Who's the Crook Now?

In July, 2016, Trump tweeted, “Crooked Hillary Clinton and her team were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.  Not fit!”

In September, 2016, Trump said that, “We also need the best protection of classified information. That is the worst situation. Hillary’s private email scandal, which put our classified information in the reach of our enemies, disqualifies her from the presidency. Totally.”

One wonders if it is simply an irony of history that in 2018 Trump signed a law that increased the criminal penalties for taking classified materials and changed it from a misdemeanor to a felony.

Last week’s headlines:  “After three previous formal requests were ignored, the FBI seized multiple sets of documents marked top secret from former President Donald Trump’s Florida resort home, Mar-a-Lago, when agents raided it Monday, according to a search warrant unsealed Friday.”

Maybe it’s time for those in the Republican Party, ironically dubbed as the party of 'law and order' to acknowledge the reality of Trump's actions and tweet using his own words, “Crooked Donald Trump and his team were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information. Not fit!”  "We also need the best protection of classified information. That is the worst situation. Trump's Mar-a-Lago scandal which put our classified information in the reach of our enemies, disqualifies him from the presidency. Totally.”  Are you listening Scalise, Kennedy and Cassidy?

Reminds me of the old saying,” People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

So sad that any folks would even want Donald Trump for president again. Such a buffoon!

Cart Before the Horse

With full disclosure, I presently own a plug-in hybrid and think EV automobiles are the way of the future.  With that said, I fear that many will be turned off by the technology due to rushed implementation coupled with ingrained American driving expectations.

The United States encompasses a vast expanse of land, and Americans often like to be able to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible.  By in large we are an impatient group of individuals as evidenced by our love of fast food restaurants, speedy oil changing shops, on line companies that offer overnight or two day shipping, etc.

All of us grew up with gasoline powered vehicles, but a new era is upon us, the electric vehicle revolution.  However, if you purchase an EV now, and don’t attempt to understand the technology, and don’t relearn some of your vehicle expectations, you will regret your purchase.  Additionally, you will need to better understand what the real world performance facts are, as they relate to EV ownership, verses manufacturers’ claims.

One of the biggest advantages of owning an EV is the ability to fill it up (charge) at your home. However, don’t expect to do this by simply plugging it into an ordinary house 110/120 volt electrical plug, for it would take approximately 3 ½ days to charge from empty.  You will need to purchase and install, minimally, what is known as a Level 2 charger, which can cut the charge time down to 2 1/2 hours, if you purchase a top of the line charger and your EV has that capability.  Four to six hours is probably more realistic.

Additionally, according to CleanTechnica, there are approximately 150,000 gas stations in the U.S., each with an average of 8 pumps available, for a total of 1.2 million refueling devices.  Biden has set a goal of 500,000 electric refueling stations by the end of this decade.  However, this is all dependent upon Congressional approval of over $5 billion to help states implement this, and each state must submit a plan on how they intent to do this.  No plan, no money, and Republican controlled oil rich states have already opposed this plan.

Another change Americans must accept is the elimination of what I term ‘the quick in, quick out’ refueling expectation.  For now, if a charging station is equipped with what is termed “quick chargers”, and you own a Tesla EV, it will take on the average 10 minutes of charging to go an additional 150 miles at 70 MPH.  However, most other EVs can take as long as 20 to 30 minutes. But there is a catch; the outside temperature must be optimally around 70 degrees to get that range even from a 10 minute Tesla Quick Charger. Hotter or colder temperatures will impact that 10 minute charge.  Can Americans stand that 10, 20 or 30 minute wait if there is no line at a charging station?  A recent Twitter posting by a reporter for the Wall Street Journal claimed, “I spent more time charging the vehicle than sleeping,” when she drove an EV rental car from New Orleans to Chicago and back.

The last major adjustment EV purchasers must make is the acceptance of what the EV manufacturers’ claim is a vehicle’s driving range vs the real world, which, to be fair, is also a concern of gasoline powered vehicles; the EPA gas mileage ratings vs actual.

Let use the highly anticipated Ford electric truck as an example.  Ford advertises a 320 mile range on a full battery charge for its most expensive truck.  The less expensive one has a range of 300 miles. That figure is calculated with no load in the bed, one passenger, no air or heat on, no towing of any trailer, and a ‘moderate’ outside temperature.

InsideEVs tested several EV models and found that the range difference from what the manufacturers listed for their vehicles and what they got at 70 MPH was on the average 10% lower and that, “as little as 10 degrees change in outside temperature can have a meaningful impact on an electric vehicle’s range.”

Applying this fact to the Ford electric truck, purchasers should expect about 288 maximum real world miles from a charge, but less depending on the weight of the passengers, bed load, and outside temperature.  And while these same factors would affect a gasoline powered Ford truck, the lack of a ‘quick in, quick out’ refueling ability, and a limited availability of charging stations might irritate owners unless up front they understood the technology limitations.

However, once you start using the F150 electric for what it is designed for, as a truck, things go south quite rapidly.  Motor Trend magazine recently tested the new Ford 150 electric with real world tasks and shockingly found that when saddled with pulling a 8500 pound trailer driving range dropped to a dismal 90 miles on a full charge.  A similarly equipped 2022 F150 gas powered vehicle can cover over 250 miles under the same testing conditions on a tank of gas.

