IN A BETTER PLACE

  Generally speaking, the title is a phrase used to try to comfort one mourning the loss of a loved one - or not, as the case may be. Better than what? Apparently this world of ours, used from time immemorial, throughout the centuries, wherever there was belief in an afterlife. In this crazed world of ours, gone atilt in a major way, there is, we suppose, comfort in that phrase, though not  really, for at that moment we want the person back. Never mind about "a better place".

Frankly, I wish we would stop using that phrase and rather than words, actually do something to make this place, this world, this reality, a better place. I suppose that is what we initially set out to do, twenty years ago, after the first emotional moments of revenge were over, but bottom line - is Afghanistan a better place for our being there. The answer is up for grabs.

Like most things there are two sides to the story. Did we help bring the country into the modern world, into a society that recognizes the humanity of all people? Yes, and there are women who are grateful for their release from the prison of extreme Islam. Schools, jobs, pride, a better country with a better future. Yet, not really. That better place has died, brutally, gone the way of too many nations with whom we were enmeshed. What remains? Endemic corruption, loss of hope, and a fear to the very marrow of their souls, of too many, left adrift in an extremely threatening reality. Better place? No, manifestly not there when a nation dies, when a future is strangled.

The overriding question now is where do we, America, go from here? Are we, too, headed for that 'better place'? Often it appears as if we are in that perennial handbasket on our way to not such a better place. Look around and wonder, just how the heck did we get here? Is that instant iconic photo of the last American soldier leaving Afghanistan to be the telling summary for history? Is it a visual representation of the words of a journalist ?

"Hey, hey, hey, .... We're going to check in ... just to make sure all is well. There's a lot of crazy out there, a lot of crazy." ....disrupted by some wacky guy." 

The wackiness, the craziness, is immediately visible wherever one looks. It force us to rethink those words. Wacky, generally used in a situation with some humor, strained as it may be, and clearly that is lacking when a disturbed man in the throes of a monster hurricane, goes off track and attacks a reporter. No humor in the the terrible disruptions - to say the least - of society by the supposed leaders of that very society. When a President seeks to overthrow his own country's government. Or a Governor imperils the very lives of children, an entire education world. 

Has our country become a sitcom of wackiness? Are we to place huge DANGER signs on our borders? Are we to shrug, with a tinge of nastiness, when we read of crazed anti masks, anti - vaxxers, COVID denying delusional 'conservatives' die from COVID? Yeah, they probably got their just desserts, the consequences of their own ignorance, and dangerous decisions, but now - are they in a better place? Are they now better off for the errors of their lives? Are we, too, to do something to hasten this 'better place' for all of us? You tell me. Are we not supposed to make this reality, this society, a better place? In the here and now? Must one die before we gain such a blessed residential address? 

No power in Louisiana and a waning power of sanity in the world at large. A man gone to a 'better place" gobbled down by an alligator, now swimming joyfully in new hunting territories after Ida came visiting. New hidden dangers. Unanticipated by most, and now what? Will we ever understand the immediate necessity of life changes or are we destined to be consumed by new alligators in their new happy hunting grounds?

Wackiness a plenty? Oh, yeah. Funny? Not so much. A better place? Do we not, can we not, make of this world a better place, and then think how beautiful the next 'better place' will be. If only.

ROCKING, ROCKING

 While reading articles this morning, I suddenly realized that while doing so I was gently rocking back and forth. That motion is associated with one trying to deal with, to comprehend the incomprehensible. It ties to the questions of why, of how, of did it have to happen. Well, the world today induces that rocking, mightily so. We find ourselves facing off against forces and situations beyond our abilities to handle successfully. Consequently, the ensuing circumstances and results are not good, to say the least. Our wheelhouse, shall we say, is way over its limits and frankly, the way out, the way to reconfigure that challenged wheelhouse and its crew appears to be nigh onto impossible.

Approximately 100 nations said they are going to hold the Taliban to keep its promise to allow those who wish to leave to do so. And if not? What then? We tell them to sit on a chair in the corner for a time out? We say, "bad, bad, bad"? Why do we say these things when we know the Taliban does whatever the hell it want to in its twisted mind, in obedience to a bizarre interpretation of the Koran and Sharia - all the better to oppress people, particularly women. Already they are hedging on their declaration to allow free access to education for all by adding these words: 

"Women in Afghanistan will be allowed to attend university "in safety," as long as their studies are in line with the Taliban's interpretation of Islamic law." 

Uh huh. Empty promises, empty threats. In the meanwhile we can add the fact that thousands are hiding in fear of retaliations, against them and their extended families so who are we kidding. These acts have already begun. 

Let's turn to the weather. Oh,, yes, that little storm Ida. What a horror and worse, is that these monster acts of Nature are more and more common. We build levees. They fail. We build moving docks to protect. We pour sand year after year on badly eroding beaches. Mudslides occur with frightening frequency as waters flood the hills already denuded of trees to hold the soil in place due to immense and forever forest fires. But oh, yes, let's rake the forest floors. It is moronic advice like that which propels us into further acts of stupidity and uselessness. All the while we ignore the truth. The answer, if not too late, is to rapidly, and drastically, change the lifestyle that has led to these conditions. Right! Like that will happen! Another uh huh. And oh, yes, never give up hope, for Al Roker is on the job, being buffeted by crazy winds while standing in dangerous waters. Why? To show he is not too old for this reporting?  No one should be out there. The danger is clear, imminent, and can turn for the worse on a dime. Wheelhouse feeling a tad claustrophobic yet?

Not to worry. We are told by officials that this is an unusually powerful storm. Because we did not know that already? As we watched a levee fail? As millions are without power, an entire city's sewage system plumb out of service. But not to worry - just control your thirst and your pee. Sure enough, that will do the trick! Not!!! Admit the disaster.

The Mississippi, that powerful Old Man River, ran backwards! Yes, the awesome winds, close to 157 miles per hour, forced that River to kowtow to a force bigger than itself. But FEMA will be there, right. Yes, but this is not the only "natural' disaster of late, is it? Huge forest fires in the northwest corner of the country. Tennessee floods. People die. Heat batters the country. And all the while, those damned things continue to multiply, fulfilling the Biblical command to "go forth and multiply"!

Last for today but certainly not least, is our stew of the day - Jim Jordan being outed - he spoke several times on Jan. 6 to the leader of the rebellion -  Trump -and oh, yes, folks, get real. Admit the truth. Time already! All this as confidence in our continued existence as a democracy fades more and more. Legislatures dominated by GOP threaten to cast aside voting results that displease them. I shudder. Simple rocking will not alleviate that stress. Not at all.

Finally, the last ingredient, we have COVID, that frightening slayer of so many, that expert at mutation at a rapid pace. Over 100,000 average of daily infections. The self harming idiots who protested masks- why, for G-d's sake- are guess what? Dying! Dying from stupidity. Committing suicide. I have no pity on them, for with them go those they infected. For selfishness. For nonsense, deadly nonsense. For freedom they said. Freedom to die and kill others? Really? 

For those who state they have faith in the Lord and His protection, well, G-d bless you, but if G-d had wanted all his people to die, he would not have prepared beforehand all the brain power that went into the vaccine, the planning, the production, on mass scales, of all needed to combat this. Let us use all that G-d has indeed provided to us.

As the iconic Vietnam era song put it - "We gotta' get outta' this place." We certainly do. There is the well known phrase that "no man is an island unto himself." We are all, all, every single one of us, enmeshed in the same crappy situations. There is no escape. No hiding; the only way out is common sense, cooperation and harsh swallowing of new realities that demand new, creative thinking. We need to turn away from the belief in the validity of lies. Martin Luther stated that "A lie is like a snowball; the further you roll it the bigger it gets." Have you ,us, America, the world, not had enough of the lies, the tragic circumstances it encourages and causes?

Instead we must remember, take encouragement from a statement by Frederick Tennyson. "But Life, being Life, can never die at all. " It is up to us to pick ourselves up off the floor of defeat and hopelessness, climb the steep stairs to the virtues and strengths of Humankind. We can do it. The more we procrastinate, the harder it gets. 

Rocking, rocking. 

 

"WEARY, EXHAUSTED, FRUSTRATED AND FORGOTTEN"

  A title ripped from the headlines? A title of a tell all book? Nope, just a few words that tell of the state of Southwest employees. However, if you can read that phrase and not think of the mood and mind of current day Americans, then you are more impervious to reality than I. I envy you. Truly. Frankly, it feels as if we are living in a twisted interpretation of another phrase - "bewitched, bothered and bewildered". How else to explain so much of current life today, of the NOW moments we are being hit with at a nonstop pace.

