many of its traditions are borrowed.
Jesus was a fascinating man. He associated most closely with the social rejects of his day. He respected people with faiths different from his. He did not burn their religious writings or try to prevent them from practicing their own forms of worship. Sometimes he used them as an example of what is right, like the Good Samaritan. He had a heart for meeting the needs of the poor, and admonished us to care for them. His concern for the rich was that their own greed would blind them. He had no trouble getting along with sinners. He met people at the point of their need, and accepted all, except for the religious hypocrites who used their position to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor and to force their own piety codes, which they often ignored themselves, onto others. Those were only people Jesus condemned. Sadly, they are still among us. If we are followers of Jesus, our faith will help us to follow the example of what he did. Of course, none of us is perfect in that way. God knows that I fall short every day. It is important to know that those who preach the things Jesus was against, but condemn those who contend for the things Jesus supported, are not followers of Jesus. They are pseudo-Christians. Authentic Christians try to follow Jesus’ example. Pseudo-Christians helped install a serial pussy-grabber in the White House.
And now, for your listening pleasure:
When I posted this in 2016, I would have never believed…
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
May all your purrrrs be purrrrfect!
It was a pleasure to work with Dr. King on Vietnam Summer. Of all the people I have met in my life, he stands head and shoulders above the rest. This is last year’s article. It is even more applicable today.
Normally, I would wish you a Happy Martin Luther King Day, but my conscience will not allow it at a time when Donald Trump and the Republican Party have trashed so much of what he accomplished, and today, Dr. King would grieve. But he would also…
