HARMONY

  There was an ancient school of thought that stated or believed that certain proportions between celestial bodies produced harmonious music - the music of the spheres. Harmony is defined as "the quality producing a pleasing and consistent whole". That was what we, this country, was supposed to have, or at least strive towards, ever progressing, ever improving, correcting errors through reform. Somewhere along the line we lost the whole idea of harmonious behavior and movement and are now subjected to atonal, harsh music that offends body and soul. So what happened?

We began to fall prey to believing in lies as people at the top pushed those lies, to the huge detriment of this country. Patriotism of the true sort, not the kind that proudly give themselves names that include "waffen" in them, was discarded, tossed down the sewer, and violence and violent statements prolificated. The dumb clucks who evidently had no viable thinking  process, believed the lies. Here is a sample taken at the Ohio rally wherein Trump spoke the same old lies, in a same old disjointed speech.

 “The left has so distorted things that no one knows the truth anymore.”

“He didn’t lose. He didn’t lose. I know he didn’t lose,”

He’s coming back before the middle of August,” Ron added, prompting O’Sullivan to ask, “And what if that doesn’t happen?”

“We’re going to be in a civil war because the militia will be taking over,” 

Yes, there ya' have it - the same old supporters of conspiracy, of plots, of untruths, and of threats.

Allowed to practice their right of free speech, their rebellion promising speech is allowed, even as we know they already attempted it once. Hence, they are traitors to this country. On the other side, equally as incorrect and deluded, we have Ilhan Omar who denigrates this country all the daylong and Gwen Berry who exercised her right to protest- the same right that applies to both sides, extreme as they might be considered. Both extremes are detestable, but both can talk. What they cannot do is act upon their inciteful behavior. And one did so.

Distortion and defiance rule the day. Harmony is fading quickly, drowned out by the noise of the deluded, by the brash brass blasts blowing hot air all around. We in this country, too many of us, are rejecting talk, rejecting sense and sensibility, rejecting all attempts at harmony. A false rally presented as patriotic for July 4th was exposed as a partisan rally, Trump a speaker, and was canceled. Harmony was certainly not in the equation here.

Perhaps after the Trump organization is indicted, its executives hauled into court, its namesake among them, perhaps then there might be a true acceptance of the truth, no more disharmonious sounds blocking it. Perhaps, though optimism is surely a vanishing trait. 

More danger awaits, pushing into the planned harmonies of this country. The separation between the civilians and the military is blurred, as a private donation finances the sending of troops from one state to another. The military was used, improperly, to silence civilian protesters, to shut America down. Even as the GOP refused to recognize that Confederate heroes were traitors to this country, even as gallant and torn a man as Robert E. Lee who landed South. Justice Taney, who wrote the Dred Scott decision is not worthy of an honor in the Rotunda. But we must be careful not to go overboard, causing more disharmony among us.

Sense and sensibility must be adhered to. The country's future is at stake. On a personal note, I have recently, during the lockdown, taken to woodwork, now at the point of wall art, already hanging in offices and homes. The piece completed yesterday is entitled Harmony. This morning when I went to check it out, as I lifted it, a piece fell off. Disharmony! I had missed permanently attaching it to the background; disharmony resulted, the AWOL piece affecting the whole unit. The same in life. We need all pieces, all individuals all thoughts and opinions, as long as the idea of a harmonious nation is paramount. Dissent is allowed; rebellion is not.

PS. I reattached and all is harmonious again.

SENSE AND NONSENSE

  "TO BE OR NOT TO  BE."

TO THINK OR NOT TO THINK.

TO BELIEVE OR NOT TO BELIEVE.

SENSE AND NONSENSE.

Apparently these are the stark choices we are given these days. There are no spaces left for talk and compromise. Certain topics become verboten in various circles, more and more, as people become incapable of discussing things in an open, rational manner. Rationality goes out the door as tempers rise and temperatures rise along with it. 

Yes, there are topics which should, most definitely, raise temperatures. Having a supposedly educated doctor accuse Israel of "cannibalism" is one such topic, quickly covered in one or two sentences - Crap!! Nonsense!. Middle Age prejudice and must be ripped out by its roots. Period. End of discussion.

On the other hand we have growing issues here in America  which are ripping us even further apart, shredding our unity more and more. Trigger terms go along with it and are part of the problem as they preclude rationality and calm, once introduced into the discussion. CRT. Critical Race Theory. White Rage. Reparative Preferment. Derangement Syndrome. Try to have a rational discussion once these terms are introduced. No way. And yet we must find a way. Else all will be lost.

And the honor roll of nonsense continues to grow. A Representative is hauled into court as she blocks someone on her personal twitter account. Violation of free speech is claimed. Really? Truly? Are we now to lose the ability to decide for ourselves with whom we wish to converse? C'mon! Thankfully, the Judge ruled sanely and it was allowed, as she has an official Twitter account for that other person. But the principle remains. What if she did not? Would she be forced to converse with another who had obvious nefarious reasons behind his quest? Would it be allowed to force someone to open themselves to verbal and emotional abuse? Where do rights for people mesh or contravene each other, and how do we fix the crazy and crazed issues that have arisen?  Beats me.

Because people are reacting with more and more irrationality towards trigger terms, I believe a condo went down. Knowing from 2018 how serious the problem was, nothing was done. Why? Because the trigger term - money needed, financial demand of huge numbers - ramped up the fever pitch and tamped down the rational thoughts and understanding - spend now, or spend more later, even as the danger grew - to life, limb, and property. Plans were finally being made to repair, but too late, lost in a roar of a "progressive collapse" of the building, consuming its inhabitants.

From whence this problem of too much shouting, too little talking, too many demands and too little compromise, too little faith in the precepts of our country and the determined efforts to subvert them. I believe it was propagated during the campaign of Trump, was fed great hunks of fertilizer during his mostly irrational term in office, continue to this very day with rallies to 'reinstate him', as over 1/3 of registered Republicans continue to believe that "Big Lie", even as it has been refuted, time and time again. Even as basically the same people, benighted citizens of five states and segments of others, refuse to take the vaccine for nonsensical reasons, including conspiracy theory. What the hell! These same people will demand and expect the hospitals around them to be prepared for a surge as the Delta variant reaches these dangerously unvaccinated people, endangering others along the way. Including family and friends. What the hell again!

Finally, here is some food for thought. Rep. Paul Gosar is openly, brashly, having a joint fund raising rally with Nick Fuentes, a known racist, a Holocaust denier. Where are the voices that should be raised now? Where is the indignation? Where is the recognition of similarities, the parallels, to the rise of Hitler and other fascists? What is this nonsensical fixation on 'communism' and 'communists'? Even China has diluted its communist brand, encouraging capitalism in many areas. 

A new Dragon Man branch of man was found, and I wonder how much further, if any, we have come since then. His skull has a huge cranium, open for growth of a larger brain. Too many of us these days have an empty cranium as we refuse to think, refuse to recognize and distinguish right from wrong, evil from good and how to compromise, to recognize the concerns of opponents and meet somewhere in the middle, give and take. Most of all we need to recognize the truly backward and perilous trends and the need to refuse to compromise with evil. 

What the hell again! Will we, do we, ever learn?

"A MESSAGE IN THE MESS OF EVERYTHING"

  So stated a member of a family awaiting news of a loved one somewhere in that tragic pile of debris on Collins Avenue. Normally, Collins Avenue is a long street winding along the shores of Miami Beach, lined with tall buildings full of residents and tourists, looking for a good life in the sun of South Florida, out of the cold of the northern states. What happened to that South Tower, and just using those two words brings a chill to one's soul as we remember another tower that collapsed, albeit from a different cause. We hope and pray that neither reason or cause reoccurs.

