BREAKING THINGS

     I borrow these words from a wonderful writer, Elana Sztokman whose articles I read as often as they are written. She wrote this article discussing how things are often in a position of having to be broken before they can be fixed, or at least recognized as broken. She states that sometimes there is no other way than to start allover again, so much are things broken.    
     At a point in her essay she reaches this conclusion and I so totally agree with her.
   
"I think about this regarding the world we are living in now. We are living in such a broken place.
The election of Trump was the act of such wanton destruction.
His election broke so much.
It broke hope,
it broke integrity,
it broke belief in humanity,
it broke compassion,
it broke decency,
it broke honesty,
it broke care,
it broke logic,
it broke truth,
it broke progress,
it broke bridges,
it broke connections,
it broke cooperation,
it broke generosity,
and it broke the movement towards creating a better world.
     We are all experiencing the impacts of that breaking on a regular basis.
And there is so much that is breaking that he allows to continue to break. Floods. Fires. Hurricanes. Mass shootings. One after another, breaking, breaking, breaking.
And he does this actively and on purpose, not just by neglect or stupidity. Trump seeks to continue breaking everything that he can.
He is trying to break health care,
to break education,
to break justice,
to break the economy,
to break poor people,
to break women,
to break people of color,
to break Muslims,
to break immigrants,
to break the media,
to break democracy,
to break history, to break America,
to break alliances,
maybe even to break the world.
     It looks that way some days. It looks like he might actually want to start a world war. That is the breaking that we are in the midst of."
   The question remaining -
What does it mean to break the trump world in order to rebuild a better world?
 "What does it mean to break the trump world in order to rebuild a better world?" 

BLURRING LINES

     Just read an excellent book, The Vengeance of Mothers, by Jim Fergus, and intend to go find his prior books. The book deals with 1873 America, its attitude and actions towards and with Native Americans, its ridiculous plans that caused tragedy to so many. It touches on the attitude towards women, the liberation of certain women at times when one might think otherwise, and it could be read as an allegory of the times of today in many ways. It raises the question as to whose America, whose nation, whose land, it truly is and the lines are blurry, just as they are today. Or one could read it just as a super story.
     The lines are blurred - or do we really need to draw these lines? It is difficult to find a distinct separation today between two units or topics. Where does fiction end and  fact occur, or are both intertwined beyond distinction. This is where it gets edgy for when we have a man who forever calls into doubt any factoid which criticizes him, then we are in a new age called post truth and I, for one, have a great deal of difficulty of even accepting that term. How can one be post truth. Truth can be explained, actions explained, but truth is truth - unless one wanders into the world of Animal Farm, 1984 and Brave New World. Unless one wanders into the bizzaro world where actions can be explained away in this manner - “Keep hearing about ‘tiny’ amount of money spent on Facebook ads,”  “What about the billions of dollars of Fake News on CNN, ABC, NBC & CBS?” Accuse the other side of doing something and that will explain away your sins, but what if the accusation is not true, yet gains ground as a post truth statement? The whole incident of the "veteran" of Vietnam with a whole  host of medals, weighing in on Trump's side on Fox News, with the kneeling actions - Fox buys all in and guess what - never was a veteran, was not wounded, no decorations - is this post truth or can we simply call it a lie?
    And how are we supposed to raise our kids, the future of all of us, if they see that a lie is not necessarily a lie and the truth is not necessarily that either. The ground we then stand upon becomes very shaky, like a mass of quivering quicksand and who will be there to pull us out?Will the support of yet another liar or tyrant do the trick? When such as Putin tells Americans, scolds them, that Trump is not respected enough, that Americans elected him - he of the country that bought those ads, that messed with the election, do we tout his statement as proof - and proof of what for is he telling the truth or lying thru his miserable teeth?
     In the meanwhile we have the sad truth of the 1200 people funeral for a Sergeant killed in Niger under very blurry circumstances, with the tears of a family and a nation, and Trump makes it all about him, trumpeting the fact that he is now UPSing letters to all servicemen killed as far back as July and August. So what does that count as for to me it is the "I'm sorry" ordered to be said in a school fight or a scandal uncovered. It is the "pardon me" stated by the likes of Weinstein and yes, Trump, who himself is a self acknowledged molester. And then off he goes again, claiming in his self praises that no other President has done as much as he has in nine months and then proceeds to boast of the disasters he has caused - cancelling of laws that protect Americans and the world with the water they drink, the air they breathe, the land they walk upon, with his pandering to Big Business, with his 'triumph' at disrupting healthcare to millions and instead, giving them deathcare.
     So we have former presidents calling for unity, Tom Hanks and others calling for us to read history, use it, understand it for it tells us of our present and future, and we are at the level where Costco has to point out in its reports that the new trade issues and regulations and cancellations are dangerous to their business - and to those of many others. But the man and his toadies do not see that, do not see the intertwining of business across borderlines, does not recognize that lines are so blurred that nationalism, nativism, is a dangerous relic of the past and has no place in our world. Go back to the beginning and read the book I recommended. Read it and weep and laugh and feel pride in the women of the novel.
     I no longer feel pride in our country of the moment and I hope against all hope that we will break out of this mold and find our way back. I hope it can be done in a peaceful manner, but my doubt grows apace daily on that issue.
     Lines of truth. Lines of falsehoods. Lines of danger and lines of war and those of peace. Lines of pride. Lines of historical warnings. Blurring lines. We need to redraw them clearly and use the blurring lines in a positive manner, to draw us and the world together. What is going through my head is the refrain of that oldie but goodie: 
      "We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving
Oh, there's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day, just you and me."
      Please, let us make the right choice and right now.

THE CUP RUNNETH OVER

     Well, it is never a really good day in Trumpville, USA, not with all the tweeting and the lies and the lies and the selling of souls, and the shrieking silence from those who do not step up and say what needs to be said. But yesterday? Wow!! If we stretch yesterday to mean a few days, then it is even better for then we can include a troika in the mix - McCain, Obama and George W. Bush.
     I was most impressed by Bush. The man has kept a deep background cover, busy at his ranch, his Institute and stayed out of it. He is also a man not noted for his powerful speech or statements and yet yesterday? Double Wow. He spoke as a statesman, as one disgusted, actually frightened at the stage we find ourselves and put forth a great big warning that we are losing our place, our place in the world and its history and trust me, that was all aimed at you know who. In my mind I saw his head whipsawed in every statement of Bush, in the pointed remarks and the challenge of McCain and in the statements of Obama who has finally decided to come out of hiding and stand up for what needs to be said, to fight against what needs to be fought.
    I must say, though, that McCain was disappointing in that he then went ahead and approved a budget that will shove us into more debt - and  this from the Party that were supposed to be hawks on deficits, but then again, hypocrisy reigns, does it not, and the Republicans march on trying to run the country with one dictator and one dictatorial Party - chills on the spine yet, people? All this in preparation for a unilaterally, partisan passing of a tax "reform" which is in all truth a bill of welfare for the wealthy and the hell with the middle class and as for the lower economic class - well, to hell with you too as you will almost be invisible what with no health care, no money, no rights!! Time to atone for your foolish Trump votes. Time to wake up and smell the contempt the man has for you, those he supposedly champions, he of the billions and the billionaire friends, he who is going to send a check - heard that before, he who lies before breakfast and after dinner in an unbroken chain.
     Kelly sold his soul with lies re Wilson, the Congresswoman, lies easily refuted by facts and timing and this is sad, the last hope of some containment and control over the madman in the Oval Office. But take heart in some of these statements from Bush, take hope in the chants against Spencer and then step up, work with the people to get out the vote next November, publicize the records of those who screw the people, get out there and help people register for the vote. Do something before it is too late to do anything. Now read - music to the ear and balm to the soul:
    
- “Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication.”

- “We’ve seen nationalism distorted into nativism.”

- “We’ve seen our discourse degraded by casual cruelty. . . . Argument turns too easily into animosity.”

- “It means that bigotry and white supremacy in any form is blasphemy against the American creed, and it means the very identity of our nation depends on passing along civic ideals.”

