THE ROAD AHEAD

     We all like to look ahead and see what is coming our way. At times we look in the rear view mirror and wonder how the hell we reached this point and then we think of and realize what we did wrong. It takes some people longer than others at times, but unfortunately, when the bad times are here - they are here - and no amount of willful blindness will serve one right.
     So what is ahead for us in the country and the world? I am not a political maven, only one who reads and thinks and formulates thoughts. There are experts that are paid to tell us their thoughts - take them or not. That is our free choice, but I wonder, very hard, whether this free choice will be here in the future. We have all seemed to come to a conclusion that if we do not like something, or wish it gone, then we make it so.
    An example? Burning or desecrating the flag is an abominable act, despicable and yet, and yet - it is allowed by law, by the Constitution as part of free speech guaranteed to us by the First Amendment. There are words that are spoken under this amendment that might be considered hurtful or hateful to some, yet if they do not cross a red line, then they are allowed. Such is the beauty and the pitfall of our country, such is what makes the world go round and such is what made our country grow as people traded thoughts and ideas and progress was made, sometimes too slowly, but still, it was achieved.
     Today we are in another world. We have a president elect who cannot string together enough words for a complete sentence unless it is written for him and he says exactly what is given him. He repeats words in his inane and at time grossly mistaken tweets. He is like an adolescent sitting there in the early hours tweeting away, denying truth and always trying to show how the world is against him and how he is always right. Well, he is not, but we are stuck with him unless we can get him impeached for his violations of ethics. And there will be many.
     Why? Well, for the first time we have elected a president whose first concern is not the country nor its citizens nor the state of the world nor the conditions of humanity nor our edging closer and closer to the point of no return on climate and environmental change - no, not on that, but instead on how he is going to run the country based on how it will benefit HIS business holdings and it has already started, mucho!! This man who is supposed to be a role model for the citizens, encourages others to follow his crooked path, dodging laws, changing laws, making of his family a royal family, and sending shivers down the backs of many like me who are worried what will we look like after four years and will we still be a democracy.
     What is ahead? Well, we have the supposed deal with Carrier, which will keep - or so we are told - about 1,000 jobs here but the rest go off to Mexico. And how was this deal arranged? In a manner that will cost us, the taxpayers mucho dinero for there is a deal with corporate taxes and costs to companies that move offshore and less taxes on money that these corporations are holding offshore rather than spending here in the country. Not so sure this is the deal we need or want. Or can afford.
     More? Okay, there is a woman in Tennessee in prison for a YEAR and for the crime of what? Trying to get an abortion and since Tennessee makes it almost impossible, she tried a coat hanger one on herself with tragic results and for that she is arrested and held in jail till trial, a year already in delays. There is a woman in Indiana who was sentenced to 20 years for her abortion but the sentence was vacated on appeal. There will be more and more of this especially as Mike Pence is now VP elect and he is a rabid anti choice person. Tragedies await.
     The media has been hard pressed and threatened and yes, one does not always agree with the papers or other media outlets, but that is their right, to say and print what they want and hope for and think and even print contradicting articles in the same paper. I despise the Times for their Israel coverage and their bias, but rooted for them the whole way in this campaign. That is what makes - or has made - the world and the country go round - at least until now. What will be with this dude? I shudder.
     As for the rest of the world? Well, look at France. Look at Austria now with the right wing on the rise and bad news ahead. Look at England with its anti Semitic chantings by students and by Labor party members. Look at the aggression of Russia and Putin, the daring moves he has done and why not? He has his buddy Trump coming up soon enough so why worry, just forge ahead and take back all the former SSRs that were lost in the breakup of the Soviet Union. Russian is Russian.
Look at China now running to burn more coal as the pressure of the US is off them so WE are the ones who will suffer. We all share the same atmosphere and what goes around comes around, literally. Will we finally descend into the apocalyptic world we see in movies and novels, where people wear masks and breathing apparatus and the few elite live a different world and life while the rest suffer? You answer that.
     The world is running out of clean and available water. We are eating up our agricultural lands by the tens of thousands of acres. We are burning our oxygen giving trees. We are once again, ignoring the needs of people for the needs or desires of the few. Fat cat time is here once again and if you doubt that, just look at he prices of drugs, today insulin being a topic and look at the new head of Health and Human Services, one who does not believe in Medicare, who wants vouchers, is determined to get there and as for those of us with multiple chronic issues - well, screw you, for no insurance will take you, you are too costly, and doctors will not accept the paltry payments that Medicare will pay out so wave goodbye.
     And even the small and petty supposed leaders of our time follow suit, feeling a free rein given that our newly elected president does the same. Look right here in the Village where we are being pressured to take on a new contract and deal with Atlantic  whilst they have produced almost nothing in their visceral life, only words and promises and most of those cannot be taken to the bank! And what do you think Comcast will do for the last three years of their contract - run to service us, to solve our problems? Why would they as we have thrown them away after years of service, and now much improved service.
     We have a UCO which wastes money by the fistfuls. David Israel says he belongs to a watchdog committee that calls out governmental waste so hello, look in your own mirror. Thousands for murals, for extravagant plantings and many have to be redone and redone - just look at the Clubhouse where we now have a bricked up area with a tree in the middle rather than the flowers and plantings that were there before and before and before. Why can we not think ahead some time. Look at the waste of literally millions of dollars on the ----poor roadway job, at the money thrown away or repairing and paying for new items and then calling it a non capital expenditure so we have to eat it rather than Levy and WPRF.
    So to appear watchful and concerned, we try to make up for waste by nickel and diming amenities of the Village like a 2-3 thousand expense for karaoke, an activity enjoyed by many and had to be voted back in.
     We have a UCO who shuts down media outlets and allows them to deteriorate in quality and then when they are just so bad and cannot be hidden anymore, gets someone to come back, promises the world, so perhaps people will forget the damage done. But we must always remember that David Israel has a good pitching arm, managing to throw many people directly under the bus so be warned.
     Can this be fixed? I hope so, both nationally, internationally and right here in the Village. We can start by joining in a March echoing that of Washington post inauguration and all over the country. We are serving notice that we will all be watching, that the mandate is not for oppression nor for misogyny nor for hatred or division, nor xenophobia, or threats to the very fabric of our country, no matter what political party one belongs to. Join us here on Jan. 21, 2017, meet at the Clubhouse room C and step off for a circumnavigation of said Clubhouse at 10 AM and send a message to the world - we are here and we care.
     There is much work to be done - and if not us, then who? and if not now, then when? This and more, was said by a wise Rabbi in ancient times - and is just as relevant today as it was then. So roll up the sleeves and let us get started. We are not done yet. Not by a long shot.

YES!!!!

