Freedom – DNC-Consulting

Fundamentals of Corporate Training – Learning to Learn Prepares to Teach

Bobblehead Doll Organizational design (OD) hinges upon a caveat posed by Myron Tribus, “what does the business organization [leaders] desire?” Business organizations can be designed in a myriad of ways and possess a plethora of leadership styles. Tribus remains correct; the entire design can be simplified into a single decision about the organization’s makeup and summed as the business is either a money tap or a socially involved mechanism trying to improve society and culture. If money taps, there is not much left to say. The organizational design, culture, and climate will reflect the owner’s desire to collect as much money as possible until the tap runs dry and the business is cast off by industry. If socially involved, the decisions are obvious, and further delineation is superfluous.

For several years now, I have researched corporate training; from the start of recorded history, corporate training has protected business knowledge as much as it is screening people out for not being the “right fit” for a business and as a means of controlling behavior. Originally an untrained youth would be indentured to a master, who agreed to do work in exchange for knowledge and ultimately be trained to become a journeyman, then master of a trade, craft, or business. Your options were controlled long before interest was gaged and contracts for services were purchased.

Schools sprang up, and indentured servitude was expected to fall away. Instead, only the indenturing of people went slowly away, but the servitude remains and is as healthy today as it was in the 1600s. Currently, servitude is cloaked in terms of culture, competitive stance, and corporate knowledge, and the corporate trainer remains the arbiter of entry into a business, trade, craft, etc. The trainer does not impart knowledge but exemplifies behaviors, attitudes, and mannerisms that the business leaders consider tenets of competition.

Finally, let’s name the 800# gorilla in the room, servitude is captivity, and captivity is how a person is described who changes into what the company desires of its long-term employees. Thus the phrase “Captured by the system” indicates this phenomenon. What does it mean to “Play the game?” the same thing, change your attitude, behaviors, and ideals, and become one of us, doing what we tell you to do.

By naming this phenomenon, I am not being cynical. Multiple researchers of peer-reviewed research have discussed this phenomenon in their research and called it key to business success, placing the onus onto trainers and training to expound and exhort compliance of the human element. Trainers are considered mentors, managers, job coaches, HR representatives, supervisors, etc.; if you fill a leadership position and trust, it is because you exemplify the business’s manners, attitudes, behaviors, and culture. Understand compliance is neither good nor bad. Non-compliance leads to ostracization and eventual unemployment. However, submission does not guarantee long-term employment either, as those businesses relying most heavily upon human compliance tend to burn out fast and bankrupt themselves.

All operational processes and procedures rely upon changing behaviors, not necessarily upon gaining new knowledge. In making this statement, I am not discounting gaining new knowledge, as new knowledge can arrive in many shapes, sizes, and encounters, but the primary role of a trainer in corporate offices is not new knowledge imparting but behavioral controls. The indentured servant model of a Master training Journeymen and Journeymen training Novices has not changed these many centuries and remains firmly set in the “modern” principles of organizational learning. Question 2

Why is this important to know?

Not understanding the model and putting into place a person who does not comply is as dangerous to the health of a business as a thief, a liar, or a con man. ENRON did not fail only because of the action of the leadership team. ENRON failed because the model of behaviors exemplified by the leadership team and taught to employees poisoned the organizational body. Hence the corporate trainers led the failure of ENRON, for the corporate training model follows GIGO (Garbage In equals Garbage Out!). Understanding that the trainers were responsible for ENRON’s collapse does not excuse any person’s conduct. Instead, it more fully places the blame on the leadership team who exemplified behaviors anathema to good organizational health.

Take any business, successful or collapsed, military organization, or non-profit; these distinctions do not matter. Review them closely, and you will find Tribus’s choice personified in the employees’ actions, cultures, desired attitudes, behaviors, dress styles, mannerisms, etc. Suppose a learner is preparing to train others, and doesn’t understand these fundamental aspects of corporate training and organizational design. In that case, that trainer will teach poorly, and those employees will have short careers in the business.

Hence the most extraordinary aspect of controlling costs does not arrive in cutting people but in training them for compliance, improving the understanding of the role of behavioral adaptation, and improving the incentives to adopt the culture of the business. A client of mine is facing this exact scenario; the economic downturns have hit them hard. Instead of focusing on improving costs through behavioral adaptation, they have begun cutting people, leaving in place the trainers that are fundamental to the problems the company is facing. Proving the maxim, “You cannot correct the problems with the same thinking that spawned the problems.”

What is needed?

Unfortunately, what is needed is not what is currently wanted, but the path forward will require pieces of the following solution. What is needed is a new model for corporate training, and the model has been historically proven to be successful. Joseph Smith Jr., an early American religious leader, founded several highly successful communities and launched a leadership revolution and a religious organization. His leadership style was based upon the following principle, “Teach them (people) correct principles and let them govern themselves.”

Technology has removed the brick stick to beat compliance into employees. Technology has also leveled a lot of playing fields, putting employees into a position where they must act for themselves, guided more by self-interest and self-preservation than any generation of workers previously. Add in COVID lockdowns that spurred the rise in remote workers, and technology has released a lot of employees to work outside the accepted strictures of an office. The release of employees has done two things, changed the behaviors compliance spectrum and removed the front-line supervisor as a primary trainer in monitoring and controlling cultural acceptance.

Several years ago, a researcher was told by front-line supervisors, job coaches, and mentors of a company that communication and training were not in the specific job roles of these people. Thus, they could not be held accountable for poor communication on their teams. Remote working has eliminated these aspects on the part of the front-line supervisor. Therefore, if the supervisor is not teaching independence, allowing for self-preservation, and promoting the freedom of thought and action in employees, those employees are now acting outside the company culture and operations, and disaster is looming. To their horror, the New York Times just discovered that company-forced cultures are being called into question when employees are not in the office, and demanding employees return hurts bottom lines.

Thus, the front-line supervisors must adapt. Adaptation in managers nullifies a manager’s power and authority, sparking fear of downsizing into these mid-level managers. Fear mixed with self-preservation leads to more problems for a company’s leadership (C-Level Suite) to consider. The self-interested but not free mid-level manager will crave their benefits, perks, and powers, like any drug, and the withdrawal process is never pretty. Again as recently exhibited by the New York Times, their trainers are proving that they do not understand people and technology and do not know the role of the trainer in corporate training. Behavior-Change

Since the mid-1990s, technology has risen, coinciding with the need to provide front-line employees more freedom to make decisions and take rapid action. Mostly, this freedom has clashed with “traditional” models of behavior demanded of by what is considered novice servants. Yet, technological growth was not considered a fundamental threat to tradition until the COVID-lockdowns. Regardless of the politics in the lockdowns, the truth remains, the traditional roles have fundamentally shifted, and the businesses that embrace this new role for the trainer, including a new model for operation, will reap success in the whirlwind.

Hence, while not wanted, the model suggested is what is needed. Employees must be taught correct business principles and fully granted the freedom to govern themselves. Thus, the role of the trainer shifts from behavioral compliance to knowledge instruction and behavioral exemplar. More to the point, all levels of a business need to conduct themselves differently. Relying less upon behavioral and attitude adoption and more upon individuality, expression, and thinking to complete business tasks.

Front-line and mid-level managers are, by necessity, going to have to decrease in the new model. Relying upon layers of managerial oversight is not going to work, and honestly has never worked, and the costs of this oversight have proven too expensive. The gap between C-Suite Level decision-makers and the front line has grown too large and too expensive, and until this is acknowledged, the role of the trainer will continue to be hindered by old-model thinking. The 1960-1980s saw the exponential rise of middle managers, coinciding with significant cost increases and a tripling in government influence, all in the name of controlling behaviors, dictating attitudes, and demanding compliance.

The growth of the middle manager was considered “new thinking,” and history has proven this idea is as false as fools’ gold and as worthwhile. Middle management restricted freedoms, and while employment laws have granted, since the 1940s, employers the ability to take these controlling actions, these actions remain fundamentally unfair. The employees have slowly gotten more freedom back from their employers. Each business will find a balance between the extremes of absolute liberty and the oppressive regime of stolen freedom. The proposed model helps strike a balance as nothing else will, but caution is needed here; there is no one-size-fits-most solution in this balancing act. Fishbone Diagram

Since the industrial revolution began, businesses have competed upon their employees’ skills and influence to serve customers, which is the fundamental truth that cannot be ignored any longer. By the C-Level Suite, the skills, freedoms, liberties, behaviors, attitudes, and investment of the employee dictates the company’s ability to compete for market share. While much lip service has been undertaken to this fundamental truth, action has lagged considerably, and this trend can no longer survive in the global markets. The front-line employee must be taught to understand this truth that they currently grasp like a fish in a stream, and they must become empowered more to act in this role. Requiring the trainers to know, prepare, and teach these principles to power action by the front-line employee.

Teaching correct principles and allowing employees to govern themselves is cyclical. The employee will rely more heavily upon trainers to teach the correct principles. Increasing the need for value-added, timely trainers who support individual liberty and freedom in employees to generate customer-centric solutions. These trainers will need to be taught so that they can teach more perfectly, and the cyclical process will continue. Needs for training will drive new training, producing more freedom to act and driving more demand for training.

Knowledge Check! Returning to the decision posed by Tribus, regardless of whether to be a money tap or a community-building organization, embracing a new model for the role of the trainer will prove beneficial. Reducing mid-level managers will produce direct bottom-line cost reduction. Increasing the freedom of front-line employees while also training them to generate customer-centric solutions will open new lines of business and new opportunities. There are no downside consequences to adopting these changes earlier than your competition and proving the concept. As a business leader, are you brave enough to embrace these truths, or will you watch what you have built be destroyed by those who are? The choice, as always, is yours, and if you would like help, please feel free to reach out.

© Copyright 2023 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images. Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.

LIC and The Department of Veterans Affairs

What is LIC?

Low-Intensity Conflict (LIC) is the official name for when individuals or governments hire intermediaries to conduct violent operations from a secure position. LIC is a misnomer; those who have become victims of the barbaric cruelty of those practicing LIC find nothing “Low” about the experience. The conflict is intense, the actions brutal, and the practitioners remain cunning adversaries using and employing willing dupes to hide the true depths of moral decay inherent in the societal destructions and depravations the practitioners are enacting. Many confuse LIC in describing the actions of unbridled violence committed by ideologues under the banner of terrorism. The US Military Joint Chiefs of Staff define LIC as:

“A limited political-military struggle to achieve political, social, economic, or psychological objectives. It is often protracted and ranges from diplomatic, economic, and psychological pressures through terrorism and insurgency. Low-intensity conflict is generally confined to a geographic area and is often characterized by constraints on the weaponry, tactics, and levels of violence (Tinder 1990) [emphasis mine].”

Green (1997) adds a key ingredient to the description of LIC from Tinder (1990).

