We go through life anticipating, good and bad. When we are kids we anticipate the life we will lead as an adult- and usually way off from future reality. We anticipate the happiness of a birthday or with sadness on the anniversary of a death of a loved one. We have concern over daily life such as paying the bills, or taking tests in school, or will a lie be uncovered and then what?
So what about now, what about these concepts as we live out our Act III of our lives. Should we have any anticipation, or should it be limited to only short term connections and what about concern? Should we even bother about twenty years from now? Why? Our Scene v will probably be over so "What, me worry?" as Alfred E. Newman would say.
Well, our Act III scene v does not mean that our lives and our contributions or harmful acts are left behind. Indeed, they are right there for our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren to live with - or not, for so fearsome is the concern about the future of life on our planet, our Earth.
The movies and books re the Apocalypse are growing in number. Some have a devastated earth with the natural environment so depleted, so twisted and abused that life under anything other than sheer survival is not possible. It shows a world possibly devastated by disease, strange new ones or old ones to which we have lost our immunity. We read of a world where brutality reigns, where hope no longer exists, and life is brutal. And we read of a world devastated by tyrants, with the concept of democracy lost to the ages. Why this 'growth" industry?
When we have a man who puts on a cowboy hat and rides a horse claiming to love Nature, but who then agrees to a wide open drilling and mining on formerly off limits land - well, what do we anticipate about that? When we see the results of shale mining, of strip mining of coal, of the foulness of the air from fossil fuels, we should have tears rolling down the face, even as that old Indian chief used to do in the PSA ad years ago. Thousands of acres of trees, of fertile land, of land which needed to be left alone, of rivers polluted and poisoned with chemicals, of air so dense with pollution that smog no longer covers it and man can no longer breathe it.
So yes, we need to anticipate and have concern. Because we are older does not mean we have lost our minds, our hearts and our lungs. It does not mean that we live in a world oblivious to what is going on. It is the story of an old man planting olive trees and when he is asked why, when he will surely be dead when these trees bear fruit, he answers but my grandchildren will sit beneath them. A future is always there - we hope.
But then again, we have those who see only the present and what they can mine from it, how much money they can grub from it, and never mind the consequences. Full steam ahead and all else be damned. And we have the hateful sayings, the hateful prejudice and hatred of others that never seems to go out of style.
The other day, sitting in a waiting room, I overheard one woman, waiting to be treated by a Jewish doctor, telling another person that when this spouse dies, just go find a rich person, a Jew, as they have all the money!! Seriously? Still here? Wish some of that money would flow to my bank account or better yet to my struggling kids and grandkids! Or here is another one, sent to me and I publish it only to make a point.
"Not talking about it will not make it go away. It will grow and grow while you ignore it - because you ignore it - and one day it will swallow you whole...."
So spoke a nobleman during the time of King John and as right as he was then, so too is he still correct for our times.
As I was reading yesterday about England during the reign of King John, the similarity between then and now, right here in America, came to me in a not very welcome burst of understanding. Almost a thousand years of human history, of developing government thinking and the rights of man, and yet here we are - again.
First, a capsule summary of English history at the time. Ever since the death of Henry I, England was engaged in a civil war as to whose head belonged with the crown. The country was riven by civil war, drowning in the blood of its people, both the nobles who were the knights and the people who were the backbone of the armies. Mercenaries had a heyday as their services were sought and well paid for. As for the rights of the ruled - well, not so much there at all.
We were lucky here in our country in that we have had peaceful transfers of power, a clearly delineated line of succession, if you will, and our streets have not run with blood after the Civil War for the most part, though there has been blood spilled. Too much. Unfortunately, we are now at a point where that statement might turn out to be a time limited one as the tension within our country, even within our smaller political entities, is rising and there often seems to be no good way out, no solution in sight.
So the armies of the various sides roamed the country and that of France as well and vice versa as France and Prince Louis actually invaded England at the invitation of highborn Englishmen deep in despair at how to get rid of the anointed King, John, and his corrupt and murderous regime.
And us, here, almost a thousand years later? Well, the reign we have here in the Village is certainly comparable in a sense. We have a ruler who fiddles with the rules, by passes the laws or makes new ones with the aide of his sycophants, his servile co-operators in the oppression of his fiefdom - CVWPB. He throws his supporters under the bus just as John did, only he did it with exile and death. The rules are remade to accord with the benefit and selfish wishes of 'King David' and around us the lives of the people deteriorate. Water is defiled, the environment deteriorates and is covered up with superficial decoration even as the true infrastructure in the ground deteriorates. Selfish and insane deals are made with the land of the people, decisions are made secretly and are often incestuous as in the hiring of a 'firm' to oversee the new Atlantic project - an offshoot of CSI who has already benefitted hugely financially speaking , the mercenaries of the Village, all in bed together, our "John", our 'courtiers' who turn on the people, and our mercenaries. Those who oppose are stifled, or at least attempts have been made, some more and others less successful, but the fight will go on and the time of our own Magna Carta will arrive.
And speaking nation wide? Well! Our own leaders have invited in our traditional enemy, Russia, and allowed them to invade us in a sense, hacking our elections and the time to deny the proof of that is long over. At least 21 states in the last election and now in DEFCON, a hacking convention, within 90 minutes machines were hacked!! Our country has now been tainted, openly, with no deniability possible, our mercenaries have been paid well, though with the exact cost still unknown. We even have 21st century mercenaries, companies which provide soldiers at great cost to the taxpayers.
Just as John was mentally off balance, cruel and even vicious, so too is our ostensible "King" of the country and even our smaller leader here in CV. The mental balance of all are severely disturbed, with anger issues becoming ever more prominent, with officials being swapped out left and right, or even being retreaded in a painful cycle, and all the while the citizens of the country are suffering.
Force is a tool that is used or threatened to be used. Here, once again 'King David' threatens to instate or enforce a law which states that the PBSO can be called in to eject an opponent of a decision, shutting mouths down. This is not the first time as the last time he even brought in armed centurions from the PBSO to stand there with their armament and threaten the people. So where is there any difference between John and David or Donald, the maniacal presumed "king" of our country.
We too have hired mercenaries. We too have our freedoms being caught within an ever tightening circle. Donald tells the police to hurt the prisoners, treat them roughly. What? Are we going back to the Middle Ages or back to last century where roughing up a suspect was okay? Why does he think we are still in that mode? Even as the police forcefully deny that behavior, we have the Border policeman who encouraged a 16 year old kid to drink the liquid meth he was trying to smuggle in and he died two hours later in great pain. What the hell!!!! Yes, he should have been arrested and incarcerated or shipped back out, but death? At the hands of the law? Nazi guards are not so far away, are they?
And in the meanwhile, even as his plans are stymied, thanks to the courage of some, candidates out there are vying for his favor as the seeds of power, the benefits of power tempt them to sell their souls and work with the Devil!! Meanwhile, transgender people are denied medical coverage or possibly being denied this in the armed services due to "cost", well, the cost of protecting this upstart know - nothing but very dangerous king is rising astronomically. $6.6 million dollars at Mar A Logo so far even as our Coast Guard struggles to do its real and true job of protecting our coastlines and waterways, our safety, and even rescues of people at sea. No money for that, but money for Donald as he continues to live his posh life - at our expense. Shame on us that we allow this!!!
John and David and Donald. All blame their problems on others. All blame outside sources as well, just as the rulers of 1984 did, all to keep the people down and confused, powerless and frightened. So as tyrants do - "Demands are made and made again. Promises are broken. Enough is enough." We need to stand up for ourselves and against tyranny. The Magna Carta of John's time was not the be all and end all of then or even for the future, but it was a start and we need to make sure that we do not lose all that we have gained, all that we have fought for. Enough is enough indeed!!
