An Open Letter to Those Who Still Give a Damn

An Open Letter to Those Who Still Give a Damn 

"Those of us who give a damn all have new dangers assailing our hearts these days, and it is in this time of relentless urgency and sustained trauma and prolonged fatigue and profound fracture that you and I find ourselves. ... As a result you probably find yourself pissed off, disconnected, isolated, worn out, and exhausted because how few people are as moved by the need around them as you are."

Whether you’re an activist or a minister or a parent or a caregiver, or just a citizen of the planet who is moved by other people’s suffering—you likely feel the immeasurable heaviness of these days. Sure, speed and activity can mask it for a while, but if you stop long enough, the reality of the fatigue catches up to you—you can measure the toll it’s all taken on you. I want you to measure it. I want you reckon with how tired you are. I want you to hear yourself exhale with the heavy sigh of someone who feels the weight of it all.

There is a cost to compassion, a personal price tag to cultivating empathy in days when cruelty is trending. There is in your body and head and in your midst, a collateral damage to you giving a damn when others do not, and it manifests itself in many ways: in irritability, impatience, physical illness, eating emotionally, addictive behavior, the inability to be present to the people who love you, an obsession with social media, a fixation on how jacked up everything is.

Notice these things in you today, and give them your attention.
Extend some of that compassion you’re so willing to extend to the world—to yourself.

Take some time to step away from the fray and the fight. It will still be there when you return, and you’ll be better able to face it."

thanks, republican party, for trump & mcconnell. thanks, democratic party, for pelosi, schumer, warren & waters

had enough? 

who do you trust?

- someone who you know who has similar values to yours? 
- someone who who works well with others?
- who does what is necessary (e.g. compromise) to get the job done?

- or do you trust political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs that breed extremist obstructionists? 

here's how government operates: 

or rather, doesn't operate.

the fix to our dysfunctional government is simple and easy--stop voting for obstructionist candidates who don't have values similar to yours and who don't represent the best interests of our country to move our country forward. 

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings. 

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for someone who shares your values who is not a democrat or a republican. 

even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their obstructionist candidates.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

deja vu all over again--when will we get wise to the fact that our two-party system of government is broken, and do something about it?

"All in all, it's hard to make a case that Americans -- in this year of great disgruntlement with their government -- engaged in heroic efforts to use the election as a tool to change things in Washington. Americans a) turned out to vote in unusually low numbers, and b) when they did vote, sent most members of Congress and senators who were seeking re-election back to Washington, just where they had been.

There are no signs so far that things have changed after the election. Our immediate post-election survey showed approval for Congress back down to near its all-time lows, satisfaction with the way things are going at a similarly low ebb, and dysfunctional government is still near the top of the public's list of the most important problems facing the U.S. Similarly, other surveys conducted after the election show that the public holds out low levels of hope that things are going to get better going forward. A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that 40% of Americans think there will be no difference in how elected leaders work together to get things done in Washington as a result of the election, and another 32% say they are less confident that this will occur. Of course, as the proverb has said, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating." We will see shortly enough whether the behavior of the elected representatives who make up the House and the Senate, either in this lame-duck session or in the new session that begins in January, will do anything to ameliorate the jaundiced and negative way in which they are viewed by the American public." 

Americans, Frustration With Congress and the Elections 

had enough? 

who do you trust?

- someone who you know who has similar values to yours? 
- someone who understands what their job is (e.g. pass laws)?
- who works well with others?
- who does what is necessary (e.g. compromise) to get the job done?

- or an idealogue, an obstructionist, who doesn't compromise, doesn't work well with others, doesn't do their job, and doesn't move the country forward?

- or do you trust political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs that breed idealogue obstructionists? 

here's how government operates: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

the fix to our dysfunctional government is simple and easy--stop voting for lousy candidates who don't have values similar to yours, who don't do the job that they're supposed to be doing, and who don't represent the interests of our country, i.e. to move our country forward. 

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings. 

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for someone who shares your values who is not a democrat or a republican. 

even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their lousy candidates.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

good news

Mexico’s President-Elect Will Create Border Force to Stop Central American Migrants 

the rest of the story

I discovered standing water in our crawl space first; but, it was our (widow) "roofmate" who contacted county building code enforcement first. she was coming up on the end of her 1 yr. guarantee and hired a private home inspector. he found water in her crawl space and she contacted BCE. they came and inspected her crawl space first, then ours. the county BCE official told us both that there were code violations and the builder would have to fix them. then two days later he told us that the county attorney (a private attorney living and working in the next county contracted by shenandoah county to represent shenandoah county) had decided that "they" were not going to issue a notice of violation to the builder.

I was ready "to throw in the towel". Jenny & I have been married for 51.5 years. after the disastrous 3rd house that we owned in SC, I said that we would never own another house again. for the next 5 years we rented. we moved 6 times in 5 years. finally, last november, when our landlord refused to fix a hole in the driveway caused by lightning, I gave up. I can't live in an unsafe house. at 71 we got a 30-yr. VA loan and we bought our 4th house.

