That is how it starts. First, there is a little drip, so you try to shut the faucet tighter. Then the drip continues and you begin to worry about water wastage and annoying sounds. Plop! Plop!
So you call a plumber who tries to open up the gizmo at the end of the water spout? chute? whatever it is called and uh-oh. Corroded shut. Ominous beginning here, but still optimistic, foolishly, as it turns out.
Try to shut off the valves under the sink and no can do. Okay when open, but try to shut and we have ourselves a lovely little waterfall. We continue to rack up issues as the under the sink pipes are declared needy of replacing and oh, of course, we cannot replace the system we have in the sink because they do not make them anymore. Humpf!
We choose a new setup, make an appointment for change and there ya'go! From a little drip, we now end with an $800 bill, start to finish - I hope that is the end of it, too! A little drip and a big dent in the wallet. Always seems to happen. Start with a litle change in the bathrom and before you know it, you are replacing a perfectly fine bathroom with an all new look at thousands in cost. Drip!
Such is life too. Here in the Village we are supposed to be undergoing major changes. New bylaws. New cable and internet company. Seems simple, right? Just get a committee on it, put out some publicity and never mind the opposition that surfaces and the little drip of change becomes a tsunami of potential disasters. We are doing the bylaws, which did need revision, but doing them almost haphazardly even as an appearance of care is displayed. Even as we attend meetings, all disagreements other than petty wording is rejected or "we will get to that" responses. Why do we have to "get" there, when we are there - right here and now! Why do we ostensibly await important changes, such as the one resident owner /one vote system, until after the bylaws are accepted? It makes no sense. It is as if we took our little drip/huge disaster of the kitchen, fixed it, and then a week later decided to rip it all out, thus increasing our costs by almost $1000. It is the same thing here. Take care of all the drips first. It waited so long for new bylaws, it can wait a tad longer so we do not have to rip up all the bylaws affected by individual rsident voting AFTER we went through the process already. Makes no sense and makes a little drip into that proverbial flood!
Then, of course, we have the AB isssue. First, we took the first or second largest company in the business and kicked them to the curb and then went with this little, unknown, and complained about service company instead. They kept trying to change things, like internet or wi-fi fees, among other things, wreaked havoc on our Village grounds as their "advanced" horizontal boring bored into anything it passed, pipes for plumbing, for irrigation, electric issues, just name it and there it was. We already had a Comcast system in, a Universal system available, so why we went with another system - address that care of David Israel and minions.
In meeting with people and simply talking, we have heard stories about AB not working properly, being slow, or the picture going off and on and off and on and well, there goes our movie! We have issues with paper bills and payments. We have promises of $10 off which are not disclosed nor given unless one chases after it. We have ongoing repair issues and I, for one, am very leery about its installation in my condo, and will not be very happy to find that for a period of three days, a week, whatever, my internet is out, my phones are slow as molasses to upload, my computer has been left out of the connections and all the issues I am hearing.Well, before they leave my home I will insist on checking everything and not just flicking a button. I want to see continuity in the TV picture, quick wi-fi and internet connections. I do not want to face a little drip gone cyclonic.
The little drip theory has worked its way into the country as well. First, we allowed a demented lying pervert with major financial issues and tremendous personality and character traits issues to run for President and now the little drip, first making a small and annoying sound, has now become that tsunami, dripping in gushes and waterfall amounts, eroding the basis of the country, washing away all its protections, ruining its beauty, both natural and that of the people, and allowed a putrid river of hate to flow throughout. The little drip gone bad, gone rogue.
What we do with the little drip in our own homes is one thing. What needs to be done both here and in the country at large with the little drip - well, it is not a little drip anymore and if we are to avoid going under until we cannot surface any longer, well, we need to do more than emulate the little Dutch boy with his finger in the hole in the dike. We are way past that point and possibility. It will take much hard work, many sandbags, fixing many figurative dams and levees. We need to get to work.
DRIP DRIP DRIP DRIP DRIP
MAN OVERBOARD! COUNTRY OVERBOARD! Buckets! Vacuums! Mops!
Oh, help!!!!!
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Friday, March 29, 2019
LOSSES
Tonite I could not sleep. I tossed and turned and lay there, staring into the darkness. I know there are losses in life. I know that things change and often the change is not for the good. However, the most recent losses have been akin to punches in the solar plexus, causing difficulty in breathing, in an ability to accept and integrate the changes in life, how to deal with them.
Yesterday morning I received a text message from one valued friend about the loss of another. Kind of expected, yet the punch at the moment was hard. Dorothy was a woman of integrity, often impatient with those who did not see their way to the right thing, the correct path, but always the patience to explain it to them. She expended enormous amounts of time and energy in serving this Village and took much abuse for it from people who knew better and who should have behaved better. Yet, for many of us, she was a fixture in the firmament of friends. She mentored me, for sure, in many ways, and I admired her.
I admired her courage and honesty, her sharp brain and her wicked sense of humor. I miss talking with Dorothy about books and authors we both liked. I miss sharing some afternoon hours with her. And Dorothy's courage in facing health concerns was admirable indeed.
I will miss Dorothy. A hole has been opened in my heart and I am lucky that there are other friends with whom we can all share our thoughts and anecdotes about her. Dorothy, a peaceful voyage now to a better place, to a better world where the increasing acidity of life will be no more and neither will the problems and pains one faced in life. Be at peace, Dorothy.
Contemplating the loss of Dorothy, I began to count all the other losses of daily life. But I believe that the biggest loss I have felt, other than what relates to me personally, is the loss of country, of surety of safety and welcome and appeciation. I have lost the sense of acceptance, of the willingness of the country to work together as one, to disagree and agree, both without the venom and the viciousness that we are now seeing.
I miss the role of the President as a role model. Whatever other presidents said in private, whatever language they used there, was not the language they used in public speaking. Even as they touted their policies over those of the opposition party, there was still bipartisanship, decency, and there were friendships across the aisle. We were all Americans, but today there is an attempt to throw people with whom we disagree into a garbage can of once upon a time.
Today, that is a vanished world. There is a loss of civility, a loss of decency, a loss of trust in our leaders and in their abilities to choose wise and good people to serve the public. It is a list of losses that is bitter and dangerous.
We have lost sight of decency, of recognition of others on this earth as deserving as much as we do, the chance to live a better life, to have a dream for their children. That dream has been damaged right here due to the selfish behavior and policies of those in power. We exist now in a world of hurt and lies, of savagery and hate. Yes, hate, for that is what we are getting from the man in the Oval Office and his minions in Congress. There is a loss of a sense of country as it falls victim to the nastiness of partisanship and the philosophy of getting one over on the 'enemy'.
I use that term purposely, enemy, for that is how we are treating fellow Americans, let alone others who wish to join us. We have lost care and concern for others, trying to take away healthcare, especially from those who never truly had it before. We try to take away funding for our schools, from those who need extra help in living their lives. We need to shout and scream to get benefits and truth, for the other side refuses to hear that truth, lies forever and a day,and just adds to the miasma of loss. Of losses so great that they are unfathomable, uncountable and I am not sure if they are even recoverable.
Such are the losses I have felt and pondered in the middle of the night. Yes, I know that I also have much to be grateful for, but also know that many of these blessings will have a much harder path in life as they grow into adults or continue their adult lives. Why have we lost this sense of partnership, of fellow Americans, of working for the positive, of acccepting others into our community just as our 'strangers' were acccepted and allowed to blend in, become Americans.
So you tell me - are we going to be able to recover these losses, to forge ahead and make up for lost time? Are we, or have we lost that ability? Is that a part of the bundle of losses we have accumulated? Tonite, I am not too optimistic.
We in the world have lost much. We have all faced losses, from the loss of liberty under a growing number of nativist and authoritarian figures, to the loss of the expectation of living one's life in a peaceful and productive manner. From those being raided in their homes in the countries of Africa, to those who are chased and imprisoned for speaking the truth, to those who now face a growing loss of food security as in Venezuela, to those who have suffered great reversals in life, losses of rights they thought were theirs - including women in our country! - when and how do we make this up? Any ideas are welcome! But will they be forthcoming and more important, will they even find welcoming and willing ears and minds? Don't bet on it!
Yesterday morning I received a text message from one valued friend about the loss of another. Kind of expected, yet the punch at the moment was hard. Dorothy was a woman of integrity, often impatient with those who did not see their way to the right thing, the correct path, but always the patience to explain it to them. She expended enormous amounts of time and energy in serving this Village and took much abuse for it from people who knew better and who should have behaved better. Yet, for many of us, she was a fixture in the firmament of friends. She mentored me, for sure, in many ways, and I admired her.
I admired her courage and honesty, her sharp brain and her wicked sense of humor. I miss talking with Dorothy about books and authors we both liked. I miss sharing some afternoon hours with her. And Dorothy's courage in facing health concerns was admirable indeed.
I will miss Dorothy. A hole has been opened in my heart and I am lucky that there are other friends with whom we can all share our thoughts and anecdotes about her. Dorothy, a peaceful voyage now to a better place, to a better world where the increasing acidity of life will be no more and neither will the problems and pains one faced in life. Be at peace, Dorothy.
Contemplating the loss of Dorothy, I began to count all the other losses of daily life. But I believe that the biggest loss I have felt, other than what relates to me personally, is the loss of country, of surety of safety and welcome and appeciation. I have lost the sense of acceptance, of the willingness of the country to work together as one, to disagree and agree, both without the venom and the viciousness that we are now seeing.
I miss the role of the President as a role model. Whatever other presidents said in private, whatever language they used there, was not the language they used in public speaking. Even as they touted their policies over those of the opposition party, there was still bipartisanship, decency, and there were friendships across the aisle. We were all Americans, but today there is an attempt to throw people with whom we disagree into a garbage can of once upon a time.
Today, that is a vanished world. There is a loss of civility, a loss of decency, a loss of trust in our leaders and in their abilities to choose wise and good people to serve the public. It is a list of losses that is bitter and dangerous.
We have lost sight of decency, of recognition of others on this earth as deserving as much as we do, the chance to live a better life, to have a dream for their children. That dream has been damaged right here due to the selfish behavior and policies of those in power. We exist now in a world of hurt and lies, of savagery and hate. Yes, hate, for that is what we are getting from the man in the Oval Office and his minions in Congress. There is a loss of a sense of country as it falls victim to the nastiness of partisanship and the philosophy of getting one over on the 'enemy'.
I use that term purposely, enemy, for that is how we are treating fellow Americans, let alone others who wish to join us. We have lost care and concern for others, trying to take away healthcare, especially from those who never truly had it before. We try to take away funding for our schools, from those who need extra help in living their lives. We need to shout and scream to get benefits and truth, for the other side refuses to hear that truth, lies forever and a day,and just adds to the miasma of loss. Of losses so great that they are unfathomable, uncountable and I am not sure if they are even recoverable.
Such are the losses I have felt and pondered in the middle of the night. Yes, I know that I also have much to be grateful for, but also know that many of these blessings will have a much harder path in life as they grow into adults or continue their adult lives. Why have we lost this sense of partnership, of fellow Americans, of working for the positive, of acccepting others into our community just as our 'strangers' were acccepted and allowed to blend in, become Americans.
So you tell me - are we going to be able to recover these losses, to forge ahead and make up for lost time? Are we, or have we lost that ability? Is that a part of the bundle of losses we have accumulated? Tonite, I am not too optimistic.
We in the world have lost much. We have all faced losses, from the loss of liberty under a growing number of nativist and authoritarian figures, to the loss of the expectation of living one's life in a peaceful and productive manner. From those being raided in their homes in the countries of Africa, to those who are chased and imprisoned for speaking the truth, to those who now face a growing loss of food security as in Venezuela, to those who have suffered great reversals in life, losses of rights they thought were theirs - including women in our country! - when and how do we make this up? Any ideas are welcome! But will they be forthcoming and more important, will they even find welcoming and willing ears and minds? Don't bet on it!
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Sad news.
I am sorry to inform you of the the passing of Dorothy Tetro, a former Treasurer of UCO, a wonderful friend and we will miss her. I know I surely will.
US
Saw the movie US yesterday after hearing all the raves about it. Interesting premise and a bit more class and bite than the usual blood and gore scary movies. The younger generations took the smacks and cuts more easily than I did, as I flinched with every whack, but that is for another day. What is interesting about the movie are the questions and thoughts it raises.
Without any spoilers, as I urge you to go see it, but go with a friend, the theme is an old one, raised throughout history in politics, philosophy, religion and bull sessions in dorm rooms since the beginning of time. "We have met the enemy and he is us." Famous saying and that thought comes up here in the movie though I must say that the thoughts have no time to gel during the action!
Are we our own enemy? I fervently believe so. From the kid in school who keeps on with the same nonsense, to the adult who perseverates with his self destructive behavior, to the disastrous choices of people in their leaders - we are our own enemies.
However, this film also shows us the heroes buried within us, and surprising as to exactly who steps up tothe plate, who grows in times of stress, and who needs the time to accept and adjust. It is not every person who can jump on a grenade, literal or figurative, to save companions. It is not every person who can break the intraining of abhoring violence, learning to use it when the need arises. It takes an innocent to look at the intruders and describe or state the truth. " They're us." And it is so true.
In the world today we have no one to thank for the mess we are in other than - us. Who has allowed global warming to rise to such a dangerous level, so much so that the very "seed ark", the Doomsday Vault, which contains seeds from the world, to enable the world to reboot after an apocolypse - well, it is suffering its own climate change and bad ones, too! We are not thinking ahead, allowing those who chase the bottom line and never mind what is trampled in their headlong and heedless rush, to lead the way.
We ignore the rumblings of war and look away from the outbreaks in countries which appear to be of little value to us, forgetting that the earth is a small globe in a vast space, and we are all connected, all human beings, all, as the integration heroine stated,"made by the same G-d". (Now that is a movie to go see in two weeks.)
Comey now speaks out against what happened and is not happening with the Report. The politicians speak in harsh and most undemocratic terms and Trump et al go along with Sanders's nasty faux March madness chart, Trump threatens to 'punish' evil men, chases after the FBI like a dog after a car, rants and raves about the press, not very sporting about democratic values, is he, and we, us, well, we just keep muddling along, allowing the chasm in the nation to grow even more, deeper and wider.
Meanwhile, Barr is playing his expected role of barricade against the truth, no great surprise, for he wrote his unsolicited 19 page opinion last year on the absoute right of the President to do whatever the hell he wants. No laws. No barriers. King Donald I. And remember the dynasty that seems to be growing? Well, there ya' go. Junior is not ruling out running for office!! Dear Lord!!!! We have met the enemy - and he is US. For sure.
So who are we really, as people, as Americans, as ordinary citizens trying to lead a normal life? Are we the greedy ones who roll over anyone and anything in their path? Are we those who are more altruistic, who value others? Are we those as yet unsung and unknown heroes who will grow to meet the stresses and attacks upon our way of life, our values? Or are we the very demons we fight? Who is US? Who are we? What the hell are we? Who are US?
It is not easy to look deep within our souls, dig deep and true, and truly assess that which we find. It is not easy to have the moral strength to understand and adapt, hopefully in a positive manner. Who is the US we talk about? The movie posits almost opposing thoughts and answers, leaving it up to US to decide the US we wish to be.
At this point, well, look at the growing gaps between classes of people. We are turning back into history when there was barely any middle class, just a have and have not division, a taxed and untaxed division. We had better shape US up or it will be too late That deadline of 12 years to natural disaster for the Earth is not comforting. As Pogo would say, "US need to better." Soon.
Without any spoilers, as I urge you to go see it, but go with a friend, the theme is an old one, raised throughout history in politics, philosophy, religion and bull sessions in dorm rooms since the beginning of time. "We have met the enemy and he is us." Famous saying and that thought comes up here in the movie though I must say that the thoughts have no time to gel during the action!
Are we our own enemy? I fervently believe so. From the kid in school who keeps on with the same nonsense, to the adult who perseverates with his self destructive behavior, to the disastrous choices of people in their leaders - we are our own enemies.