Actually, I am not sure that any single explanation will fulfill that task. It is more of an evil synergy, with 1+1 adding up to a hell of a lot more than 2, unfortunately for us. This morning I noticed a most unfortunate anomaly in news reports. So many  telling phrases, a strike on a topic under discussion, can then be found to be just as applicable to others. 

So here we are, being told, warned, that an article might upset our sensibilities so be careful when reading or perhaps even bow out, walk away from anything unpleasant, and try to continue to live in a bubble that is quickly losing its form. Most emphatically the wrong approach. Are we infants?

 If a story is about a mountain lion taking a child right out of his own front yard then yes, it is unpleasant; yes, it sends a shiver down the spine of any parent. And yes, it sends a message to all that our way of life, our intrusion into the habitat of creatures of the wild, has problems, existential problems. Perhaps we need to rethink our lives, our behavior, the damage we have done to Nature, the dangers we have only ourselves to blame. The animals are doing what animals do - protecting their territory, hunting for food, trying to survive. We have, unfortunately, for that little boy, intruded into their world. So yes, it is "unpleasant" to say the least! On so many levels. For the subject at hand and for the implications that follow.

"Why as a Christian, and an American, I got the COVID vaccine."

Those are the words of a Pastor who urged fellow Christians to get vaccinated, not only for themselves, but also to protect others. Finally! A Christian leader who understands the truth and is neither afraid nor intimidated to keep quiet. In fact, to do so, is, in my book, aiding and abetting in murder and manslaughter. The guilt is there.

How about a judge ruling that DeSantis acted "without legal authority" in his deadly actions re mask mandates. A breathe of fresh air, of truth. Of course, it too is so, sooooo applicable to the behavior of the GOP and its deranged leader, Trump. Talking heads reassured the public re twisted plans to overthrow the government. It could not, would not, happen as there was no legal path for it to move forward. What a crock. Trump and his fervent, deluded group of home grown fascists could care less about legalities! Jan. 6 was not legal, most assuredly so, yet there it was,  and here are the continuing threats. Legalities? Bah! Humbug!

"We can also tell you that your window of time is closing, it is rapidly closing," Edwards said. "By the time you go to bed tonight, you need to be where you intend to ride this storm out and you need to be prepared as you can be."

The above was said by Gov. Edwards re Hurricane Ida, but is also telling of the current situation. Every day we are hit with yet another natural disaster even as it is manifestly not so natural. It is Nature, but it is a Nature that has been so abused by humankind, a Nature that humankind ever and always finds a way to screw up, at the cost of so many lives, in the name of power and greed, causing unbelievable destruction and death.

Our window of time is also closing, hopefully not completely closed as of yet, though there are doubts. The question of the day, of the NOW, is can we ride out this storm, the many storms of our own making. Those of Nature and those of the political world. We share blame in the creation of horrors of Nature such as the mammoth storms, floods, droughts and everything else gone awry in Nature - including the cases of animals chowing down on humans. And their ever growing frequency.

Are we prepared as much as can be? I highly doubt that. So do many others. Survivalists are no longer only the wild haired, long bearded loners of the world. They are now inclusive of regular every day people who are as concerned as I am. No, I am manifestly not a survivalist for several reasons. I do not want to live in such a world. I have no experience relevant to survival in a world like that. No, nature walks in camp do not count! Most important of all, I hate bugs!

Seriously, folks, we need to take a gander at the world around us, its current state of existence and where we go from here. Unpleasant? Upsetting to those who wish to remain in a bubble of ignorance and unawareness? Yes. But you, we, have been warned. The topic is one that shatters complacency, but choose - complacency or life? Hmmm......

REALITY READ MY BLOG AND CHECKED IN

  Well, I truly was not hoping for a reality check such we had yesterday. 12 or 13 Marines and a Navy medic killed, with over 18 wounded. Add to that the dozens of Afghans blown up or shot by fellow countrymen. Does not bode well for the new reality of Afghanistan life. Nor for the rest of Americans and Afghan allies remaining in the country. Nor for those Americans who forgot reality and went to visit extended family during a time of crisis, of a Taliban storming through the country in their own 'blitzkrieg'. Not to forget the reality that as they stormed through, they became much better equipped as tons of American weaponry and support materiel fell into their hands. Today, dressed in captured American uniforms and helmets, who can tell them apart?

Further reality checks? Please do remember that this reality is not to our liking and no amount of shouting after the fact or hysterical, unfounded accusations will change it. Not a whit. What reality tells us is that we must roll up our sleeves, buckle down and get the rest of them out of country and slam the door shut! 

While we are at it, might as well mention that one diplomat had reality pegged and voiced a not very diplomatic thought, but one that must be said. 

"We put out repeated warnings every three weeks to Americans going back to, I think, in March or April, each one in stronger terms,"  "Leave now. Leave immediately."

"People chose not to leave ... That's their business. That's their right,". We regret now that many find themselves in a position that they'd rather not be in, and we are determined to try to help."  

We are no longer living in a world where an American passport will protect someone caught in bad circumstances. Nope. Not any more and actually, not for quite some time already.  Nor is the American government always willing or able to effect a rescue or ransom of those caught where they should not have been - unless for their jobs or in unexpected circumstances. Still, not an easy assignment - rescue our citizens. For the most part - we do!

Demanding now that we 'unleash" our forces, well, again, please check reality. What the hell are we doing now? Fleeing from a country in which we were badly whipped. We lost our way there, lost the directions to an exit over these past two decades, lost our honor as we became mired in a reality that changed too often to recount. A reality mired in corruption, distrust and mistrust. No WAZE was ever found with the correct route the hell outta there! Now this dude wants us to unleash again? Is he for real? Or just plain stupid. Dangerously so. All that would achieve is more death, more bloodshed, and completely refute the mission we now have -get our people out! Now.

Cawthorn, yet another mini-fascist - wants to use the 25th Amendment on Biden. Say what? This from a person who blindly followed the most deranged President ever in the history of this country? A most deluded and dangerous man, intent only, openly, at retaining his power and screw the law, screw the Americans and to hell with history. Truth? Nary a sight of it for those years. Now the 25th? When his own idol was the one warned about creating another Benghazi? The man who signed the treaty agreeing to withdraw and then blaming Biden for doing just that!

The reality is ugly as all hell. But it is what it is and we must deal with that. So yes, we will rely on the Taliban to at least hold to a modicum of maintaining safety, all the while knowing that speed is of the utmost importance. We will do our limited best, and that will not be enough. Reality will get even uglier when pictures of captured Americans and allies will be flashed to the world in vicious videos. Reality is ugly and getting uglier. Reality.

We have resumed flights. We are caring for our wounded. Hopefully, we will honor those slain in the line of duty. And we must remember how we got here in the first place. In echoes of Bush's warning, Biden states:

"Know this," he said. "We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay. 

I agree, though we must, are forced, to do it with a better plan, one which will not have the "forever" war go into Stage Two. We must be clever, better, wiser, and equipped with reality checks and reality responses. Is that possible? Maybe, though I think not, under the terrible partisanship situation we now have in DC and in fact, in the country at large. Not when we have open fascists in the government. Not when we have open planning for a takeover of the country through manipulation of the elections. That is the reality we live in now.

Just lovely! But so it is. Bloody awful, yet there it is.

REALITY CHECK - CHECK, CHECK, CHECK

 If wishes were horses, as the saying goes, but they are not. Nor does wishful thinking conquer reality. In fact, the best way to conquer a reality that is not exactly pleasing nor pleasant in its current form, is to face that reality head on and deal with it as it is, not as we wish it would be. The only way to make it as we wish it were is to act appropriately and accurately.

When we were finally able to have a total family trip to Disney, the back of the t-shirt made for it had the word Finally written in Disney script. Finally, after all the years of wishing. It now had become reality. A good one, that took a year of planning and adjusting, with flexibility and cooperation a must. And, naturally, as carefully, completely, as those plans were, even with foresight about possibilities of hitches, there were unplanned for issues that had to be met with and tackled at that moment. Sighing and shouting and blaming someone or something was not the answer. In other words, reality checks were the order of the day; in fact, of the whole trip. And it worked.

Reality checks are exactly what we need in today's frightening world. Just yesterday I read an article which laid out how the backwards GOP could actually, legally and immorally, overturn an election not to their satisfaction. It all depended on how willing they were to ignore the wishes of the people, how willing they were to face becoming the historical cause, defamed forever, of  a second Civil War, a disaster in the making, a permanent change in the country. No longer, ever again, would we be the United states, but rather another country shredded into mini countries, a la those of Europe where soon they will be forming states by blocks. 