“… Non-international conflict is a refined term for what [was] formerly known as revolutions or civil wars, particularly when these have developed into major operations with the likelihood or reality of atrocities being committed against non-combatants. Whether civilians or those [rendered] hors de combat, a fact that is often more common in non-international … conflicts, especially when ideological, ethnic, or religious differences are in issue. It is for this reason that it must be borne in mind that the term low-intensity [conflict] has no relation to the severity or violence of the conflict” [emphasis mine].

Lt. Colonel Alan J. Tinder wrote a paper for the Air War College in 1990 titled: “Low-Intensity Conflict.” I have learned much from the Colonel and benchmarked this principle to more thoroughly understand LIC, recognize LIC, and detail LIC for others. The other compelling source is L. C. Green’s paper on “Low-Intensity Conflict and the Law.” I aim to synthesize this information into a manageable topic and aid understanding. Let me state emphatically that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) leadership’s actions are nothing short of LIC where employees and veterans/customers are concerned.

Regularly, the Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG) reports on a comprehensive healthcare inspection of a VHA facility, reports on employee morale in the VBA, or sum analysis of an employee or customer surveys, and include in the report a fairly descriptive, yet starkly utilitarian phrase, “reduce staff feelings of moral distress at work.” Generally, the efforts to reduce “moral distress” is left to an underling, an assistant, or a person for whom this is a secondary or collateral duty and is not considered important or relevant.

Do the actions of a leader represent complicity in creating moral distress fit the general definition of LIC? Absolutely. Consider that the leader sets the culture through actions, words, and behaviors, which originate in the thoughts and feelings of the leader. Correcting moral distress is pawned off on a junior staff member as a collateral duty, another method for displaying disrespect and communicating principles of abuse to employees. But there is no physical violence; how does this apply to LIC? Aren’t dead veterans’ examples enough of violent tendencies to justify the definition of LIC? The VA leader operates from a place of security, exemplifies the culture they deem acceptable, and then works through minions to achieve a “to achieve the political, social, economic, or psychological objective.”

Never forget these two critical points in the description of LIC:

“Often protracted and ranges from diplomatic, economic, and psychological pressures.”

“LIC has no relation to the severity or violence of the conflict.”

At the VA, the leadership calls their example politics; keeping your position or advancing is economical, and the psychological pressure to conform is palpable. All fundamental keys to conducting LIC against veterans, taxpayers, dependents, and non-conforming employees. Multiple times Congress has held hearings and listened to how the VA Leadership exacted revenge and retaliation upon those who reported problems to the VA-OIG, their elected congressional leaders, and other investigative parties. Feel free to peruse some of these hearings; you will hear victims relating physical, economic, and mental abuse, and the VA leadership never takes action. Elected officials never scrutinize and hold accountable those executing LIC, and the victims are victimized a second time.

Want another indicator that LIC is being practiced, the VA-OIG, after learning there are problems with moral distress at work, makes the following to slide the issues under the proverbial rub:

“The OIG’s review of the medical center … did not identify any substantial organizational risk factors.”

Signifying that even though the VA-OIG found moral distress is affecting and influencing employee behavior, the VA considers employee moral distress not an “organizational risk factor.” What does an employee who feels morally distressed do in performing their duties? Delay patients’ appointments, make mistakes on medication shipped, slow walk any responsibility to make things more complicated and take longer than they should. Does any of these actions sound familiar; they should, for this is the standard operating procedure for VA employees.

As reported previously, while I worked at the VA, I had intimate observations of what morally distressed employees do. When I wrote to the VA-OIG, I was informed that since I had my employment terminated, I could not be a whistleblower and get my job back. Plus, what I reported could not be actioned because it did not apply. How’s that for protecting the guilty? The VA Leadership is writing procedures and policies to target anyone and everyone who would report problems and seek help. An employee physically assaulted me; the camera mysteriously broke when I reported it, so no evidence was available. Who was at fault? Me; the assistant director promoted the attacker, and I got ostracized. The attacking employee took moral distress to new heights after this incident, and anyone who reported their behavior felt the wrath of the attacker and the VA leadership at the Albuquerque VAMC.

What is horrendous, this is not an isolated incident. What happened to me frequently repeats daily across every VA office. LIC is the overarching term, LIC is the behaviors named, and LIC is what the taxpayers are forced to pay for, all at the expense of veterans, dependents, and employees who see, know, and can do nothing. Repetitions of moral distress in employees, reported by the VA-OIG, are more than 20 just in 2022. The problem is cultural, and the elected officials desperately need to begin doing their second job, scrutinizing the executive branch and holding people accountable, including canceling the retirement packages of those practicing LIC.

Before someone tries to make this a Republican vs. Democrat issue, it is NOT political. LIC is never political, just as LIC is never religious, never racist, not sexist, or any other distinction. These distinctions are excuses, and the reasons do not justify the means for being violent. The leadership at the VA, and many other government agencies, have found that abusing the taxpayer pays well, provides protection, and allows them to exercise dominion to their heart’s content, all with the power of government to justify their deeds.

Do you realize that the VA-OIG has a metric for measuring moral distress, and the only time the VA-OIG reports moral distress among employees is when the results are higher than national averages? How scary is that to ponder? The problem is so prevalent that it only warrants reporting when it exceeds the norm. Thus, moral distress is declared less frequently when the average worsens. Official protection for LIC is provided by LIC, increasing, and the taxpayer is footing the bill.

I have read reports where the moral distress has worsened from year to year. The same leaders exacerbating the problem of employee moral distress are promoted and moved instead of reprimanded, punished, or fired. One of the VA-OIG reports is particularly heinous in hiding moral distress in employees.

“Selected employee survey responses demonstrated satisfaction with leadership and maintenance of an environment where staff felt respected and discrimination was not tolerated. Patient experience survey data implied general satisfaction with the outpatient care provided; however, leaders had opportunities to improve inpatient care satisfaction [emphasis mine].”

Mark Twain is oft quoted as stating, “There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.” How much more valid are these words when results are “selected,” “cherry-picked,” or allowed to “imply generalities?” Those who engage in LIC are criminals, they are comparable to terrorists, and they have infiltrated the bureaucratic halls of government. Employing government power, they form unholy unions with social media outlets and media companies to further silence and abuse, all while increasing protection.

Where does it end? How do we put paid to the tyranny?

It ends when ordinary people decide they have had enough. Ending the LIC-powered tyranny requires nothing more than elected officials scrutinizing the government and doing the jobs they swore to commit. No violence, problematic or arduous tasks, merely following established law and doing the jobs we elected them to accomplish. LIC is always destroyed when the citizens being oppressed stand up for their rights and demand the bullies, tyrants, and fiends cease and desist!

Thomas Paine, writing in “Common Sense,” discussed simplicity, stating:

“I draw my idea of the form of government from a principle in nature, which no art can overturn, viz. that the more simple anything is, the less liable it is to be disordered; and the easier repaired when disordered.”

The American government was established on simplicity, and the US Constitution is a simple document. Using Thomas Paine’s pattern, the disorder in the government is simple to correct; all we need are people insisting that the infection is terminated. Using the systems established in the US Constitution, the US government can be brought to heel, the rot removed, and justice can be delivered to those tyrants employing LIC for personal gain and political profit. LIC is happening in every government agency, and it is time for change to begin. Where are the politicians willing to do the job we elected them to perform?

Mark Twain provides the final word, “The government of my country snubs honest simplicity but fondles artistic villainy, and I think I might have developed into a very capable pickpocket if I had remained in the public service a year or two.” From artistic villainy to LIC is not an arduous shift, merely the extension of abuse of power to a larger audience. Learn, choose, and then make your voice known through elections and peaceful assembly for redress per the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.

© Copyright 2022 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images. Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.

Legitimacy and Consent – Principles Governing Power

In the book 1634: The Baltic War (Ring of Fire Series Book 3), a point was raised:

“A ruler needs legitimacy before all else, and legitimacy, in the end, must have its base in the consent of the governed.”

Bobblehead Doll In reviewing the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, a person will find the term consent a mainstay of constitutional law, foundational to establishing and solidifying the legitimacy of the citizen in this Constitutional Republic. Let’s be specific here and take a moment to understand the principles of consent. Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to a proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, possessing specific definitions used in law, medicine, research, and sexual relationships, to name but a few.

Consent does not dictate or imply legitimacy; legitimacy is independent of consent, but actions of those in charge must be legitimate, or the governed’s consent makes the government’s actions illegitimate. Hence, the need to understand legitimate activities and how these actions are either legitimate or illegitimate. Legitimacy depends on the root word legitimate; if something is legitimate, it complies with the law, follows established or accepted rules or standards, and must be valid and logically sound.

Using a piece of recent legislation, we can more fully understand the point about something being legitimate and appropriate to the consent of the governed. 40-years ago, the US Congress (The Senate and the House of Representatives) stopped passing budgets to authorize and oversee federal government spending, and the holders of America’s checkbook began using continuing resolutions (CR) instead of appropriating funds as part of a national review of expenditures to a published budget. ?u=http2.bp.blogspot.com-fGEUjJsJ2h4VcJgswaisnIAAAAAAAABcsoFqEewPF_E4s1600quote-if-the-freedom-of-speech-is-taken-away-then-dumb-and-silent-we-may-be-led-like-sheep-to-the-george-washington-193690.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Consider with me, no CR appropriates money, merely extends a previous CR approved by Congress. 40 years of making the same mistake doesn’t legitimize the actions of Congress not to pass a budget. The original CR was illegitimate and was against the consent of the governed, so every single CR replacing a balanced budget since has been against the consent of the governed as the actions were illegitimate, even if those making the decisions claimed they were needed or legal. Thus, the CR fails the sniff test for government spending. A historically wrong decision does not legitimize the current actions of the elected.

The law clearly states the US House of Representatives must pass an annual budget. Part of that budget process must include evaluating the spending previously and determining if those writing the checks performed their jobs appropriately. This is why independent audits of government agencies, including each of the members of Congress, are desperately needed to maintain the economic health of the United States. For the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and every other agency to continually fail audits is 100% illegitimate and against the consent of the governed.

Does this make sense? Your personal and family financial fiduciary health requires an end-of-month audit of spending, a balancing of the checkbook, and an evaluation of expenditures to meet budgetary restrictions and fiscal goals and objectives. At the end of the year, you evaluate all the past year’s spending in preparation for the annual tax deadline. Yet, the example of the executive, legislative, and judicial, both at the state and federal levels, is not reflected in the daily struggles of the governed. Making the government’s actions illegitimate and against the consent of the governed. These two principles, legitimacy and consent, reflect a significant portion of the basis of the anger many in America feel but cannot express. Plato 2

Why do we struggle to express this anger? We have not understood the principles of consent and legitimacy. In a constitutional republic, if what those elected are doing hurts one portion of the populace, it hurts the entire population. We do not have a democracy where a mere 51% of the people benefiting can justify destroying the other 49% of the population. Why does the US Constitution require what the media calls a “supermajority” erroneously?” Because in a constitutional republic, the rule of law protects all citizens equally, thus providing legitimacy to follow the law, an impetus to adhere to the law when no legal authorities are directly observing you, and allows for the consent of the governed to be honored and upheld even if a small minority disagrees with a decision by the elected authorities.