- “Bullying and prejudice in our public life … provides permission for cruelty and bigotry.”

- “The only way to pass along civic values is to live up to them.”
     Come, let us all pick up the tatters of the American dream, sew them back up together and emerge even stronger than before. The alternative? We do not want to go there.

THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING

     There are always three sides to a story - side 1, side 2 and the two combined, usually a truer version. We look to proof to know what and whom to believe, not always an easy task, and we come to know the inveterate liars, those who could not, cannot, tell the truth if it rose up and slapped them in the face. It appeared that these people had a trait that compelled them to lie, and an inability to recognize the difference between truth and lie. Worse, it often appeared that they could care less.
     Today, the proof is in the pudding with Trump and crew. I wonder if he ever tells the truth, has an inborn need to tell a lie and then convinces himself that it is the truth and everyone else is picking on him. Perhaps that is why he is often pictured with that grump pout on his face, the one that just completely puts me off. And lots of others.
     Proof is what he always says he has. Proof that he did not emotionally abuse this widow. Well, no proof there.  Just as an aside, I wonder if anyone checked if there was a difference in how Trump behaved with wounded and killed warriors based on race and ethnicity. Just wondering, as this particular soldier was African American. Proof that he was being tapped. Well, not there either. Proof about Comey and the firing and memos. Well, not there either. For some reason unknown to anyone with a modicum of intelligence, there never seems to be any materialization of his "proof".
     Is this a choice to lie or a sign of mental illness? Take your choice, but whatever the cause, it cannot remain status quo. One cannot run a country where from one day, one hour, to the next one cannot be sure one is standing on firm ground. An example? First he goes after Obamacare, the only lifeline that many people have for the maintenance of their health, for some, the first they ever had. Then he thunders like a madman against Congress, the Senate, individuals, whatever target he favors at the moment. Then he agrees on a bi-partisan agreement and the very next day he says no.
     He supposedly 'feels' for the DACA kids, yet takes away their protection, wrongfully asserting that they and theirs are a danger to the country, the same country where they grew up, live, study and have become part and parcel of its economic system. He claims that DACA is unconstitutional yet the Dept. of Justice on its website states that it is. His representatives lie thru their miserable rotten teeth and with forked tongues, a prime example of which was Sessions yesterday at the hearings. My hands twitched to reach thru the radio and grab and shake him.
     He supports candidates who come from the extreme and provides a firm base for haters to stand upon. Spencer tonite in Florida. Moore, in Alabama, states openly that G-d is the basis of our Constitution and G-d is the Sovereign in the country. Well, that tingles right down my spine and not in a good way either. Who is he to determine that "fact" for others? Who is he to determine that all HE believes is G-d's view while anything else is not. LGBTQ people? Nope, against G-d. Same sex marriage? Nope yet again. Abortion or choice rights. NO! His son wants to hunt without a license and shoot a deer on another's lands, why that is okay. Guess G-d spoke to him at that point? It is not only ridiculous but dangerous. I believe in G-d, but do not want to hear that in a court of secular justice where religion should have no place. I want to live in a country where religion is not imposed on another, where the rules of one religion becomes the rules of the country, like it or not.
    We live in a country where we are gifted with certain rights based on our Constitution, based on the principles expressed in the Declaration. That is our religion. And if one is an atheist or agnostic or pantheist or Jewish or Bahai, or Hindu or Moslem or Evangelical, Catholic or Protestant or whatever - court is not where it is nor where it belongs. The state legislatures are not where it belongs and neither does it belong in any level of court system.
     The proof of the pudding - we now have one of the worst administrations ever, full of swamp critters, ugly big ones who are devouring all else. There is not an ethical or brave one in the lot. Quite frankly, I think I will go have a chocolate pudding today - a much better choice overall. These puddings of Trump and crew? Toss them out, quick, before the mold they breed truly infects our whole system, beyond a point of no return. And quite frankly again, unfortunately I believe we are well down this dastardly road and we had better wake up, smell the pudding and change spoons. 
Tonite - Party Room 7-9 Storyville CV Style.
Come tell your tale, Speak what is in your heart and mind.
     

BORDERS? RED LINES?

     Every day I hope and pray that this will have ended overnight. Every day I dream that something has happened, that spines have stiffened and the madman has gone away, into retirement, into a jail cell, wherever, but then again, I wake up and there he is. So I ask, are there no borders, no red lines that he will not cross and nothing out there that will force people to wake up and get him out of office and send a warning to those next in line that there are borders, there are red lines and they had better not be crossed.
     The first article that opened this morning was one in which Trump tells a young widow that "he knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurt," . Yes, the crudeness, the lack of human empathy, the coldness all demonstrate that this man is one of the coldest, most selfish people ever to walk this earth and the rest of the day's news backed up that fact.
     Next up? Well, seems that the USA is now involved in setting up concentration camps for the thousands upon thousands of illegal immigrants that they are picking up and planning to pick up. Yes, we here in America will be treated to see concentration camps in real life. Guess the camps we set up for Japanese in WWII, the concentration camps of Hitler, the more modern ones in Serbia and Croatia, all these are not enough to keep such a thing, a horror from occurring again. Nope, Trump's government is planning on setting up lots more, all privately run, to hold these "terrible" people. So what is next? Does he then set up one of his more insane committees to go down the rolls of voters and find which voter had illegal immigrants as parents and then throw that person in jail, as tainted goods? Where does this end? And where do we stop with those captured. Do we hold total control over them as we do with a poor kid who was caught, needs an abortion, the state allows it but the reps of the federal government are saying no!!
    Where does this control end? And for how long are we ceding control to corrupt and perverse individuals who go along with these horrors, with these restrictions of rights, with those appointed to Trump's committees who are found out later to have major conflicts of interest or as in today, are being arrested for child pornography!!! WE are as corrupt and immoral as any of the countries around the world who kill those who differ from them, just as bad and probably worse as we are supposed to be the leader of the world, to set an example , to prove that morality can and should be incorporated into government. That there is a heart beneath those heavy books of law. That those laws can be held up to examination and fixed where necessary, with compassion and justice.
     Now Trump is being sued by a victim of his sexual molestation and good for her! I wish her the best. Yet even more, he is now named in the collusion suit by Kaepernick's suit re collusion in the NFL, even as the owners now say they will not, NOT, penalize those who do not stand or kneel during the anthem and will contribute to some of the organizations out there that fight for equality and justice. So eat that, Mr. Trump and all bigots out there!
     Trump rides roughshod over his own aides and people, this time dragging the death of the son of Kelly into the light, a death which Kelly has never brought into public affairs, in grace and private mourning, yet this Trump rides roughshod right over him and then Kelly does not show up at a presentation with the Greek minister as he usually does, so what, is the last and final set of controls over Trump finally taken off? Has he given up and why the hell do we need to worry and talk about controls over the president? He is supposed to be an adult. I still think that the man is suffering from some form of dementia and must be checked and if so, all our sympathies, but not to serve any longer as President. Article 25 needs to be invoked and soon before he acts on the statement of the general in charge of forces over there by Korea who now says that he "thinks of the unthinkable " - nuclear bombs and missiles on American cities.
     People, this man is a disgrace to us, to all people and a danger to the Republic for which he is supposed to stand! Borders? Red lines? Already crossed and crossed again. Sickening.

Reminder : Thursday nite, 7-9 PM, Party Room, Clubhouse, Storyville CV Style.
Come share your tales.
     

IS IT POLITICS?