A reality check is needed by so many in so many areas. One: Afghanistan and evacuation. Biden did not create this problem. Actually, bin Laden did, along with all the presidents that followed the attack on Sept. 11 and all the politicians who agreed with this 'forever' war, including, noticeably the GOP. Biden inherited this. If not the best closing, it is, like it or not, the one we have. Reality has become the driving force that must be met on its own terms. 

Plans and wishes fall by the wayside. Our army has done a yeoman's job here in the face of unthinkable odds. Truthfully, the crowds at Kabul airport are a small piece of the truth. Frankly, if able to, practically the entire population would evacuate. Reality. Hangings, threats, beatings, restrictions again, yet again, on women, and a future with no future. So one deals with it as it has become. The only way to do something positive in a truly negative situation. 

Over 83,000 evacuated since Aug. 14 and it continues unabated and will continue until the very last second possible - even impossible. We are doing our best. Trump was the one who signed this treaty, leaving Biden with hands tied. Trump is the one who stymied plans for evacuations. Biden is handling it as best as reality allows and is making contingency plans should this need to be extended. Reality? Who knows. And that is exactly the point.

Life is hard for nations and for individuals. Certainly we wish there would not be such an overwhelming number of migrant children coming alone, demanding an outlay of so much energy, and planning. The heart is there, but reality interferes with the ideal. So one does one's best. There is no malicious wish here, contrary to the purposeful inhumane treatment mandated by Trump and shockingly, by so many willing to go along with this and become the American version of Nazi guards in the camps. Horrid! Unthinkable and yet so it was. Reality.

Reality is here in mask mandates. All the shouting of the crazies, of the deniers, does not change the facts. The pandemic is upon us. It does not look like it is cutting short its visit. In fact, it has faced reality. It is mutating, all the better to cofound our plans. So we deal with it. Advice and knowledge change by the minute almost as new facts appear, as new information is gleaned. This is reality. Put on the damn masks and help relieve the situation. Hold out your arm and get the shots, for pity's sake! What the hell is the matter with you who do not do this. Your actions are selfish, endangering others to prove some obscure, needless point that only you can see. Be part of the cure, not part of the problem.

Reality is as reality does. We have only the path of adjustment and hard work to change that reality. Wishes and willful blindness, lies, do not do otherwise. Reality checks. Reality checks.  There are good ones, too. Old Navy has recognized the fact that not every American is a size two. In fact, most aren't. That is why those itsy sizes are the ones remaining on the sales racks of America. So they are presenting a new reality - Old Navy for larger sizes. About time! Reality has chimed in.

Seriously, folks, we must appreciate the efforts of our armed forces in this evacuation. We must not blame our people for the animalistic behavior of the Taliban. We can blame 20 years of mishandling, the creation of negative realities which we did not face realistically. But that is the past. We must deal with realities of today. The only way. Whether it be masks in school or mandated vaccinations. Such is life and its demands. We must do the best we can - and even more. Reality demands that.

 

NOW IS THE TIME

 Those were the words of Bennett, Prime Minister of Israel, referring to the Iran nuclear issue, and inclusive of the gathering storm, once again, over Gaza as the Palestinians continue to send over incendiary balloons, setting fields afire, and storming border fences. Now is the time is a phrase that can and should echo through the world, as time is indeed of the essence. A fact that we are so expert and practiced at ignoring. Much to our detriment.

There is no single Israeli parent, mother or father, who wishes to see their child, boy or girl, grow up to be a soldier, to be placed in mortal jeopardy. There is no Israeli parent eager for a child to have to defend themselves in combat with other humans. Golda Meir said it correctly and tellingly when she said that "The moment the Arab mothers love their children more than they hate us, there will be peace."

At funerals for a terrorist shot in the midst of an attack, there is celebratory ululating at the funeral, vows of revenge, hatred boiling over, even though the dead had placed himself/herself in jeopardy. At Israeli funerals for the slain there is only tears. Sobbing fills the air as grief is shared. It is quiet, other than for the sounds of prayers and deep, soul shattering and heart rending grief. No gunfire. No praise for a terrorist. Only grief for yet one more killed in the line of duty or for being a Jew daring to walk, to tread upon the land of forefathers.

Surely it is time, more than time, for the world to recognize the need for truth and sanity, for peace, a strong peace, to be made. Surely it is time for the world to speak the truth, openly and firmly. The balloons are acts of war. Perpetrated against civilians, a war crime, but the world stays silent. A silence that echoes the sounds of the past, the mournful singing of the doomed - men, women, children - as they walk into gas chambers, as their bodies are shoveled into ovens.

The world equates the owning of nuclear capability of Israel to that of Iran. Israel has had that capability for decades, yet has anyone seen a threat to use on their eternally hostile neighbors? No. Certainly not. Such usage would be a last resort, only, G-d forbid, if there is no hope left at all. On the other hand, Iranians threaten all the time to use their nuclear bombs when available. So why, why, in the name of heaven, does the world remain publicly blind over this, ignoring the danger and the manifest difference between Israel and Iran, certainly not the only manner in which they remain different. 

Yesterday I read an article so pompously conflating the presence of praying, quietly, soundlessly, in a remote corner of the Temple Mount with war mongering. It is inflammatory, the pundits shout. Jews have no business up there. It irritates the Arabs. Moreover, Jews should leave the Western Wall and its Plaza as it too irritates the Arabs, so important to them as well. Huh! Since when? When they had possession they treated it as a slum, a narrow walkway behind houses or even using it as a wall of their homes. Truly! Catch a Jewish person doing that! Never. Ever. Ask Abraham and Isaac whose land this is? Or David? Or Solomon? Or Jesus.

In the meanwhile, the world is in crisis. So many crises. UN personnel are being targeted, told to "hibernate" in Afghanistan. So helpful! 4,000 phone calls in 4 days to Americans there, giving instructions for safe evacuation. 70,700 people evacuated since August 14. Amazing! The world? It stands and criticizes. Shut up and help! What does Turkey do? It send those paralyzed with fear for the lives of themselves and their families back over the border into Hell on Earth. The world? Silence. They criticize and carp. The refugees are in poor living situations, they shout. Well, do something. These are your Muslim compatriots so do something. Do not merely add to the rise in heat of the world with your useless hot air. 

Now is the time to do so many things. To get through to the benighted who refuse vaccination, endangering the lives of others. Time to acknowledge that we have mortally imperiled the world. Deep necessities, difficult, life changing ones, must be made if we are to continue to exist as a habitable planet. Scientists are not too optimistic about that. The world? So many continue to deny, even as people go by, drowning in unprecedented floods. Or starving in new lands of desertification. Or caught in wars over the remaining arable land. Or lose their way of living as their villages drown.  As island nations go under. As the earth itself shakes under our feet and mud covers the lost.

For sure, it is time. However, can we read watches any longer and recognize the loss of time, the ever growing nearing time of disaster? If so, time we sat down to some lessons and some reality. Time to learn the rule of when the big hand is here and the small hand is there - we are nearing midnight. Closer and closer. For sure, now is the time.

 

"WE ARE IN SORROW."

  That statement - the title - is the best one I have heard yet. We are all in sorrow. We are confused, bewildered to a  degree most have not seen before. We are trying to deal with situations that are coming down the track with such speed, such fierceness, that handling them in an organized, orderly,  successful manner is almost impossible. And yet, we must try, do our best. The question now is do we want to do our best? Do we want to answer that man's pleas, address his sorrow, and the sorrow of so many others caught up in tragedy? The answers are not clear.

Yesterday I came across this statement from the noted writer, Joyce Carol Oates. I wonder if this answers those questions in a negative manner. It certainly presents a negative image of people and our chances to alleviate these states of sorrow.

"And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo - that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power to make of us not simply victims, as nature and accident do, but active accomplices."

How powerful a statement. How depressing. Yet also, much to our shame, how true. At least so it seems over the recent half decade plus that we have lived through. Did it not seem that all our supposed leaders had bought into such a philosophy, tempered their behaviors, their statements, using this belief as a measuring rod? Reality has been subverted as crazed individuals, seemingly sane, bought into extreme ideas, refused to stop drinking the Kool-Aide. In fact, they spike it even more, drink even deeper, and consequently, place this country in danger. Evil? I think so.

One such individual speaks of the movement to reinstall the worst, most dangerous President ever, into office. "There's always a way." So he says. So he believes. So he will act upon. So he will, along with other deluded enemies of the state, act upon. We saw it on Jan. 6 and we will see it again, as they refuse reality and take refuge in their delusionary world, a threatening world to the rest of us. Evil?

