My 34-year-old son lost his tech job in PA almost two years ago and there's just nothing. No jobs, no help, no nothing. I know they can't create jobs where none exist but that just underlines what a basket of lies Recompete is. It has created a number of administrative jobs for French's buddies but the rest of us are screwed.
This says it all Someone Someone! You would think with millions of $$$ to work with Recompete could have created ONE job for your son AT LEAST! Good luck to him in his job search. My son is experiencing the same problem, he with years of experience in the tech industry.
This is probably unwelcome advice, but personal experience gives my comments some validity. When no prospects are in sight, change goals. Consider looking at Blue Collar employment. My son is a self-employed electrician. Of course, he has been in the trades for many years, but he has always been in demand. He charges a lot of money to fix electrical problems. But, being self employed, and skilled, he chooses his work. Contractors need skilled workers. My son's forte, is fixing the difficult challenges. Find the problem, consider the alternative fixes, fix the problem. It would take some time, and finding a mentor, to change careers, but the long haul may be worth it. The key is a willingness to learn, and work, and improve your skills. I changed jobs when I was 30. (Married, two kids, in debt, unemployed.) I chose the Aerospace industry, but I no longer would recommend it. Become a craftsman. Good luck.
I hear you. Still, this place is going down the tubes fast and I think we’re going to move back east. We thought people out here would be more considerate and understanding of people with autism but we were wrong.
Someone. I am sorry you are having a lack of understanding or empathy, but I also believe our world is now so competitive one has to find a niche to succeed. Find that special skill and be able to market it wherever you go. Good luck.
Saturday I listened to Jake tell a man inquiring about his most important concern. The answer was Public Safety! That said I think that should include the safety of our CC funds that are wasted. Jobs aren’t created, druggies dont get clean, homeless grows, and the answer is throw more money to the people that run these programs not the issue they are meant to help. A pyramid scheme out of control!
Jake wants transparency and accountability, concepts that are anathema to the business model of our current Commissioners and the web of parasitic NGOs feeding off the taxpayers. No wonder they are in a panic.
Olympic Community of Health is not a state agency. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (NGO)—an Accountable Community of Health—created to convene partners and “tackle health issues that no single sector or Tribe can tackle alone.” They show administration, trusted helpers, gas cards, trauma-informed workplaces, focus groups for the hesitant, and food-bank checks. They do not show a jobs machine.
And, Santa Clause is coming to town. Our administration loves to bandy words about that have no substance. Please tell me what there is amongst all this spending to call results. I would call all this spending a “boondoggle”. A boondoggle is a wasteful, expensive, or trivial project that consumes time and public funds without providing any real value. How about the word “tackle”. Tackle is a versatile word that means to deal with a problem, grab and bring down an opponent in sports, or refer to specialized equipment and gear.
Our Olympic Community of Health is a nonprofit. No income here. No deliveries from Santa. No jobs. And, no tackling. Just another N.G.O.
I wish. I keep wishing. I sent my letter to Santa asking for a collection of gifts. No gifts, yet. Our expensive administration knows how to spend taxpayer money, but the result is a little sketchy. The “jobs” are difficult to assign to a product. Who is benefiting from all this spending? Maybe this is a boondoggle.
My first glance at the title, Olympic Community of Health, implies people are receiving a health improvement. Whatever. Who is getting some improvement? (Administration, trusted helpers, etc.) It looks more like the original guess, a “boondoggle”.
Let me rephrase. We have a well-paid, professional administration, spending our tax money, but no one cares to define a result, a product, a tangible item worth all this money. I can’t even say they have successfully “tackled” anything. There is a lot of bragging related to this spending, but the end result seems elusive. I wonder if there are any touchdowns. What are we taxpayers getting for our money? It looks like another empty promise. I need to write another letter to Santa.
Exactly, well said. We, the taxpayers get nothing but increased taxes. They don't expect to produce any tangible results. In the grant application and subsequent documents, they show what they are going to do, but on the other end, the numbers are manipulated, doubled counted (I have seen this in my research). They expect us to be ignorant to what they are doing. They keep their small circle going and employ people for the grants, well paid with benefits too. And they keep increasing that. They put out enough to the general public, that it's lapped up by those who have no desire to look behind what they do and just accept their words. This is more than a boondoggle in my mind...
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.
What more can the king’s successor do
than what has already been done?
I saw that wisdom
is better than folly,
just as light is better than darkness.
The wise have eyes in their heads,
while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
that the same fate overtakes them both.
Then I said to myself,
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?”
I said to myself,
“This too is meaningless.”
For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
the days have already come when both have been forgotten.
Like the fool, the wise too must die!
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.
And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?
Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.
So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.
For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.
What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?
All their days their work is grief and pain;
even at night their minds do not rest.
This too is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 2:11-23
My summary of all of this is the admonishment to try to live in peace. Gather our resources and use them for the benefit of all. Not that we can have equal shares, but we collectively will prosper.