"And much of Madness, and more of Sin,
And Horror the soul of the plot."
Edgar Allen Poe - "The Conqueror Worm"
So which is it to be? Which way indeed lies madness. Do we succumb to our baser instincts, the desire for power, over things and people, for the power of evil, or do we fight as they did then and as humanity has been doing for centuries. Who are we is truly the question that needs answering. Woe upon us if we do not answer correctly. Blood in the streets as has happened before or do we stop that in its tracks and do the right thing the right way. The law does provide a path - we just have to find it and use it. Or G-d help us.
So, according to Scaramucci, another foul mouthed crazed evil man who fits well into the Trump inner circle, Trump is bringing us back to our "roots of disruption" , that a group of rich men got together" and decided on being a breakaway country. That is his start of our country. Hmmm, a tad different from what I learned and read. Yes, some people were wealthy, but the majority were poor or just making it and even the wealthy lost quite a bit during the years of the war. Hayim Solomon went broke! Guess this is alternative history at its best!!But it simply does not fly and this from the man who now has focused on Priebus as the "leaker" even though there was no leak!! And his language!
But that is the nature of this administration and I have had just about enough. One cannot believe a word that anyone in it says, kind of like how one cannot believe a word that David Israel or Ed Black or anyone else says in that UCO building. And speaking of that, where is the VP responsible for my quadrant? Is it not Bob Marshall? Did I not say he was too ill to serve and did I not get vilified for that and look now how he is gone from office, officially or not, as he appears to be even more ill than anyone had thought. If so, I wish him a complete recovery and little pain, but the lies of this UCO are horrendous and I have had just about enough of them as well and enough of their plans for restrictive new by laws and plans to emasculate the residents and their constant secret meetings and plans to spend our money without asking us about it. Thousands to pretty up the entrances with lights, and the whole swap of buildings - it reeks of dishonor and cheating and possibly even tax scandals. Read the whole story on Century Village blog site.
Meanwhile, just like David - wonder if he taught Trump - vilifying an opponent is not enough. Now Trump has taken to threatening his opponents, threatening their states. That has to be a crime, but certainly is morally repugnant and unethical to the nth degree, simply disgusting especially to one of the two ladies in the Senate who seem to have the spine that the men lack.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Scaramucci displays his lack of moral character by telling his interviewer that one should act like Joe Paterno, and '"Act like you've been there before. Act with honor and dignity and respect " - this the Joe Paterno who was fired from his job in connection with child sexual abuse. Some honor!! Such are the creatures of the Trump administration.
But at least we have some humor a la Trump. Hey, David, maybe a bit of humor from you too would go a long way - maybe. But anyway, suddenly the new nitwit, Sanders, comes out and reads a purported letter from a nine year old who certainly badly needs remedial writing and I am familiar with third grade writing - who waxes poetic as to his love for Trump - even eating him up as the shape of his birthday cake. Weird! But anyway, the letter was not creased from folding, the "kid" could spell people but not hose (house) and knew about the sophisticated use of a hyphen when a word is separated in two on two different lines. Uh uh, folks, this is no real kid and just another one of Trump's ridiculous schemes and lies. It belongs with his friend Jim, you know, the imaginary one or perhaps one of those fake people whom Trump used to masquerade as to get his real name in the paper. Yes, the man has been mentally ill for quite some time. Sad, bigly sad, tremendously sad, but true.
So onward and ever downward. Trump, the man who so loved the LGBT community as a candidate, his prince and princess where are they, AWOL, I guess and now he threatens thousands of brave American soldiers and seamen and aviators? This man gets ever lower on the scale of humanity. How low can he go? Afraid to even think about it. Now they are daring him to throw them out and what will the Pentagon do - listen to an illegal order or stand firm? Wonder where some red lines are? Go read the essay of Charles Blow and see how he agrees with me and wonders who comes next? Scary, very scary.
And finally, for a touch of humor again, we have several late nite show hosts who basically told Trump where to get off with this LGBTQ statement that is against the law, the law of the country and the law of humanity. Basically, all of them told him to f....off!! I second the motion. The Justice Department waded in where they were not invited and came out with a ruling that sexual orientation is not protected by anti discrimination rules and laws. What!!!! And appointing Brownback as world religious ambassador when he is a vehement foe of equal rights for gay people?
And the Republican Party seems to be eating itself from the inside out as they threaten each other, tell the President to lay off Sessions or "holy hell" will result, he threatens others and they want to pass the bill to deprive millions of care and then hope the House does not pass it or send it to Trump. Whatever happened to honor and honesty and care for the people?
The quieter we remain, the less we protest, the more we say shh, it will be over in three years, the less assurance we have of that and the more certain we will be that our America will turn into Amerika with Trump as the quasi Hitler type of mad dog dictator. I for one will do more than just standby. What will you do?
Folks, this is a long piece with the top on CV and David Israel and the second half about our country. Read it in two gos if you must but read. Please and thank you.
Statues. People like to imagine a statue of
themselves being erected as a sign of honor and appreciation - true or not!
They imagine children playing at its feet, elders telling their stories and
birds crapping all over it which is the proper act indeed. Dictators especially
like their own statues and put up as many as possible in their lifetime for who
knows what will follow. Scrap metal people are very happy.
So here can you not
imagine our own little petty dictator doing some computer graphic drawings and
sketches of his own statue, imagining generations of CV'ers worshipping at his
feet, cherishing his memory? Yecch! So let's see if we can find reasons why such
a statue is a non starter.
We have the whole bizarre issue of the swap of buildings, the realty building for the neglected storeroom building on the road to Southampton. Attached to these buildings are properties, areas of land that go with them. Needless to say, the swap is one sided and weird but not if one takes a look into it. Basically, CV is getting screwed on it and WPRF and Mark Levy benefit. What a surprise! Quelle shock!! There are obvious figures out there that document this, but I have been hearing that other figures are forthcoming in a week or so that will shock us even further - on their monetary value, their status, their size and more. Stay tuned and as soon as confirmed and definite numbers I will write of them. In the meanwhile, this trade must not be approved by the delegates. It is a typical deal that backfires on us, just as the Millennium Agreement did and hey, speaking of that - what the hell are we doing about it, David? You are so busy trying to nail down your dictatorship here in CV during and after your lifetime that you have neglected working on preparation for the new contract or have you secretly already figured out how to double screw us with new andd worse codicils and statements.
In the meanwhile, the Rag, the buildings, the monetary implications, the lies about their future uses, their taxes and values - all remain in the air and are being maneuvered as much as possible, with facts being hidden. The implications are serious indeed. And certainly, there are better things to be done rather than fool around with that garbage deal. My lake for example!!!
I am given to understand that when the geotubes were put in place, a lot of the muck around the edge of the lakes and waterways was removed and dumped into the middle of the lakes and went a long way to killing the biome of them. The system was then in a serious imbalance and hence our problems and hence the ugly looks, particularly in my lake.
We now have three shorelines - the original, the second one of wild growth and now a third one even deeper into the waterway and quite frankly it is looking more and more like a swamp than anything else. On top of that we have the lake leprosy, those ugly, disgusting and nauseating floating areas of gross looking stuff and I could care about its name or its supposed origin. All I want to know is when will it be gone. Stop the spraying already or at least do it in conjunction with some giant raking /removal process. This is just about the worst area in the Village. Perhaps I need to go further afield and contact the government's water management and safety, the health department, for surely this situation cannot be healthy for we who live on top of this and any other bureau or department that has a connection to water and health. Wake up, Eva. Wake up, David. Wake up, Don.