In the meanwhile, we must be receptive to the message in that mess. How the hell, why the hell, did that building collapse. It is not enough that we dig, that we try, in ever lessening moments of hope, to find living survivors, for truly, there is very little hope of survival for more than a few, if even that. We must know why. There are too many other buildings in similar locations, with similar building plans of construction, and the truth of the cause or the tandem of causal combinations, must be discovered and addressed. Lives are at stake.

A lawyer for the Condo Association said that they has used a proper "deliberative approach" to the repairs necessary according to a 2018 engineer's report. There was focus then and now on the condition of the rebars, the metal rebars that provide much of the strength of support to the building structure. Yes, it is expensive to repair them. Yes, financial plans had to take effect. Yes, they ran into the pandemic. And yes, they failed in their responsibilities to themselves and the residents of the tower. 

One cannot use a deliberative approach when the   problem is urgent. Plans needed to have been made before, for contingencies, possibilities in all forms that plague a building here in south Florida. Reserves needed to be replenished each year, accumulating, until a need is found. Surely, that report was such a need. Why were there not plans for it? Why was the building not kept up. Penny wise and pound foolish, life foolish, is not a good equation. The results are clear. 

My own building had an engineer's study made and rebar needed repairs. So the repair was done. Immediately. The reserves were used to pay for this unexpected necessity. Contingencies had been planned for. The Board here, and the residents, know how important it is to keep up with a building and its needs, particularly when the building is aging. But structural health is of most important gravity. To ignore it is to imperil, risk, the lives of many.

The collapse was described as a "progressive failure". Engineers are now focusing on a possible initial cause of collapse rooted deep under the building, with the parking garage and the columns in it, under it, playing a role. It is common sense that if one's legs cannot support one's body, the body will fall. The same with a building.

This is why I am appalled at reports that here in Century Village there are buildings that have neglected their structural integrity, allowing for collapse to be an immediate cause of worry and  concern. How has this happened? What happened to the attention of the residents, of the owners of the units? Where was their financial sense as they risked their own financial investments. They increased their own risks - financially, in terms of responsibility,  and in life terms.

Make no mistake about it. We are not alone. There are so many developments in Florida of various ages and all face the same issues. Fancy tall luxury buildings, smaller two and three story buildings all have the cumulative damage of salt, wind, hurricanes, shifting earth and water tables beneath buildings, rising oceans and tides and all must be inspected. All must be accounted for, prepared for even as one hopes that the seriousness remains low. But it does not. 

More than that, the situation worsens as more and more homes and buildings are being thrown up around the area. Any empty lot is faced with peril to its continued existence, as almost overnight, the trees are removed, the land is scraped dry, more heat inducing concrete poured, and wooden frameworks dot the sites, are thrown up, again, seemingly almost overnight. Can we trust that these buildings are up to code? Can we trust that proper concrete is poured, metals up to code. The roof? Can we trust, or even believe that every single structure has been inspected - at the same time that older structures must also be inspected? Florida permit laws are strict, we all know that, but in reality, there is a limit to capabilities, necessities and limitations.

Meanwhile, the threats grow. Adjacent to our Village is a former neglected golf course, with plans for an enormous overcrowded, overbuilt development. Waivers are being asked for in so many areas - including the land and its toxins, the amount of area to be built upon, its too close borders to the sidewalks, the unbelievable stress to be put upon Haverhill and the risk to the seniors of the Village as they cross an already dangerous street. More threatening is the risk of flooding, life threatening, massive areas, within the Village, as proper drainage is being ignored and/or downplayed by the owners of the golf course, and the damages will result in a Village that is literally at risk of being underwater with any stronger rainstorm, let alone with the ever increasing hurricanes that hit Florida on a regular basis.

Surely there is a sensible approach to this, a deliberative, realistic, humane approach that takes into account that this massive build up, has clearly defined problems for the present and for the very near future, let alone for longer terms. Tax money increasing is good, but destroying the very style of Florida life that people are paying for is counter productive and dangerous in so many, too many ways.

Before it is too late, and I sincerely hope that we have not already reached that point, we must reconsider all current plans of building, the waivers being requested, the need for further inspections of new buildings and of refits of older ones. Deep pockets must not be the deciding factor here. Not if we are to avoid, prevent, further building collapses - and we need to do so with proper and timely deliberative action and attention.

FROM THE DEPTHS, I CALLED TO YOU, O LORD

  There are conflicting moods today. On the one hand there is optimism. We have a sane President and a chance of passing some needed legislation, of turning back the clock on disastrous legislation from Trump. We hope that newly restored relations with our allies and a sterner attitude towards Russia and China will turn them off their dangerous paths. We hope so. We pray.

On the other hand, there is a dangerous tide of hate that is overwhelming our defenses against it. That tide threatens us all, to a degree such as not has been seen since the Holocaust, though certainly the slaughter of Rohingya, of Tutsi, of Uighurs, of women and children targeted in Afghanistan, in Nigeria, all ring the bell that tolls for us all. Hatred persists, still rings so many bells with its awful deeds and consequences.

Add to this murky soup, this ocean of despair, the events of Nature. Parkay used to say, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."  Well, we have tried to do that for too many years and are now reaping the unfortunate and tragic results that ensued. Slam after slam of extreme weather, from drought to flood. Volcano after volcano. Melting Poles and rising oceans. Pollution of food and waters. Rampant disregard for our environment.

And of course, the worst of all, the twisting of the souls of so many people, allowing them to be filled with hate, or to absolutely disappear, enabling the former owner of said soul to act as a human devil towards others. A Zombie Apocalypse in real life, with living Zombies, as contrary as that seems. As dangerous as it is.

I have just read one of the best memoirs of a survivor that I have come across. Short, to the point, no fancy writing, just powerful in its content and style of writing. It packs a punch - more than one. It is by Eddie Jaku, " The Happiest Man on Earth". Read and think. Internalize the questions and statements, apply to our days. Then wonder, deeply, can we actually descend to these dark depths again? Or have we already done so.

"This is what made what happened to us so crazy to me, why I will always ask why? Why?  I still can't understand how people with whom I went to work, with whom I studied and played sport, could become animals like that. How was it that Hitler could make enemies of friends, turn civilized men into inhuman zombies? How is it possible to create such hate?"

"There is no medicine for your morals. If morals are gone, you go."

"Under the Nazi regime, a German man was not immediately an evil man, he was weak and easily manipulated. And slowly but surely, these weak men lost all their morals and then their humanity. They became men who could torture others and then still go home and face wives and children....how they took children from their mothers...I don't understand..."

Lest you think this is only a German phenomenon, just look around and within yourself and your country. How many times have we seen neighbors and friends, even family, turn on each other for one flimsy excuse or another? Have we not seen this poison spread through America, a growth industry of mass shootings, of beatings, of violence based on racial, religious and whatever 'reason' can be dredged from the depths of Hell? 

Substitute the name of any bad to the bone leader, from Trump to Orban, from  Putin to Stalin, the choices are seemingly infinite, substitute the fitting nationality, and there you go. Was it not Americans who wrestled infants from mothers' arms? Was it not Americans who shot their new neighbors or former or current co-workers? Was it not Americans who marched for hate, with hate?

It appears to me that when one opens the door to a bad leader, meaning a supposed leader, one with hatred and evil in the heart and soul, then the country tends to follow. Stating new awful policies, scapegoating a group or two or three, inducing paralytic fear into the very air, and hatred wins. Murder wins, evil wins. And people die as others morph into demons.

Now ask yourself  why and understand the answer. It is only if and when we realize that humane behavior, friendship, trust, and allowance and acceptance of and for the dignity of all, only then does humankind have a possibility of turning its back on its errors, mending the harm done, and internalizing the fact that it is all in our hands and on our shoulders. Choose wisely and well. Then we can finally call from the depths of our fall, from the new heights we have reached, and hope that G-d will then hear us and answer us. Aneni, answer, we pray. But first we need to put in the effort. No other way.

