Public Hearing And Citizen Action A Final Look: Fill & Download for Free

I am sure you’ve heard this mantra before, but in simplest terms: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle —in that order. Use less of everything, especially cleaners, sanitizers, detergents, etc… Most people use far more than needed to do the job. Doing so creates excess waste, in the form of more empty containers and the extra chemicals in the water supply means it takes more time, money, and, yes, chemicals for the local water authority to clean it up before putting it back out for reuse. Better yet, replace those cleaners with homemade versions for most jobs we use some combination of Vinegar, Citrus, Olive Oil, Borax, Corn Start and water. There are many recipes online for making your own cleaners and laundry products. Borax also softens hard water, so your cleaners will work better. Add 1/2 C to each load of laundry and 1/4 c. to each dishwasher load. If you cannot reduce the amount used, look for ways to reuse the items or donate them for others to use. And when all options for reduction and reuse have been tried, recycle the item(s) rather than throwing it away. Take shorter showers. Filter your water at home instead of buying bottled. Use energy efficient appliances, machinery, and automobiles whenever possible. Carpool. Only use reusable shopping bags or reuse the bags provided by stores. Don’t leave the water running while washing dishes or brushing teeth. Use reusable cleaning rags that can laundered. Only run a full load of laundry or dishes, and use the lowest temp, water and soil level possible for the job. Same goes for dryers. Unplug electronic devices when not in use - most small appliances and electronics are called “vampires” because even when turned off, they still use power. Turn off the lights when exiting a room. Find natural ways to keep your yard healthy - compost kitchen scraps and yard clippings, avoid chemical pesticides and go natural. For example, Borax or Diatomaceous Earth are the only “pest controllers” we use. Both are natural compounds that kill by dehydrating the insect. Borax also works to sterilize pests such as ants or roaches when they track it back to their nest. Allow your lawn to go more natural too. Plants like violets, clover and dandelions are less water intensive and are also great food for rabbits! Plant flowers for bees, hummingbirds and butterflies. But only plant those varieties that are suited for your local climate. Only water your lawn with when the sun isn’t shining. If possible, collect rainwater and household grey water [water from sinks, tubs, showers] to use for irrigation (you will have to check your local and state rules as some places ban grey water collection).And for an ever bigger impact, participate in the process at local, state and federal levels. In the USA, All government action is opened up for Public Hearing and/or Public Comment. All the industries in your area go through a permitting process for their activities. The regulating agency MUST HOLD a Public Hearing and post Notice of that hearing. Most of the time, these are published online and in local newspapers. Ask you local paper where to find these notices and attend whenever possible. Make your voice heard if you do not think they are doing enough to protect public health and/or the environment. You can also sign up for updates from organizations such as The Sierra Club, NRDC, Audubon Society and many, many more. They will tell you what rules or plants or pipelines or mines are being considered and how you can make your voice heard. The more citizens who speak up, the more the Agencies in charge have to respond! The EPA, for example. when publishing a final rule, with also publish a Preamble discussing all the thoughts processes, comments and testing that went into the making and passing of said rule. These can be very informative. As it stands now, most Environmental laws and regulations have giant loopholes built in for a few powerful industries, with very strong lobbies, deep pockets, but a “Sword of Damocles” over the heads of Elected officials, always claiming Financial Burden means we’ll have to raise prices on your constituents. These are some of the MOST dangerous and toxic activities - namely Mining, Petroleum/Nat Gas Drilling, Extraction and Refining, and Electric Power Generation. All of these industries are enjoying record profits in the Billions of Dollars per quarter, but still get not only taxpayer-funded subsidies, but also full or partial “exceptions” or “exclusions” from different regulations means to “Protect Human Health and the Environment” [EPA’s mission by law]. These industries are the sources of, among other things, most of the GHG’s & all of the remaining Mercury air emissions, and the most toixc wastes being disposed of WITHOUT requiring proper treatment prior to disposal!! These gaps will never ever be closed if We the People do not demand it.I hope I have not overwhelmed you. I have more ideas still, but hopefully this gives you many ideas of how to start and how far you can go!

