Monday, January 30, 2017

Yay for Marco Rubio (I find it hard to believe I just wrote that)

Dear Senator Murray - I do not usually get my news from Senator Marco Rubio. However, when I saw that Sen. Rubio had stated that The State Department has been prevented from talking to Congress, I was shocked. And I was thankful to Sen. Rubio for making this public. If this is true, I find it hard to believe that it is legal. It certainly is not a good omen. Congress _must_ be given the best information possible to do their job. NOT being able to talk to another office of government is an attack on our way of governance. I encourage your efforts to fight this kind of crazy politics. DJ Trump is President, not CEO of a corporation. Information must flow and be able to be vetted for accuracy. Not allowing State to talk to Congress is like Congress not being able to access news sources, the Library of Congress, their phones or the Internet. Thank you for being a light in the darkness that has descended upon our Nation. My sincere wishes for the best of health for you, your family and staff. GregRobin Smith

You Say You Are An Environmentalist - Hooray!

Mr DJ Trump, President. Recently, in comments made during a signing, I heard you say, 'I am an environmentalist', and I am delighted to hear you say so. I look forward to immediate and decisive actions to back up this statement. * Reducing Carbon Emissions. * Reducing reliance on Oil (Oil Exports, Oil Exploration) and on Coal. * Increasing study and support of renewable energy sources (wind power, solar, tidal, thermal, solar power transmission from Space and from the Moon's Surface). * Increasing support of National Parks, Wilderness areas, and protection of sensitive environmental areas. I am looking forward to the acts, proofs, and decisions that you make next to show the world how much an an Environmentalist you are. I wish you and your family good health GregRobin Smith

Saturday, January 28, 2017

A Bit more Long-Term Vision in Needed. Something that goes beyond our cut-off nose.

DJ Trump - President Sir. Business negotiations and Political Negotiations have similarities. However, the nuanced differences of Political Negotiation seem to plague you. Your Administration, by narrowly viewing the importance of how powerful you should appear, has decided that continuing the bluster of campaign is more important than the sober business of governance and international relations. Your Administration is telling our Press to 'shut up'. Your Press Secretary rants blatantly false facts rather than deal with Truth. Our Country is already moving in ways that insult our neighbors and friends (Mexico is the most recent injury we have inflicted) and I worry about the next loss, and the ones assuredly about to come. As other countries think about how to deal with us, they will learn we are more concerned, it seems, with our National Ego than with our National Interests in government by a great, informed, respectful and involved People. It is going to be much easier to right the course now, before our Ship of State grounds itself, then to pull ourselves off the Shoals of Trouble - especially when our Neighbors have little reason to come to our assistance. In addition to your vaunted skills as a Business Negotiator, you must somehow acquire the abilities of a Political Negotiator. Judging by the extreme failure of the Republican Congress to allow much in the way of any benefit to come from their majority the last several years, I do not think you will find the help you need in the current crowd you run with. Sir, look outside your current advisors for reasoned, informed, and collaborative-minded people to assist you better. Our Nation's success, and future, depends upon it. Your duty to These United States demands it. I wish you and your family good health.

Friday, January 27, 2017

Dear Senator Murray. I am very concerned about (probably) ALL of President D. J. Trump's appointments. From the Secretaries in his Cabinet to, eventually, his Supreme Court nominees. I am so very grateful that you and Senator Cantwell are there. Your proven record of progressive, considered and informed thought is a barrier against bluster and regressive policies. Please, dig in. Resist and block all nominees that you know are wrong for The United States of America. I trust your judgment. I do not think the current administration 'gets a pass'. We cannot just 'wait and see'. The rules of political war were established long ago, and until we can re-establish a respectful, civil government, we must deny normalizing this reactionary trend. We cannot let it gain a foothold in our way of thinking. Keep strong, and let me know what I can do (I write President Trump - one letter for each day he is in office. I march now. Tell me what else I can do.) Thank you. I wish you and your family, staff and friends all good health and safety. GregRobin Smith Seattle

Personal Exceptionalism: There is no Magic Wand... no Magic Eraser.