CAS. In case you have not noticed I have become frustrated regarding the search for some, repeat some, wisdom. We find words such as; Obfuscate, Conflagrate, Irritate, Exculpate, and so forth. None of these selections apply to the stated subject, but we get lots of verbiage. (Word Salad.) Rarely do we receive any wisdom. What is evident is our elected officials are very good and spending our money. Speaking of small circles: "If you keep going in ever smaller concentric circles your head ends up where the sun don't shine." I can assure you there is no wisdom here. Let us vote for change and hope for improvement.
Thank you, Jeff! We need to keep a microscope on this giant grant and all others, large and small. You, Clallamity Jen, and Terri D. have been digging deep into the real purpose of Recompete - fraud. The taxpayers and citizens have been taken as fools to fund their favored NGOs, non-profits, and friends. And yet, there is more to be discovered. CC needs to know to that CCWD and its supporters are fighting for a better and more prosperous community.
I'm sorry, but what do gas cards being distributed, and car repairs being funded, by the YMCA have to do with creating new jobs? And I'm wondering when funding someone else's childcare became the responsibility of the government? And, YMCA, what does "basic needs" mean, exactly? Hello, slush fund ....
Robert, I'm still stuck on free propane tanks, tents, drugs, rooftop views, dog washing stations, dishwashers, pizza, it's all gone into the stratosphere of absurd. Honest to God, if you told me 20 years ago that this would be our future, I'd have called you a liar and written you off as crazy. We aren't crazy are we?
Yes. We are crazy. Most people realize you cannot buy happiness. It takes work. It takes a personal responsibility to continue pursuing goals. There is NO free lunch. So, why are we, as a society, teaching our young to seek dependency as a way of life? Until we begin teaching independent thinking, personal accountability, the pursuit of education, meritocracy, and industry, we will not advance. This applies to our adult population as well. Stop the enabling. Repeat, stop the enabling.
CAS. Why should anyone expect others to care for them if they are unwilling to apply themselves to the task? Dependency is akin to slavery. Besides, having the "government" do the job is debatable.
Last night while working on my article for today about Recompete, I wondered: Is good brother Jeff covering Recompete too? We don’t plan it this way, it just happens this way. LOL.
Thank you for playing the Twilight news segment! I got it yesterday in my email; and of all days, yesterday was my 1-year anniversary since my first post on Substack.
I really enjoyed your podcast with Virginia, CJ. So much information! And it was a kick to hear you and Virginia on Twilight news. Thanks for playing it, Jeff.
Not easy to find the information mostly in one place to lay out what’s working and what’s not, how much & how little.
It is designed to be complicated & confusing for very good reasons, like buying a new car……so thank you for your time, effort, drive & brains to help the helpless people like myself to make sense of it all. I knew government sucked but just didn’t realize it sucked this much in Clallam county. Time for changes, out with the old that is not working and in with the new for a change of direction, correction & having our tax dollars deliver positive results instead of down the drain. Thank you!
Recompete funding has a 5 year funding cliff, no? Will all the administrators and staff hired to hand out our tax-funded Recompete money lose their grant funded jobs?
Back in the day, I was hired by Sacramento County thanks to a CETA (California Employment Training Act) grant. When the funds dried up, so did my job ...
On the podcast you asked if we're ready for "Word Salad", and you start off with a Burger? Is it a veggie burger and that's how you classify it as a salad?
I am FURIOUS. This grant was specifically designed to help economically disadvantaged communities create JOBS for the people who live there. I own a business here in this very community. It's a skilled trades industry business. THIS GRANT SHOULD BE HELPING BUSINESSES CREATE APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. What in the ACTUAL hell is going on around here.
I believe that I have known you long enough to know that you take no pleasure in having to write critical articles about the shady characters in our government and community who are so obviously robbing us all blind~! I am sure that IF these many millions of dollars had actually produced even half of the jobs that these shysters first claimed, that you and more of us here in Clallam County would have FAR more favorable things to say! Of course, that is unfortunately nowhere near the case, as this unfolding atrocity of a government failure is blatantly apparent for anyone with an IQ greater than their shoe size would know~! Yes, we absolutely MUST get rid of Mike French and his deceptive, thieving, lying, manipulative ways, along with these shameless corrupt thug coconspirators of his, that have stolen OUR taxpayer monies just to build their "feel good" scam of colossal theft to line their own pockets and to financially reward their evil subversive friends in low places~! When we rid our community of Mike French and his fellow thieves, we shall continue to purge these criminals from our government and community until we can set our community on the path of success that it always should have been on! The true potential of Clallam County is fantastic, but we will never see it unless we get rid of these criminal grifters and losers!!!
Michael. I liked the reference to I.Q. compared to shoe size. Here is another. To fit the job requires a person with a size 19 collar and a size 5 hat. (I have known some who might be qualified.)
