BULLSHIT!!!!!

     There is great anger in that title. When I have a serious talk with my kids about the possibility, the nearing certainty, that it is time for us to move again, to join the throngs of history as we are forced to leave yet another country, then it is time to speak the truth and not tiptoe around it.
     Hatred has been an ever ongoing human trait since Cain killed his brother, Abel. The idea of the 'other' has been demonstrated throughout history as humans feared that which they did not know or understand and attacked, instead of trying to understand.
     And today there are many instances of stupidity, hatred, prejudice, enmity, at times and places where there should be none. And no one is denying that there is anti Muslim, anti LGBTQ, anti Latino, anti whatever one wishes to find or that exists under the sun, but the one prejudice that stands out as different is anti Semitism. It is a hatred of Jews that has been in existence since the first one, Abraham, and his tribe.
      Why? Who the hell knows. Great minds have tried to explain it, but there is no explanation for an illogical, yet at times, carefully orchestrated prejudice, one that throughout history has culminated in physical attacks, even a scientific plan to murder all, every single one, and plans were even drawn up for the destruction of Jews in Britain, the United States and Canada, populations checked, for so ambitious were the plans of Hitler and so deep was the hatred, the rancor against Jews. No rhyme, no reason, no sense, just there in a virulent manner and plan of action.
     Anti Semitism has the dubious distinction of being state sponsored. From the mouth of the Czar and his ministers, from the mouth and orders of the Popes and the highest Cardinals, from the sheikhs and imams of the Moslems and the designation of the Jews as dhimmi, second class citizens, to the implicit and even overt discrimination against Jews here in America at Ivy League schools, in professional schools, in jobs, in housing - all there.
     Worse, is that today, with all the mouthings of tsk, tsk, and we oh so love our Jewish brothers, it is all bullshit!! The world, including my country, or the one that I mistakenly thought was mine, that had been a refuge for my people, that had allowed us to thrive despite all facing us, has gone head over heels in the propagation of anti Semitism once more.
     With the economic situation of the world in an uncertain place, well, blame it on the Jews. Dust off the old tropes and canards of history and focus the unease of the people on the historical scapegoats. Ignore the human rights violations all over the world even as we finance huge projects in these countries, call them allies even as they are truly enemies of ours, and focus the uncertainty of the people on one group that has always been there for governments enmeshed in problems. Yes, there they are - the Jews. Always. For it seems that no matter what has been done, when we were absolutely being hunted down to be slaughtered to the last one, to the last drop of Jewish blood, we have survived. What's more, we have given so much to the world in so many fields, from logic to entertainment, from philosophy to sports, from business to philanthropy, and everything in between and yet, we are less than a percentage point of the world's population.
     So why this bullshit? Why this cowardice to admit that no, sticking the word Jew in an omnibus catch all resolution means NOTHING. It says nothing. It was diluted past the point where any point was made. And yes, all prejudice is awful and even evil and stems from a place of misunderstanding, ignorance, malicious manipulators, but never has there ever been such a hatred as anti Semitism, so much so, that even when one tiny country was set up in 1948 to serve as a homeland, a Jewish state, where Jews were actually welcomed, where the shreds of Jewry that remained after Hitler were able to find a home, where the refugees from the lands of the Middle East were welcomed and yes, that state made many mistakes - as do all the nations of the world. But never, never, has the world gone after any other state as they have done with Israel. Violators of human rights head a ridiculous Human Rights UN Commission and take off after Israel. Bullshit!!!The state needs to be destroyed, cut down, have sanctions, be ostracized and isolated among the peoples of the world. So we are told.
     What is all this but anti Semitism, no matter what name of disguise one affixes to it. Is it anti religious? Perhaps for some. Is it anti race? Maybe, for some. Is it jealousy? Maybe, for some. Is it a political tool for some? Definitely. Is it illogical, hateful, and seemingly eternal, different from all other hatreds? Absolutely, and anyone who denies that, who remains blind to that, either through ignorance or through virulence is wrong, incredibly so.
     And when anti Semitism rears its ugly head in my country, when I am deemed a dubiously loyal citizen, when my people are trashed and even killed in my country, when our property and institutions are vandalized and threatened, when we fear for our children and have locked doors and  armed guards, when we look around once more to see if it is safe to walk around with Jewish identity clear, then yes, maybe it is time to go,  again.
     When the cowards of the House passed that weakened and meaningless resoluton it was worth less than nothing. It was disrespectful and hateful, yes, hateful, for it demeaned, debased and belittled the violent anti Semitism that has now openly and even proudly entered into the House. The cowards refuse to step up for the truth. Omar, Tlaib and AOC need to be taken down several pegs, stripped of seats on committees, deemed incapable of doing the right thing when it comes to Israel and the Jews, and the members of the House and the Senate need to turn aside the hatred that comes from the top and the bottom, from the right and the left, cut the bullshit and ring out with the truth. Only truth and light shed upon a subject allows one to cleanse ourselves of this and other nastiness. I have long spoken about prejudice, railed against it, but anti Semitism is in a class of its own and for sure it is not a good class to be in.
     So Democrats and Republicans - the call is out to you. Democrats, where the hell are you? Why have you allowed this? Have you, too, lost your moral spines? Republicans, I never expect much of you at this point, but surely there is some spark of morality left there. And as for the weak and cowardly Jews who side with their haters, what the hell is the matter with you! The Judenrat went to the ovens, the Jewish Police went to the ovens with their families, for there is no escape and our enemies are just that - not our friends at all.
     So bullshit on all this tiptoeing around. Bullshit on all this waffling. Bullshit on all this moral cowardice. And to hell with Omar and her hatred. Go rail against the Shabab in her native land. But do not turn on the country and the people who welcomed you, who saved you from your own people. I would even bet that there were Jews among the people who helped you settle in to this country! Stop espousing hatred, along with Tlaib, and AOC, you may have some brains but you have a lot to learn and it is better to shut up and listen than spout off with dangerous nonsense.
     And bullshit on the world if once again they allow this. If once again it is deemed okay - no, the best thing - to take off against the Jews, against the Jewish state, to disguise and hide the true problems of the world under a curtain of bloody hatred. What? Do I take the armband I have from the Holocaust and put it on? Where does this end? How does it end? Hopefully not mired in the bullshit it is today. But I am not optimistic. Not at all.