     Why is it that when someone does not like something a politician says or does yet likes the same pol, why is there an excuse ready and waiting. "It's just politics." Oh, so that makes the act of telling a lie, cheating, misbehaving, etc. okay to be excused, written off? I hope not.
     Or we have the second excuse, used a great deal now. What is it? This: Well, so what if Trump did this or that - put in your own favorite misdeed - it is okay because someone else - put in your own choice of name - did the same thing or worse. Truly, that is not an excuse. What one does rests upon one's shoulders. Cosby is guilty of his filth, Weinstein of his, and Trump of his. It does not excuse him when Bill Clinton's reprehensible behavior is brought up. There is and should not be any tie between them other than to remind people that men, especially in positions of power over women, seemingly are incapable of fastening a zipper shut. One man's behavior does not excuse that of another.
     Trump was heard on the tape boasting - yes, boasting, of his groping of women. As far as I am concerned he, too, should be brought up on charges, thrown out of his clubs, and thrown out of the Oval Office. He is not fit to be there by any measure and even his own Republican Party agrees. But where were they when he could have been prevented? Certainly not standing on any moral principle!!
     So today we have a teacher who can scream at students on free time - not for educational purpose - to speak "American". Not sure what that is, and yes, I think all kids should be immersed in the English of their newly adopted country or the country they were born in, but that does not make it illegal to speak in another language. Should I be arrested for speaking Hebrew in a federal building? I think not and that goes for all languages as well. But hatred rears its head!
     We have lost tolerance for all but the lowest common denominator. Spencer is speaking at a college in Florida and the state goes on emergency footing. What the hell!! So he will speak his words of hate and what will be outside that room and for that matter, what will be inside? Will he or another shout the equivalent of Fire!! Why are these creeps so entitled now? Well, look to the head of the ugly beast, the man with the orange hair who proudly boasts that he and Bannon are good friends and they work together.
     Yes, this man who bumbles and mumbles lies so often that one cannot keep count goes of his destructive manner. He accuses other presidents of not contacting families of dead soldiers and why? Because, he, the uncaring fool, is too busy boasting of his tossed towels, of his imaginary accomplishments, his "hard" work, even as he appoints more liars and creeps and filthy rich old white men to office, all the better to harm the American electorate. He who insulted a Gold Star family calls someone else on something he does not do and so the families of the soldiers killed in Niger - and what the hell are we doing there! - do not get acknowledged even in a tweet!! So much for patriotism from the man who disregards tradition  when The Retreat is played, who never served because he had "flat feet" that have miraculously become unflat. But he does manage to criticize all who take a knee during the anthem, protesting for social justice and the NFL now backs a bill on reforming the justice system. Oh, and guess who opposes it - Sessions, yes, that bigot we now have as Attorney General of the country!! Politics?
     Yes, it is all politics today in our crazy country with its demented president, the one lacking in ethics, in humanity, in proper thinking, in service to his country, in telling the simple and unvarnished truth about anything! It is the fault of the Democrats, the Republicans the people in Puerto Rico, the mayor of San Juan, North Korea who now says that  it "has reached the touch-and-go point and a nuclear war may break out any moment." Just great! And obviously women are to blame for tempting their molesters. Just ask Trump et al. How people can work with this ethically challenged man is beyond me. But there are better words to explain the situation. These words are from Gregg Popovich, the head coach of Team USA, a former soldier disgusted by the remarks of Trump.
     "This man in the Oval Office is a soulless coward who thinks that he can only become large by belittling others. This has of course been a common practice of his, but to do it in this manner—and to lie about how previous Presidents responded to the deaths of soldiers—is as low as it gets. We have a pathological liar in the White House: unfit intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically to hold this office and the whole world knows it, especially those around him every day. The people who work with this President should be ashamed because they know it better than anyone just how unfit he is, and yet they choose to do nothing about it. This is their shame most of all."
     'Nuff said!

Please note that the meeting will be same place, same time - Party Room in the Clubhouse, 7-9 PM but will be called Storyville. Come join with your tale that you have to tell.

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

     The dark and the silence. The only sound that of an air filter and extra fan. The click of the AC. And the loneliness of one struggling to sleep, losing that battle and then staring at the screen, reading the stories and the news of a country gone off its tracks, of a world whirling in its dizziness and of leaders who seem to have no concept of leadership other than greed and power.
     People are openly arguing now about harassment of women by men in the world of business and theater. Who is to blame? The victim or the attacker? Women should dress modestly? Does that include the youngster who does not understand  how there are men out there who see her only as an object for their desire? But should not the molester take responsibility for his own actions, never mind the dress of the woman - or even of the other man or boy being attacked? And why has it taken so long to acknowledge openly what has been known and tacitly allowed for decades? And how do we combat this when the president himself is a confessed molester of women, a man with a dangerous attitude towards women, seeing them only as objects to be commented upon, gone after, touched inappropriately and there is no limit to this as he even commented re the sexuality and sexual appearance of his own daughter.
     I read of supposed diplomats who think they are encouraging when they say seriously that no, it is not really war with North Korea until the first bomb falls! Really? Is that where we are in the process? That only scares the living daylights out of me even more. Are we truly at that point? And how much of that situation is to blame on the man in the Oval Office who cannot shut his stupid mouth nor stop his damned tweeting?
     I read of the fact that this same North Korea has a huge army of successful hackers, who have hacked us before, are still doing it and plan on doing more in the future. So, what? Now we have to watch out for their hacking along with the Russians? Will it be their candidate opposed to that of the Russians and the hell with the wishes of the American people?
     Our rights as people, as citizens of America, are under attack, again, by the very same filthy mouth president, a man who has people so afraid of him that they will do anything he says, never mind the legal and moral implications. Yes, our civil servants, the members of the government "for the people" are simply not there any longer.
     The president attacks people expressing their protests in a manner he does not like, even though I feel he truly could care less other than the fact that this opens a hole for him to crawl through and then crucify opponents on this new cross. His behavior at a military facility when the Taps or The Retreat was being played was contemptible as are much of his behavior and comments. The media is attacked at every angle and on every statement, every word. Fake news, alternate reality, post truth - what is all that anyway? Why have these terms, so nonsensical and dangerous at the same time, been allowed to become part of a new lexicon? Why have we gone back to 1984 rather than forward to a new millennium seeking the promise of the future rather than its demise?
     And none of this helps me in my quest for sleep. It just makes me feel a bit better when I look at my audience stats and see how many people here in the USA and around the world are reading my words. How they found me is beyond me. Not a clue, but I welcome them all and appreciate their loyalty and interest. But will I sleep again tonite? Only another attempt will let me know, but first, a date with the latest Clive Cussler book in the hope that it will induce my sleep to come back. Lonely in the nite, lonely in the light of the screen. Hope you all had a good night. And welcome to the new day - I hope.

WAR?