However, this film also shows us the heroes buried within us, and surprising as to exactly who steps up tothe plate, who grows in times of stress, and who needs the time to accept and adjust. It is not every person who can jump on a grenade, literal or figurative, to save companions. It is not every person who can break the intraining of abhoring violence, learning to use it when the need arises. It takes an innocent to look at the intruders and describe or state the truth. " They're us." And it is so true.
In the world today we have no one to thank for the mess we are in other than - us. Who has allowed global warming to rise to such a dangerous level, so much so that the very "seed ark", the Doomsday Vault, which contains seeds from the world, to enable the world to reboot after an apocolypse - well, it is suffering its own climate change and bad ones, too! We are not thinking ahead, allowing those who chase the bottom line and never mind what is trampled in their headlong and heedless rush, to lead the way.
We ignore the rumblings of war and look away from the outbreaks in countries which appear to be of little value to us, forgetting that the earth is a small globe in a vast space, and we are all connected, all human beings, all, as the integration heroine stated,"made by the same G-d". (Now that is a movie to go see in two weeks.)
Comey now speaks out against what happened and is not happening with the Report. The politicians speak in harsh and most undemocratic terms and Trump et al go along with Sanders's nasty faux March madness chart, Trump threatens to 'punish' evil men, chases after the FBI like a dog after a car, rants and raves about the press, not very sporting about democratic values, is he, and we, us, well, we just keep muddling along, allowing the chasm in the nation to grow even more, deeper and wider.
Meanwhile, Barr is playing his expected role of barricade against the truth, no great surprise, for he wrote his unsolicited 19 page opinion last year on the absoute right of the President to do whatever the hell he wants. No laws. No barriers. King Donald I. And remember the dynasty that seems to be growing? Well, there ya' go. Junior is not ruling out running for office!! Dear Lord!!!! We have met the enemy - and he is US. For sure.
So who are we really, as people, as Americans, as ordinary citizens trying to lead a normal life? Are we the greedy ones who roll over anyone and anything in their path? Are we those who are more altruistic, who value others? Are we those as yet unsung and unknown heroes who will grow to meet the stresses and attacks upon our way of life, our values? Or are we the very demons we fight? Who is US? Who are we? What the hell are we? Who are US?
It is not easy to look deep within our souls, dig deep and true, and truly assess that which we find. It is not easy to have the moral strength to understand and adapt, hopefully in a positive manner. Who is the US we talk about? The movie posits almost opposing thoughts and answers, leaving it up to US to decide the US we wish to be.
At this point, well, look at the growing gaps between classes of people. We are turning back into history when there was barely any middle class, just a have and have not division, a taxed and untaxed division. We had better shape US up or it will be too late That deadline of 12 years to natural disaster for the Earth is not comforting. As Pogo would say, "US need to better." Soon.
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
SO, THE BOTTOM LINE IS....
Here we are. Supposedly in a "few' weeks the entire report will be disseminated. But will it? How much will be redacted for grand jury suppositions and discussions and how much will be filtered out? And will people understand the underlying explosive decisions made as a result of the conclusions - or temporary conclusions - made so far.
What we have is a deliberate legal hair splitting. It appears that there is much evidence and much smoke. With all the evidence of meetings and the conclusion that yes, Russia did interfere with the election, all with the end goal of getting Trump elected, there are definite conclusions to be drawn. First, we are not a banana republic or a 'client" country of a major super power who controls and interferes in our inner decisions and campaigns. The fact that Russia did so, and boldly and still with no apology issued says a lot. There is also no way that any thinking person, or a person with half a brain, could let this go unchallenged, can avoid understanding the bottom line.
The Trump campaign had to know that there was something going on. Why the hell did their campaign look like a busy Russian restaurant what with the comings and goings of so many Russians? Why were so many Russians indicted and how could someone be blind to all this coming and going and deal making? Make no mistake about it, deals were made and tried to be made. The entire while of the campaign, our esteemed - so not! - Trump, was working to make a deal on a Moscow Trump hotel. This is against all written and unwritten tradition, yet here we are, allowing him to get away with this because the lawyers have decided that there is not enough evidence to bring it up to a legal charge. Truly! What should we say to all those convicted of so many lesser crimes on much less evidence? What have we allowed to happen to our legal system, our system of justice, our determinations that a President should be the role model for the good, held to a stricter code of conduct rather than a lesser one that we have now installed.
And all the actions and decisions made by Trump et al that raise the issue of obstruction, well, Mueller made his hair splitting decision, or cowardly decision, not sure yet, and we now have a determination that the president is above the law. Using that as a standard Nixon never would have resigned, for he would have been held above the law, carrying out his right to make any and all decisions as president without paying attention to the laws which bind all else in the USA. "...the development represents a dangerous degradation of the rule of law, handing a president almost complete leeway to thwart any effort by federal law enforcement authorities to scrutinize his actions almost as if he were a king." That, my friends, is a scary thought indeed and upsets the apple cart of the country.
It sets a precedent beyond belief, a very worrisome one and has allowed the Demented One to go forward in his plans for his monarchy! “They’re just trying to create a new kind of monarchy in the United States and have a president who’s not accountable,” This was said and endorsed by Elizabeth Holtzman who played an important role in the investigations and charges made during the whole Nixon Watergate mess.
We here in the country must decide which road we are going to take. And do not think that the Trumpers are not going to take advantage of the present uncertainty. DeVos is now going after Special Olympics, guessing that she has done enough damage in other spheres of education, so now, after those who cannot fight back as much, after the war wounded who compete just as fiercely as those with no physical injuries. Go after those who strive to show the world they are fully capable of fighting for themselves and their betterment.
Then, never mind the legal decisions and the wishes of the country, Trump is now returning to the battle against Americans with pre existing conditions. Wishing to totally take apart Obamacare, wishing to take away affordable healthcare for all, wishing to destroy the American value system, here he goes again. I kinda take this one personally as well, for if I were not on Medicare at this point, what with his plans I would be uncoverable in so many ways that I might just as well take a leap off a tall building and no, I am not Superwoman so I would not fly!!
There is a lack of humanity in this whole administration. There is a definite moral cowardice. There is a lack of understanding or perhaps caring, that Congress is ceding all its powers, constitutionally given, given by tradition, and they do not care, do not take the long view, for now, they just want to retain a seat in the front lines of an evergrowing corrupted system and get 'theirs" while the getting is good. How many more nasty and corrupt, incompetent individuals must we cycle through? How many more quotes from Mein Kampf must we hear, supposedly from a Republican speaking on behalf of Jews. Spare me!!
Where are we? Here we are and it is not a very scenic place. But maybe we should not worry so much, for as Trump ignores science and scientists and actual proof, and lets the environment continue down its nasty road, as the climate changes wreak havoc on the world, why worry, for we are told that in 12 years the world will implode, become a world of Mad Max, of apocolyptic situations such as we can all now read about in so many novels and even in the non fiction accounts written by scientists who are doing their best to warn us, to better the situation. But nope, Trump, the Demented One, rules and so, just enjoy the next 12 years as best you can and then... who the hell knows!
King Donald I. The Trump dynasty. The world in throes of agony. Nice place we are setting up here. The nastiness goes on, the ignorant and venal rule, and so the world turns or will it?
What we have is a deliberate legal hair splitting. It appears that there is much evidence and much smoke. With all the evidence of meetings and the conclusion that yes, Russia did interfere with the election, all with the end goal of getting Trump elected, there are definite conclusions to be drawn. First, we are not a banana republic or a 'client" country of a major super power who controls and interferes in our inner decisions and campaigns. The fact that Russia did so, and boldly and still with no apology issued says a lot. There is also no way that any thinking person, or a person with half a brain, could let this go unchallenged, can avoid understanding the bottom line.
The Trump campaign had to know that there was something going on. Why the hell did their campaign look like a busy Russian restaurant what with the comings and goings of so many Russians? Why were so many Russians indicted and how could someone be blind to all this coming and going and deal making? Make no mistake about it, deals were made and tried to be made. The entire while of the campaign, our esteemed - so not! - Trump, was working to make a deal on a Moscow Trump hotel. This is against all written and unwritten tradition, yet here we are, allowing him to get away with this because the lawyers have decided that there is not enough evidence to bring it up to a legal charge. Truly! What should we say to all those convicted of so many lesser crimes on much less evidence? What have we allowed to happen to our legal system, our system of justice, our determinations that a President should be the role model for the good, held to a stricter code of conduct rather than a lesser one that we have now installed.
And all the actions and decisions made by Trump et al that raise the issue of obstruction, well, Mueller made his hair splitting decision, or cowardly decision, not sure yet, and we now have a determination that the president is above the law. Using that as a standard Nixon never would have resigned, for he would have been held above the law, carrying out his right to make any and all decisions as president without paying attention to the laws which bind all else in the USA. "...the development represents a dangerous degradation of the rule of law, handing a president almost complete leeway to thwart any effort by federal law enforcement authorities to scrutinize his actions almost as if he were a king." That, my friends, is a scary thought indeed and upsets the apple cart of the country.
It sets a precedent beyond belief, a very worrisome one and has allowed the Demented One to go forward in his plans for his monarchy! “They’re just trying to create a new kind of monarchy in the United States and have a president who’s not accountable,” This was said and endorsed by Elizabeth Holtzman who played an important role in the investigations and charges made during the whole Nixon Watergate mess.
We here in the country must decide which road we are going to take. And do not think that the Trumpers are not going to take advantage of the present uncertainty. DeVos is now going after Special Olympics, guessing that she has done enough damage in other spheres of education, so now, after those who cannot fight back as much, after the war wounded who compete just as fiercely as those with no physical injuries. Go after those who strive to show the world they are fully capable of fighting for themselves and their betterment.
Then, never mind the legal decisions and the wishes of the country, Trump is now returning to the battle against Americans with pre existing conditions. Wishing to totally take apart Obamacare, wishing to take away affordable healthcare for all, wishing to destroy the American value system, here he goes again. I kinda take this one personally as well, for if I were not on Medicare at this point, what with his plans I would be uncoverable in so many ways that I might just as well take a leap off a tall building and no, I am not Superwoman so I would not fly!!
There is a lack of humanity in this whole administration. There is a definite moral cowardice. There is a lack of understanding or perhaps caring, that Congress is ceding all its powers, constitutionally given, given by tradition, and they do not care, do not take the long view, for now, they just want to retain a seat in the front lines of an evergrowing corrupted system and get 'theirs" while the getting is good. How many more nasty and corrupt, incompetent individuals must we cycle through? How many more quotes from Mein Kampf must we hear, supposedly from a Republican speaking on behalf of Jews. Spare me!!
Where are we? Here we are and it is not a very scenic place. But maybe we should not worry so much, for as Trump ignores science and scientists and actual proof, and lets the environment continue down its nasty road, as the climate changes wreak havoc on the world, why worry, for we are told that in 12 years the world will implode, become a world of Mad Max, of apocolyptic situations such as we can all now read about in so many novels and even in the non fiction accounts written by scientists who are doing their best to warn us, to better the situation. But nope, Trump, the Demented One, rules and so, just enjoy the next 12 years as best you can and then... who the hell knows!
King Donald I. The Trump dynasty. The world in throes of agony. Nice place we are setting up here. The nastiness goes on, the ignorant and venal rule, and so the world turns or will it?
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN
Two days ago, in the early AM, when people are taking their last hour or so of sleep, an alarm sounded, blared loudly in the dark, awakening the people around the Tel Aviv area, warning them that rockets were on the way. Again. Were these rockets to be called an "accident" as the three were last month? Kinda hard to 'by accident' go through all the steps needed to lauch a missile and then oops! push the button, three times, no less. And then try to get off the hot seat by terming it an accident. They tried it again with this one, but stopped immediately, as they realized it would not go over well. Nope, for this time there were casualties.
So were these casualties infringing upon Arab territory, disputed territory, planting on supposed 'stolen' land, chasing Palestinians or any of the myriad things that Israelis are accused of? Nope. This family, and the rest of the area were asleep in their homes on Israeli soil, but how the world forgets and ignores that according to Islamic Jihad or Hamas or even Fatah, there is NO Israel, for "from the river to the sea" is deemed Palestinian, a people which had never existed until the Aliyah made by so many Jews persecuted in the countries of Europe, in the lands of the Arabs and Moslems, returned to their homeland from ancient times until modern times.
But the world went crazy. A Jewish land? A Jewish country? No! How could this be? Never mind that there seemed to be - and still seems to be - no country in the world that will accept Jews on a permanent, protected, accepted part of the citizenry of that country. So no, why take away the targets and give them a land which belonged to them with all historical rights? So the Arab world screamed and attacked and the world acquiesced, somewhat supportive of Israel until it did something unacceptable. It won. It defeated its enemies and held them off.
And in doing so, they held land from which attacks had been launched since the days before the state even. And it continued without stop. We ourselves were in a hotel many, many years ago when the hotel was shelled by missiles. But at least the attacks from the Golan Heights stopped. And Gaza was developed into areas of hothouses, farms, industries, shared with the Palestinians living there, welcomed the workers by the thousands into Israel proper. But this was not to remain, as Hamas threw out the legal government of Fatah, destroyed the farms, the industries, appropriated prime land for themselves and lived luxuriously even as the people began to starve.
So Israel did as they always do. They did the right thing, They allowed Gazans by the thousands to go to Israeli hospitals. Even the relatives of Hamas heads were sent to Israeli hospitals, but shhhh, not a word. On the Syrian border the wounded were brought to Israeli hospitals, children helped, warriors healed, mouths fed and bodies warmed.
And two days ago, a family was awakened by that sound of the siren. It sends chills through one's body and soul. It also faced the reluctance to leave a warm bed, for usually these alarms proved needless or the rockets were shot down. But the 12 year old daughter was insistent that they all go to the shelter that Israeli homes and apartments are supposed to have. So reluctantly, they picked up the baby from the crib, took the 3 year old by the hand, and all seven went into the shelter. Nevertheless, they were wounded when the rocket hit their home. The aftermath showed the destroyed remnants of the crib, the dead family pets, and the wounds sustained by the family even within the shelter. Shrapnel wounds, burn wounds, shock, but the world? Silent. Silent as usual, for it was only some more Jews.
It took the NYTimes two days to write an article and the most they could do was talk about what the two sides did. No telling of the fact that Israel sent warning shots to target buildings to get the people out. No telling that the cowards of Hamas ran away, shut their phones, hid, saving themselves from the consequences of their own actions. And all the while, the Gazans starved and withered under the iron fists of Hamas. But the world ignored that, just as it ignored detailing the ages and wounds of the family.
Trust me, if it had been the opposite, the ages and details would have been obsessively printed and discussed. But the Jews? Ahh, forget it. Forget the fact that balloons and kites, symbols of happiness and joy, were sent over, loaded with explosives, destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, crops, forests. Forget that the Hamas and Jihad sent hundreds of children and young teens in the front lines against the border fence with Israel and then they followed, allowing these front line people to get shot and then whining to the world how unfair and inhumane the Israelis were and the world bought it ! Again!!
So to the hospital the seven went. Thank G-d the kids are still alive, to live their lives, to grow up to be responsible and loving adults and proud Jews. And never mind the rest of the world who had their favorite targets . Never mind reporting the facts promptly, and in full coverage. Never mind, for again, and again and again - it was only the Jews wounded here, and perhaps not even equal to the power of the Air Force as they bombed buildings, Buildings. Not people!!!
So, again and again and again and again and where and when does it stop. When the Jewish students and organizations wished to join the Moslem groups in a vigil at a city college, they were told that Jews were not welcome. Period. A Congresswoman is allowed to repeatedly mouth and spew words of hatred, old canards of anti Semitism, and does she get censored? No. And as for the Republicans suddenly becoming holier than thou, well, it took a decade to deal with Steven King and he is still there.