Hence the difference between a democracy and a constitutional republic. We are encouraged under the rule of law to disagree, petition the government peacefully, and insist the elected representatives follow and live by the same laws they enact. Nothing in the US Constitution allows for an elected representative to play the stock market for personal gain, to abdicate their duties by voting via proxy, disregarding their legally authorized obligations, or many of the methods for abusing the citizenry that have become “accepted” because a vocal minority pushes an agenda.

Speaker Pelosi cannot claim that something is acceptable merely because she was the house speaker. The president cannot break the law simply because they are the commander in chief of the armed forces. Elected representatives cannot, and should not, be making money trading stocks with insider information. The list of what has become acceptable behaviors of elected officials is long and egregious. Always the same two principles balance as a means to judge those behaviors and actions. Is what they are doing legitimate and consensual to the expressed opinions of the governed? If the answer to one is negative, the elected representatives have no power to govern. Apathy

Consider the crime of rape. If consent is withdrawn, the intercourse is non-consensual and illegitimate, and a legal charge of rape can be investigated for criminal activity. The same is true for speeding; the laws clearly state speed limits are acceptable, breaching the limit in a motorized vehicle is unsafe, and simply because the occupants of the car consent don’t make speeding legitimate. Both consent and legitimacy must be approved to make an action acceptable.

If the driver operating a vehicle demands that speeding is legitimate, will a judge or police officer agree? Does a passenger screaming about the need to go faster legitimize the illegal actions of breaking speed limits? If a passenger suddenly replaces the driver, even though they own the vehicle, is responsibility for actions moved to the new driver or remain with the owner or original driver? These are easily understood questions when consent and legitimacy principles are fully understood in context.

Consider the ramifications of neglecting legitimacy and consent. Does a make-out session between two consenting adults mean the sex was consensual? No, because if one party does not want sex, merely wants to make out, provided both parties have reached the legally determined age of consent, the make-out session is consensual, but not the sex. This is not splitting the proverbial legal hairs. If making out and sexual intercourse are two separate actions, which they are, then the legal need for consent legitimizes sexual intercourse.

Now using this analogy, let’s evaluate the legislation for not passing a budget. Not passing a budget is one action, but not passing a timely budget does not justify a continuing resolution to authorize government spending. Not passing a budget, not conducting audits, and not demanding fiscal responsibility are all separate actions but never legitimize the continuing resolution. The root cause does not justify the stop-gap spending. Just like consensual necking does not legitimize sexual intercourse or speeding on a highway.

The courts have been very clear actions supporting lawbreaking do not imply permission or consent. Consider the laws of drunk driving, the rights of the injured victim, or the families of those killed. Society has allowed, through legislation, the ability to drink alcoholic beverages provided the consumer is over a specific age. Does the legal permission to drink automatically legitimize the consumer to operate any motorized vehicle after drinking; of course not, and laws have shaped and changed drunk driving behaviors since 1910. The consumer is granted consent based on age and legal limitations to drinking alcoholic beverages but is not legitimized to drive, ride a horse, operate a bicycle, boat, etc., while intoxicated. Those injured or killed did not grant consent for the consumer to ruin their lives. Hence the consent of the governed and legitimacy of drunk driving laws are established, and the consumer’s responsibility to drink responsibly is solidified in society. The Duty of Americans

Returning to the continuing resolutions, the fiscal insanity of the government and the bureaucrats’ fiduciary irregularity contradict the governed’s consent. Taxes are paid, but the taxpayers still hold responsibility and accountability for the money they earn to pay those taxes. Through electing representatives to oversee how tax monies are spent, the responsibility to provide an accounting for those funds is exchanged by the citizenry electing to the elected. The citizen cannot be held directly responsible for the actions of the elected representative. Still, through fair, transparent, and legal elections, accountability for the actions of the elected is expressed.

By failing to provide clear and logical, transparent, fiscal accounting to the electorate, the elected representative is discounting the consent of the governed and delegitimizing the concerns and investment of the voters who paid the taxes. Precisely like the consumer who drinks alcoholic beverages and then insists they can drive home safely. Understanding the principles of legitimacy and consent is a prerequisite to clearly identifying the problems in government and then correcting course to right the ship of the state. Patriotism

Does anyone want to return to the legal days when a rape victim is blamed for exciting the mind of the rapist who took sexual advantage and committed an act of violence? Does anyone want to return to 1900, when drunk driving was socially acceptable if you were rich enough? Does anyone want to cancel the speed limits and try to declare the lack of speed limitations makes roads safer? Of course not, so why do we, the electorate continue to allow for fiscal insanity with our tax dollars? Why should we ever accept another continuing resolution? Why should we even pay taxes when those spending the money have so egregiously spent our money until how many umpteenth-great-grandchildren are in debt to their eyeballs?

Please allow me to specify I am not advocating a person stop paying taxes and risk judiciary action! I am advocating understanding consent and legitimacy as keys to government power and how the power being exercised currently needs to be evaluated. You are free to reach opinions different than mine. I implore you to understand how legitimacy and consent of the governed lend the right to rule, in our constitutional republic, to the elected representatives.

Legitimacy and consent must be the number one motivating factor for every decision of those elected. Until we, the electorate, demand they change course, we will be forced to wash, rinse, and repeat until America is left an empty shell, her people driven into captivity by her enemies, and the American Dream is shattered for personal political power by those who we elected.

Detective 4 Returning to where we began, “A ruler needs legitimacy before all else, and legitimacy, in the end, must have its base in the consent of the governed.” Whether a ruler is a hereditary monarch, an elected representative, or a despotic tyrant, legitimacy and consent remain principles upon which power is derived. Absent either legitimacy or consent, the ruler has no power to govern; lacking power, that rule is either quickly deposed or will shortly be destroyed by those being abused in the name of governance. History is replete with examples of citizens who have rejected their consent after actions were taken that delegitimized the ruler’s power.

No, this is NOT a call for violence, merely a plea for understanding consent and legitimacy, evaluating what you see in each branch of government, and then making a personal decision to continue to grant consent or withhold consent from those who claim to “represent” you in the halls of government. How you choose is your choice, and you are free to make that choice. I know my choice and have already withdrawn my consent to be governed by the current elected representatives.

I Have Had ENOUGH! – The Trans/Drag Movement

?u=https3.bp.blogspot.com-fYRTNk48SCwT8ua0IRDWPIAAAAAAAAFZUpexSmJsN2Kos1600overcoming-adversity-help-yourself-believe-cubby-motivational-1289878102.jpg&f=1&nofb=1 Last week, feel free to look it up on YouTube, Officer Tatum was discussing a Drag Queen show where children are present, and the Drag Queen is exposing their underwear regularly to the horror of the children attending. Now, take a minute and put your critical thinking hat on. If a man or woman exposes their drawers to a child anywhere, that person is arrested for exposure and investigated for child endangerment and other potential crimes. Yet, if the person claims to be a cross-dressing member of the LGBTQ+ community, the law somehow doesn’t apply. Tell me why!

Recently, again YouTube has a video, a mother hears about a Drag Queen indecently exposing themselves at her daughter’s school. Indecent exposure, as defined in legal communities, is “the crime of displaying one’s genitalia to one or more people in a public place, usually with the apparent intent to shock the unsuspecting viewer and give the exposer a sexual charge.” It is important to note that in many U.S. jurisdictions, “it is not required that someone observe the act, or see the perpetrator’s private parts, in order for the perpetrator to face criminal charges.” Never forget that those exposing themself in public are at risk of committing more serious sexual crimes and are a danger to society. The mother wears the same outfit to the school board and is considered immodestly dressed for a public forum. News stations blurred the mother’s image to prevent problems with the FCC. Why wasn’t the Drag Queen treated similarly? Why is there a two-tier judicial system in the Republic of the United States of America?

Earlier in 2022, a video is taken of a child slipping cash into the underwear of a Drag Queen. Why haven’t any of these parents been investigated for child endangerment? Children deserve to be raised by parents who are not abusing them by exposing the child to the sexual predilections of a perverted mind. How many more instances of child endangerment are needed before schools, governments, and the judicial system before we as a society take action to stop this chicanery? ?u=http2.bp.blogspot.com-fGEUjJsJ2h4VcJgswaisnIAAAAAAAABcsoFqEewPF_E4s1600quote-if-the-freedom-of-speech-is-taken-away-then-dumb-and-silent-we-may-be-led-like-sheep-to-the-george-washington-193690.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

All are created equally. All are equal under the law. These are not aphorisms or nice thoughts; they are how society works. We must be able to trust the legal system to treat ALL equally under the law. Yet, if you choose to cross-dress, believing you are a soul in the wrong body, somehow you have special treatment under the law and can commit crimes that others would be jailed and rightfully ostracized from society for committing.

Curiosity is no sin, and I have long wondered why we hear stories of men crashing women’s locker rooms but never a woman entering a man’s locker room. A trans boy in Vermont crashes a girl’s locker room, makes snide and disparaging comments, makes the girls feel uncomfortable, and the girls are punished. America has witnessed a star varsity girl be a quarterback on a football team. Yet, she never crashed the boy’s locker room. I have been in school districts where girls have wrestled on the boys’ wrestling team; they never thought to watch the boys change, dress, disparage comments, or make the boys feel uncomfortable. Have you ever wondered why this is always a one-directional story, boys and men against women and girls?

Since SCOTUS ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges, the claim has been made that children would be sacrificed for political correctness. What have we seen happen in America; child molesters are now called “Minor Attracted People,” Drag Queens are paid tax dollars to dance and expose themselves to children in schools, and explicit LGBTQ+ pornography is peddled through school libraries to children who should not be exposed to this garbage. Why? Do not misunderstand; I am thoroughly against heterosexual pornography being peddled to children. We have laws against heterosexual porn marketing and set legal age limits. Why does gay porn not have the same common sense approaches and age restrictions? Lemmings 1

In 2019, I substitute taught at a high school in Albuquerque, NM, for several months. I was horrified at what passed for A.P. English reading materials. Seeing the reading materials that described explicit details of gay sexual activity was sickening. Peddle heterosexual pornography with this explicit amount of detail to minors, and you would be jailed, and rightly so. There are laws restricting this material from minors, but somehow if the materials are gay sexual activity, the rules magically do not apply. Why?

I have seen reading materials pushed by the American Library Association (ALA) that are so obscene I could not finish reading them, and I am not a young mind in K-12. Let me elaborate upon this significance. In Junior High school (1989-1991), I challenged myself to learn about the world. In seventh grade, I was going to read all the books in the Crosby Junior High School library. I was exposed to harlequin romances that were inappropriate for my age, and regret having read them. I read Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, the Koran, ideals, and philosophies from all over the world, and I am better for the experience. I wanted an expanded mind; I developed my mind and then felt better about experiencing and experimenting with the world.