Well, I certainly can't take the credit for the "IQ - shoe size" comment, because I just borrowed that from others who have very accurately made the same comment before. Also, even though I know some Intelligent Individuals who have tested with so-called "high IQ's", I know that is all a criminally corrupt scam because at best the "IQ score" (test) is only a weak indicator and therefore it is COMPLETELY bogus and unreliable! The best case in point for this "IQ scam" is the group - association that is commonly referred to as "MENSA" and their phony bologna "IQ test"! Ha! I am NOT saying that all of the MENSA folks are stupid, necessarily, however I have met a great many of them, and they have generally failed to impress me or dazzle me with their Intelligence in the real world. I am sure that many of them would kick up a fuss about my comment, however they can't deny it, and I always let the REAL facts prove the truth. How many MENSA card holders came out against the COVID crimes against humanity??? As a group, they completely crashed and burned with regard to the VERY obvious COVID atrocities! For many decades I have been constantly pointing out that the ONLY true & dependable historic "test of Intelligence" is in fact the Individuals understanding of the REAL world in which they exist. The Natural & man-made world! Specifically, how accurately the Individual sees and understands the truth and reality of their natural and man-made environment. Hands down, the greatest "man-made" Intelligence test was and still is the ongoing mass murder COVID crime against humanity, which was in fact the largest scale mass murder attack in the historic record. So far... I hope that it is not accurate, but the statistics that are being reported are that 80% of Americans agreed to take the dangerous and deadly COVID vaccine, which directly proves that they lacked Intelligence and allowed themselves to be terrorized into harming themselves. Understandable, but not too smart, because the truth has ALWAYS been right in everyone's faces all along. Not to mention that a great many Americans (like us here) risked everything, including being killed, just to warn folks NOT to take the COVID vaccines or fall for the so-called "mandates" which were ALL in total violation with the real science (and law) of the past 100 or so years! Good grief! We ALL make mistakes, many mistakes we never even realize that we made, however the 20 to 25% of the American population that is in fact the most Intelligent, is actually a surprisingly consistent percentage throughout our American history~! My point here on this article is 100% factually based, because even the statistics today absolutely prove that roughly the same % of Americans today are actively fighting for their Individual freedom & rights because they know that they are under a ruthless attack and could be lost. If you look at the historic record, you will find that the same approximate % of American colonists back in the late 1700's were actually the ones who accurately identified the risk to their freedom and human rights back then, and THEY are the ones who actually established America! Absolutely no thanks to the 60+ % of the idiots that were in the colonies back in the day~! My best guess, is that at best, historically, of the entire human population only 30% at most is actually Intelligent (such as that may be defined ;-) It is what it is, so we just have to identify the truth and do our best to learn how to best deal with it going forward! The average Democrat voter is without doubt NOT even close to being Intelligent, and today they keep proving it over & over & over, again and again, but ironically, they are too ignorant (in fact stupid) to even see it~! Ha! Ironic huh? Have a great day!
The subject is Intelligence. I agree with you regarding the Average Democrat voter, but that is another day's discussion. I worked in the aerospace business, surrounded by individuals with high I.Q numbers, but several were not what you would call possessing Common Sense. I remember conversations where we would say numbers are just a guess. This was usually after I submitted our program budgets. We were rolling over about $300 million per year. Fed 11 Departments. What number do you want it to be? Another joking statement was: There are Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics. Take your pick. Back to the subject of Common Sense. First, it is NOT common. On several occasions I would marvel at the intuitive skills some people displayed when solving analytical problems. One of my friends had left High School at age 15 to become a sweeper in a cabinet shop. By listening, and learning, he eventually bought the business, ran it with 35 employees, and became a wealthy man. He has a logic skill I admire. Another of our managers could resolve math problems, in his head, that others had fought over for hours. For me, I like the simplest answers, ones with a minimum of emotion. Sometimes this requires a "GUT" feel which comes from life experiences. Of course using the "gut" feel also results in more than a few mistakes. This is why I try to avoid absolutes. The answers either work or not. One of my bosses liked to have weekly early morning meetings. There were no chairs. About 8 of us. We had one hour to answer questions. If the answers were similar to; "I need more time" there would be an after meeting with the boss, one on one. You had better come prepared. We became results oriented. Supervising people was another Special skill. You learned to listen.