So again and again and again - face the facts. Face the truth. The hatred, the anti Semitism within so many, has arisen once again to the surface, allowed and even encouraged, by the dictators of the world, of the New Order, which includes our dear delightful Trump. Hatred does not grow in a vacuum. It certainly does not. So why is hatred of the Jews allowed? Why do we have to face it in every generation? Why is the world still silent for the most part? And why do they deny the truth that so much of anti Israel, anti Zionism is just plain old ugly anti Semitism wearing a new outfit. But the outfit shreds when exposed to the light of the truth, yet, it is as if we have a crew of naked emperors roaming the earth, for no one seems to recognize the truth,the nakedness of the hate.
I am so tired of this. I am so disappointed in my country and its supposed leaders. I am so disappointed in fellow Jews who think that criticizing Israel is the way to gain acceptance. Yes, Israel makes mistakes, as do all other countries of the world so why are their mistakes judged so harshly, while other countries blithely go on killing their citizens, arresting journalists, executing activists? Why? There is no answer. Again.
So were these casualties infringing upon Arab territory, disputed territory, planting on supposed 'stolen' land, chasing Palestinians or any of the myriad things that Israelis are accused of? Nope. This family, and the rest of the area were asleep in their homes on Israeli soil, but how the world forgets and ignores that according to Islamic Jihad or Hamas or even Fatah, there is NO Israel, for "from the river to the sea" is deemed Palestinian, a people which had never existed until the Aliyah made by so many Jews persecuted in the countries of Europe, in the lands of the Arabs and Moslems, returned to their homeland from ancient times until modern times.
But the world went crazy. A Jewish land? A Jewish country? No! How could this be? Never mind that there seemed to be - and still seems to be - no country in the world that will accept Jews on a permanent, protected, accepted part of the citizenry of that country. So no, why take away the targets and give them a land which belonged to them with all historical rights? So the Arab world screamed and attacked and the world acquiesced, somewhat supportive of Israel until it did something unacceptable. It won. It defeated its enemies and held them off.
And in doing so, they held land from which attacks had been launched since the days before the state even. And it continued without stop. We ourselves were in a hotel many, many years ago when the hotel was shelled by missiles. But at least the attacks from the Golan Heights stopped. And Gaza was developed into areas of hothouses, farms, industries, shared with the Palestinians living there, welcomed the workers by the thousands into Israel proper. But this was not to remain, as Hamas threw out the legal government of Fatah, destroyed the farms, the industries, appropriated prime land for themselves and lived luxuriously even as the people began to starve.
So Israel did as they always do. They did the right thing, They allowed Gazans by the thousands to go to Israeli hospitals. Even the relatives of Hamas heads were sent to Israeli hospitals, but shhhh, not a word. On the Syrian border the wounded were brought to Israeli hospitals, children helped, warriors healed, mouths fed and bodies warmed.
And two days ago, a family was awakened by that sound of the siren. It sends chills through one's body and soul. It also faced the reluctance to leave a warm bed, for usually these alarms proved needless or the rockets were shot down. But the 12 year old daughter was insistent that they all go to the shelter that Israeli homes and apartments are supposed to have. So reluctantly, they picked up the baby from the crib, took the 3 year old by the hand, and all seven went into the shelter. Nevertheless, they were wounded when the rocket hit their home. The aftermath showed the destroyed remnants of the crib, the dead family pets, and the wounds sustained by the family even within the shelter. Shrapnel wounds, burn wounds, shock, but the world? Silent. Silent as usual, for it was only some more Jews.
It took the NYTimes two days to write an article and the most they could do was talk about what the two sides did. No telling of the fact that Israel sent warning shots to target buildings to get the people out. No telling that the cowards of Hamas ran away, shut their phones, hid, saving themselves from the consequences of their own actions. And all the while, the Gazans starved and withered under the iron fists of Hamas. But the world ignored that, just as it ignored detailing the ages and wounds of the family.
Trust me, if it had been the opposite, the ages and details would have been obsessively printed and discussed. But the Jews? Ahh, forget it. Forget the fact that balloons and kites, symbols of happiness and joy, were sent over, loaded with explosives, destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, crops, forests. Forget that the Hamas and Jihad sent hundreds of children and young teens in the front lines against the border fence with Israel and then they followed, allowing these front line people to get shot and then whining to the world how unfair and inhumane the Israelis were and the world bought it ! Again!!
So to the hospital the seven went. Thank G-d the kids are still alive, to live their lives, to grow up to be responsible and loving adults and proud Jews. And never mind the rest of the world who had their favorite targets . Never mind reporting the facts promptly, and in full coverage. Never mind, for again, and again and again - it was only the Jews wounded here, and perhaps not even equal to the power of the Air Force as they bombed buildings, Buildings. Not people!!!
So, again and again and again and again and where and when does it stop. When the Jewish students and organizations wished to join the Moslem groups in a vigil at a city college, they were told that Jews were not welcome. Period. A Congresswoman is allowed to repeatedly mouth and spew words of hatred, old canards of anti Semitism, and does she get censored? No. And as for the Republicans suddenly becoming holier than thou, well, it took a decade to deal with Steven King and he is still there.
So again and again and again - face the facts. Face the truth. The hatred, the anti Semitism within so many, has arisen once again to the surface, allowed and even encouraged, by the dictators of the world, of the New Order, which includes our dear delightful Trump. Hatred does not grow in a vacuum. It certainly does not. So why is hatred of the Jews allowed? Why do we have to face it in every generation? Why is the world still silent for the most part? And why do they deny the truth that so much of anti Israel, anti Zionism is just plain old ugly anti Semitism wearing a new outfit. But the outfit shreds when exposed to the light of the truth, yet, it is as if we have a crew of naked emperors roaming the earth, for no one seems to recognize the truth,the nakedness of the hate.
I am so tired of this. I am so disappointed in my country and its supposed leaders. I am so disappointed in fellow Jews who think that criticizing Israel is the way to gain acceptance. Yes, Israel makes mistakes, as do all other countries of the world so why are their mistakes judged so harshly, while other countries blithely go on killing their citizens, arresting journalists, executing activists? Why? There is no answer. Again.
Monday, March 25, 2019
SHE AIN'T SUNG YET!!
The fat lady has not yet sung her final aria in the operatic drama of the day. It is not yet over. Running late this morning, so in brief:
Mueller is a lawyer, and a very careful one at that, so he used his words very carefully. Thus, no saying that there was obtruction of justice - but none exonerating him. The defining legal proof of that is not there for Mueller to say yes, but neither does it give permission for Barr and Rosenstein to make their own conclusion, partiualrly as Mueller had no voice in the summary letter and there was only the letter. The rest of the report must be released. And Mueller did say there was no definitive proof that he was not obstrucing justice. It is in the air, and I bet if the report were to be released as a whole, complete, the proof would be there, enough, just not for Mueller.
If one recalls, Nixon and Clinton both seemed to escape any part in what they were accused of but when further research was done - guess what! In any case, here are words again. No collusion proof with governmental figures. But we do know that there were 'non" governmental Russians involved and they are all named and indicted. There is also the question of stupidity ruled by greed. Why not havethe Russians work with Trump on his proposed hotel? The bottom line looked good on both sides. Can you imagine having the President of the USA in your sweaty palms, particularly if he is so damned greedy that he ignorantly allows himself to be used by his BFF!!!!
Words are important and words are not done here in this whole shebang. Nor has Trump escaped unscathed. Either he knowingly or in ignorance and pushed by greed, allowed himself to be used and neither choice is good. Up for grabs is why were the Russians so hot to trot with Trump and the election? Is it because they knew what he is and how they could take advantage of it? They could change the whole power equation of the world? Neither is the fact that he has surrounded himself with liars and cheats and thieves and idiots and incompetents and what does that say about the man? In my opinion, he and his family were too damned nervous about the investigation and what it might show and well, not done yet. I do not hear the final notes sung by the fat lady.
She certainly is not done in the NY courts and other courts as the invetigations that arose from Mueller were farmed out to them as they were not under his purview at the moment. So, no fat lady song yet. And when the investigatons are over, either we will be totally ruined as a country and democracy, or Trump will go down as the worst president ever, worse than the thieves of Harding, of Grant, of Johnson (Andrew, that is). Not a great legacy and I, for one, cannot wait to wipe the smirks off the faces of Jared and Ivanka, and that chief idiot - Trump.
Not done yet. Not over yet. Much more to follow. What a shame this whole mess is.
Mueller is a lawyer, and a very careful one at that, so he used his words very carefully. Thus, no saying that there was obtruction of justice - but none exonerating him. The defining legal proof of that is not there for Mueller to say yes, but neither does it give permission for Barr and Rosenstein to make their own conclusion, partiualrly as Mueller had no voice in the summary letter and there was only the letter. The rest of the report must be released. And Mueller did say there was no definitive proof that he was not obstrucing justice. It is in the air, and I bet if the report were to be released as a whole, complete, the proof would be there, enough, just not for Mueller.
If one recalls, Nixon and Clinton both seemed to escape any part in what they were accused of but when further research was done - guess what! In any case, here are words again. No collusion proof with governmental figures. But we do know that there were 'non" governmental Russians involved and they are all named and indicted. There is also the question of stupidity ruled by greed. Why not havethe Russians work with Trump on his proposed hotel? The bottom line looked good on both sides. Can you imagine having the President of the USA in your sweaty palms, particularly if he is so damned greedy that he ignorantly allows himself to be used by his BFF!!!!
Words are important and words are not done here in this whole shebang. Nor has Trump escaped unscathed. Either he knowingly or in ignorance and pushed by greed, allowed himself to be used and neither choice is good. Up for grabs is why were the Russians so hot to trot with Trump and the election? Is it because they knew what he is and how they could take advantage of it? They could change the whole power equation of the world? Neither is the fact that he has surrounded himself with liars and cheats and thieves and idiots and incompetents and what does that say about the man? In my opinion, he and his family were too damned nervous about the investigation and what it might show and well, not done yet. I do not hear the final notes sung by the fat lady.
She certainly is not done in the NY courts and other courts as the invetigations that arose from Mueller were farmed out to them as they were not under his purview at the moment. So, no fat lady song yet. And when the investigatons are over, either we will be totally ruined as a country and democracy, or Trump will go down as the worst president ever, worse than the thieves of Harding, of Grant, of Johnson (Andrew, that is). Not a great legacy and I, for one, cannot wait to wipe the smirks off the faces of Jared and Ivanka, and that chief idiot - Trump.
Not done yet. Not over yet. Much more to follow. What a shame this whole mess is.
Sunday, March 24, 2019
HALF A LEAGUE, HALF A LEAGUE.....
To know more, to understand more, to seek out information. That has always been the mantra I have lived by and yet, at this point in time I am beginning to question it in specifically one area. It is an oft quoted adage that says, "Ignorance is bliss." Yet on the other hand, we state that "Ignorance before the law is no excuse." Or is it a combination of both and the belief that one should definitely seek out what is needed - and possibly no more than that? But when does one know that the border has been reached - or breached, that the cup indeed does runneth over, but not in the way one wishes?
When struck by the definite diagnosis of Parkinsons (PD), after the immediate desire to just die right then and there, after the initial anger has abated somewhat, though make no mistake that it is gone, for the anger persists, after all this, then what?
I struck out on several paths at the same time. I found a wonderful doctor, joined a Movement clinic and went often, as recommended, and pursued information. What was the path of PD? I knew some generally, but not enough when it was this up close and personal. So I went looking and searching, reading, asking questions and watching the many, many webinars sent by the major PD organizations and yet, I wonder why the hell have I done that? What have I gained or possibly lost via this pathway?
First, I must say that having a supportive partner, whomever it is, is a must. Someone needs to be there to hear you, to talk with you, to hold your hand, to cry with you, and to fight alongside you. I have that, in spades, and am blessed for that, but is it enough?
I would say one needs more, for the fight still remains personal, and must be addressed in a personal manner. This I have done, and as a result have met so many wonderful people with whom I share laughter and pain, hopes gained and hopes lost, dreams shattered and how to handle that.
And yet. And yet. Every time I read something new, or sit through another webinar or educational forum, I end up questioning this whole process. In Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet, its Hebrew name, it is written: "For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow."
Well, that certainly says it all. Maybe there is a point beyond which we should not go, that curtain that must remain closed, and yet, that is a hard position for me to take, anathema to my basic makeup. So I seek the information and absorb the blows, but not always gracefully or quietly. Sometimes, the knowledge, that which puts faces and details on what one already knows, well, it ain't easy. Nor is it easy to read of PD in fiction either as in one newly published best seller, well presented as it was, for it, too, punched hard at me, at my psyche, at my evaluation of and for the future.
Vague knowledge is one thing and definite facts or delineations are another. These details, these outlinings of what I know is to come, yet in far more realistic presentations than I have seen before, well, they are hard blows to take, to get knocked down and yet stand up once more and again and again.
The other day, after a hard hitting, well presented 90 minute informative seminar with a reknowned doctor, I was gobsmacked. It all hit me again. What the hell am I fighting for? Why am I fighting? There is no secret to the ending of this. And yes, though not a single one of us gets out of this world alive, there is an unfathomable difference between knowing we are all going one way, one day or another, and knowing the details, the horrid details that are awaiting one, no way out.
There is no cure for PD. There are some meds that can help with symptoms, exercise that can help stave off some of the outer symptomatic behaviorisms of PD, but one gets there, sooner or later. And the "there' is not a pleasant thought. It is not comforting to know the end, the awful, horrible things that will happen.The brain will continue to degenerate, the dopamine to lessen, and the worst of all, for me, the possibility of cognitive damage as the years go by.
So, yes. I read everything. Books, magazines, hear and watch sessions, ask questions and yet, the other day all I could ask was - why fight? What is the point? There is no point. Maybe I should just let this damn thing have its way with me? But then the kids bring up their own needs, the needs of the grandchildren, their love for me - lay on the guilt, try to build up the hope, and so I pick myself up once again and put one foot ahead of the other and trudge along, sometimes better, sometimes worse, but I do go on.
It is kind of akin to the feelings of these brave soldiers celebrated in the famous poem about them, even as it speaks of the stupidity of war. So are those of us who continue to fight, to urge others to fight - are we the same? Are we both brave and foolish? Are we wasting our lives or providing inspiration? Hear Tennyson's words from The Charge of the Light Brigade and think upon them. "Storme'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell, rode the six hundred." We are more than 600 and the numbers are growing almost exponentially as the population ages. And we too ride into Hell.
We need to do more for this. It is not just Alzheimer's that eats up the seniors. This, PD, starts way, way before it begins to manifest itself in outer symptoms or behavior. Doctors often do not hear the patient and pooh pooh their questions and time is lost. More is needed. Understanding and patience are needed as loved ones become afflicted and things begin to change. But PD first and foremost, must lose the feeling of shame and hiding that its diagnosis engenders. It is a fact and no one's fault. It is what it is and we all, PD people and those associated with PD sufferers, must understand that and not turn away from that which might make them uncomfortable. Believe me, if you are uncomfortable, think about how much more so we are!
And so, we continue. I will read more, seek more, for that is my nature and I will do as the poem states, for I know no other way - at least at this point. "Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward..."
When struck by the definite diagnosis of Parkinsons (PD), after the immediate desire to just die right then and there, after the initial anger has abated somewhat, though make no mistake that it is gone, for the anger persists, after all this, then what?
I struck out on several paths at the same time. I found a wonderful doctor, joined a Movement clinic and went often, as recommended, and pursued information. What was the path of PD? I knew some generally, but not enough when it was this up close and personal. So I went looking and searching, reading, asking questions and watching the many, many webinars sent by the major PD organizations and yet, I wonder why the hell have I done that? What have I gained or possibly lost via this pathway?
First, I must say that having a supportive partner, whomever it is, is a must. Someone needs to be there to hear you, to talk with you, to hold your hand, to cry with you, and to fight alongside you. I have that, in spades, and am blessed for that, but is it enough?
I would say one needs more, for the fight still remains personal, and must be addressed in a personal manner. This I have done, and as a result have met so many wonderful people with whom I share laughter and pain, hopes gained and hopes lost, dreams shattered and how to handle that.