ARE WE THERE YET?

 Anyone who has traveled with a child, or took a long trip, knows that question.  It is annoying. It is repetitive. It is without any satisfactory answer. However, all that irritation goes by the board when we ask ourselves that very same question re the status of this country. 'Are we there yet' in this case must be a repetitive question if we are ever to be able to not just paper over the divisive chasms, but rather to eliminate much of those chasms in a permanent manner. Unfortunately, we appear to be going about it in the worst way, enabling, even encouraging, the deepening of these chasms rather than filling them up, closing them off.

Are we there yet? Have we crossed the point of no return? Are we all to become a Wrong Way Corrigan, contributing in an evil synergy to our country's demise? That is a question that has become imperative to answer. Are we there yet and will we ever be? Or, more optimistically, are we there yet in terms of saving our Republic.

 False claims of systemic fraud in the 2020 election will result in blood being spilled, a Republican congressman warned Thursday.

Originalism is the legal philosophy arguing that the U.S. Constitution should be understood by its public meaning at the time it became law, as opposed to the idea of a living Constitution.

1. the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.

   "through an awareness of intersectionality, we can better acknowledge and ground the differences among us"
2. the country's top general had to rebuff then-President Donald Trump's desire to order military intervention as a response to civil unrest several times, as the former president's manner grew more volatile in his final months in power, 
3. "That's how you're supposed to handle these people," Trump told top officials. "Crack their skulls!"  shoot them in the leg - or maybe the foot," Trump reportedly said. "But be hard on them!"
4. 
   

5. A Hill-HarrisX poll released last week found that 30 percent of Republican voters believe Trump will be reinstated in August, though there is no legal or constitutional maneuver that could feasibly return the former U.S. president to office in the midst of President Biden's own term.

   Trump himself has reportedly told acquaintances that he expects to be reinstated in August.

Having read those pieces from our country today, well, are we there yet and which there is it? The degree of demonization of the opposition, the shrieking and shouting from both side of extremists, the dialing up of irresponsible behavior - and I, for one, along with many others, fear the wrong there, two wrong 'there's and we must be so careful, ever vigilant in our defense of true democracy, of a 'there' that is a good place to be.

 Are we going to be a country where the middle is overrun by the outliers? In fact, are these outliers to become the norm? If we are ever to avoid or back out of the pathways leading to one wrong there or another, we must, absolutely must, make it clear that there will be no tolerance of illegal actions, particularly those leading to the overthrow of the legal government. On the other hand, while openly waging war on intolerable behavior by some law enforcement personnel, it cannot be used as an excuse, a get out of jail card, to commit a crime, defy legal orders to cooperate, and then claim innocence. That, too, leads to a wrong there and invalidates real and intolerable actions.

We must look for ways to forge a unity, a true country of united states. We must acknowledge past errors and work to make those errors only the past and nevermore to be part of the present and the future, at least as much as we can, given the human tendency to embrace the wrong, fight progress at times when it needs to be embraced.

That ruinous stubbornness, obstinacy, comes from both sides. Cruz  and others of his ilk rant and rave about communism. Hello, not the problem today, is it? Rather it is the usurpation by dictators of their respective countries, call it whatever name you wish. It is all dictatorship, fascism in its every format and attempted disguise. Making the Constitution a hidebound document, unable to be a living, growing, set of route markers for our nation, is to negate the forward thinking of our Founders, miring our country in some of the limitations of thought of the times. It precludes positive, peaceful progress. Definitely then we will reach a wrong, so wrong, there.

Yet look at the other extreme. This intersectionality, which emphasizes differences, establishing differences where previously there had been none, particularly among the younger members of society, trying to inculcate feelings of guilt and shame for birth into a certain skin color, or religion, or gender or whatever - wrong, wrong, wrong. Most emphatically yet another wrong 'there'.

The correct 'there' will be reached when we emphasize the unities, the commonalities and celebrate the differences that enrich this country, giving it a sense of optimism, an American manner strictly its own. At times arrogant seeming, yet always willing, albeit reluctantly at times, to move forward, leaving behind false, outdated, outmoded ideas, attitudes and laws.

We are definitely on a journey. As Americans, as human beings, we must choose the road carefully, stay in the middle lane, avoiding the pitfalls and possibilities of increased danger along the edges. We must be aware, pay attention, correct the veering too much in either direction, but most of all, remember that we are Americans, one and all, and are to set the standards for the world who look upon us to lead, to set a pace. Then, and only then, can we make this journey's destination the correct, dazzling with possibilities, 'there'. 

Are we there yet? Where is there? Are we there yet?

SIMPLE IT IS

  Simple as that. No need for complications. Just break it down to the basics and the simplicity of it all will amaze you. At least some of the time. The definition of simple is: "easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty.   plain, basic, or uncomplicated in form, nature, or design; "

Using that definition it is simple to understand, for example par excellence, the Congress and its reality.  "Congress, which is best at doing nothing -- thanks to partisan gridlock -- returned to doing what it's best at."

Simple as that. A bunch of do nothing, know nothing, defying reality nothings. Simple. As that.

Thus, onward we do not forge, many of us happy in our self denial, in acceptance of what pleases, soothes, us rather than facing the more complicated reality and the reasons behind it. Yet another example of simplicity, cutting to the chase.

"I'm especially troubled by the accounts of some members of Congress that Jan. 6 was just a day of tourists walking through the Capitol," U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said during a court hearing in Washington. "I don't know what planet these people are on." It was not an accident that it turned violent," he said of the Capitol attack. "It was intended to draw to a halt the very functioning of our government."

In words of few syllables the truth is outed yet again - and ignored by the rather simplistic motivation behind it. 

Deny it all, defy the truth, support the easier lie and voila! Reality is changed, responsibility is removed. Simple as that. If only.

"She doesn't understand the Senate" we are lectured at. Truthfully. the entire thinking population of this country, and hell, the world, does not, cannot, fathom the inaction, the partisanship and the paralysis and venom it causes and induces. One wonders which alien pod has taken over McConnell. One wonders how a twisted bit of a man such as Goetz got into the House, the Senate's co-partner in the exercise of nothingness, and how he remains there, when certainly an orange jumpsuit would be a better fit! Simple. Why? Because so many of his GOP brethren also need new fashion, jumpsuits and befitting bracelets would be a simple start. Simple is the truth, not so simple its acceptance. 

Simple is the acknowledgement that there are rotten apples in the police barrel and the shameful inaction in removing them is just that. Shameful and simple. Yes, there are nefarious people who live among us. Yes, not so surprisingly some of these same people resist arrest and forthcoming incarceration in not such a five star hotel. However, a 16 year old boy followed into his girlfriend's yard to wait for her, exactly as my then boyfriend, now husband, used to do! The State Trooper deemed him 'suspicious' and 'After the teenager "failed to comply" with Smyrnios's orders to turn around and put his hands behind his back, the trooper repeatedly tased him.

"You think you can just do whatever you want but you can't," Smyrnios tells Rodeman as he lays on the ground.

Seriously?! Yes, seriously, unfortunately so. The good and solid cops in the barrel need to realize that ousting the rotten ones will have the beneficial effect of improving the situation. Simple, yet evidently not so, for where is that concerted effort? Meanwhile, the kid, who has done nothing wrong, writhes in agony as he is tased again and again.

I close with these words from a GOP state senator engaged in an 'audit' who has the strength to buck his strangulated Party.

"As is often the case, the truth is not as attractive or as immediately desirable as the lies and the lies contain elements of truth," 

"We must all remember: 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof' and 'claiming to find something extraordinary requires first eliminating the ordinary.'"

Simple, yet evidently not in the minds of too many.