Ha! Yes, the term "common-sense" is a gross misnomer, to say the very least! I also prefer the simple way of looking at things because it is my experience that almost everything can and should be boiled down to the basics, which can be easier to understand & handle one basic step at a time. When people flood the zone with technical gobbelty gook I know that they likely know less about the subject than I do! Ha~! I remember taking "economic statistics" classes from an accomplished Professor long ago and he was honest enough to admit that anything can be "proven" by statistical manipulations. Anything! Statistics is often the playground of charlatans, fools, and cheats! That said, as it should be obvious to most, the truth (absolute facts) can also be analyzed by a statistical analysis when in the hands of honorable folks. The advantage of hindsight helps ;-) Yes, "we" (society) is flooded with statistics ad nauseum, however in that deluge of "stinkyocity" it is possible for one can find true statistics. This is my home away from home :] So, like a loaded weapon, and often times just as dangerous, if not more so, statistics in the right competent hands can be used for Goodness rather than for evil~! I love the "Get Smart" reference to the "Kaos" anti-hero figures that Maxwell Smart battled ;-) HA~! Truly, it is very possible for someone to be evaluated with a so-called high "IQ", which is dubious and FAR from any proof of Intelligence, but that same Individual may not have a common-sense bone in his/her head... I have no use for these types, because everything in the world works best upon common sense reasoning. Long ago I remember visiting the Eiffel Tower and learning of the story about a great many of the world's most brilliant so-called "engineers" that had been sought out to address that old engineering disaster for hundreds of years. One day not that many decades ago, some of these engineers were standing in front of the famous tower in Italy when they overheard a little boy asking why the tower was "leaning" and when he was told that problem had existed for a very long time, he simply responded "Why don't they just pull it the other way"~! HA~! Well, as the story goes the engineers who herd that were stunned by the simplicity of the little boys' question, and they actually came up with the solution that has apparently arrested the problem to prevent the Eiffel tower from crashing to the ground (so far). The engineers actually developed a large "sling" to hold the tower in place with a slight pressure towards up righting it, while they excavated and reinforced its base making it more solid before releasing the sling! As the folks in town didn't really want to correct the lean of the famous tower because of the tourist dollars it represented, apparently the problem has been solved ever since. Society falls all over itself, slobbering about little children who have amazing talent playing musical instruments well beyond their age expectations, but how sad the same respect is never paid to the few little children who have Intellectual abilities that exceed what most adults never possess? You never know where solutions to our problems will come from ;-)
Great exposure on Recompete, Jeff. I truly wish more people would look past the word salad surrounding this “grant.” When it was announced that our small county was getting millions, of course people cheered — who wouldn’t? But it didn’t take long to see that what was promised simply wasn’t possible.
Two years in, we have only a handful of actual jobs to show for it. The biggest hires have been the people hired to manage the grant itself — complete with salaries and benefits — not the long‑term jobs we were told would transform the local economy. The original claim of adding 1,300 jobs has been quietly lowered again and again, with the slowdown blamed on the federal government. There’s always an excuse.
The wraparound services numbers are just as concerning. When you look closely, many of the “services provided” are repeat counts of the same individuals, padded to look impressive. The fine print even admits it. And when the numbers don’t add up, they fall back on the phrase “pilot program” to explain why they aren’t meeting the targets they put in their own application. And additionally blame the federal government for the grants slowdown as well. Always an excuse.
We need to keep asking questions — real questions — and we need to keep the pressure on. Too much money is being spent on optics, branding, and self‑promotion. Trying to get information from the NGOs involved is nearly impossible. And the biggest question remains unanswered: What happens when the money dries up in five years? What programs survive? What jobs remain? What was actually built?
Since Commissioner French has taken ownership of this project and presents it as his work, he should be willing to answer the tough questions. The community deserves transparency, not talking points.
These lunatic home wrecking liberals are in the process of creating a free living environment for lazy people that do not want to work.This agenda requires mass millions of tax $$$ to employ mass people to run all the different agencies created in order to get more voter support.Remember wa state is a sanctuary state 'come on in and you will be supported for free by the hard working class just vote for democrat home wreckers in all elections.
Kudos to whomever put together the graphics for the very pretty brochures. There is no 'end result' provided anywhere, but there sure are a lot of empty adjectives. Mr. French is doing exactly what he's always done well...bloviating. His 'community representatives' spend an inordinate amount of time trying very hard to tell you that his competitor can't be trusted because he's "not from around here" and he's been a successful businessman, parent, husband, entrepreneur, and volunteer. All of those things are apparently frowned upon in quaint little Clallam County.
Jake's priority: Community safety. Mike's priority: A nice paycheck, a few more committees, and a future in public service that will cover his need for colorful brochures promoting a happy ending for none.
"When you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got."
I am awarding Kudos to Mike French. He has obtained the perfect job. One. The pay is pretty good, especially for the amount of work involved. Two. You can say whatever you want with plenty of support from your sycophants. (A sycophant is a person who praises and flatters someone important or powerful in an insincere way to gain an advantage.) Since there are minimum posted, required, demonstrable skills needed to keep the job I praise him. I wonder if there are other skills needed to retain this kind of job. Three. He has a chance to continue with this boondoggle. I wonder about the other benefits. (Three Card Monte?) Talk about job security. I hope for a change.
Hey Gang,
The power is out in Jamestown so tomorrow's article and podcast will be delayed (probably until late afternoon). But it's written and ready to record!
Apologies,
Jeff
Appreciated the heads up… didn't manage to sleep past the normal posting time.😂 did manage to foil a dementia fueled walkout. What a morning!
I'm a creature of habit too! I just put it out... back to 4am release tomorrow. Thanks for waiting!
Thanks for letting us know!
My 34-year-old son lost his tech job in PA almost two years ago and there's just nothing. No jobs, no help, no nothing. I know they can't create jobs where none exist but that just underlines what a basket of lies Recompete is. It has created a number of administrative jobs for French's buddies but the rest of us are screwed.
This says it all Someone Someone! You would think with millions of $$$ to work with Recompete could have created ONE job for your son AT LEAST! Good luck to him in his job search. My son is experiencing the same problem, he with years of experience in the tech industry.
