The Press Release for my just released memoir:
The Diesel Deal, Is No Deal.
President Trump's diesel deal with Russia is fraud on the American people. It is a desperate, futile attempt to address Trump's self-inflicted high diesel prices. The U.S. produces about 5 million barrels of diesel per day, and consume less than 4 million barrels per day. That makes us the world's top diesel exporter. Our diesel exports help ease the energy crunch in Latin America and Europe. In contrast, Russia is no longer an exporter. In fact, Russia was importing diesel from South Korea this summer. Trump's deal requires no concessions from Putin. This weekend, Putin persisted in his savage attacks on civilians even as Trump announced the diesel deal.
Putin's strategy for achieving his victory over Ukraine is to freeze civilians during Ukraine's harsh winter; hence the continued bombings of the electric grid, fuel production facilities, and even a gas station. Putin continues to attack residential buildings and public buses. Putin is a war criminal. Yet Trump cut him this "deal" for less diesel for an initial shipment of 300,000 tons which is less diesel than we use in a single day.
U.S. sanctions have squeezed Russia's oil industry and would continue to do so if Trump were not signaling to the world that he is not serious about sanctions with this absurd 'deal.'
Diesel prices are high at the pump not because of a lack of U.S. supply. Even if Russia were able to export significant quantities of diesel, the amounts trump has called for in his deal with Putin are next to nothing. The total of all shipments called for in the Trump/Putin deal are 4.8 million tons of diesel, from now through early April 2027. This equals 35.5 million barrels, less than the U.S. uses in just ten days. Trump says the Russian shipments are intended to ease the strain on the "Global Marketplace," not just the American market. Even in the unlikely event Russia could produce the amount Trump has asked for, it would not reduce prices, not before the mid-term elections, and probably not ever.
Nevertheless, the deal will provide Putin billions of dollars in revenue. As Trump well knows, Putin uses the military and intelligence assets acquired from the revenue of the 'deal' to commit war crimes in Ukraine and fund Iranian attacks on the U.S.
So, one can't help but wonder, why is Trump doing this? First, it appears to be an attempt to reduce prices that his unilaterally imposed policies have caused. Obviously, due to the quantities involved that isn't going to happen. If the conflict in Iran continues, which it likely will, prices will continue to increase. Trump is blatantly acting to erode the sanctions against Russia.
In 2022, Congress enacted the Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act, by overwhelming margins. That legislation bans U.S. imports of Russian diesel unless the president certifies that Russia has reached an agreement to withdraw its forces from Ukraine, that Ukraine has accepted such an agreement, and that Russia no longer poses a threat to either NATO countries or Ukraine. Given present circumstances, such a certification is impossible. As has become usual, Congress sits ignorantly idle. Other acts of Congress require prior notification before major changes in Russia policy. Trump has not consulted Congress on any of his actions regarding Russian sanctions.
Is Trump taking the American people for fools? Apparently so. Is he ignoring statutes enacted by Congress? Yes. So when will the time come to pay the piper?...
Is College worth it anymore?
The demand for skilled trades workers in the U.S. right now is at an all time high. U.S. companies are ramping up training programs to expand their workforces. Poaching skilled workers from other companies has become common practice.
Mike Rowe, CEO of mikeroweWORKSFoundation, which was founded to help the next generation in acquiring the needed training in the skilled trades, says he is amazed to see the renewed focus and demand for these workers. He says he is constantly getting calls from CEO's and industry leaders who are worried about not being able to recruit needed manpower. As a result many large U.S. companies are establishing their own training programs to attract workers to the skilled trades.
Demand for these workers is strong and expected to get even stronger. In the past, demand for skilled trades workers was centered in the construction industry. Such is no longer the case. Now tech companies building data centers and power plants, defense contractors, home improvement firms, automakers, and more, are all competing for skilled craftsmen. According to Rowe, "Every year when five tradesmen leave the workforce, two replace them. It has been that way for twelve years. Now the math has caught up to us."
One company in the Midwest did an analysis comparing skilled trade workers, including electricians, HVAC technicians, and plumbers to bachelor's degree holders who don't have an advanced degree and found the trades offer a faster path to financial breakeven with less debt. They found that trade trainees can break even in less than a year starting to earn right after high school or half a year to two years in trade school, given median entry-level wages. A college graduate at the median starting salary who didn't work during high school would break even in about three and two thirds years.
Rowe said in talking to past recipients of scholarships from the mikeroweWORKS Foundation who've begun careers in the skilled trades, it's shocking how many welders who began three years ago are now earning in the mid-six figures.
As it is with college graduates as well as skilled craftsmen, it is dependent on the individual, sometimes on the company, and certainly on geography as well. In general, there is a complete disconnect between the idea that you can make six-figures with a skilled trade among many, many people. But it is now a reality.
"I was just in Plano, Texas and got a tour of a data center there. I met three electricians, all under thirty, all making over $240,000 a year, all poached three times in the preceding 18 months from other projects," he said. He said he never heard those stories ten, twelve years ago when we were just getting started with the scholarship program. Now, I hear them every day."
Another significant development in America is some colleges are cutting their tuition costs by 40% to 55%, while yet others are freezing tuition costs. These changes are happening now, in 2026, although some of the biggest cuts won't take effect until fall of 2027. This connects directly with what Mike Rowe has been saying for years: families are questioning whether the traditional college route is worth the cost.
There is ample evidence that colleges are responding to families that are questioning the return on educational investment. The cost and perceived value of a college degree are under increasing scrutiny. Are the colleges lowering costs becoming more affordable, or are they finally admitting that their previous prices were inflated? Evidence suggest a little of both...