And yet. And yet. Every time I read something new, or sit through another webinar or educational forum, I end up questioning this whole process. In Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet, its Hebrew name, it is written: "For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow."
Well, that certainly says it all. Maybe there is a point beyond which we should not go, that curtain that must remain closed, and yet, that is a hard position for me to take, anathema to my basic makeup. So I seek the information and absorb the blows, but not always gracefully or quietly. Sometimes, the knowledge, that which puts faces and details on what one already knows, well, it ain't easy. Nor is it easy to read of PD in fiction either as in one newly published best seller, well presented as it was, for it, too, punched hard at me, at my psyche, at my evaluation of and for the future.
Vague knowledge is one thing and definite facts or delineations are another. These details, these outlinings of what I know is to come, yet in far more realistic presentations than I have seen before, well, they are hard blows to take, to get knocked down and yet stand up once more and again and again.
The other day, after a hard hitting, well presented 90 minute informative seminar with a reknowned doctor, I was gobsmacked. It all hit me again. What the hell am I fighting for? Why am I fighting? There is no secret to the ending of this. And yes, though not a single one of us gets out of this world alive, there is an unfathomable difference between knowing we are all going one way, one day or another, and knowing the details, the horrid details that are awaiting one, no way out.
There is no cure for PD. There are some meds that can help with symptoms, exercise that can help stave off some of the outer symptomatic behaviorisms of PD, but one gets there, sooner or later. And the "there' is not a pleasant thought. It is not comforting to know the end, the awful, horrible things that will happen.The brain will continue to degenerate, the dopamine to lessen, and the worst of all, for me, the possibility of cognitive damage as the years go by.
So, yes. I read everything. Books, magazines, hear and watch sessions, ask questions and yet, the other day all I could ask was - why fight? What is the point? There is no point. Maybe I should just let this damn thing have its way with me? But then the kids bring up their own needs, the needs of the grandchildren, their love for me - lay on the guilt, try to build up the hope, and so I pick myself up once again and put one foot ahead of the other and trudge along, sometimes better, sometimes worse, but I do go on.
It is kind of akin to the feelings of these brave soldiers celebrated in the famous poem about them, even as it speaks of the stupidity of war. So are those of us who continue to fight, to urge others to fight - are we the same? Are we both brave and foolish? Are we wasting our lives or providing inspiration? Hear Tennyson's words from The Charge of the Light Brigade and think upon them. "Storme'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell, rode the six hundred." We are more than 600 and the numbers are growing almost exponentially as the population ages. And we too ride into Hell.
We need to do more for this. It is not just Alzheimer's that eats up the seniors. This, PD, starts way, way before it begins to manifest itself in outer symptoms or behavior. Doctors often do not hear the patient and pooh pooh their questions and time is lost. More is needed. Understanding and patience are needed as loved ones become afflicted and things begin to change. But PD first and foremost, must lose the feeling of shame and hiding that its diagnosis engenders. It is a fact and no one's fault. It is what it is and we all, PD people and those associated with PD sufferers, must understand that and not turn away from that which might make them uncomfortable. Believe me, if you are uncomfortable, think about how much more so we are!
And so, we continue. I will read more, seek more, for that is my nature and I will do as the poem states, for I know no other way - at least at this point. "Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward..."
Friday, March 22, 2019
DRIP DRIP DRIP
I wonder how many of us get that slimy feeling, feel the drip of filthy oil, and how many just either ignore or actually crave it. Every time I read that Trump has said or done something 'for his base', the feeling of nausea and repulsion rises again. Why do we pander to a group of people who refuse to recognize the truth of the nastiness and lies that abound within the Trump world or worse, who recognize it and think the man is putting one over on the enemy, all the while not recognizing that his sliminess is dripping away on them, eroding their rights, squeezing their benefits, and putting them and their families at risk.They cheer on his denial of the truth, be it the environment and climate to political and civil wrongdoings. Drip. Drip.
$1.3 million to his businesses from the campaign funds and this same thing has continued thru today as the government keeps paying the Trump golf clubs every damn time that man goes to one or the other. His hotel in Washingotn reaps the benefit of toads, staying there hoping to pander enough to get his agreements on whatever catastrophic wish they have.
In the meanwhile, even as his base pushes for more wasting of time on Clinton's emails, they need to realize that goose and gander works here. At least hers was a private server! This idiot Jared and his most annoying wife, Ivanka, used their private email to send correspondence through on official governmental business, and Jared, why he even used his WhatsApp to correspond with foreign officials! So hey, lock them up? And the 'patriarch' of the clan as well? Such a sweet thought! Ahh, the power of dreams.
In the meanwhile we have horrendous flooding in Nebraska and now flooding is expected in 25 states during the spring season. 25 states!! But nope, no climate issues here! All this and we add the cherry on top by locking up DACA kids who have lived here for all but a few days or months or years, brought here by their parents hoping for a future for them, went to college, worked jobs, paid taxes, became Americans! Married Amerians not from DACA, and are even on the way towards citizenship, but hey, hey, there goes ICE, 'protecting' us from that dangerous young flight attendant. What a damn tragedy here, locking someone up in one of those terrible privatized detention centers, otherwise known as prisons! Separating her from her husband, killing the dream for no reason at all. And shame at Mesa Airline for putting her in this situation. They know the political climate these days They know the viciousness of Border patrol and ICE. They know of the privatized lock up business. And shame on us that this country is still doingthis! And stop saving up migrants in detention until they can be released in a torrential people flood, overwhelming the aid centers, all so it can be 'pointed out' how many there are and how dangerous it is. Shame on you!!
But not to worry, for hope is on the horizon. Texas legalized lemonade stands for children! Can you believe this? What have we done to childhood what with all the grinches around! Lemonade stands, selling one's little toys on the steps or lawn. Selling water on hot days. Kids' enterprises and part and parcel of childhood and there has to be a law about this?!
But what else can we expect other than the drip, drip of this ugliness. The president keeps trolling on a dead hero, whining that he has not received proper 'thanks' (which by the way he did) and big deal. It was not about him! Not everything is about him! And the rest of the government goes down this crazy path to what? Aha! Here we go! Doing training for an active shooter situation, teachers were actually shot in the back with forcefully expelled plastic pellets,up close and personal! What? Do they think the teachers need to be shot, to receive pain in order for them to understand what they and their students face in such a situation?! What the hell is the matter with us that we allow people who sanction this to rise to the top, to positions which enable them to do such creepy things? And G-d forbid we actually ban assault weapons!
Drip and drip and drip. Wearing away at our society. Wearing away, eroding our humanistic behavior. Drip, drip on our rights and on honesty in government. Drip and drip and drip until we are inured to this sound and consequences. Or are we?
I have hope tht there are still enough of us to regain the truth, to regain our country, to take pride again in our country, to serve as an example to the world, to welcome those seeking havens of safety and dreams, just as we have mostly done. Shame on us for returning to the eras of anti immigration. Who the hell were our parents or grandparents or further down the line? Now we are here so now we shutthe dor?
Drip. Drip. Drp. We need to stop that drip. We need to fix that leaky faucet of society. We need to see clean water, decency, truth, justice once more and hey, if some superhero wants to show up and save the day, well, welcome!! But even some clean old rags will do, that and elbow grease, anything to stop this drip. This slimy drip. This nauseating drip. This so unAmerican drip.
$1.3 million to his businesses from the campaign funds and this same thing has continued thru today as the government keeps paying the Trump golf clubs every damn time that man goes to one or the other. His hotel in Washingotn reaps the benefit of toads, staying there hoping to pander enough to get his agreements on whatever catastrophic wish they have.
In the meanwhile, even as his base pushes for more wasting of time on Clinton's emails, they need to realize that goose and gander works here. At least hers was a private server! This idiot Jared and his most annoying wife, Ivanka, used their private email to send correspondence through on official governmental business, and Jared, why he even used his WhatsApp to correspond with foreign officials! So hey, lock them up? And the 'patriarch' of the clan as well? Such a sweet thought! Ahh, the power of dreams.
In the meanwhile we have horrendous flooding in Nebraska and now flooding is expected in 25 states during the spring season. 25 states!! But nope, no climate issues here! All this and we add the cherry on top by locking up DACA kids who have lived here for all but a few days or months or years, brought here by their parents hoping for a future for them, went to college, worked jobs, paid taxes, became Americans! Married Amerians not from DACA, and are even on the way towards citizenship, but hey, hey, there goes ICE, 'protecting' us from that dangerous young flight attendant. What a damn tragedy here, locking someone up in one of those terrible privatized detention centers, otherwise known as prisons! Separating her from her husband, killing the dream for no reason at all. And shame at Mesa Airline for putting her in this situation. They know the political climate these days They know the viciousness of Border patrol and ICE. They know of the privatized lock up business. And shame on us that this country is still doingthis! And stop saving up migrants in detention until they can be released in a torrential people flood, overwhelming the aid centers, all so it can be 'pointed out' how many there are and how dangerous it is. Shame on you!!
But not to worry, for hope is on the horizon. Texas legalized lemonade stands for children! Can you believe this? What have we done to childhood what with all the grinches around! Lemonade stands, selling one's little toys on the steps or lawn. Selling water on hot days. Kids' enterprises and part and parcel of childhood and there has to be a law about this?!
But what else can we expect other than the drip, drip of this ugliness. The president keeps trolling on a dead hero, whining that he has not received proper 'thanks' (which by the way he did) and big deal. It was not about him! Not everything is about him! And the rest of the government goes down this crazy path to what? Aha! Here we go! Doing training for an active shooter situation, teachers were actually shot in the back with forcefully expelled plastic pellets,up close and personal! What? Do they think the teachers need to be shot, to receive pain in order for them to understand what they and their students face in such a situation?! What the hell is the matter with us that we allow people who sanction this to rise to the top, to positions which enable them to do such creepy things? And G-d forbid we actually ban assault weapons!
Drip and drip and drip. Wearing away at our society. Wearing away, eroding our humanistic behavior. Drip, drip on our rights and on honesty in government. Drip and drip and drip until we are inured to this sound and consequences. Or are we?
I have hope tht there are still enough of us to regain the truth, to regain our country, to take pride again in our country, to serve as an example to the world, to welcome those seeking havens of safety and dreams, just as we have mostly done. Shame on us for returning to the eras of anti immigration. Who the hell were our parents or grandparents or further down the line? Now we are here so now we shutthe dor?
Drip. Drip. Drp. We need to stop that drip. We need to fix that leaky faucet of society. We need to see clean water, decency, truth, justice once more and hey, if some superhero wants to show up and save the day, well, welcome!! But even some clean old rags will do, that and elbow grease, anything to stop this drip. This slimy drip. This nauseating drip. This so unAmerican drip.
Thursday, March 21, 2019
YOU. ARE. NUTS.
This is what Conway tweeted to Trump after the preceding tweet from Trump to him in this ongoing schoolyard battle between two presumably grown men. Yes, Conway certainly has the right to answer Trump after being called names, after having his wife support her boss over her husband! What should have happened is that after Conway criticized Trump, evidently a life endangering act in today's times, he should just have ignored the demented return tweets. To be fair, it is hard to ignore personal attack tweets going viral, but I believe if one ignores the ass, he might stop and go onto other targets - you know, like the deceased John McCain! Just as an aside, please note that Conway is correct in his analysis of the mental state of our illegitimate President, but truth makes no never mind to Trump at all.
Still and all, I think the better, and more truthful tweet would have been We. Are. Nuts. Yes, we , the people of this country, are besieged and under siege at this time and too many of us are refusing to see what is there, to hear what is being said and denying the truth of the actions or lack of actions in this man's administration.
Why cannot this country do the simple thing and ban assault rifles, especially after so many horrific mass shootings - and for sure there are more to come if we do not act and NOW! Why is it that 15 days - 15 days! - after the mosques shootings Australia has banned assault rifles? What is the matter with us? Is it that WE Are Nuts? Is it that we refuse to recognize the gone haywire ethos of our country, particularly during and because of this man's mouthings and actions and the speech and actions of those who follow him or who believe that he has made hatred, prejudice and violence against those we dislike all legal, justified and definitely PC. Whatever the cause or cause - We Are Nuts if we continue to allow this.
Worse than that, for we are then complicit in the violence that takes place. We should feel the striking of the bullets at innocent individuals as if they struck our own bodies, for by refusing to press our lawmakers on this issue, for allowing the NRA to overrule common and decent sense - we are to share a piece of the blame for the consequences of no action.
And so much more has become distastefully and even sacreligiously okayed in the distorted world of today's moral climate. People think it is okay to use monuments to horror as selfie backgrounds, balancing on traintracks that brought millions to their death. Running and jumping and juggling on a Berlin Monument to those murdered during the Holocaust. Have we all gone mad? Have we all lost our way? Have we lost all sense of what is proper nd what is right or is all okay in today's world, no boundaries at all?
Lies have become the coinage of the political world. Why not? It appears that no matter how egregious the lie is, there are always blindly devoted or deluded followers who will believe it and swear to and for it. We. Are. Nuts. We certainly are, for we refuse to see the nakedness of this emperor and his world wide imitators and/or believers. We refuse to see that this man is the present day Pied Piper, leadig us all into a cave of doom or a river of death - take your choice at the ending.
Over and over again there is a catalogue of lies, written in a most detailed manner and yet, here come more lies. Defeats of enemies are predicted to happen today, tomorrow, yesterday, three weeks from today, whenever, yet there he goes again. Lives have been destroyed due to this man and his followers, due to the weak and cowardly ways of the Republicans in Congress who refuse to stand up to this man and instead kneel before him, groveling for his approval. Anna had it right when she sang , "Yes, Your Majesty, No, Your Majesty. Give us a kick if you wish, Your Majesty!" It is sad, even more than that, when we see grown people shed all their rights as legislators, shred the words and principles of the Constitution, all for a tiny little piece of the pie or perhaps it is a bigger piece of the pie in private life as their business dealings and the bottom lines will have been much improved due to what has been happening in this country. Shame on all of us!
A Texas homeowner discovered that there were 45 rattlesnakes under his home and some were mammoth. He only discovered this by accident and had to call in help. Well, folks, we have rattlesnakes too under our foundations and they are shooting their venom into the foundations on a daily basis and it just is not good! We need to find and punish these 'rattlesnakes', get them out of our 'home' and reinspect, rebuild, renovate and rehab where necessary. There is no other choice. No other hope for us.
If we continue to ignore our responsibilities and our roles in this national disaster, then we will get what some of us deserve. As for the rest, well, take a look at your kids and then ask them what they think. They are more politically aware, in tune with reality than most adults. It was kids who staged a national walkout on Friday for the environment. It is the kids who are frightened at their onrushing future and the Mad Max world it will turn into as people fight for survival at its most basic levels. Think this is an exaggeration? Go ask the people of Great Britain who were told only yesterday that their island is going to run out of sufficient water quite soon. Talk to the people of Flint, Michigan. Talk to the people whose children have been struck by cancers of a most horribe nature due to the pollution of the very land they are living upon - something people knew about but ignored.
We. Are. Nuts. Yes, the sobriquet fits and will continue to do so if we allow the man who is nuts to continue to lead us to perdition. He is not immune or above the law and when his alleged crimes and misdeeds, civil and/ or criminal are revealed, he must be prosecuted, be it in impeachment hearing and conviction or the courts of the country. The law is the law. Decency and compassion are just that, and as he has shown none to those who need it, we need show him none as well. Harsh sounding, maybe, but the truth. We need to see that and understand it. The alternative is simply not a viable one if we wish to survive as the United States of America in all its glory, all its rights and responsibilities. I do not even like nuts, so how ironic is that!
Still and all, I think the better, and more truthful tweet would have been We. Are. Nuts. Yes, we , the people of this country, are besieged and under siege at this time and too many of us are refusing to see what is there, to hear what is being said and denying the truth of the actions or lack of actions in this man's administration.