     Before I begin, there is a hitch for Thursday night so stay tuned for further updates. Hopefully, we will be able to hold the meeting, a rally for truth, honesty, and justice, and against hatred, prejudice, and extremism. Will pass on the information as I receive it.
     So the topic is WAR. There was a song, back in the day, which roared the question, "War - what is it good for?" and answered it with a roared, "Absolutely nothing!" and yet here we are, engaged in a war for survival and awaiting a war of destruction and extermination.
     So we were reminded over the weekend, in case we forgot, in case it was lost in the horrific scandal of Weinstein and others who indulged in the droit de seigneur - the right of the lord - to engage in forced sexual relations with a bride or indeed any woman below him in status. So were we forgetting that the highest seigneur of the land, the President, has done that, has admitted to sexual molestation, to contempt for half the electorate, and has used disgusting language to describe his behavior towards and opinion of women. We elected this man, allowed him into office and we are reaping what we have sowed - WAR.
     Yes, Trump has declared war on the electorate, on the population of the country. He has approached this goal of wiping out those he does not like in various ways. So let's see how.
     First we have his race hatred, his despising of all those who are not lily white, who do not profess his hatred of others. So brown people, black people, Mexicans in particular - all "bad hombres" and from there he goes after their destruction.
     Yes, destruction or how else to explain his disastrous approach or lack of one to the calamity of Puerto Rico. How does one explain his poking fun of a proper pronunciation of the name and his throwing towels at them in order to show his concern!! How else to explain the lack of response, the delayed response, the ignoring of the fact that people are starving there, dying for lack of clean water, lack of shelter, lack of power and medical help. How, other than the fact that Trump has declared war on them.
     DACA or a war against approximately 800,000 young men and women who have committed the crime of coming with their parents to a land of hope, when they were children, and going to school, getting jobs, living as citizens of the country, planning for a future, but they are brown!! Hence - get the hell out!! We have lost any aspect of humanity, have found dregs of humanity who are willing to go and drag these people out, go after their parents, grab them in courts, in hospitals, at work, at play, out of their homes - all in the name of "following orders". Now where have we heard that before? And remember, hatred does not end and when one target is eliminated, well, hatred always finds another. Be aware and beware.
     FREEDOM OF THE PRESS - Since the trial of Peter Zenger, the freedom of the press, the right to write what it wishes, to expose corruption and pass on news has been very clear here in America. Yet this week, the President of the United States, he who is supposed to defend our rights, our Constitution, states that "it is disgusting that the press can write what it wants and somebody should look into that." That is sacrilegious and this man needs to stop his warring on the very foundation of our country.
      Trumpcare or more truthfully, deathcare. Frustrated by the lack of a reasonable and righteous repeal and replacement of ACA, Trump has decided to undercut the health of all Americans - erase that - of middle and lower class Americans - by writing yet another of his Executive Orders, the only way he finds he can function. Destroy the financial underpinning of ACA, do so at the very time of renewal and signing up and what do we have but WAR against the very base he thinks he has. So will the poor of Appalachia, the workers of the farms and small towns of America, the underemployed of the rust belt cities, the very people who need subsidized medical care - will they survive or will they die out and oops, there goes his deluded base, his brainwashed base. Deathcare on the rise!
     NAFTA AND TRADE PACTS - The man pulls out of every deal we have made, and yes, there are some issues with them as in every deal, but on the whole, trade has increased, the economy has absorbed it and evolved with it but Trump throws it all out, water, tub and baby. Businesses are pleading not to pull out, businesses are showing how manufacturing is now a multi national process and he will kill it all - but nope, Trump's war goes on against the world and against this electorate.
     KOREA AND IRAN - The man here retreats back into his infancy and toddlerhood, using name calling as a method of statesmanship - an oxymoron if ever there were one!! He behaves as a demented man even as he talks at the loosely wired heads of state of North Korea and Iran. North Korea has finally come up with a good name for Trump -  a "strangler of peace" and how true that is, not that they are innocent, but we are supposed to be the sane ones, the ones who keep deals, who know that diplomacy is a line of tact, of talk, of proper force and not insane threats and a disaster in the offing - the destruction of the world in nuclear war. And all he can tweet about is the fact that his plan to increase our nuclear holdings was discovered and exposed. Why do we need more - to destroy ourselves four time over? The man is mad, a warmonger of the worst degree. Yes, it is war time.
     SECRECY - Trump has a loose and big mouth, a profane one, and he shoots it off in his tweets without thinking about consequences, like a child. Only he is 71!! And then he wants to erase these tweets and statements as for example, his going to court now to keep the Comey files secret. They have back classified them, kind of calling a game after it is over and all to keep this out of the eye of the public. Well, too late, as all the barn doors have been opened already!! But he continues to govern in secret, appointing lobbyists to positions of power in direct opposition to the jobs they are supposed to do - protect the American public and the American dream.
      DESTROYED THE TRUST IN OUR DEMOCRATIC RITES - By introducing Russian interference with the campaign, indeed, by allegedly inviting them into the process, Trump et al have destroyed our trust in the very process which makes our democracy strong - the free election of officials of government. So now, before the next large election, states are running to protect the processes, protect the electorate, stop the attempts to cut out voters, the illegal and immoral process of gerrymandering, of any and all hacking in the vote. And yet, the trust or rather mistrust will linger, like a dirty haze over it all and that is thanks to Trump.
     TAX REFORM - What a joke. It is welfare for the wealthy and even they have admitted that. I need not say more.
     INADEQUACY - The man is simply unable to prepare for all events and possibilities. Our state of California is burning, people are running for their lives and the remains of it are ashes. People are dying even as Trump et al roll back the protections that would fight against such catastrophes. Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the states inundated by storms - the man is bewildered and can only throw paper towels and praise himself as he lies and lies and lies about his 'achievements'! And the man and his sycophants continue to destroy any and all protection of the electorate so in a modern day version of Marie Antoinette - let them breathe dirty air, let the chemicals roll on, let the water be contaminated, let the food rot for lack of workers, let us destroy our lands with mining, let us destroy all that makes America -America, a former leader of the world, a former country of morals and ethics, of care for humanity.
    War? War indeed. He has declared war upon us all, especially if you are outside the lines he draws - so women, LGBTQ, brown and black, poor, middle class - beware. You are being warred upon by the very person supposed to have your back. Watch out for the knife in the back instead.
     

FYI

In the spirit of this posting and this blog site, please join with many at the Clubhouse in the party room on October 19, 7-9 where a vigil for peace will be held, for anti hate, against the words of Richard Spencer who will be speaking at the University in Gainsville. It matters not your affiliation or views on a politician. All that counts is that you oppose hatred and words of hate. Come, let us join together and use our words to bring about a better world.

  Due to a religious holiday I will not be posting a new one till Sunday morning. In the meanwhile, please read and think about those I have posted on the blog and let us hope that you know who does not get too nutsy over the weekend!

WORDS. A REFLECTION

     Words. A compilation of letters, in turn another compilation, this time of shapes and implied sounds. They can be as small as one letter to those of massive length. They can open the world or shut it down, create a future or take it away.
     Five small words, four small words can change an outlook. It can take away a planned future which seemingly has no expiration date, to one where there was one, unknown but definitely implied. On the other hand it can open a new panorama for a future.. Will you marry me? You have ..... The power of words and the images they create are unstoppable.
     I have always wondered if we were assigned a specific number of words at birth and what would happen if we reached our limit. A good story line for some sci-fi show, but we really do need to watch our words and encourage a much better system and use of them.
     Today the world of words is a world of war, waged with cruel syllables, nasty ones of bullying, harsh and insulting ones and rarely does one hear words of reconciliation, of peace, of sympathy. Despair replaces hope and the lexicon changes but we gain nothing and lose so much. 
     The Beatles sang some songs of peace, but it never came. Yoko Ono places a full page ad in the NY Times on the anniversary of the shooting of John Lennon, asking for us to "give peace a chance" but we simply ignore it. Just as the world ignores the huge store of Israeli songs asking, begging for peace, of the songs for peace coming from its liturgy. Instead it uses lying words to accuse Israel of warmongering, the words of the twisting of truth. The war of words with North Korea can explode in a war from which there is no return.
     Words can lie. They can cut. They can break a person as cruelly as one who breaks bones and the effect can be longer lasting and more deeply felt. They can be as incisive and cutting as a blow to the heart with a physical weapon.Why is that? Why are we so insistent on using our words to hurt and dominate?
     What is among the worst misuse of words today is that of Trump. He cannot recognize a word of truth. He chooses not to. He conducts his business with words of insult and cruelty. He uses his words to harm rather than benefit. He most assuredly uses words so badly, so negatively, that we have no recourse but to think him as mentally ill or worse, purposely harmful and then we wonder what his goals truly are.
     Worse than that is the model he plays for those who also wish to lie and cheat. We have Nunes, Sessions, the alt right who are now empowered by Trump, people refusing to testify as to their part in collusion with Russia and then their master screeches of patriotism? For which country, even as he praise the Penguins as patriots - the team with more than a dozen aliens, you know, those creatures that Trump usually disparages. Hypocrisy reigns.
     So Trump roars and tweets in a blatant display of boorish behavior, of lying behavior, of behavior that should not be tolerated, certainly not in a supposed adult and the words of those who should deplore this are sadly missing.
     I have had it with words this week, be they of private content or those of a world figure. I want to hear the words that elicit the perfume of flowers, the kindness and empathy of one for another, the words of love that can light up the world, the words of kindness and kinship, the words that would never allow man to attack woman and justify it. Where are those words?
     Words and their usage began this world. Words have brought it to its figurative knees many time. And words have now brought us on the map to the point where the earth falls away and the map is outlined with the words "Here Be Monsters". But actually, the monsters are already here; we do not need to go sailing off to find them. We can join these monsters or we can defy them. The choice is through our words.
     I write from the heart here. I write in the hope that perhaps we can find better use for our words, make better choices and defeat those monsters.
     Word.

