I was very worried when Donald Trump won the election (at least by Electoral College votes).  I disagree with so much of what he claims to stand for, I don't trust him at all, and I really don't think he's qualified to serve as President.  HOWEVER, I am well aware that performance in office isn't always well predicted by words in campaigns, so I was willing to watch and wait.

As Trump continues to name [okay, in my opinion] inappropriate and incompetent people to his cabinet, my worries are only growing by leaps and bounds.  How can he appoint a Secretary of Education who has no training or experience in education?  How can he appoint to head up the EPA someone who doesn't believe in climate change?  It's incredible.

I ran across this contrast on Facebook.  The Canadian cabinet:

Sendhil Naathan

November 20, 2015 · 

O Canada.....What a cabinet:
Minister of Health is a doctor.
Minister of Transport is an astronaut.
Minister of National Defense is a Sikh Veteran.

Minister of Youth is under the age of 45.

Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food is a former farmer.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness was a Scout.
Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development was a financial analyst.
Minister of Finance is a successful businessman.
Minister of Justice was a crown prosecutor and is a First Nations leader.
Minister of Sport, and Persons with Disabilities is a visually impaired Paralympian.
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and Canadian Coastguard is Inuit.
Minister of Science is a medical geographer with a PhD.
New titles include
Minister of Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees was an Immigration critic.
There are scientists in the cabinet, and it is made up of 50% women.

This would make so much more sense for the U.S. as well.  Maybe even with a Republican-dominated Congress, some of Trump's appointments will be challenged.

New names

This blog used to be named "Talk to K Lynn."  "K Lynn" is the penname I used to publish my novel Friends in Need on Amazon for Kindle.  The Amazon folks said I should have a blog, so I made one.

I haven't used it for much.  For a while my sister and I used it to post zentangle art on websites that required posting from a blog.  But we have found other ways to post.

Recently I have been pondering what I should do about the current situation in the U.S. with Donald Trump as the President-elect.  Especially since I live in Nicaragua and can't be physically present at protests, wear a safety pin, etc.  I decided I could at least talk to people electronically.  So I decided to change the nature of this blog and use it for my own personal reflections as we head into 2017, and to share things that come to my attention that I would like to pass on.

I'm going to publish these posts on my Facebook page as well.  I don't know if there's a way with this server (blogger.com) to set up a subscription or a way to follow the blog directly in your email.  Maybe if somebody does know how, they will let me know!

Anyway, I would be happy for folks to pass this along any way that occurs to you.  And, please, to make comments if you have any.  I'd love to have dialogue, even with -- no, especially with people who disagree with something I say.

Incidentally, I am working on another novel I'd like to publish on Amazon some day.  So if you want to talk about Friends in Need or if I want to talk about Chosen, I'll still use this blog as an author.

Thanks for "listening."

Kathy (KLF)

Moebius Challenge

Pat Floerke says:  I tangled and put together an actual moebius strip, holding in awareness as I tangled the love, strength, tenderness, determination and solidarity that shines through in Laura's blog.  Here's to you, Artoo, and to all others affected by Moebius Syndrome.

Here's mine

OK, Pat inspired me.  Here's my zentangle tile for the Challenge 200.  It's not nearly as pretty as hers (see it on 138 - Pat Floerk

My sister Pat Floerke and I are into zentangling.  She asked me to post this tile of hers on my blog so the zentangle community can link to it.  Glad to oblige!

I so seldom visit this page that I didn't even remember how to make a new posting.  One of my "new year's resolutions" is to be more active and maybe attract some readers.

Feedback?

I was so excited, actually overwhelmed, when I clicked "publish" and sent Friends in Need to Amazon.  I knew that friends of mine would buy the book and I hoped that they would encourage friends of theirs to buy it, too.  I envisioned maybe selling 100 or even 200 copies.

So far, friends of mine have in fact bought the book.  I think hardly any of them have had the time to read it.  I don't believe any of them have recommended it to another.  I think my total sales have been 12 or15copies.  At the urging of Amazon, I recently joined the "select" program where my book can be checked out rather than bought.  Nobody has checked it out to my knowledge.

I'd love to have feedback from anybody who has actually read the book.  What did you like about it, if anything?  What did you dislike about it?  Have you recommended it to a friend?