     There is nothing like an emphatic YES!! and a fist pump to indicate the joy of something, the triumph of something and that is what I use to describe this Thanksgiving week. We were all together, even the one in Israel as he Facetimed in and California arrived in a surprise visit at 6 AM. The noise level was probably violating some decibel rule, but what a good noise it was and how good it felt to see all the cousins interacting, laughing, hugging and the parents reverting to childhood, what with old routines and jokes, the retelling of escapades and Gerry and I - we just absorbed. And of course grabbed all the hugs and kisses we could get.
     Over the week it did not end. The reconnection was terrific on all levels. One kid could not keep out of the tree, climbing high and making me nervous. Very different from watching a child do that. Grandchildren worry you more. The little one was as bright as the sun, chattering away, vacuuming input as quickly as he shared his output of information with all, willing or not! And my two big boys? I am so proud of them as they have retained their sweetness and kindness of youth and are right thinking as well! Yay Hillary!!
     As for the gaggle of girls,14 to 16, all five of them? Delicious. With one I reviewed history of the world and we tied it to themes that have lasted forever. With another we discussed Lord of the Flies and I had to pull memories from 27 years ago, the last time I taught it. We discussed Ralph and Jack and Piggy and the Beast and the inner meaning of it all. With another, I had to dig out prehistoric memories of The Crucible, last studied in high school! Yet another seems to have been blessed with a technical skill with video making and such that leaves me confused! to say the least! And what joy to talk of one's skill in writing and how to transfer it to the real world as a career. My joy runneth over. But - never go shopping with five teenage girls. Instant insanity, never mind the cost! And never mind that it was difficult to gather one's thoughts with two little boys chattering in one's ears at 5 or 6 AM as I tried to write. I loved it, to tell the truth.
     Today is final goodbye day as the last crew leaves to begin a long drive back. As usual we remain for one more day to help straighten up, clean up, and ship out the lost and left behind belongings. Tomorrow it is home again for us, right into a crazy schedule and I cannot wait for Saturday, my day of rest. Sometimes it is good that time flies.
     So until sometime tomorrow all of Trump's stupidities and exaggerations will wait and all the doings of the Village will wait. All the fear of the renewed violent anti Semitism will wait as will the hatred that appears to be growing amongst the peoples of the world. All the bad can be set aside for yet one more day. And I can dream of the  next family reunion and wish that if only the world would understand the joy of love and togetherness and put aside the nonsense and the truly unimportant, what a better world we would have. Simplistic, I know, but one can dream, correct?

DOPPELGANGER VIEWPOINT? READ AND THINK

    
This was an essay in the Saturday NY Times by Charles Blow, a columnist, and could have flowed from my own pen. He states it far better than I could and covers all the worries and all the truths. The papers are full of the concerns we should all have, be it from his huge business dealings that will screw us all over in the end to his lack of decency and values and on and on, but just go and read and think and wonder - what the hell did we do?

"Donald Trump schlepped across town on Tuesday to meet with the publisher of The New York Times and some editors, columnists and reporters at the paper.

As The Times reported, Trump actually seemed to soften some of his positions:

He seemed to indicate that he wouldn’t seek to prosecute Hillary Clinton. But he should never have said that he was going to do that in the first place.

He seemed to indicate that he wouldn’t encourage the military to use torture. But he should never have said that he would do that in the first place.

He said that he would have an “open mind” on climate change. But that should always have been his position.

You don’t get a pat on the back for ratcheting down from rabid after exploiting that very radicalism to your advantage. Unrepentant opportunism belies a staggering lack of character and caring that can’t simply be vanquished from memory. You did real harm to this country and many of its citizens, and I will never — never — forget that.

As I read the transcript and then listened to the audio, the slime factor was overwhelming.

After a campaign of bashing The Times relentlessly, in the face of the actual journalists, he tempered his whining with flattery.

At one point he said:

“I just appreciate the meeting and I have great respect for The New York Times. Tremendous respect. It’s very special. Always has been very special.”

He ended the meeting by saying:

“I will say, The Times is, it’s a great, great American jewel. A world jewel. And I hope we can all get along well.”

I will say proudly and happily that I was not present at this meeting. The very idea of sitting across the table from a demagogue who preyed on racial, ethnic and religious hostilities and treating him with decorum and social grace fills me with disgust, to the point of overflowing. Let me tell you here where I stand on your “I hope we can all get along” plea: Never.

I don’t believe you care much at all about this country or your party or the American people. I believe that the only thing you care about is self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment. Your strongest allegiance is to your own cupidity.

I also believe that much of your campaign was an act of psychological projection, as we are now learning that many of the things you slammed Clinton for are things of which you may actually be guilty.

You slammed Clinton for destroying emails, then Newsweek reported last month that your companies “destroyed emails in defiance of court orders.” You slammed Clinton and the Clinton Foundation for paid speeches and conflicts of interest, then it turned out that, as BuzzFeed reported, the Trump Foundation received a $150,000 donation in exchange for your giving a 2015 speech made by video to a conference in Ukraine. You slammed Clinton about conflicts of interest while she was secretary of state, and now your possible conflicts of interest are popping up like mushrooms in a marsh.

You are a fraud and a charlatan. Yes, you will be president, but you will not get any breaks just because one branch of your forked tongue is s

I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything, but rather to speak up for truth and honor and inclusion. This isn’t just about you, but also about the moral compass of those who see you for who and what you are, and know the darkness you herald is only held at bay by the lights of truth.

It’s not that I don’t believe that people can change and grow. They can. But real growth comes from the accepting of responsibility and repenting of culpability. Expedient reversal isn’t growth; it’s gross.

I am not easily duped by dopes.

I have not only an ethical and professional duty to call out how obscene your very existence is at the top of American government;

So let me say this on Thanksgiving: I’m thankful to have this platform because as long as there are ink and pixels, you will be the focus of my withering gaze.

I’m thankful that I have the endurance and can assume a posture that will never allow what you represent to ever be seen as everyday and ordinary.

No, Mr. Trump, we will not all just get along. For as long as a threat to the state is the head of state, all citizens of good faith and national fidelity — and certainly this columnist — have an absolute obligation to meet you and your agenda with resistance at every turn.

I know this in my bones, and for that I am thankful."

LAST RODEO? OR NOT

    
    So why keep this up. After all there are other and closer topics to discuss, a la the proposed huge increase in fees from UCO and WPRF, the questions that remain about the whole cable issue, the fogginess when stated that EPIX is better than HBO - maybe, do not have the channel now but do know there are programs I watch on HBO along with much of America and will we have that as well. Also, how do you get more if you wish more than the first 99 channels? What is that cost? How do we know that this company which has only five areas is good for us and has anyone checked with the people of that service area and by anyone I mean other than the biased people of the committee and by the way, when was  a contract with CSI ever approved with that huge amount of fees being charged? There are remaining issues re the prohibitive costs of replacing the road, the irrigation system and how it got to this point and the false economy of not charging as we went along and so now we have a huge increase. We must discuss the increasingly incompetent and sullen leadership, if we an call it that, of David Israel. Oh, and David, we spoke to the Area Commander at PBSO and he swears up and down that they took the report of the REAL incident of shooting very seriously and by the way not finding shells or rifles left around for the convenience of PBSO to find is not unexpected. But anyway, you keep up your miserable ways as you only bother yourself as we know you already.But that is for another day.
     Today we keep on with Operation Watch Trump. So we find out that the man who states he has no conflicts with his businesses and his business of being President, this same man has shares in the pipeline that is being handled so disgracefully and has shares in the oil company that is involved as well. Conflict of interest anyone?
      And anyone care about what he is going to do with the anti sexual assault cases and education and prevention efforts on campus and anywhere else? Well, no surprise as this is the man who thinks his groping and his foul language should be considered a gift to those upon whom he inflicts it but what about the poor victims on campus? Are we now going to go fully back to supporting the poor guy who was so tempted and never mind the poor girl who suffered the attack. Never mind the transgenders and LGBT who are also attacked. Are we headed back to the days of Matthew Shepherd?
     This man has to be watched. He needs to be held to standards and by the way, would it not be wonderful if we really have a recount and he loses!!!!!! In any case, we are all watching - him and the other pols of Washington and indeed, the whole country. They must be true to ALL their constituents and remember - Hillary won the popular vote by far. There is no Trump mandate and there is certainly no mandate for the changes he proposes, including the ones which will hurt the blue collar class he supposedly backs and vowed to protect. We must protect ourselves for the next four years, force our supposed leaders to walk the straight and narrow and remind Trump that we did not elect his four children in as co-presidents!! It behooves him to remember that. it behooves US to remember our civic responsibilities as well. Last rodeo? Not by far!!

