THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'

     Nothing is as it was. It appears as if the entire world is rearranging itself and all the reordering of the world as begun after WWI and continued post WWII is as dust to the wind. Great alliances such as Great Britain can actually reappear when the dust clears as simply good old England. What would that mean to the world? What would that mean for the balance of power? How would these new independent countries align themselves in the questions and problems that beset the world?
     It is a scary time. Yet it is also a time rife with vibrant winds of change. These winds can be good or bad. The artificial borders that were made and drawn without full understanding or care, that divided tribes and nationalities, all have come to cause problems that are not so easily resolved. Will there be a nation for the Kurds? Will Syria or Libya ever be reconstituted as a country or will it remain as little "stans" with warlords and religious fanatics ruling and perhaps with a small secular area? Will Saudi Arabia stand as a country and will the invented country of Jordan remain as such or will it too separate and fall to pieces? And what will happen to all the countries of the former Soviet Union? Putin appears to be gathering his rosebuds while he may as he picks up the pieces in a piecemeal manner.
     And far more important, even as movies and books sing the praises of a united world, of its importance and glory, the world itself appears to shatter itself into ever smaller pieces. Can a jigsaw such as this be repaired? Do people even want it to be repaired? And what about the society of the world which is rather rapidly and viciously drawing lines between people, never mind states. Is there really a Belgium or will it separate into two or even three countries? Is there a truly united United States or have the battle lines we have drawn up superseded our proud, sometimes not so proud, history? Where will our principles lead us or will greed shatter all? It seems as if all we have achieved as a society is being ignored and the big mouths who scream louder than all are driving wedges into everything. Or is it not so and just a case of the squeaky wheels again? I do not know, none of us do, but it behooves all of us to get into the fray, for if we, as individuals, do not speak up, there goes the party and there goes all that we hold dear.
     As a Jew it is quite frightening to see the rampant resurgence of a violent and unthinking anti Semitism. It is all over, from the state and country level, particularly amongst the nations of the Moslem world, but also scarily enough, amongst the nations that were overrun by the Nazis and saw with their own eyes and heard with their own ears the horror and the screams and the odors of death. And yes, it is heartening when Clinton, a candidate for President of the United States, speaks up about the scourge of anti Semitism and remarks as well about the necessity of remaining strong partners with Israel, but the question remains, why, in 2016 must these issues still need to be addressed?
     And lest one think that there are idyllic spots where these sentiments are not, then think again. Why, again, in 2016, are there people here in the Village who think that calling me names meant to denigrate my ethnic and religious background is the way to go. These nasty and hateful statements, these names, go along with misogyny, and many are the vicious comments sent to me concerning womanhood and the vilest curse words that can be used against a woman. And yes, the leader of this faction who appears to support these statements, who does not rein in his supporters is just as guilty, perhaps even more, and in that he is Jewish is just as shameful as the fact that Bernie Sanders is Jewish and yet he surrounds himself with hateful and anti Semitic people such as Cornel West and others. Self hate and self blindness do not really work out and history is rife with the portraits , the vignettes  of these people getting their righteous desserts. Goose and gander you know.
     And along with all this comes the lies, the ever and eternal lies and the ignoring of history for these lies never remain unchallenged, never prove to be eternal, for there are good people who will take up the challenge and go for the truth. I can try for the big world, I can try to work for candidates I think will be an improvement over what we have, I can write on my blog, and I can keep up the struggle here, right here in the Village. It is not over and we will continue to fly the flag of truth, of transparency, no matter who is an elected official or not. And poor puddin'head, pointing out the defects of an administration is not a whine or a complaint. Rather it is the right of all of us to seek a better life, a better place to live and this constant refrain of "move" is as dumb as it gets. Should we have told FDR to move as he refused to allow Congress to roll over his recovery plans? Should we have  told Washington and Hamilton and the Adams, etc. to move out of colonial America because they had concerns? That very statement of "move" is the violation of every principle of our Constitution here in the USA and yes, Century Village, like it or not, is within the boundaries of the USA and we will exercise our rights as American citizens and as concerned residents of the Village. If you do not like that then here is some advice - MOVE!! Not liking that advice? Me neither, so please, think before you send that to me again.
     So on I, and others, and ever increasing numbers, will continue to press for truth and answers re the roads, re our funding, our lack of transparency, the state of our waterways, the state of our infrastructure, the projects of pipe dreams taking place and precedence over what is necessary, what is a must. We will fight for inclusive administration, for term limits, for one owner one vote, for avoidance of wasteful projects such as the Broadband and quite frankly, my plan and that of many others was to buy here, live here, a good life, and when the Good Lord decided it was time, to die here and resale values really do not interest me. When I could have received close to $200,000 for my apartment I did not sell and nor did I sell when the floor fell out from under us. I plan to live here and if there are people who think of this solely as an investment, a second home they can easily shed, well, they and their thoughts are not my concern. We are not a resort. WE are not an investment for ourselves or our children. WE are a home and need to think of it as such and behave as such and take care of business as it should be.
     Let them eat cake belonged to the time of the French Revolution ( and really was not what it is made out to be) but be that as it may, we do not want cake here; we want a solid loaf of rye, steady, immersed in the necessary and the needed and in a balanced budget with no false statements of what a hole we are in. We have much to do so let us get started. First - the truth from those who would deny it. Telling the truth actually makes one feel good. Try it. You might actually get used to it and like it and if you cannot deal with the truth - then get out of UCO. We must all roll up our sleeves and do what we must to save our home. The times they are a changing, yes, but let us make the change be for the good.