As an evangelical Christian, I feel compelled to say that what the “Christian right” has accepted in Trump is extremely disturbing, upsetting, and terribly sad. I believe it has done terrible damage to the Body of Christ and to the message of the Gospel.I cut my political eye teeth during the Reagan revolution, proudly cast my very first presidential vote for him. I attended a very conservative Southern Baptist church in the Deep South, and I can vividly recall a very real concern the nascent religious right, among whom were my fellow church members, had with Ronald Reagan and the fact that he was…prepare to be shocked!…divorced and remarried. Many evangelicals actually took Jesus’ words seriously back in those days (if not selectively and at least vis a vis personal morality) and he very clearly stated that “anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” Matthew 19; and “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.” Mark 10. This was a big concern for Christians in 1980, and I know many who did not vote for Reagan because of his divorce and remarriage. Flash forward just a generation and a half to 2016 and…Trump. Thrice married, a known philanderer and adulterer, fraud, thief, bankrupt…morally as well as in business. Just take a look at this one issue that is relatively insignificant to the rest of “the world”, but is huge to the Southern Baptist Convention, home body of such Trump apologists as Jerry Falwell, Jr., Robert Jefress, et. al.:“WHEREAS, Gambling is an immoral effort that creates deliberate risks not inherent in or necessary to the functioning of society; and“WHEREAS, Aggressive actions by the gambling interests in recent months make abundantly clear their intention of seeking to expand legalized gambling throughout the nation and especially in the states of the South and the Southwest; and“WHEREAS, Out-of-state corporations and businesses are investing millions of dollars in a bold effort to change state laws to allow casinos, lotteries, and pari-mutuel gambling; and“WHEREAS, Legislators of many states have shown shameful willingness to give shoddy and inadequate consideration to gambling legislation, to pass legislation out of committees without public hearings, and to schedule votes on gambling legislation in a manner carefully contrived to be beneficial to passage of the gambling legislation.“Be it therefore RESOLVED, That we, the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention assembled in Kansas City, June 12-14, 1984, encourage Southern Baptists to work diligently with other Christians and other responsible citizens who oppose the spread of legalized gambling; and“Be it further RESOLVED, That we encourage the churches and the state conventions cooperating with the Southern Baptist Convention to engage in vigorous programs of education for adults, teenagers, and children about the moral tragedies wrought by legalized gambling; and“Be it further RESOLVED, That we express our prayerful support and strong encouragement for those who are providing courageous leadership in vigorously opposing the legalization of gambling both in the states where votes are scheduled and at the national level where pressure is building in support of legalized gambling.“Be it finally RESOLVED, That we express our grave concern that gambling interests have unscrupulously twisted the decision of the 1983 Southern Baptist Convention to meet in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1989 to imply that Southern Baptists are compromising their opposition to gambling, and that we declare to gambling interests and to the world that our purpose for meeting in Las Vegas in an expression of our mission to give support to Baptist work and to share Christ with the people of that area; and that we affirm our opposition to gambling regardless of any choice of site for a Convention meeting.” Southern Baptist ConventionFrom this to endorsing a man who bankrolled then bankrupted multiple casinos! The religious right has also chosen to “overlook” Trump’s sexual immorality in exchange for judicial appointments and “national security.” I am not alone in this thinking. Consider conservative Christian writer Rod Dreher, “I don’t agree with Michael Gerson on a lot of things — I believe he is far too accommodationist to the moral values of post-Christianity — but I suspect he has this right about his fellow Evangelicals:Third, without really knowing it, Trump has presented a secular version of evangelical eschatology. When the candidate talked of an America on the brink of destruction, which could only be saved by returning to the certainties of the past, it perfectly fit the evangelical narrative of moral and national decline. Trump speaks the language of decadence and renewal (while exemplifying just one of them).In the Trump era, evangelicals have gotten a conservative Supreme Court justice for their pains – which is significant. And they have gotten a leader who shows contempt for those who hold them in contempt – which is emotionally satisfying.The cost? Evangelicals have become loyal to a leader of shockingly low character. They have associated their faith with exclusion and bias. They have become another Washington interest group, striving for advantage rather than seeking the common good. And a movement that should be known for grace is now known for its seething resentments.“…fair or not, conservative Christianity will be associated with Trump for the next few years, and no doubt beyond. If conservative church leaders aren’t extraordinarily careful in how they manage their public relationship to the Trump phenomenon, anti-Trump blowback will do severe damage to the church’s reputation. Trump’s election solves some problems for the church, but given the man’s character, it creates others. Political power is not a moral disinfectant.“And this brings us to the more subtle but potentially more devastating effects of this unexpected GOP election victory. There is first the temptation to worship power, and to compromise one’s soul to maintain access to it. There are many ways to burn a pinch of incense to Caesar, and some prominent pro-Trump Christians arguably crossed that line during the campaign season. Again, political victory does not vitiate the vice of hypocrisy.”Make no mistake, the “Christian right” owns this president, and they will own the aftermath of his presidency. I predict that this will come back and bite them…no, EAT them alive one day. They made a deal with the Devil, and the Devil will come calling.