Why cannot this country do the simple thing and ban assault rifles, especially after so many horrific mass shootings - and for sure there are more to come if we do not act and NOW! Why is it that 15 days - 15 days! - after the mosques shootings Australia has banned assault rifles? What is the matter with us? Is it that WE Are Nuts? Is it that we refuse to recognize the gone haywire ethos of our country, particularly during and because of this man's mouthings and actions and the speech and actions of those who follow him or who believe that he has made hatred, prejudice and violence against those we dislike all legal, justified and definitely PC. Whatever the cause or cause - We Are Nuts if we continue to allow this.
Worse than that, for we are then complicit in the violence that takes place. We should feel the striking of the bullets at innocent individuals as if they struck our own bodies, for by refusing to press our lawmakers on this issue, for allowing the NRA to overrule common and decent sense - we are to share a piece of the blame for the consequences of no action.
And so much more has become distastefully and even sacreligiously okayed in the distorted world of today's moral climate. People think it is okay to use monuments to horror as selfie backgrounds, balancing on traintracks that brought millions to their death. Running and jumping and juggling on a Berlin Monument to those murdered during the Holocaust. Have we all gone mad? Have we all lost our way? Have we lost all sense of what is proper nd what is right or is all okay in today's world, no boundaries at all?
Lies have become the coinage of the political world. Why not? It appears that no matter how egregious the lie is, there are always blindly devoted or deluded followers who will believe it and swear to and for it. We. Are. Nuts. We certainly are, for we refuse to see the nakedness of this emperor and his world wide imitators and/or believers. We refuse to see that this man is the present day Pied Piper, leadig us all into a cave of doom or a river of death - take your choice at the ending.
Over and over again there is a catalogue of lies, written in a most detailed manner and yet, here come more lies. Defeats of enemies are predicted to happen today, tomorrow, yesterday, three weeks from today, whenever, yet there he goes again. Lives have been destroyed due to this man and his followers, due to the weak and cowardly ways of the Republicans in Congress who refuse to stand up to this man and instead kneel before him, groveling for his approval. Anna had it right when she sang , "Yes, Your Majesty, No, Your Majesty. Give us a kick if you wish, Your Majesty!" It is sad, even more than that, when we see grown people shed all their rights as legislators, shred the words and principles of the Constitution, all for a tiny little piece of the pie or perhaps it is a bigger piece of the pie in private life as their business dealings and the bottom lines will have been much improved due to what has been happening in this country. Shame on all of us!
A Texas homeowner discovered that there were 45 rattlesnakes under his home and some were mammoth. He only discovered this by accident and had to call in help. Well, folks, we have rattlesnakes too under our foundations and they are shooting their venom into the foundations on a daily basis and it just is not good! We need to find and punish these 'rattlesnakes', get them out of our 'home' and reinspect, rebuild, renovate and rehab where necessary. There is no other choice. No other hope for us.
If we continue to ignore our responsibilities and our roles in this national disaster, then we will get what some of us deserve. As for the rest, well, take a look at your kids and then ask them what they think. They are more politically aware, in tune with reality than most adults. It was kids who staged a national walkout on Friday for the environment. It is the kids who are frightened at their onrushing future and the Mad Max world it will turn into as people fight for survival at its most basic levels. Think this is an exaggeration? Go ask the people of Great Britain who were told only yesterday that their island is going to run out of sufficient water quite soon. Talk to the people of Flint, Michigan. Talk to the people whose children have been struck by cancers of a most horribe nature due to the pollution of the very land they are living upon - something people knew about but ignored.
We. Are. Nuts. Yes, the sobriquet fits and will continue to do so if we allow the man who is nuts to continue to lead us to perdition. He is not immune or above the law and when his alleged crimes and misdeeds, civil and/ or criminal are revealed, he must be prosecuted, be it in impeachment hearing and conviction or the courts of the country. The law is the law. Decency and compassion are just that, and as he has shown none to those who need it, we need show him none as well. Harsh sounding, maybe, but the truth. We need to see that and understand it. The alternative is simply not a viable one if we wish to survive as the United States of America in all its glory, all its rights and responsibilities. I do not even like nuts, so how ironic is that!
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
IS ANYBODY HOME?
Is anybody home out there? Is there anybody who can truly understand what the heck is going on and how to fix all the messes we have now? Is there anybody out there who actually can find a neutral space and then begin an ingathering of the tribes of the world, gettting them to put aside their individual differences and work together to actually create a peaceful process for issues, for complaints, for justice? For humanity?
Somehow, I doubt that. The closest one can get, it seems, is the UN and we all know where that goes, what with the prejudice and bias there against the USA, Israel, and the weighted vote counting and distribution. The biggest violator of human rights can actually be on the UN Human Rights Commission and vote censure motions against another country. Now isn't that special!
Or we can have another situation where a person has an overdeveloped sense of his own brain power and decides he can solve the problem, one that has been going on for lo these many a year. Kushner, who could not even manage his own company's financial issues, now believes he can rope in multiple countries of the Middle East, do multiple land transfers from one nation to another, solve the Jerusalem issue and bring about peace in the Middle East. My take? Never! Is there anybody home out there to understand the oxymoronic features of these issues? Seems not.
"... maddening to watch" is the comment we get when Conway was asked why he tweets about Trump. I agree. Just wataching that man talk, with his ridiculous faces and moues, with his constant positioning of his arms across his puffed out chest, in the classic position of "oh, yeah?", and then listen to the words - the inane, the hateful, the dangerous - well, it is maddening.
How does one deal with a man whose great joy in life is picking on people, trashing them in public, and is too stupid to realize how it all reflects back on him He is nasty in his tweets about John McCain, a deceased hero, a prisoner of war, tortured for five years, even as Trump received five, FIVE, deferments and disqualifications from the draft for a non existent bone spur excuse written as a favor from a tenant of a Trump building. Truly! Few wished to be drafted into that war, but no one boasts about it and insures compaison in which he comes off the worst! Talk about "low IQ individuals."
He tweets about violence, talks about violence, and no, not what he wishes to stop, but how he uses it to threaten his opponents. This is so non presidential tht I wondr, who exactly is home out there? Why do people feel they can say they do not like his tweets and wish he would stop but otherwise he is doing well. Really? Where? How? Aside from deregulation that will further the climate catastrophe we are facing, and behaving indecently and violently with immigrants, what has he done other than antagonize lawmakers, attempt to destroy the Constitution, generate profits for his own bottom line from his situation as President, and just about become the worst President ever!! Worse than Harding. Worse than Buchanan. Worse, though not by much, than Carter.
His mind, or that which passes for it, appears to have little, if any, fucntioning gray matter left. It changes opinions just about every minute on the minute, and pushes for all things guaranteed to bolster himself and not the country. Hence the shady dealings with Russia. Hence the hiring of so many creeps and crooks, surrounding himself with these people-well, look in the mirror and understand what it says about himself. Nothing good, my friends, nothing good.
Yet is there anyone home out there? His rallies are truly formatting themselves more and more as hate rallies, inciting and promising violence. There is nothing of substance within them, and when reported on negatively, he rants and raves about Fake News, and demands investigations of shows, of hosts, of any and all who cross him. This, this hatered and these rantings, are so dangerous it is beyond belief and yet, is anybody home out there?
Does the Democratic Party realize it can win, but it can also lose if it does not get its act together? The young 'whippersnappers' need to learn to temper the idealism with the brute force of reality and work together to make progress, but not destroy the country in the meanwhile. They need to know how and why - no, they should understand the why -to shut down the haters and hatemongers among their people. Quickly! Definitively. They need to work on policies and come up with detailed plans, not just pie in the sky words.
And they - and we - must work to counter what is happening in our society. There are chat rooms, organizations, who are harping back to a very basic fundamentalist and fascistic concept. Woman have no rights, should not be allowed to vote nor work, and must breed, like cattle, to insure the growth of white population. OMG!!! That in this day and age we can have these thoughts as a growing cnacer on the Internet, in the world!
Yesterday I recieved a prime example of the dangerous garbage out there and how people help disseminate it without thinking. It was a whole long rant against Moslems supposedly spoken by the Australian Prime Minsiter, a woman who ran on deceny and civility, and there is a huge spreading of this hate speech right after the shooting at the mosques! Truly! When the falseness of it was pointed out, the incomprehensible alignment of the speech and the woman, one person who had sent it said, "My bad", but is that enough, for it is out there, spreading like cancer at a time when the cures for these types of cancers of society seem to be failing.
Is there anybody home out there? Knock, knock. Please answer the door with a welcoming smile and an open mind and heart. Please answer. Please take part in working to make this world a better place for all. Let us work together to cut back on this hatred. There was a song that sang of how this group hates the other group and that group hates another and on goes the chain of hatred. Is it not time to stop this chain? And it begins with the catch on the chain - this man who endorses hatred and violence, condemned by the words of his own mouth. And no, he is not 'unique" and above the law. In fact, as President he should be held to a higher code of conduct for he should be setting a GOOD example for the country, not one of hate and violence and dangerous stupidity and incompetence mixed in with greed.
Is anybody home out there? I hope so. Do you hear the knocking on the door? Answer it before the door is broken in by the forces that wish to tear us apart. Hello? Anybody there?
Somehow, I doubt that. The closest one can get, it seems, is the UN and we all know where that goes, what with the prejudice and bias there against the USA, Israel, and the weighted vote counting and distribution. The biggest violator of human rights can actually be on the UN Human Rights Commission and vote censure motions against another country. Now isn't that special!
Or we can have another situation where a person has an overdeveloped sense of his own brain power and decides he can solve the problem, one that has been going on for lo these many a year. Kushner, who could not even manage his own company's financial issues, now believes he can rope in multiple countries of the Middle East, do multiple land transfers from one nation to another, solve the Jerusalem issue and bring about peace in the Middle East. My take? Never! Is there anybody home out there to understand the oxymoronic features of these issues? Seems not.
"... maddening to watch" is the comment we get when Conway was asked why he tweets about Trump. I agree. Just wataching that man talk, with his ridiculous faces and moues, with his constant positioning of his arms across his puffed out chest, in the classic position of "oh, yeah?", and then listen to the words - the inane, the hateful, the dangerous - well, it is maddening.
How does one deal with a man whose great joy in life is picking on people, trashing them in public, and is too stupid to realize how it all reflects back on him He is nasty in his tweets about John McCain, a deceased hero, a prisoner of war, tortured for five years, even as Trump received five, FIVE, deferments and disqualifications from the draft for a non existent bone spur excuse written as a favor from a tenant of a Trump building. Truly! Few wished to be drafted into that war, but no one boasts about it and insures compaison in which he comes off the worst! Talk about "low IQ individuals."
He tweets about violence, talks about violence, and no, not what he wishes to stop, but how he uses it to threaten his opponents. This is so non presidential tht I wondr, who exactly is home out there? Why do people feel they can say they do not like his tweets and wish he would stop but otherwise he is doing well. Really? Where? How? Aside from deregulation that will further the climate catastrophe we are facing, and behaving indecently and violently with immigrants, what has he done other than antagonize lawmakers, attempt to destroy the Constitution, generate profits for his own bottom line from his situation as President, and just about become the worst President ever!! Worse than Harding. Worse than Buchanan. Worse, though not by much, than Carter.
His mind, or that which passes for it, appears to have little, if any, fucntioning gray matter left. It changes opinions just about every minute on the minute, and pushes for all things guaranteed to bolster himself and not the country. Hence the shady dealings with Russia. Hence the hiring of so many creeps and crooks, surrounding himself with these people-well, look in the mirror and understand what it says about himself. Nothing good, my friends, nothing good.
Yet is there anyone home out there? His rallies are truly formatting themselves more and more as hate rallies, inciting and promising violence. There is nothing of substance within them, and when reported on negatively, he rants and raves about Fake News, and demands investigations of shows, of hosts, of any and all who cross him. This, this hatered and these rantings, are so dangerous it is beyond belief and yet, is anybody home out there?
Does the Democratic Party realize it can win, but it can also lose if it does not get its act together? The young 'whippersnappers' need to learn to temper the idealism with the brute force of reality and work together to make progress, but not destroy the country in the meanwhile. They need to know how and why - no, they should understand the why -to shut down the haters and hatemongers among their people. Quickly! Definitively. They need to work on policies and come up with detailed plans, not just pie in the sky words.
And they - and we - must work to counter what is happening in our society. There are chat rooms, organizations, who are harping back to a very basic fundamentalist and fascistic concept. Woman have no rights, should not be allowed to vote nor work, and must breed, like cattle, to insure the growth of white population. OMG!!! That in this day and age we can have these thoughts as a growing cnacer on the Internet, in the world!
Yesterday I recieved a prime example of the dangerous garbage out there and how people help disseminate it without thinking. It was a whole long rant against Moslems supposedly spoken by the Australian Prime Minsiter, a woman who ran on deceny and civility, and there is a huge spreading of this hate speech right after the shooting at the mosques! Truly! When the falseness of it was pointed out, the incomprehensible alignment of the speech and the woman, one person who had sent it said, "My bad", but is that enough, for it is out there, spreading like cancer at a time when the cures for these types of cancers of society seem to be failing.
Is there anybody home out there? Knock, knock. Please answer the door with a welcoming smile and an open mind and heart. Please answer. Please take part in working to make this world a better place for all. Let us work together to cut back on this hatred. There was a song that sang of how this group hates the other group and that group hates another and on goes the chain of hatred. Is it not time to stop this chain? And it begins with the catch on the chain - this man who endorses hatred and violence, condemned by the words of his own mouth. And no, he is not 'unique" and above the law. In fact, as President he should be held to a higher code of conduct for he should be setting a GOOD example for the country, not one of hate and violence and dangerous stupidity and incompetence mixed in with greed.
Is anybody home out there? I hope so. Do you hear the knocking on the door? Answer it before the door is broken in by the forces that wish to tear us apart. Hello? Anybody there?
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
CUCKOO! CUCKOO!
Do you hear the sound of the clock? In and out goes the little birdie, tweeting its message on the hour. Sounds famiiar, does it not? There is another cuckoo constantly tweeting, and this one is apparently broken as it tweets in a manic and erratic schedule, at least 50 times from Friday morning thru Sunday evening. And the content was quite telling.
Bet you did not know that the New Zealand massacre was all about the Cuckoo in the Oval Office and not about the 49 killed. Silly you! Of course, given the twisted logic and limited brain power of the Cuckoo, most of its tweets on this topic were concentrated on denying the evident: there is a most dangerous rise in white supremacy and supremacists and the various and numerous tweets and remarks from this Cuckoo definitely impact upon this fact.
In fact, there are NO "fine people" from that club! There are no excuses for that club to still exist. The fact that it does is quite telling. Apparently, it is all about the hate and the hatred and the threats. This Cuckoo, that we all know and most certainly do not love, co-opts the phrase "Live Long and Prosper", ironically stated by Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, who was a proud and open Jew, and accompanied by a Judaic priestly blessing gesture! Wonder what the "fine" people think about that? It is then added to by the Cuckoo with yet another oh so loving phrase - "Be Weak & Die!!" Ahhh, the love just drips from that awkward mouth, leaks from the damaged brain. But never you mind, for there appears to be no connection between this Cuckoo and the supremacist movement, for so we are told and it is just so easy, is it not, to overlook the obvious and continue to live in a bubble that harms others even as one takes shelter within it, a false and dangerous shelter.
Musn't overlook the generosity of the Cuckoo, please. Made a big deal over donating his quarterly income check to such a wonderful recipient, so free of calumny and nastiness - Department of Homeland Security. Perhaps they will buy a few more feet of caging fence or some aluminum blankets! Yup, this the same man who proposes a new budget that cuts all funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for Humanities, the Corporation for National Broadcasting (PBS and NPR), and the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences. It oh so generously does allot it funds to shut itself down!!
The Cuckoo is a barbarian, finding no necessity for the finer aspects of humanity such as culture, learning, literature, music, art, any expressive media at all. Cannot have those subversive things hanging around, you know, Sesame Street, philharmonic orchestras, subversive literature which highlights the progress and the retreat of humanity, and certainly not anything that promotes free thought and speech. Heavens no!!! And just as an aside, wonder how much money went into the bottom line of the Trump Organization via the Presidency of the Cuckoo? Just askin'. Who knows? Only the Cuckoo knows!
