The Storm has passed

Hurricane Ian has come and gone and I’ve been thinking about the effects on so many others here in Florida. It’s all very sobering. Sobering and sad.

The effects for me and loved ones in the State were minimal. Because so many of us weathered this storm without a lot of damage, it’s easy to think we’re all good here in Florida. But we aren’t.

It’s hard to wrap your mind around this kind of devastation. I’ve tuned in to some of the reports and it’s so dismal and sad that I have to manage my news coverage carefully in order to not get an overload.

If you’d like to help those in Southwest Florida who’ve been so devastated by this horrible storm, there are many ways to do so.

The FEMA site has a lot of information that may be helpful. And there’s no shortage of non-profits who are helping. And although there are hundreds, I’m leaving a link to the Red Cross. Their work over many, many years has been invaluable to people around the world who’ve experienced disasters of all kinds. I’m happy to support their fine work.

Take care. Stay safe. Reach out for help when it’s appropriate. May that care be there for you when you need it most.

And may you extend that hand of care to others when you're able.



“Bulldog Ben” Basile

© 2022 Ben Lawrence Basile

News from the NADF; It's all about the Trees

Some of you may know about the work of the National Arbor Day Foundation. I’m happy to support them and I try not to miss an opportunity to spread the word about the much-needed work that they do.

They have been on a mission to plant trees all over the US and prioritize replanting where communities have lost their tree canopies, especially when natural disasters strike.

This undertaking is never actually completed, as you might imagine. Because there are more natural disasters each year, meeting the demand would take a major miracle. But the Foundation is all-in to do all that can possibly be done. And I’m happy to lend a hand by keeping my membership current and helping to spread the word about their work when I can.

An update about their work hit my inbox this morning and I want to pass the news along.

There are many communities who’ve partnered with the NADF this year to replace trees they’ve lost. Among them are Bayard, Nebraska, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Lafitte, Louisiana. These recent projects are great examples of how the Foundation operates, helping to meet the urgent needs of cities and counties who’ve experienced first-hand one of those outbursts of Mother Nature’s wrath.

In the case of Bayard, the disaster was a serious tornado, in combination with an outbreak of the Emerald Ash Borer. In Cedar Rapids, the disaster was a derecho with 140 mph winds. Lafitte lost most of their canopy of beautiful and Earth-nurturing trees after being visited by Hurricane Ida in the Fall of ’21.

To get current of some of the recent work of the Nat’l Arbor Day Foundation, just follow this link.


“Bulldog Ben” Basile

© 2022 Ben Lawrence Basile

Today's Labor Day and...

I do want to wish a most happy Labor Day 2022 to everyone and especially to all of you who work for a paycheck.

I'm happy to say that I'm in that proud group of people and I always look forward to this day as it comes around each year. I'm a proud member of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and have been a Teamster as well.

The UFCW represents workers in retail, breweries and restaurants. Folks in the budding cannabis industry, too. The UFCW also rep's many of the workers in the meat packing plants that were on the front lines when COVID-19 was devastating that industry during the peak of the pandemic.

My Union and the others that collectively make up the Services Trade Council are in negotiations with the Company right now for the next Collective Bargaining Agreement which will--when ratified by the membership--take effect in 2023.

It's a very good thing, indeed, to be represented by a union and bargain collectively.

Today is about barbecues and all kinds of outings and fun. But about much more. About the men and women who began and sustained the Labor Movement, the workers on whose shoulders we now stand. If you'd like to brush up on your Labor Day history, just follow this link.

Working folks, thanks for all you do. I wish all of you a happy--and relaxed--Labor Day.



"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2022 Ben Lawrence Basile

FBI all over Mar-a-Largo Yesterday

By now everyone on the Planet has heard that the FBI served a Search Warrant on the defeated former guy's home, the Mar-A-Lago Resort in Palm Beach.

We've already heard plenty of trump's sycophantic supporters scream about how this is persecution and shows how the Biden Administration and the DOJ are laser-focused on bringing down trump. It's another part of the evil conspiracy from the dreaded, all-powerful Deep State, which has had it in for Dear Leader from the jump... blah, blah, blah...

The truth is that trump has been holding on to documents that belong to the United States for more than a year and that he had zero intention of ever returning them.

Although this came as a surprise to many Americans, the drama about trump's flagrant crimes in this matter has been going on since shortly after he was chased out of the Oval Office. And the National Archives and the DOJ weren't going to put up with his stonewalling and lying any longer.