And in the meanwhile we waste more money on solutions that do not work even as we pay another $14,000 for the chillers, on top of the hundreds of thousands we have already paid out for the 'repair" of this new system being put in place. Yes, WRPF should have paid as this was a capital improvement and not a repair. But the same old same old prevailed. WE spend, they own.
Finally we have a new almost seven thousand dollar expense being proposed to install a music system of some sort by the main pool. Again, who needs it. Why can we not be allowed to sit there in peace and quiet or the ability to talk with friends without raising voices over the music coming from loudspeakers or some such device. We have enough noise in daily life. Let quiet reign in at least one area and if someone wants music - wear a headset! They come in all sizes, colors, and prices. Go buy but do not inflict music on my ears.
Back to statues. So Trump wants himself to join the presidents on Mt. Rushmore. Oy!! There was a great response to that absurd idea with a cartoon showing all these presidents covering their faces in horror at the thought. Now even as he said this, Trump said he did not say it but the fake news will report it. Huh! That is Trump, but the worst is yet to come. This only a few days after he spoke way inappropriately to the Boy Scouts, hinting at sex life on a yacht owned by a rich man and then wink, wink. Yuch!!Out of your pants, man!
But the worst is the whole business and the lies regarding the latest horror of his - the announcement that after conferring with his generals and experts, all transgender people will be removed from and banned from the armed services So a large class of people are now to be officially discriminated against and who is next? Mormons? Jews? Bahai? All LGBTQ people? And yes, people they are and as such need to be respected for their humanity, the same as all of us.
But the matter gets worse. Sanders, the new idiot on call, says this in answer to a question about it. "Look, sometimes I think you have to make decisions and once he made a decisions he didn't feel it was necessary to hold that decisions," Say what?! Tammy Duckworth and John McCain both spoke out against it, both wounded warriors and our President who has never served plays ego games with salutes. And his supposed conferees? Well, Jim Mattis was away, the Pentagon was taken totally unawares and waited to find out whether this announcement was a declaration of war on Korea! So who did he confer with? His mirror image? His supposed senior advisors? Certainly, Ivanka who recently sent a letter of support for her LGBTQ "friends" was not privy - or was she and certainly Trump, who supposedly vowed his support of them after the Orlando horror seems to have forgotten his own words. Senility? Dementia? Probably a likely excuse.
And as to the supposed cost of transgender medical care, the money which will now go to the building of the big, beautiful transparent wall that will allow all Americans taking a stroll by there to see 60 pound bags of drugs being heaved over the top so they can get out of the way - uh huh, that one. Well, here is info on that money and a few comparisons.
"A report for the Pentagon last year found that transition-related care would cost between about $2.4 and $8.4 million per year — less than 0.14% of the military's medical budget.
That's roughly the cost of four of Trump's trips to Mar-A-Lago, even using a conservative estimate of $2 million per trip. And it's way less than the $84 million spent on Viagra and similar meds by the Department of Defense in 2014,"...
What will now happen will be major lawsuits, major shredding of more threads of the fabric holding our country together, more insane statements and behaviors from our ostensible President. He imagines himself as a dictator, saying and doing as he wishes, purging friends and foes alike, and insanely focusing on Hillary in a manner suitable to a banana republic but not to America and not to a grown up. She is done, over and gone and his shenanigans and worse are here. And to my mind the worst question still remains - is this man a traitor, knowingly or stupidly, colluding with the enemy and why? For material purposes so as to enrich himself further? Out of ignorance? Out of incompetence? That is the question that must be answered even as this crazy dude keeps threatening to fire any and all who are investigating and talking of pardoning all - of what, if they are so innocent?!
Furthermore, he has now fallen even lower in approval ratings and higher in disapproval ratings in both Reuters and Gallop polls. There is not much more room beneath him at this point and I ask again - what will be in the future? He needs to go before we are at the point of no return and when he does go, indict him for all he's worth, set an example for the ages and make sure that Pence understands his proper role and duties - to the country, its people, and not the party!! Go to China for that or Russia or any other dictatorial country, but not here, not America. People, got to think. Got
to act. Got to face the music. Got to admit our mistake. If not, so many of you
will be standing begging for alms, begging for health care, begging for food,
for jobs, for shelter, for anything that once you had. Amerika or America. You
choose. Me, think I will donate money to the LGBTQ lawsuits that we will now have and will join the myriad numbers of lawsuits already lodged against Trump - and this is all before we prove him a traitor and colluder with our enemy. Life is exciting, ain't it!!
Yesterday just totally sucked. First thing this morning when I looked out my window the lake was absolutely DISGUSTING!!! In addition to the ugly mess that sprawls over the entire lake, much of it is coming to my shoreline due to the current and the direction of the air or breeze. I do not give a good goddamn about grass carp chowing down. There aren't enough in the world to chow down on this lake, never mind the rest of the waterways here. Put them in, by all means, though I have not seen a sign of any dumping of them into the lake. But never mind that - get out there and gather it in, pull it into huge bags or whatever, but get it gone, at least to manageable size, just enough for those fishies. And why is it that in driving past all the lakes and waterways here in West Palm and into other developments I see nothing at all of this disgusting stuff. Why here? Why us?
Why here. Because evidently UCO and WPRF are doing something wrong. They are lackadaisical in fulfilling their responsibilities towards the Village, in keeping up its appearances and I do not care how closely they clip those hedges - all it takes is one look at the lakes and bye bye buyer! David could care less as he never looks out on a lake, not from his apt, and not from his office where he holes up three quarters of the time, but you know, there are others here who do!
He found time and money to pretty up the UCO building and grounds, the landscaping and actually, who gave a damn about that, one tree or another. There are far more important things than the UCO building and that is the way this Village has been conducted and led for the past eight years. And so it will continue if the no baller no brainer remains in charge along with his soulmates.
This no balls no brain syndrome apparently is quite contagious as it seems to affect so many of the politicians of the day. The first sign is when it is obvious that they could care about their constituents. Never mine they do not want repeal of the ACA. Never mind that they finally have health care. Never mind that repeal and the misnomered Better Care Reconciliation Act will just about kill the seniors, kill those with pre existing conditions, and destroy just about anyone who is not wealthy. Good for the wealthy and bad for the poor seems to be the motto of this administration. Never mind that they are all rummaging around for their courage as they run scared and squeaking from one of the worst, no, THE worst president ever, the one who screams foul at every spare moment, who cries that he is picked upon, that he will pick up his marbles and go home - and I so do wish he would.
So Caine came back today to vote and out of honoring his request to allow debate on this horrific health plan, everyone wimped out except for the two courageous women, Murkowski and Collins. Capito wimped. Portman wimped and good luck to them when their constituents see them again. Perhaps we should add in an amendment that all these Senators now have to join in the party and get their healthcare like every other American and not thru their favored system. Think anyone else other than a Senator would have gotten such quick health care at a famous hospital? Not on your life! When Ted Kennedy had the same tumor and received care, he came back to urge the improvement of care for the average American. Caine simply added more mud to the water without gaining a thing.
The rampant inequality in American society is growing apace and bodes not good for our country. And when one adds in morons to the fray, such as Scaramucci who threatens that he is going to fire everyone!, who basically gave notice to Priebus that he is in a bad corner, who has joined the stabbers in the back of Sessions - again, no sympathy there, but the behavior!
We have Kushner who denies collusion. Yup, and Nixon spoke well in his Checkers speech too, correct. He too denied misdeeds and misdoings and so did Bill Clinton. The more they deny, the harder they deny - the stinkier it gets.
And of course we have the oh so mature President who gets into it with a model, Chrissy Teigen, who does not like him at all, even states she hates him and I so do feel that, but poor Trumpie cannot take it so here is the exchange today. What a woose he is! Wonder if he called Putin for courage and directions. So Donald posts his usual whine - It's very sad that Republicans, even some that were carried over the line on my back, do very little to protect their President.