We are so lucky in that this cuckoo is a full service one, for we certainly do not want any logic entering the situation, any consideration for others, for the Cuckoo deems that baaaaddd. Take the federal loan program, you know, the one which has these poor kids and their parents saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt as the colleges raise their tuition fees and the lenders just smile all the way to the bank. So here is Ivanka's clever fix on the whole thing. You remember her, the one who so assuredly and confidently stated, as she just knows this for sure, that people do not want a minimum liveable wage, for sure not, for they feel that is not being earned by their work, so they actually want to work harder to get less money. She knows, for she sees that from her golden perch on high! So, instead of demanding that tuition rates return to a more affordable and proper level, that lenders restrict their terror tactics and their interest rates and arcane rules of repayment guaranteed to trap the lendees in a neverending world of horror, instead of that, loving Ivanka proposses to cap the loans available for the students and oh, for sure, the colleges will then lower their tuition costs! Not my logic or understanding; just straight from the Cuckoo and his daughter, you know the Princess of the proposed dynasty.
Hate to tell you "I told ya' so! - not really, though. I have been writing and talking about this man from time immemorial it seems, and now even the big dudes and dudettes are stating what I have long said - the man is demented, evil, nasty, a racist and misogynist and yes, even a sociopath as I see no understanding of the human condition nor any interest in learning about it and no attempt made even to disguise this serious lack in the man's makeup.
Told ya' so! Told ya' so! But this gives me no joy, for we are in a truly dangerous and existential situation. If we allow the Cuckoo to continue unabated, to allow his demented and/or deceived and deluded 'base' to set the tone, to allow the hatred and the fear overwhelm this country, we will have that unthinkable Civil War and what we will see is an end to this country, this experiment that until now has proven to do so well and ask and demand the best of its citizens, that acknowledges errors and is generally willing to improve itself. But no more, if the Cuckoo has its way.
Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Once a sound that charmed children. Now a word that opens doors to the unthinkable.
Bet you did not know that the New Zealand massacre was all about the Cuckoo in the Oval Office and not about the 49 killed. Silly you! Of course, given the twisted logic and limited brain power of the Cuckoo, most of its tweets on this topic were concentrated on denying the evident: there is a most dangerous rise in white supremacy and supremacists and the various and numerous tweets and remarks from this Cuckoo definitely impact upon this fact.
In fact, there are NO "fine people" from that club! There are no excuses for that club to still exist. The fact that it does is quite telling. Apparently, it is all about the hate and the hatred and the threats. This Cuckoo, that we all know and most certainly do not love, co-opts the phrase "Live Long and Prosper", ironically stated by Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, who was a proud and open Jew, and accompanied by a Judaic priestly blessing gesture! Wonder what the "fine" people think about that? It is then added to by the Cuckoo with yet another oh so loving phrase - "Be Weak & Die!!" Ahhh, the love just drips from that awkward mouth, leaks from the damaged brain. But never you mind, for there appears to be no connection between this Cuckoo and the supremacist movement, for so we are told and it is just so easy, is it not, to overlook the obvious and continue to live in a bubble that harms others even as one takes shelter within it, a false and dangerous shelter.
Musn't overlook the generosity of the Cuckoo, please. Made a big deal over donating his quarterly income check to such a wonderful recipient, so free of calumny and nastiness - Department of Homeland Security. Perhaps they will buy a few more feet of caging fence or some aluminum blankets! Yup, this the same man who proposes a new budget that cuts all funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for Humanities, the Corporation for National Broadcasting (PBS and NPR), and the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences. It oh so generously does allot it funds to shut itself down!!
The Cuckoo is a barbarian, finding no necessity for the finer aspects of humanity such as culture, learning, literature, music, art, any expressive media at all. Cannot have those subversive things hanging around, you know, Sesame Street, philharmonic orchestras, subversive literature which highlights the progress and the retreat of humanity, and certainly not anything that promotes free thought and speech. Heavens no!!! And just as an aside, wonder how much money went into the bottom line of the Trump Organization via the Presidency of the Cuckoo? Just askin'. Who knows? Only the Cuckoo knows!
We are so lucky in that this cuckoo is a full service one, for we certainly do not want any logic entering the situation, any consideration for others, for the Cuckoo deems that baaaaddd. Take the federal loan program, you know, the one which has these poor kids and their parents saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt as the colleges raise their tuition fees and the lenders just smile all the way to the bank. So here is Ivanka's clever fix on the whole thing. You remember her, the one who so assuredly and confidently stated, as she just knows this for sure, that people do not want a minimum liveable wage, for sure not, for they feel that is not being earned by their work, so they actually want to work harder to get less money. She knows, for she sees that from her golden perch on high! So, instead of demanding that tuition rates return to a more affordable and proper level, that lenders restrict their terror tactics and their interest rates and arcane rules of repayment guaranteed to trap the lendees in a neverending world of horror, instead of that, loving Ivanka proposses to cap the loans available for the students and oh, for sure, the colleges will then lower their tuition costs! Not my logic or understanding; just straight from the Cuckoo and his daughter, you know the Princess of the proposed dynasty.
Hate to tell you "I told ya' so! - not really, though. I have been writing and talking about this man from time immemorial it seems, and now even the big dudes and dudettes are stating what I have long said - the man is demented, evil, nasty, a racist and misogynist and yes, even a sociopath as I see no understanding of the human condition nor any interest in learning about it and no attempt made even to disguise this serious lack in the man's makeup.
Told ya' so! Told ya' so! But this gives me no joy, for we are in a truly dangerous and existential situation. If we allow the Cuckoo to continue unabated, to allow his demented and/or deceived and deluded 'base' to set the tone, to allow the hatred and the fear overwhelm this country, we will have that unthinkable Civil War and what we will see is an end to this country, this experiment that until now has proven to do so well and ask and demand the best of its citizens, that acknowledges errors and is generally willing to improve itself. But no more, if the Cuckoo has its way.
Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Once a sound that charmed children. Now a word that opens doors to the unthinkable.
Monday, March 18, 2019
IS ENOUGH ENOUGH?
When is enough enough? When is truly funny not so funny anymore, but instead, is actually leaning towards the frightening? When is it that we finally come to realize that yes, we are in great existential danger, and no, we cannot look away from it any longer?
"His condition is getting worse." So Conway, the husband of Kellyanne Conway, states yesterday after a most unusual visit to church by the Trumps. Generally, his 'church' visits take a much lower priority than his golf outings!! In any case, Conway was not the only one who feels this way.
Laurence Tribe, a prominent professor at Harvard and in the academic world, has warned us that we have much to fear by 2020. Nor is he the only one warning us. Over and over again we are reading of concerns that the 2020 election will be nullified should Trump lose. That he will not vacate the office in a peaceful manner and in fact, will not vacate at all. Russian collusion, electronic interference, unqualified voters, Fake News - take your choice, but there it is. His excuses, pre chosen.
A man who can shriek a constant piercing sound of war against the media or plumping for his favorite, Fox News, as they support him (Pirro firing aside), well, that man is dangerous to our democracy. He does not like the parodies of SNL. He does not like the late night show hosts, which to a one, get the laughs out of this demented person and yet, this is when we ask: When is enough enough? And no, not to stop the parodies and the humor, but when do we realize that there is a whole lot of scary reality behind these comedic sessions and we need to be concerned. When the subject of this humor calls for an investigation of them, for them to be shut down!!!!, accuses them of COLLUSION with Russia, then enough is enough. I say that and so do many others.
Here is the problem. Impeachment is not such a sure path. It would take the Senate to convict and at this point in time those Republican wimps are too shamed and so deep into their shame that they cannot pull away long enough and bravely enough to do the right thing. So Graham defends his friend, McCain, against Trump's nasty tweets, but then he will turn around and lose yet more marbles as he chants the Trump chant and drinks the Trump Kool-Aid.
The veto willl not be overturned due to the cowardice and fear of these Republicans. They have given away the keys, all of them, to the kingdom, sacrificed their own legal powers according to the Constitution, and do not even feel it, when the knife in their back is one they placed there themselves!
The man is mad! The man is truly over the limit and this is the time when enough is enough. I wonder if there is a recall for the President? I wonder if there is, if that would trigger the Civil War that is waiting in the wings? I wonder if people will blockade the polls for the 2020 primaries and election? I wonder if the election will trigger that Civil War awaiting us unless we do something to avert it and I do not mean giving in to this Demented One's demands.
On a week of horror at a New Zealand mosque, Trump had much more to tweet about in his maniacal barrage of tweets over the long weekend. He found time to remark that he simply does not see a rise in white supremacists, you know those "fine" people. This from the very man whose words and deeds have encouraged this growth and with whom he will celebrate it as Brazil's leader, called the "Trump of South America", comes for a visit. This from the man who rants and raves like the lunatic he is, like the naked emperor he is, and yet, he is still here, doing the crazy thing and smirking the whole way, thinking he is oh, so clever.
And perhaps he is, but perhaps the truth will finally climb and fight its way to the surface. Over 5,000 stores are being closed this year. The GM plant in Ohio is closed and despite his demands that it "must" reopen, the economy says otherwise. The environment is going to rack and ruin, the waters of the country are becoming far more polluted and dangerous than ever and who would ever have thought that we, in America, would not have clean and safe water for our people? Who?!
So I ask again - when is enough enough? When do we stop the hypocritical bonding with and support of a killer, a despot who masquerades as a a progressive leader yet kills Khashoggi and now we hear of others, and who promises women rights, yet locks away women supporters of this. And his best buddy roams the White House at will. When do we stop supporting a man who is suborning the judiciary for decades to come, making a mockery of it as he appoints numerous unqualified and incompetent backwards thinking people to seats on all levels of the federal bench?
At what point is enough enough? Is it when we find that we have to write out large checks to the IRS this year and such a tax cut! Hmm, guess the 1% got theirs! Is it when we read of the cuts to social safety net programs, to Medicare and Medicaid, to Social Security, of cuts to education and the growing role of churches, religion, in our public schools? Is it when we totally and completely cede our ethos, our core values, build a stupid wall around the whole country, and wither away in our own self imposed punishing exile and abandonment? When, people, when?
We need someone tough. We need someone not afraid to do what needs to be done. We need someone who comes from the people, not the rarified territory of the uber rich, be they born to it or grew into it. We need to remember the middle class and the strivings of the lower class to rise to that, to know that their children have a chance of success, unlike what the kids are facing today. We need one who is not afraid to condemn anti Semitism for what it is and not allow others to disguise it with names that lie.
As far as I am concerned, it is Amy Globuchar. I like Gillibrand but need to know more. O' Rourke is not qualified at all. He needs a whole lot more seasoning before he will be ready. I am seriously disappointed with Kamala Harris and I had hopes for her, but her wimpiness against condemning the resolution, the mouthings of Omar, well, she blew it. Do not know enough about Booker and Castro, Warren is better off in an administration and not as president, Sanders is too wild and too damn old. Biden is stale, even as people push for him and I cannot understand that. This is the man who called Pence a decent guy! Huh!!! Need I go into that?
We are in trouble, folks. We need to buy some heavy duty shovels and get to work. We need to reengage our brains. We need to reengage our hearts. We need to face up to some very harsh realities and choices. But if we do not, then enough is enough will not even be a question any longer. We will have lost it all. It is that much of an existential issue.
"His condition is getting worse." So Conway, the husband of Kellyanne Conway, states yesterday after a most unusual visit to church by the Trumps. Generally, his 'church' visits take a much lower priority than his golf outings!! In any case, Conway was not the only one who feels this way.
Laurence Tribe, a prominent professor at Harvard and in the academic world, has warned us that we have much to fear by 2020. Nor is he the only one warning us. Over and over again we are reading of concerns that the 2020 election will be nullified should Trump lose. That he will not vacate the office in a peaceful manner and in fact, will not vacate at all. Russian collusion, electronic interference, unqualified voters, Fake News - take your choice, but there it is. His excuses, pre chosen.
A man who can shriek a constant piercing sound of war against the media or plumping for his favorite, Fox News, as they support him (Pirro firing aside), well, that man is dangerous to our democracy. He does not like the parodies of SNL. He does not like the late night show hosts, which to a one, get the laughs out of this demented person and yet, this is when we ask: When is enough enough? And no, not to stop the parodies and the humor, but when do we realize that there is a whole lot of scary reality behind these comedic sessions and we need to be concerned. When the subject of this humor calls for an investigation of them, for them to be shut down!!!!, accuses them of COLLUSION with Russia, then enough is enough. I say that and so do many others.
Here is the problem. Impeachment is not such a sure path. It would take the Senate to convict and at this point in time those Republican wimps are too shamed and so deep into their shame that they cannot pull away long enough and bravely enough to do the right thing. So Graham defends his friend, McCain, against Trump's nasty tweets, but then he will turn around and lose yet more marbles as he chants the Trump chant and drinks the Trump Kool-Aid.
The veto willl not be overturned due to the cowardice and fear of these Republicans. They have given away the keys, all of them, to the kingdom, sacrificed their own legal powers according to the Constitution, and do not even feel it, when the knife in their back is one they placed there themselves!
The man is mad! The man is truly over the limit and this is the time when enough is enough. I wonder if there is a recall for the President? I wonder if there is, if that would trigger the Civil War that is waiting in the wings? I wonder if people will blockade the polls for the 2020 primaries and election? I wonder if the election will trigger that Civil War awaiting us unless we do something to avert it and I do not mean giving in to this Demented One's demands.
On a week of horror at a New Zealand mosque, Trump had much more to tweet about in his maniacal barrage of tweets over the long weekend. He found time to remark that he simply does not see a rise in white supremacists, you know those "fine" people. This from the very man whose words and deeds have encouraged this growth and with whom he will celebrate it as Brazil's leader, called the "Trump of South America", comes for a visit. This from the man who rants and raves like the lunatic he is, like the naked emperor he is, and yet, he is still here, doing the crazy thing and smirking the whole way, thinking he is oh, so clever.
And perhaps he is, but perhaps the truth will finally climb and fight its way to the surface. Over 5,000 stores are being closed this year. The GM plant in Ohio is closed and despite his demands that it "must" reopen, the economy says otherwise. The environment is going to rack and ruin, the waters of the country are becoming far more polluted and dangerous than ever and who would ever have thought that we, in America, would not have clean and safe water for our people? Who?!
So I ask again - when is enough enough? When do we stop the hypocritical bonding with and support of a killer, a despot who masquerades as a a progressive leader yet kills Khashoggi and now we hear of others, and who promises women rights, yet locks away women supporters of this. And his best buddy roams the White House at will. When do we stop supporting a man who is suborning the judiciary for decades to come, making a mockery of it as he appoints numerous unqualified and incompetent backwards thinking people to seats on all levels of the federal bench?
At what point is enough enough? Is it when we find that we have to write out large checks to the IRS this year and such a tax cut! Hmm, guess the 1% got theirs! Is it when we read of the cuts to social safety net programs, to Medicare and Medicaid, to Social Security, of cuts to education and the growing role of churches, religion, in our public schools? Is it when we totally and completely cede our ethos, our core values, build a stupid wall around the whole country, and wither away in our own self imposed punishing exile and abandonment? When, people, when?
We need someone tough. We need someone not afraid to do what needs to be done. We need someone who comes from the people, not the rarified territory of the uber rich, be they born to it or grew into it. We need to remember the middle class and the strivings of the lower class to rise to that, to know that their children have a chance of success, unlike what the kids are facing today. We need one who is not afraid to condemn anti Semitism for what it is and not allow others to disguise it with names that lie.
As far as I am concerned, it is Amy Globuchar. I like Gillibrand but need to know more. O' Rourke is not qualified at all. He needs a whole lot more seasoning before he will be ready. I am seriously disappointed with Kamala Harris and I had hopes for her, but her wimpiness against condemning the resolution, the mouthings of Omar, well, she blew it. Do not know enough about Booker and Castro, Warren is better off in an administration and not as president, Sanders is too wild and too damn old. Biden is stale, even as people push for him and I cannot understand that. This is the man who called Pence a decent guy! Huh!!! Need I go into that?
