2018 Summer June 25 Monday

64 degrees this morning, heavy thunderstorms and rain 

Third day of rain and thunderstorms, probably the last for awhile according to the forecast.  This is one of the longest series of storms I can remember, that is was raining  in  3 consecutive days at this time of the morning.

Haven’t really experienced much “Summer” weather since Summer officially started!  

Start of the week of the first half of the year.  July 1 is next Sunday!  

I have been planning for getting rid of “stuff” but haven’t really made any headway yet.  Time passes and the “stuff” just sits there.  I really don’t want to wait until we have to downsize some more before I weed out more items!

Hopefully we won’t have to downsize for some time, but I figure whatever I can do now is something I won’t have to do when I am in a hurry.  

Listening to the biography of Robert Moses (the Planner) while I walk.  The author, Robert Caro, goes into detail on how he developed some of the early parts, parkways etc.  According to Caro, he literally broke the law (especially the law of eminent domain) and then wrote detailed laws that tried to legalize his illegal actions!

It brings up a good question of the value of someone who “gets things done” versus citizen participation.  

Ever since I was in graduate school and did a research project on “citizen participation”,  I have been an advocate of citizen participation.  

Actually my first full-time career job involved setting up a “citizen participation committee” (required by federal law to get the redevelopment grants the city wanted), and I saw the power of true citizen participation.  

We actually developed projects that were funded and, I feel, made a huge difference in the designated neighborhood.  Many of the ideas were counter to the original plans by the City Commission involved, and the City Commission, in this case, was smart enough to see the benefits of citizen participation.  Also, the projects got funded.

Over the years I have seen true “Citizens Participation” deteriorate to control by “non-profits”  and “think tanks” which are nothing but fronts for businesses etc. who attempt to thwart true citizen’s participation to nothing but paid policy and “contributions” to politicians to benefit themselves.  

Even most of the “citizen initiatives” and “state questions” are nothing but fronts for big businesses and extremist nuts like the kook brothers and the false tax evading “foundations” and “think tanks” who spend billions they have stolen to “buy” the laws they want.  Unfortunately they are all too often successful. 

Back to Robert Moses, he was the other side, one person dictating policy and projects which also is not good.   

Strange dream this morning, just remember the last part.  I was at some kind of conference and I saw someone who I know, but instead of aging, they had become younger.  It took me a while to realize what had happened.  For some reason I could only attend the conference on “Sunday”.  

At the end of the dream I was trying to get an “Uber” or “Lyft” car back to my hotel because I had forgotten something.  Th dream was situated  in the city I went to undergraduate school in.

That’s it for now, Monday, June 25, 2018.