Recompete/Olympic Connect’s job searching arm is in Kitsap County. A lot of good that does us here (not that there are any jobs beyond OMC).
This is probably unwelcome advice, but personal experience gives my comments some validity. When no prospects are in sight, change goals. Consider looking at Blue Collar employment. My son is a self-employed electrician. Of course, he has been in the trades for many years, but he has always been in demand. He charges a lot of money to fix electrical problems. But, being self employed, and skilled, he chooses his work. Contractors need skilled workers. My son's forte, is fixing the difficult challenges. Find the problem, consider the alternative fixes, fix the problem. It would take some time, and finding a mentor, to change careers, but the long haul may be worth it. The key is a willingness to learn, and work, and improve your skills. I changed jobs when I was 30. (Married, two kids, in debt, unemployed.) I chose the Aerospace industry, but I no longer would recommend it. Become a craftsman. Good luck.
I hear you. Still, this place is going down the tubes fast and I think we’re going to move back east. We thought people out here would be more considerate and understanding of people with autism but we were wrong.
Someone. I am sorry you are having a lack of understanding or empathy, but I also believe our world is now so competitive one has to find a niche to succeed. Find that special skill and be able to market it wherever you go. Good luck.
Yeah, it really sucks being retired.
Saturday I listened to Jake tell a man inquiring about his most important concern. The answer was Public Safety! That said I think that should include the safety of our CC funds that are wasted. Jobs aren’t created, druggies dont get clean, homeless grows, and the answer is throw more money to the people that run these programs not the issue they are meant to help. A pyramid scheme out of control!
Jake wants transparency and accountability, concepts that are anathema to the business model of our current Commissioners and the web of parasitic NGOs feeding off the taxpayers. No wonder they are in a panic.
Olympic Community of Health.
A nonprofit, not a jobs creator.
Olympic Community of Health is not a state agency. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (NGO)—an Accountable Community of Health—created to convene partners and “tackle health issues that no single sector or Tribe can tackle alone.” They show administration, trusted helpers, gas cards, trauma-informed workplaces, focus groups for the hesitant, and food-bank checks. They do not show a jobs machine.
And, Santa Clause is coming to town. Our administration loves to bandy words about that have no substance. Please tell me what there is amongst all this spending to call results. I would call all this spending a “boondoggle”. A boondoggle is a wasteful, expensive, or trivial project that consumes time and public funds without providing any real value. How about the word “tackle”. Tackle is a versatile word that means to deal with a problem, grab and bring down an opponent in sports, or refer to specialized equipment and gear.
Our Olympic Community of Health is a nonprofit. No income here. No deliveries from Santa. No jobs. And, no tackling. Just another N.G.O.
I wish. I keep wishing. I sent my letter to Santa asking for a collection of gifts. No gifts, yet. Our expensive administration knows how to spend taxpayer money, but the result is a little sketchy. The “jobs” are difficult to assign to a product. Who is benefiting from all this spending? Maybe this is a boondoggle.
My first glance at the title, Olympic Community of Health, implies people are receiving a health improvement. Whatever. Who is getting some improvement? (Administration, trusted helpers, etc.) It looks more like the original guess, a “boondoggle”.
Let me rephrase. We have a well-paid, professional administration, spending our tax money, but no one cares to define a result, a product, a tangible item worth all this money. I can’t even say they have successfully “tackled” anything. There is a lot of bragging related to this spending, but the end result seems elusive. I wonder if there are any touchdowns. What are we taxpayers getting for our money? It looks like another empty promise. I need to write another letter to Santa.
Exactly, well said. We, the taxpayers get nothing but increased taxes. They don't expect to produce any tangible results. In the grant application and subsequent documents, they show what they are going to do, but on the other end, the numbers are manipulated, doubled counted (I have seen this in my research). They expect us to be ignorant to what they are doing. They keep their small circle going and employ people for the grants, well paid with benefits too. And they keep increasing that. They put out enough to the general public, that it's lapped up by those who have no desire to look behind what they do and just accept their words. This is more than a boondoggle in my mind...
Life … Folly and Chasing after the Wind
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.
What more can the king’s successor do
than what has already been done?
I saw that wisdom
is better than folly,
just as light is better than darkness.
The wise have eyes in their heads,
while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
that the same fate overtakes them both.
Then I said to myself,
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?”
I said to myself,
“This too is meaningless.”
For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
the days have already come when both have been forgotten.
Like the fool, the wise too must die!
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.
And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?
Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.
So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.
For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.
What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?
All their days their work is grief and pain;
even at night their minds do not rest.
This too is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 2:11-23
My summary of all of this is the admonishment to try to live in peace. Gather our resources and use them for the benefit of all. Not that we can have equal shares, but we collectively will prosper.
CAS. In case you have not noticed I have become frustrated regarding the search for some, repeat some, wisdom. We find words such as; Obfuscate, Conflagrate, Irritate, Exculpate, and so forth. None of these selections apply to the stated subject, but we get lots of verbiage. (Word Salad.) Rarely do we receive any wisdom. What is evident is our elected officials are very good and spending our money. Speaking of small circles: "If you keep going in ever smaller concentric circles your head ends up where the sun don't shine." I can assure you there is no wisdom here. Let us vote for change and hope for improvement.