"Or there will be consequences." So the Taliban warned the US and western countries racing the clock to evacuate citizens and allies from Afghanistan. Truthfully, the entire country needs evacuation. Who among them is not in clear and present danger? Women? Check. Children? Check. Media? Check. Teachers? Check. Moderates? Check. Humanity? Check. The fear of these people waiting on lines, squooshed into planes, is palpable. so thick one can almost cut it with a knife. Consequences? For sure. They have been with us for years. Even as we refused to see them. Evil?

The Republicans and Democrats fight like cats and dogs. The Democrats fight within, much to their detriment. Someone, somewhere, somehow, is instigating this. The air reeks of plots, of destructive partisanship, of a loss of respect for our  institutions and Constitution. Evil?

Is there hope? There must be. If not, we are lost,  mired in a dire situation with no exit. All of our own making. Doctors in Florida staged a symbolic walkout, stating they are exhausted, running out of patience. What do they want? Get vaccinated. Even Trump told his base that - and got a round of boos, which gladdened my heart, as his own creation turned on him. I do wish they would get the vaccine, if only to cut the danger to others. The mob turned on Mo Brooks as well. Lesson? Be careful what you wish for, as your own monster can turn around and chomp down on you!!

37,000 evacuated. 28 flights. 10,400 people in 24 hours. Another 15 flights, in 12 hours, another 6,660 people. Yet the crowds are not diminished. The fear grows. The sorrow and the consequences merge into palpability. Evil?

Unfortunately, evil is attractive to too many humans. There is a degree of selfishness and greed that will not quit. Many, too many, welcome it into their hearts and souls. Can we overcome that? Can we take back our world, reimpose humanity, restore positive, hopeful trends and policies? Do we really have a choice? Not if we are going to negate the conditions that force one man to say he has no country. Not particularly concerned for him as he is not exactly the poster child for morality, but his words do echo. For all of us. Do we still have a country for us? At times I do not recognize America anymore. Let us hope that we can turn back the clock, refute that ominous statement of Oates. Become proud Americans once more.

Now that is not evil!

SAME OLD STUPID!

  And here we are again. Here we go again. It seems that we are repeating ourselves in ever faster cycles, not for the good either. If anything, it is getting worse, in the depth, the pervasiveness, in the utter stupidity of it all. In fact, if handled correctly, it never should be taking place at all.

Evidently, we have learned nothing at all from the debacle that was Vietnam. We chose to ally ourselves with a corrupt government, perhaps with good motives, but still and all, the wrong way to do this. We spoke of nation building. We ignored history of the country re other foreign countries.  We ignored the power of the people, misled or not, duped or not, who were desperate enough to fight for something that was not necessarily the best for them. 

We lost a huge portion of our own humanity as we became mired in its corruption, and things only appeared to go from bad to worse with no one able to pinpoint where, when, and what the worst would be. Our POWs were tortured. Our pride as Americans, used to winning, was stomped into the dust, and soldiers felt abandoned, hopeless, as they watched friends die, and pieces of land fought over again and again with no perceptible difference in the entire scheme of things. Soldiers needed rescuing and indeed, our entire country needed rescuing as our unity as a nation and people dissolved, and we were a nation divided, deeply so. Sound familiar yet?

Licking our wounds, some of which were merely papered over, we appeared to recover. However, I believe the wounds went much deeper than the scars led us to believe. All it took was a supposed leader who could care less for anything other than himself. Country meant nothing to him, though he professed  patriotism. Deluded people, hurt by economic uncertainty, by racial bitterness, by fear of things they could not even express, shifted themselves. Once again, we were a nation divided. Today one can pick up a paper, turn on the media in any mode, and learn of armed conflict between left and right, mutual, rabid accusations of unAmerican activity. The chasm deepened, perhaps even past the point of no return. In the best scenarios it will take much hard work, unselfishness, humility, and loyalty to ideals which appear to have gone missing, if we are to heal, to reunite.

So as we look upon the pictures with horror, ashamed of what we have left behind, we must do our very best to rectify the situation. What to do? Way above my pay grade. The Taliban is now equipped with the latest American materiel. It now holds sway over people frightened as to the fate of their entire families. And us? What do we do? We argue. We value partisanship over humanity and unity. We have become embittered, almost useless, saddled with false leaders who value partisanship over all else, hampered by people who refuse truths so obvious that one wonders how and why they do this? Therefore we continue to disintegrate, and much to my horror, we have allowed pure, openly racially biased and fascistic people to infiltrate the government on every level. What have we done? 

The same old stupid. Much the same situation. The same divisions. Even more so. An entire populace refusing to hear of sense and sensibility. A nation at war with itself. With truth. With Nature. With the world at large. With its future. With the continued existence of humankind upon this earth.

Will we shape up? In time? Do we even care?

Go figure. Go know. For I sure don't. 

SORRY

  Did it again, only this time I must run to an appointment. Overslept! Feels so good to not be still tired in the morning. I should be able to have one up around 11 or perhaps a bit earlier. See ya later.

OFF THE DERECH

Translation: Derech means path. Usage: When a person, particularly in the Orthodox stream of Judaism, begins to follow different rules, less strict rules, hence that person is "off the derech". Pump it up a bit and we can say that this country, this world, is off the derech - big time. "Bigly" so. So much so, that people are committed to dying in the name of their false, misleading off the derech beliefs. Why?

"The deadliest flaw in human nature is the ability to hold an unshakable opinion based on inadequate evidence."

Perhaps that explains it. It explains the deaths of so many foolish people who refused the vaccine, even as friends and loved ones died, even as they die. Yet- no vaccine. Why? I refer you back to the above quote. An acquaintance just passed away from COVID, along with her husband, because they did not get the vaccine on advice of their son. Whoops! In a deadly way. Whoops! On a path manifestly off the derech and non fixable.

"So if you have to move, if you have to stock up, if you have to get to higher ground, it has to be today,"

Now apply that to the off the derech path of the nations of the world, including us. In a big way. That was a warning about Henri, but it is a warning to the world. We need to take stock of our positions on our chosen path. Too many are so dreadfully wrong that I wonder if there is any fix available, or just that we must find or create some off ramp. How do we do so when rather unimportant projects at this moment are moving ahead of crucial, literally life threatening causes. 

Trump boasts of his moving the Space Command center to Alabama. Really? Who cares other than the people of the two affected states. Space? We cannot even manage our home here so we need to go off and ruin space?! It certainly is not, should not, be primary at this point. What should be? 

This. We claim to have rescued or evacuated over 22,000 desperate people - refugees and Americans caught in the disaster known as Afghanistan. 17,000 this past week. Great but not nearly enough. Other nations must join in as they too, share in the blame for this gross and deadly situation. “after all the blood and money we poured in, it’s pretty clear, in retrospect: We didn’t get anything done.”

 One American citizen said this and many others echo this sentiment. But we cannot just pull out and say to others who risked lives for us, "Well, tough bugs. Cannot help at this moment. Call back in a few years. Oh, your daughters? Well, tell them to have patience." That is essentially what we are saying to these people. Off the derech indeed.

Was it our fight? At one point it certainly was. However, we stayed too long, enmeshed in the corrupt swamp of Afghanistan, unfamiliar with how it worked. We seemingly, found it impossible to withdraw. President after President. When Bin Laden was killed that was the signal for an orderly withdrawal with strong support  to insure a democratic country. But how could we when we ourselves were drifting onto a derech so eminently opposite to what we are supposed to be. America. Say that and know what it has meant for two and a half centuries. Now, we are tossing it away as we struggle to survive on a path we never ever should have found ourselves upon.

Dangerous idiots like Gaetz, too stupid, venal and despicable, to keep his pants zipped, who calls someone else stupid! More dangerous to the survival of our nation, are monsters such as Mo Brooks, a Congressman, no less, who expresses sympathy and understanding of domestic terrorists and their terrorist acts within this nation! A political leader? Along with Neo Fascist Gosar, extreme dangers such as Greene who was told to "stay the hell out", or that weird guy Elder running for office in California, another self titled "sage". What the hell and how the hell did we get so far off the derech? 

Now we are left with pitiful pictures of desperate Afghans trying to rescue their families, kids stunned at this crazed turn of events, women hiding again, terrified for their newly re-imposed lack of status as humans. What have we done? What has the rest of the world done, even as Austria, true to its racial hatred history, states they will not take in any Afghan refuges. So heartwarming! 

Biden is to address the nation today, this afternoon, re Afghanistan. He has been the one to try to resolve, to end this mess. Unfortunately, with very wrong GPS directions, it has been mishandled, terribly so. He is not alone in shouldering blame for this, as he inherited it. In the meanwhile, the human cost of this twenty year blunder is here. Worse, we are expecting the growth of IS, Islamic State, the terrorist movement that threatens to kill all seeking refuge, including Americans isolated now within the country. Off the derech indeed.