Wish there were a vaccine for that stupidity and denial of truth, of reality! How simple that could be. But simply not to be. At least in the foreseeable future. Simply unfortunate. Simply tragic.

CLEAR AS DAY

  And there it is, folks, clear as day, as obvious as the nose on your face. The GOP has declared open warfare on democracy, wherever it  be found, wherever it tries to remain vital, life giving, and true to the ethos of America. Even as we know that we must continue to strive to improve our country, as we have done, at times reluctantly and even violently, over two and a half centuries, there are those whose main goal now, to the exclusion of all else, is to inter that democracy, entomb it for once and for all. 

From the time we first began to have  'social' lives, we learned and lived the majority rules law. Whether it was where to play, what to play, who was to be Class President, or Governor, the majority ruled. Or so we thought, until the Electoral College came into play. But we managed, for at least all players in the 'game' supported democracy. At least then they did.

Today there has been a tragic turn of events. Led by 'leaders' of dubious qualification, we began to turn on democracy. The previous President himself broached the idea of "Leader for Life". The same man and his pathetic, yet ever so harmful, servile enablers, advanced the attacks and ground was gained. To the point where all comity as Americans was lost. As  far as its return, great clouds of pessimism on that. Huge clouds. Suffocating and dimming the life breathe of American democracy.

"what do you expect from a street walker who has no clue about America."

The shameful words of one anti democracy person in New Jersey, referring to Kamala Harris. Comity? Respect? Dignity?  Poof! Going, going, almost gone.

The GOP has succeeded in multiple states in allowing, entitling, the corruption of the independence and neutrality of the election board, threatening the very cornerstone of our democracy. In the Senate and the House they insist on the filibuster legality and use it to contravene majority rule principle. They use it to destroy democracy, making it harder and harder to vote, aimed particularly at the voters who would oppose the GOP, making no bones about it.

Read the following samples of GOP thinking and then tell me you do not feel those flutters in the chest.

 "signed a law that fines social-media platforms that ban political candidates without warning up to $250,000 per day." DeSantis

"signing the elections law on Fox News while prohibiting other media outlets from attending, to his announcement last week that he will send Florida law enforcement officers to the southern border — as a dog and pony show for conservative media." DeSantis

Turning the pandemic battle into a political mudball fight, even as their constituents continue to needlessly die.

 "calls the bill's defeat a "win" for the country' - the voting rights overhaul, that is. Cruz

 GOP voting become a mirror of good fascistic obedient followers, as McConnell whips his Party members into slavish, robotic obedience.

 And AOC makes a statement on which we agree.

Call me radical, but I do not believe a minority of Senators should be able to block voting rights for millions of people," 

That, folks, is the crux of the matter, the clear as day issue facing us. Either we support democracy, face down and defeat those who would eliminate it, particularly those from within, or we lose it. Clear as day.

NICE, NICE

 I am sure most of us remember - or still do - teaching a young child to "make nice". Hopefully, the child would pick up the idea that nice is better than not nice. Unfortunately, it appears that some people never quite caught on nor ever practiced the honey vs. vinegar philosophy and behavior. And then they wonder why so many do not like them!

Ron Johnson, blind to his own twisted, nasty attitude, clear to all, dared to go to a Juneteenth celebration. As if! The obvious reaction to his presence and the dumbest comment from him, particularly vis a vis his history? Read and weep? Laugh? Sigh? Despair? 

 "as more people recognized him, he was drowned out by a chorus of boos. Members of a growing crowd swore at him and said, 'We don't want you here.'" Johnson told reporters that the boos were "not how you heal the nation," and added: "You come down here and try to interact with people and be nice to people. But this isn't very nice, is it?"

When the willful blind, the oblivious to their own reek continue on their path, well, no good end in sight there. Chuck Grassley wonders why the hell, after serving in public office since 1959, his numbers are low. Why? Perhaps he needs a refresher course in the understanding of consequences. Insane expressions, nasty biting commentary, rampant disrespect to and of others, and the swallowing whole of blatant falsehoods - 0h well, there ya' go. Hearings do have long tails and very often they slap back.

Jared Kushner, coming face to face with his own incompetence, manifestly unqualified for the roles and positions he took on, reacts in typical Trumpian behavior. Blame others, Do so in 'perfect' form, and for sure insist all the blame is in someone else's court, for sure not one's own. Hence this charming anecdote. 

"You f---ing moron," Kushner reportedly said to Robert Kadlec, then an assistant secretary of health and human services, who had purchased 600 million masks as coronavirus infections spiked across the country. "We'll all be dead by June."

So lovely. So far, so distant, from adult behavior. Evidently, he never paid attention to the 'nice, nice' instructions.

Project Veritas does the opposite, and swims in an ocean of putrid lies. Trumpian world denizens wonder why people are turning on them and maybe they should do the same. Rats leaving the ship and sinking the idea of 'honor among thieves'.  Certainly not when one is up next to walk the plank.

Think I will peruse the Prime Day sales at Michael's. Soothes the soul, certainly mine, and glorious when working in tandem with grandchildren. At the very least, one can vent the anger in a creative and productive manner. To the web site! Onward to infinity! Certainly feels as if this nasty, nice, nice denying phase will be around for the long run!

 

"ROTTEN CORE"

 Interesting and extremely telling are the words of politicians. Evidently, they do not heed the advice of Barbra Streisand and Donna Summers - "enough is enough!" On and on they babble, they threaten and on and on they are presiding over the dismantling of the firmament of this country. What is rotten and who is rotten? Read, think, think, evaluate, think again and its truth will be apparent.

This country was founded with an important principle - the right to vote, to have representation. True, it was flawed. Not unusual nor unexpected, particularly if we understand that its human writers wrote in the context of the times and were revolutionary at that. But we progressed, through war and peace, and the right to vote was  expanded until all were recipients of this most basic and essential right.

Unfortunately, there remained a rotten core indeed, who were blind to the correctness of that right and its inclusion of all. Jim Crow laws for decades x'ed out the Black voting right throughout much of the South. The leaders of this movement remained benighted and stubborn, "rotten to the core". 

However, with difficulty and much rancor, the country progressed. Not perfect, far from it, but progress nevertheless. Suddenly though, we ran into roadblocks, so thick and heavy along the highways and byways of this nation, that the infrastructure foundered under the weight. The country became endangered to a point which had never been reached before. Continued existence as America, as united states, was in serious peril.

Never before had we a president who would buddy up with our enemies and confound our allies. Never before had an entire body forgotten their duties owed to the entire electorate, ceded their morals and souls, their minds, independence and votes to a quite visibly damaged man. They cowered before him as a bunny rabbit before a hungry bear. And the rottenness at and of the core grew ever more malodorous.

Our country was in trouble. It remains so as the results of a clear victory were ignored, defamed, and grew more stinking than ever. That which the citizens of this country must trust if we are to remain as "we, the people", was attacked with mistrust and destruction as the goal. The peril from within grew, so obvious, yet so denied by its very perpetrators and even from a class of voters who simply cannot seem to envision and understand that they, too, are in line to drown under this putrid flood of denial of right to vote.

Now, here we are. Our country is at war, literally and figuratively. We had an attempted insurrection, strengthened by and with the suspected collusion of some governmental figures. A rebellion! How could this be? And yet it was. At last, the opposition realized the state of war, the extensive flood of decay, hitched up their proverbial pants and put forth a bill, the For the People Act, meant to dismantle those roadblocks, repair the infrastructure of voting, and dam up the nasty flood that has imperiled our nation.

Will we be successful? Will we rescue our country? JFK pulled a man to safety using his teeth and the strength of his weary arms. He inspired the remnants of his crew to live. Do we have any remaining echoes through time that will inspire us to grip, with teeth, arms, bodies and souls, to grip the sinking ropes of our nation and perform a beautiful rescue? I hope so. I pray so. Yet the doubt is there, gnawing away, as we deal with a McConnell who states that the Act has a "rotten core" and yet another 'leader' of the GOP states it is a "piece of legislation that needs to die, and die quickly."