If you'd like to get some of the important background to this surreal, unfolding story, this article from today's New York Times would be a good place to start.

The wheels of Justice sometimes turn slowly. Sometimes very slowly. But they're turning. 

"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2022 Ben Lawrence Basile

US Annex Canada and Mexico?

I'm active on Quora, a site where many folks participate and weigh in on a plethora of topics every day. It's a very active forum. I'm on daily, following, writing and replying to questions Quorans throw out. For me, it's pretty much all the political stuff and a lot of military history topics as well.

Having said that, it's true that many questions thrown out on Quora are really far-fetched and can be taken with a grain of salt. I get it.

But recently the question--and no, I can't say how serious the query was--the question of whether or not the US should annex Canada and Mexico was thrown out for discussion. 

So please permit me to post with my thoughts which go a bit deeper and addresses some of the larger issues raised by the fact that some folks—on and off Quora—keep imaging ridiculous scenarios such as this one.

First of all, the UK, Australia and all other Commonwealth Countries—there are more than 50 of them—would declare war on us and defend Canada to the last man. They’re bound by law and treaty to do this. The fact that the US would stand a decent chance to still come out on top in such a nightmarish and completely unnecessary conflict does nothing to mitigate what a mind-blowing and horrible course of events that would be.

Imagining a scenario like that one reveals not just stupidity, ignorance and arrogance, but betrays a shocking inability to grasp basic and obvious facts about living on this Planet and see our world—and the other Nations with whom we share it—clearly.

No one with even a basic grasp on reality would believe such claptrap. And these hateful and delusional fools who would even speculate and such an absurd scenario are living in their own fact-free reality.

Furthermore, many of them are armed to the teeth and they--through their chosen leaders who hold or will soon hold positions of power--may very well get their hands on both houses of Congress and all three branches of government in the next few election cycles.

Well, I’m headed toward the medicine cabinet to pop a blood pressure med—or three—and try to forget that roughly a third of my fellow Americans think about such crazy things and are poised to—quite possibly—take nearly-absolutely power in Washington in the next 2 to 5 years. And in the meantime, they’ll go on wasting our time when we’re foolish enough to address their bat shit-crazy scenarios on the internet.

"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2022 Ben Lawrence Basile

Gabbard and Friends: Just Stop!

It was ten days ago when Boris Bondarev -- the Special Counsellor to the Russian Mission to the U.N. in Geneva -- resigned from his position, walked out and lit a fire that is still burning through the diplomatic world. 

The written statement that accompanied his resignation is stunning in every way. It honestly must be read in full to have any idea of what a bombshell it truly is.

Just one of the things that comes to mind as you read what Counsellor Bondarev had to say is that it reveals how completely clueless some of my progressive friends here in the States are when it comes to the war and why we’re where we are right now.

Tulsi Gabbard and others of her ilk have gone on at some length about how the eastward expansion of NATO since the dissolution of the Soviet Union essentially left Putin with no choice but to invade. Her tweet about how the Biden Administration and NATO could have prevented the invasion by forever barring Ukraine from membership and recognizing Russia's "legitimate security needs" received a shit-ton of push back from Twitter users who don't buy the Kremlin's talking points. And that's as it should be.

That assertion was garbage from the beginning and it’s so easy to see that such reasoning also dovetails perfectly with Putin’s dishonest and self-serving propaganda. One can draw no other conclusion after reading Mr Bondarev's candid and heartfelt assessment. He was, after all, a career diplomat and apologist for Mother Russia; Putin's bloody, unprovoked attack on Ukraine was simply a bridge too far for him.

Putin and Putin alone is responsible for the tragedy that is the Ukrainian-Russian War. It is turning out horribly for Ukrainians and the Ukrainian Nation and is and will be even worse for Russia. Comrade Vlad has truly swallowed the Porcupine here. (Not the best metaphor, actually. He’ll never get that spiny fellow all the way down.)

It’s maddening. It’s tragic. And it’s 100% Putin’s doing.




"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2022 Ben Lawrence Basile

Drink Java, Live Longer

I just finished another delicious, life-giving cup of coffee. I’ve always known my regular obsessive consumption of the juice of the sacred bean had beneficial effects. And a recently-published study confirms it… again! With or without added sugar, I hasten to add.

Here’s to all of my sisters and brothers who’re also cashing in on coffee’s benefits! Let’s celebrate with another cup o’ joe!

To read the study’s results, follow this link.

“Bulldog Ben” Basile

© 2022 Ben Lawrence Basile