A Parkland deputy claims that he "... did the best that I could." That was not enough. Evidently our  standards have fallen tremendously. So far that we cannot even catch sight anymore of the true derech for our nation, for us to lead the world. Our supposed best has lost its shine, lost its quality. What a deadly shame.

UNPRECEDENTED

   Never been seen or have happened before. Yes and no, but what is true is that there is an unprecedented cataclysm, a torrential waterfall of disasters, such that the level of panic has risen in exponential form. People are frantic. They are glued to the news. They report every disaster. They bemoan the fate of this earth. Why? Because it is happening. Ignoring it will not make it go away. Playing dumb, refusing to pay attention, is exactly what led us to this cascade of terrible things. Nor will it get us out of it either.

It is overwhelming. A Taliban asked a journalist whom he had just beaten to a pulp, "Who hit you. Tell us and we will find him. We will punish him." Say what? The dude who hit the victim was the one playing good soul now. That is what we have today and it is indeed confusing to many. Including me. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? Is it possible to tell them apart anymore? Who takes the blame for the catastrophes occurring around the world? Anyone volunteer? Nope. Thought so.

Our hands were tied. Trump signed the treaty with the Taliban, legitimizing them. Our troops had to withdraw. So they began to be pulled out. Biden,  had to accept the treaty and its terms, though apparently the Taliban did not feel that way. Surprise! Not really. However, something went askew, terribly so. It appeared that the head and the hand were not aligned, working in sync.  We had lost the valuable lesson of Vietnam and its horrid, frantic evacuation, its failures, all which led to stranding so many doomed, abandoned, by NATO forces who reneged on promises - to great shame.

And here we are again, The media is flooded with pictures of hundreds sitting in planes, cramped,  crowded , an ironic imitation of the evacuation of Yemen Jewry, as they crowded into planes in unprecedented number, sure they were living the Biblical promise of return from Exile, the Diaspora, to the Holy Land, on "the wings of an eagle" - the air force of Israel. A life saving rescue but not today.

Today we have left behind so many, too many. We could not rescue them all even in the best of circumstances, for how does one evacuate all the women, from babies to elders, to protect them from seventh century barbaric rules? How do we evacuate all the young who grew up in one country, and suddenly, in a matter of days, often hours, fall into a world such as they have never known? How? But we could, should, have done better. The world should have done better.  But that rarely happens.

From the debacle of Afghanistan to the debacle of the pandemic, we are caught in political crossfires that close the gate to common sense. Things happen only when individuals in power are personally hit with the problem. Hence, Texas cancels its anti-mask campaign. Why? Because Abbott tested positive. Now it was personal. Now the situation had changed. What hypocrisy. What callous disregard for the lives of the people. What misleading, uncaring actions the GOP pulled. Unprecedented. To the level of who gives a damn outside of personal connection? Apparently very few, certainly none of the GOP automatons. 

More unprecedented? Sure. It rained in Greenland for the first time ever. Not snow, but rain. Yet another reminder that we have turned a dangerous corner as we damaged our environment. "We are crossing thresholds not seen in millennia,". Almost to the point of no return - not very far from that either. 

What have we done. We have gorged ourselves on tragedy. Unprecedented in the degree we have done so. Unprecedented. So what now? Who the hell knows!

Can we just bug out of our responsibilities, claim the problems are too big too overwhelming? Read the following words. Then think again. What are our responsibilities? Can we renege on them? Again, who the hell knows!

 "our inability to help everyone, everywhere doesn’t relieve us of the obligation to help someone, somewhere — and because America’s power and reputation in the world are also functions of being a beacon of confidence and hope."

NO MORE NO MORE NO MORE!!!

  What is the matter with us? When and why have we turned into animals walking on two feet rather than four. Animals of the wild are better than us as they do not pick on a member of their pack but rather protect them, even at cost of one's life. That is the responsibility of a leader and if he cannot fulfill it, someone else challenges and becomes the new Alpha.

However, we appear to have no leaders. We have no true Alphas. We had a president whose mind was warped. His pack became feral, enemies of their own kind, with loss of independent or rational speech and reasoning. The replacement is a man, a good man, with a good heart and a tendency to believe that reason and talk can work things out. He believes better of mankind than he ought to; conse- quently, he is kicked in the rear as the consequences of the former president fall upon him, even though the policy, the treaty, was not of his doing.  

And so the world watches as after twenty years of warfare and bloodshed, twenty years where women were able to return to school, to work and walk publicly in the streets, to rise to prominent positions, is lost. The attitude of men, their actions, often signaled that the poison of the Taliban, of crazed adherence and misinterpretation of sharia held sway. And it is back. With all its ugliness. Twenty years down the tube as women enshroud themselves in blue burkas, becoming undistinguishable, of no matter, meant only as breeding cows. Sent home from jobs. Always a prisoner of some man or another. So when the children cry how much they love their mother - bullshit!! They treat all women in a most disgusting manner. Surely, it is time for the world to shout NO MORE!

Surely it is time for NO MORE when we hear from my son that a student in his child's school was shot, killed, slaughtered by a drive by gunman. A gunman who has carjacked three cars, and run a shooting spree across the city of Denver. Why did we not hear of this other than in the Jewish newspapers and media. Was it too unimportant as it was a Jewish boy of 19 who was shot? Was it not important that he would no longer sit at the table with his family? That he would not stand under a wedding canopy? That he would no longer hug his mom and tease his siblings? That his future was no more, all because he was standing outside, and a crazed person who should not have access to guns came and shot him. Just like that. Well, NO MORE. We have had enough of Jewish kids being killed. A million and a half during the Holocaust. Not enough to satisfy the blood lust of the devils on earth? Why not? Why?

Why have we not called our leaders out for their impotence? In fact, why have we politicized all this, making it impossible to even begin to fix the problems that face this world of ours. This broken, threatened world. The only world we have.

Why have we not called out, shouted to the heavens -  NO MORE! No more of this incompetence, or viciousness, or miscalculations. No more of these bad situations only going downhill and getting a shrug in response  as well, these things happen. Why do we not control guns in this country. Why should a crazed or violent person, a person with extreme views, be allowed to own myriad numbers of weapons? Why do we not come out with the truth of this, that no good person will lose his/her rights about owning a gun. We simply do not.

Why is it that today, anything that one does is a political statement. Why is it that the Party has become more important than the Country? Why is it that we allow a cult personality to dominate people even as they know - KNOW- that it is wrong, immoral, super bad for this country. Why have we allowed careless, uncaring behavior to embroil this country in a pandemic that should have ben defeated if only people did as instructed rather than make a political decision nonetheless. A virus is not a political term or being; it is a virus. There are ways to fight a virus, so why the hell are people behaving in self destructive and worse -other destructive manner?

We need to plead with all the people and nations of the world, all the races, the religions and ethnicities, whoever exists on this planet to join in a call for NO MORE!!!!!! We have had enough. We have damaged enough. We have ruined enough. We are tired. NO MORE is what we want. What we will insist upon. NO MORE. I am so tired of this all and so are the rest of the good people of this earth of ours.

Wednesday

  

Good morning to you all. We are in transit today, Wednesday and will post again tomorrow. Hoping that our flight home is better than the one coming here, when we were offloaded rather rudely in Detroit with no help given at all.

Please take the time to read Tuesday's posting or others you might have missed. There is plenty of news as well, so read on and be informed. Reading is a must in this world of ours.

SHELTER IN PLACE

 That is the term used when one is lost or in some kind of precarious situation, and the best advice is to remain in place so that rescuers knw where you are, rather than trying to chase you down. It was the term and advice of choice of the Charge d'Affaires, who, along within a group of brave Embassy personnel, is remaining at the airport, trying to rescue all Americans caught up in that obscene disaster, along with Afghanis who worked with Americans, now in great danger from a group of backwards, cruel men. Shelter in place till contacted. Hard and harsh.

How does one do that when there are thousands of crazed men toting guns, axes, swords, riding on armored vehicles, shouting Death to America - and there you are, an American or a 'friendly'. No idea. It takes a strong self control to override the natural impulse to run, hide, get the hell away. That is the same strength of control that we all need in this crazed world of ours, and  yet so few actually have that ability or desire to do so.

And no wonder. We have been asked by too many liars to believe their words. We have been caught too many times with our pants around our ankles. We have been told to do as told, believe the words spewing forth from forked tongues, and why? "Because I said so." Well, all these dudes and dudettes who follow and support this policy are, thankfully, not my parents. I do not have to accept as final, the statement, "because I said so."