As I stated earlier, EVs are the way of the future, but a great deal more education of the public about the realities of owning an EV needs to take place or many are going to be turned off by EVs, and hate them. However, so far there appears to be no unified plan to address these issues, and the disinformation propaganda has already begun by the oil companies regarding this technology.

Sadly, we could see a strong push back against the EV technology because we as Americans don’t readily accept swift, radical change.  We just need to slow this adaptation down a bit, because presently there is no meaningful charging stations infrastructure in place once you leave the West and East coasts, and battery technology delivering more real world driving range has yet to emerge.  

EVs are not yet fully ready for full ‘prime time adoption’ as your sole means of transportation, but are fun to own as a second vehicle.  Performance wise they leave the combustible engine vehicle in the dust, and are the way of the future.  But if you buy one now, please understand the present limitations of the technology.

Totally Clueless to Deal with Abortion Legislation

I found Louisiana Republican State Representative Julie Emerson’s  recent newspaper Guest Opinion in which she appears to be bragging about how well written the abortion ban, which she co-authored, is "to protect the unborn,” absurd.  If one carefully reads her letter you can detect the fatal flaw of this legislation, namely, “We wrote Act 545 after thoughtful deliberation to protect the unborn life, mothers and good-faith physicians.” 

In reality, this act was not well written because it was penned by a group having no medical training or understanding of the procedures involved in this health care issue. Their focus was myopically focused on one single issue, the outcome of an abortion.  It is obvious from the text of Act 545, that the complexities of the health issues that might lead to the termination of birth, completely eluded them.

Doctors, not politicians should have written the legislative act, with only cursory guidance from our esteemed politicians.  They could have found many physicians with similar views on abortion to formulate this legislation. However, with all the ambiguity in Act 545, which Rep. Emerson, and our astute A.G., Jeff Landry, claim doesn’t exist, but which the majority in the Louisiana medical  profession claim does exist, it is obvious that they didn’t know what they were doing, and have nothing to brag about. 

Sadly, Louisiana is not alone in this fatal flaw approach as more and more politicians attempt to deal with the abortion issue, which is a health care issue as opposed to a political one.

The Supreme Court returned the issue of abortion rights to the states, but unfortunately what we have now is a bunch of clueless politicians writing and passing legislation about a complex medical scenario which impacts the health of women.

Trump Shows His True Colors

Without wading into a discussion regarding the pros and cons of the policies that President Trump instituted during his presidency, one characteristic that I always attributed to Trump, and which Trump supporters  never accepted, was that when it came to a decision which could benefit the U.S. or his enterprises, it was always about the latter.  The proof of this behavior is now never more clearly evident than his recent hosting and support of the Saudi Arabia golf tournament held at his Bedminster Golf Course, just 50 miles from the 9/11 catastrophe.  He will make a bundle from this event and another such Saudi golf event later this year.

When Trump was confronted about this blatant disrespect for those who died and survived 9/11, he stated, “Well, nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately, and they should have,”

The fact is fifteen of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001, were Saudi nationals. And documents declassified by the FBI last year detailed contacts the hijackers had with Saudi associates in the U.S.

Obviously, Trump also thought Saudi Arabia was responsible, because on February 17, 2016, on national TV, Trump asked his pals at Fox and Friends “Who blew up the World Trade Center?”  “It wasn’t the Iraqis; it was Saudi — take a look at Saudi Arabia, open the documents.” Later that same day while campaigning in South Carolina he claimed there were “secret papers” that could prove it was “the Saudis” who were in fact responsible for the attacks on 9/11. “It wasn’t the Iraqis that knocked down the World Trade Center … because they have papers in there that are very secret, you may find it’s the Saudis, OK?”

Additionally, in his third presidential debate with Hilary Clinton he lambasted the Saudi government for executing homosexuals and treating women “horribly,” and verbally attacked Hillary Clinton for taking $25 million from the Saudis; from “people that push gays off … buildings."  "These are people that kill women and treat women horribly, and yet you take their money.”

Why now the change of heart by Trump?  Simple, as I stated, Trump was, and still is, always concerned about what’s best for Trump, above all else.  Even regarding the respect for others; and that will never change. It’s called ‘hypocrisy greed,’ something that the 9/11 folks are tragically now the object of.

Mayor Cantell Loves Her Trips on the Public's Dime

I must admit I found the statement by Gregory Joseph, Mayor Cantrell's spokesperson, justifying the mayor's planned trip to Singapore next week humorous beyond belief.  He stated, "This is an opportunity for us not just to lift up what we are doing in New Orleans, but also to hear what other successful cities across the globe are doing."  Maybe the mayor can highlight the city's unreliable garbage pick up services,  the 2 1/2 hour average wait for 911 police responses, if you're lucky enough to get a response at all, the lack of a plan to deal with the spiraling homeless population, the broken sanitation/sewerage system, and the out of control shootings and carjackings that plague its residents daily. 