Thank you, Jeff! We need to keep a microscope on this giant grant and all others, large and small. You, Clallamity Jen, and Terri D. have been digging deep into the real purpose of Recompete - fraud. The taxpayers and citizens have been taken as fools to fund their favored NGOs, non-profits, and friends. And yet, there is more to be discovered. CC needs to know to that CCWD and its supporters are fighting for a better and more prosperous community.
I'm sorry, but what do gas cards being distributed, and car repairs being funded, by the YMCA have to do with creating new jobs? And I'm wondering when funding someone else's childcare became the responsibility of the government? And, YMCA, what does "basic needs" mean, exactly? Hello, slush fund ....
Robert, I'm still stuck on free propane tanks, tents, drugs, rooftop views, dog washing stations, dishwashers, pizza, it's all gone into the stratosphere of absurd. Honest to God, if you told me 20 years ago that this would be our future, I'd have called you a liar and written you off as crazy. We aren't crazy are we?
It’s like Alice in Wonderland, where black is white, up is down, and Grace Slick is setting policy with her lyricism. 😎
Robert, Feed Your Head
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMyAxotm7I8
PS, Jeff, please note, I'm putting in a lot of songs today!
And boys can have babies
Yes. We are crazy. Most people realize you cannot buy happiness. It takes work. It takes a personal responsibility to continue pursuing goals. There is NO free lunch. So, why are we, as a society, teaching our young to seek dependency as a way of life? Until we begin teaching independent thinking, personal accountability, the pursuit of education, meritocracy, and industry, we will not advance. This applies to our adult population as well. Stop the enabling. Repeat, stop the enabling.
Exactly, slush fund. The mindset of many is the government should provide from cradle to death, "they" expect the government to provide for them.
CAS. Why should anyone expect others to care for them if they are unwilling to apply themselves to the task? Dependency is akin to slavery. Besides, having the "government" do the job is debatable.
Last night while working on my article for today about Recompete, I wondered: Is good brother Jeff covering Recompete too? We don’t plan it this way, it just happens this way. LOL.
Thank you for playing the Twilight news segment! I got it yesterday in my email; and of all days, yesterday was my 1-year anniversary since my first post on Substack.
For those who don’t know who Virginia Shogren is or haven’t listened to her talk about election integrity, here is Virginia’s full interview, candidate for county auditor: https://clallamityjen.substack.com/p/a-real-candidate-conversation-with
Monday I published my interview with Antonio Price, candidate for county assessor; another one worth listening to and learning about who he is: https://clallamityjen.substack.com/p/a-real-candidate-conversation-with-b0b
I got a kick out of you covering Recompete when I got your article this morning.
I really enjoyed your podcast with Virginia, CJ. So much information! And it was a kick to hear you and Virginia on Twilight news. Thanks for playing it, Jeff.
Jeff, boy did you do the homework?
Not easy to find the information mostly in one place to lay out what’s working and what’s not, how much & how little.
It is designed to be complicated & confusing for very good reasons, like buying a new car……so thank you for your time, effort, drive & brains to help the helpless people like myself to make sense of it all. I knew government sucked but just didn’t realize it sucked this much in Clallam county. Time for changes, out with the old that is not working and in with the new for a change of direction, correction & having our tax dollars deliver positive results instead of down the drain. Thank you!
Recompete funding has a 5 year funding cliff, no? Will all the administrators and staff hired to hand out our tax-funded Recompete money lose their grant funded jobs?
Back in the day, I was hired by Sacramento County thanks to a CETA (California Employment Training Act) grant. When the funds dried up, so did my job ...
On the podcast you asked if we're ready for "Word Salad", and you start off with a Burger? Is it a veggie burger and that's how you classify it as a salad?
❤︎
CLEVER!!!! I like the way you think.
I am FURIOUS. This grant was specifically designed to help economically disadvantaged communities create JOBS for the people who live there. I own a business here in this very community. It's a skilled trades industry business. THIS GRANT SHOULD BE HELPING BUSINESSES CREATE APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. What in the ACTUAL hell is going on around here.
Excellent article, Patriot Jeff Tozzer~!
I believe that I have known you long enough to know that you take no pleasure in having to write critical articles about the shady characters in our government and community who are so obviously robbing us all blind~! I am sure that IF these many millions of dollars had actually produced even half of the jobs that these shysters first claimed, that you and more of us here in Clallam County would have FAR more favorable things to say! Of course, that is unfortunately nowhere near the case, as this unfolding atrocity of a government failure is blatantly apparent for anyone with an IQ greater than their shoe size would know~! Yes, we absolutely MUST get rid of Mike French and his deceptive, thieving, lying, manipulative ways, along with these shameless corrupt thug coconspirators of his, that have stolen OUR taxpayer monies just to build their "feel good" scam of colossal theft to line their own pockets and to financially reward their evil subversive friends in low places~! When we rid our community of Mike French and his fellow thieves, we shall continue to purge these criminals from our government and community until we can set our community on the path of success that it always should have been on! The true potential of Clallam County is fantastic, but we will never see it unless we get rid of these criminal grifters and losers!!!