Yet so many, too many,  once sensible, independent thinkers have fallen into that trap, and trudge along in the muck of that path all because they believe that phrase. "It has ben proven" I am told that the Jan. 6 insurrection was not really so. Not quite sure how and when that occurred as all proof points heavily, beyond all deniability, of deeds and actions, shouting and the threat, the invasion of our Capitol, the denial of truths, told to fight hard by the defeated Trump. Deaths of officers, the injuries - but nope, these deluded souls maintain the view of Trump et al who now refuse to do the right thing - no surprise there - and deny truths once again, ever and always. Shelter in place, the nation is told. How? Is there even any shelter available?

The answer to that question is increasingly negative. Where to go when the nation is burning, literally and figuratively? Where to go when we are being chased out of home and hearth, by raging, uncontrollable fires due greatly through climate change driven by mankind. If that were not enough, then evicted due to lack of income over the past two years, and now, overcome by inertia and apathy, do not go out to get the myriad jobs going begging. Sensible? No. Infuriating? Yes. But how do we overcome this? Do we tell the kids of these parents to shelter in place as they go hungry or live in the streets or some dangerous inadequate shelter? Shelter in place?

George and Laura Bush are developing true skills of a diplomat. Without laying blame or discussing politics, they go straight to the human side, always present, after a war is decided, one way or another. "Our hearts are heavy" he states, speaking of the human tragedy here. He is so correct. War is a losing equation, no matter what side of the equal sign you are. Your dead and wounded grow in number. Billions spent on armament that often ends up with the enemy rather than on urgent needs. Even a righteous victor loses, even in victory, even in the necessity of going to war.

Tucker Carlson shouts his stupid head off, feeding the devastating fires of xenophobia. Trump marches around shouting how he really won, how Biden is at fault, disremembering how he was the one who signed the treaty with the Taliban, legitimizing them, agreeing to pull out American forces. He did that. Not Biden. Biden was left with the short end of the stick as Afghanistan collapsed. Now battered women will have to 'shelter in place', but there is no place where they can do that in a once again totally benighted country, falling back into savage policies and attitudes. Shelter in place as one is stoned, beheaded, limbs cut off? How? Where?

So Trump hotels are now mandating masks. Hmmpf! Graham tries to convince Biden that the knife in Biden's back was not really placed there by Graham, and even if so, well, I still am your friend, right, Joe, and never you mind about the hatchet job I pulled on your son. I really did not put all my efforts into it, only doing so to appease Trump. But we are still friends. Huh!

The world is ever more enshrouded by the fires raging all over the world, from Turkey to Greece, to America and Canada, in Europe. Or they are burning up under record temperatures, the hottest July EVER. Shelter in place? Where? No fires, but drought has ensued or terrible flooding? Shelter in place? Where? How? For how long? Whence shall come our rescue? Is anybody coming? Rescue?

Folks, if we do not rebuild our shelters, we will have failed history. Failed our kids. Failed our ancestors. Failed in the mandate given to mankind by G-d. Destroyed the gift given to us. We have destroyed so much of our shelters whilst we were within and did not leave much remaining for viable rebuilding. What man hath wrought.

Shelter in place. Now go find one. We children of the fifties remember the useless drills of our schooldays, told to hide under our old wooden desks, shelter, supposedly, from nuclear bombs. Hmmpf again. 

.

 

64 12 7 50.7 200,000 666 perhaps?

  No, the numbers of the title are not part of a long and difficult lock combination, though difficult they certainly are. These numbers are proving to be particularly difficult to assimilate, to wrap one's head about them, to understand exactly how the hell they arose, came into being. What do they tell us, plead with us, in unspoken desperation? Exactly what are these numbers anyway.

64 wounded. 12 dead. 7 the age of a child shot dead. All in one lovely weekend. 50.7 the pathetic percentage of the fully vaccinated adults in the USA. 200,000 the number of new cases of COVID a day, a rate not seen since before widespread use of the vaccine. 

These numbers are horrifying. They could be added to by more. The unbelievable number of those who continue to remain deluded re the 2020 election. 20, signifying the number of wasted, deadly years of Afghanistan war, resulting in a terrible reality. Taliban rule once again, stoning, beheading, women locked up, hijabs and beards mandated once more and a fricking major loss of lives over what exactly? Of course, let us not forget the capital crime of theirs - flying a kite! Or music.

"We never thought we would be back in that space again" said a health official referring to the pandemic. It is as easily applied to the Afghanistan situation, the violence in America, be it gun violence or political violence. A simple aside - Florida, where I reside, is among the top(?) five states in new cases and pandemic problems. That all comes home to roost on the roof of DeSantis! Particularly demoralizing when we have the dubious prestige of being second (behind the benighted state of Texas and its backwards governor) in number of children hospitalized with COVID. Hey! But what the heck! Keep up the fight against masks, for surely we need to protect our "body integrity" and never you mind the body mortality of our children.

"Nowhere to go for safety. Everything is out of control." So states a frantic father whose family is stuck in the horror that is now Afghanistan once again. And again, those two sentences are easily as applicable to the situation in general in this crumbling world of ours. And ours it is, for we are the ones who allowed this situation, fostered its growth, denied the truths, closed our eyes to what was and is happening and will continue to happen. Why? Why the denial? Who the hell knows. So many excuses. So many willfully blind and deaf to the truth and the tragedy of it all.

All the while, the nasty political wars continue, sniping and lies abounding. Denial of spoken words, memorialized in the internet even as they are deleted, all in service to the political game. The GOP takes down its page boasting of Trump's great achievement signing a peace treaty with the Taliban, insuring withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan. Now, they deny this fact, blaming Biden, now mired in this horrid situation, and all for naught!!! And those poor people, once again under the most repressive rules of life ever promulgated and imposed on a nation. What man hath wrought!! All in the name of G-d!

Trump continues his false, divisive, violence inciting, poisonous clarion all for Biden to "resign in disgrace", especially as he was "not elected legitimately". These lies, these lies, as holey as the claim of "lovely, peaceful people" at the Capitol on Jan. 6, obviously looking for ideal picnic areas! Not!! This, as one of his chief legal advisers, mired in his own particular world of dementia, Giuliani,  now facing national disbarment, states that its okay to 'throw a few lies" to the people, and his partner, Mukasey, states there is "no obligation to tell the truth" to the voters. Ahh, such legal beagle eagles, such role models for future lawyers.

But wait. Last, but certainly not least, for all he has done, for the lies that fall from his mouth like the waters over the Niagara Falls, is our wonderful, gracious, lie spouting, nauseating, drawling, mealy mouthed Lindsay Graham. His hypocrisy is amazing. He denies his words of Jan. 6 condemning it and the president. He tells Joe Biden never you mind over our ripping on your son, Hunter. Never you mind, for it is merely part of the game. I am still your friend. Huh! With friends like that .....well, you know the rest.

Oh, did I forget that pesky last number of 666. That, for those who did not know, is the number that signifies the devil, the Devil with a capitalized D. At times it feels, looks like, the Devil has a hand or two or three in the mess that is the world today. Perhaps he is sitting on the shoulders of too many, urging them the wrong way, down the wrong path, towards perdition, taking the world along for the ride. Wondering about the moles on some people......

Folks, we have such difficult questions and conundrums to tackle. We have Gordian knots galore with no Alexander the Great to slash it open. We are sorely lacking in inspiring leaders, at least  on the good guys' side. We are stuck in quicksand and the ground around us is bare of helpful shlepping points. Helping hands? Out to lunch.

Where are they eating? Don't know. Nor do you.

THINKING - WHAT A UNIQUE IDEA!

  Thinking. To actually take a topic, a concern, and turn it inside out and upside down in an effort to understand it, its meaning and consequences, and formulate a response or reaction. How clever an idea. Would that people remember that humans are gifted with that talent, equipped with brain power to enable it, and yet, so sad, how few actually recall those facts and actually use those brains.

Thinking has been both fuel and path by which, through which, mankind advanced. It also has been the impetus for tragedy when it did not take place or when few actually thought and most just aped those few to the detriment of mankind, sometimes almost to the point of extinction. Come to think of that, where the hell are we now? Talking of the sixth extinction. Talking of vast changes to the world. Talking of what needs to be done -but are we really? Thinking? Thinking. Hmmm.....

The Socratic Method. Rodin's famous sculpture The Thinker. Copernicus. Galileo. Dr. Lister. All the philosophers through the ages. All thought. All represented thinking. All either admired or ridiculed, as mankind fought against truths opposed to their current way of life. Or simply ignored, thinking that it was a never you mind, for what had that to do with their lives in reality.