Where do we go from here, folks? Are we going to go down for the count, go under for the third time? Suffocate under our own negligence, apathy, ignorance, greed, quest for power? Choose your own cause, but the results are clear. Want to keep this country a democracy, flawed yet the best government around? Well, then we all know what must be done. Let us make haste and get to it.

DOUBLING DOWN

 It has been said lately by several commentators that people are 'doubling down'. Generally, that phrase is followed by "or nothing". That happens when people are either caught up in the wildness of the moment, leaving behind all rationality, or are running fueled by deeply held beliefs, determined to advance those beliefs. Personally, I believe this current and ever increasing trend has risen due to two main reasons.

The first is the destructive legitimization of crude, no limits behavior as manifested by Trump and those  within his camp. This was followed by the incensed reactions of the opposing camp, and the rest is history, a shameful one at that.

The second is a reaction and result of the yearlong plus lockdown. With lives endangered, with the frustrated and natural desire to huddle with loved ones, we simply ran with it and lost our way. With some notable exceptions we became selfish. Our needs were paramount. In the servicing of those needs we tromped and stomped on all others. We forgot and/or ignored rules of societal behavior. We lost all patience with the ever increasing wait times for just about anything and everything, all the while desperately missing friends and most of all, the physical presence of loved ones.

Now, now we have doubled down on that anti-social behavior, forgotten how to interface with others, how to share lives and needs. We have forgotten our mutuality, doubling down on so many negatives. We shout at each other, deaf to the words of others. We increasingly use and allow the presence of weapons enabling a horrific growth industry of mass shootings.

There is a premise in psychology that "the type of memory designates the appeared distance in time". That means that good memories can feel as if they occurred yesterday, even as we push those more difficult recollections off, distance them. Yet today we are doing the direct opposite, hugging close the nasty, the selfish, pushing away the past memories of societal pleasantries and achievements, the joys and extrinsic and intrinsic rewards that ensued.

We have chosen the wrong things to double down upon and instead we are getting the "or nothing". In so choosing, in so doing, in such shortsightedness, we are reaping what we have sowed. Extreme climate becoming normal. Increased world tension. Existential, real, threat to the continued existence of America as we know it, as we believe in. Lives with less depth, less affection. In short, a losing bet.

Cannot we do better? Can we not find, create, a more positive bet upon which to double or nothing? A truly sure thing? I believe we can, have some leeway remaining. On that I would double down.

 

STICKS AND STONES

  First, an apology for late posting but I had some surgery yesterday and am typing with one finger.

In any case, the rhyme of the title continues with "...can break my bones but words can never harm me." Dumb as the day is long and even more inaccurate, particularly in our times when the power of words, with an emphasis on words of hatred and instigation are so thoughtlessly and purposely bandied about. With careless purpose or definite aims, enhanced or made more powerful, more hurtful, more harmful, than ever before, via social  media, these words, those words lead to the sticks and stones.

The viciousness and clear as day aims of these words are obvious and immediate, even as they echo forward into the future, into more evil words and resultant abominable actions. Be it the nasty mouth of Ilhan Omer or the  GOP and its cynical use of a tar brush on Democratic candidates, calling them anti Semites, Jews among the accused, they are no different in purpose, use and goal and further the growth of those sticks and stones.

Apparently, though, humans do not learn from history, however many the warnings. We insist on harmful repetitive behavior in word and deed even though it makes no sense at all.

 “I really don't want to have to end anybody's life for the good of the people of the United States of America,” Braddock said at one point in the conversation, which occurred last week. “That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Luna is a f***ing speed bump in the road. She's a dead squirrel you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood.”

When words like these spew forth in an ugly stream, well does anyone, can anyone, claim any more that words are never harmful? One must be willfully blind and deaf to do so, or worse than that, knowingly using those words to incite and instigate until the sticks and stones are prevailing. The insurrection on January 6 is a jarring example, even as the proponents of that rebellion try to downgrade it into a "riot" and then go so far as to deny their oh so obvious roles in the whole mess and furthermore into the Twilight Zone by blaming it on their opponents. Huh? Say What?

Even in disagreement we must be civil and take into account the power of words. When we deny the truth, we then allow for increased unnecessary censorship in our inability to distinguish between  quality and purpose of those words. I permit myself a small sideways excursion to the paranoid world of David who is supposedly soliciting supportive comments from readers, like this one of mine - "This is not the first time Benenson has ripped us off for the A/C and related items. Evidently he and his lawyer do not understand the simple concept of capital improvements vs. repairs and who is responsible payment wise. We need to stand firm on this and the entire new agreement for that matter."

 When I do so, I am blocked - as always - and the nonsense continues.

One more comment, or two. The ancient Diogenes roamed the earth with his lantern held high, seeking an honest man and never finding one. Today we can reimagine this search. It is now a search for the decent and true, for the one who believes in positive action for the people and their needs and understands the power of words. Still looking.

 Here is a question from me. I do not understand Juneteenth as a federal holiday. It will become yet another point of contention and difference as some will follow and others will disregard. Yes, the official end of slavery was long overdue, though the tactics of slavery continued, the discrimination continued and did not end with the Black population. Do we celebrate the day we ended the incarceration of the Japanese during WWII? Do we celebrate with a federal holiday commemorating the day Truman signed the bill cancelling the bigoted limitation of immigrants such as Jews, even as they were running for their very existence, even as the Chinese were increased in allowance as well? What about the hatred towards the newly arrived Irish and Italian immigrants, considered less than human?

When we have taught the people of this country better; when we fully understand the ugliness of prejudice and hatred; when that happens - well, choose the day of federal, world and individual celebration. Until then, let us use our words better so as to avoid the sticks and stones that follow those words capable of harm, so much harm.

THE POPULARITY OF MULBERRY BUSHES

  Evidently, the song containing the phrase, "Here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, etc.," was the favorite nursery and kindergarten song of many now working(?) in both Houses of Congress. It is so inculcated within their core that they go round the mulberry bush every day, inventing more, increasing the patch of mulberry bushes, every single day. Might even be cute to see them dancing, holding hands, in fraternal comity, but that is a pipe dream, food for writers of fantasy literature. Now they dance in anger.

Round and round they go, taking the country along with them, in this futile dance. A supposed representative of the "people" refuses to shake hands with a hero Capitol Police officer who defended that very same man and his colleagues during the insurrection. Oh, did I commit an egregious error? Apparently it was a 'riot', the clear intent to overthrow this government merely being an illusion. Hence, every single damned day we go round the mulberry bush as these benighted GOP Party members toe the Party line, support that dangerous ignoramus, Trump, and deny reality all the day long. Every single day. Mulberry bush time.

Tired of mass shootings, murder on crack? Why then do not move to Texas which has deepened its weird vibes as it approved the carrying of guns in the open - without necessity of permit! I kid you not. In fact, this particular mulberry bush gets too much nourishment as the philosophy that supports it, that purports to be 'in defense' of people, actually induces and allows for more mass shooting crime scenes. More blood. More tears. More lives shed. Needlessly. Unless boosting needy egos of the mulberry bush philosophers is of prime importance. More important than the lives of so many. How heroic they feel, walking around 'strapped'. For sure.

Bushes grow at a mad pace, even as the call for their elimination grows. How many more times must we be horrified by yet another video documenting an incident of tragedy and terror. An 18 year old boy taken into brutal custody for the horrific crime of vaping on a boardwalk. Never mind the stupidity of that, never mind the wasting of so many supposed protectors of the public spending their time on capturing this  awful 'criminal'. Never mind that he raises his hands and only moves one to remove his backpack as ordered. For that crime of obedience, he is tased, held, hogtied, carted off like an animal to slaughter. Not enough? Yet another incident where a 19 year old boy is brutally taken down, kneed forcefully and repeatedly by another officer, so brave, so bold, to beat up on a pinned kid - for vaping. 