Sincerely, Mike
Michael. I liked the reference to I.Q. compared to shoe size. Here is another. To fit the job requires a person with a size 19 collar and a size 5 hat. (I have known some who might be qualified.)
HA~!
Thank you, Patriot Sheldon McGuire~!
Well, I certainly can't take the credit for the "IQ - shoe size" comment, because I just borrowed that from others who have very accurately made the same comment before. Also, even though I know some Intelligent Individuals who have tested with so-called "high IQ's", I know that is all a criminally corrupt scam because at best the "IQ score" (test) is only a weak indicator and therefore it is COMPLETELY bogus and unreliable! The best case in point for this "IQ scam" is the group - association that is commonly referred to as "MENSA" and their phony bologna "IQ test"! Ha! I am NOT saying that all of the MENSA folks are stupid, necessarily, however I have met a great many of them, and they have generally failed to impress me or dazzle me with their Intelligence in the real world. I am sure that many of them would kick up a fuss about my comment, however they can't deny it, and I always let the REAL facts prove the truth. How many MENSA card holders came out against the COVID crimes against humanity??? As a group, they completely crashed and burned with regard to the VERY obvious COVID atrocities! For many decades I have been constantly pointing out that the ONLY true & dependable historic "test of Intelligence" is in fact the Individuals understanding of the REAL world in which they exist. The Natural & man-made world! Specifically, how accurately the Individual sees and understands the truth and reality of their natural and man-made environment. Hands down, the greatest "man-made" Intelligence test was and still is the ongoing mass murder COVID crime against humanity, which was in fact the largest scale mass murder attack in the historic record. So far... I hope that it is not accurate, but the statistics that are being reported are that 80% of Americans agreed to take the dangerous and deadly COVID vaccine, which directly proves that they lacked Intelligence and allowed themselves to be terrorized into harming themselves. Understandable, but not too smart, because the truth has ALWAYS been right in everyone's faces all along. Not to mention that a great many Americans (like us here) risked everything, including being killed, just to warn folks NOT to take the COVID vaccines or fall for the so-called "mandates" which were ALL in total violation with the real science (and law) of the past 100 or so years! Good grief! We ALL make mistakes, many mistakes we never even realize that we made, however the 20 to 25% of the American population that is in fact the most Intelligent, is actually a surprisingly consistent percentage throughout our American history~! My point here on this article is 100% factually based, because even the statistics today absolutely prove that roughly the same % of Americans today are actively fighting for their Individual freedom & rights because they know that they are under a ruthless attack and could be lost. If you look at the historic record, you will find that the same approximate % of American colonists back in the late 1700's were actually the ones who accurately identified the risk to their freedom and human rights back then, and THEY are the ones who actually established America! Absolutely no thanks to the 60+ % of the idiots that were in the colonies back in the day~! My best guess, is that at best, historically, of the entire human population only 30% at most is actually Intelligent (such as that may be defined ;-) It is what it is, so we just have to identify the truth and do our best to learn how to best deal with it going forward! The average Democrat voter is without doubt NOT even close to being Intelligent, and today they keep proving it over & over & over, again and again, but ironically, they are too ignorant (in fact stupid) to even see it~! Ha! Ironic huh? Have a great day!
Sincerely, Mike
The subject is Intelligence. I agree with you regarding the Average Democrat voter, but that is another day's discussion. I worked in the aerospace business, surrounded by individuals with high I.Q numbers, but several were not what you would call possessing Common Sense. I remember conversations where we would say numbers are just a guess. This was usually after I submitted our program budgets. We were rolling over about $300 million per year. Fed 11 Departments. What number do you want it to be? Another joking statement was: There are Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics. Take your pick. Back to the subject of Common Sense. First, it is NOT common. On several occasions I would marvel at the intuitive skills some people displayed when solving analytical problems. One of my friends had left High School at age 15 to become a sweeper in a cabinet shop. By listening, and learning, he eventually bought the business, ran it with 35 employees, and became a wealthy man. He has a logic skill I admire. Another of our managers could resolve math problems, in his head, that others had fought over for hours. For me, I like the simplest answers, ones with a minimum of emotion. Sometimes this requires a "GUT" feel which comes from life experiences. Of course using the "gut" feel also results in more than a few mistakes. This is why I try to avoid absolutes. The answers either work or not. One of my bosses liked to have weekly early morning meetings. There were no chairs. About 8 of us. We had one hour to answer questions. If the answers were similar to; "I need more time" there would be an after meeting with the boss, one on one. You had better come prepared. We became results oriented. Supervising people was another Special skill. You learned to listen.
Awesome words, Patriot Sheldon McGuire~!