"The report, ........ documents an increase in both wet extremes, including more intense rainfall over most regions, and dry extremes, including drying in the Mediterranean, southwestern Australia, southwestern South America, South Africa and western North America. It also shows that both wet and dry extremes will continue to increase with future warming."

Well, that is what it had and has to do with our lives, our daily lives, our future. Or lack thereof. It has to do with the statement, the thoughts, that led to "When in the course of human events....". Those people thought. They spoke of evident truths, some of which many are busy as bees trying to eradicate, deny, and crumble to death.

Too many of us have forgotten that the point of information, of reading, of becoming informed, is not so much to find out what others are thinking, as to formulate your own thoughts, develop your own manner of thinking, the skill and the knowledge  to reject falsehoods, no matter how they are packaged - only to think clear and pure thoughts rather than parroting those of others.

Much to our doom, to our disgrace, few do that anymore. Or ever. The advances of mankind, the power of  computers, the media, has increased a million fold. People search through the internet for lies upon which to base their own self taught lies. They believe in nonsense, as long as it suits them, reject truths, particularly if they are difficult to assimilate, to understand, to realize the consequences that follow these inimical ideas. And then they shout to the heavens with their ignorance and well, here we are. Are we not?

Trump, that man whose deranged ideas and plans have emphasized the consequences of lack of thought by too many, the danger of a personality cult, the awful things that happen when people cede their independence, tune out reality and truth, and ape a monster, is the latest opponent of the survival of humankind.. It has been done before in history, but I wonder if mankind and history are leaving us with no more off ramps, as too many follow such a madman, so dire the situation. Worse is that we refuse to do what must be done, harsh, deep changes to our lives if the planet and mankind are to continue to exist in any meaningful form. Or at all. Think of that. Think on that.

"DO YOU MISS ME?" So shouts that madman, perhaps the destroyer of humanity. Certainly the one who has let loose the dogs of war in this country, shredding its unity, draining its sanity, dooming its thoughts and its actual viability as it and the world seem to collapse around us all. Miss him indeed - like one misses a toothache or the heartache of loss of loved ones. 

Would that we would, should, have missed him, totally, but wishes and horses one must remember. We can come back from him if we refresh ourselves, recall the power of thought, the wonder of independent, logical, caring, factual thinking by oneself, rather than the parroting of flawed thoughts of others. Independent, bold, forward thinking has been the path through which we advanced. Let us remember that and begin thinking anew, accept the honesty of the thinking and do what must be done. Else, well, the year 2040 or 2041 ain't that far away is it? Mad Max anyone?

Oy!!!!!

"MORONS AND SCHMUCKS"

 Don't ya love the level of political commentary these days. Never mind that the descriptive terms of the title are correct. Never mind that the same described people are endangering the health, even the lives of so many. Never mind all that, correct as it is. Nor does it bother me, as I have always felt that being up front, not worrying about societal niceties is the way to go. Truth matters the most. What bothers me is that we have reached a nadir in our lives, in our commentary, in our judgements and weighing of values. Can we come back from this low point, actually become viable, thinking, mature adults or not? Do not bet on it. Not a sure bet at all.

Who are the people of the title? These are the fools who have made wearing a mask, a requirement or mandate to do so, a political issue rather than a life saving medical issue - which is exactly what it is. Where the masks are not worn -bad pandemic situation, Where they are, a better situation. Even as this pandemic continues to hit us over the head with unexpected twists and turns, even as we adjust to it, a difficult undertaking, even as we must reverse some thinking and advice as our knowledge increases, even so, these "entitled" persons refuse to face reality until the worst happens. Then they come crying to the government and hospitals for aid, ruing their prior decisions to refusing vaccines, and masks. Too little, too late.

I believe that many of these people are caught up in the mistaken, often fatal, decision, that they are special. They are exempt from it all. Why? Because they are healthy or a loving family or aware of the deep plot against them or know better than any expert. Their pastor or rabbi or imam tells them to rather trust in G-d. Well, G-d created mankind with brains to use, to advance, to help others. Might be a good thing to use these same brains that way. They gin up any excuse they can create. Dumb as the day is long. As dangerous as the virus. The only bet here is death or not.

These deniers of reality are as life risking as Jay Leno who stuck his head out of as hatch while the plane was in flight. Idiot! I wonder if we actually realize that we were given brains to use! Do we not understand that when the consequences come home to roost, the hospitals will be - are already -jammed up, equipment in short supply, personnel exhausted physically and emotionally, and no, nothing will help the idiots then except for the gallant efforts of the same personnel, under awful conditions. For the most part, these patients are not victims of the virus but rather of their own stupidity. They ruin it for others, victims, who did all the right things, but were nevertheless caught up by this vicious, ever changing virus.

How else to describe these willfully blind, selfish, unthinking people other than as schmucks and morons? How? Criminals? That works too as they aid and abet other morons and this virus to do their worst to us.

Not acceptable!! "Morons and Schmucks indeed!

"THERE MUST BE JUSTICE"

  How correct a statement, how delayed its demand, its implementation. Who said this? Aha, bet you cannot guess. Right on - Trump himself. The meaning of the statement in simple terms is that we must have consequences when laws are broken. Absolutely correct. The only problem is that this man, deranged and dangerous, opened his mouth once more to insert said foot. However, this time, he put a decent man, a hero, in another mouth, the mouth of death, of 'vengeance' pursued when there is nothing to his ridiculous lie, yet on he goes.

Motor mouth claims that Babbitt, shot while participating in the attempted coup of Jan. 6, was "murdered". She was   "murdered at the hands of someone who should never have pulled the trigger of his gun," Trump said. "We know who he is. The Radical Left haters cannot be allowed to get away with this. There must be justice!" Once again, his careless - or are they so careless - words serve as instigation to once again engage in lawless behavior, in threats and actions inimical to the survival of this democracy of ours. Justice? Truly, if there were justice anymore within this country, he would have long ago been fitted for an orange jumpsuit.

There is no justice, seemingly, for DeSantis either. This fool is as dangerous, as future survival threatening, as he refused to do what must be done for his own Floridians to survive, to regain some measure of control over the raging pandemic. But no, for in his quest to run in 2024, he believes that emulating Trump will give him that chance. Really! Really? Will the nation fall for yet another stooge of obvious uncaring heart and soul, as he consigns fellow Americans to a painful death or illness with lingering effects? I think not. But meanwhile, where is the justice his master shouts for with forked tongue? Where is the justice for the record numbers of ill, dying, and dead Floridians? Where is the truth in his denial of the importance of mask mandate? Of the request for ventilators and breathing devices? I can only hope that those needing these aids are not denied them in a game of deadly chicken with the government. I hope and pray that officials realize that never mind who is wrong, people need this help. Send it and crow about it, complain about it, afterwards.

The shameful herd of GOP members follows Trump down the road to perdition, lockstep, even as we admire the infinitely higher class, much brighter herd. The elephants who found their way home, over thousands of miles, over all hindrances, through China, with their little calves, such a better, more intelligent herd than the one we have.

Back at the ranch, we read of changes. We are told not to post photos of the first day of school lest perverts see them. Duh!!! Who has not yet learned of the dangers of media, the threats to people from it. If you must post - leave out all data, censor the photos carefully. 

Furthermore, we read that Chris Cuomo is being hounded for being a brother to Andrew, mired in muck of his own making. We read of a photographer who questions, oh so righteously, whether or not he should turn over the rest of photos to the FBI, investigating the rebellion.  Now mind you, this righteous fella has already published a book with over 1,000 photos taken the same day, same place, same people, so what is this blowing of so much hot air? Does he need money to release them, for he has no leg to stand on. They are part and parcel of the same lot of photos already released to the public so why is he now playing holier than thou? Publicity perhaps?  How about we remind people of the right thing to do, the obligations we hold to protect the many?

The largest, pink elephant in the middle of the room size, still remains. When does Trump face justice? When does this ridiculous, shameful game of suit after suit on top of suit on top of other suits, suits suing other suits - it grows tired and shameful, particularly in the minds and eyes of the world and our own kids, seeing this farce of ours, how criminal behavior does not get punished if one is rich and powerful.

Yes, Trump, there must be justice indeed. We are all awaiting its arrival, delayed, but we hope still on the way, getting closer each day. We hope then to be able to rival the sheer joy of the little boy in Music Man who shouts out about the arrival of the Wells Fargo wagon. We await, with the same bated breath, the wagon of justice with the Lady of Justice holding the reins, once more in control.

