The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
Items in this category are related to artistic endeavors.
“Waste” should describe money spent badly. Too often, it becomes a political label applied before anyone proves that a program failed, cost too much, or duplicated another service.
This essay looks at how that label can be used to weaken support for public programs before the facts are settled. Real waste should be cut. Political dislike should be debated honestly. Those are not the same thing.
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Not every proposed cut is the same. Unused software licenses, underused vehicles, vague contracts, and weak bidding rules are real places to look for waste.
But the Hillsborough County DOGE report also targets nonprofits, equity work, community outreach, and cultural programs. In this essay, I separate genuine control problems from programs that appear to have been labeled “waste” because committee members do not like their purpose.
Political opposition is fair. Calling it financial analysis is not.
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A framed silhouette of my niece, standing before the mountains at sunset, carries a message for her high school graduation: “Behind you, all your memories. Before you, all your dreams. Around you, all who love you. Within you, all you need.” It is a blessing, but also a challenge — to live with gratitude for the past, purpose in the present, and trust in the strength we already carry. In its quiet way, it’s pure Stoic wisdom.
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In the previous century, America, through public and private cooperation and investment built an unrivaled infrastructure. We became the country that invented the things of a new and exciting world, and we built those things. We put in place a social safety net. We weren’t perfect, but we tried, and We looked to the future with excitement and anticipation, but today, we seem to be in a rush to go backwards as far and fast as possible. We fear everything, and demand absolute security, and think it can be found in some nostalgic past.
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I was in Washington most of last week on business. Lay flew in Friday afternoon, and we spent the weekend touring. We did most of touristy things including the Air and Space Museum out near Dulles that Friday afternoon. Saturday and Sunday were spent mostly downtown around the Mall. I’d not been to the Air and Space Museum so that was cool. This was Lay’s first trip at all.
Read moreThe internet is great because you sometimes stumble across things that just take your breath away. I came across such a thing this morning. What is most likely one of the largest and most intricate paper sculptures (and certainly one of the most beautiful) is on display in Tokyo at an exhibition called Umi no Ue no Oshiro (A Castle On the Ocean ).
Read moreFamed DJ and concert producer Alan Freed is widely credited with coining the phrase in 1951. Freed led an interesting life, bringing what we now call “rock and roll” to the masses. Unfortunately, he’s equally famous for his role in the payola scandal of the 1960s.
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