We are in trouble, folks. We need to buy some heavy duty shovels and get to work. We need to reengage our brains. We need to reengage our hearts. We need to face up to some very harsh realities and choices. But if we do not, then enough is enough will not even be a question any longer. We will have lost it all. It is that much of an existential issue.
Sunday, March 17, 2019
THERE YOU ARE
I recently learned that AA has a maxim which states that "wherever you go, there you are". Think about it. It makes sense. It stresses that reality is what must be faced and any progress must be made from where you are, not where you wish you are, or make believe you are, or any fantasy world or bubble one is living. Think about it and then understand where we are, both nationally, statewide, locally, and right here in CV. And understand that the similarities and parallels of administration are present at all levels.
Yesterday, Joe Biden made a striking statement and he is so correct in so many ways and on so many levels."The only thing strong enough to tear America apart is America itself and we've seen its start," Transfer that statement to here, where we are, in CV and understand that we, the residents of CV, are allowing certain people to have their power grabs and split the Village apart with their deeds. Or misdeeds.
The other day there was a meeting re the new bylaws and it was a pitiful turnout. It was called, on David's personal blog which masquerades as the official blog of the Village, as an "open" discussion of the proposed bylaws asnd changes made in them, omissions and additions. It was as open a discussion as the courts of Hungary or the self determination of the people of Crimea! Any question that had meat upon it was pushed off with the statement that it will be taken up at a later time. Truly? Really? Why a later time when it was mentioned right here. Why state that an assembly of Villagers accepted this, as I am sure will be done, when actually, it was not discussed but rather shut down with the 'later' business or a vague statement of "I know where you're going with this." If so, why not have this 'open' discussion we were promised, truth in advertising!! And let us get where we were going!
But truth does not seem to matter in this administration. Called during one election "Dave's team", all others outside the little coven were called "malcontents", meant pejoratively. Well, in the history of our country, in fact in its very founding, it is supposed malcontents, dissatisfied with conditions in their homelands or in these here United States, who pushed the progress of society, who moved us further along on the proper pathways of life. Those who did not wish that as their money was at stake, or their assumed privileges and perks were in danger of going the way of all living things, then tried to stop progress by name calling, threats, unfair practices and oh, yes, the equivalent of today's "Fake News", the battle cry of all dictators or wannabes!! Just as here, the free distribution of material relevant to UCO and the Villagers is verboten - by order of David Israel. Yup.
Dictators try to set up dynasties of their own and just as we are waiting and watching for when the Demented One comes out with his own crown and sets his Junior up as the heir (LOL - I hope!), here, too, in the Village, there is now a full push to set up a dynasty as David reaches the end of his terms in office, the same terms he maneuvered into by trickery, with the timing of votes to eliminate term limits within UCO, a violation of the very principles that UCO was founded upon. But he does not care, for he even has pushed now for the President Emeritus to maintain a vote for 12 months and then watch, he will push for an amendment to that, ad infinitum ad nauseum!
Power. The power over our huge funds. The power to keep spending our funds on painting and repainting the stripes of the parking lot by UCO, or the guardhouses, or the plants outside UCO, but not on quality control and assurance over our paving or the striping of our lanes, our contracts in such vital areas as our cable. This is what happens when the few control the government of any entity. This is what happens when people cave in and allow the bad to overwhelm the good. And this is not to say there are no good hardworking people within UCO, for there are, but they are truly outnumbered by the selfish, the liars, the nasty.
"We're literally in a battle for the soul of America," and we are in a battle for the soul of the Vilalge.
We alone have the power to overturn this state of reality. Here we are, yes, but there we can be. But we must start now, with demands for OPEN discussions as promised, full transparency, no pushing off of discussions or hints of arcane knowledge. We must push for diversity in UCO for the Village has changed and we must involve ALL within the Village, in its adminsitration and life. It is time to start the fight now, the struggle to keep our Village as it should be and not as the personal fiefdom of a proposed dynastic attempt of yes, malcontents, led by Dave's Team, for they are the true malcontents, the malcontents of, if not evil, then a determination to reach and keep privileges and perks, control funds and no control over themselves.
Let us go where we should be and there we will be. Hopefully. It is within our powers.
Yesterday, Joe Biden made a striking statement and he is so correct in so many ways and on so many levels."The only thing strong enough to tear America apart is America itself and we've seen its start," Transfer that statement to here, where we are, in CV and understand that we, the residents of CV, are allowing certain people to have their power grabs and split the Village apart with their deeds. Or misdeeds.
The other day there was a meeting re the new bylaws and it was a pitiful turnout. It was called, on David's personal blog which masquerades as the official blog of the Village, as an "open" discussion of the proposed bylaws asnd changes made in them, omissions and additions. It was as open a discussion as the courts of Hungary or the self determination of the people of Crimea! Any question that had meat upon it was pushed off with the statement that it will be taken up at a later time. Truly? Really? Why a later time when it was mentioned right here. Why state that an assembly of Villagers accepted this, as I am sure will be done, when actually, it was not discussed but rather shut down with the 'later' business or a vague statement of "I know where you're going with this." If so, why not have this 'open' discussion we were promised, truth in advertising!! And let us get where we were going!
But truth does not seem to matter in this administration. Called during one election "Dave's team", all others outside the little coven were called "malcontents", meant pejoratively. Well, in the history of our country, in fact in its very founding, it is supposed malcontents, dissatisfied with conditions in their homelands or in these here United States, who pushed the progress of society, who moved us further along on the proper pathways of life. Those who did not wish that as their money was at stake, or their assumed privileges and perks were in danger of going the way of all living things, then tried to stop progress by name calling, threats, unfair practices and oh, yes, the equivalent of today's "Fake News", the battle cry of all dictators or wannabes!! Just as here, the free distribution of material relevant to UCO and the Villagers is verboten - by order of David Israel. Yup.
Dictators try to set up dynasties of their own and just as we are waiting and watching for when the Demented One comes out with his own crown and sets his Junior up as the heir (LOL - I hope!), here, too, in the Village, there is now a full push to set up a dynasty as David reaches the end of his terms in office, the same terms he maneuvered into by trickery, with the timing of votes to eliminate term limits within UCO, a violation of the very principles that UCO was founded upon. But he does not care, for he even has pushed now for the President Emeritus to maintain a vote for 12 months and then watch, he will push for an amendment to that, ad infinitum ad nauseum!
Power. The power over our huge funds. The power to keep spending our funds on painting and repainting the stripes of the parking lot by UCO, or the guardhouses, or the plants outside UCO, but not on quality control and assurance over our paving or the striping of our lanes, our contracts in such vital areas as our cable. This is what happens when the few control the government of any entity. This is what happens when people cave in and allow the bad to overwhelm the good. And this is not to say there are no good hardworking people within UCO, for there are, but they are truly outnumbered by the selfish, the liars, the nasty.
"We're literally in a battle for the soul of America," and we are in a battle for the soul of the Vilalge.
We alone have the power to overturn this state of reality. Here we are, yes, but there we can be. But we must start now, with demands for OPEN discussions as promised, full transparency, no pushing off of discussions or hints of arcane knowledge. We must push for diversity in UCO for the Village has changed and we must involve ALL within the Village, in its adminsitration and life. It is time to start the fight now, the struggle to keep our Village as it should be and not as the personal fiefdom of a proposed dynastic attempt of yes, malcontents, led by Dave's Team, for they are the true malcontents, the malcontents of, if not evil, then a determination to reach and keep privileges and perks, control funds and no control over themselves.
Let us go where we should be and there we will be. Hopefully. It is within our powers.
Friday, March 15, 2019
AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YE FREE
So we have been told. I follow the path that states that the truth will out. In fact, it is far better to tell the truth rather than lie as it is difficult and very hard mental work to keep one's lies straight. The truly lazy person like me will always opt for the truth. Makes life so much easier and less stressful!
But what do we do when some people cannot recognize the truth if it rose up and slapped them in the face. They do not recognize the value of the truth, the moral necessity of telling the truth and instead opt for the lies, for the threats, for the bullying, for the opaque, rather than the transparent, in government. And in their purposeful blindness, they resort to violence and/or its threats and throw morality out the window from the topmost floor.
Yesterday we had a new low,, as amazing as that is. The President himself, the supposed or once upon a time supposed to be leader of the free world, resorted to the "Oh yeah, well my father can beat your father up' behavior. Those whom the Demented One deemed to be "lefties' and in fact, all who oppose him, were warned that he had the "military on his side, the policeon his side and the Bikers for Trump on his side.!" Seriously? He continued to warn these targeted "lefties' that if they continue in their behavior things can get "very, very bad" for them. Dear lord! Brings back memories of standing watch in the yard at recess or having a conversation about threats and bullying with middle schoolers. Not appropriate for a supposed President, is it? In fact, not appropriate for anyone over the age of seven which is traditionally the age that reason begins. And yet as childish as it seems, the threat, the boasting! that the Bikers are on one's side, well, you finish that thought.
The people's right to know. Yet another firm statement of a core belief of the American ethos. Yet time and time again we have governmental figurative fog machines working overtime to keep that from happening. The House voted almost unanimously to demand the publication of Mueller's findings. Four wimpy Republicans, including that creep, Gaetz, voted present. Moral cowards. Moral villains? Your call. But the Senate Republicans continued on in their amoral or immoral pathway - take your choice - and led by that ever developing creep Graham, the sell out to the devil, refused to do the same. And for all but 12 of them, their cowardice, their moral weaknesses, rose to the fore when they refused to back the anti Emergency resolution. That Demented one still has them shivering in their boots, so much so that they are willing to cede the powers of Congress in order to please that man. Cowards, one and all, and the telling scene wherein one Senator pats another on the back for going back on his words to back the Resolution, such a tough choice, you see, then what are we to think? Take the cowardly way out? Always? Disregard morality? Disregard the truth?
If I sound angry and even despairing, it is because I am. This same crap is going on all over, throughout the levels of government, and there seems no end to this. Even here in CV we have the same garbage. Reviewing by laws yesterday, as I said, there was a tiny percentage of the population in the room. Empty chairs abounded and when the Chair, who has worked hard on this, boasted that all 60 copies of Articles I thru V were distributed, well, the population of the Village at the Season can run to 14,000 or more.Shameful, yes, but also a sign of the despair and hopelessness of changing the situation here.
Now the President Emeritus stays on the Board for a 12 month period, no vote, as is the normal situation. Now the push is on to allow the vote and why? Because the present President appearing to be weakening for whatever reason, will support an ally, but willl remain for a year with the power of his vote. Shame on us if we allow that! All a blatant attempt to continue his faulty reign and I use the term reign purposely.
The same nonsense continued when discussing committee membership and who has the right to appoint members to the committee and who does not have that final say - or who does? Told that well, we should work it out, and as in business, bow to the CEO, well, crap to that! To lie and state that only once in 20 years has the president removed one from a committee is blatantly poor mathematics, let alone obfuscation of the truth, lying ,call it whatever you wish, but facts are facts. I can name more than the fingers and toes I have to the times when this man demanded people be removed or never to have been appointed, and threatened chairpeople to do as he wishes or else!
And for the chair here to say she knows "where I am going", well, why leave it there? Why are we tiptoing around the truth here? And why are we delaying the one resident owner/one vote situation, when it is simple to enact. Why? Because when the wishes of the total population eligible to vote is give free rein, well, guess who will be gone!! The implications are clear.
The dirty shenanigans of governmental administrators. The attempts to remain in power and never mind the right, never mind the principles of America, never mind the will of the people, the rights of the people, the march towards progress, never mind all that and just go for maintaining power and position. That is what we must fight against on all levels. That is where we must insist on following the principles of the truth setting us all free, the finality of truth, the mindfulness of truth.
So, truth to tell, folks, where do we stand, and most importantly, where do you stand? Do you have the courage of your convictions? Do you have the moral fiber to stand up against those whose moral fibers appear to be withering or already gone? It is our choice. It is your choice. Seek inside yourself for the truth you know, the truth you value. And be honest. Do not tell yourself a lie about yourself, for remember - the truth shall set ye free, and you know, the truth will always out.
But what do we do when some people cannot recognize the truth if it rose up and slapped them in the face. They do not recognize the value of the truth, the moral necessity of telling the truth and instead opt for the lies, for the threats, for the bullying, for the opaque, rather than the transparent, in government. And in their purposeful blindness, they resort to violence and/or its threats and throw morality out the window from the topmost floor.
Yesterday we had a new low,, as amazing as that is. The President himself, the supposed or once upon a time supposed to be leader of the free world, resorted to the "Oh yeah, well my father can beat your father up' behavior. Those whom the Demented One deemed to be "lefties' and in fact, all who oppose him, were warned that he had the "military on his side, the policeon his side and the Bikers for Trump on his side.!" Seriously? He continued to warn these targeted "lefties' that if they continue in their behavior things can get "very, very bad" for them. Dear lord! Brings back memories of standing watch in the yard at recess or having a conversation about threats and bullying with middle schoolers. Not appropriate for a supposed President, is it? In fact, not appropriate for anyone over the age of seven which is traditionally the age that reason begins. And yet as childish as it seems, the threat, the boasting! that the Bikers are on one's side, well, you finish that thought.
The people's right to know. Yet another firm statement of a core belief of the American ethos. Yet time and time again we have governmental figurative fog machines working overtime to keep that from happening. The House voted almost unanimously to demand the publication of Mueller's findings. Four wimpy Republicans, including that creep, Gaetz, voted present. Moral cowards. Moral villains? Your call. But the Senate Republicans continued on in their amoral or immoral pathway - take your choice - and led by that ever developing creep Graham, the sell out to the devil, refused to do the same. And for all but 12 of them, their cowardice, their moral weaknesses, rose to the fore when they refused to back the anti Emergency resolution. That Demented one still has them shivering in their boots, so much so that they are willing to cede the powers of Congress in order to please that man. Cowards, one and all, and the telling scene wherein one Senator pats another on the back for going back on his words to back the Resolution, such a tough choice, you see, then what are we to think? Take the cowardly way out? Always? Disregard morality? Disregard the truth?
If I sound angry and even despairing, it is because I am. This same crap is going on all over, throughout the levels of government, and there seems no end to this. Even here in CV we have the same garbage. Reviewing by laws yesterday, as I said, there was a tiny percentage of the population in the room. Empty chairs abounded and when the Chair, who has worked hard on this, boasted that all 60 copies of Articles I thru V were distributed, well, the population of the Village at the Season can run to 14,000 or more.Shameful, yes, but also a sign of the despair and hopelessness of changing the situation here.
Now the President Emeritus stays on the Board for a 12 month period, no vote, as is the normal situation. Now the push is on to allow the vote and why? Because the present President appearing to be weakening for whatever reason, will support an ally, but willl remain for a year with the power of his vote. Shame on us if we allow that! All a blatant attempt to continue his faulty reign and I use the term reign purposely.
The same nonsense continued when discussing committee membership and who has the right to appoint members to the committee and who does not have that final say - or who does? Told that well, we should work it out, and as in business, bow to the CEO, well, crap to that! To lie and state that only once in 20 years has the president removed one from a committee is blatantly poor mathematics, let alone obfuscation of the truth, lying ,call it whatever you wish, but facts are facts. I can name more than the fingers and toes I have to the times when this man demanded people be removed or never to have been appointed, and threatened chairpeople to do as he wishes or else!
And for the chair here to say she knows "where I am going", well, why leave it there? Why are we tiptoing around the truth here? And why are we delaying the one resident owner/one vote situation, when it is simple to enact. Why? Because when the wishes of the total population eligible to vote is give free rein, well, guess who will be gone!! The implications are clear.
The dirty shenanigans of governmental administrators. The attempts to remain in power and never mind the right, never mind the principles of America, never mind the will of the people, the rights of the people, the march towards progress, never mind all that and just go for maintaining power and position. That is what we must fight against on all levels. That is where we must insist on following the principles of the truth setting us all free, the finality of truth, the mindfulness of truth.