D. J. Trump - President Sir. The term, "Ship of State" is used to describe how a country is run. As you stated in your Inauguration speech, the People are in Control. That means We, the People, are the Captain of this Ship of State. But when the people who direct the ship, who call out obstacles, who navigate by charts drawn up by mapmakers, whose experience is relied upon to get the Ship safely from Port to Port - when those people are called liars... what does the Captain do? When the people charged with the running of the ship make wild statements without facts, without reason... only to promote confusion and gain control, this cannot be for the good. In particular, your call that the Media are liars and whose work should be erased, and that Science is able to be changed by the wave of a magic wand. The professional journalistic class are the sober observers and researchers that keep our Ship of State's course corrected. And numbers. Numbers, aka The Science of Facts, are not to be ignored, or made up, for the sake of convenience. The ridership on Washington DC's subway system were not greater on your Inauguration Day than when President Obama was inaugurated. You lost the popular vote by almost three million votes. These facts are not open for you to simply state 'alternate facts'. We, the People, depend and demand that you - as President - only deal in facts. In the best information that is available. Not just what your whim and fancy decrees. This 'magic eraser' and 'magic wand' you keep using will only weaken you, and will break these United States as a candid world grows suspicious of what we mean, and what we will do. This Ship of State will crash into the shoals. This Ship of State will careen through the shipping lanes, causing other Ships to veer away from us to seek safety. Facts, sir. They are not made real simply because of Personal Exceptionalism. Just because you are a candidate for office, or now, President, does not make your thoughts right automatically. Your staff, your supporters, cannot brow beat those who call you out 'wrong' because the works of Professional Journalists and Scientists are inconvenient. Deal in the facts, sir. Our very country, and world, depend on it. History is not a kind judge to those who think they can power their sails by the bluster and flurry of their own shouting. I wish you and your family good health. GregRobin Smith

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Walls Do Not Keep Out the Problem, just the People

D. J. Trump, President. Sir. I cannot help but wonder if the money planned on being spent on "The Wall" across the Mexican border were to be invested in job opportunities IN Mexico, if the effect would be to improve the lives of Mexicans IN Mexico, thereby negating the need for the wall and actually helping fellow Humans rather than just trying to wall them in their own desperate circumstances. I believe the Enlightened thing to do is to help others have a productive life, not just keep them off our lawn. I wish you and your family good health. GregRobin Smith

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

My Thanks to Buzz Aldrin

Posted on Buzz Aldrin's FB Page https://www.facebook.com/buzzaldrin/ Ben Franklin saw the first manned 'flight' when, in 1793, he witnessed the Montgolfier Brothers launch their balloon in Paris. Ben whimsically stated that he somewhat regretted being born too early (1706) and he would not live to see the many advances of Science to come. I can only imagine the wonder and excitement he would feel at the various accomplishments of faster-than-foot travel... The bicycle, the automobile, the plane, helicopter, jet, and rockets... and rockets to the Moon. Praise be to all those who helped propel the Science and who had the courage to ride those rockets into the skies, into space, around the Moon, and to land - and walk on and explore - our nearest neighbor in Space. Thank you, Col. Aldrin, for continuing to push for new horizons to be crossed. May your work, life, character, courage and dedication never fade. GregRobin Smith - aka 'The New Benjamin Franklin' http://www.space.com/16595-montgolfiers-first-balloon-flight.html

A Colony on the Moon


(I sent two similar letters, one to Sen Cantwell and one to Sen Murray (both of Washington State) Dear Senator Cantwell. You have witnessed first hand the power of technology to change the world for the better. For tech to improve education, create new industries, and to make everything from learning a language to improving health care and energy delivery systems better, more efficient and more cost-effective. I believe America needs to work with the world's scientific community to establish a colony on the Moon. By building a solar collector (as mentioned in Andrew Chaikin's excellent book 'A Man on the Moon' (The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts) a solar collector built from material found on the Moon could beam power back to Earth and pay its price tag in about 10 years. The benefits would be staggering. * Reducing the need of petroleum * Reducing the price of power to the Earth's population * Establishing a base from where we could better explore the rest of our Solar System and beyond * Create an entirely new, and sustainable, economy * Increase the need for STEAM trained graduates and interest in STEAM subjects ... and many more. Every drop of oil we pump out of the ground will never be replaced. Imagine if every tree cut, or crop harvested, could not be replaced. Oil will, one day, run out. We cannot simply leave it to our children's children to 'deal with it.' President D. Trump must be made to see the potential greatness in this. He wants America to be great, to be 'first'. This could bring American greatness to the fore just as when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first stepped upon the Moon's surface. We could be first amongst the world's governments on this, leading us all to something not just good for business, but truly great for all of Humankind and of limitless benefit to our future generations. I ask you to push this agenda. Thank you for all your work. I wish you, your family and staff the best of health. GregRobin Smith