In the spirit of this posting and this blog site, please join with many at the Clubhouse in the party room on October 19, 7-9 where a vigil for peace will be held, for anti hate, against the words of Richard Spencer who will be speaking at the University in Gainsville. It matters not your affiliation or views on a politician. All that counts is that you oppose hatred and words of hate. Come, let us join together and use our words to bring about a better world.
     

CAN WE TALK?

     So would ask the late Joan Rivers and off she would go, making people laugh even as sharp barbs of truth came through. We need to talk, desperately so, right now. But we need to talk with each other rather than at each other. The need is desperate and the time for reckoning approaching at a gallop.
     Dishonorable. Inability. Mentally deranged. Explosive. Limited. All these and worse are used to describe the President of the United States. While shocking and extreme, it is okay, for that is the freedom of the country and the world to judge a public figure. What is shocking is that the criticism is so horribly, fantastically true. Bigly so. Very sad but true.
    Never before have we had a President who lied so much, who does so as a matter of everyday behavior, a man who shows no self control as he tweets the day away, behaving like a Alpha girl taking off after her most recent target. Even were he to tell the truth at some critical moment the effort to believe him and act on that belief would be sorely challenged, for the truth appears to be a no go for this man. Ever.
     Corker did not plead. Pence went on OUR dime to set up a fund raising divisive moment. The players are trying to make a point in a non violent manner, not showing disrespect for the flag but for those who claim the flag allows discrimination, racial injustice, hatred, prejudice. No, women do not like to be molested and sexually attacked. Bannon is an outright hate monger and the President backs him, encourages him and Bannon has come out now in full roar to defend Trump. A man wounded, beaten horrifically at Charlottesville now has a warrant out for him on "unlawful wounding" - possibly the result of a flashlight swing he did to protect a man being speared by a flagpole!!
     A city official takes back his resignation due to two racial slurs  he made about ADAs. Russia takes advantage of the anger, the rage, the disappointment of the American people and stokes it even more via Facebook, You tube and ads all over the place. They talk frequently with the Trump campaign. 
     There is no controlling this man and his "base" appear to be now mainly the dregs, those who carry the tiki lamps and red flags at rallies, those who scream with glee when a threat comes out of his mouth, when yet another black man is beaten down, when yet another synagogue is defiled with a swastika. The rest, I have no clue as to why they are still there in his camp other than the refusal to admit, to realize how wrong they were and how dangerous this man is.
     Women stand to lose all they have gained over the past century from respect to control over their own bodies, from the right to work to the right of equality in all spheres, including payment for a job or position. And it should make no difference how a woman is dressed or if she sashays down the street. Her right to do so, whether one likes it or not, is her right and she should not be attacked nor held responsible for an attack any more than a man in overly tight pants ,all the better to show off his junk should be liable to attack by other men or women disturbed by his manner of dress or walk.
      We casually toss around threats of nuclear war, of nuclear bombs, forgetting that we all share a planet and there is no hiding from the fallout. Or are we planning to return to the films of the fifties where people hid underground for millennia and then emerged only to meet the monsters and mutations of the surface!!! Face reality, folks.
     The White House has lost control over its main resident. Melania has finally woken up when Ivana said that SHE was the First Lady. Not sure what difference that claim makes! Senators are talking in private over the walking disaster of Trump but are afraid to speak out. Where is their courage? Would they have allowed slavery to continue were it brought up in their term of service if the President of the times had defended it? Moral outrage and the courage to act on it are desperately needed these days. So desperately.
     Millions upon millions of years ago there was a beautiful orb spinning in space with pristine waters, lands of grass and beauty, with all that one could need to live a beautiful life. The animals roamed in grace and freedom, only having to deal with natural enemies, a balance kept on this orb.
     Then Danger!! A new creature, a furless, two legged, ostensibly weaker creature came to this orb and the world was changed for all time. Sent to live a good life, a life of honor, of devotion, of kindness and righteousness, man instead turned to violence and greed and the Creator looked down upon His Creation and despaired. Are we at that time again when G-d will look down upon us and wonder where He went wrong and what to do? And if one does not believe in a G-d, in a Power, then one can believe in the natural morality of life, the path we should be following and the point of near destruction that we have ourselves created upon this Earth.
     I have never before been so frightened in my life for my life, for the lives of my children and grandchildren, for the lives of my people and for the lives of us all. We exist in hate and anger. We know what is wrong yet persist in doing it. We know the consequences but ignore them in a selfishness to amass more money, more power. The time for reckoning draws ever nigh. I, for one, would rather put that off for a while! We are at one minute to midnight and the clock is ticking.
     TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK.

SIGNPOSTS

     There are signposts to both good and bad administrations. Here are some of the signposts along the road of the Trump administration and, of course, where appropriate, feel free to see the distorted reflection as well in the David Israel administration here in CV.
 1. Secrecy and opaqueness - Transparency is not a featured trait of a bad administration. Yes, there are attempts to pull the wool over the electorates eyes but it is not successful. Most administration seems to be done via one man fiats as in Executive Orders or as in the decision making process which leaves out the voters.
2. Lack of cohesiveness - There seems to be no united theme or goal, no target that makes sense. There appears to be no goal that remains true to its statements or introduction.
3. No mission statement - There is no philosophy of government, no guiding principle (s) other than the exercising of power as seen fit by the head administrator and appointees.
4. Accountability - There is no clear line of responsibility when a debacle arises when a decision goes disastrously wrong. Instead, the whole mess is pushed under the rug as much as possible and then allowed to sink into the muck and mire of other misdeeds.
5. Due Process - To put it simply, there is none. There is no orderly and transparent method by which items and/or plans are processed from inception to completion.
6. Input from the electorate - Again, there is none, and should one attempt to contribute, a ridiculously complicated procedure is put in place which makes it impossible to proceed with any degree of success.
7. Nastiness of the administrator - All opposition to the policies and/or plans of the head administrator are belittled in a personal manner, called names, and denied rights. This process verges on the border of persecution.
8. Use of threats to stifle Opposition - When opposition comes on strong or righteously, threats of using force, security and the forces of such are made in order to stifle any dissent.
9. Improper conducting of meetings (violations of Roberts Rules). - Rules of order, of conducting of meetings ,of the role of the Chair are blatantly violated. All calls to order that point this out or wish to put an end to it are dismissed, belittled or ignored.
10. Financial mischief - Money is used indiscriminately, much to the detriment of the funds of the electorate, spent in the wrong pathways and barely held to account.
11. Poor advisers and bad advice - The advisers of the administrator are not held to standards other than pleasing the administrator and hence we have harmful decisions for the electorate and the political entity being governed.
12. Confusing and confused plans - if any - for the future. Due to all the lacks of this administration there is no one good, cohesive plan for the future, certainly none that make sense, financially, or in any other manner. 
13. Redeeming features? Barely a hint of any.
    Now compare and contrast the national and our very local administrations and find any difference. Yes, possibly there are good public servants here or there in both places, but not enough so as to totally overcome the harm of these administrators and their henchmen with their dastardly plans for themselves and their entities.
     Unfortunately we are in a pickle, as big as the old time nickel pickles we used to buy as kids. As president we have a mentally deranged man, totally immersed in his own fake world, who makes up videos which show and reshow the same vehicles, or men supposedly hard at work who show no sign of breaking a sweat, help going to people who live in intact apartments and homes, who appear cleanly washed and fluffed, and the same mess of one road. Yes, some help has come thru, but this man did not come thru for these people, for fellow Americans - and woe upon him for this. But in the meanwhile, it is woe upon the people, particularly as headway is beginning to be made into the hinterlands and people are being found in bad ways, particularly the elderly or the more fragile of the citizens.
      This man is now having  a growing number of his appointees investigated for wasting of public funds, misuse of these funds to flit them around the country and world. This is the "swamp" draining? I think not. I think that Trump et al are filling the bogs and fens of D.C. quite well and quite hypocritically.
     What appears to me to be growing is a cynical use of every and anything in order to maintain power and enrich their own pockets in their rush to destroy the country and the balance of the world. Use of Facebook, ever increasing nasty ads sponsored by Russian linked people and sites, with vicious lies, allowing the Russians deep into our most sacred rite of democracy.
     We have incessant quarreling amongst the officers of this administration. Look at the latest with Bob Corker who was publicly accused of being a man with "no guts", who accused - rightfully so - the White House of being an adult day care center, with the implied adult in care being Trump- and how correct he is on that! And the tweet war continues.
     And do not forget the ridiculous set up by Pence who walked into a football game and then ostensibly walked out, disturbed by the kneeling at the anthem or whatever form the protest took. Reporters were even told to remain behind as Pence would be out soon. What an infantile manner of doing government! And there is no disrespect to the flag or soldiers or anyone else within these protests. In fact, they are showing more honor than are the alt right, their supporters, and Trump who has encouraged the growth of hatred and prejudice in the country. We need to all walk out on them!!
     The cherry on top? The increased demand by Trump to wage an intensified war on the immigrants, going after not only the Dreamers, but their parents and now, on the children coming thru to be reunited with their parents who have worked and saved enough money to bring their children into a future with hope, what America was meant to be. No foreign workers is his cry - that is, other than those he needs at his hotels and golf courses! This is a man with no humanity, a man of cruelty, of metal confusion, of nefarious plans and a man most dangerous to us and our country and to all who follow in his footsteps and mannerisms.
     It is now up to us to make it very clear to the politicians in D.C. that they must step up to the plate, particularly the Republicans. They allowed this farce of a president to get into office. It is their responsibility to get him gone. Now!!