So, truth to tell, folks, where do we stand, and most importantly, where do you stand? Do you have the courage of your convictions? Do you have the moral fiber to stand up against those whose moral fibers appear to be withering or already gone? It is our choice. It is your choice. Seek inside yourself for the truth you know, the truth you value. And be honest. Do not tell yourself a lie about yourself, for remember - the truth shall set ye free, and you know, the truth will always out.
Thursday, March 14, 2019
ON US
Life. How many of us go through it oblivious to anything and everything not in our immediate purview? And maybe these people are the happiest around, for there are those who say that "ignorance is bliss". But I disagree, for eventually a roof somewhere falls in and leaves one standing there bewildered and helpless.
So many of us have decided to ignore things these days. "I don't watch the news." Or, "I never pay attention to politics." And similar statements, but one cannot live in a bubble all the time and when it bursts, well, it ain't great. This is true no matter on what level the chosen ignorance exists.
Take the meeting we are to have today in the Village to discuss new by laws. It will affect the very life we lead here and yet, I bet we have a tiny percentage of Villagers attending. In a way they are correct, for after all, no matter what they say, it is the delegates who will vote on it and these are the very same delegates who obey the Grand Master of it all!
On the other hand, if we do not attend, then we lose any right to complain and try to mend the problems. And trust me, there are many problems here, some big, some small, some preventable and some not, but certainly we can insist on a more transparent administration, open role of finances and expenditures, civility in government, and an insistence that the officers actually DO something and not just eat their snacks, chat all morning with each other and the hanger ons at UCO, and write nonsense for their reports in the Rag. What truly gets my gourd is when after a month, when asked to report , they say, "Nothing to report", so what the hell have they been doing for the Village, a role they took on and then obviously lied about!!
There are those who do work and we know who they are, but on the whole, the administration stinks. It is on us to insist on change, to demand answers, to take up the cudgels of words and actions so that we improve our great home and life here in the Village.
This necessity to change is in the big government as well. When a woman who served so many years, asked for the funds for new voting machines which was denied, is then tossed out due to the breakdown of the very machines she wanted to replace, and then the next appointee, a Republican appointed by a Republican governor, gets the funds immediately. Stinky odor, here, folks. The usual crap of politics. But must we endure this unceasingly?
The nation as a whole needs help. We have a dangerous goofball as president, a man who pretends he knows it all and is exempt from all rules of civility, of society and the law itself. He has encroached more and more on the executive and even judicial branches of government and this administration is beginning to look and act very much like a tinpot dictator what with his blowhard threats, his ignorant tweets, his lack of basic intelligence and his crude behavior and statements.
And we, the people, have lost sight of the truth and what violations need harsher consequences than others. The Trump administration is replete with trash and ugliness. It seems that every time there is a scandal, Trump and his loyalists, his moochers, his golf clubs and hotels, are involved. Mar a Lago is teeming with Russians, including criminals wanted and criminals accused. Is it any surprise that a woman connected to the trafficking of women and abuse of them in massage parlors is conected to Trump and arranged access to him?! Feh!!!!! Ugly is the word. Ugly are the deeds.
Yet his friendly crooks receive a relatively short term for multiple counts of criminal convictions all the while the parents who took part in money for admissions are threatened with major, truly major, terms in prison. Why am I not so angry at this business? Because if anyone ever thought that money did not play a part in admissions, well, I have several bridges and tunnels for you. Admission to and remaining in posh boarding schools also depend much on 'donations' so why the shock here? This is nothing new, just a continuation of what always was, except that this was organized, nation wide, and this is what needs to be addressed. One is a parent wanting to get the best for a kid and the other is criminal greed. That is the distinction and that is what needs consequence. But to threaten to expel the kids, retract their diplomas, even fire them from jobs, well, that is ridiculous and unfair. If they maintained what is needed to graduate, to keep a job, then they earned it- period. Continuing into the future, fix the system.
While we are at the business of cleaning the nation, get rid of pigs such as Tucker Carlson, and his disgusting statements that are almost akin to urging criminal behavior in others, particularly with his racial and misogynistic statements and views of young girls and their sexuality. Ich!!!!!
Why is this man still on the air, Fox News? Why has he not been removed for moral turpitude? Do his conservative hallmarks make him immune to decency? To having his mouth figuratively - literally? - washed out?
When has it become okay to mouth off in the most disgusting ways, with the worst words, with the most dangerous of attitudes. It follows a path directly to Trump, but also to us. We have allowed this to grow, like a tumor on the nation's soul. We have allowed this because we turned away, got on with the business of acquisition, of 'stuff', of cars, of bigger and bigger houses, of manic behavior . We lost our way as individuals and as a nation.
We need to find our way back through the jungle that we have allowed and even encouraged to grow up around us. We need to get rid of the selfishness in our lives and pay attention to the world at large. Thankfully we have youngsters who are way into the environment needs, the necessities of change in so many areas, but they must be tempered with the wisdom of older people who have not caved in to pressure and threats and we must come out of this with a good and positive working order or we are doomed. Yes, doomed. Pick up some papers and magazines. Listen to the world news. Listen to the weather reports, to the national news and then ask yourself how we got here and how we get out of here?
It is all on us. It is said that one gets what one deserves and/or earns. Are you thinking yet?
So many of us have decided to ignore things these days. "I don't watch the news." Or, "I never pay attention to politics." And similar statements, but one cannot live in a bubble all the time and when it bursts, well, it ain't great. This is true no matter on what level the chosen ignorance exists.
Take the meeting we are to have today in the Village to discuss new by laws. It will affect the very life we lead here and yet, I bet we have a tiny percentage of Villagers attending. In a way they are correct, for after all, no matter what they say, it is the delegates who will vote on it and these are the very same delegates who obey the Grand Master of it all!
On the other hand, if we do not attend, then we lose any right to complain and try to mend the problems. And trust me, there are many problems here, some big, some small, some preventable and some not, but certainly we can insist on a more transparent administration, open role of finances and expenditures, civility in government, and an insistence that the officers actually DO something and not just eat their snacks, chat all morning with each other and the hanger ons at UCO, and write nonsense for their reports in the Rag. What truly gets my gourd is when after a month, when asked to report , they say, "Nothing to report", so what the hell have they been doing for the Village, a role they took on and then obviously lied about!!
There are those who do work and we know who they are, but on the whole, the administration stinks. It is on us to insist on change, to demand answers, to take up the cudgels of words and actions so that we improve our great home and life here in the Village.
This necessity to change is in the big government as well. When a woman who served so many years, asked for the funds for new voting machines which was denied, is then tossed out due to the breakdown of the very machines she wanted to replace, and then the next appointee, a Republican appointed by a Republican governor, gets the funds immediately. Stinky odor, here, folks. The usual crap of politics. But must we endure this unceasingly?
The nation as a whole needs help. We have a dangerous goofball as president, a man who pretends he knows it all and is exempt from all rules of civility, of society and the law itself. He has encroached more and more on the executive and even judicial branches of government and this administration is beginning to look and act very much like a tinpot dictator what with his blowhard threats, his ignorant tweets, his lack of basic intelligence and his crude behavior and statements.
And we, the people, have lost sight of the truth and what violations need harsher consequences than others. The Trump administration is replete with trash and ugliness. It seems that every time there is a scandal, Trump and his loyalists, his moochers, his golf clubs and hotels, are involved. Mar a Lago is teeming with Russians, including criminals wanted and criminals accused. Is it any surprise that a woman connected to the trafficking of women and abuse of them in massage parlors is conected to Trump and arranged access to him?! Feh!!!!! Ugly is the word. Ugly are the deeds.
Yet his friendly crooks receive a relatively short term for multiple counts of criminal convictions all the while the parents who took part in money for admissions are threatened with major, truly major, terms in prison. Why am I not so angry at this business? Because if anyone ever thought that money did not play a part in admissions, well, I have several bridges and tunnels for you. Admission to and remaining in posh boarding schools also depend much on 'donations' so why the shock here? This is nothing new, just a continuation of what always was, except that this was organized, nation wide, and this is what needs to be addressed. One is a parent wanting to get the best for a kid and the other is criminal greed. That is the distinction and that is what needs consequence. But to threaten to expel the kids, retract their diplomas, even fire them from jobs, well, that is ridiculous and unfair. If they maintained what is needed to graduate, to keep a job, then they earned it- period. Continuing into the future, fix the system.
While we are at the business of cleaning the nation, get rid of pigs such as Tucker Carlson, and his disgusting statements that are almost akin to urging criminal behavior in others, particularly with his racial and misogynistic statements and views of young girls and their sexuality. Ich!!!!!
Why is this man still on the air, Fox News? Why has he not been removed for moral turpitude? Do his conservative hallmarks make him immune to decency? To having his mouth figuratively - literally? - washed out?
When has it become okay to mouth off in the most disgusting ways, with the worst words, with the most dangerous of attitudes. It follows a path directly to Trump, but also to us. We have allowed this to grow, like a tumor on the nation's soul. We have allowed this because we turned away, got on with the business of acquisition, of 'stuff', of cars, of bigger and bigger houses, of manic behavior . We lost our way as individuals and as a nation.
We need to find our way back through the jungle that we have allowed and even encouraged to grow up around us. We need to get rid of the selfishness in our lives and pay attention to the world at large. Thankfully we have youngsters who are way into the environment needs, the necessities of change in so many areas, but they must be tempered with the wisdom of older people who have not caved in to pressure and threats and we must come out of this with a good and positive working order or we are doomed. Yes, doomed. Pick up some papers and magazines. Listen to the world news. Listen to the weather reports, to the national news and then ask yourself how we got here and how we get out of here?
It is all on us. It is said that one gets what one deserves and/or earns. Are you thinking yet?
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
AND THE BEAT GOES ON
Nothing seems to stop that infernal beat. It just goes on and on and in fact, has changed the whole system of news and its reporting. Today, yesterday, last week, last month, there are just so many misdeeds and wrong statements being reported on that we lose track and even the worst becomes mundane, worthy of being noted and then forgotten as the new news rolls around, and the latest misdeed climbs to the top of the heap, for at least a second or two!
We have become inured to the pounding of the hammer of reported misdeeds, new charges on top of old charges and still the report remains unpublished, and basically, unknown. Yes, guesses, educated ones, have been made, indictments, pleas, prison sentences, all yes, but the heart of it all - did Trump cooperate with Russia, willingly or not? Is he simply a dunce and not worthy of remaining in office as he endangers us all with his stupidity nd cupidity, or was he a willing participant in collusion and in that case we have a Manchurian candidate in reality, a traitor in the Oval Office, and if so, well, you draw the conclusion. Just contemplating this should shiver your spine.
Look where we are now. We find out that we have troops where we did not publicly know. We have deals being made before and during the campaign and presidency. We have ugly talk of lies in loans, in behavor and lies on top of lies. We have the nails of gred and corruption closing down doors and windows that gave light to our government, closing the entrances to better environments, clean water - and that we have to worry about that now here in America! - well..... We have peripheral topics that now impinge on Trump territory. So, now, did Kushner get into Harvard because daddy gave a donationof $2.5 million dollars? Huh! Wish I had all those bucks for grandchildren as they come of college age. It makes me even prouder of those already there as they received their acceptances and honors without bribery!!!
What has become of our country? When and where and why have we lost the whole idea of the merit system and returned to nepotism, cronyism, plutocracy, and all the corruption we thought we had conquered, or at least had made good headway? Why have we decided to allow regulations to save our country, the world, the climate, to help those in need, to heal the sick, aid those who need a hand out - when did we decide to hell with all that and now, now that ass wants to cut Medicare, consigning the elderly to death! Talk about death panels, an idea, a false one, that the Republicnas threw around and now, will they embrace this killer idea because that selfish ass has proposed it? Will we throw away all the gains we have made and the necessary steps still to be taken? Will the "base" realize that their goddamned hero is the one taking away the help they need, closing hospitals, chasing away affordable medical care, social programs that will feed their children, retrain the workers, give their children a free and unbiased good education? Will they, or will they continue to fall prey to their worst instincts, follow the hatred, the lies, further into the pit?
The beat goes on and more beats enter. Impeachment? A lovely thought, but the House can only indict and the Senate must convict and who runs the Senate now? The Republicans will NEVER vote to convict. Never. So it is a waste of time and energy. Better we expend our talents and time on obstruction of justice claims, on dirty dealings in the financial world of Trump. That is where we will be able to get rid of him, or tie him up so tightly that he cannot manage to damage us any longer. We can but hope, can we not?!
Only with a lot of hard work, with the awakening of more, with the turning away from his awful policies and unspoken but clearly there encouragements to hate the other, so as to split the country and weaken his opposition, with great efforts, will we be able to turn the tide or change the rhythm. I hope we do. I hope we find a better conductor, a true maestro to lead us in the next election and in the meanwhile, lower the volume on this one, mute the ugly notes and smooth out the flow. We need an expert here but where is that expert? Actually, we need a whole crew, a replacement field of new musicians. Start with Globuchar. She can start the improvement, I believe. I hope. I pray.
We have become inured to the pounding of the hammer of reported misdeeds, new charges on top of old charges and still the report remains unpublished, and basically, unknown. Yes, guesses, educated ones, have been made, indictments, pleas, prison sentences, all yes, but the heart of it all - did Trump cooperate with Russia, willingly or not? Is he simply a dunce and not worthy of remaining in office as he endangers us all with his stupidity nd cupidity, or was he a willing participant in collusion and in that case we have a Manchurian candidate in reality, a traitor in the Oval Office, and if so, well, you draw the conclusion. Just contemplating this should shiver your spine.
Look where we are now. We find out that we have troops where we did not publicly know. We have deals being made before and during the campaign and presidency. We have ugly talk of lies in loans, in behavor and lies on top of lies. We have the nails of gred and corruption closing down doors and windows that gave light to our government, closing the entrances to better environments, clean water - and that we have to worry about that now here in America! - well..... We have peripheral topics that now impinge on Trump territory. So, now, did Kushner get into Harvard because daddy gave a donationof $2.5 million dollars? Huh! Wish I had all those bucks for grandchildren as they come of college age. It makes me even prouder of those already there as they received their acceptances and honors without bribery!!!
What has become of our country? When and where and why have we lost the whole idea of the merit system and returned to nepotism, cronyism, plutocracy, and all the corruption we thought we had conquered, or at least had made good headway? Why have we decided to allow regulations to save our country, the world, the climate, to help those in need, to heal the sick, aid those who need a hand out - when did we decide to hell with all that and now, now that ass wants to cut Medicare, consigning the elderly to death! Talk about death panels, an idea, a false one, that the Republicnas threw around and now, will they embrace this killer idea because that selfish ass has proposed it? Will we throw away all the gains we have made and the necessary steps still to be taken? Will the "base" realize that their goddamned hero is the one taking away the help they need, closing hospitals, chasing away affordable medical care, social programs that will feed their children, retrain the workers, give their children a free and unbiased good education? Will they, or will they continue to fall prey to their worst instincts, follow the hatred, the lies, further into the pit?
The beat goes on and more beats enter. Impeachment? A lovely thought, but the House can only indict and the Senate must convict and who runs the Senate now? The Republicans will NEVER vote to convict. Never. So it is a waste of time and energy. Better we expend our talents and time on obstruction of justice claims, on dirty dealings in the financial world of Trump. That is where we will be able to get rid of him, or tie him up so tightly that he cannot manage to damage us any longer. We can but hope, can we not?!
Only with a lot of hard work, with the awakening of more, with the turning away from his awful policies and unspoken but clearly there encouragements to hate the other, so as to split the country and weaken his opposition, with great efforts, will we be able to turn the tide or change the rhythm. I hope we do. I hope we find a better conductor, a true maestro to lead us in the next election and in the meanwhile, lower the volume on this one, mute the ugly notes and smooth out the flow. We need an expert here but where is that expert? Actually, we need a whole crew, a replacement field of new musicians. Start with Globuchar. She can start the improvement, I believe. I hope. I pray.
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