What the hell! How many more times must we see this? How many more kids are taken down, tased, beaten, needlessly, brutally, not even resisting, until perhaps they realize they are fighting for their lives!!How many more Black kids are to undergo this as they commit the actual crime of walking freely, confidently, in their own country, even if guilty of minor violations. Even if guilty of more serious ones. What is with the violence? Why do we insist on tolerating these particular mulberry bush dances and dancers? How many more times will we circle this bush, never mind ripping it out by its very roots. Think not that it stops with one group of people. Disrespect, violence, is particularly contagious and attractive to too many.

How many more deadly poisonous mulberry bushes must we support in the continued denial of the Holocaust, in the inappropriate, to put it mildly, continual comparison of it with relatively simpler issues. The mask mandate is not comparable to the forced wearing of a yellow star - yellow, Greene, not "gold"!! That star allowed for the separation from society, eased their being herded into cattle cars, sent to their deaths. How many more false, meaningless 'apologies' must we endure before this particular mulberry bush is trashed, burned out of our systems, the prejudice that feeds this bush eliminated? How much longer?

No, going around these mulberry bushes and unfortunately so many more, is not healthy for us, for anyone. Hater and hatred are entangled in a messy, bloody, and tragic knot within the branches of these mulberry bushes. We need to stop the music of this particular dance and rewrite the score. Rechoreograph the dance. Do something. Anything. No more videos. No more hassles. No more bloody behavior.

 No more.

BRAKES? BRAKES!!! WHERE ARE THE BRAKES?

 Truthfully, we have been missing those brakes for quite some time already. The situation began with the weird campaign for president, with lies becoming the currency of the day, and the pressure on those brakes increased, against an ever increasing opposing pressure. They began to squeak and squeal. They began to be to loosen, unable to fully bring  a speeding country to a halt. They finally failed when reality was dismissed and broken and twisted fairy tale endings of personal wishes took over the roads of America.

On such broken and challenged roadways, driving with damaged cars and seriously damaged drivers. America simply gave up the ghost, or as near as ever before. Certainly it appeared that the drivers now on the road were playing deadly games of Chicken with broken brakes and knew not how to stop the car nor did they appear to even wish to do so.

The damage did not stop there, The increasing acidic rhetoric of the drivers dripped down, ate at the floors of the cars they were driving, dripped through to the streets below, creating new cracks and stressing older ones. Cracks began to appear where they had never been before. As for the engineers who were supposed to fix the mess, why they stood there doing nothing or even advising how to exacerbate the situation. And that, my friends, is how the roads of America, the ground upon which they were laid, the very foundation of it all, suffered the attack of the broken brakes and broken drivers, and crashed, time and time again, into the walls, the lightpoles, the very people alongside these same roads. 

These cracks and broken brakes influenced us to forget our manners, to forget indoor behavior and rules of societal living. We dismissed those calling for indoor voices. We discounted those calling for an end to schoolyard politics, but were shut out. Too much fun bullying, especially when one feels a victory. A Pyric victory, but one nevertheless. And America broke.

The question now before us is whether America can be fixed. But how to do that when the voices are still raised, when the 'dukes' are also raised, even flying through the air, making contact with chins and jaws. You ask where are the referees, where are their calls of foul play, of penalties? Forget about it, for they have long ago either left the arenas or joined in the fray. America is broken.

When there are a myriad number of crises that must be resolved, international, national, and local, a news site lists a thong item of clothing as a trending item. Really? This is what interests American citizens caught in a confusing, swirling eddy of hatred, politics, broken dreams, and anger, such deep, corrosive anger?

I think we are better than that. I think we have relied too long on those broken brakes. The time has come to fix them, to rip them out,  replace them with newer, stronger ones. Brakes that know how to function. Brakes meant to absorb shocks and continue to function. Brakes that respond to words of hope and reconciliation rather than words of anger, of hate, of bias and party politics. These are brakes that will remember through generational genetics that America is better than that. That America knows how to fix its broken cars, retrain its broken and confused drivers, and repair the huge potholes on its roadways.

We need to remember that we can fix all these issues if we but try. If we but remember that the wrong way to fix one hatred is to induce or stress another. Do not speak of prejudice but allow and even encourage that of anti-Semitism, deeming it socially acceptable. Do not call out "recounting racism she has faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, offered shout-outs to her friends who also have faced discrimination, including African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics and her “Middle Eastern peers, who have been facing struggle after struggle and are in constant fear of their families and friends being struck down by a militant government, who have had their land stolen and abused. I applaud you" -  Wrong, so wrong. 

 Do not equate absolutely uneven topics, for it demeans the meaning and importance of the larger issue. Do not allow, even seek out, speakers at graduation ceremonies who pick up on the prejudice flavor of eternity, and rally the crowd against Jews. Those brakes of society forever seem to be broken, and if managing to get better, are kicked again into broken status.

America, to your cars. To your drive pits and fix whatever needs to be fixed. Remember who we are. Remember our promise and our debt to history. Remember that hatred spreads and is oh so difficult to dredge out of the land into which it sinks, particularly when there are those pushing for it.

America, heal thyself and thus the world.

SAY WHAT?

  The best job of the future is apparently that of an interpreter. No, not of official foreign languages, but rather of English. Yup. Today one has to learn to read the truth beneath, for the words above belie that very truth - much to our detriment. Often these two things, the words and the actual intent are diametrically opposed and if we do not figure things out, and real soon, parse the sentences and words for the final truths, well, then, never mind the "say what", but pay attention to the "do what?" that follows.

Take a local issue that is manifesting itself all over the place, particularly here in southern Florida. It is overcrowding. It is loss of agricultural lands. It is the decimation of preserves. It is the elimination of the very trees we need to refresh and cleanse the air. It is the proliferation of acres and acres of concrete, raising the heat and temperatures, changing the environment and climate, ruining the quality of life for so many, for destroying the very things it touts - Florida living and life. 

For a start, begin with the wowser inflated prices of houses almost side by side, charging prices beginning now, boldly and brazenly posted on big signs along the highways and byways of Florida, at $700,000 to over a million, the same homes that were listed not so long ago as ranging from $200,000 to $500,000. The same houses that were  foreclosed, walked away from,  drowned their owners when the economy tanked and the bubble burst. Destroying neighborhoods with neglected and abandoned homes, filthy disease and mold ridden pools. Gutting developments. And now - we do it all over again. Making a bitter joke, a true mockery, at the excuse of providing 'affordable' homes. Say what? Whose affordable? Not ours.

So here we are, living in CVWPB, facing a mammoth development that will be built on a former golf course, one that was promised to remain so "in perpetuity" as such, but never mind the words obviously, simply trodden over for the sake of big pockets wanting more inflow and screw the little people again. Every plan put forth grew worse, crowding more population, more concrete, taller buildings, less grass and park area along the streets, all the better, as the wolf said, "to eat you up" - the 'you' being us.

 And hey, why not squeeze in some commercial development there, never mind the neighborhood concept. Never mind the dangerously increased traffic patterns to which one official said "they will have to make more u-turns". Uh huh, right there on busy Haverhill  Speedway! Especially with the aging drivers from CV trying to get in and out of the Village. Bloody Haverhill will result. But who cares, for Reflection Bay is going through.