And Chrissy responds Lolllllll no one likes you and off she goes -"@Real Donald Trump blocked you." And so she joins many other good and talented people such as Stephen King in being blocked. Hey, just like me and several others from David's site~!
Wonder if it even pays to follow his tweets; they are that moronic and infantile. Senator Collins is "worried" about him and his administration and Senator Reed actually called him "crazy" and not in the goofy sense of that word either. Even Coulter now calls him Captain Queeg!! And our oh so wonderful friend of the working man is now dismantling and limiting the overtime bill, cutting their income. Such a friend one does not need. Pay attention, working class, close attention.
No balls no brains syndrome. Bad wherever it affects people. Signals even worse to come if people do not wake up and do something, speak out, speak up, protest, demonstrate, whatever. I am still very fearful that if something does not give here that the protests and the differences will be far more forceful than up till now. The splits are that deep and divisive.
Yes, believe it or not, that is what more Americans than ever said in the latest poll, along with a huge disapproval of Trump and many regrets over voting for him. I personally am having moments of shame to be an American at the present time because we have lost our way. We have turned away from the Founding Fathers and their principles for this country and have allowed ourselves to have a buffoon, a dangerous one at that, be our president.
Who is this man who has shamed us in front of the world. He is a man who needs, desperately, to feel that he is 'protected', surrounded with loyalists, not to the country, but to him, personally. He cannot make up his paranoid mind and plays musical chairs with his administration and G-d help us, it appears that he is thinking of replacing Sessions with Giuliani!!! Dear Lord. That man was great on 9/11 but went downhill ever since. Not that I will miss Sessions, but really! Truly!!
But what can we do with a government wherein two drunk? ignorant? Congressmen discuss, in an empty chamber, the doings of transgender, talking of slicing parts or adding parts and then ceding the floor one to the other. It was a disgrace. But what can we do with these people when a Republican Representative from Texas, Farenthold, talks of having a duel!!! with the women from the northeast because they have ruined the whole takedown of Obamacare! Burr - Hamilton all over again? What is the matter with these people? And by the way, Murkowski comes from Alaska, a tad far from the Northeast! But what's a few thousand miles between friends?
How not to be ashamed when the President stands in front of a Scout Jamboree and talks politics, talks of prosecuting Hillary, talks of 'fake news', threatens members of his administration - all in front of kids who should be getting a talk of honor and duty and pride in themselves and their country without the nastiness of that insane man. Never before has a President acted the way he does and has. Never before has a President tried to politicize the armed forces as he did on the USS Gerald Ford. That is a scary thought and simply adds to the mess as we need to be concerned re our remaining a democracy with this man in charge.
Kushner says that it was not his fault that his security questionnaire was lacking in detail. Nope, it was his assistant's fault. This family never heard of the buck stops here, did they? Truman must be rolling over in his grave. He also acknowledged meetings with Kislyak but nah, they were nothing, no big deal and really, he should come out of this like the shiny clean boy he tries to look at who remembers to comb his hair and clean behind his ears. Oof!! This family lies and lies and think that they can get away with it. Not so.
And then of course we have that man who shouts at a reporter who called out a question about healthcare, who told him to be quiet. I kid you not. He then told the interns there that the reporter was wrong, that they are not supposed to call out. Huh!!! And then, of course, we have the man who never gets a fact straight if he can help it and who stated that Obamacare is Death. Uh huh. Tell that to the people who finally had healthcare after years and years and by the way, mister fool, Obamacare has not been around for 17 years - only seven. Try to count properly on your fingers next time.
There is simply nothing redeeming about this man. In yesterday's essay, Charles Blow, a man after my own heart with reference to Trump wrote that he is a 'kook in the Oval Office." And continued further stating that while some might disagree with the vehemence of that term, he "finds no appellation too coarse to express my outrage over Trump's character, behavior and agenda. If anything, no word feels grave enough to properly express it."
Kudos to the man. I agree 150% with his statement. Shamed to be an American - right now? You bet. And gee, look what appears to be following right behind the one in the Oval Office - Kid Rock for the Senate - that foul mouthed singer. Lordy, lordy. ashamed? Time to dig holes and hide.
In a bizarre statement, Trump accuses the Washington Post of being a tool of Amazon. Huh? What is with this man? Tillerson is contemplating leaving as are many of the frustrated State Department workers, Rick Perry could not keep his mind on the job as Trump spoke, and McMasters is frustrated by the infighting, the vicious cuts at each other, that is going on in the White House.
And in a mild finale to today's piece, there is no pride in our present UCO President either. While I am not ashamed of living in CV, I am ashamed that we have so many enablers here who allow him to remain in office and watch our Village deteriorate around our ears.
It is time we all stood up, tall and proud and remember all those who fought for our country, to remember that they did not fight so that a fool can run the country, that immoral people looking after their wallet can sell the people down the river, that individuals can so easily put their own wishes and desires above those of the people whom they are supposed to serve, for whom they swore an oath.
Ashamed? Well, there is not much pride right now at the very least. We have lost our way and need to find it again. Daniel Boone, pioneers, Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt,where are you?
And first step on a new path - impeach this insane man, force a medical exam on him and let us discover once and for all his mental incompetence, his deterioration of the brain, his loss of mind and then kick his 'royal' family out of the White House and out of government and prosecute all the colluders, all the traitors, all those who cannot understand that the government is not there for their enrichment but to serve the people. "Of the people, by the people, for the people." Remember that. Out there in the country and right here in UCO.
"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."
Joyce Carol Oates
Read that again and think. Wonder how it applies so perfectly to our present situation. Evil, wrongdoing, can neither exist nor succeed unless there are people willing to aid and abet, willingly or not, knowingly or not, apathetically or not. It matters not whether the evil takes place in a national arena, a local arena or an international one. All it takes is for people to go along, and these people are just as guilty as those who initiate it, guilty of having blood on their hands, of darkness on their souls.
Take the arena of least consequence though it matters greatly to those involved and at risk - right here in CV. David israel could not exist in his seat in UCO unless there were people willing to go along and join him in the crushing of democracy right here within the Village. Again, it matters not whether you are actively involved or simply one of the stooges who votes as ordered, without thought of consequence - because the master has so ordered, so ordained.
And why? Because people like to feel they are on a winning side, allied with the power and are afraid to not be there. So when the Village suffers from problems that get worse rather than get better a la the roads, al a the Atlantic contract, a la the waterways and their scabrous appearance, a la deteriorating infrastructure, a la motel associations, a la etc., those who aid and abet are guilty of helping to turn this wonderful place from a place of refuge for Act III into a seat of power for a would be dictator and buddies. Think not that you are immune from the blame. You are not. And you know who you are. And you know where the guilt lies.
And then again, we have the national debacle, the presidency of Trump, G-d help us all. How did he get here? How did people vote for him? Why? Is he even legitimate, valid in his supposed victory? Is he sane or does he have significant brain atrophy, a lack of conscience, a lack of heart, a cash register where a heart and soul should be? And if so, why does he continue in office, though maybe the future in office is at stake lately.
Trump got here because he rode in on the shoulders of those who thought it cool to elect a buffoon into office. Perhaps they were angry at the federal government. Perhaps they liked the thought of a man who could yell, "You're fired" so easily and with an evil grin was the right person for the job. Perhaps. Or perhaps there were even more malignant motives. Whatever the reason, the reality is that now we have a man in office, an office so corrupt and stinking to the heavens of greed, alleged malfeasance, lack of morals, rife with conflicts of interests and the reek of collusion and treason. Nepotism is back in play and I truly believe that there are those amongst this crew who have thoughts of cancelling the Constitution and the Democracy of this country.