LAST CHANCE TO MAKE HILLARY CLINTON OUR NEXT PRESIDENT

On December 21, 2016, the Electoral College will vote to ratify the election. They will choose Donald Trump or do an about-face and cast their vote for Hillary Clinton. Although it has never been done before, it is constitutionally legal.   If they decide to go rogue and choose Hillary Clinton their only penalty would be to pay a small fine - a puny price to pay to keep the United States of American from falling into the hands of a person unfit to lead our country.  

CHANGE. ORG has stated a petition to make the Electoral College members cast their vote for Hillary Clinton.   I urge all Clinton supporters to sign the petition;  see instructions below. Let’s keep America from falling into the abyss of hell – bring back our sanity – destroy the empty promises Trump made to get elected.  

Sign the petition – it’s our only chance. 

Instructions to make Hillary Clinton out next President:

Google the following: MAKE HILLARY PRESIDENT, then scroll down to: ELECTORAL COLLEGE MAKE HILLARY CLINTON PRESIDENT and sign the petition.

 

THANKSGIVING DAY

   My plan for today was to wish all a Happy Thanksgiving and to be careful if driving anywhere, to remember to avoid confrontation both on the roads and at the table. But life intervenes and I simply cannot ignore some things that took place or that were revealed.
     So we now have a president to be who is what, too busy to get his daily intelligence briefings. Is it because he lacks the intelligence to understand the contents or is it that he simply does not care at all or better yet, will call upon his princelings and princess to be to go and mediate and talk, just as Junior did with the Syrians and the Russians. So I ask all of you, especially those of you who voted for this farce of a leader - did you also vote in his family as part and parcel of the ruling dynamic in America? Woe upon us all.
     Sean Hannity has taken to Twitter, the new fount of all that is Trump and called for a ban on basically all media outlets other than Fox News. And here we go with the censorship threats and the ridiculous use of Twitter as a quasi official outlet for this administration.
     Mitt Romney is opposed as a potential Secretary of State by Huckabee and Gingrich- a paragon of virtue - because he made some hones t statements that actually are true. He challenged Trump on his character, his honor and his honesty and how right he was. This Trump is a man without honor, substituting greed instead and concentrated on his main business of his businesses, thwarting and ignoring all ethics and laws regarding this an leaving the running of the country with its foreign entanglements to his children.
     Well, I for one want no part of this and hate to be the Cassandra crying out with warnings or the prophets of the Bible who warned the people what was coming, and being neither Cassandra nor a prophet, but only one worried person - I worry for the state of our country and the state of the world under this man. I worry for us as individuals as we have lost the art of conversation and cannot talk to each other over this divide and this man has done nothing to ease that but instead has exacerbated the whole issue.
     So enjoy this Day, enjoy the family and ban politics as a topic of the table or the living room and just think and wonder how we got here. And let us resolve to do better and watch this guy like millions of hawks, waiting and watching and jumping at the opportunity to impeach. Let us make sure that the American Dream remains true and we have it to be thankful for next year too.

HOW MANY WAYS? LET ME COUNT THEM.....

     It seems almost a sacrilege to liken the love poems of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barret Browning to the errata of Trump, but there it is. So let us count the ways in which this man has both disappointed us and frightened us. And perhaps let us take hope in the new urging of experts to the Clinton camp to demand recounts of Michigan - which still has not been called, and Wisconsin and Pennsylvania - due to intimations of hacking and tampering. Rigged did you say? Hmmmm.  And is there a likelihood that our esteemed future leader might have done something or encouraged it? Well, this is the guy who has stated openly that he always was representing Donald Trump, the guy who always looked at things as a deal, to crush the other guy, to go after any and all who did not appreciate him or let him have his way, and the guy who has refused to relinquish his business dealings and in fact, is continuing to manage them even as he violates the Emoluments Clause which forbids the President to benefit from any foreign profits, to keep it short. So - please, a recount, even though it will wreak havoc for a while, but think if we won! A fearful future would disappear into the ether and a president who communicates erratically via Twitter would also vanish from the history books. The same candidate who has tried to deny his German heritage and called himself a Swede! Why deny unless you believe in certain tainted ideas coming out of that, like when people go "Hail, Trump" along with a Nazi salute. Why not embrace a heritage which could also prove to be positive such as Goethe and Beethoven? Why? Because which do you embrace, Mr. Trump, which?
     So, on with the count. Now you say you are not sure if there is not actually climate changes occurring. Well, guess you gave up on the Chinese inventing this in order to get their way! About time and in fact, the Chinese have awful issues with climate change, many of which they have wreaked upon themselves - and we here in the USA had better get with the program and honor our commitments to working with the climate issues and with other countries.
     What about your own foundation, the supposed charity one that seems to have given the charity mostly to you, paying your bills, legal and otherwise. What's with that and the admission of that that just came out from the Foundation and you dare to talk of the Clinton Foundation? At least you realized what a disaster you would wreak upon yourself and your own financial history if you kept on down the wrong path.
     And how about your leaning towards inviting the military wholesale into the civilian government of the country. The military has always been subject to civilian control but what now when the two are mixed to an unhealthy degree. Planning a military ruled kingdom perhaps? Thinking of King Donald I dreams?  For what else could it be when you behave so strangely, call in the press and berate them for not recognizing your sterling points, for being "not fair" to you, for showing you with  double chin for pity's sake!!!
     You have made promises to the lower economic classes to improve their situations yet here you are hanging out with the fat cats. Here you are looking to kill the regulations that would avoid another meltdown at the banks and in the economy as happened in the Great Recession Here you are threatening to pull out of trade agreements and then, Mr. Trump, where and how will the farmers who backed you, go to sell their wheat and crops if they cannot get it overseas to their markets in Asia? Do you ever think it all through, Mr. Trump? And about those tax cuts....
     As for rigged elections, well, what will happen as voting rights are sent back to Jim Crow times except that this time around we will include perhaps other "undesirables" all the better to insure a Trump et al reign. Will you openly invite your pal, Putin, to walk with you then?
     And what about honesty and transparency or do you think that you can continue your business dealings along with the Presidency? What about Aberdeenshire in Scotland and your war there between your golf course and a wind farm and your continued pressuring them about it, using the prestige now of your future office to influence? What about China, who pays you rent and to whom you owe billions? How will you deal with them? Where is the separation and in that area, you must separate your children from at least one or the other - government or business! And by the way, Jared Kushner is not the miracle worker either that you portray him as, as the final guy who will actually make peace in the Middle East because he is an orthodox Jew. Does not work that way!!This poor guy and the pressure you put on him.
     What about your plans to cut funds and emphasis on fighting campus assaults? Is it because you feel sympathy for the "poor" guys accused of this, because you remember your days of groping and assaults on women, on their bodies and on their minds and value? Truth time, Mr. Trump.
   Finally, Mr. Trump, come out in the open, in a full and recorded session, not in a tweet, or in a closed session but openly and strongly state in no uncertain terms that you disavow and refuse any and all support from the nationalistic white movement, from the neo Nazis and that you will have an impartial bi partisan investigation into Bannon and Sessions and other suspect bigots that you have appointed to your future administration. That you will deny anyone who believes that the United States was and is and should be a  white state, designed and meant only for them and if it takes some bloodshed and violence to make it so - so be it. These are the words and thoughts of Spencer, who backs you to the hilt. Deny him,  Mr. Trump, deny him.
     If some of the words and thoughts in this posting appear to be a bit harsh, well, I, and many others, are frightened nigh unto death at the thought of what your administration could mean, where it could lead. It is not a joke, nor a job for an overgrown 12 year old, one who has never grown up, who has never gotten past the stage of "I'll get you back!" Show us that you have grown up, that you have accepted the rules of society, of the country, realized that you are not out for Donald Trump anymore, but out for the country that you will have vowed to serve. Show us that, Mr. Trump, allay the fears, show us that people can reform. Do the right thing, the many right things - be presidential in the best and highest sense of the word and meaning. Please, for all our sakes.