You Can't Deny Just One


To a 'Moon Landing Denier' on Buzz Aldrin's FB Page: It would seem, from the opinions of deniers, that The Manhattan Project was also a hoax, nuclear science is a hoax, the A & H bombs were a hoax, that science - in general - is all part of a great conspiracy and that broad-brushing a 'we can't go past the Van Allen Belt - PERIOD!' maxim against which no evidence may stand... is the key to Truth. Take heart. When Ben Franklin helped establish that pointed grounded rods would help prevent damage from lightning strikes, there were those that argued against them (and him) as well, refusing all evidence that the science really worked. Science is rarely about shouting (well, an occasional 'Eureka!' is allowed;-). Science is much more about presenting a preponderance of evidence to a broad-based audience for verification. This has been done. To consider the size and complexity of a conspiracy to alter such a wide variety of scientific and verifiable information is the story much harder to accept. We will continue to travel across these and other such horizons, tho' some deny any such journeys exist. GregRobin

Monday, January 23, 2017

POTUS D. Trump - Let Your Tax Return Be Seen

President D. Trump. I encourage you to follow the example of many of your predecessors and release your tax records. A baseline of fact would be a great breath of fresh air in the 'alternate facts' tainted environment we are now living under. As you demanded to see President Obama's Birth Certificate, the people are demanding to see your tax records. It will improve our government if you do this. It will hurt your image, and hurt your legitimacy as a President who has promised to listen to the American People, if you do not. I wish you and your family good health. GregRobin Smith

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Sensible Gun Laws - NOW

President D. Trump. In your Inauguration Address, you used the term 'carnage', and I would like to point out that a terrible carnage of violence has been a curse on the American people for far too long. You state you are listening to the People of These United States. Then I ask you to listen to the friends, the families, the loved ones of the over 30,000 people who are killed each year by gun violence. We must re-write the 2nd Amendment to make it pertain to our own times, not the time of Flintlocks and Muzzleloaders. We must establish sensible requirements for owning and operating a gun, much like we have sensible requirements for owning and operating a motor vehicle. Help end the carnage of gun violence by encouraging sensible, cross party legislation to be sent to your desk. Deny the Gun Lobby their self-serving influence. The People (gun advocates, NRA Members, and many more) want sensible gun legislation. Please help bring this about. A great country does not lose 30,000+ people a year to gun violence. Mr President, act now and act decisively in this matter. I wish you and your family good health. GregRobin Smith

Friday, January 20, 2017

The Giant Roar - of ALL voters

President D. Trump. When Paul Ryan said, “Millions and millions of Americans are deeply dissatisfied with their situation,” he said. “They have let out a great roar. … We hear you, we will do right by you and we will deliver.”* I was wondering which millions he referred to. I hope, not just the Electoral College participants. Today, at your Inauguration, you spoke to ALL of the people of These United States, and promised to hear them all, that THEY (we) are the rulers. I thank you for that. In the days to follow, it will be of great importance to let those millions and millions know that you are not listening to just those who voted to give you the Electoral College victory, but to the millions more who voted for Secretary Clinton as well. You are President of us ALL. There are millions of us who do not want our Congress to work only for their interests (you addressed this. Thank you). There are millions of us who want the best idea to win, not just the best funded idea. They want Congress to work, collaborate, get the best information and act in the best interest for ALL of us. The roar of ALL of us, of those yet to come, that is the Roar I ask you to listen to. I wish you and your family the best of health. GregRobin Smith