NO Fear Generally, I am against banning books, but I am all in for age appropriateness in materials offered for reading. Tell me, should kindergarten-aged children be learning about masturbation? Their young minds and bodies are not developed sufficiently, yet what do we find in kindergarten required reading, how to masturbate? It was inappropriate to have harlequin romances in a junior high school library. What I needed was to learn about love, not sex. Not knowing there was a difference cost me a lot of time and relationships. What is the exposure to gay sexual details doing to the children’s minds right now? Why are these materials not only allowed but promoted to children?

President Thomas Jefferson, when discussing equality in 1776, rightly reminded his countrymen that he never intended to say anything original in the Declaration but only “to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent.” Well, with this missive, my intent is similar; I desire to place before you, dear reader, the common sense of this subject, in plain terms, firmly stated sufficient to command your attention and recognize the evil that has beset this nation.

There is no excuse for the sexual attacks on our children and youth in the name of equality. Equality has become the brick stick to beat populations into submission and chain those minds in captivity. I choose to allow all the freedom to act as they choose, with two provisions:

I am allowed to act as I so choose.
Those who think differently do NOT use the power of governmental force to compel me to give up my liberties encompassed in the first provision.

If you choose to dress as a different sex, gender, or type of person, you are more than free to do so. Make your choices, live your consequences, and leave me alone. However, the LGBTQ+ community is not happy leaving people alone; they insist on stealing rights and liberties through judicial twisting, legislation, and bureaucratic fiat, which is immoral, unethical, and illegal.

Exclamation Mark Where are the rights of parents? On YouTube, a discussion was held that a mother and father had no legal say in what their child was taught in his second-grade classroom. Really, where did the rights of parents go? In 6^th -12^th grade, I freely admit I forged parental signatures on permission forms. Yet, my parents were still afforded their right to say no and tell the school board. More, when my mother became vociferous sufficiently to make a nuisance, she was jailed for contempt regarding teacher overreach in what was being taught to my younger brothers.

The oppression of parental rights is not new, but it has taken a decidedly dangerous turn, and this trend MUST be reversed! The class I hated the most in school sexual education. In the eight different high schools I attended, this class was masked under the guise of reproductivity, family planning, health, and other less obnoxious sounding titles. But always, the class was sexual education, and too often, the course sickened me mentally and physically. Yet, in all eight high schools, the classes were made mandatory, not by parents, but by legislatures who had been hoodwinked by Planned Parenthood and other nefarious political bodies. I learned about women’s periods and cycles in junior high and was physically ill. On my second trip through fourth grade, I saw movies on how children were conceived and more physical nausea.

During those years of government-mandated public education, I learned the words of Jefferson: “Liberty … is unobstructed action according to our will: but rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will, within the limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’; because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.” The limits drawn by tyrants are violating the rights of individuals, and the noose cinching our growth originates in the twisted minds of those claiming equality for sexual perversion and mental illness.

Tell me, have you researched the psychiatric book on mental illness? Several sections are devoted to the mental illnesses of sexual disorders and the mental health of people who create problems because they refuse to be bound by limits in sexual appetites. The consequences of sexual perversion create mental health disorders. Please, do not blindly believe me; look up the DSM 5. The DSM-5 officially is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, text revision (DSM-5-TR) released on March 18, 2022, by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). The DSM is a reference handbook that most U.S. mental health professionals use to reach an accurate diagnosis, and the latest version of the manual is the DSM-5-TR. Plato 2

While there are always discussions on the applicability and use of the DSM, this is the reference for lawyers, mental health professionals, and medical doctors in dealing with mental health cases. The information in the DSM-5-TR remains the standard upon which diagnoses and treatment of mental health patients rest. A basic level of reading comprehension leaves the reader with a firm grasp of the obvious, sexual appetites and passions have consequences, and those consequences lead to poor mental health, including depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, physical, sexual, and mental abuse of others, and a host of social problems and legal issues.

Yet, instead of addressing the problem and suggesting more control of personal appetites, the reverse is preached by media, politicians, doctors, and other key societal groups. Leading us back to Jefferson’s claim that “law is often the tyrant’s will” as a weapon to violate the rights of individuals. Another glimpse into the mind of President Jefferson shows us the following pattern. “Whereas it appeareth that however certain forms of government are better calculated than others to protect individuals in the free exercise of their natural rights and are at the same time themselves better guarded against degeneracy, yet experience hath [shown], that even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny . . . [emphasis mine].”

Slow operations are perverting government into tyranny; where have we seen this more apparent than in the bureaucratic nightmare of the federal, state, county, and city/town government on education in publicly funded schools? Under the guise of the twisted and plastic term progress, the ability to read was curtailed by Dewey, and education was bureaucratized slowly into the mess it has become. Math and history are weaponized into topics hated and despised, so the student knows nothing of their country’s rich heritage and history. The popularization of topics has seen the rise of perversion in a bold attempt to groom children for the sexual appetites and passions of adults who deserve public shaming. Instead, those with morals and ethics are denounced and shunned.

Let me be clear and concise, using President Jefferson to help, “Under the law of nature, all men are born free, every one comes into the world with a right to his own person, which includes the liberty of moving and using it at his own will. This is what is called personal liberty, and [personal liberty] is given him by the author of nature because [it is] necessary for his own sustenance.” How you choose is your business, provided it does not infringe upon the rights and liberties of others to pursue life, exercise liberty, and choose happiness. However, what is occurring right now remains in direct violation of personal liberty, and these purveyors of sexual perversion must cease and desist immediately!

You do not have the right to twist the minds of children! You are not the parents, and your job does not give you the authority to interfere in parental rights! The power of government is not an acceptable excuse to steal innocence, groom minds, or pervert those not interested in your lifestyle choices! How you choose to exercise your liberty is between you and the author of that liberty. When you go forth exercising your liberty and try to steal rights and liberties from others, you are the problem. You deserve social castigation, denunciation, and the harshest penalties of the legal system.

Patriotism You have no claims upon my personal liberty, and I want my rights back!

Added Upon – An Eternal Investment Principle

Why Please note that while the following begins with truths found in the Bible, this is not a religious discussion. Galatians 6:5-10 reminds us that what we reap, we will sow. Some have called this the “Principle of the Harvest,” others try to frame this discussion as Isaiah proclaimed (Isaiah 10:15) “Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.” Each iteration proclaims the same truth, where you invest, you shall gather the interest thereof.

I could stop right here, and the entire lesson will have been taught to those with ears to hear and eyes to see. However, there is something else I wish to communicate and will beg your attention a little longer, dear reader, for the principle of added upon does more than merely render unto a person that which they carefully sowed.

As a child, I grew up in a home full of abuse. Mental, sexual, physical, spiritual, if you can name the abuse, we suffered it. Carefully sown, this abuse has grown bitter fruit indeed. Except, those who planted were not only my parents; the fruits were bitter indeed for the receiver of the abuse and the deliverer of additional abuse. Shortly after working out a plan to commit suicide and failing, boy did I feel like a loser; I came to my senses and committed to breaking, forever sundering, the chains of abuse. I would not have my children raised in the turmoil, abuse, chaos, hate, strife, and pain I was raised in.

See, the investment principle is powerful. Interest must be paid, and the principle of added upon works like this:

If I act in a specific manner, it will be observed by those around me, and they will multiply my behaviors (for good or ill) 10-fold. Those who see this second generation of behavior will imitate that behavior 20-fold, multiplying and forever working to exceed the earlier behaviors observed. ?u=https3.bp.blogspot.com-fYRTNk48SCwT8ua0IRDWPIAAAAAAAAFZUpexSmJsN2Kos1600overcoming-adversity-help-yourself-believe-cubby-motivational-1289878102.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

The principle of added upon works in other ways. In the 90s, I read a research report about how high school students who thought cheating acceptable stole from their employers. But, the children of those who stole from their employer took the behaviors of theft and added upon them to steal purses, rob stores, murder, lie, and cheat, all with no abandon. The interest came from the behaviors of the original sin of cheating on a test in high school, and the fruit destroyed potential lives.

But, I am not without hope in discussing the principle of added upon, as the reverse also occurs. A dear friend of mine was raised by his single mother, his father was an alcoholic, and there were generations steeped in abhorrent behavior. Yet, my friend broke the chains, invested in learning, and his children were free of the evils of abuse, alcoholism, and sexual abuse and were raised in a nuclear family. My friend worked exceedingly hard and continues his efforts to protect, teach, guide, mentor, and build his children into productive and valuable members of society.

The principle of added upon holds such power as to bloom potential in the darkest abyss, bringing light, life, and deliverance to future generations. Why is this important right now; America is in trouble. Too many have sown seeds of destruction and are reaping the whirlwind as natural consequences. Too many broken homes, too much welfare destroying the principle of work, too many imaginations have uprooted common sense and decency for the politically easier path, and so much more. Personal interest fuels wars, contention, strife, and every social ill from coast to coast. Tax Burden

Consider this, the government “Of the People, By the People, and for the People” has intentionally been sown with seeds of complacency, bureaucratism, hate, envy, strife, malice, and abuse of all kinds and flavors, done in the name of securing power and personal wealth. That which the government has sown is being reaped in her citizenry, and the citizen’s tears must be answered by those wielding government power for personal gain.

Much has been written about Liz Cheney’s recent loss, and the personal wealth garnered while serving in the US House of Representatives. Some have called this karma; others believe it is a heaven-sent miracle. I hope that which she reaps will build a new person. How many of us are in a similar position? We have sown, and are praying, hoping, wishing that the fruit of our labors is not bitter?

I have some suggestions, and I hope you may find peace in some of all of these thoughts. Please take the time to learn, and choose the seeds you sow more wisely.

If you hate who you are right now, do you want to change? Do you desire the ability to change with every fiber of your being? Do you want to change your consequences? If the answers are YES! Then make a choice to change, and start rooting out the seedlings sown. This alone is a good first step, but it will not be easy; yet I echo words from the master teacher, it IS worth it!
Start RIGHT NOW! I cannot emphasize this point enough. Procrastination is the enemy of change, as surely the enemy of food is a starving beggar. How do you start? Forgive yourself, commit to change, and begin acting. Even if you think you are incapable of changing, let the desire feel your mind, write down your ideal person, and start rooting out the weeds and bad behaviors of sown seeds.
Ask for forgiveness, and render forgiveness. Saying sorry and committing to not repeating destructive behaviors are HARD. But, the German axiom is well remembered, “The hard IS good!”
Forgiveness will eventually bring the fruit of forgetting. Please, be kinder to yourself and others, forgiving and repenting daily. How do you change the past; you practice forgiveness and repentance in the present, and the future will shine brighter, eventually.

I was privileged to hear a person speak about hourglasses in my youth. When trying to change, we are in the bottom glass, and there is plenty of room. But, as we swim against the tide coming down, the space diminishes until we are in the neck of the hourglass. If we can but hold onto the change we desire, then as we exit the neck, still moving upwards, we get a little more space from the problems and troubles, the tide pulling against us lessens as we get further from the neck, and the added room provides places of safety. The hourglasses stacked on top of each other form the pattern, and we can succeed gloriously, as we were not created to fail! Never Give Up!