WHAT? ME WORRY?

Remember that saying from Mad Magazine? It was a satirical magazine which skewered the balloons of society of the time and that tradition is now carried on by The Onion, but in any case, the answer to that question is yes - worry. In fact this is indeed the time to worry, particularly if you value justice, democracy, free speech, a safe society and the true dream of America.     I have written of the anti Semitism of the Trump camp, the horrid things that they have spewed from their awful mouths and minds, even to the one which mused that "perhaps Jews are not real people, but false like the Golem.." How often have we heard that statement just before the Jews were slaughtered, and in Nazi Germany they were burned and drowned and tortured and buried alive, worked to death, men ,women and children, even babies.
     Now we have Jeff Sessions, a most bigoted man who could not attain a Federal judgeship due to his statements and now he is going to be the Attorney General of the United States?! If that does not send a shiver down your spine then I know not how you think. Do not think that because Jared Kushner is there in the Trump court that he or you is immune. The Court Jew goes down with every one else.
     Half a century ago, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “Let us yield no inch to bigotry, let us make no compromise with callousness.” People, this is as true now as it was then and serves as a wakeup call and think not that you are immune because you are not Jewish or Moslem, or a minority or just plain different because your orientation is other than the norm as is defined by them or any other person who is different and even those in the lead are in danger for there is no loyalty here, certainly not from the leader to the hired help.
     If you noticed the papers held by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, one of Donald Trump's potential picks for Department of Homeland Security you might have seen that the topics on the papers were  "according to a report from The Topeka Capital-Journal, reveal plans to question "high-risk" immigrants over support for Sharia law and the U.S. Constitution. A bullet point says "Bar the Entry of Potential Terrorists."
The Topeka-Journal also noted that the document calls for an update and reintroduction of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration system, originally implemented after 9/11. It mentioned "extreme vetting questions" for "high-risk aliens" as well." Are you trembling yet? Or are you still thinking you are immune? Think again.
     Vivian Leigh, the actress said that "the best thing to do with the past and the future is to ignore them, otherwise  there's never an enjoyable present". I strongly disagree and so do most historians. The past is part of the present and there is no future if we ignore the past and write off the present.
     Thomas Jefferson said that "I find the harder I work, the luckier I get. " We need to work hard. We need to keep an eye on this future administration or else we will lose all that we value. Quickly and right before our eyes. The man who would be president has met business partners and while supposed to be setting up a new administration has the time to speak to the president of Argentina asking him to fix some deal up for him, using his new position to be as incentive!!!! This is the man going to be our leader? This is the man who is supposed to lead us into the future and he will - but what future and at what cost?
     The popular vote, meaning more of the Americans who voted, voted not for Trump but for Clinton and only because of an antiquated system, one which gives rural areas and states more votes than they should have, more bang for the buck, do we have this Trump in position. Sadly so and I would be the most grateful if I were proven to be wrong but I hardly doubt it. My antennae are up, as an American, as a woman, as a social liberal, as a Jew.
     Someone out there prove to me that all his shenanigans, all his neo Nazi supporters and the alt right creeps, all the bigots who have been named as probable and definite members of his administration, all the ridiculous tweets sent out early in the morning from a man who acts like a big overgrown baby, who does not inspire admiration nor emulation other than by those who need to be directed by such a man and such a philosophy - prove to me that there is more than this to him, that he will grow quickly into his position and why one should think so. He picks fights with anyone who speaks freely from Alec Baldwin to the Hamilton cast, needs to get back, to take revenge, This is sickening. This is shameful.
     This has amazed the world and not in a good way only strengthening the other dictators and demagogues like Duterte and Putin and Erdogan and Assad and on and on. This man who cannot separate his business from that of the country, who needs his children to hold his hand and tell him what to do - against Federal law, this man who is a fraud in his dealings with Trump University, who owes billions to China and other foreign entities - how will he administer this country. This country is NOT, most emphatically not a business. It is a country of people with needs and hopes and dreams. This man must man up, grow up, walk down the righteous path and put aside those with hateful plans and views. This man must abide by the law, even if his businesses must be sacrificed. That is his duty to the people. If only he would do it.
      So yesterday he had a meeting with the media, the various news figures, anchors and executives and read them the riot act. Next is the NY Times which has been following him and criticizing and so now they are in for it. Not very American or constitutional is it? Not speaking very well for our president to be. And The National Holocaust Museum says they are worried after seeing this and everything else that has been going on. They refer to the video which showed

."..Richard Spencer, leader of the National Policy Institute, shouting, "Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!" as some gave Nazi salutes."

The swamp gets murkier and the hopes of it getting drained are rapidly drowning.
     What? Me worry? Oh yeah!!

WHERE TO START - MRS. WILSON? ETHICS? PRINCIPLES? NAZI SALUTES?