Personally, I'd be embarrassed to attend, but then again Cantrell wants to travel as much as she can world-wide on the taxpayers' dime before she can no longer afford such luxuries.

Louisiana Residents Duped Once Again!

Don’t know if you missed it, but our local news outlets just covered a story about the increase in automobile insurance rates.  Our illustrious State Insurance Commissioner, Jim Donelon, was on the news giving all kind of excuses as to why this occurred.  An increase also occurred last year. However, when I wrote a commentary in the local newspaper several months ago questioning why this had occurred given the fact that our legislators had passed a bill they claimed would lower rates, I was castigated in several Letters to the Editor, insisting I was too impatient and that lower rates would occur.

In my initial commentary about this issue I wrote:  “In 2020, Louisiana politicians passed a bill which they touted as a major win for automobile drivers in our state, a promise of lower insurance rates.  Our Republican legislators duped the public into believing that our high auto insurance rates were due to the ridiculously high number of lawsuits filed against insurance companies by the overabundance of accident attorneys in our state.  In response, our esteemed legislators passed a bill that would limit damage suits by people injured in car wrecks. They claimed the bill would make the state’s auto insurance market more competitive and induce auto insurers to pass their cost savings from the bill to consumers.”

One of our more astute legislators wanted a ‘hold accountable’ clause included in the bill stipulating that the insurance companies would decrease rates 20%.  The majority of our reps refused to include that clause.  Maybe they were just more concerned about their campaign contributions from these insurance companies, rather than actually benefiting their constituents.

The reality of this entire situation is, we are still waiting for rates to drop and are apparently relying on the benevolence of the “Like a Good Neighbor” and “You’re in Good Hands” companies.  If their handling of home owners’ claims for Ida is any indication of their desire to provide relief to their paying customers, I doubt if we will ever see automobile insurance rates decrease, or stop increasing.

I'll repeat it once again, we have been duped by State Insurance Commissioner, Jim Donelon, the State Insurance Commissioners, and our representatives.  Let’s remember this at the next election.

Check the Pump

Finally, my prayers have been answered because the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is going to get off its duff and address the contamination of Louisiana rivers and soil by fecal matter.  And yes, you heard it correctly, ‘poop’ as kids refer to it.  However, it’s really the Environmental Protection Agency that’s forcing Louisiana to do it, it’s not of Louisiana’s own volition.

Louisiana is going to get over $490,000 to investigate why the Natalbany River and Yellow River are choking with this contamination.  Both are no longer safe to swim in or fish.  Sadly, the expected culprit is humans and their use of aerated sewerage waste systems outside city limits.  These systems drain into ditches in front of homes, and eventually find their way into river ways and soil throughout our state.

I am told that LSU came up with this design as a cheaper and more readily adaptable way to handle rural homeowners’ sewerage as opposed to a septic tank with a leaching field.   The system usually consists of two debris settling tanks buried underground and an air pump connected to a pipe which runs to the bottom of one of the tanks and passes air into it.  Maybe it was a good idea, but its realistic implementation was horrible, because it requires a crucial maintenance element which if ignored makes the system worthless, and most ignore the maintenance part.

The aerator pump is the key element in the system because it stimulates bacteria growth essential in decomposing the fecal matter and purifying the water before it drains into the open ditches in front of one’s home.

I usually take a three mile walk once or twice a week and I can tell you that I would guess about 99.9% of the systems installed in the homes I pass are non-functioning.   I either see disconnected pumps, black water pouring out of the drainage pipe, notice a pungent smell, or sewerage debris in the ditches.

I once had a conversation with a neighbor about how I had to rebuild my aerator pump every two to three years, to which he replied, “Really, I’ve had mine for ten years and never had to anything, it just keeps humming along.”  Sadly, his pump was indeed running, but the rubber diaphragms inside the pump responsible for moving the air were broken.  The pump was doing nothing but “humming.”

In the climate we live in if you can go more than three years without replacing the pump’s rubber diaphragms, you’re lucky.  Rebuild kits are available on line, and it’s an easy job.   If you’re not mechanically adept to rebuild the pump, buy a new one.   They are not cheap, but just remember you are not paying a monthly sewerage processing charge like you do in the city.  So even with that possible three year expense, you’re saving money.  If a part failed on your car and made it inoperable, you would find the money to fix it, but when it comes to preventing pollution of our lakes and streams, most choose to ignore it.

Hopefully, you do not pass all this discussion off as just some ‘bleeding heart environmentalist’ trying to save the planet.  Our inaction regarding this is the poisoning of the soil and waterways which we depend upon for food.  By the way, you can be fined for a malfunctioning system if caught, or turned in by a concerned neighbor.  Here is what the Louisiana statue states, "A person shall not directly or indirectly discharge, or allow to be discharged, the contents or effluent from any plumbing fixtures, vault, privy, portable toilet, or septic tank, into any road, street, gutter, ditch, water course, body of water, or onto the surface of the ground." 

If we continue to ignore this problem very soon we will have to change our state’s slogan from ‘A Sportsman’s Paradise’ to ‘A Sportsman’s Pollution Hell;’ so please, check the pump and your overall system.