NOTE TO FUTURE: BAH HUMBUG!

     Imagine this: several humanoid figures are digging around in a large mound, trying to figure out what happened to the race of people on this planet. The humanoids are from a planet other than earth and earth is where they are digging. So what indeed happened to the population of this sphere in space?
     It seems that sometime in the first third of the 21st century according to their calculations, they lost the will and the reason to adjust to the demands of life. Personal desires, wishes and demands took the place of the good of the many, people of different colored flesh, people of different faiths, people of different beliefs in certain facts of life all combined to turn into a conflagration that destroyed the world.
     From what they dug up, this is the story. It appeared that these humanoids of Earth forgot that children were the future, healthy children, well educated children, children with ethics and values, children who were taught that we are one, rather than a bunch of separate warring tribes. But what happened was the opposite.
     Children had their health program taken away. Children were cheated in their education. Children were taught that instead of seeing all as our brothers and sisters, one family, they were taught that the tribe is what counts. They saw a violent tribe return to Charlottesville, shouting how they will not be replaced, chanting that the enemy of their country, Russia, was their friend, evidently emulating the belief of the president at that time.
     And the violence continued to rise. There were mass shootings all over the country and yet these humanoids refused to understand the simple mathematics. Take away the guns, enforce it strictly so that only hunting rifles with limited magazines, only handguns with limited clips, only limited types of ammo - take away all that and one limits the possibilities. Add to that the teachings that we are one, that we do not kill each other in bouts of madness and pique and perhaps there would have been a good start to the end of slaughter. But it was not to be.
     Faith was evidently another area in which there was great friction. Different names were assigned to their G-d and they refused to realize that no matter the name, the G-d was the same. The pleas for peace, the pleas for a better year, a good year, for a world in which they could raise their children with hope and love, a world in which the destruction of the world did not take precedence over all else - all this was asked for from the "different" versions of a Power. Would that we would have recognized that fact before it was too late. If only...
     But there was a man at that time, supposedly a leader according to the artifacts, that pushed the opposite. He urged war on all who opposed him. He practiced nastiness and indeed, even madness. He poked fun of people's language, he threw towels at the site of a natural disaster saying that all were having fun catching these rolls of paper, all the while there were people dying for lack of food, for lack of water, for lack of medicine, for lack of roads to reach them.
     This man of hate and anger encouraged the hatred to spread. He spoke of war, of nuclear devastation, of no need for talk but for the show of the fist. Nothing else mattered other than his particular private business and his profits from it, even as he appointed the members of his family to positions of responsibility and power, the classic moves of a dictator.
     And so matters worsened. Women, denied their rights, with no proper birth control, no legal sayso over their own bodies, began to surge back into the deadly world of back alley abortions, of wire hanger abortions, even as this man and his cohorts shouted wild religious statements and misquoted religious texts.
     And so the nastiness grew, it festered, and people regressed into the tribalism of the beginning of mankind, only now this tribalism was accompanied by powerful weapons capable of destroying each other to the point of no return. And use these weapons they did. And so we saw children of skin and bones, hanging from the arms of their parents. We saw elderly people confused as to the situation, sitting by the side of the road, waiting for death to relieve and release them. We saw people killing and killing, refusing to talk and finally it was too late.
     The balance had tipped. There was no way back. Even as the brighter people of the planet and of the humanoid Earth population realized what was happening, there was no path to salvation. Not any longer. And so too late, they waited for the inevitable end. Too late they realized that the gods over which they had been feuding had long ago left them. A famous Rebbe (rabbi) was once asked, "Rebbe, where is G-d?" His answer: "Wherever one lets Him in." Well, we closed the door on Him, did we not. We perverted everything that G-d stood for, no matter the name assigned to Him.
     And so these space archeologists gathered their tools, gathered the relics uncovered, looked around and shook their heads. What a waste. What a mess of destruction, a planet left uninhabitable by the last minute blasts of nuclear weapons, a planet whose residents ate each other, figuratively speaking, who ate up their own future. A planet which discarded the divine spark within them and instead turned to the demons within them.
     Is this our future? Are we so different from the history of those humanoids of Earth? Think about it and think again. What exactly are we doing and where are we going? And who have we allowed to be in positions of power. And have we learned anything from the mess or are we still descending even further into tribalism and hate, war and destruction. Future? What future?
     

NEXT POSTING

     Due to a religious holiday I will not be posting a new one till Sunday morning. In the meanwhile, please read and think about those I have posted on the blog and let us hope that you know who does not get too nutsy over the weekend!