     One might say it is as if the blog writer has a plethora of riches, so much to write about, yet is it truly so? Yesterday I wrote about the top down theory of behavior and what we have with Trump and indeed, what might be said we have here in the Village and UCO, though thank the Lord above we seem to have avoided some of the truly crazies, but there David Israel sits at the top - not good. But anyway, every day brings about more horrific news out of the Trump camp, frightening news and I wonder in fear exactly what we have done in this election wherein the LOSER of the popular vote now rules the roost and what a turkey this guy is, a dangerous one at that.
     Mrs. Wilson? When Woodrow Wilson was badgered by the Congress as he tried to get us to join the League of Nations, he had a stroke, understandably so. What happened next was not so understandable. His wife took over his job, refusing entry to the president for then his inability to be president would have been exposed and she ran the government. So hence - Mrs. Wilson and hence the deja vu situation today. While there is no stroke, there is a lack of ability, an unfitness to be president and instead we have an inner council of forbidden by law children of the president elect  who are in reality running the joint. There sit Eric, Donald Jr. Ivanka, and Jared - in on top secret conferences and meetings, in at the business meetings that continue - another ethics and legal violation and the rest of the "advisers"? Wish they were not there but they are and it is time we looked at them and spoke the truth. Denying what is so does not make it so.
 Here is another pretty little story. Trump was in major danger of facing an impeachment if he did not settle the Trump University suit so after all his tantrums shouting that he would never settle - guess what? He did and for a huge sum, something he swore would never happen. Now he is in danger of the next ethics violation - his children and the government and himself and the government and his businesses. One cannot sit on both chairs at the same time so either the business or the presidency. I know what I and many people prefer, but he must choose his path and one path involves major legal issues.
     He must also make up his mind and stop his dithering and his lies. Christie and Giuliani went under the bus. Now is Christie in emergency care? The lobbyists were out and yet here they are again, en masse, in his administration. Draining the swamp? Seems to me that the swamp is getting even murkier by the day. And the supporters. That is the scariest ever. Here is a little tidbit.
     "But now his tone changed as he began to tell the audience of more than 200 people, mostly young men, what they had been waiting to hear. He railed against Jews and, with a smile, quoted Nazi propaganda in the original German. America, he said, belonged to white people, whom he called the “children of the sun,” a race of conquerors and creators who had been marginalized but now, in the era of President-elect Donald J. Trump, were “awakening to their own identity.”
     This is how the alt right on Saturday, in DC, celebrated their present inclusion in the "Moral Majority", and rejoicing that their leader, Bannon, is right there with Trump. And the two sons of Trump keep tweeting and retweeting memes of anti Semitism and the rest of the world - why sleep is so nice!!
     Trump must choose. Is he truly the president of all Americans, no matter their color or ethnicity or how long they and their families have been in America, or is he the president of the white nationalists, racists to their very core, and a friend to no one and  to no principle other than to their hatred? This hatred is growing within the country, having gotten worse after the election as a result of certain people thinking that they now rule the roost. Especially with a president who wishes to establish his realm and reign with raising his family members, his children, to the level of inheritors, princes and princesses of the realm.
     I believe what we have now is a growing blindness and deafness. People who voted for Trump, or who did  not vote at all and lost Hillary the electoral votes, are now beginning to see what they have wrought, are beginning to see that they cannot not see and hear what is there but oh yes, they can try, so they look away from all that is happening, at all the hate that is growing, at the scary voices that are being raised, at the ethical violations of the president to be - they do not wish to hear or see this, so they say it does not affect them and on they go with their lives but one cannot outrun such disaster, not at all and history has shown that to be true.
     Benjamin Franklin said, "Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are." The Pastor in Nazi Germany said it as well when he stated the fact that if one ignored it all, when they finally came for him there was nobody left to protest. Hatred grows. It incites more hatred and uncertainty. It leads to dictatorships and death. It certainly leads to the undoing of democracy.
    We must look to the present and the possible futures we have in front of us. Demand that the new president to be live up to the principles and ethics demanded of him by history, by our Constitution, by decency, and by law. No one is above the law and no one can incite such hatred that is now growing in our high schools and middle schools and full blown in our universities. While we have those who protest the wrong that is growing, we also have those who parrot the racism heard in their homes, displayed by our so called leaders and then why not, they say, we can do the same and they do.
     There are all sorts of protests and marches going on and being planned for the future. There is the Women's March in Washington on Saturday Jan. 21 to point out to all that we are watching, all the people, all the Americans who want to see justice prevail, to see Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security  left alone, to see ethics being employed and followed in our government, to make sure that our pols do the right thing, to stand up for women's rights, for LGBTQ people, for children, for respect for all. And we here in the Village will also have a march on that day at the Clubhouse, gathering at 9:30 in Room C and stepping off at 10. We will push your chair, help you walk, or invite you to wait for us until we return to Room C. All are welcome - men and women - all denominations and political leanings for there is no demarcation or human and  civil rights between Republican or Democrat, only between people who care and those who do not. Which are you? More flyers and information will be forthcoming after Thanksgiving.
     Trump had a fit after Alec Baldwin satirized him on SNL, not the first president or public figure to have this done, part and parcel of the democracy with free speech that we live in. Trump had a cow and wants his "equal time", tweeting so - but not so after an election. Alec Baldwin tweeted him back - your job is now to be president and ours to speak. Truer words never have been spoken. Would that they become true.

FROM THE TOP

     The title can refer to two thoughts. one thought or theme is that moods and ethics and ideas often trickle down from the top. If the boss is good, so will be the staff and if the other way, then the same thing. It can also mean to begin anew, all over again, press reset.
     I like both these themes for to me, they are connected. As a teacher, when the principal was a scowling meanie, then the school had a lousy atmosphere, not pleasant, and when the principal was a human and humane being then so were the staff and the student body, practicing what they saw modeled for them. It is the same for a doctor's office or a business office or anywhere one can think.
     Think of what we have now. We have a president to be who cannot stand any criticism. Well, tough! This is what comes one's way when in the public eye. If one cannot deal with it then please, resign and go back to wherever you like to hide. But there are freedoms and rights which are ours by virtue of being Americans and indeed, being human beings. Grow up. Learn ethics. Practice them.
     So Dixon called out Pence on the sins of the administration to be, of the fears that the whole country has re some awful things that are being said and some awful people who are being appointed. Hopefully Congress will grow some so as to remember that they represent the American people - ALL the people - and they can strike down any appointee who will harm these very same people. And make no bones about it - we all stand together or we fall together. No dictatorial society remains in power forever and any attempt to change our American society into one will not go over well I daresay. There are already so many acts of protest and anger and despair and shock.
     So Dixon spoke politely and Pence, to his credit, listened. Dixon is far from the only one who is speaking out and the theme is worldwide. In Israel, a message was sent to a bigot.  "May you have a week of love, pride and full of acceptance of the other."  And here a message was also sent, a plea to serve all the people, all the diverse people who are Americans. Trump, as usual, goes to his Twitter and says it is not right, not fair. Really? This is life and conversation, as was stated, is allowed. Pence was booed, but again, that is a right we have and if one finds that we are lacking in some polite societal talk, well - look around - from the top - and see what we have. Not lookin' pretty, is it.
     We have all sorts of nasty noises being made all over the country. We have a president to be who cannot and will not leave his businesses behind and get on with the new business he is in - the head of a country. Instead, knowing that he is truly incapable, he has a thirtyish couple running the country via the administration meetings and conferences. Not acceptable!!! These same two people have their own business affairs and there is no daylight between the administration of the United States and the administration of these businesses. In fact, a cheesy deal was the marketing of a $10,000 bracelet that Ivanka wore to all who would buy it given where its model was first worn. Tacky to say the least and certainly no separation. Then we have the two of them attending a meeting with the Japanese head, Abe, and we have Trump himself meeting with Indian business people with whom he has a hotel deal going forth.
     Well, maybe this is good news for he can be impeached for ethics violation and perhaps we can then start anew - from the top - and have a better future for us all. And in the meanwhile, there must continue to be loud voices heard from all of us, speaking out against these violations of trust, these violations of what a president should be and how one should act. We need a good "from the top", especially in these trying times. The whole world is watching - remember that one, people, for our from the top is sending bad messages to the world and the right wingers are coming out of the woodwork , the extreme right wingers and that bodes not good for the rest of us.
     I do not care for whom one voted. What we have to do is look at the facts now, the realities of life, at the statements that are being made, the hate filled actions, the Neo Nazis rising to the top of the scum pond, and if you are decent then you know that this must be fought. Women must be respected. Rights must be retained and even improved - here and in the rest of the world. If we neglect this then what happens, what comes around, rests squarely on our shoulders - at least the shoulders of those who did nothing, who said nothing, who let it all collapse on top of us.
     From the top? Yes, definitely. We must demand that the new top behave as an adult, not a sour and hulking boy of twelve, bullying those weaker or smaller than he in the schoolyard and then whining when one comes along who fights back. We must have a from the top reset, especially if the top here continues to violate ethics and standards of decency. And by the way, if you wish to read some fascinating facts about his behavior, read Megyn Kelly's new book and then have sympathy for Melania for it appears that Trump is continuing his "romeo" days, as he tried to woo Kelly- for relationship? For kinder words in her reporting? For whatever - but it stinks! To the high heavens indeed.
     From the top. Choose people. We can force our new president to be to also start anew, reform his behavior and give us the leader that we and the world needs.
     Ach! The world stinks right now so off we go to the Mouse House to see a grandson in from California. Time to imbibe of the sweet and happy atmosphere of Disney.

WHO MARCH? WHY MARCH?