DANG IT AGAIN

  Lordy, lordy, but we did it again. Life seems to  stymie humans today every time technology fails us in one way or another. Our plans get shot to hell and we stand there shellshocked, wondering what to do, how to cope. So we do not cope or we cope quite poorly.

So yesterday and the day before technology failed a good segment of the flying population of America and those on the ground waiting for them. Business meetings -off. Relatives and family - frustrated. Patience, an increasingly rare commodity. Cranky was the name of the game. But we survived, not as well as I would have hoped, but still and all, okay, not too broken. Just needing somewhere nice and quiet, background sounds of a strummed uke  and the whoosh of the waves, preferably Hawai'i, but....that ain't happening right now so oof to that!

However, no fair when nature  and technology team up to mess my plans up again. Last night was the mother of all thunder storms, lightning and thunder right outside the windows! This morning - no internet connection. I felt deprived and deranged. How was I to reconnect to friends? How was I to see what was going on in the world? How could I write my blog with no connection? What the hey!!!

So....in the meanwhile I bought the NY Times for at least I could read news of the world and nation. Heat waves that do not end. Floods that inundate one part of the country and desert the rest. The warning that we are basically doomed not too far off in the future, but perhaps we can do something now -if we actually care to. Ha to that. Technology vs. survival. Which is worse.

Anyway, off  to shop, to repair, to fix and buy anew. Should I? Do I contribute to carbon footprints? What do I do? Ah, to hell with it - out I go - with lessened plans, but technology - do not fail me now!

Ta ta, folks, for now. Hope to write on time tomorrow and in a more serious tone. Till then - be well, be safe - and how I wish we were done  with that already.

NOPE - YOU'RE WRONG!

  "too cold and wet and sick and cramped and sleepy and weary"

Now you are thinking you know what this is about but how wrong you are. Nope, not at all. This is about our broken system of transportation by air and the cruel effects it has upon those trapped within. It all has to do with why this blog is being written so late this morning - or is it afternoon already?

So, what is going on? Well, I am writing this from a beautiful suburb of Detroit, Smithfield, where I am marooned through no fault of my own. Thankfully, it is a lovely marooning as I am in a state of rescue by a daughter's long time friend who cheerfully and generously picked up at 1AM, out of the ugly business of being stranded in a closed down airport - no food, no drink, no hotel rooms available, no help at all from the airline as to proper and trustworthy information, the twilight zone redux when we need to find out about luggage and when the hell will we get out of here, get to Chicago. Our original supposed to be non stop destination.

Apparently, there was a weather situation all over the country -or so we were told. Our plane from PBI left almost three hours late and flew a mostly standard flight until about 1/2 hour away when we were informed that "O'Hare is closed" and so many planes are being diverted that the closest city we can go to for more fuel is Detroit. Detroit!! What do I know from Detroit? Cars are made there, right?

Landed. Ready to get off, stretch legs, buy some food but nope, denied again. No getting off for a least an hour and a half and no purchases, as no stores are open - and half are not even open during the day! No cots. No blankets. No pillows. No lay down seats or cushions. No information. No help. Maybe the flight will resume later, but then again, maybe not. Maybe tomorrow looks good, but then again, maybe not. If so, then you will have to find yourselves a new flight, but, remember, most other airline and planes are all booked already. Oh, help! And by the way, no hotel rooms so just figure it out. People began to dredge their memories for any soul they might have known who now lives in Detroit. 

Whew! Roni's friend! Yes! Thank the Lord Above she is home and answers the phone. Roni already called and warned her. She and her husband said of course they would come and even picked up Dunkin Donuts and water for us. A beautiful couple in a beautiful home.

So, how to get home now. So, texts from the airline: 11 tomorrow. Nope, 3:30 AM in the morning. Nope - 7 AM. Nope - 11:30 AM. Sorry. cannot trust this, especially as no planes, no crews, are where they belong, all the people from yesterday and today will be there at one and the same time, my TSA lapsed and they did not send  an email about it and oh no! Not again. Cannot do it again. So, in enters daughter #2 to the rescue who drove this morning 4 hours to pick us up and drive us back to Chicago. Yay! Hurrah! Hooray! Sometimes the system works and sometimes it surely does not.

Now, reread the first sentence. Got it!! But all will be well and I trust, hope, that our return flight will be infinitely better. Anyway, excuse the late blog, but I had a good excuse.

TRUSTING GUTS

  And there you have it. Surely you are assured now as to what to do and not to do. Candace Owens, a conservative commentator, says she "trusts her gut" and is "standing firm". These statements are commendable - at the right time. However, at a time when conservative has come to mean life endangering, hair up the rear thinking - or lack thereof, these are eminently life threatening statements, a deathly misleading of the vast crowds of  ignorance out there. 

Sure, she can trust her gut, but why urge others to do so, as they will surely regret that stance when their gut rebels as they are hospitalized with COVID. Surely, they will know their fatal error in listening to her, as they lay dying. Surely, those 6 parishioners at a church in Florida who died from COVID regret their decision to remain unvaccinated. Surely, the church does, evidenced by the holding of a COVID clinic on a following Sunday. A case of too little too late - at least for the six victims of rampant nonsense.

 "Something bad is going on. We’ve got to realize that,”. So states Dr. Fauci regarding the danger to the unvaccinated kids, underage, at this point for vaccination. Unfortunately, these words are applicable to the situation today in the entire country. The Delta variant has broken through to vaccinated; we are almost right back to the beginning. Immunity to it is now at 59%, way down from the 97% first promulgated. So what to do? Vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate. The more that are, the more protection there is. Mask, mask, mask. Indulge your imagination with masks, shout out your thoughts, match your clothes, but mask up. Protect the kids and yourself.

There are other "bad" things going on here. Seven hours of testimony that shatter the heart and soul of the listener. Seven hours during which Rosen details how the country was "pushed almost to the point of chaos." Watch those videos of Jan. 6 again and one might understandably believe that we were already there.

Trump tried to break the country’

  Yes. And why do so many deny that. The proof of the rotten blood pudding is there in the open, in action, on words, on tape and live. In the deaths that resulted. In the shattering realization that so many will blindly follow a dictator, enmeshed in his own madness, and lead this country down the road to annihilation, to a place on the heap of discarded countries, of wasted futures. He very nearly reached that goal of shattering; actually, not sure that he did not. Read of the glee with which one conspirator, one active rebel, boasted of his participation in the coup attempt. See and hear his gloating as he presents videos of his actions,  joyfully, perhaps even more so, than one presenting vacation videos.

All the while, the hypocrisy of the GOP continues. DeSantis could care less if teachers and kids die, or bring it back to family members. He will just blame it on Biden, walk hand in hand with Ellis, who now wants to impeach Biden. The gall is amazing. Or you can laugh at Lurch - aka Rick Scott - who tries but fails to explain why the GOP is supposedly anti debt increase, even as under Trump, with their collusion, with their soak the poor, enrich the rich tax cuts, raised the debt by $6.7 trillion to a backbreaking $26.9 at the end of 2020. Oh, yeah!

Facts are facts. The very same facts that GOP and believers refuse to acknowledge. And why? It has only harmed us, as individuals and as Americans, citizens of the nation. 

And here we are again. Fearful. Wishing people once more to: "stay safe". Masking up again, as mask makers are on the nets again.. Questioning if we should go out for brunch. Wondering if the movies are safe (PS: They are so clean they sparkle!) Most major retailers are requiring masks of employees and patrons if unvaccinated, but how does one tell if someone is voicing a blatant lie? How? There is no way, other than cards perhaps, thus, I think we all need to mask up again. ALL of us. And I hate masks as much as anyone, particularly in the Florida heat. But must is as must does. There is no other viable choice. Unless we all vaccinate. Unless we can all get boosters as in Israel and some other countries. Unless...

Trusting guts? Yes, let us do so. Let us accept that the rumbling of guts is unpleasant to the extreme, at times deadly, so ignore 'trust in your guts' until we can be sure your rumbling is merely a tummy ache of every day status. The matching, parallel rumbling of the state, of the country is quite frightening, so why allow a tiny microbe to bring us down. Wise up, people out there, anti vaxxers - what nonsense! The something bad is the decision making to not vaccinate - and then lie about it, raising the rage level of those who are.

Let us all get with the program. Avoid the rumble of guts. Avoid sickness. Avoid death. Crying when a loved one dies in pain does nothing other than drain a body of fluid. Prevention is the way to go. Too little too late is not a good thing.

I trust my gut feeling on this matter. It told me to pursue vaccinations. It told me to mask up, to lay in a goodly supply as this appears to be long time ongoing. It tells me to use common sense and be safe. So should you. Not really so difficult to do.