These people who are actively supporting Trump, who defend his lies or worse, deny these lies as lies, these people who take his abuse for the imagined shadow of power it gives them, these people who refuse to admit the error of their ways, these people who are apathetic - you are the enablers, not a good thing to be. It never has a good connotation, so wear it with the truth that it implies. Harsh, but the truth must be told and must be heard.
So when we have a new chief liar, Scaramucci, who tells Huckabee he wants to keep the hair stylist and make up person, again referrals to women's physical appearances as if that determines who they are and if they are worthy (not that I am defending Huckabee for her part in all this), when we have those who defend him, who try to control Trump - and why should so many people have to work so hard to control an uncontrollable 71 year old man who should know better!
When these enablers stand by this man even as he turns on them, threatens them with loss of jobs - of position - they still hang on in the hopes of remaining there in his shadow. These people are guilty of helping to turn this country into a deeply divided disaster. They are guilty of enabling. They are guilty. Period.
So these people have sold themselves and are now being called to testify before Congress, eventually before the outside investigators headed by Mueller, are catching the panic of Trump who rants of traitors, of pardons, of fake news, of anything but the truth. He demands obsessive loyalty but gives none in return and yet the enablers stand there in the hopes that they will be able to remain there, have some connection to the power. They stick by a man who rants that someone else will not release something and yet he is the one who refuses to release his taxes, his true health results - so I ask what he himself has shouted - WHAT ARE YOU HIDING? And I ask the enablers - what are you thinking?
So you enablers stand there and watch the healthcare of millions upon millions of people vanish into the mists. You ignore the pop up clinics that roll thru the poverty areas of our nation, in states who refused to expand their Medicaid to take care of people, who have so many uninsured, the states where the state houses made it so difficult for insurance companies to do what they were supposed to and you ignore the rest of what Trump will do to make sure that the insurance for healthcare deteriorates even more as he cuts subsidy funds, as he goes along with plans to limit coverage of items such as mental health - yes, again, we are back in the Middle Ages - of maternity care, of contraception, of pre existing conditions and we can go on. You allow this to happen and the blood is on your hands.
And finally we have enablers in another sphere, in another area of the world, though the State Department just made a statement re this area. A few weeks ago, two terrorists violated the holiness of a place of prayer, brought guns into it and then used those guns to shoot two Israeli officers, two Israeli Druze citizens at that, stationed there at an entry way to the Old City, killing them. No screams from Arab countries, from the Wakf, from Jordan about this violation, these deaths. Only the reaction to the metal detectors that were then put in place to stop these murders before they start again. The fact that there are metal detectors at Mecca and Medina seem to have slipped the minds of all those screaming about the Israeli ones, and shout as of Friday night that there were nine deaths as a result of these metal detectors. Wrong!! So Wrong.
The deaths and the count. Two terrorists shot dead after they murdered those officers. That makes four. Three shot during massive rioting about this attempt to keep the peace, to honor the holiness of places of prayer and that included the Western Wall Plaza. So now we have seven. And the world crowing like puppets in the hands of their terrorist ventriloquists.
But we are not done. Friday night a family was eating a Sabbath meal, also celebrating the birth of newborn twins. A knock on the door and opening it to what was surely a neighbor come to join them. But NO!!! It was an animal masquerading as a human, who stabbed to death a proud grandfather, stabbed his wife almost unto death, killed the father and his sister and luckily was then stopped by neighbors who heard the screams. Upstairs, the mother of the five children there, the wife of the man killed defending his family, the sister in law of the one who staggered outside in her death moments, trying to warn the people of the Village, and with her were the five children as she pleaded with them to keep quiet.
Downstairs, what she saw when it was over, were the bodies of her relatives, her husband, the floor awash with blood, the blood of more Jews. So now we have ten deaths but the world equates the death of these three victims with the death of terrorists. Hence - the world enables this terrorism, this murder.
And so we tell the world NO MORE!!! Jews will not be slaughtered without consequences any longer. Those days are gone, over, and blood will have blood. There is no other way until the enablers realize that this is what they cause, this is what they enable. And this is what they push off - the way to peace. How can we talk peace when our eyes are blinded by so many tears. And so 10,000 people came to the funeral and burial service of these latest martyrs of this terror, of this hatred, of the world trying to deny that Jews have the right to live in one tiny piece of land surrounded by 27 other Arab and Moslem lands who are allowed to call themselves the Islamic Republic or the Moslem Republic or Country. But for one small state to call itself the Jewish state - why is that so terrible? Why does the world still enable this murder of innocent souls and then should someone go and do the wrong thing here, driven by grief and rage, then the world will scream. Enablers all.
No, to be an enabler is not a good thing, not a noble thing. It is to perpetuate the evil of the world. So read the quote at the head of this posting. Read and weep as we destroy our world, as we acquiesce with the wrong, as we ignore the right, the violations of morality and truth. That is what enabling and enablers do. Truth. Word!
First the smaller, though more visible mess we have - the mess in the Village. From beautiful pristine lakes when we bought in 1998 we have now deteriorated to weed clogged and grossly invader overwhelmed waterways. We have been fed excuse after excuse, the latest one being that we would introduce grass eating carp who would chow down on the latest and truly ugliest infestation. Maybe. But we will need a world's supply of these fish if they are to do their job since I am told by the same source that the entire system here is infected and infested. Fish be damned! Sure, buy them and put them in their new home, but along with that we need cleanup, physical cleanup. And the rain does not break these things up either. The mess in my lake is even worse after the big rain we had so what gives?
There are probably larger and more "important" issues here such as financial stability or lack thereof, poor planning, messing around with the press, blocking assembly, secret plans, lack of forethought and honesty, private wishes and we can go on, but this issue, the lakes and canals is the most visible as one walks thru the Village. It must be addressed if we are to be presented as an attractive choice for retirees and pre retirees to purchase here. And by the way, I am disappointed with much of the theater offerings for this upcoming season. The past two years have been much better. Where is Bravo Amici? Where are some of the gotcha! headliners? I have nothing against new acts and buy many tickets both here and around the area but many of the ones I buy here this year are going to be reluctant ones and 'may as well , it's Saturday nite, so why not?'
And now for the bigger mess that we are stuck in at present, us here in America and all the rest of the world out there as well. We have somehow lost control of events. We have lost control or worse, lost the existence of civility, discourse, compromise, compassion, all the positive things that make the world a good place in which to live. We have teenagers filming the drowning of a man, helpless, who screams for help; we have people sending death threats over social media to anyone with whom they disagree, and we have grownups who are supposed to be running this world instead spending their time sending out tweets as if they were adolescents rather than adults who know that issues must be spoken of and about at length. Discourse is the answer, not slogans.
Along the top of New York County's courthouse is this: "True Administration of Justice is the Firmest Pillar of Good Government." Actually, the original word as written in Washington's letter was DUE, not true.
And actually, it does not matter for what has become inculcated into our system of beliefs is that all are entitled to a fair and impartial justice, that justice is not be suborned by any other interests other that justice and it should be both due and true. And yes, this principle has been violated in the years of our history, but it can be stated with pride that we have tried to improve and managed that and certainly the Department of Justice has been allowed to be a sacred cow, with it being allowed to stand independent of politics and politicians other than the unfortunate events of biased picks for the federal judgeships such as we have been witnessing of late. And yet, Trump demands disloyalty to that and loyalty to him above justice.