     On Saturday, January 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration, there will be a Million Woman March, a march composed of not only women, but men who support the ideals and hopes and dreams, the demands and the warnings of this march. All who wish to make their wishes and yes, demands, known, are welcome but what are these wishes and hopes and dreams. I can only state them as I see them, through my eyes and heart and mind.
      Most decent people are disgusted with the nastiness and the filth of this campaign. The hatred, the threats, the viciousness - it all has to end, STOP!! But it was not only the campaign for there is much more. How many more Bill Cosbys are there going to be? How many more Roger Ailes? How many more young men who follow their example and think it okay to date rape, to attack unconscious and/or drugged women, to rate women on physical attributes and then assign them roles in sexual fantasies? How much more?
     How much more can we take of the human trafficking that is an ever growing industry? How much more of the abuse of children, of immigrants held as slaves in the homes of masters? How much more legalization or acceptance of hatred, of violence? How much more can we take of pictures of starving and bloodied children, victims of the war of their adults, or victims who are strapped to bombs and sent out to die, to children who are taken, threatened, brainwashed into becoming child soldiers? How much more to child brides? How much more?
      How much more time is needed for people to accept that the half of the world's population that is female have rights that are equal to those of men? How many more years will our voices be stifled, ignored, discounted? It seems that it takes a turbulent time to bring this issue to the forefront. During the Vietnam era women were in the front rows of marches, chaining themselves to fences to block the way, in the buses of Freedom Riders but the gains and the equality vanished into the ether over the years and the hard fought for gains and rights faded into the past.
     Well, these times have brought the whole issue out again. The female candidate was abused, not physically, but emotionally, mentally and the lies of the Internet simply flourished. This hatred of one woman led to other hatreds to come out. Michael Flynn, the new national security adviser, wrote this in a tweet - "This is a new low," he said, retweeting a message that read: "Not anymore, Jews. Not anymore." It was okay to state that one supported Israel yet tweet about the hatred of Jews, of their "internationalism", about their so called conspiracies. The vicious anti Semitism of the past came roiling out of its filthy hiding places and I ask how can one support Israel and be so openly anti Semitic? Is it that the only good Jew is a dead Jew according to these statements and contradictions? Well, not again.
     Well, we are serving notice on the world, on Trump and his administration, on any politician who thinks that he has a right to be anachronistic in one's thoughts and actions. We will follow the ACLU and the NY Times, and all other thinking people who realize that the time has come again for us to rise up, RISE UP, and make demands and give warnings. We will not accept a registry of Moslems living in this country. That thought is abhorrent. That leads to other registrations and Jews have been there before. No more of that. Yes, to the destruction of Islamic terrorism but yes also to the destruction of terrorism and threats from the alt right and extreme right. In fact all terrorism needs to be a thing of the past and we women will raise our voices in that fight.
     We will raise our voices for equal pay for equal work. We will raise our voices for the right to enter any and all professions. We will raise our voices against sexual demands in order to get a job or be promoted or keep that job. We will raise our voices for our daughters and yes, for our sons as well, for demeaning practices demean those who are the targets and those who are the instigators. We will raise our voices for the right of women to obtain contraception and family planning advice. We will raise our voices for the right of women to choose, a most bone crushing soul destroying decision, but one that is their right and not that of the old white men in Washington or state capitals.
We will raise our voices for peace and friendship, for cooperation and for warning -WE ARE WATCHING AND WILL ACT.
     It is not for us to tolerate a world where our youngsters are now playing a game called The Trump Challenge wherein the words "Trump is Coming" are shouted and all scream and run away from the perceived thereat. This is wrong, so wrong for our kids to think of their president as such and yet there it is. So we, the adults, the women of the world have to work doubly hard to forestall and prevent such things, make sure that this campaign is not a repetitive one for if so, then just follow the thought.
     You might not agree with all that is written here but for sure you must agree to at least some, so on Jan. 21, 2017 come to the Clubhouse here at the Village and march for your beliefs, for your daughters and granddaughters, for the rights of LGBTQ people to live their lives in peace, to be accepted and welcomed as equal partners in our society and world. Let us force the cleanup of politics now and in the future. Let us raise our voices in hope.
     Come, join us on Saturday, January 21, 2017 and send a message to the powers that be that no more!! NO More will we tolerate what has gone on, no matter who is the cause and the instigator. Raise our voices. Rise Up! All are welcome. We will meet in Room C and then at 10 AM will march around the Clubhouse, past the pools and around the other side and back to Room C where hopefully we will have a speaker or two from amongst us. Those who cannot walk that distance, please wait for us in Room C and make your voice count as well. Join us. Hear our voices. Raise them loud and proud. There will be flyers soon at the Clubhouse and by the associations. It has been

okayed so there is nothing illicit about this at all. Come, join us, WE ARE WOMEN - HEAR US ROAR!!! 

KING DONALD I, ET AL

     It appears to be that despite all the various requests and pleadings to the American people to work together that it will not be possible, not now, in any case. Hillary pleads at the Children's Defense Fund to  “believe in our country, fight for our values and never give up.” This despite the emotional moments where she acknowledged that at times this past week she has felt like curling up and never moving out of the house again. And yet she encourages us to keep up the struggle and never forget the children, a concern she has had since the beginning of her professional career as a lawyer.
      Speaker after speaker, public figures, one after the other speak up at the horrors going on in the new Daily Horror Show. Trump exercises his assumed royal powers in his attempt to become King Donald I what with the royal appointees kept unsure - are they in or are they out - and for sure - just check with the heir apparent, Jared Kushner, he who will be cleared in to participate in top secret briefings with no nepotism evidently since he is a son in law and not a blood relative. Humph!!
     And yet His Royal Majesty, The Orange Man, keeps repeating and tweeting that his transition is going just fine. Uh huh. Wonder what not fine would mean? And for the piece de resistance, we have his appointment of Bannon as his adviser, as his political ally, as a key figure in his new government. This is the same guy about whom much is written.
"Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said via Twitter on Sunday night that the ADL opposes Bannon’s appointment to a senior White House role because “he & his alt-right are so hostile to core American values.”
Endorsing Greenblatt’s message, NAACP president Cornell William Brooks tweeted overnight: “Racism has been routinized; anti-Semitism normalized; xenophobia deexceptionalized; & misogyny mainstreamed.”
     And in addition we have other wonderful words about the situation."His victory has been celebrated by European far-right groups, including Marine Le Pen of France’s National Front party, who wrote that Trump’s election set the American people “free.” Geert Wilders, a Dutch anti-Islam campaigner, called the Trump victory a “revolution” to be repeated in his own homeland."
     Even Greg Popovich,the head coach for the Spurs has gotten into the fray with this comment. "Well, I think [Bannon’s appointment] is very troublesome to many of us. As I said, it would be great if [Trump] made some statements to all of the groups he disparaged, to bring us all together, and to allay fears, because there are a lot of fearful people, and for good reason. But rather than doing that, he inflamed it even more with that appointment. It’s kind of ironic.
“I wonder sometimes if [Trump] made all those statements, he certainly whipped up the fear mongering and emotion in that base, but it’s going to be ironic because now a lot of the things he told them he’s going to do he’s already started to walk back a little bit. It’s sort of like, did he use them all to get elected, and thus winning again? He’s pretty good at that. You can’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth. It changes day to day, depending on the situation and what he needs at the moment.”
     And finally we have 169 Congressmen signing a petition or letter to Trump re Bannon - “Mr. Bannon’s appointment sends the wrong message to people who have engaged in those types of activities, indicating that they will not only be tolerated, but endorsed by your Administration,” the letter reads, referring to recent attacks targeting religious and ethnic minorities. “Millions of Americans have expressed fear and concern about how they will be treated by the Trump Administration, and your appointment of Mr. Bannon only exacerbates and validates their concerns.”
     And this is not the end. We have the same lobbyists against whom he railed now being appointed to his administration and oh yes, the ban on lobbyists? Not a problem. Just resign and then all is forgiven so exactly whom is The Donald fooling? Himself? Perhaps, but I believe he is a person with nefarious motives and I do not trust the fate of our democracy to his hands. We have the Mexican government gearing up to protect Mexican immigrants, legal and not, from the harms aimed at them by King Donald and his henchmen. What? Are we gearing up for a new Mexican - American War? Why is this man aggravating the world and acting as if there will be no consequences. Thinking of the cheap gas prices? Well, OPEC has now come up with a plan to cut production so watch those prices skyrocket. So much for working with allies!
     Our allies simply cannot trust us anymore so I wonder what will happen if G-d forbid WE need to call upon them - so will they answer? Why would they when they hear the daily rant out his mouth about how we need to pull out of agreements and entanglements, need to go it alone and on and on. So will we stand alone? Yes and no for NO country in the world can stand alone any more. The global connections are too powerful. Our farmers need to export their wheat and we need to import our fruit as we continue to chew up our agricultural lands for more and more houses and unnecessary business parks. That butterfly on the other side of the world grows ever more powerful wings and the storm it starts on the other side of the world is far more powerful and impactive than we had ever predicted or expected. Like it or not - "we are the world" and isolationism does not work. Been there done that. 
    And things locally are not much better. Here we are gearing up for a new election in the Village and we have the same old garbage again - the attempts of the local Tweed gang CV version as David Israel appoints his lackeys to the committee so as to insure the continuation of his harmful regime and the man just does not learn or never learned how to be a decent human. Yesterday our paths crossed entering and leaving the Clubhouse. I behaved as taught to me from childhood that I should always do the right thing, so I nodded to him and said "Good Morning". I got a troll face in response and a muttered brief comment which was unclear due to the mutterings, so I asked, "What?" and he snipped out, "It's a long word." So what, is he intimating  -that I would not understand long words? Dear David, do not go there for I can and have run rings around you in verbal sparring and have proven you so wrong and called you out on your misdeeds. Of course I have even complimented you on the rare positive deeds but tsk, tsk. In any case, I responded in a sympathetic tone that "David, you really need help, serious help. Mental help" and went on my way.
     This is a leader? This is our leader? I cannot figure out who is worse - Donald or David? But I guess Donald for the larger impact and David for the great impact on our daily lives. Not a nickel difference between them. So David, follow your apparent political idol and say that word clearly aloud, post it on your blog and let the world know what comes out of your mouth as you talk to women, emulating The Orange Man. But what can one expect from one who refuses to debate, who believes in backroom policy making, who believes his position is the way to serve his own desires, who has led us into potential bankruptcy or huge increases in the near future - and by the way, the truth. What is the total of UCO and WPRF increases for next year. Enough with the obfuscation of blathering words and excuses. The facts, dear, the facts. The numbers please.
     What a mess we are in  nationally, internationally and very locally. And the world  asks what the Americans have done to themselves, what possessed them and I agree adding on that we can ask that same question of the delegates here. Much work remains ahead of us. We will need to make our voices heard.