Funny you should ask as this has been on my mind a lot recently, like it has for a lot of immigrants, legal and illegal alike.In October of 2017, within two weeks of each other were my 48th birthday and my 16th anniversary of living in the US - fully one third of my life.For the first 15 years of being here, I had always enjoyed my “immigrant status”, proudly taking my place in the line of foreigners that have been coming here for hundreds of years and living the American dream of making a better life for themselves and their family. When someone said “Where are you from?” it was usually with an air of curiosity as my accent makes me stand out. I was always glad to hear and answer that question as it usually lead to a discussion of either how much I love this country, or how the asker had family or a friend over there or had studied in Europe or been stationed there. You know, sharing a moment of humanity with people.Admittedly, as a white Brit I barely stand out to most Americans and my experience is likely very different from (say) a Honduran or Bangladeshi but in the last few years, it has become more acceptable for people to voice some of the darker thoughts that just a few years back weren’t spoken because they were so obviously wrong and, more importantly, anti-American.As a quick example, in the weeks between the 2016 election and 2017 inauguration I was at my local game store (usually a bastion of non-political nerdery) with a pal when two of the regulars - middle aged, chubby white men at the next table - started to talk about “damn immigrants.” At first they were pretty much just whispering it but after a few minutes they had forgotten they were in a public place and the volume went up. Now, to be 100% clear, they weren’t using truly ugly language (no “N-word”) but they WERE falling into using some of the most stereo typed BS possible - “taking jobs…just not the same as us…this is a Christian nation…”I ignored it when they were whispering and then fought both my inherent English reserve and belief in the first 1st Amendment until I couldn’t stand it anymore and finally said “Do you mean ALL immigrants or just the brown ones?”Completely oblivious to what i was actually saying, one of them (who actually did look embarrassed) responded with: “We aren’t talking about you. No offense intended.”Superman evidently missed their school in the 50’s.Fast forward to the week after the inauguration. My wife and I are leaving our local Starbucks and this beauty is parked outside. Someone actually said to me “well, maybe it’s not actually a swastica.”Yeah, maybe it’s not. Maybe that’s not a MAGA hat on the back seat either.So, under Trump, ICE seem to be ramping up their efforts significantly and are going for mass deportations, but that shouldn’t affect me as a Permanent Resident / Green Card holder, right?After all, I have done everything legally and never broken a single law (except for 3 speeding tickets). I have seen a few scary stories but hey, those guys have done stuff, right? I mean, this Doctor in Kalamazoo OBVIOUSLY did something wrong, right?Nope.Allegations dismissed against doctor who faces deportationChemistry professor freed but still faces deportation from USThere are more stories like this out there and sure, each one might need to be argued on their merits but, as a C-level exec at a technology company, seeing doctors and scientists going through this doesn’t make me a happy chappy. Nor does seeing the Supreme Court say that they could hold someone like me for MORE than 6 months without giving me a trial. Aren’t I completely legal?Supreme Court curbs rights of immigrants awaiting deportationWell, I got my Green Card renewed in 2016 and should be good through 2026 (as for bona fides, I am married to an American, have 3 American children (two natural, one is adopted), have never committed a crime, volunteer and am active in my community to make my corner of the world a better place, and (hopefully without sounding like a dick) the amount of tax I pay per year is more than the median US household income - so, in theory, I should be the kind of immigrant that is welcome here, right?Maybe not. Since the beginning of 2018, every two weeks I get an email from ICE tell me that, even though my Green Card is valid until 2026:We are still reviewing your case and there are no updates at this timeWe will notify you when your case status changes. We last took action on your case on October 18, 2016.Lovely. My “file” should be dormant through 2026 as I am fully legal and contributing to society, but it’s currently being reviewed so, hey, maybe not in someone’s eyes.This has all prompted me to do something I arguably should have done a long time ago - Naturalized to become an American citizen - but the funny thing is that I always held me becoming a US Citizen as almost a reward, something that I would apply for at some time because it felt right. Now I’m only doing it because I worry that not doing it might lead to me being deported and separated from my wife and kids.So, yeah. How is life (for a legal immigrant) under Trump?Pretty un-American, to be honest.But.At least I will soon get to vote and register my dissent when appropriate. Perhaps if more “bystanders” like me hadn’t just, well, stood by, maybe we would have a different political outlook currently in this country.