Instead of praise for the courageous people who speak out, we have an off balance man screaming "leaks" "Fake News" all in the attempt to hide misdeeds and misdoings and certainly violating a prime principle of life and rights here in America - the right to free press. ".....fearless, muckraking journalism is a lynchpin of our democracy. It has been for our entire history," and has been written into our Constitution, so why now the strong armed attempts to deny that freedom - in the country, in the world and right here in the Village.
Jeb Bush had the courage to stand up and speak to fellow Republicans and take to task those who do not stand up to Trump and his misdeeds. He calls out the lack of civility that now impacts on everything. He reminds his Party how they were so willing to go baying after Obama but now ignore the whole Russia collusion mess that we now have and why - because it is Trump driven and involved.
We have a new Communications head in the White House and it is the same thing, deja vu. We have him going overboard - 20 times overboard, how he loves everyone, loves Trump, most indeedy does he and nausea is abounding. He praises Breitbart, that cesspool of bigotry and hate, that most unAmerican entity and is going about deleting his tweets that disagreed with Trump and stated prior to his new position. Hypocrisy to the nth degree!!
We have a crook or incompetent or mentally ill or choose your words or any combination thereof as President and all he can tweet about now is his power of pardon and how he is being picked on. Never mind trying to explain or apologize for betraying his position and the American people. Nope, for what he needs to do is pardon all his family and friends - and himself - and wonder if that can be a new slogan for the phone company and their family and friends advertisement! But oh yes, do not forget the other nine things he tweeted about in a manic rush early in the AM on Saturday. Weirdo!!
Kislyak is returning to Russia, all the better to hide from American inquiry, the country can be facing disaster and even deeper division as truths come out, are revealed and as people choose to ignore that truth. And the Democrats worry even as Trump's popularity falls to 36%!!!! that they are thought of as being against Trump rather than for something. Yes, that is a problem they must address, but frankly, I would vote for a donkey over Trump at this point and we would be better off for it. At least his brays would be honest ones!!
Finally, I have been searching for something, anything, that would explain the blindness, the obtuseness of otherwise intelligent people who continue to defend Trump, to try to explain away his misdeeds, his sins and yes, even his alleged crimes and treason. And I found it. It is called Trump Derangement Syndrome. As Trump's lies grow on and on, as truth seems to fall further below, as he lies thru his teeth and as these are picked up and castigated, proven untrue, as the lies grow and grow in direct proportion to the fire in his pants and the length of his nose, his supporters find they cannot defend these lies, cannot make believe they do not exist, so what to do? They spend less time defending him than on picking on his detractors, thus changing the focus. It is they who are unhinged, hysterical, unfair, overwrought and not giving Trump his "chance" - though frankly I am wondering just how long this chance is supposed to be!!
So even as the truths about leaks comes forward - that Trump is the biggest leaker to Russians, that the leaks are actually whistleblowing, that the man is truly nuts and unable to fulfill the requirements of his position, that his ethics are non existent, that his conflicts of interest are rampant and beyond control or deniability, even as that goes on, these people maintain that we are "unfair" to Trump, that we have never been fair to him. Trump Derangement Syndrome - those against and those for. Well, sorry, folks, the pro Trump is the side that is deranged even as they defend one of the most deranged people ever to take office. They have fallen into this syndrome in a most 'bigly' way and only they can pull themselves out. When they recognize the nudity of their hero, his derangement, they will hopefully come to their senses and acknowledge the lies, the constant lies.
Lies - here we go again or rather there they go. I hate lies and I hate liars. They are anathema to my heart and mind. And those that enable others to lie, well..... they need to dig deep and look inside and see what they truly are and what they truly value. They might wish that Trump were the coming of the messiah but he truly is not and more probably weighs in deeper on the other side!!!!
As the title states - what a mess!!
Those who say that ignorance is bliss are foolish or are talking of times when to delay knowledge of a bad or fearful thing is better, hence the bliss. But when ignorance appears to be ruling the country, then there is no bliss, only aggravation and fear, trepidation about the present and future.
Read this next citation from Henry James and then think about this as you read the rest an then contemplate our situations. "The real represents to my perception the things we cannot possibly not know, sooner or later, in one way or another."
No one expects the President of any organization to know everything; in fact, it is expected that he/she does not but will have the modicum of sense to know to consult experts who do and to minimize speaking about topics of unknown contents so as to minimize the appearance of ignorance.
Unfortunately what we now have is someone who is both ignorant and arrogant, someone who pretends he knows everything; hence the miserable situation we are in now. As a matter of fact, so much of the time we do not even know what he is talking about because his English, his linguistics are horrific. "I've given the farmers back their farms, I've given the builders back their land to build houses and to build other things.'....huh! Or how is this one? In talking as an ignorant fool about Napoleon, not even knowing there were two of them, the I and the III, in talking of Napoleon, we assume the famous one of hand in jacket, he states, "And his one problem is he didn't go to Russia that night because he had extracurricular activities and they froze to death."
What was he doing - at the prom, at the sock hop, at the gala ball in the palace? And who froze and what does that have to do with extracurricular activities? And what night? The campaign took months. Someone sure as hell failed history!
His ignorance extends to domestic items as well. Health insurance policies at $12 for the year. Sign me up for that one!! Confusion about life and health insurance. Confusion or purposeful ignorance as to the inadequate tax plan and the ahem huge tax break for middle class at $760 . Wow!! Do not spend it all in one place and don't drool as the 1% spend their cut of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
And one can go on and on but perhaps he is using ignorance as an excuse to throw himself on the mercy of the courts and the citizens of this country as he claims that to collude with the enemy is wrong, that to enmesh oneself with them so as to be unable to separate business and personal and national is a bad thing, that to lie about all this is the major stupid act of the century. so please excuse his stupidity. Well, Mueller is now investigating all the business dealings as Bharara wished to do but was then fired. Will he fire Mueller too and then really be guilty of two times of obstruction of justice?
Now we hear that Trump is exploring his rights to pardon people - such as his family, his aides and himself! Yup! Great system. Do something wrong, look in the mirror, say, "bad boy" and "I forgive you." Great system indeed. Wonder what he will do when his tax forms come up lacking in honesty? "Oops? Well. I forgive me!!"
He is not the only one who refuses to admit ignorance and that arrogance, the nerve to walk naked in the streets while boasting of clothes apparently afflicts many leaders and certainly here in CV as well. David thinks he knows what he does not and even what he does is now antiquated, out of date, much of it obsolete and he refuses to admit it, refuses to admit when he is in over his head as he is right now and has been for some time. The bylaws and American rights, the Atlantic contract and even the paving - these and many more all serve as an example of the harm unacknowledged ignorance can cause.
Treason - knowingly committed, venally acted upon, or simply the act of a selfish and arrogant man and his similarly arrogant and selfish family members? Whatever the choice, not good!! He throws his associates and supposed loyalists right under the bus and wow, does not David Israel do that as well and quite often.
People are beginning to truly wake up to the fact that we need our health coverage, that we need full disclosure re our presidential figures, that we need a government with a heart, that we need governmental figures who are respected, be it here in CV or in the nation and the world.
And for those who mutter and whine and say we should leave him alone, be loyal to him as President of our nation, not nice to point out his errors, give him time - 6 months already!, I have a question for you. When was the first or the last time you said that about Obama, to not criticize him, to show him respect ad infinitum. He was not my favorite president and I certainly criticized him and for some of his views, but he certainly was not the dumb dude we now have in office and I will not be silent - not nationally speaking and not locally. That would be unAmerican, most emphatically so. Read the interview of Trump by three Times reporters and then go vomit about what we have wrought. Think about that quote again and apply it to our situations and our presidents.
We all recall the baby who would not give up, would continue to crawl towards the hot stove, or the forbidden food, or the small item to shove in the mouth. It took time and patience and much alertness to keep that baby safe from himself. But what does one do with a supposed adult or several adults who seemingly cannot get the message and keep on with that crawl into danger and harm not only for themselves but for others.
Hopefully, the dead horse of the Trumpcare issue will not be revived but the beating of it goes on as the Republican heads try to force a vote on "debate" about it. Trump keeps having Senators over to dinner and McConnell shows the desperateness of a failing effort. The CB said that repeal of Obamacare, the ACA, would lead to 32 million people being without coverage. So take several large cities or dozens of the smaller town and cities that make up America and just wipe them out, erase them from the map, all those men, women, children and babies.
Sound extreme? Not really. Imagine a flu virus, strong and powerful, and now add in to this adult reality coloring book its spread as the vaccine for it is out of reach for most of these people as they no longer have coverage or their coverage only allows for one well visit or has a deductible of $10,000 and the shots are $300 each as the drug companies raise the prices. Spanish flu 1918 tripled and tripled again.
You see, there are consequences to bad decisions and they cannot all be rectified so easily as a one, two, three. But Trump seems not to recognize that fact or probably does but could care less. He is fixated on its passing to the detriment of all but will claim victory if it passes and the people die. Hey, better for the budget in the long run, right!!
This obsessive sticking to an idea, even a bad one, is part and parcel of off balance would be dictators and semi dictators. Look what we have here in CV, a man so determined to stick to what he wants, to what he thinks he needs, that he runs rampant over the true needs of the Villagers and takes out his venom on those who disagree with him. David Israel and Donald Trump. Both bad for one's health!!
In the larger arena we have a consummate liar, one who tells lies as soon as tell the truth and I believe cannot even tell the difference now between one to the other. The facts are there and yet he rants with his Fake News and thinks that is the cure. Another meeting took place with Putin and no press was there so stating the press knew is a lie and an insult. They knew there was a dinner but were closed out from it and based reports on the reports of one who was. Lie, lie, deny and then say , "oh, it was nothing." According to Trump every time he or his talk to Russians it is always about adoptions. Go figure - and if you believe that..... Enough with the lies and the denials of the obvious and clearly seen and witnessed truth.
The facts are all out there, have been gathered into neat bundles and the picture is not pretty. Poor junior is "miserable" and is not functioning well at work. He is said to be worried about "biting the hand that feeds him." He cannot wait for the four years to be over. Here's an idea - let Papa resign NOW. The family has a "fierce loyalty" it is said but as far as I am concerned it is a messy pottage of sibling rivalry, desire to please Papa, constant checking with Papa over what to do so his denials are garbage, and a man who cannot let go nor grow up. And at 71 he is not going to change. Until resignation or impeachment or criminal indictments we are stuck and must remain vigilant, just as we must remain vigilant here in CV to make sure that David does not totally deplete our funds, does not sign more contracts that are bad for us, does not turn the Village administration upside down with his proposed new restrictive and anti American by laws. Like a child who refuses to learn, Trump and David continue to push the blame onto others and threaten them all. Sessions, Comey, Mueller - all guilty of disloyalty, of following the 'true path', the path of loyalty to Trump and to hell with everyone else. I, for one., would love to know what was in that folder that Comey has that contains the gotcha! information from the Russians. What do they have on Trump and is it enough to get him gone? I hope so.
The fault lies not in our stars but well within us. We vote carelessly, out of anger at the status quo without thinking if the 'answer' is truly that. We ignore the bad traits of the one we see as a possible solution and we end up getting the sand kicked right back in our faces. More jobs lost even as Trump boasted of saving them. More stores closing and more jobs lost. Trump is a man eminently not suited for government nor for anything other than blustering around and surviving by the teeth of executives and his inherited money and the laws of bankruptcy. He refuses to tell the truth, to open it to the air by hiding his tax forms, by working in secret and in the dark thinking that no one will find out and then lie when he is outed. David tries the same thing to work in the dark and hope it is too late to change when his actions are revealed so here we are, stuck again with a miserable contract.
The DNC is gearing up for 2018 and we all must be there. We must be there for any Republicans who have the courage to withstand the negative power of Trump, those who are anti Trumpcare not for being too generous as some Scrooges are, but for it not being enough for the people of their respective states. Labels are meaningless; only the behavior and the beliefs matter. I am already reading up on possible candidates for president in 2020, for replacement for elected officials in 2018 such as getting rid of Mast, and am doing my best to keep current.
Our voices must be raised. Our eyes must be open. Our courage must be, as Shakespeare said, "screwed to the sticking point." And above all, we must have heart and hope.
Some random thoughts and questions. Here is a minor one as things go, but it does have to do with the quality of life for some people in my association and nearby ones as well. For some time we have been asking for an additional bus stop so a long walk to the closest one would be alleviated. Well, one would think we were asking for the world. We have extra guest spots that are really not used and turning several over is not a problem. So..... we have now heard from Ed Black that it is illegal to cancel guest spots - Nope, it is not. We checked with an attorney. Hmmm. Now we find that the bus cannot back up for legal reasons as there could be a complication should a person walk behind and get struck. So what? It is not a problem if one is struck head on by a bus? And what about all the other vehicles that back up such as EMT trucks, Connection, Palm Tran, the sanitation trucks, visiting trucks and incidentally, the bus would now have the room to turn around as we are giving up the three spaces and it is a dead end. Our building and next door Andover would have a closer bus stop. So....why the hassle. Guess who lives in my association? ME!!!!!! Not only am I not allowed to be in UCO, but we have "collective" punishment for my presence. Lovely!!
Next. We have policemen who fire upon hearing a loud noise? That is justification for shooting and killing an innocent woman who called 911 - and this while the cops were sitting in their car - did not even get out to investigate the complaint?! What the hell!!
It took the compassion and courage, the moral ethics and values of three women to stop this Trumpcare in its track and kudos to them. Long may they be in office .Their states are all problematic, be it for the opioid situation or high unemployment or vast in space. Murkowski of Alaska, Capito of West Virginia, and Collins of Maine. Good for them!!! Men - where the hell are you? With that idiot Cruz? Yes, there are issues with Obamacare, but they can be fixed and one does not throw out that proverbial baby with the bath water!
Guess how much money we are spending a month to rent space for the military at Trump Tower in NY, especially when the man is hardly there. Too busy visiting his golf resorts, like 54 times already!!! Anyway, $130,000 a month. Yup, you read it right. But we gotta' cut that healthcare budget, right! And ethics be damned.
Or how about this one? Ethics be damned and lies full speed ahead. You know that 'minor' glitch of collusion with the enemy, you know the one that is now enriching the lawyers at great cost to the Trump family and friends? Yup, the one that Spicer still maintains was about adoptions and there is no way to prove otherwise? Uh huh, that one. The one that Trump says he knew nothing about but anyway, it was only politics. This from the man who says he is not a politician. Maybe. But he sure as hell is an incompetent, nasty old man who lies as easily as zipping up his pants - oops, need another example, That one is too hard for him - well as easily and naturally as breathing. Anyway, now we find out that so far there are eight lovelies at that meeting - up from two and who knows how many more, but wait, there's more. At the G-20 meeting, you know, the one where Ivanka sat in Daddy's chair like a big girl, well, Daddy took himself off to have another undisclosed meeting with his best bro, Putin. I kid you not. This man is truly a traitor or an idiot and in either case, not good for us. Needs to go, my friends. Impeachment anyone?
And then we have a world now where one driving with a broken headlight or taillight finds life upside down. Grabbed, no more to return home and why? Because they are undocumented aliens working in dairies or fields or roofing or some other "dirty" job that no American wants and the 'Gestapo' of Sessions and Trump have decided they are to go. Maybe in the foreign countries to where they are deported they need to apply for new jobs at the factories that make Ivanka's clothing or sell so much to Trump and his hotels? Never mind the Made in America slogan for them! Our generals are warning us about the possibility of a rogue drone or robot killing humans - lovely thought that - fantasy into fact? And that crazy dude over there in North Korea is holding public executions for the horrific crimes of taking copper from a factory, or coming from a bad family background, or distributing media from South Korea. At least here so far the media is just called names, like Fake Media or liars! By the liars themselves, but that is for another day.
Just random thoughts of an early morning. Think I will go look at some of the pictures from all the family visits we have been having. Much more pleasant and rewarding. Life is not a bowl of cherries - but then again I like other fruit better. There is always an alternative if we do not like something - and that is to fight for what is right and so help me, I am trying.
That is a major no on both terms. Integrity is defined as "the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness:" This is a quality we should treasure and value, look for and even demand from those who are supposedly working for us, the public servants of our government. We should most of all demand it from the President and his team.
Well, we are doomed in that sphere and not sure if we are not doomed in the smaller sphere of CV. Where are the certainties we should have re truth and honor, the surety we should have regarding our officials? As for Trump, he is a consummate liar, would rather tell a lie than a truth and if forced to finally admit to the truth, will reveal as little as possible hoping that the entire mess can be somehow concealed. Certainly he should have realized that by now, but instead keeps trying to brazen it out all the while he and his are employing one attorney after another and the rats are pushing and shoving the others out of the way. Who will finally break? What are the odds? If I were a bookmaker......
And here in CV I do not think the situation is any better, though on a lesser scale. Yet that scale is of vital importance to us as it is both our very day to day and future life that is at stake. What is the truth about all the doings and contracts going on in that building? Why all the secret meetings, the after hour meetings, the closed meetings, the private meetings and emails and calls re our lives here. What is the true contract with Atlantic? What is the true state of affairs regarding the algae in the lake? We came home after a week and OMG what a disaster the lake is by us. I am told that the stuff comes from what is often used in aquariums!! We need to be careful before we just dump!! It has never been worse and it is majorly UGLY!!!
Both government heads try to assure us that the future will be better, that they are working on it. We get tweets from Trump, maniacal ones at that, that butcher the English language and say nothing except to tell us to truly despair and from David Israel - nada, except for false statements and videos of meetings that tell us pieces of the truth, useless pieces at that.
I do not understand why government officials feel they can lie and indeed should lie to their constituents. I do not know why they think it will go unnoticed. I do not know why these people feel that 1984 is the way to go, Orwell being prophetic re our language, our officials and their aims. We are supposed to listen to their words, the words which change on a daily, or even hourly basis with Trump and to the words of Israel which are generally as informative as his grunted "...nnnaright".
We are constantly harangued by Trump that all is beautiful. Well, according to 1984 all is the opposite, so beautiful is truly ugly and that is the situation we are in. So people are unregistering because they do not want their personal information out there available for ID theft. They feel Trump has no business with it and they are 150% correct!! He is going at the very basis of our democracy and for that, there is no excuse.
David Israel just keeps saying that all is under control even as he signs away our lives, refuses to admit that our reserves are pathetically inadequate for our needs and refuses to answer other vital questions. He plans to further restrict our rights in the future. He treats all with contempt except when he is lying to a group in his office as he tries to make nicey nice and even there he has to go begging for people to show up as most already realize what a farce these meetings are.
Both blab away and do not realize what a mess they are embroiling us in. Here we are in financial straits and in the US who knows. He is messing around with North Korea as if they are normal, knowing that guy is capable of anything, and trading insults and threats like two bullyboys in the schoolyard. David reassures us at the same time that he antagonizes and insults all, in public and private and takes petty steps to avenge his "honor" and name. Too late on that.
Their words and promises are as true as the Made in America Week as Trump admires Sikorsky copters but kind of forgets that there are foreign items that go into the mix for the whole! He buys foreign made items for his businesses and hotels and his daughter makes all of her items outside the country. But oh, make America great again- just leave him and his out of it!! The pigs of Animal Farm who feel they are more equal than others!! And of course, do not forget the 15,000 new temporary visas for foreign workers granted as it is finally realized in their thick skulls that these workers are necessary for industries and enterprises, particularly seasonal ones with massive demands for workers.
And no, spouting the word beautiful again and again, tweeting nonsensical statements and butchering the language is not going to help. Only the truth will. And certainly Russia will not help here either. And that, my friends is one that Trump has over David Israel. Trump has turned traitor to his country, to his citizens, sold his very soul for money and business political office and at least David has remained true to America, though to its values and freedoms and rights - uh uh. Some difference there at least, I think, I hope.
In any case, or rather in both cases, the words integrity and beautiful are not there. There is no honor in their souls, no beauty in their deeds nor their plans and we had better say and do something if we are to rescue ourselves from the morass that is now surrounding us. Integrity? Beauty? Bah humbug!!!!
America is going to have to choose. Are we going to insure that our American way of life remains so, or are we going to abdicate, leave it in the hands of consummate liars, pretend princes and princesses, unethical businessmen and traitors to the country. One way requires hard work, a constant watchfulness and the other seeds itself thru laziness and apathy.
Today was a fun day. We had family over, met a newly introduced member, had a lot of laughs, joked, did not talk politics except for a joke or two, hugged and kissed and simply enjoyed a typical American Sunday, barbecue and all, overate and laughed so that we all had no more room. But we did leave room for dessert!
But after everyone had left, I checked on the computer to see if the madman had blown us up yet or committed another oops, or tweeted away once more. And lo and behold there he was again. Now he is pushing Made in America Week and if that is not the height of hypocrisy, this coming from a man whose businesses outsource so much and whose daughter uses all outside labor, cheap labor to make her clothing and accessories. It is enough to make one vomit.
This man wants an America that will be a return to another time, when the poor had no healthcare they could afford - nor the middle class at that - and there will be little to no manufacturing or trade because he will have locked and blocked us out from the rest of the world and they will simply bypass us. They will set up their own trade routes and exchanges and will not miss us at all. Some of our states will establish their own dealings with other countries and are feeling their way now into that, but as for the rest - guess they will just muddle along and more will be homeless, jobless, hungry and cold - with no protection for sick Americans but Trump and his will be just fine. They will make sure of that.
After six months in office this man has wreaked havoc upon us and the world. They will pick up the pieces and move on without us but what will happen to us? His Republican Party is fracturing - at least one good result and his legislative promises are dead in their tracks and again, thank the Lord above for that. Tax reform - twisted version of it - infrastructure, the wall - ah, but that will be transparent, see through, so if you are an American you will be able to see the bad hombres heave 60 pound bags of drugs over the wall and move so it will not hit you on the head! Swear to that - that is what he said!! The man is not normal.
The whole Russian business stinks to the high heavens and we learned that the Trump family never learned to count and could not tell the difference between two people and ten. They could not figure out that a lie once revealed will not end that process until the whole story and truth comes out. He has been rated as a D- for the year so far and I do not see any improvement in the days to come.
Personally, I believe this man and his cohorts are for the most part traitors to the country. To say it was okay for junior to solicit or get information from a foreign enemy country because it was not successful is to say that attempted murder is not really a crime - only murder. The lack of ethics and the conflicts of interest, the selfishness of the appointed people, their ties to their areas of supervision are all sickening and lead to bad news for us, the people.
So we need to choose. Will we choose those who put all the blame for their actions on others, try to waffle and explain away all their misdeeds? Will we choose the incompetent, the selfish, he nasty, the sexual predator and his or will we stand up straight, pull our pants up and roll those sleeves up and take back our country? I know which way I choose to go - and you?