Jenny and I are in our "4th quarter". we just want to live out our last quarter in peace. when BCE told us that they were dropping the code violation, I gave up. "you can't fight city hall." then, 24 hours later, I got back into the fray--not because of water in the crawl space, but because we were getting jerked around--time to play hardball (I don't like being jerked around). had "they" decided not to issue the building code violation, then I was prepared to go to the newspaper--just like I did in SC.

I don't know how long that we'll be here--if we're lucky and our health holds out, etc., maybe 10 years--maybe not. sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we're in the 4th quarter and that our "treasure" isn't in a house.

stony pointe
strasburg
toothman

"let them eat..." grass

North Korean officials slam the US by saying it has made "gangster-like demands" - YouTube 

North Koreans Will ‘Eat Grass’ So Kim Jong Un Can Buy War Weapons, Putin Says 

image by CleveredFool.com

Kim Jong Il Funny Demotivational Poster: Kim's Wisdom | Flickr

the sad state of home construction in the US

many who bought new houses in the past 50 years know what this chart shows:

File_Construction-non-farm-labor_1964-2003.jpg

that the quality of construction of new houses over the past 50 years is poor when compared to the quality of homes built 50 years ago. basic systems, e.g. structure, roof, floors, windows, weather protection, HVAC, appliances, etc., are less reliable in many new houses today than those built 50 years ago.

why? the reasons are probably many--

• builder incompetence and greed 
• decline in skilled labor 
• government's failure to protect consumers 
• consumer reticence 
• a costly legal system that protects builders more than it protects consumers

whatever the reasons, the chart is clear--while productivity and quality of non-agricultural products have more than doubled over the past 50 years with advances in technology, productivity and quality in construction have declined, despite advances in technology. many who bought new houses in the past 50 years are left with fixing builder messes at their own expense--the ones that can be fixed--while the productivity and quality of new homes continue to decline.

what's the solution? I honestly can't tell you. It looks to me like the trends that are so obvious in the chart will continue--bad news for new home buyers--that's you and me. 

toothman

shenandoah county virginia building code violation

Mark A. Griffey
Building Official

shenandoah county, virginia
Building Inspection & Code Enforcement - Building Inspection

Mr. Griffey,

under section 401.3 of the virginia residential building code (https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/document/VRC2012/chapter-4-foundations) and paragraph 6 of section 19.2-8 of the code of virginia (https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title19.2/chapter1/section19.2-8/), I am submitting my formal complaint of violation of  the virginia building code. Specifically, section 401.3 of the virginia residential building code states "Surface drainage shall be diverted to a storm sewer conveyance or other approved point of collection that does not create a hazard to the dwelling unit. Lots shall be graded to drain surface water away from foundation walls. The grade shall fall a minimum of 6 inches (152 mm) within the first 10 feet (3048 mm)." The grading at our house, located at 148 daniel ct., strasburg, does not slope away from the foundation walls as required. This has resulted in several inches of standing water in our crawl space. 

Our certificate of use & occupancy is attached. Please note that our house meets the time requirements set forth in paragraph 6 of section 19.2-8.

Should you reject my formal complaint, then I request a meeting at county offices with you and other county personnel or outside consultants involved in the decision not to issue a notice of violation of the building code to the builder for this violation.

Sincerely,

Ray Koenig

approved grading plan (2003)

the ground slopes 15% towards Koenig’s house. 

Section 401.3 of the Virginia Residential Building Code 

calls for the ground to slope away from foundation walls 

at 5% for 10 feet (the 2”x4” on the ground is 10 feet long). 

Failure to meet this building code requirement has resulted 

in several inches of standing water in Koenig’s crawl space. 

virginia

shenandoah county

strasburg

stony pointe

toothman

nitwits mitch mcconnell and nancy pelosi

question: what do you get in an organization where the only criteria for advancement is how long that one has been there?

answer: just about anything--including nitwits at the top.

this is the kind of nitwits that we've got in congress. 
McConnell: There's not much the federal government can do to respond to school shootings 

nitwits can't think outside the box. intelligent people can.
John Paul Stevens, Retired Supreme Court Justice, Calls For 2nd Amendment Repeal : NPR 

it's time to get rid of all of the nitwits in government.

who do you trust?

- someone who you know who has similar values to yours?
- or a nitwit? 
- or someone who is old, irritable  and keeps repeating the same old tired nonsense again and again? 

image by Gage Skidmore 

Nancy Pelosi | Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi speaking with at… | Flickr

- or do you trust political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs? 

here's how government operates: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

the fix to our dysfunctional government is simple--stop voting for lousy candidates who don't have values similar to yours, and who don't represent our country. 

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings. 

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for someone who shares your values who is not a democrat or a republican. 

even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their lousy candidates.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons