Tag: federal government shutdown

It’s been one of those weeks

Sometimes the best-laid plans just don’t pan out. Such is life.

This is Janet’s Writing Blog, so today I start my post with a behind-the-scenes glimpse into my life this week as a self-published writer.

If you read my blog on Tuesday, Traveling Through History is released today!, you know I was celebrating the release of the e-version of my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, but I mentioned that the paperback was not being released that day as planned.

Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, by Janet Morrison

I thought I had everything in place for the paperback’s release worldwide by Ingram-Spark.

I sent handwritten notes to various independent bookstores along with a detailed information sheet about the book. I told them they would be able to order the book from Ingram-Spark and have it in stock in their stores on November 4 or very shortly thereafter.

The e-book is available – and I’m over the moon about that! But as of today, I still don’t know what the hold-up is for the paperback. Perhaps I will learn something today.

I decided to go ahead and self-publish the paperback on Amazon in the United States, and I expect it to be available here on November 11. I hope Ingram-Spark will release it for worldwide distribution next week – which will include Amazon in countries other than the U.S. — but that remains to be seen. Bookstores will not order it from Amazon. I needed Ingram-Spark for that.

Such is the life of a self-published author! This glitch is not the end of the world. It was just something I had hoped to get checked off my to-do list on November 4.

Thank you to those of you who have congratulated me on the release of the e-book. And a huge thanks to those of you who have purchased the book! I understand that Ingram-Spark has distributed the e-book to Amazon.UK, so I assume it is also available on the worldwide e-markets of Amazon.

Meanwhile, in Washington, DC…

The government shutdown continues as I write this on the night of November 6. One result of the shutdown is that the air traffic controllers and TSA agents who keep the flying public safe are not being paid. They are expected to show up for work and give their undivided attention to all the details their jobs entail… without pay.

To try to force Congress to do its job and pass a federal budget, the White House gave the airlines less than 24 hours’ notice that they had to start cancelling flights at the forty busiest airports in the country. A certain percentage of flights must be cancelled with each passing day beginning today.

But none of this will interfere with Trump’s weekly trip to play golf in Florida.

Since an alleged “businessman” is President of the United States, it baffles me that the order came from the White House (or what’s left of it) with no regard for the chaos such a sudden order will cause airlines, airports, passengers, and the employees of the airlines and airports.

It appears “President Marie Antoinette” knows no more about business than he knows about a democratic government. Throwing a Great Gatsby-themed party at his mansion in Florida last week while federal employees are not receiving paychecks is the height of being tone deaf. He is completely out-of-touch with the average American.

President Antoinette says commercial aviation in the U.S. is “100% safe,” even though air traffic controllers work without pay and some have had to take a second job and are working exhausted.

And why was a large “The Oval Office” sign installed at what’s left of the White House this week? Can President Antoinette not find his office?

Yesterday, the President announced that he will force the price of weight-loss drugs down because they are too expensive. Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Medicare and Medicaid programs announced that Americans will lose 135 billion pounds before the mid-term elections next November. I’m not good at math, but the population of the United States is around 343 million. That means every American would have to lose 394 pounds to make Dr. Oz’s statement true.

Something is very, very wrong in Washington, DC, and it is being denied by the members of Congress and by what’s left of the White House.

A cheaper Thanksgiving Dinner?

Trump and various Republicans in Congress have bragged this week that they talked to the CEO of Walmart and he told them that everyone’s Thanksgiving Dinner will be 20% cheaper this year than it was last year while Joe Biden was US President.

What Trump and none of the Republicans have explained is that the Walmart CEO based that on the fact that this year Walmart decreased the number of items it considers to be a Thanksgiving dinner. Slick move, Walmart!

Of course, Trump has changed the 20% to 25% because that is what he does. He exaggerates or decreases statistics in whichever way serves his purpose.

The Walmart CEO’s hocus-pocus with the facts has led many Republican lawmakers who have never set foot in the grocery store to announce that grocery prices have plummeted since Trump took office on January 20, 2025. They really do think American citizens are stupid and will believe the politicians instead of their own wallets.

Until my next blog post

I will be caring for my sister as she recovers from surgery over the coming weeks, so I might not blog as often as I have in the recent past. We expect everything to go smoothly, but I will have added responsibilities vying for my time and attention.

The time you take to read my rants and blog posts is appreciated more than you know. Your “likes” and comments are what keep me going.

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

I’m grateful that I still have the freedom of speech guaranteed to me by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. I am very aware that some of the people reading my blog in other countries cannot imagine having the freedoms we have in America. Even though our form of government is under attack from within, I believe there are enough of us who love democracy to save our country and put things right someday.

Janet

I’m not represented in the U.S. House of Representatives

I may as well live in the 7th Congressional District of Arizona.

I’m not represented in the U.S. House of Representatives any more than the residents of the 7th District of Arizona. That’s the district in which Adelita Grijalva was elected on September 23, 2025, but Speaker of the House Mike Johnson refuses to install her because she is a Democrat and she will vote to have the Epstein files released.

Johnson might lose his position as Speaker of the House if he allows the truth to come out. At the very least Trump will have him “primaried” in 2026. But that’s enough about him.

Photo of dark clouds over the dome of the US Capitol Building
Photo by Kyle Mills on Unsplash

My Representative in Congress

Three weeks ago, on October 10, I blogged about some of my frustration with my U. S. Representative: My Congressman sent a newsletter.

I’m still frustrated with him. I requested a response from him when I emailed him on October 10, but I haven’t received a reply yet. Of course, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson gave my Congressman a nice paid vacation the last week of September, all of October, and the foreseeable future.

My Congressman’s newsletters set my hair on fire. At least I know where he stands. He stands with Donald Trump. And he despises the likes of me because I don’t stand with Donald Trump. No doubt about it.

His newsletter on October 18 opened this way: “Dear Janet, Pro-crime Democrats continue to release dangerous criminals onto the streets to roam our neighborhoods.”

This guy represents me in no way, shape, or form.

Any U.S. Senator or U.S. Representative who spews hate against everyone in their opposition political party has no right to “serve.” Such people have lost sight of their job description and oath of office.

My Congressman went on in his October 18 newsletter to call on the City of Charlotte to ask for the National Guard to descend upon us.

The subject line of his October 25 newsletter was “The Democrats are Using the Troops as Leverage!” That pretty much set the tone for the entire newsletter.

In the meantime, I will not receive a response to my October early October letter to him. My Congressman will keep preaching. (Jesus must be so proud!) After all, that’s his “calling” and I guess he will represent the people of the 8th District of North Carolina in his spare time or whenever he decides to take that $174,000-a-year job which also gives him a $79-per-day food allowance and lifetime retirement and health insurance seriously.

I don’t think the mothers with young children or the elderly individuals who get the equivalent of $6.00-per-day in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits are the problem – especially since SNAP benefits end at midnight tonight, thanks to President Trump refusing to turn loose the $6 billion “rainy day” fund Congress earmarked for SNAP in the event of a government shutdown.

I don’t think the members of Congress know how disgusted Americans are. This “Mexican Stand-off” between the Republicans and Democrats must stop! I think both parties are to blame for the shutdown.

Starting tomorrow, a lot of people aren’t going to have any money for food, here in the richest nation in the world. The “Pro-Life” Republican Party is obviously only interested in babies being born. They don’t care whether they have anything to eat once they exit the womb. We’ve always known that, but starting tomorrow it will be blaringly obvious for the whole world to see.

I wonder what my Congressman and President Trump are eating this weekend.

Janet