WHAT ON EARTH

   "Hell is empty and all the devils are here." William Shakespeare
     So it seems. It seems that we have been visited by all the demons of the underworld and the hits just keep on coming, be they of natural forces or by the hand of man. Mankind has overcome many troubled years, years when people wondered if the world would - could - continue, yet there is something in the air now that is possibly even more troubling than ever before. Or perhaps it is that we are returning to a time of the past when there were not even countries, but tribes and a tribal mentality. Examine the terms of nationalism, populism, and see the truth underneath them both, the truth of tribalism, of barbarity, of cold and selfish hearts, of cruelty.
     The largest mass shooting in this country, perpetrated by a man who planned it all with tools of murder legally acquired, with devices to hasten the pace of the deadly bullets, with devices to hush the sound of their firing until it did not matter anymore so loud were the screams and the cries of the wounded and the mourners, All this and what do we get when people plead over the airwaves, in Congress, on TV, at vigils in Vegas - we get a "not now". What is not now? The time to rein in the gun toting mentality of this country?
     So when is that time? First graders were not important enough. High schoolers were not as well. Any of the other mass shootings this year were not, or last year, or the year before, going back to whenever, and evidently this event follows that line of thinking. Ryan says they are too busy trying to pass the budget so no time for gun control. The President continues his unpresidential ways and says not now - so when, I, and many others, ask.
     I have no trouble with the Second Amendment but nowhere in there does it say that it is right or safe or moral for people to hold and use assault weapons and nowhere in common sense either. What gives the NRA or anyone else the right to push their murderous and unlimited philosophy upon the rest of us? How does being legal to own a handgun translate into civilians being able to hold and own and use assault weapons. Where do we stop - or do we not? RPGs anyone?
     And this hypocrisy worms its way into the rest of other issues.  One of the "pro life" voters in Congress had some nerve. His extra marital lover took him to task asking how he could do this when last week he asked her to get an abortion of their presumed unborn child. Turned out to be a scare, but that does not happen for many others who for one good reason or another need an abortion. The choice to have one is not anti life. It is the hardest decision ever in a woman's life, and is her right, not that of some old white men sitting in a dusty corrupted corner of D.C.
     And what on earth continues as we find that Michigan and Wisconsin were targeted by the Russians. The stink ever grows. And Mueller and his team are researching presidential pardons, trying to ensure that Trump does not pardon before court even happens. Such is the level we have reached. And those who screamed to hang Hillary for emails are guilty of the same doings, and worse, and Jared keeps lying thru his teeth as do the others, involving Trump Organization into governmental business. Money, money, and business all the time - and screw the country. Gerrymander their states until the minority of voters can own the state - Republicans, be ashamed of yourselves, be ashamed to stand in front of your children as they realize how crooked and immoral you are.
     Trump continues his uncaring and self boasting path thru Puerto Rico and goes on to Vegas today. Again, the hypocrisy of some!! Handing out a couple of sandwiches and a roll of paper towels in a large city does not ameliorate the troubles and woes of the majority of the island, no matter how often one pats himself on the back.
      "There is accumulation,
        There is responsibility.
        And beyond these, there is unrest.
        There is great unrest."
   We need to face the truth of that quote, the state of affairs of the world. The unrest is growing, the civil unrest is almost frightening. Jason Aldean, the country music star who was singing that night, who has cancelled his weekend shows, says it better than I could so I give you what he posted on social media. Read it and hear and feel the truth, the sadness in the warning and the plea of his words. They are the words of all thinking and feeling people.
     
"Over the last 24 hrs I have gone through lots of emotions. Scared, Anger, Heartache, Compassion and many others. I truly don't understand why a person would want to take the life of another. Something has changed in this country and in this world lately that is scary to see. This world is becoming the kind of place I am afraid to raise my children in," he wrote.
"At the end of the day we aren't Democrats or Republicans, Whites or Blacks, Men or Women. We are all humans and we are all Americans and it's time to start acting like it and stand together as ONE! That is the only way we will ever get this Country to be better than it has ever been, but we have a long way to go and we have to start now," he continued. "My heart aches for the Victims and their families of this Senseless act. I am so sorry for the hurt and pain everyone is feeling right now and there are no words I can say to take that pain away. Just know u all are in my heart and my prayers as we all go through this together. Time to come together and stop the hate!"
     Straight from the heart, trashing the would be devils of the world. Hear these words, feel these pleas, and let us all work together to change the hate. What on earth? Not what we have now. That's for sure.

      

CONFUSION DESPAIR AND ANSWERLESS

     From early yesterday morning, when I first read of the Vegas massacre thru this morning, as I watched the toll climb and the identification of more and more of the dead, the hopelessness grew. Again and again we have had mass shootings here, around 270 this year alone and no, these were not all perpetrated by some crazed terrorist, but by many seemingly normal people who then turned out to have had mental issues yet were able to get their weapons of death. Yesterday's shooter was able to buy rifle after rifle and even have an AK 47 or similar weapon, a weapon of war used on unarmed and unaware civilians as they stood in a shooting box, like sheep to the slaughter. No real place to run, to hide, to save friends and loved ones, to save oneself - nowhere to escape the criminally negligent thinking of those in Congress who refuse to put in place a strict gun control situation.
     How many more times is Gifford going to have to speak of her own terror, of her hard work to get back to a new normal? How many more times will the parents of little ones need to be reminded of their never ending pain as more people are shot? How many more orphans are we going to create all because the legislators have no courage to stand up to their base and say no more! Yes, you can have a rifle for hunting - if you pass a check, but you certainly do not need a mass of them nor are you allowed to have an assault weapon.
     It almost does not matter why this man became a mass murderer, be it mental illness, worries of his own making, radical ideas, left, right or terrorist, for the result is the same - more death and no action to prevent it again.
     Trump did not mention one word about gun control nor did most Republicans. Has that party become the party that supports hatred and violence? Poor Lincoln must be watching from above and wondering what happened to his party, their ideals. And the people who think and feel are standing there with a hopeless wonder. What has happened to this nation and its citizens?
     So what can be done? Well, lowering the flag to half mast does nothing. Sorry to say that, but it is the truth. It begins to lose its meaning after a while and nothing happens to stop future incidents as a result of the lowering. Talking of the pain, of its evilness does nothing unless followed by action. But legislators are afraid of the NRA who apparently think not so much of the dead who stand there looking at them from hollow eyes. Nope, they got their rifles. They got their assault weapons to assault what? The deer? The ducks? Or the people? And yet they wish to add more to this armory of death by allowing further expansion of the types of ammo allowed, the easier to kill people, and to allow silencers, I guess so the victims will have less warning time as the muted sounds of murder frighten fewer targets. Now isn't that special!!
     And in the midst of all this we have the ever growing show of lack of morals and ethics in our government as is presently constituted. Yet another email address for Ivanka and Jared who never belonged in the White House to begin with. Yet more proof of contact between the Trump campaign and the Russians and more talk of business, the ever present goal of Trump, that and profits and to hell with principle and values. Over 10 million people exposed to ads placed by Russian (government) all the better to stir up trouble, racial divides and defeat Hillary. So how many times the thirty pieces of silver did Facebook rake in? Were there any people thinking that this was wrong? Or is it that we have come to only value money, money.
     And added to that we have the proposed welfare bill for the wealthy, the one that will add 2.4 trillion dollars to the deficit and double and triple that over a period of a few more years even as the ultra wealthy rake in increased savings, ever more money so they can buy their fifth and sixth houses!! And as for the middle class - well, too bad, let them eat cake, I guess, if they have less money to buy bread.
     And let us not forget the people of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the American citizens we have neglected and ignored in their moment of crisis - no, their days and weeks, and months to be, if we do not get moving on this. Trump seems to have his typical bigotry going nicely as he warns and chides these brown people that they should have paid their bills, as he considers their agony of no food, no water, no gasoline, no outside contact, the months ahead of them, the agony of families still awaiting contact with loved ones, the houses that will need to be rebuilt, the roads of the mountains that will need reconstruction, the bridges down and the list goes on. And do not forget those dying because they have no access to medicine and no place to refrigerate that which requires it. Furthermore, I guess we should remind Trump, he who always needs to bring in our soldiers, that many of these "brown" people served in Afghanistan, in Desert Storm, in the Korean War, in Iraq, wherever our soldiers were sent. Remember that in your visit to the island today. See the agony of those outside the city and stop picking on those who remind you of your duty as President of this nation of all people that you have divided so. Remember that call for unity that you sent out yesterday. Stand by these words and do not fail us yet again.
     I am not optimistic about the outcome. There will be yet again a deadly silence about gun control as the NRA sends out its blustery pronouncements. There will be a mass forgetting of yet again another tragedy as its victims have to deal with their outcomes for years.  And the President will fail us, disappoint us yet again.The people of the islands will continue to struggle after the spotlight is off. And we will remain confused, shocked and in despair, hopeless that there will actually be a change and wondering when and how we can stop all this murder, mayhem and indifference from the powers that be. First step - vote out those who are deaf to the needs of the people and vote in those of courage and values. 
Without that first step, we all may as well buy Kevlar vests and metal hats.
     