Ha! Yes, the term "common-sense" is a gross misnomer, to say the very least! I also prefer the simple way of looking at things because it is my experience that almost everything can and should be boiled down to the basics, which can be easier to understand & handle one basic step at a time. When people flood the zone with technical gobbelty gook I know that they likely know less about the subject than I do! Ha~! I remember taking "economic statistics" classes from an accomplished Professor long ago and he was honest enough to admit that anything can be "proven" by statistical manipulations. Anything! Statistics is often the playground of charlatans, fools, and cheats! That said, as it should be obvious to most, the truth (absolute facts) can also be analyzed by a statistical analysis when in the hands of honorable folks. The advantage of hindsight helps ;-) Yes, "we" (society) is flooded with statistics ad nauseum, however in that deluge of "stinkyocity" it is possible for one can find true statistics. This is my home away from home :] So, like a loaded weapon, and often times just as dangerous, if not more so, statistics in the right competent hands can be used for Goodness rather than for evil~! I love the "Get Smart" reference to the "Kaos" anti-hero figures that Maxwell Smart battled ;-) HA~! Truly, it is very possible for someone to be evaluated with a so-called high "IQ", which is dubious and FAR from any proof of Intelligence, but that same Individual may not have a common-sense bone in his/her head... I have no use for these types, because everything in the world works best upon common sense reasoning. Long ago I remember visiting the Eiffel Tower and learning of the story about a great many of the world's most brilliant so-called "engineers" that had been sought out to address that old engineering disaster for hundreds of years. One day not that many decades ago, some of these engineers were standing in front of the famous tower in Italy when they overheard a little boy asking why the tower was "leaning" and when he was told that problem had existed for a very long time, he simply responded "Why don't they just pull it the other way"~! HA~! Well, as the story goes the engineers who herd that were stunned by the simplicity of the little boys' question, and they actually came up with the solution that has apparently arrested the problem to prevent the Eiffel tower from crashing to the ground (so far). The engineers actually developed a large "sling" to hold the tower in place with a slight pressure towards up righting it, while they excavated and reinforced its base making it more solid before releasing the sling! As the folks in town didn't really want to correct the lean of the famous tower because of the tourist dollars it represented, apparently the problem has been solved ever since. Society falls all over itself, slobbering about little children who have amazing talent playing musical instruments well beyond their age expectations, but how sad the same respect is never paid to the few little children who have Intellectual abilities that exceed what most adults never possess? You never know where solutions to our problems will come from ;-)
Have a wonderful evening~!
Sincerely, Mike
You do your homework!
Great exposure on Recompete, Jeff. I truly wish more people would look past the word salad surrounding this “grant.” When it was announced that our small county was getting millions, of course people cheered — who wouldn’t? But it didn’t take long to see that what was promised simply wasn’t possible.
Two years in, we have only a handful of actual jobs to show for it. The biggest hires have been the people hired to manage the grant itself — complete with salaries and benefits — not the long‑term jobs we were told would transform the local economy. The original claim of adding 1,300 jobs has been quietly lowered again and again, with the slowdown blamed on the federal government. There’s always an excuse.
The wraparound services numbers are just as concerning. When you look closely, many of the “services provided” are repeat counts of the same individuals, padded to look impressive. The fine print even admits it. And when the numbers don’t add up, they fall back on the phrase “pilot program” to explain why they aren’t meeting the targets they put in their own application. And additionally blame the federal government for the grants slowdown as well. Always an excuse.
We need to keep asking questions — real questions — and we need to keep the pressure on. Too much money is being spent on optics, branding, and self‑promotion. Trying to get information from the NGOs involved is nearly impossible. And the biggest question remains unanswered: What happens when the money dries up in five years? What programs survive? What jobs remain? What was actually built?
Since Commissioner French has taken ownership of this project and presents it as his work, he should be willing to answer the tough questions. The community deserves transparency, not talking points.
These lunatic home wrecking liberals are in the process of creating a free living environment for lazy people that do not want to work.This agenda requires mass millions of tax $$$ to employ mass people to run all the different agencies created in order to get more voter support.Remember wa state is a sanctuary state 'come on in and you will be supported for free by the hard working class just vote for democrat home wreckers in all elections.
Kudos to whomever put together the graphics for the very pretty brochures. There is no 'end result' provided anywhere, but there sure are a lot of empty adjectives. Mr. French is doing exactly what he's always done well...bloviating. His 'community representatives' spend an inordinate amount of time trying very hard to tell you that his competitor can't be trusted because he's "not from around here" and he's been a successful businessman, parent, husband, entrepreneur, and volunteer. All of those things are apparently frowned upon in quaint little Clallam County.
Jake's priority: Community safety. Mike's priority: A nice paycheck, a few more committees, and a future in public service that will cover his need for colorful brochures promoting a happy ending for none.
"When you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got."
I am awarding Kudos to Mike French. He has obtained the perfect job. One. The pay is pretty good, especially for the amount of work involved. Two. You can say whatever you want with plenty of support from your sycophants. (A sycophant is a person who praises and flatters someone important or powerful in an insincere way to gain an advantage.) Since there are minimum posted, required, demonstrable skills needed to keep the job I praise him. I wonder if there are other skills needed to retain this kind of job. Three. He has a chance to continue with this boondoggle. I wonder about the other benefits. (Three Card Monte?) Talk about job security. I hope for a change.