DONALD'S WALL IN BIG BEND

hi folks,

In 1979 We spent 11 days in Big Bend National Park.  We visited the area along the Rio Grand River several times.  The following two photos taken from the US side show canyons the river traverses  We crossed the river in a flat bottomed boat paddled by a local, who charged us a couple dollars and our kids rode donkeys up to the village.  It was a neat experience.The third photo is the cafe where we had some local food and cokes (we did not drink the water).

This is where Donald wants to build his WALL. This tiny village of 200 or so residents is about 160 miles from the nearest town. To say this place is isolated is not an exaggeration.  On the US side it takes 2 hours by dirt road to get here.  A WALL here would cost an enormous amount of money and is totally unnecessary. The only people crossing the border here are tourists and few locals.

RIO GRANDE RIVER, SANTA ELENA CANYON, BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, TEXAS  

RIO GRANDE, BOCQUILLAS  CANYON,  BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK

CAFE, BOQUILLAS del CARMEN,  MEXICO, 

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, MOSTLY DESERT

The following link takes you to CNN and an in depth article about the Wall In Texas.

Building Trump's wall: For Texans, it's complicated
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/23/politics/border-series-texas/index.html

WHAT DID THE ELECTION SURVEY TELL US?

WHAT DID THE ELECTION SURVEY TELL US?

After the general election I did a survey of citizens to find out how they felt about the results. I surveyed 76 individuals. The population was 60% male and 40% female, 77% had some college education with 4 of them having earned PhDs; about half were retired; only a few were unemployed. The participants ranged in age from 14 to 94 and included voters and non voters.

It was a politically diverse group with 51% liberal/Progressive/Democrat, 37% Conservative/Republican and the rest registering as Independents, Libertarians or Greens. 

When asked about being religious, 85% indicated that they were. They included Quakers. Unitarians and those who considered themselves as Spiritual.

Of those with some college education, 64% voted for Clinton,
30% voted for Trump, there were 3 votes for Stein (The Green candidate) and one vote for Johnson (The Libertarian candidate). Of those who had a high school education or less, 63% supported Trump. with 37% choosing Clinton. 

In the survey, those who voted for Clinton 54% were male 46% were female. Of those who supported Trump 71% were male and 29% were female. Among women supporters Clinton won 73% of the vote with Trump getting 27%.
This shows that Trump received more of the female vote than expected.

MY OBSERVATIONS---

The comments from those of you who completed the survey tell me that Hillary Clinton lost the election because she was not the right candidate to go up against the juggernaut of Donald Trump. She used traditional tactics to oppose an individual who used the media and "school yard" behavior to his advantage. Her campaign ignored advice to visit the areas of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin that went for Trump.  Someone noted that if they had done a survey like this during the campaign and responded to it, it  might have altered the outcome of the election. We will never know.

The most popular candidate in this survey was Bernie Sanders.  He won the most votes in the primary and even some Republicans indicated they might have voted for him in the General Election, if he had been a choice.

Neither Clinton nor Trump had a lot of enthusiastic support in the survey.  Many who voted for Clinton qualified their decision to vote for her. "A vote against Trump, not for Clinton". Didn't want Trump". "No time for Trump".  "Not an idiot" Others did cite "experience", more competent", "is intelligent" "cares about kids", "values women's rights" as reasons to support her.

Most participants who supported Trump actually were voting against the establishment and the status quo.  They did not really vote for his policies or programs, they voted "for change", to "shake things up", against a "liberal agenda"and "Clinton's policies".  I had the feeling that some of the people who supported Trump were already having second thoughts about their decision after the election.

I believe religion played a bigger role in the results of the election than some have postulated. In the survey 92% of Trump voters indicated they considered themselves to be religious.  That dropped to 61% of Clinton's supporters who indicated that they were religious. I grew up in a rural area of central Pennsylvania and the vast majority of the folks who live there are conservative Christians and Republican.  Trump won these areas by huge margins. In one small municipality close to where I grew up, he won by a 10 to 1 margin. This is evidence for an on going trend.  The Republicans have become  the "religious party" and the Democrats are increasingly the "secular party".  This will need to be factored into all future elections if candidates plan to be successful.

The comments participants produced in the survey speak for themselves and I do not plan to do any analysis of them.  NOTE:  The main report which includes comments on the various questions was sent out before the holidays.

This has been an interesting experience for me and has given me something to do in cold weather.

Thanks to all who participated.  I would appreciate any comments, questions, suggestions you might have.

Thanks,

Dick Brown   

    

DONALD IS THIRTEEN

DONALD IS THIRTEEN

I believe Donald Trump is an impulsive thirteen year old with a learning disability/personality disorder living in a 70 year old man's body.   I taught 13 year old students in public schools for more than 30 years, and believe me, I know one when I see one. I had students in my classroom who are just like Donald.

Evidence for my hypothesis---
1.  Lacks empathy for those he hurts, attacks or criticizes.
2.  Never apologizes or says he is sorry for anything.
3.  Very short attention span, gets bored easily---Ignoring "DAILY BRIEFING".
4.  Bullies those who disagree with him.
5.  Can't handle criticism---has to get "even".
6.  Has no real core values of what is right and wrong.
7.  Lies, exaggerates, dismisses facts without any thought of the consequences.
8.  Acts impulsively to perceived slights or attacks---"Such a nasty woman"
9.  Makes degrading comments toward women.
10. Has acted impulsively toward women---touching or kissing without permission. (Sexual assault)
11. Needs constant attention, must be the center of attention, needs adulation of crowds such as at his shows (rallies). Can't handle being ignored.  His TWEETS he is using to "stir the pot"are the most obvious need he has for adoration.
12. Very vulnerable to be manipulated by people who recognize his weaknesses---Putin has done this beautifully. His dismissal of  CIA evidence on Russian hacking of  Democratic documents is a very disturbing development.
13.  Not capable of learning a lot of information in a short time---"one page memos".
14.  Does not study or research  problems before reacting to them with an "order" or a "Tweet".
15,  Demonstrates no ability to formulate problem solving policies.
16.  Cares more about himself than the wide variety of people who  make up our nation.
17.  Unable to laugh at himself or his outlandish behavior.
18.  Speaks in a helter-skelter fashion with no organized logic to his thoughts or ideas that he is trying to convey to listeners.
19.  Talks using short sentences that are more slogans than real thought.
20.  Uses threat and fear to try get his way, which works in a corporation where he is the CEO, but does not work in  OUR CONSTITUTIONAL  DEMOCRACY.  

Some have suggested his position on any given issue depends on whom he has spoken to last.

He may look like an adult and he obviously can act like an adult in business or social settings;  but he is NOT a normal adult and therein lies America's crisis in leadership.

We have just  elevated a very rich dysfunctional child to be the leader of the free world.

Donald needs  a minder with him at all times after he takes the oath of office. I was happy that Jared Kershner and Kellyanne Conway have signed on as advisors at the White House, because Donald needs someone watching and listening to his every move.  He needs help in making intelligent decisions and if he goes off on his own without supervision the whole planet may be in peril.

NOTE,
I HOPE YOU TAKE WHAT I SAY SERIOUSLY---ALL OUR LIVES ARE IN THE HANDS OF AN ADULT WHO IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT A LEARNING DISABLED  CHILD ACTS LIKE AFTER HE GROWS UP.

UNDERSTANDING HIM WILL HELP ALL OF US LEARN HOW TO DEAL WITH HIM AND THE VARIOUS THINGS HE DOES.