SO WHY KEEP ON?

     Several people have asked me why I keep on with the postings re Trump and his Trumpers and the awful situation we are in and will be facing for not just four years but for more years than that as we try to undo the damage he will have done  and has already started upon. Well, there are many reasons, but first of all is the right to do so, the right guaranteed to me by the Constitution of our country, the same Constitution that the Trump administration to be wants to negate in many ways.
     Trump is a major whiner. Kinda' reminds me of David Israel who also cannot abide criticism and who also wanted to shut down all media that was opposed to him and mostly succeeded if it were not for the Herculean efforts of Ed Grossman, Neil Moore and a whole crew of writers, of deliverers and of business establishments who resisted the threats of David Israel and who consistently to this day ask for their copies of The Messenger. So the opposition continues and we see the results in events within UCO and the Village.
     But just as that is not yet enough what with the attempts to foist upon us a broadband that most do not want, with the attempts to always run interference for WPRF and the Levys and force us to pay what are really expenses for capital improvement and not simply "fix" jobs, it is also not enough for  us to say that we can do nothing for the next four years to oppose and block Trump in his pathetic attempts to run a government in conjunction with our laws, our Constitution and as a democracy. For make no mistakes about it, I have been saying and many others are now saying that they worry for the state of our country and the state of its democracy under the reign of Trump. And again, make no mistake about it, this man has megalomaniac issues and sees himself as a king, as a ruler, as a demagogue in the footsteps of his fellow demagogues that he so admires. From the gold and gilt and marble corridors of his apartment in NY to the mess of his transition government, he is remarkably similar to despots such as Henry VIII if we are to go back in history who simply got rid of anyone and everyone who disagreed with him. Putin anyone?
     Tom Hanks at his own tribute took the time to speak of the mood of the country and  said,
“That journey never ceases, it never stops. Sometimes, to quote a Bruce Springsteen song, it’s one step forward two steps back, but we still aggregately move forward. We who are a week into wondering what the hell just happened will continue to move forward. We have to choose to do so, but we will move forward because if we do not move forward. What is to be said of us? …
‘We will take everything that has been handed to us as Americans and we will turn our nation and we will turn the future and we will turn all the work that we have in before us into some grand thing of beauty.” Hanks said this to a standing ovation."
     So we have to have hope and we will and we will continue to work hard to limit the damage of his reign. It already is a mess what with people resigning or being fired, what with his son in law Jared Kushner reorganizing and firing people - evidently our president in the shadows, what with our closest allies not being able to get thru to our presumptive president elect. The entire world is facing a crisis and this man just keeps on tweeting and boasting of gaining more followers, like a teen ager who boasts of the same thing. This is a man who has never grown up, a big baby who throws tantrums, who takes as his closest advisers fellow babies and tantrum throwers, including the most disappointing man ever, Rudy Giuliani, a man I used to admire tremendously, but not now.
     This is a man and followers who solicit and accept the approval of the rankest nationalistic and nativist movements , whose anti Semitism is abhorrent and I cannot understand that Jared Kushner thinks that he will be immune to their hatred. The court Jew is never safe, never.
     We have open rebellion, civil resistance at this point but who knows the future. The younger generation rants and protests and refuses to accept the presidency of Trump and will fight tooth and nail to prevent not its existence, but its proposed programs and poisonings of the social network of our country. We have police chiefs refusing to do the dirty work of rounding up immigrants. They do not wish to be the collaborating police forces emulating those of the French and the Ukrainian and others during WWII. We have cities who say they will be sanctuary cities and will not allow this proposed abomination to take place within their municipal borders. And of course here in the Village we have the PBSO who has categorically stated that they are not David Israel's "posse and enforcement agent." And we have the outrage hopefully growing that will cut off at the knees the awful and dangerous racist and misogynistic statements of his Trumpers. I refuse to write what was said yesterday re Michelle Obama but suffice it to say it was disgusting and revealing much of the filth to be found in many Trumpers.
     We have the open threats and promises of revenge; we see what he has done to Megyn Kelly in his attempts to buy her off and then shut her down when she refused to be bought, when other media personnel also refused to be bought. Money does  not always buy the souls of people.
     And of course we have the hopeful but I believe vain possibility that the electoral college will vote for Clinton rather than Trump, but that is a long shot by far. What we need to do is get rid of it for the future so that the majority of the people get their wish. Also remarkably similar to what we have here in the Village where if we had a one vote per resident owner we would have a very different election result each and every time, a more open one and one more reflective of what we truly want and have here in the Village.
     I can and will go on for as long as I am able. Civil resistance, peaceful protest, marches, letters to legislators, electing future pols who have the guts and the honor and the rectitude to do what is right, who stand by their convictions and not wimp out so as to get a job and some power.
     For the feelings of America and its press and its thinkers, read the current issue of the New York Magazine. Here is a quote from just one writer.
"Trump's election has sent a statement to Americans and the world about the country's identity. It has been received viscerally, by bullies abusing minorities as well as by fearful allies overseas.....Women, religious minorities, immigrants and prospective immigrants, transgender people, young Africans with iphones, the beat down opposition in places like Russia and China, and the people who bully all the preceding groups and more - the whole planet, really- need reminding that the (other) version of America has prevailed before and will prevail again."
     And we must not forget his proposed damage to the environment, a program which Obama has worked hard to improve in an attempt to stave off disaster. "Trump’s election to the presidency of the most powerful nation on Earth is a serious blow to our hopes of preserving a livable climate for our children." So says Jeff Masters, a known weather expert. Read his further words on his Weather Underground site, read and worry.
      People, we cannot ever stop. Ever. Never mind our future, but mind the future of our kids and grandchildren and great grandchildren. Never allow the apocalyptic movies of a possible future turn into reality. The Mad Max world of desertification of the world, of the fighting and killing for food and water, the world of a future overrun by the oceans, the tribal mentality that will rule the world - this is not what we want, but what we will get if we do not speak up. I only pray that those people who voted for Trump and have a brain see the error of their ways and come round to the right way of thinking and join in the fight.
     And now it is my sad duty to pass on a notice that I just received. CV has lost a good man.