If you need more help, confidence, or a shoulder to lean on (but not rest), choose someone as committed as you are to change and make them central in your life. You CAN do this! Believe, and then go to work!

Random Thoughts

Standing here typing, listening to Garth Brooks, my mind will not relax to sleep. Reason unknown, but these thoughts seemed to need to be written, so here goes nothing:

Can a person have too much experience and too varied a resume? I’ve been a Jack-of-all-Trades for so long, but is that damaging my professional brand?

With a tour active-duty Army, a stint in the US Army National Guard, and a tour of duty active in the Navy, my SMART transcripts are thick with experience. Add in the correspondence courses, the moving from state-to-state in the guard, I have collected job specialties/Military Occupational Skills (MOS), and civilian experience to the Nth degree.

In Fourth Grade, I heard about Cracker Jacks, how they were specialists in being Johnny on the spot to fill the needs demanded. I have turned this into project, program, and change management, and supported it with formal and informal education. What is too much? How do I know when I reach that point?

Garth Brooks sings a song called “Ireland.” The song is more of a saga than a song, and it tells the story of an Irish Army, on the short end of long odds and outmanned. Since I first heard this song, it has struck those chords in my soul, reason unknown. Having been on the receiving end of long odds and understaffed, I understand the sentiment of this song on an almost spiritual level.

I’ve been in professional situations where I was the victim of lies, physical violence, and sexual assaults from both men and women. People who desire to make themselves feel better by making another person worse. I’ve been fighting bullies my whole life; bring it on. You cannot put the “Skeer” on me! Funnily enough, I sure have the Skeer on a LOT of others, mostly without ever trying.

Recently an event from the US Navy came forcibly to mind, one of the few times I put the Skeer on another person, then kept that Skeer up to the day I left the ship. I had a member of my chain of command physically assault me. I stepped toe-to-toe, looked him straight in the eye, and swore to the depths of my eternal soul that if he ever thought of touching me again, I was going to stuff his lifeless body into a saltwater compensated fuel cell, and all they would find of his remains would be atomic molecules as they went through the engines and into the atmosphere. He never looked me in the eye again, touched me, and left the space crying. I never touched him, but I got my point across.

I have carried the injuries from that day to this, and the VA refuses to acknowledge these injuries or their severity. The VBA continues to deny that a male can experience military sexual trauma from another male. But I put the Skeer on the perpetrators, and this comes with no satisfaction. The law refused to support me; UCMJ failed even to acknowledge these issues while punishing me for the smallest of infractions. Where is justice?

I was one of a tiny minority who was sent to Captain’s Mast (UCMJ, Article 15) proceedings, whose NCOER score went up after being sent before the mast. My lowest NCOER score was 3.5/4 during my entire enlisted period US Navy. But I could not get promoted, refused transfers, and was denied everything because I was “Too valuable to the command,” but this did not stop the command from sending me before the mast every six to eight months. I have scars from the bullies, but they never broke me!

Since June 2022, I have been pleading on my blog, LinkedIn, and Facebook for participants for my dissertation research. Unfortunately, the research participation rate hasn’t exceeded zero—more reasons unknown.

Have you ever sat through company training and a trainer made an impression, for good or ill, on your growth with that organization? Do you train others, hoping you are influencing the students in your classroom? Do your official duties include leading training efforts for your company? Please click on the link to enter the survey/questionnaire:

Employee: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GCUonlineemployeesurvey
Trainer and Front-Line Supervisors: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GCUcorporatetrainersurvey
Senior Trainer: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GCUSeniorTrainer

Have you successfully been coached or been the coach to another? What about mentoring? Have you received mentoring or been a mentor? Your insights are vital to my research, and I want to showcase your insights to other researchers to help improve company training programs. Please, join, and let’s change the world.

On the topic of the VBA, did you know you can have a VA provider diagnose you with PTSD and be denied VBA benefits? I would never have believed this was possible until it happened to me. The civilian provider doing the PTSD exam claimed a person could not experience PTSD unless they were in combat. If anyone knows how to successfully change the VBA’s mind, don’t hesitate to contact me. I need some help on this claim!

The inconsistencies in my claim baffle and bewilder me to no end. The abuse by the VA’s ineptitude and deleterious attitude leaves me thinking about running for office, if for no other reason than to stop the depredations of the VA. Any lawyers out there looking for a fight, itching to correct a wrong, and want to join?

I am almost finished with an advanced degree in industrial and organizational psychology (I/O Psych), and I am appalled by many of my colleagues. Not those in I/O Psych, but those in other psychological fields, psychiatry, and the medical field. I am not denying that kids (age 9-18) are often confused about their bodies and have fanciful ideation about being a different gender. Sometimes these thoughts and feelings need professional support to understand and cope. But recommending surgery to mutilate their bodies permanently is morally, ethically, and borderline legally wrong!

In following the gender dysphoria topic, I have read the heartbreaking stories of those who transitioned, mutilated, and then eventually came to themselves and wept for that which has been lost. Related on these blog pages are several stories of people I have known, who have experienced rape, beatings, and tremendous pain due to gender confusion, jealousy, greed, and a compliant medical industry hellbent on doing harm. Why?

I repeat my question, only for emphasis, if your actions are so life-affirming and positive for you, why are you so hate-filled, angry, and abusive to others? If the mutilation of healthy tissue is not immoral, unethical, and borderline legal, why the secrecy, silence, and walls of hate when approached on this topic? These are honest questions. The research does not support any conclusions; expect to plead for more research. Science is not settled on any issue, let alone the alteration of young bodies and minds.

Writing these questions and thoughts down is therapeutic. If they help you, I have accomplished my purpose. I close with a thought:

“Ask yourself the hard questions, never stop asking, and allow your answers to change as you do.” Colin Wright

I affirm in the strongest words I am not a victim, I am not the same person I was at 18, and I glory in the ability to continue to change. Ask questions, learn, and change.

Hubris Ante Nemesis – Flash from the Eternal Semaphore

Bobblehead Doll As a kid, I read a lot of Greek and Roman Mythology. I learned some great lessons from the fates, the fabled battles, and the historical interweaving with the fictional. One of the lessons keeps recircling, “Those whom the gods would destroy first they make proud.” Except, the gods/God do not make men proud; men choose pride, then comes vanity, all feeding ego, until that penultimate moment when “Hubris Ante Nemesis” occurs and the bottom is pulled out from under you.

The fates are three goddesses by the name of Clotho (the spinner), Lachesis (the allotter), and Atropos (the inflexible), possibly the children of Ananke (Necessity); these fates spun out the woven lives of men and women on the tapestry of a grand design. Out of necessity, the fates weave, and what is woven cannot be undone. I can understand the mental comfort people might take from thinking that these weavers hold men’s destiny; thus, all success or failure is the fault of the weavers of fate. The Fates Picture, The Fates Image

Hubris, in Greek Mythology, is the god of arrogance. Full of wanton violence, insolence, arrogance, and who actively chooses never to exercise restraint. Hubris remains a classic example of extremes. Nemesis is the goddess of fate and revenge. Roughly translating Latin Hubris brings Nemesis to balance the scales. Nemesis is the humbler of men who Hubris have enticed into taking their lives to extremes.

In Judaism, the saying goes, “Pride goeth before the fall.” Or put another way, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” In all cultures of men, this same semaphore is flashing across the minds of philosophers and religious leaders, beware the tides of extremes, choose humility, and caution against arrogance, pride, sloth, vanity, lust, gluttony, and ego. When did we stop heeding this call? Why have these calls been classified as religious and minimized in all societies? Nemesis | Myth Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia

Consider the political leaders of the day, those who think they are beyond the reach of law merely because they think they are the keystone in a democracy and deserve to live better than those who elected them to power. Recent examples of this pride are witnessed in Speaker Pelosi’s husband making stock choices when the company is about to get a massive windfall from the US Government. Al Gore compared climate deniers to the police in the Uvalde, Texas school shooting while jet-setting around the globe. He is preaching moderation and reduced lifestyles while he lives in excess. The list is never-ending, where extreme lifestyles are flashed wantonly, and suffering continues to expand exponentially.

Marie Antoinette was made famous for the starving and suffering by losing her head after supposedly claiming, “Let them eat cake.” Hubris snuffed out by Nemesis in a well-deserved act of humiliation. Yet, one of the things that set Greek and Roman mythology apart from Judaism and Christianity was the ability to repent, achieve forgiveness, and change one’s life being in the hands of the individual, not the destiny of the Fate’s.

Being called to repentance is primarily the realm of religious leaders, and I would not want anyone to think I am making a call for others to repent. Not my job, no authority, no power. Merely, I hope to help raise the perception of those suffering from the hubris of others. I also want to improve how I live. I am not the example to hold up to anyone, except as a warning, but I strive to improve. The poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley rings ever truer, “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”

Our world, right now, is suffering greatly. Crime is skyrocketing; theft is out of control; violence, aggression, murder, rape, and so much more are occurring at levels not ever recorded and growing. Yet, Thomas S. Monson authored a book based on a concept of power, “The future is only as bright as your faith.” Consider this for a moment; we can have hope and happiness in whatever circumstances we face as a choice reflecting our personal religious beliefs. Yes, the consequences of crime hurt physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, etc., but the hubris of others can be healed. Victor E. Frankl’s book, “Man’s Search for Meaning,” signals the same semaphore, your choices can heal the hubristic consequences suffered, and the future is bright!

Those who have indulged in hubristic actions can find peace, joy, happiness, and forgiveness. Those hurt by the hubris of others do not have to stay hurt, or hurt others, to find the same joy, peace, happiness, and forgiveness. Want to know an exciting thought? I am not preaching religion! Your religious choices are your own, and I respect your religious preferences, provided they do not infringe upon anyone else’s rights to freedom of religion. 25 Best Hope Quotes That Build Your Confidence Again - Picss Mine

I am talking about living without extremes, not religion. How big of a house do you need? Due to my violent sleeping and crazy sleep patterns, my wife and I sleep in different rooms. Because I am a proud person who, after cleaning latrines and heads for the US Army and Navy, hates cleaning bathrooms, we also have separate bathrooms. As a married couple, these changes to the “traditional” style of a man living with a woman have led us to live in a slightly larger home, but this fits our needs. Please note that my bathroom is not a filthy mess, but it is not the surgical clean of a military bathroom either. Nor is my bathroom one step higher in cleanliness above the military than my spouse’s.

How many cars and vehicles does a person need? I don’t know. I have friends who have four-wheelers, tractors, motorcycles, and a host of other vehicular conveyances. I am not here to tell anyone how much of anything they need. I merely postulate that you can make better choices and exercise less hubris through careful consideration and thoughtful discussion. The same goes for food, clothing, entertainment, and every other vice humans invent to fall into. I am not condemning anyone! I suggest that we can live well without the extremes and expect our political leaders and bureaucrats to do similarly.

Question 3 How expensive is the government because those who claim to be public servants practice hubris with our tax dollars? How complicated a process does a government become when government becomes a jobs program instead of a government? How big does a government become when hubris is practiced against the citizens?

