Light/Breezes

Light/Breezes
SUNRISE AT DEATH VALLEY-Photo by Tom Cochrun
Showing posts with label oversight committee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oversight committee. Show all posts

Thursday, February 28, 2019

NEW FACES, NEW ETHICS-CAN WE GET A "NEW NORMAL?"



real oversight
   For the first time in two years Congressional oversight, a key to the Constitutional principle of Checks and Balances, appears to be in place.
   The new breed Republican party spent two years being acquiescing lapdogs instead of watchdogs. The power shift in the House means there's a new Sheriff and posse with a new purpose.
"we are better than this"
    The most powerful thing I heard in the Cohen hearing were the words of Committee Chair, Elijah Cummings when he said, "we are better than this."
    Cummings said what most US citizens think, we want to get back to "normal." Cummings called it a "new normal...where democracy stays intact."
     The Washington Post, which has been a running fact check, says the man who is president has lied 8,718 times in his time in office. Republicans, sadly, abandoned their old values, and have failed their party and the nation by letting things get so far out of line.

     seeing the difference
    The peoples interest, all of us, democrat, republican, liberal, conservative, independent, even the disinterested were well represented with Representative Katie Porter raised a question to the Chairman of Equifax. This is a great recent moment in public service. You can watch how it was noted on a news network or you can link directly to the clip in the next line of copy.
    

  
or see it in the video from a news channel

          That is the kind of accountability and hard questions this nation needs and deserves. There is no ideological edge, no partisan blather, no b.s. to that kind of oversight. 
      There was a time when the best interests of all were considered above partisan or ideological ground. That is what we need to get back to. 

    public service is more than politics
it is a real skill
      Anyone who knows anything about real politic has warned that the rouge president is doing damage by his ignorant blundering in foreign affairs. But he is such a defective, he is sure he knows better than experts, who have spent their life in diplomacy, negotiation, and real deal making. 
     North Korea has again gotten the upper hand. And while Senate Republicans have enabled a power drunk and traitorous stooge, he has continued to preside over a decimation of the Department of State and the national intelligence community.
    Those days may soon be over. House investigations have only begun. There is the coming blizzard of federal prosecutions, state and local investigations and prosecutions and there will be a field of democrat presidential hopefuls and quite likely a republican challenger who will also hold this very bad man's feet to the fire. The difference of rhetoric and vision will be stunning.
    History will be ruthless. Analysis and logic will be very unkind, not only to the stooge but to those who aided and abetted him and those who continued to support him even after they saw him for the fraud he is. And dear readers, that information is coming in, compounded daily and we've only just begun with real oversight in place. And some of the new crowd are playing by new rules. I refer you to the picture above.

how does your garden grow?
      The winter lettuce crop has been fantastic. 
    Lana has done a great job up in Indiana. That is the flat and tillable soil at the top of our hill.
     We are enjoying a good rain season and the succulents approve. 

     If you reside where winter means snow, ice, cold, gray and a longing for spring, these green shots may bolster your spirits.
      Maybe by then we will be closer to what Chairman Cummings said, "...back to the democracy we want."

     See you down the trail.

     

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

NOTES FROM THE BLUE PLANET

THE INFORMATION WARS
     Jonathan Landay of McClatchey Newspapers reports troubling news that amounts to a piling on after we've learned how invasive information mining already is.  
     Landay writes of a directive from James Clapper who works as the Director of National Intelligence.  Clapper's one man edict, with the power of law, forbids intelligence community employees from any contact with journalists.  Now, only the director, deputy director or public information officer of a member agency of the intelligence community is permitted contact. A very dangerous and sinister move.  
     No doubt Clapper and his advisers, rocked by the Snowden and earlier Wikileaks releases, and genuinely concerned about our security, believe this is the best thing. The danger though is when a single executive, or even a branch of government builds policy that restricts knowledge in a punitive way.  Under Clapper's edict, any offending intelligence community employee's career will be damaged or ended. There is also the philosophical issue of a government, meant to serve, deciding to hold information against, or away from those who empower it-we citizens.
      As I sat in an intelligence oversight conference room hidden away under the US Capitol dome, a ranking member of congress spoke earnestly of the hard choices and actions that must be taken in the field of intelligence, simply to give our government options for our security. There are few black and white constructs. Security and intelligence is a nether world where shades of gray and complexity are the multi layered norm. As my source told me "some of the decisions that are necessary, don't look so good in the light of day."
     In more than 4 decades of reporting I learned which sources I could trust and they in turn learned that I could be trusted. Now some of those people from federal law enforcement, intelligence and counter intelligence, defense, state and local police, Senate and House oversight committees, would not have been able to assist my work in reporting to the public.  
     No government is so good that it does not need to be watched, nor should it ever strive to be anything but transparent.  Men and women who hold positions of influence, elected, appointed or civil service are never above accountability. Journalism is an imperfect craft or profession but it provides a valuable surrogate role for citizens. Journalists must be able to gather and know all facts and as close an approximation to truth as possible, especially in the area of policy formulation and conduct. This is paramount in areas of national security, public safety and individual privacy. Clapper's one man edict, regardless of claims of nobility of intent, is wrong, chilling and dictatorial. 
     Good men and women who believe in the principles of this Democratic Republic and who do the hard work of intelligence and journalism will find ways to share information and knowledge and work around the dangerous Clapper policy. We are a government of, by and for the people and we can never accept anything less.
     A couple of weeks ago Central California readers of The Cambrian were surprised by the tone of an article I penned about the hiring of a public information officer for our Community Service District Board. "I agree with you but""you were awfully strong," or "too strong," or "too tough" were comments from a few friends. My point there derives from the same point as my reaction to the Clapper edict.  Government employees do not work for a political ideology, philosophy, policy leaning, or butt covering-they work for the public.
It is not easy. Issues are complicated. There are competing interests-but the constitutional frame work and the public's right to know should be guiding precepts. Clapper is a dedicated public servant, but he is wrong. I hope he reconsiders. This is tantamount to a gag order.
GARDENING IN A TIME OF DROUGHT
    Californians struggle through the drought finding ways to conserve water while governments look at water policy and permitting processes. 
       As an Earth Day celebration note we share a personal report.
     We've added rain barrels and redirected our downspouts.
These two are tied together.
   This barrel stands alone. These help to harvest rain, when we get it. Living in a coastal zone we are blessed with lots of spring and summer evening marine fog. It's amazing how much flows off the roof and the barrels are an improvement as a catchment. They can also be filled with non potable water.
    In a small way, we've become solar powered. 
 We opted for a small panel which feeds through a charge controller to a 12 volt battery that we store out of the elements in the plastic box.
    A ten amp pump with a 45 PSI rating connects the barrel's out flow to a hose that feeds into our irrigation system.
  Our native California friend Dick, a gardening veteran, helped modify the drip irrigation system by adding the white cap feed input.
    The single barrel will source the lower raised bed and tomato cage.
     The double barrels will source the hill top raised bed as well as the side beds. Most of the hill side itself is drought tolerant planting and not in need of much water.
  Fava beans are doing well in a new side bed.  They, as well,
  will be fed by barrels thanks to the power of the little pump.
                                           Ditto for the lemon tree
           and the newly planted grape.  The barrels, solar panel,
battery, charge controller, pump as well as the modification to the downspouts cost a few bucks, but allow us to conserve and continue to garden.  And the new 
     is a lot better than the old system of down spout capture by these old cat litter containers that also needed to be hauled up the hill.

     Happy Earth day.  Take good care of it.  It's the only one we have.

     See you down the trail.