For over a decade, Villagers have been fighting this egregious attack on the neighborhood. Okay, if there must be development, if there must be lies told, if words are to lose their true meaning, value and promise, if perpetuity is now meant to mean temporary, never mind all the dictionary definitions of its meaning, then be human. Do not be greedy. How many more millions and billions of dollars must be sucked out of Florida before the big boys are satisfied? How much more air must be tainted, overheated? How much more arsenic and toxins from the soil of the golf course will be ignored. As for the drainage, well, of course, screw the Villagers again, deny them the expected permanent, promised permanent, golf course, its drainage, and just drown a goodly part of the apartments on the ground floors of those buildings alongside the former golf course. It's only the elderly, so who cares?

Well, we do. But we have fought a losing battle. We do not have the deep pockets to overcome those of the developers. Those who name new massive developments a "preserve" even as they destroy the same preserve that had been there lo these many a year. Here we are told of a Reflection Bay. What bay? The one that will cover ground area within the Village? The committee that had formed did their best, beyond, over and above, what was thought possible, fending off the threat for so many years. We apparently have lost as the next step in the farce is a "hearing", as if the decision had not already been made. As if the Commissioners of Palm Beach County had not already agreed to sell us down the river yet again. Put up posters touting a hearing, but no working websites to go to.

We are not alone. Just take a ride along the roads leading to CV Boca, where huge, huge developments are nearing completion. Gone the rural area and bring in the urban crowding, disguised as Florida living. Take a ride through the streets of Stuart, check the increased traffic. Check the many, oh so many, developments razing the area's trees, all the flora. See the encroachment on the older  quaint area. See the ruination of the promise of Florida. See the actual development of the truths underlying the false words of politicians, developers and lawyers.

Think this only local? Nay, my friends, for we have not touched upon the 'truths' of the words of state and national officials. Another day, another posting. Oh, so much material. Unfortunately. Word! Truth!

GOOD? HAPPY? MAYBE. COULD BE

  Some overly optimistic people are beginning to hum "happy days are here again...". It is great if they have that feeling, that outlook on life. Always better to be optimistic than pessimistic, but, a great big but, one must also remember to include a huge, heaping dollop of reality into any outlook as to the present and future situations.

So, as to happy. Most mask situations are gone. People have taken the vaccines, dealt with the side effects for a few days, and can hug their friends and relatives, sees the grandkids, get out there again without huddling in fear of 'contamination' by their neighbor. Yes, there are exceptions. We have the health related areas where masks are mandatory. Fine. No problem. Most of us do not sit there all day, though the staff does, but still, better than before. So, happy and good. Now if only those stubborn and/or careless holdouts will go for the vaccines. They are 'waiting' - for what? For Godot? Not coming! Time to roll up the sleeves and get with the program. That goes for some  very good and loved friends. Better for them and for all of us.

So to more happy. Workers are actually being sought. The pink slip is withering on the vine. Business clothes are deformalizing as people realize that comfy clothes do not inhibit achievements in work assignments. Hey, all for that! Happy days indeed, from me, the ultimate old lady in tee shirts and shorts! As for fashion - Yay! Everything goes. Long. Short. Tight. Loose. Happy!

The outlook is optimistic from those who still believe that we can actually get together, work together, as Americans. As citizens of the world, as leaders breathe a sigh of relief as Trump is no longer there. However, there are major problems remaining. Trump influence and damage done. The lingering, still strong, hatred nurtured during his regime. Putin. China. Growth of right wingers who are way out there. Not good and not a happy inducing state of being. However, cooperation can go a long way to ameliorate the situational outlook.

Environment lousy, but we are back to working to improve it Can it get done soon enough, big enough, to at least change some of the worst forecasts? Hopefully. Neither good nor happy, at least until we know more, do more, in actuality, but still, some good and some happy there as well. 

That goes for other situations as well. We are getting 'there', wherever 'there' is, but slowly, as opposition continues, as what- imbeciles, truth deniers, false thinkers, irrationals - continue to exist and spoil the pudding, but hopefully, time will help the situation as the truth begins to be believed again. I hope. Remember truth? Yup, that missing element during the recent past. Now beginning to return, slowly, shyly, unused to the light, but, could be good days acomin'. Maybe. Possibly. We'll see.

Economy booming. Workers with increased power. But some people too lazy or spoiled by the extra bonuses of the pandemic year. Need to stop those, encourage return to work by all. Good and happy. Many other issues do remain. The Middle East. Growing anti Semitism, again, and not happy nor good there. Slaughter continuing in places all over the globe. Attention being paid to other rights violation, even as the GOP pushes to return the days of olde, with the wealthy ruling and the rest of us as peasants, and voting rights? What is that?

So, a mixed bag. There are days when I can actually see the coming, in fact, the growing presence of both good and happy. There are days when I see neither, nor any hope of them actually coming into strong and assured existence. However, on most days at present there is that glimmer, that growing light, that gives hope. Now, if Manchin will get off the dime and remove that stick; if Feinstein will retire, good job but time now; if Senators remember that we are all Americans rather than Party members with red kerchiefs around our necks, well....Then maybe both good and happy as the valves will open, the good be discussed and achieved, at least to some degree. Then, maybe, just maybe, we can sing that song. I hope. I pray.

STILTS AND STEROIDS

  What a great comparison. The behavior of Trump and the DOJ,  their egregious snooping, hoarding, gathering, of records and information about 'enemies' of the crazed Trump was compared to Nixon's behavior doing the same thing. Do not forget to include Hoover and his similar shameful behavior at the FBI during his long reign there. It seems that if one wishes to be a dictator, one must snoop. One must pervert the law enforcement organs of the country to do the bidding of the would be dictator. Thus the shameful behavior of Barr, who trashed his own reputation serving his master, Trump, taking the entire DOJ along for the ride with him. "Nixon on stilts and steroids" indeed.

Do not think the rest of the country is immune to that syndrome. We have seen countless exemplars now of the corruption of public service, of the selfish behavior of appointed officials, meant to serve the country, instead using the resources for their own advantage rather than for the country's.

Stilts and steroids behavior.

More of this behavior is to be found in the media, Deserting their roles as reporters, as investigators, they became participants, partaking of events. Alex Jones gave a half million dollars towards the Jan. 6 insurrection. Newly founded bullhorn media stations, were out there plumping for Trump, shamelessly partisan, pushing the Big Lie, encouraging distrust of the government, rocking this country to its very foundations - stilts and steroids again.

Once upon a time we had officials who, while not perfect, had the courage to move forward. LBJ, on June 13, 1967, nominated Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court.  "the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place,". Stilts and steroids indeed as we compare that nomination to the shameful ones of more recent years. Stilts and steroids can be used properly, with boldness, with courage, if only one wishes to. However, our most recent officials, Senators, Governors, State legislators have all turned the opposite way, faced a different direction and end goal, serviced their own selfish interests rather than the peoples' needs. In a big way! In a negative stilts and steroids way.

Falsified 'recount' results. The pushing of 'truths' that are falsehoods. The alleged criminal behavior of those meant to enforce the law. The traitorous and treasonous behavior of officials at all levels of  government, even unto partaking in a rebellion, a violent attempt at that, with deaths resulting. Newspeak in real life. Orwell and Huxley, writing for a different era with similar behaviorisms, now have books befitting this era. 1984. Animal Farm. A Brave New World. Read them. Wonder and weep. Cry the Beloved Country indeed. Stilts and steroids, even as nothing ever seems to change.

So a pilot calls for "all strong males" to help subdue an unruly passenger. Perhaps we need all these strong males along with the power of all the strong women, of this country, of the world, to reset our axis and axles, return to a balanced country. Perhaps we need new and better pilots. Return to a country that has not lost its marbles, with aged senators shouting, faces and words ugly, harmful and blood shedding. with younger ones who appear to have learned at the knees of history's dictators. We need to return to America. Period. We need American behavior on stilts and steroids, the country which means well, which stumbles and bumbles at times, which has to overcome those who would hold progress back, those who would persist in maintaining old hatreds.