KING DONALD I, GEORGE III, AND THE CZAR

          Wow, but reading some news this morning almost had me believing that I had been transported to the past. From dim memories of the past I can still recall the todo when the British Parliament and George III imposed new taxes on the American colonies and colonists who had no say in the matter. Well, if you can recall, that did not go over too well with the colonists and to cut a long story short, well here we are in the United States of America - and here we are with a channeling of George III into the wannabe king, Donald I. But this time, the taxes are being imposed either only on the lower and middle economic classes or foreign allies. Still and all, not a good feeling  and I had to rub my eyes when looking at Donald I today with what seemed to be a superimposed drawing of Geoge III. Wonder if Donald I has totally channeled George III's madness as well. Seems so, does it not!
     Seriously, what the hell is that man doing. Now he wishes to impose the entire cost of billeting American troops on their host countries and, adding to the grievance, he wishes to add on a 50% surtax!!! Wow, guess we'uns here in America are not the only ones who are getting shafted, are we? Dang, but writing that check to the IRS did not make me a  happy camper and I bet the same for most of you - unless you are in one of the rarefied levels, hence eligible for your tax  cut and refunds. Ahhh, the relief you must feel in that case.
     So now you see where George III and Donald I mesh? And where does it end? Will we have war with our allies as they refuse to pay this blackmail, as we forget that we protect OUR country by having troops there? Are we going to invade and take them by force - or not - as we set the world on fire? Are we going to wrench the world apart with this madman's warped and twisted plans? And when will this be followed by new taxes on the 'peasantry' of America as the debt balloons and the wallets fatten up oh so beautifully for the obscenely wealthy?
      See, history always repeats itself for we seem never to learn. Abraham did not end up sacrificing his son, Isaac, but we humans have been sacrificing our sons and daughters for oh these many years, fighting over the same stupid stuff, not knowing the difference of when we need to talk and when we need to show and use force. If we had done that right we never would have had WWI and thus not WWII and the millions of citizens, civilians, including the 6 million Jews, killed by Hitler and the hundreds of thousands of soldiers killed; it would never have happened. But we never learn and all I can see as I look ahead is the widening crack running through our nation, the tributary cracks off to all sides, and the rising rhetoric of hate and violence.
     And for modern day companionship, Donald I can look to the wannabe Czar, BFF Putin, who is tightening up on all the rights of the people in Russia, threatening prison terms for critics of the government in general and individuals, internet increasingly controlled, rights of the press violated, and more and more corruption. Hmmm, sounds like the times of Russia prior to 1917, and you know, actually, the corruption merely morphed there into new disguises and never really changed.
     Seriously, what are we going to do? Sanders says that "Donald Trump must be defeated" and though I oppose Sanders, he is so right here, and the unity he is pledging is hopefuly contagious. I hope, too, that AOC learns how to temper her mouth out of which comes both some clever ideas and at the same time, words of manifest hatred and support of anti Semitism. The most recent resolution was a prime example of the more is less theory of life as anti Semitism was not even mentioned, just the word Jews thrown in there as Congress made a messy and unpalatable stew of the whole thing.
     And as for the Democratic party and its members - shame on you. The cowardice of the Republican Party members seems to be passing on to you as you do not stand up to defy the haters and the liars, as you allow Jilhan Omar to keep her seats. She is poison personified, mocks us all as she rants and spews hatred and then says "sorry' and does it again! And you sit there and listen and condone and excuse?! Cowards, all of you who did not do the right thing there! As you allow Omar and Tlaib to rant and rave and push their agenda of hate, as they mouth words worthy of Hitler and try to call it anti Zionism. What a crock! And what cowards, moral cowards, you all are.
     So what now? Are we going to continue this walk down the bad lanes of memories or are we going to grow up, insist on moral strength, tamp down the spewers of hatred, the inciters of violence? On the one hand there is only disaster and on the other, a difficult road to walk, many obstacles, but at the end, we will near a smoother road - if we work at it, if we do the right thing, if we stand up against the wrong, the immorality of others, those who would change the world for worse, emulating the past tyrants of history rather than the heroes.