As free-thinking humans, we do not need to be ruled with a brick stick to make better living choices. We do need a moral code to live by, and how you choose your moral code is your business. The moral code should include things like living within our means, not being violent to others, promoting good where we see it, and disdaining socially what should be kept privately, among other things. I cannot stress this enough choosing what you believe is your business. However, hubris hurts others to make oneself inflated, and that is everyone’s business!

Consider for a moment the store clerk who had to take a life to defend himself in a bodega in NYC. That man will be forever haunted by the violence perpetrated upon him, leading to the perpetrator’s death. The hubris of the attacker led to his humiliation but had consequences for society at large. The thieves in San Francisco, Chicago, and other places do not hurt just the business and local communities, they hurt everyone in American society, and their hubris is morally, ethically, and legally wrong! Hubris Quotes. QuotesGram

The murderer’s hubris affects society just as wholly as the hubris of a political leader who lives in excess; I see no difference between the two. Some may complain that murder and living in excess are two different moral choices, but those hurt do not differentiate the wound, so why should I? Is not a life lost in murder? Is not a life lost when the excesses of others lead them to use the power of government to steal, cheat, and lie in the name of government business?

Consider illegal immigration as the theft it is, and we can see how hubris negatively influences the originating country, pushing the poor out and the host country where the poor want to reside illegally. Does this mean immigration is wrong; absolutely not! Immigration includes assimilation, illegal immigration does not, and those practicing illegal immigration, promoting, and facilitating are all practicing hubris for personal power, wealth, and gain. Are there those in the illegal immigration classes who are the “Sons of Mary;” indeed. But the majority are merely perpetuating hubris with the resulting consequences in increased drug trafficking, sex trafficking, disease spread, and a host of other social ills.

I admit the murders of millions in Nazi Germany under Hitler were terrible, but how is this any different from Mao using government powers to kill millions by withholding food, clothing, and housing from those who disagreed politically, religiously, or personally? Or any different than Xi Jinping doing similarly to the Uyghur populations? What is different between Marie Antoinette and Marx or Stalin? How are these actions any other than what the government has done under the excuse of Covid? Did not millions die while political leaders lived in excess, flaunted their hubris, and stole from those who put them in power?

Under communism in the USSR, the people lived in abject misery, while those who considered themselves elite grew fat and lazy, all in the name of helping, providing, caring, and progress. Communist Cuba and the disaster called Venezuela are additional examples of what occurs when hubris corrupts governments and society is left to suffer while the leaders live lives of excess. America used to be a capitalistic country but is now a mix of socialism and communism under the guise of capitalism. The hubristic lifestyles of those in power, their lackeys, flunkeys, and bureaucrats, are all at the taxpayers’ expense. What is the difference between hubris in the communist USSR and America?

I am not claiming that anyone is doing anything inherently wrong. Our choices to live an extreme lifestyle breed pride, vanity, ego, narcissism, and a host of other social ills; these social ills breed expanses to government, creating red tape, tax increases, and socialism/communism as measures to improve equality. What happens when the hubris grows too big, war, revolutionary governments, and destruction. The mythological Greeks would call this the coming of Nemesis to cull the acts of Hubris. Judaism and Christianity would discuss balancing the scales of justice with mercy. Other religions would discuss balance, choice, and compounding accountability for choices. All truths flashed from an eternal semaphore, where man tries to explain the loss, putting morales to the stories and trying to pass along a truth grasped at, that men make choices, and when those choices include extremes, the consequence is death.

Knowledge Check! Is the future really as bright as our faith; YES! What we choose to believe in, how we choose to exercise belief, and the need for freedom of religion to keep men on equal grounds, are all pillars to helping man live life without extremes. Extremes breed death; living without extremes creates life; can we at least learn this lesson? I hope so.

“That’s Crazy!!!” – More Chronicles from the VA (Ch 9)

I-Care The Department of Veterans Affairs – Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) regularly crows about reducing the backlog, improving the veteran experience, and making changes to deliver on the promise. Every so often, another article is spread, mainly by the VA Public Relations department (PR), about how they meet the legislated obligations. Then, unsurprisingly the truth is revealed, the curtain thrown back, and the lie exposed. The Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG) is helping pull the curtain back, and the truth should infuriate every American. In an investigative report dated 22 June 2022 and linked, we find the following:

“… The VBA disregarded privacy procedures so it could use a workload tracking system more quickly without receiving the appropriate security authorization. The Mission Accountability Support Tracker (MAST) helps quantify the work VBA’s support services staff perform in response to employee requests for facility, equipment, and vehicle management; reasonable accommodation; and identification card issuance and renewal. Because staff use personally identifiable information (PII) in their work, the information could be compromised in an unauthorized, unsecured application. The VA-OIG found that VBA and the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) did not correctly follow privacy and security procedures. VBA’s privacy threshold analysis was inaccurate, and OIT did not conduct a privacy impact assessment. OIT’s misclassification of MAST as an asset resulted in insufficient security controls. Further, VBA lacked the authority to operate MAST before using it in regional offices.”

Lacking authority equates to a leadership failure to follow their standard operating procedures (SOP). PII being inappropriately released, nothing new at the VBA, or the VHA for that matter. Losing veterans’ identities and taking advantage of systems for personal gain, regardless of the cost, is nothing new or surprising. This should be where the VA organizational leadership should be focused; yet, what are they doing? Where is Congressional oversight and scrutiny?

FY 2017, the VBA leaders devised a scheme to have third-party vendors conduct compensation and pension exams to deliver on the promise to clear the backlog on veterans’ claims. Since FY 2017, the VBA has paid over $6.5 Billion on this scheme, and the VA-OIG found in a report dated 08 June 2022, “Some of the exams produced by vendors have not met contractual accuracy requirements. As a result, claims processors may have used inaccurate or insufficient medical evidence to decide veterans’ claims.” Is anyone surprised this is the result? The compensation and pension exam is the key to accuracy in claim completion; yet, inaccurate claims are still being adjudicated wrongly, which is significantly damaging veterans and their families!

From the report, we find the following:

“VBA’s governance of and accountability for the exam program needs to improve. The identified deficiencies appear to have persisted, at least partly because of limitations with VBA’s management and oversight of the program at the time of the review.”

The VBA’s leaders designed this scheme, shackled the program with ineptitude, and hindered the improvement of the program. Designed incompetence cannot get any better than this, and the leadership must be held accountable! Fraud, waste, and abuse remain pillars in Federal Government governance, so why are these leaders not being held liable?

Michael Bowman, Director of IT and Security Audits, in recent Congressional Testimony, made the following claim:

“Secure IT systems and networks are essential to VA’s fundamental mission of providing eligible veterans and their families with benefits and services. VA’s information security program and its practices must protect the confidentiality, integrity, and access to VA systems and data.”

The audacity of this director to claim “confidentiality, integrity, and access” as being secure would be laughable if it weren’t so inept! How would a non-VA Employee know the IT system is fraught with problems? VA-OIG report regarding FISMA compliance, Dallas, Texas. The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA). FISMA is a United States federal law that defines a comprehensive framework to protect government information, operations, and assets against natural and manmade threats. FISMA OIG inspections are focused on four security control areas that apply to local facilities. They have been selected based on their level of risk: configuration management controls, contingency planning controls, security management controls, and access controls.

What did the VA-OIG find? “Without effective configuration management, users do not have adequate assurance that the system and network will perform as intended and to the extent needed to support the CMOP’s missions. The access control deficiencies create risks of unauthorized access to critical network resources, inability to respond effectively to incidents, loss of personally identifiable information, or loss of life.” All political speak for inept leaders and deplorable leadership actions. IT/IS systems continue to fail, and the director claims the system has integrity; despicable and detestable!

Worse, the same FISMA inspection occurred at the same outpatient pharmacy mail facility in Tuscon, Arizona. The same problems were found, in the same systems, manned by the same inept people and led by the same poor leadership. Integrity, only if the word means sharing ineptitude between different facilities. Access to systems and data protection, can anyone honestly trust that the IT system at the VBA or VHA is providing the fundamental tools to meet the mission?

On the topic of IT system integrity, can anyone forget the continuing problems in delivering a functional electronic health record system to the VHA? How many billions of dollars must be wasted before Congress stops paying for this albatross? The VA-OIG has substantiated that “… many quality, patient safety, and organizational performance metrics were unavailable, including metrics needed for hospital accreditation. Additionally, the VA-OIG found that access metrics were largely unavailable. The VA-OIG remains concerned that deficits in new EHR metrics may negatively affect organizational performance, quality and patient safety, and access to care.” How’s that integrity doing? Is it trustworthy?

05 May 2022, failures were discovered in a joint DoD and VHA review of the new electronic health record system. The new EHR has no plan to create interoperability, yet interoperability was the main selling point for spending billions of dollars on a new EHR. Would you believe the VA-OIG recommends the DoD and VHA review federal laws and direct the offices overseeing the EHR program to begin complying? Would Congress please ask, why haven’t the program managers for the HER already been complying with Federal Law? How about demanding action to recompense the taxpayers who have been defrauded?

In April 2022, VA-OIG Michael J. Missal addressed Congress in a statement entitled, “At What Cost? – Ensuring Quality Representation in the Veteran Benefit Claims Process.” The VA-OIG’s mission is “preventing and addressing fraud and other crimes, waste, and abuse in VA programs and operations.” General Missal then discussed the integrity of VA processes to “help ensure that veterans receive the benefits, health care, and services they have earned through their service to our country.” Would Congress please ask how the VA-OIG is fulfilling its mission to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse?

“The VA-OIG operates a hotline that receives approximately 30,000 complaints annually from veterans, family members, VA employees, and the public.” If the 30,000 complaints are presumed to be stable, across just the years I have documented the VA’s abuses, then the VA-OIG has received upwards of 360,000 complaints over the last 12 years. Would Congress please ask about the success in promoting change, reducing fraud, waste, and abuse, and curbing the veterans being actively harmed by the VA, the VHA, and VBA?

Congress receives these VA-OIG reports first; what is Congress doing to scrutinize the executive branch? Where is the progress? The VA-OIG reports annually to Congress, but improvement never occurs. Permanent change never occurs. The same people are making the same excuses, using the same flowery language, and nothing ever happens to improve things. Worse, the same people maintain the same jobs, who pays, the veterans and their families, and the American taxpayer through the nose as the VA loses more and more money!

I do not know about any Congressional elected leader, but I am through buying the Kool-Aid the VA-OIG is selling:

“The VA-OIG’s work is focused on protecting VA programs and operations from waste, fraud, and abuse as well as improving their efficiency and effectiveness.”

On a single topic that the VA-OIG has reported on multiple times and remains critically important to all veterans and their families, it is reporting needs for improvement in VHA and VBA suicide prevention. From the report, we find the following:

“… Suicide prevention coordinators at VA medical facilities are required to reach out to veterans referred from the Veterans Crisis Line. Coordinators provide access to assessment, intervention, and effective care; encourage veterans to seek care, benefits, or services with the VA system or in the community; and follow up to connect veterans with appropriate care and services after the call.”