We can do this. We have overcome actions and times such as this before. We have to turn our backs on the hatemongers, on those who would prefer to limit the rights of all. Do not make an error in your thinking; the elimination of rights for one group becomes the norm for all groups. History tells us that. History warns of that. On stilts and steroids. We do not want those stilts, those steroids. We need the good stilts, the ones that help us see. We need the powerful steroids, the ones that stand for justice and right. Maybe I am simplistic, thinking we can actually do this, right the country again, but we have done so before. We can do so again. If we but climb on those stilts, take those 'steroids'. Stand tall and proud, and do the right things. Simple, yet hard. But still doable - at least for a time, though the windows and doors are closing fast.

Stilts and steroids.

RANDOM RAMBLINGS

  Upon reading the news feeds of the day, I just heaved a great big sigh and said to myself how tired I am of all this crap that hits the streets every day, day after day. We all seem to have lost sight of the facts and concentrated on emotions, on subjective judgements and consequences of those judgements. We have become the executioners of those we feel deserve it, or cheer on others who do so. We are as a nation of Rip van Winkles just awakened from a  long sleep, confused, not knowing how to behave with others, the simple and basic rules of daily life, beginning with courtesy. 

We recently flew back from  a visit with the kids and had perfectly fine and polite flights. All wore masks, no arguments. All cleaned up. All sat quietly when told of a longer flight due to turbulence. Perfectly fine, polite, with laughter here and there and flight attendants doing their jobs. Most important, passengers who allowed them to do their job. But recently some flights have apparently been originating in hell. Fights with flight attendants doing their job, even to the point of knocking out two teeth. American Airlines reported a fight wherein passengers, not all, only the visitors from hell, appeared to have forgotten that deep down they are still human and supposed to remain so. Calling names, insulting with personally targeted insults - what the hell!!!Why is it so difficult for people to understand that you pay your money, you take your seat, you sit quietly, be it reading, sleeping, playing with the baby, talking to a new acquaintance, or merely staring into space. No fighting. No suspension of human behavior and the rules of courtesy. Apparently I am wrong.

Members of Congress, both Houses, also have gone off track. The name calling rivals the toughest schools. The loss of patriotism, with Federal and State level officials allowing in, facilitating, the invasion of rebels, geared for revolution and harm, directly into the buildings. The attacks based on open hatred and prejudice, and yes, the reaching to new heights, or should I say depths, of anti Semitism from members of a group of vicious wanna be Alpha Girls. Their aggrieved response, claiming anti Moslem memes and tropes - and 'all' they did was to compare Israel and the US to the Taliban and Hamas! Only. The backbiting. The turns of those like Sinema and Manchin. The lack of attention paid to constituents and their desires rather than the at times perverse wishes of their own. The actions of these self same representatives of the people. As if!!

A nation of sneaks and more sneaks. Perverting the laws because they are inconvenient. Actually rebelling against this country, its government because they do not like it, well, toddlers do a better job of dealing with frustrating situations than these supposed adults do. Dressing up to resemble the 'tough'  look they imagine frightens people, rambling, rampaging through official buildings, shouting threats of murder, schoolboys on the loose at end of year release time, only these 'boys'  had murder and death at the end. Not a good ramble.

I believe that we have lost sight of proper behavior and management of our own wishes. We have forgotten, or now deem unimportant, the needs of others, how to negotiate, physically, psychically, emotionally, with others; hence, the violence upsurge and the excuses, the oh so righteous denial of its oh so 'wrongness'!

Locked up for over a year, given orders some did not like. Never mind that those orders saved lives, including theirs, even as over 600,000 died and close to 4,000 more are dying everyday. They did not like them, felt affronted and insulted. Like infants! We became antsy. When allowed out of the house, our quiet time out session over, we went wrong. Badly so. We were impatient beyond words. We pushed and shoved in any manner or form. 

We yelled,  threatened those who dared to think otherwise. We became followers of dictators and their hateful philosophies. We went on rambles with dangerous endings and plans. We simply lost sight of courtesy. Of social behavior. Of the interfacing of the crowd and the individual. We grew selfish, plain and simple. That selfishness has only grown in intensity and coverage, with expected results, exacerbating the situation even more.

What is the end? What is the cure? Is there a cure? Who the hell knows. All I know for sure today is that I am oh so tired, very tired of this, of all of this, and wish people would grow up, remember the lessons of their kindergarten teachers, their parents, their religious leaders who were truly religious. So tired.  

Thank the Lord above for family and friends. Think for yourself. Think again. Reevaluate before acting. Put on the shoes of others before taking a walk down a path that should be blocked off. Be human! Be humane! Be a thinking being rather than a simply reactive one. Understand consequences. Do not blame others for one's own faults.

Again - be human!! A good person. Simple, yet so apparently unachievable. A great shame. Dangerous, as well. Maybe we should all Rip van Winkle again and wake up,  this time in a better mood. Maybe.

A PLEA FROM THE HEART

 " We have seen a brick thrown through window of a Jewish-owned business in Manhattan, a swastika carved into the door of a synagogue in Salt Lake City, families threatened outside a restaurant in Los Angeles, and museums in Florida and Alaska, dedicated to celebrating Jewish life and culture and remembering the Holocaust, vandalized with anti-Jewish messages." (Biden)

Rutgers leaders forced to apologize for statement condemning anti-Semitism..

"Anti-Semitic incidents in the country have more than doubled"

“I said that the seeds that gave rise to the Holocaust have always been with us. They have found root across cultures, faiths, and generations. “I said that the seeds that gave rise to the Holocaust have always  And they have reemerged again and again, especially in times of change and uncertainty,” Obama said.

Anti-Semitic attacks are being reported in US cities

 “these statements are anti-Semitic at their core and contribute to a climate that is hostile to many Jews. We must never forget that less than eighty years ago, within the lifetime of our parents and grandparents, six million people were murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust because they were Jews. Israel has long provided the Jewish people with a homeland in which they can be safe after facing centuries of persecution.” 

Ilhan Omar compares and equates Israel to Hamas, a known terrorist group, saying they commit the same kind and numbers of terrorist and criminal actions. Really?

 Read those words and then the words of the song that follows. This has gone on for 3,000 years. We are tired. We are weary to the bone, to the core of our souls. Understand the horrors of anti-Semitism. It is not a prejudice wherein a select few of a group are targeted or the group is defined as being allowed only certain roles and rights.

 Anti-Semitism is an existential prejudice with its clearly stated goals of killing, wiping out the Jewish people to the last child. That is the difference between prejudice against or aimed at certain groups and that of the prejudice inherent in anti--Semitism. Understand the current of fear running through Jews today. Hear them discuss in every meeting, every discussion, if it is time to leave, not wait too late, too long, as the Jews of Europe did. But then again, where could they go? Every door was closed to them; at least we have Israel.

The words and the meaning of these words are clear. It was written by one who perished in a concentration camp. It was written in Yiddish, the language of so many Jews. It was sung by prisoners, and why, because they were Jewish, had Jewish blood and therefore were deemed unworthy of life.

They could not live here. They could not live there. They could not live anywhere. They could not live. At all. That is anti-Semitism.

Note that left and right refers to the directions that meant instant death, gassing, shootings, or deferred death, before dying of starvation, illness, and murder. Listen to the song on you tube.

Wo Hain Soll Ich Geh'n - Where Can I Go?

Tell me, where can I go?

There's no place I can see.

Where to go, where to go,

Every door is closed to me.

To the left, to the right,

Is the same in every land.

There is nowhere to go.

And it's me who should know.

Won't you please understand?

Now I know where to go.

Where my folks proudly stand.

Let me go, let me go,

To that precious Promised Land.

No more left, no more right,

Lift your head and see the light.

I am proud, can't you see?

For at last I am free.

No more wandering for me.

Now I know

Where to go.

........There is nothing more to say.