I appreciate your synthesis. I enjoyed our conversation. Thank you.

I think you are a thoughtful person. Apparently we differ about fundamentals. I’m not a rationalist. I try to be a pragmatist. I agree with Dewey that “truth is the fruit of inquiry into the consequences of action.” My answer to your original question reflects the bias of my experience.

I don’t think action determines alignment. I think it reveals it.

I think your question is best answered by taking action. Do what you believe is right. Let the moral alignment follow.

Pick one.

Bob Fenton has been with FEMA for 28 years. His brief remarks demonstrate the linguistic skills that are needed to survive and thrive in FEMA

The FEMA review council meeting consists mostly of grownups reading stuff to other adults.

Guthrie: “local emergency managers should be properly trained and qualified for their positions….” [cc FEMA director]

Guthrie: federal support should be in three areas: standardization, coordination, and financial aid. (Old wine, old bottles)

Multiple mentions of the “Oklahoma Standard”: it embodies qualities like service, kindness, community unity, and unwavering compassion, where citizens immediately offered help to neighbors and strangers in the face of tragedy without hesitation or expectation of reward.

Castor asking for national legislation to prevent insurance companies from parachuting out of a community when it is hit by a major event i.e. not paying.

VA governor reviewing national survey results. Major themes: 1) send federal $ to states quicker, 2) empower regional & local readiness [sic], 3) national lifeline stuff, 4) rural communities stuff, 5) unite the nation’s resilience network. BLUF: nothing new

First 45 minutes of the FEMA review meeting spent mostly on republican governors praising each other, Noem, and Trump

Until this gets straightened out, Harvard could consider holding classes and developing programs for international students outside the US. Borders aren't what they used to be.

Saw you on Reddit today: "This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a series of increasingly alarming events we slowly become desensitized to."

"For every complex problem, there's a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong."

Twenty-four years later….