The findings from the VA-OIG report are almost criminal in the negligence of leadership to perform the jobs they hold:

“The VA-OIG found that coordinators mistakenly closed some veteran referrals because coordinators lacked the proper training, guidance, and oversight necessary to maximize chances of reaching at-risk veterans referred by the crisis line. VHA lacked comprehensive performance metrics to assess coordinators’ management of crisis line referrals, and coordinators lacked clear guidance on managing crisis line referrals. Until VHA provides appropriate training, issues adequate guidance, and improves performance metrics, coordinators could miss opportunities to reach and assist at-risk veterans.”

Why did the media bury this report? Suicide prevention continues to be a significant military and veteran issue, but this program’s designed incompetence should be a major story on all media networks. More, this VA-OIG report should be a talking point for every congressional representative seeking re-election. Why is this not the case? Integrity requires honesty, honesty and integrity requires action. When will Congress take action?

How many dead veterans will it take before Congress takes action? 31 May 2022 VA-OIG report:

“The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an inspection to review the care of an unresponsive patient by Emergency Department staff and the subsequent response of leaders at the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center (facility) after the patient’s death at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital (Shands). The OIG determined that facility Emergency Department nurses failed to provide emergency care to an unresponsive patient who arrived by ambulance. Despite emergency medical services (EMS) personnel having relayed, while en route to the facility, the criticality of the patient’s condition and the limited patient identifying information available, Emergency Department nurses and an Administrative Officer of the Day wasted critical time concentrating efforts on whether the patient was a veteran (which the patient was, but not so identified by the nurses) versus patient care. As a result, EMS personnel reloaded the patient into the ambulance for transport to Shands.”

The staff failed to follow EMTALA, and a veteran died due to the inaction and inappropriate focus of the medical providers. This is not the first or second breach of EMTALA, the federal law requiring any patient presenting at an emergency department receiving federal funds to be treated; yet, what will it take to get Congress off their thumbs?

12 May 2022, deficiencies in care led to a patient dying at the Charlie Norwood VAMC, Augusta, Georgia. The VA-OIG substantiated that:

“medical-surgical unit nursing leaders did not have adequate quality controls or training to ensure the provision of safe and effective alcohol withdrawal nursing care.” “Primary care staff failed to provide sufficient care coordination and treatment. A provider failed to address the patient’s abnormal chest images and poor nutrition and failed to communicate test results to the patient as required. A primary care nurse failed to respond to the patient’s secure message request for assistance two days before surgery.

Additionally, a barium swallow test was not scheduled. The surgical team completed a preoperative assessment but failed to detect the patient’s overall poor health. During the patient’s hospital stay after surgery, medical-surgical nurses did not consistently assess alcohol withdrawal symptoms or administer medications as required.”

My wife is fond of saying, these oversights and failures occur in non-Government hospitals, and this incident should not be considered indicative of the whole system lacking similarly. Yet, civilian hospitals have lawyers by the dozen looking for a reason to sue providers for malpractice, and the government hospitals protect against accountability and responsibility. Worse, you will never know the problems unless you track these incidents.

Do you know why I keep declaring there is a problem with designed incompetence; several veterans suffered T-12 burst fractures and multiple rib fractures, all because of poor documentation and even worse communication. This is a life-changing injury, and the VA-OIG found the VA providers to have culpability but no responsibility due to a lack of documentation. Delays in provider documenting in the electronic health record the provider’s notes delayed care for another veteran who also suffered life-changing spinal injuries after receiving non-care at a VA facility. The VA-OIG cannot conclusively document the tie between poor care being received and the injuries sustained by the veteran, all because of delays in the provider documenting treatment.

Tell me, does anything discussed above reflect the words of Inspector General Michael J. Missal, who claimed the following in Congressional Testimony:

“VHA continues to face enormous challenges in providing high-quality care to the millions of veterans it serves. Despite these challenges, the VA-OIG has witnessed countless examples of veterans receiving the care they need and deserve—delivered by a committed, compassionate, and highly skilled workforce [emphasis mine].”

Does a provider killing a veteran reflect a committed, compassionate, or highly skilled workforce? How many veterans must be permanently injured by the VHA providers to reflect a committed, compassionate, and highly skilled workforce? How often will the electronic health record fail before highly skilled workers are displayed?

Plato 2 Unfortunately, the VA-OIG reports discussed are not even the tip of the iceberg of what is happening. My apologies, dear readers; I have been remiss in my reporting duties. Why have I been remiss, because my health went sideways since April when I had a medical procedure completed that was advised but not appropriate. The VHA and VBA are sick organizations and desperately need scrutiny and standards, new leadership, and written organizational policies. Help me force these nefarious characters into the sunshine for a good dose of sunshine disinfectant, and let’s change the world for the better.

Honest Questions! Spurring Forthright Discussion.

This is not my first rodeo where family members have chosen alternative lifestyles. One family member was not hostile, quietly adopted a different lifestyle, and lives without bullying anyone. One family member has just come of age, has chosen to live as a different gender, is passive-aggressive, and is hostile to everyone who refuses to participate in their mental disease. The first person is an abnormality in the homosexual community where bullying, bullishness, and boorishness are the standard, not the exception. The second family member has used their unhinged emotional wrecking ball to injure family and friends for the privilege of getting their way. A wholly childish and selfish spectacle deserving of nothing more than abject derision and scorn.

Several friends have embraced different genders and lifestyles, moving from friendly to bully in a relatively short time, and have remained boorish and behaviorally reprehensible ever since. One colleague was at a party, slipped a mickey, and woke up having been raped while drugged. In any other community, this would have been a legal offense; in the homosexual community, this was not even worth mentioning. A sad commentary in and of itself! Unfortunately, this incident has left my friend degraded and feeling worthless, and unfortunately, we have lost touch over the years and miles since this incident.

Many questions remain after having worked around the LGBTQ+ community for more years than I would care to admit. The number one question remaining is the following: If what you are doing is making you happy and more whole as a person, why the anger, resentment, bitterness, bullying, and boorish behaviors? To me, this is a simple question; to my friends and family in the LGBTQ+ community, this is a complicated, complex, and nuanced question, where the person asked becomes more boorish, bullish, and obstinate. So, please answer this question and tell me why this is such a complex and convoluted question.

Dear reader, I now pose the question to you. I do not care how you choose to identify, the gender you prefer, your sexual preferences, or your religious lifestyle. I do not care about race at birth or the race you choose to live. Frankly, all I care about is what you bring to the table regarding talents, skills, abilities, and the attitude you choose. Essentially, I have onboarded Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream; I judge solely by your character. I am not racist, homophobic, sexist, ageist, or any other slur you wish to dream of; respect is often offered to resounding silence or aggressive vocal opposition and hatred, yet respect remains.

Religionists, including traditional and non-traditional, I realize the issues you are facing, and I agree with a lot of your concerns. This does not mean you can be as boorish, bullish, and obstinate in your comments. My agreement with your concerns does not reduce my respect for both parties. Anyone abusing the comment section will have their comments moderated. With that said, any person choosing to abuse the comments section will face the same moderation. I do not tolerate emotionally charged bloviations. Be logical, be respectful, and explain your ideas clearly.

Bear with me for a moment. I speak for myself. I do not speak for all homo sapiens; I do not speak for anyone else but me — I research law, science, history, anthropology, psychology, and much more to form my opinions. Agree or disagree, your choice. Feel free to express your opinion, just understand I might disagree with your opinion, but I love to discuss topics with people. Do not bring emotional hyperbole and try to pass it off as fact! As I have told my wife, I do not care how you feel.

Currently, confusion has set in in global history, and I feel it is time to be truthful and specific. Women have two XX chromosomes, men have an X and a Y chromosome, and this is the entire amount of genders and sexes in mammalian human science. While some abnormalities and diseases will produce various (rare) chromosomal variations outside these two genders and sexes, there are absolutely no more than two sexes and two genders. Recently I was told I was wrong and was informed there are 83 different gender categories, not including those who consider themselves part animal. I continue to disagree pointedly!

One of the misnomers in the gender/transgender discussion is that of human choice, which is more easily understood as agency. The human, as an agent, chooses (exercising agency), and they have the right to choose, but in choosing, their consequences are not anyone else’s problem. We need this point well understood. Sexually transmitted diseases are not society’s problem; pregnancy is still not society’s problem; rape, drug addiction, depression, anxiety, etc., are not society’s problem. How you choose to live your life is your choice; like I have said multiple times in these articles and elsewhere, keep those lifestyle choices in your bedroom and home, and leave the rest of society to live as they choose.

Some of those consequences break a person’s social trust with their chosen society; we call these laws, and breaking laws has additional consequences the agent must bear for exercising agency. Breaking laws is black and white; how society’s agents apply those laws for enforcing those laws (judges, law enforcement officers, lawyers, etc.) is another topic; however, your lifestyle choices do not allow you to break society’s laws with impunity merely because you do not like a law or because that law interferes with your lifestyle. It is against the law to picket, rally, or riot in front of a judge’s home to sway that judge’s opinion! Blocking traffic is not an acceptable or legal method to air your grievances, and there is no such thing as a peaceful protest. You can either legally protest or riot, media talking heads notwithstanding!

Your lifestyle choices do NOT permit you to groom children, become boorish, bullish, or abrasive in public, nor do your lifestyle choices enable you to change laws and social norms to fit your pleasure. Everyone sacrifices to belong to society; not getting your way does not mean you have fewer rights than anyone else. Are we clear on this issue?

Equal treatment under the law means you do not get a pass on sexual predation merely because your lifestyle is different from someone else’s. Morals and values a society selects do not twist, morph, or get simply deleted because your lifestyle choices are out of sync with the rest of society. Frankly, there is nothing new in your lifestyle preferences, so start being a member of society, act responsibly, and cease your incessant whining. Finally, keep your lifestyle choices in your home; you are not allowed to teach children your lifestyle, you are not allowed to take over city streets for parades and displays, and whether you are hetero or homosexual when in public, act respectfully of others.

Let me elaborate on that final statement. I have been married for 25+ years; in public, I choose not to kiss, hold hands, or do any other action that could cause an observer to be discomfited. I make these choices from the moral obligation I owe to our country’s social fabric and the respect I have for my partner. I expect other couples to adhere to a similar standard of public behavior. Nothing is so disgusting than to be forced to watch two immature people abuse the public square by disrespecting themselves and each other through inappropriate actions in public. Are we clear, or do you want more specifications?

Having said all of this, why have you decided now is a good time to multiply sexes and genders? Why now are you demanding “rights” when you already have equal protection under the law? Why all of a sudden is the push on to change society in a warped image of your lifestyle? Please answer these questions, and let’s have a discussion.

It is time for honest and forthright discussions on these topics. Argumentative wrangling is not allowed. Insulting, calling names, and political (emotional) drivel will only end the conversation, for I refuse to put up with sniveling and whining. You seem to have a point; what is your point? You want respect, fine, you have respect; please remember respect is earned and is a two-way street. I will not participate in your mental illness, but I am always willing to discuss real issues honestly, openly, and transparently.

