Hello, friends – Today is Tuesday, September 19, 2023, and here are the topics that I am providing commentary about today:

• GF Public Safety Levy/Bond
• Americans Freed By Iran
• 15 Years of X/Twitter
• One More Thing

GREAT FALLS PUBLIC SAFETY LEVY/BOND:

It is hard to get away from the advertising about the Great Falls Public Safety Levy and Bond. The vote will be in November.

On Monday, I received my utility bill from the city, and a flier about the levy/bond was inside the envelope. It advertised the Public Safety Town Hall that was happening that evening and, on the reverse, they used their main talking point about it being “more than 50 years since Great Falls voters have passed public safety funding.”

You can see the flier HERE and HERE. It is paid for by the City of Great Falls, which means our taxpayer dollars are paying for it.

I think there has been a lot of time wasted promoting this levy/bond. The Police Department in the last week has several entries on their Facebook page about the Public Safety Levy. Department heads are out and about promoting the levy, which takes time away from their real jobs.

As I have said over and over, the Public Safety Levy will cost approximately $280.11 a year for a home with an assessed market value for tax purposes of $200,000 if milled to the maximum. The Bond, if passed, will cost us even more. The County already increased our taxes with a levy and the Library levy passed. Then you have the fees and other things the city commission passed.

It’s just too much.

AMERICANS FREED BY IRAN:

Reuters is reporting that a plane carrying five Americans freed by Iran landed in the United States on Tuesday (this morning), a day after they were swapped for the release of five Iranians held in the U.S. and the unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian funds, in a deal between the arch enemies.

Of course, Republicans were quick to attack President Joe Biden for making the deal. For example, U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) sent an email saying:

As our nation solemnly remembered the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history, I was outraged to discover that President Biden’s administration saw fit to make a terrible deal with the world’s leading sponsor of terror.
This $6 billion deal and prisoner swap with Iran only encourages Iran to take more Americans hostage and is more proof that the Administration can be pushed around when it comes to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
We should never negotiate with terrorists.

The White House responded to comments like Daines’ with:

“This it [sic] not a payment of any kind. It’s not a ransom. These aren’t U.S. taxpayer dollars. We haven’t lifted a single one of our sanctions on Iran,” John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, told reporters. (Source)

It was also reported that the U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts to be used only for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear program. (Source)

I don’t like to see the United States deal with countries that sponsor terrorism, but this plan seems to have been carefully crafted. I’m sure the families of the hostages don’t care about the details, but that their loved ones are now safe.

15 YEARS OF X/TWITTER:

I was notified this morning that I have been on X (formerly Twitter) for 15 years. I love X and when there is breaking news, I go there first. I have over 1,000 followers and I follow about 800 accounts. If you are on X, follow me [@TheWesternWord] and I will follow you back!

ONE MORE THING:

For all of you celebrating “Talk like a Pirate Day,” HERE and HERE are English to Pirate translators to help you. Arr, matey!

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