Nobody Loves a Wall

Hard Schell Report, Evanston, IL Tuesday, April 25, 2017 Build that Wall…Build that Wall…And who is going to pay for that wall? You..and me and every tax payer in the US. Before I built a wall I’d ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offence. Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, That wants it down. So, tell me… why offend our peaceful neighbors? THE MENDING WALL . . .

Chinese president Xi Takes Trump to School

April 13, 2017, Evanston, IL……. Apparently, Trump came into his first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, in early April, convinced that China could simply eliminate the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear program. However, after listening for 10 minutes to President Xi patiently explain Chinese-Korean history to Trump —” I realized it’s not so easy,” the president told the Wall Street Journal. “I felt pretty strongly that they’d had a tremendous power [over] North Korea. … But it’s not . . .

Pharma Drama!

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is about granting the people the right to exercise their freedoms of speech and religion.     I guess Big Pharma has some claim to the 1st but: Why do we allow them to bombard us with dramatized ads attempting to convince us to start using their remedies for issues we are often unaware of? Give us the facts only. Enough with the families from central casting acting out their emotional dramas trying to . . .

Protect the Open Internet-Enforce Net Neutrality

April 11, 2017, Evanston, IL……Last week, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai — a former Verizon lawyer — met with cable- and phone-company lobbyists to outline his plan to get rid of Net Neutrality.He wants to ditch the strong FCC rules that protect the open internet and instead ask internet service providers to “voluntarily” enforce Net Neutrality. Keep in mind that these are the same companies that sued to overturn the Net Neutrality rules and are still fighting in Congress to undermine . . .

Too Much Temptation For A Self-Centered Person

April 10, 2017, Hardschellreport, Evanston, IL……….Investors seem to be betting President Trump’s decision to retaliate against Syria after the chemical attack on Syrian citizens earlier this week may mean the Pentagon will need more Tomahawks. The Department of Defense is asking for $2 billion over five years to buy 4,000 Tomahawks for the U.S. Navy in its fiscal 2017 budget last February. Keep in mind nearly five dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles cost $800,000 each according to the Boston Herald, were . . .

Small Fingers on the Buttons

The motives are suspect, “beautiful babies” notwithstanding. Now he has a taste and with no semblance of strategy or thoughtful engagement can feel the power he has at his tiny fingertips. This was a win, win, win, win for him: major distraction, demonstration of toughness and new sheriff in town, favorability bump and awesome sense of majesty. $60 million worth of Tomahawks and the defense suppliers enjoy a happy $5 Billion addition to their market value in one day. What . . .

Trump’s Wall Folly

  April 9, 2017, The Hard Schell Report, Evanston, IL …..Let us hope that concerns over diplomatic fallout, the disruption to local communities and the enormous cost of this ill-conceived Trump idea, estimated to cost the US anywhere from $22 billion to $40 billion will give rise for GOP leaders and legislators to push back against Trump’s whimsy. “There is no practical reason for a border wall, especially since illegal migration has been zero or negative for nearly nine years,” . . .

Why Have an EPA?

April 5, 2017, Evanston, Il……Every day, the EPA is looking out for our health, whether we know it or not. Our cities and states are healthier places to live because of its work cleaning up pollution that occurred years before while also protecting us from new pollutants of all kinds. This crucial work is now being threatened by a misguided president. Since his inauguration, Trump has nixed the Stream Protection Rule, attacked the Clean Water Rule and seeks to eliminate . . .

We The Public Need to Fight for Net Neutrality

April 4, 2017, Evanston, IL…….The measure blocking the online privacy rules is on the desk of President Trump, who is expected to sign it on Thurs, Apr. 6th. Here is quick history what happened leading to this point: In 2015, the rules known as the Net Neutrality rules were provided and passed by the FCC treating broadband providers such as cable and phone companies tougher than internet companies such as Yahoo or Facebook, which are able to sell their consumer . . .

Hillary, Revealed — How Did She Ever Lose?

April 3, 2017, Evanston, IL.…… Guardian: Why Hillary Lost I know many of us have asked ourselves this question. Especially, in light of who won the electoral vote count and what people were willing to overlook in this presidential election. I have to admit, I was stunned when I saw what we’d done. Based on polling I knew, Hillary would have a struggle, yet I believed that the woman I’d admired for over 30 yrs. would certainly win because of . . .