“That’s Crazy!!!” – More Chronicles from the VA Chapter 8

I-Care I fully admit I got behind in April. Dear reader, my apology. I have been whipsawed between emergency room visits, depression, extreme pain, and other issues. Not offering an excuse but a tiny peek into my world as a disabled veteran. Luckily, I have maintained employment because my employer allows me to work from home. My driving privileges are threatened again with removal due to the neurological issues I suffer, and this will dynamically change my life, but this article is not about me, but the continued catastrophe called the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Inspector General (VA-OIG) reports published.

We begin with a financial efficiency review reported from the inspection of the Durham VAHCS of North Carolina. I know the jokes write themselves when we discuss any government agency and financial efficiency, but I digress. This is a head exploding report of leadership failure in the observation and governance of employees who did not perform the functions they were hired to perform. The VA-OIG found the following from October 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021:

- The healthcare system had 309 inactive obligations totaling $81.7 million.
- Of these 309 obligations, 200 (totaling over $74 million) had no activity for 181 days or more.
- In a subsample of 20 obligations, VA staff had not reviewed 17, as required.
- Contrary to VA policy, healthcare system staff used purchase cards instead of contracts for 21 of 40 sampled transactions (53 percent), totaling approximately $328,000. These 21 transactions were missing required supporting documentation to verify that the transactions were approved and payments were accurate, resulting in $308,000 in questioned costs.
- 105 more administrative full-time equivalent staff than the expected number, all not doing their jobs as required under Federal Law!

While not all of the findings, those mentioned are the most egregious and in need of corrective action. Would the citizens of Durham, North Carolina, please tell me, has this been reported in the local news? Has anyone lost their jobs as the VAHCS right-sizes the financial department? I can find no additional information that this problem has been corrected, and I am really curious! VA 3

Oh, the irony is thick; consider the following:

“The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General Training Act of 2021 would help ensure that VA employees continue to be empowered to assist the OIG in improving VA’s operations and using taxpayer dollars to the greatest effect; helping protect patients and improving their care; and ensuring veterans and others receive services and benefits for which they are eligible.”

The above-quoted material originates from Chris Wilber, who testified to Congress’s HVAC Subcommittee on oversight and investigations. What is the number one failure on every comprehensive healthcare inspection (CHIP); the lack of staff training, the inadequacy of staff training, or adequately trained staff. Yet, the statement by the VA-OIG indicates that training has met a threshold for providing adequate training. Let’s talk about a specific action, “the VA secretary signed a directive in September 2021 mandating that all employees complete a one-time training within one year—an important step in improving VA’s culture of accountability.” It is now May 2022; the VA-OIG is pushing for training directives to be legislated, not dependent upon any single VA Secretary. Are you freaking kidding me? Where is the congressional oversight and scrutiny that allows VA training to continue to be subpar and threaten the lives of veterans?

Long have I wondered how the VA could frustrate VA-OIG actions, investigations, inspections, etc. Guess what; the answer has become available:

“… there have been instances in which the OIG has been informed that staff have been told that they cannot share information with OIG investigators without first clearing it through supervisors or leaders—contrary to the Inspector General Act of 1978 (the IG Act), as amended. Under that authority, VA employees at all levels have a duty to cooperate with OIG personnel, including providing information and assistance in a timely manner.”

Employees have been caught lying to the VA-OIG regularly, and what action is taken to remove those employees promptly and efficiently from government service? From direct observation and employee conversations, it is clear that plans are carefully laid before a scheduled VA-OIG visit to present what the VA-OIG wants, but to gloss over the problems, and nothing ever happened to the managers, supervisors, and employees who lied and misdirected the VA-OIG. All contrary to established Federal Law! VA 3

Want a specific example of employees intentionally misrepresenting information to the VA-OIG? Look no further than the statement by Chris Wilber, and this incident was covered as a failure of leadership in a previous article.

“Hospital staff at a VA facility in Fayetteville, Arkansas, had concerns about potential substance abuse by the chief of pathology that were not heard and promptly acted on by local management, which allowed him to work while impaired for years. He misdiagnosed about 3,000 patients with errors resulting in death or serious harm and is currently imprisoned. The OIG found a culture in which staff did not report serious concerns about the chief pathologist, in part because they assumed that others had reported him, or they were concerned about reprisal.”

From personal experience, I reported problems to the VA-OIG concerning patient abuse, fraud, waste, and other issues. Never were my concerns acted upon promptly, and I was removed from employment for being a whistleblower. The culture of corruption at the VA is incredible. The examples mentioned by the VA-OIG only further sustain the problem with leadership and how sick the VA truly is as an organization! VA 3

We next turn our attention to the VA-OIG report on the inspection of information technology security at the VA Financial Services Center, another head exploding example of leadership failure bordering on criminal! The findings include:

- component inventory
- vulnerability management
- flaw remediation
- Identifying 252 vulnerabilities, of which 228 the local IT team could not identify.
- the VA-OIG team identified access control deficiencies, as 107 of the 278 FSC systems failed to generate or forward audit logs for analysis.
- the video surveillance system was not fully functional. Ineffective monitoring and recording facility activities supporting information systems minimize the FSC’s incident response capabilities.

How do you spell failure; these findings spell failure to me rather pointedly and dramatically! Want to laugh; staff training remains a concern, but not a finding, of the VA-OIG inspection team. Frankly, with this level of incompetence, staff training should have been a finding. VA 3

To be concise and illustrate further the poor leadership, convoluted processes, and brazen noncompliance of VA officials, the following discussion is about two different VA-OIG reports that reached similar conclusions. First, we have the VA-OIG report on “Noncompliant and Deficient Processes and Oversight of State Licensing Board and National Practitioner Data Bank Reporting Policies by VA Medical Facilities.” Second is the VA-OIG report on “Concerns with Consistency and Transparency in the Calculation and Disclosure of Patient Wait Time Data.” Nothing says convoluted processes more than having two written policies, both originating from Washington DC. The superseded policy does not have an expiration date. This means that employees have a designed incompetence excuse ready for not adhering to the most current and applicable policy. Don’t believe me; one of the key findings was, “VHA has presented wait times to the public without clearly and consistently disclosing the basis for their calculations.” Designed incompetence does not come more blatant than this, and who suffers, the veteran. Worse, wait time correction and policy clarification has been stalled by COVID-19, the neverending excuse paying dividends to bureaucrats everywhere! Timelines for Wait Time Calculations

However, both reports are substantially summated by the VA-OIG; thus, “The lack of programmatic oversight contributed to the failure of VHA leaders to detect and intervene upon facility noncompliance.” Meaning that due to COVID-19, the VHA has refused to do their jobs in deference to the pandemic, and since this is a good enough excuse, the VA-OIG has bought the designed incompetence, lock, stock, and barrel. The VHA leadership is failing; doctors or dentists let go for poor performance were not reported to state and federal boards, so these providers lacking can continue to harm patients. It is a federal law (42 US Code § 11151, US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Workforce, NPDB Guidebook, October 2018, chap. A., 8 USC ⸹ 7462(a), 38 USC ⸹ 7401(1), among others) that providers let go for cause must be reported within 7-days to the regulatory boards at the state and federal levels. Wait times are hidden because they are so bad; the VHA is embarrassed, so the leaders fall back on designed incompetence to shield themselves while looking for another excuse for poor performance! In both reports, the ramifications of noncompliance are putting people at risk for sentinel events (death, injury, disability, etc.), and the leadership is at best lackadaisical in the performance of their duties. VA 3

Where are the congressional overseers in ending the abuse? When will this insanity and bureaucratic inertia end? How many “sentinel events,” including deaths and permanent injuries, will it take until those tasked with scrutinizing the executive branch finally take committed action and hold people accountable? When will the elected representatives stop throwing good taxpayer money at problems that money cannot fix? If these questions are too difficult to answer, please stop running for elected office, for the citizenry is not happy!

We conclude with two related reports so astoundingly obtuse they defy logic and sanity. The first is the annual CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA) audit of the VA’s information security for 2021. The second is the continuing failure of the new electronic health record modernization (EHRM) program. The VA has failed the CLA audit for more than a decade, with many of the hits repeated year-over-year. In fact, the CLA audit is so bad this year; it has taken my mental breath away and stunned me into a gibbering idiot! Reading this report was infuriating; describing it as my head exploding is akin to comparing an M-80 to a nuclear bomb. How in Dante’s Inferno can this level of incompetence be allowed to remain employed? But, as bad as the CLA audit is, the continued failure of the new electronic health record system pales in comparison. The new EHRM continues to suffer from reliability weaknesses, which is polite speak from the VA-OIG for the new system fails to do the job. We are three years from the new extended deadline, we are already past the original deadline, and the system is worthless today than it was a year ago. With this success rate, the new EHRM will be utterly bereft of value and need replacement before the year’s end. How many millions (billions, or trillions) of good dollars must chase this ineptitude before the plug is pulled and those involved held accountable? VA 3

Join me in having your head explode:

“Additional deficiencies included known tasks not being reflected on schedules, no risk analysis, lack of longer-term actions scheduled, and no complete baseline schedule or overall schedule that fully integrated individual project schedules. VA also did not comply with federal regulations when it paid its contractor for deliverables before accepting them (reviewing compliance with contract requirements).”

Consider this other gem from the VA-OIG report, “$1.95 billion in cost overruns per year” are estimated, meaning the final tab will be significantly higher and compounded year-over-year. In plain speak, the contractor is being paid for products delivered that fail, the products offered are not usable, there is no schedule of completion, there is no schedule for deliverables, many of the products paid for have never been delivered, and costs are overrunning like a plugged toilet. Worse, no one is being held personally liable for these problems, which were apparent in the last EHRM update from the VA-OIG a year ago! Like the CLA Audit, I am thrilled the VA agrees with the VA-OIG findings, but what are they DOING to fix the problems?

FYI: the image below is a year old, and comes from the last major update to the EHRM. EHR-VA-OIG

?u=https1.bp.blogspot.com-aqaqk18MHoEWRHHsCi_TyIAAAAAAAAAXc7hY4JQuyylIQHYudoR8sbezGZntic4SSwCLcBs640Betrayal2BSayings2Band2BQuotes2Bwww.mostphrases.blogspot.be.jpg&f=1&nofb=1 There is no excuse for behaving like the VA’s bureaucratic legions behave. Bureaucrats, from the city government (including the school board) to the Federal Government, you hold a sacred trust to act better than you are currently performing. I refuse you any leeway for acting like pompous overlords when you are paid through forced taxation! You have trespassed upon my patience and kindness long enough, and the day of reckoning has arrived. You work for me; you work for every taxpayer and citizen in this country, and you have violated our trust, charged us too much and too often, and if you do not begin to show yourself worthy of the sacred trust, we will force you from your cushy jobs and hold you liable for the monies you have squandered! The law is on our side; you need to begin showing you honor our trust and investment forthwith!

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