Dear Friends,

Pleasure before business: The next set of my Chopin Nocturne recordings is out (kinda hastily recorded, sorry). CLICK HERE to hear/watch Nocturnes 5 and 6, with a vocal offering by Anna English, dedicated to my favorite planet: Earth.

We’ve had such a good response that Kathy and I are organizing another house concert/local-food dialogue for Thursday, April, 3, 7:00-9:00 pm at our home, 735 19th Street. Click here to RSVP.

Now down to business. Check out THIS WEEK’S FULL PODCAST, with Charles Goldman joining me to discuss:

(00:46) Tech-bro pushes a “digital-age monarchy” to replace democracy. Listen HERE.
(18:35) Just how big of a threat is AI? Listen HERE.
(37:10) Research shows carbon capture more costly than renewables. Listen HERE.
(53:09) What to consider when getting into backyard chickens, with Kathy Byrnes. Listen HERE.

Regarding the budget carnage in Washington, DC, here’s a few things I feel strongly about. I’m interested to know if you agree or disagree.

1. A federal budget deficit of $1.8 TRILLION is unacceptable and unsustainable. The federal government needs to end deficit spending and enact a balanced budget amendment.

2. Federal spending, especially on the military, has grown way too big.

3. There absolutely is waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal budget.

Agree, yes? Yet Elon Musk’s metaphor for addressing legitimate budgetary concerns is a chain saw. I’ve used a chain saw (on wood, to be clear). It’s not a delicate or discerning tool. Cutting federal waste, fraud, and abuse with a chain saw will eliminate much more than the fat. Americans are seeing that, and more and more are unhappy about it.

To “muskify” (my latest linguistic contribution) programs that benefit most Americans and protect our environment, national parks, water, and air might be deemed juvenile if it weren’t so devastating. Devastating as in life-and-death devastating.

So, next time you run into Elon Musk, tell him to ditch the chainsaw. Hand him a scalpel. See if he knows how to use that. I doubt it. Maybe Charles can teach him. But it’d be a more responsible, intelligent, and humane metaphor for addressing America’s budgetary problems.

Thanks for reading, listening, and taking action. — Ed Fallon

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In addition to our PODCAST, listen to the Fallon Forum on these affiliates:

– KHOI 89.1 FM (Ames, Iowa)
– KICI.LP 105.3 FM (Iowa City, Iowa)
– WHIV 102.3 FM (New Orleans, Louisiana)
– KPIP-LP, 94.7 FM (Fayette, Missouri)
– KCEI 90.1 FM (Taos, New Mexico)
– KRFP 90.3 FM (Moscow, Idaho)
– WGRN 94.1 FM (Columbus, Ohio)