I had this banner made for me by a professional as a free promotion. I like it. After three books I'm now looking for a literary agent to represent me. I'm tired of dealing with the flood of "book promoters" that are filling my inbox. And they're all paid promotions, and expensive. If I had an agent to handle all that my life would be so much better.
Anyway, I hope you like the banner and that it sparks some interest in reading my book.
Thanks
C. Clayton Lewis
The New York City Mayor's Radical Spouse
Rama Duwaji. Ever heard of her? She's the wife of NYC Mayor Zhoran Mamdani. And if there were ever a radical, unhinged, far left radical, it would be her. She seems hell bent on berating the United States and as anti-semitic as a human can be, yet the mainstream media seems to favor her. Surprising? Of course not.
Duwaji recently attended an overseas wellness retreat known as the "Women Sanctuary," her third visit this year. The organizers of this event have called for "abolishing Israel" and "cleansing" it of Jews. Attending this type of event is not a 'one-off' for her. Apparently, she is constantly in the company of these types of people. The retreat is only the latest in a long list of events attended by Duwaji that place her political (and perhaps cultural) ideology on full display.
Duwaji was ostensibly absent from America's 250th anniversary festivities this year so she could attend the "Plants of the Quran" retreat in Mallorca, hosted by the same "cleanse Israel of the Jews" group. She co-hosted a "Mary in the Quran" retreat in Corsica, which recast the Virgin Mary as a "Palestinian woman giving birth under occupation."
Duwaji and her husband hosted an event this year where they invited as a 'guest of honor' anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil and his family at Gracie Mansion on the anniversary of his 2025 detention by ICE. Khalil, who is not a U.S. citizen, helped lead the 2024 anti-Israel protests at Columbia University. He has called the U.S. a "killing machine" and once boasted: "The top echelons of the U.S. government are coming after me; that means I'm doing something right." He seems to be held in high esteem by Mamdani and Duwaji.
Duwaji's social media presence is something to behold, and not to be overlooked. There is a binge of 'likes' for posts celebrating and justifying the October 7, 2023 massacre of Israeli civilians. One post she 'liked' called The NY Times reporting on the October 7 violence against Israeli women a "mass rape hoax that had been fabricated."Other liked posts described the attack as resistance, accused Israel of a “vile land grab,” called the Sde Teiman prison a “concentration camp,” and labeled former President Joe Biden a “butcher” over his support of the U.S. ally.
All of Duwaji's social media activity has been claimed to be done in the capacity of a "private citizen." The press apparently has been in acceptance of this nonsense.
Duwaji provided an illustration for a collection of essays edited by the activist Susan Abulhawa, who called October 7 "a spectacular moment that shocked the world." Abulhawa also called Jewish Israelis "rootless, soulless ghouls" and Israel a "cultureless, rootless human aberration in the form of a manufactured nation. Duwaji's social media has a history from her younger days consistent with her present online behavior.
There is ample evidence of Duwaji's radicalism, all of which illustrates her hatred of Israel and her admiration for terrorists and murderers. This begs the question; does her husband share her deep-seated, progressive ideology? Does he sympathize with her? Has it been or will it be reflected in his duties and policies governing New York City?
Electing someone such as Mamdani as mayor does not reflect well on the voters of New York City. If the voters who elected Mamdani were the same bloc of voters to elect the president in 2028, we might have our first ayatollah for president. Duwaji is no ordinary radical. She is the most dangerous kind.
The Long Way Home. A Memoir. Available on Amazon October 8
Well, it's finally done.
After years of writing, rewriting, researching, remembering, and more than a little second-guessing, The Long Way Homeis now officially published and on its way to Amazon.
This is my memoir—a story that spans a lifetime of places, people, adventures, successes, failures, and some pretty unexpected turns along the way. From growing up in Alvin, Texas, to Texas A&M, and eventually working around the world in the engineering and construction business, I've been fortunate to live a life that has taken me places I never imagined when I was a kid.
Several friends have asked me when the book would be available. Well, I finally have an answer.
Amazon says it should be available within about 3 days, in both Kindle and paperback editions.
The title seems appropriate. Looking back over the years, it really has been a long way home.
I'll post the Amazon link as soon as it's live.
For now, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the fact that I actually finished the damn thing.
🥂 Here's to the journey.
C. Clayton Lewis
It really has been a long way home.
After years of writing, rewriting, remembering, researching, and wondering whether I would ever actually finish it, I’m finally ready to announce the publication of my memoir:
The Long Way Home
I never set out to write a memoir. The idea began with an experience in Iran—a close and dangerous brush with history that happened while I was there working as an engineer during the Iranian Revolution.
But once I began writing about Iran, I realized it was only one part of a much longer story.
From growing up in Alvin, Texas, and becoming the first in my family to attend college, to a 48-year career in engineering and construction that took me around the world—from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to Iran, Europe, Australia, Indonesia, and places I never imagined I would see.
There were adventures. There were difficult times. There were people I loved and lost. There were successes, failures, unexpected turns, and plenty of moments when I had absolutely no idea where the road was taking me.
For years, I simply lived it.
Now I’ve written it down.
The Long Way Home is not the story of a remarkable man who lived an extraordinary life. It is the story of an ordinary man who happened to live an adventurous and meaningful one.
And after all those years of going somewhere, I finally find myself content to stay awhile.
At home.
Available in ebook and paperback on Amazon now.
Hardcover available soon!
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