"We have been informed of the passing of Capt. Al. who "Greeted" thousands of our residents & guests

at the main club house for many years.  I had the pleasure of interviewing  him a few years back, when I was  associated with the Reporter, we did a brief bio and he provided me with a family recipe that was  served in their Palm Beach restaurant, many years ago...

His warm smile & friendly approach will be missed by many. 

Funeral arrangements are pending; once they are known, we will inform you.

RIP Capt. Al

Bettie Lee Bleckman

 May he rest in peace.

AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

The following is an article written by a young woman, an activist, and originally appeared elsewhere. I believe it expresses much of what many of us are feeling, be one a Jew or Muslim or immigrant, or woman, or decent man or whatever. The appointment of Bannon, an anti Semite, a holder of the flag of the alt right, a member of the extreme nationalistic and nativist movement that supported Trump, this man is bad, simply bad and this is whom our president to be chooses.

     There is no mandate for this hate. Hillary still leads 48% to 47% in the popular vote and just look at these kids, these great kids, these college and now high school kids who are rejecting Trump's hatred of others, his sneaky attempts to get his children!!!! clearance for top secret information and run his business empire. There are rules against nepotism yet Trump once again thinks he is beyond and above the rules. I cannot stress strongly enough how dangerous this man is, this Trump and his Trumpers. And the children shall lead the way. What is in store for today? More high schoolers protesting and marching, taking their teachers along with them? More media articles exposing the hate and racism and xenophobia and brutality even of Trump? Where will it end? I do not believe that there has ever been such protests against a president elect so perhaps we had better make sure we listen. Read what follows and tell me- does she not say it all? Strong, but does it not have the ring of truth, of the anger that is out there and is not going away?

The following is an open and unedited letter to Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President-elect Donald Trump, from actress, producer, and political activist Noa Tishby. It originally appeared on jewishinsider.com.

Dear Jared, or Kapara, as we say in Israel —

You don’t know me, and I doubt that we will ever meet. However, I have a few words for you. I am an Israeli and a Jew, like you, so let me first start by thanking you for bringing into our folds the stunning Ivanka. We need more smart and lovely women like her. Well done Jared and Yael!

Now let’s talk tachles. Step one in the Twelve-Step Program is acknowledging you have a problem and that your life has become unmanageable. In other words, acknowledge reality.
So here is reality: being a male chauvinist pig is a great thing. It’s awesome and it gets you elected President. Are you one too, Jared? Are you a pig? Because many people are saying (which thanks to your father-in-law is now a perfectly reasonable argument to use in any conversation or debate) that you are the puppeteer behind the puppet.
Hillary Clinton was voted for by fewer men — as a proportion of the electorate — than any other candidate in the history of the United States. As Israeli parliament member Merav Michaeli said, a huge majority of white men voted for Trump not despite the fact that he harassed and assaulted women, but because of that. They want to take back that privilege that we women took away from them in recent years. In the privacy of the voting booth, some men want to be able to act like your father-in-law too. To be that “powerful”, that aggressive, and self-entitled. A Neanderthal, clubbing his woman and dragging her inside his cave.
By the pussy.
As a Jew, I am particularly curious about you, Jared Kushner. In addition to using sexism and misogyny, did you notice the anti-Semitism you and your father-in-law allowed to rise back up? Do you know that because of the trolls your campaign encouraged to crawl out of their holes, me and thousand of other Jews added ((()))) to our Twitter handle to proudly declare our Judaism? Did you see this? I doubt that you did not. And when you saw it, and ignored it, did you at least realize how cynically and heartlessly you’re both using hate just to get in power?
You know your father-in-law is a liberal from NYC, Jared. Ivanka and you probably also know just how many abortions he forced some of his past women to have. (I am basing this assumption on no facts or prior knowledge what so ever by the way: again, something your father-in-law made perfectly normal and acceptable to do). You know as well as the majority of this country that he simply said whatever he needed to say in order to win, because like an addict, he just loves winning so much.
And as a result, you allowed the country to be torn apart. Yes, you Jared.
You have betrayed every single one of Judaism’s core beliefs. Love thy neighbor, charity, Tikun Olam making the world a better place.
Jews were at the forefront of every human rights movement around the world from Dr. King to Gandhi. We Jews, we know all about hate and discrimination, and we have been fighting against it for generations. You, Jared, helped get into power the most racist, sexist, bullying, childish, and misogynistic man we have ever seen. (Again, hyperbole is now fully accepted. Fantastic!) And if he doesn’t believe all these things he said, that’s even worse — considering how you both rode these words straight into the white house.
But you see, Jared, the Republic is stronger than any one man. So okay, I accept the results for now. However, let me be clear: I, and millions of other Republicans, Democrats, Independent, Christians, Jews, Muslims and any other variation, men and women and the 473 electorates of young adults ages 18-25 who voted for Hillary, we are watching you both. We will hold you accountable. We saw that you appointed Myron Ebell, a climate change skeptic, to lead your EPA transition team. We see the all-white all-men team you are assembling to take over. And we are not happy about that.
We know how much your father-in-law hates little details and prefers to delegate. He has no patience for small print — which is why I am turning to you, Jared. You seem to be the responsible, reasonable adult in that crew. So it is up to you. You are going to be the one making sure your father-in-law delegates to people who actually follow what the American people want, not just a bunch of white lobbyists. It is your responsibility, Jared, to make sure your father-in-law doesn’t take this country backward environmentally and socially or to a new-millennium Twitter version of McCarthyism. I don’t trust him, but I am counting on you to be in his ear and say and do the right thing.
Or you will both hear from us. In every way democracy allows, we will make your life unpleasant. Beware.
And to your father-in-law, I say: Mr. Trump, are you humbled yet? You are about to learn for the first time in your life the meaning of “Being of service”. You see, Mr. Trump: you work for me now. You work for me

And more words: Bernie Sanders - “I am very worried that a President Trump may take us back to where we were before, and we in the progressive community are not going to allow that to happen. We have travelled too far to descend back into racism and sexism.”
Lady Gaga in a powerful essay: "Here we were, in 2016, and the fact that the sort of language that was being used to talk about women was everywhere -- on TV, in politics -- was eye-opening," she writes. "I felt depressed and hurt by it because that's what that kind of language does. Then I watched our incredible first lady, Michelle Obama, talk in New Hampshire about how hurt she felt seeing it too. She talked about how women are often afraid to say anything because we're worried that we will appear weak -- that we'll be told we're being over-the-top, dramatic, emotional. But we're not. We're fighting for our lives."