WARNING: DANGER AHEAD

     Vacation. Walking along the beaches of Isla Verde or the Condado. Trekking thru the El Yunque Rain Forest. Wondering at the dense jungles and the steep mountains. That is or was Puerto Rico. It used to be a favorite getaway of ours during our working years and now? Now the people are struggling to survive and not in the sense of everyday troubles but in Survival!
     The mayor of San Juan is out there 24/7, working, pleading for help and that help can be there if only, if only we did not have a delusional, dangerous, self centered degenerative at the supposed helm of the country. He who stays in abodes and getaways of the 1%, he who watches a golf match from a special viewing point, in a club that costs half a million to join even as people are dying, yes dying, in the mountains of Puerto Rico, he who brought danger to the entire country - he has lead and is leading us into more and more danger.
     It is the dangers that derive from delusions of grandeur. It is the dangers that derive from selfishness. It is the dangers that arise from a brain suffering from some unknown as known yet degenerative condition. If only he were to suffer, then fine, so be it, but he is taking the country along with him and literally is guilty of causing the death of others, a criminal act, a crime against humanity.
     Calling people names, be it "Little Rocket Man", or "political ingrates" does not change the picture nor gain progress. We have seen the illusions of calling opponents name right here in CV, where we are once again in a precarious financial situation, particularly as we look toward the needs of the near future, and multiply that  danger as we apply it to the country.
     We have a president who opposes his own appointees. As dangerously inexperienced and incapable of fulfilling his responsibilities towards the country, at least Tillerson is trying to talk down the Korean dude off the ledge even as his own boss cuts his legs out from beneath him.
     We have a country that is now rudderless, and no one is calling out for "my captain, my captain". There is almost open rebellion out there, what with shirts stating Everybody vs. Trump - and that is growing truer and truer every day. People are shouting at each other, no more talking and sharing, for the supposed helmsman does not abide nor support that technique.  Even as he cuts the ground beneath his supposed base by pushing his welfare for the wealthy tax plan, by pushing for his deathcare misnamed healthcare program, by ignoring the very real dangers to life and the very survival of the islanders of Puerto Rico, he maintains that all is well in his delusional world.
     The shoals of danger are perilously close to our ship of state. The nations of the world have decided that the United States of America, that once proud nation, that once upon a time leader of the  Free World, is now almost negligible as they write it off, designating it to the useless but dangerous column. Arms trading is growing everyday, from and to North Korea, Nasrallah is threatening the Jews of Israel that they had better leave the country before the next war is upon them and the rest of the world keeps the blinders on, maintains that anti Zionism is not simply another name for anti Semitism, as indeed the ugly head of anti Semitism and the growing racial and religious hatred around the globe grows, as the Rohingya of Malaysia are threatened with genocide and the world stands idly by, and as we now awake to yet another shooting with many critically wounded, dead and injured taking place in the delusional world of Las Vegas - what are we to do? Does not anybody hear the roar of the waves against the shores, the rocky shores, the ones that will tear out the hull, sending us to the bottom?
     And maybe that is what we deserve, allowing this dangerously delusional man to rule us, to do his outrageous deeds , to shout and tweet out his calls to hate, and to try to deflect all blame and consequence as he pulls one more and yet one more act of lunacy, so much so that we are growing tired of this and the danger is growing that we resign ourselves to this, waiting for possible relief in 2018 or 2020. But we cannot do that. We cannot blind ourselves to the very possibility that ignoring this, trying to play down its growing danger will not cause more danger and bring us right to the tipping point.
     Time for this man and  his base and his sycophants and his bigots and haters to go. Time for us to stand up for America! We are immigrants all, be it of this generation or one or more back. Take the rights away from one group and another will soon follow. There is no vacuum of safety.
     Remember the old PSA that showed an Indian chief on a horse beside a polluted river, tears rolling down his face? Well, people, grow that message into our Founding Fathers standing beside a country in distress, a country that turns its back on its heritage, and then ask yourself if you can ignore this and you who voted for Trump - would you still do that, still remain in the delusions that he is for the common man?
     The time to face facts is here. The time for difficult decisions is here. The roars of the rocky shore grow ever louder. Danger ahead!

GOOD JOB, DONALD - SAID DONALD

     Self praise means nothing in the long and short run of things and it is amazing how much praise certain people can heap upon themselves even as their supposed efforts fall thru cracks in walls, floors, and ceilings.
     Let's go locally for the outset. David Israel, in the new Rag, pats himself on the back for deeds accomplished, or so he says. He continues to lie about things  thinking no one notices and when people do notice, he calls them names - getting old, that tactic, Davey. No one planned to walk out of the DA so there was no failure there. What did happen is that after opinions were given, during which David, as usual, kept talking, a vote was taken and by four votes - for it had to pass by 76 votes and it was 79 - the motion passed and then, disgusted by it all, most people just got up and walked out. Truth, Mr. Israel, truth. And recognition of the fact that these few people decided on a huge issue for 15,000 people. Your typical tactic.
     At the introductory sessions for the clicker, it was promised that the first few votes would be with clicker and ballot. Never happened!! And then David makes fun of these people right there in the DA and I happen  to know one of them, a lovely elderly lady, who was not sure, so she kept to the ballot for this first vote. You are a nasty individual and do not care who you insult, do you? Does it make you feel big? Just like Donald!
     Then of course, we have the Rag, your private promotional media, in which you boast of the hurricane effort here in CV and one way you did that was to take to "task" those who said, gasp - that it was not perfect and needed lots of tweeking. So you say all these people were out of state. Wrong!! And even if they were, perhaps there was a reason for that outside the hurricane, and people still did not get what they needed even as you boast of CERT. Yes, volunteers did the best they could but the fact is that people do not volunteer much because they hate you and cannot wait till you are out of office- by whatever means  and oh, a minor detail. you say volunteer - and then you deny those efforts to volunteer so there ya go again - more lies, more lies and yet more lies.
     Okay, 'nuff with you now, little man and on to the bigger problem of this country - its President, one who is struggling mightily to be a president or at least one in his own image. Just think of what this man has done or not thru the months of his administration. First of all, it is difficult to keep track of who is in and who is out as they quit, get fired, get caught in major no-nos, shoot their mouths off, try to cheat the taxpayers as billionaires use our money to pay for their private trips but that is not all. In this great job, Donny, you have millions of people bereft of help and he and the Governor can lie thru their teeth - the needed help is not there. The necessary people are not there. And the cities and villages and small settlements in the mountains are foodless, waterless, powerless, gasless, roadless even as he pats himself on the back. I personally know of several families, relatives of a friend, who have not yet been heard from or received nothing, have lost their homes and no, silly people, they are not paying attention to the inane and insane tweeting of this idiot - they have no power so to whom is he talking, fool!!
     There are desperate people out there in Puerto Rico and in the US Virgin Islands and he is tweeting about football, deciding what people can or cannot do, encouraging or bemoaning the loss of violence in the game. Guess he played too much as a kid and the results are quite telling with him! How about he gets a brain MRI or a PET scan so we know the truth?
     Guess that will have to take place right after he releases his tax returns. Oops, that is never going to happen. So condemn racism wherever it shows up and rears its ugly head? Nope, be it Charlottesville or Sweden where they marched purposely on Yom Kippur, there is nothing worthwhile out of his mouth.
    And Donald continues as the requests to spy on more Americans increase to the provider companies, the Russian investigation is ongoing and turning up frightening things, so much alleged incidents of collusion, so many incidents of swamp behavior among the administration people, so much negligence, so much nastiness planned and pushed, and there go the tweets on football again even as Brennan, the ex CIA director says that it is fine and the take a knee movement is simply trying to push for unity and justice, even as Donald keeps pushing the other way.
     No wonder people cannot sleep at  night! No wonder so many people are wondering where their brains were in November and are regretting their vote for Trump. And I still wonder if he is a validly elected President and so are many others, more and more every day. And even if he were, what about his mental status. SNL in a hilarious spoof semi joked of his brain deterioration but I do not think it is a joke!! In the meanwhile we have to deal with his tax plan for the wealthy, his insane yelling at foreign individuals, stop his incessant use of "rocket' terminology in discussions, his lack of care for the everyman can be seen in his attempt to push his deathcare on the country and the list keeps growing. A generous man is our Donald! Pay attention to his huge misdeeds and watch out for his deflectors. Deflection does not erase his huge errors and incapacity in the job. Good job, Donald? Not on your life!