AND AWAY WE GO!

          And exactly who is going and where? Us. We, the people of these United States, are going to a place of no return. We are going to a place of the Imperial Presidency - or monarchy, whatever he wishes - and unless we wake up and act soon, there will be no return. We are already well down the road and well into future problems what with the so many unqualified backward thinking Republican judges jammed through the process by the Senate, all to maintain the backward thinking they espouse.
     We have lost control of government spending. The tax cut was disastrous, as the national debt increased by over a trillion dollars, if you can even conceive of such an amount; only the rich and the corporations benefitted and that saved money of the corporations did not wend its way back to the people, but rather into buybacks of their own stocks, and we, the people, well, we just ended up paying hundreds and thousands of dollars in  taxes that we never had to pay before. But, oh, you deluded souls, just keep on blindly following this man and his troglodytes, until you reach the point of no return!
     The wall, which John Kelly has said would be of no use, dumb, even, is now going to have the funds from military pay and pension used to pay for it. And this man and his minions shout out how they love the services, hug flags - but never mind that, just use the money that should be safe for them!!
     Trump is going nuts with pressure and fear that at least some of his zombie voters are going to defect on the emergency resolution and threatening galore! It is actually quite funny at times, though sad, too. As for the future though, I hold out no hope, for these same Senators are still pushing through those bar association deemed as unqualified to be judges and are planning for many more. They are along the lines of the Texas judge who told the jury that they need to reverse their guilty verdict because G-d wants them too!
     And here we are with the religious issue and the danger it poses for us. It has long been a standard American principle that religion and the state are separate. That separation has been weakening greatly over the years and certainly even more so since Trump and that ass, DeVos. And that, in turn, has led to religious interference with right to choose, with contraception, with embryos, with safety for women, with interference in schools, and yes, to the explosive growth of racial hatred and anti Semitism in particular.
     It seems simple. Just vote on a resolution condemning anti Semitism, tropes of which have survived over the milleniums, and condemn those who espouse it. I had no quarrel if they wished to add in a phrase or sentence re all racism, but what happened is that they watered it down, adding in so many terms, that I am surprised that PETA did not get a word in there. In short, the resolution was weak and yes, even cowardly. It did not do what it should have done. It should also have taken Omar to task, to strip her of her seats, just as Steven King was, though so many years too long in the doing, so Republicans have much to answer for there.
    In the meanwhile, we find swastikas all over schools, in synagogues and on their walls, on tombstones, overturned or not, in prestigious private schools, schools of the wealthy, schools which are supposedly founded on tolerance as a part of their mission. The latest? The Sidwell Friends school in DC, the same school which often hosts the children of the President and other senior pols. So if they can project swastikas during an assembly supposedly raising fund for immigration, then what the hell!! It seems that there is a separation of racial hatreds and while all are wrong, anti Semitism is deemed another category and allowed, continued to be cutting edge.
 Folks, I admit openly, I am afraid. I am afraid not so much for myself and my generation, but for the upcoming generations. We seniors have lived, but they have not. Their lives are supposed to be ahead of them, but will they? There are such echoes of the twentieth century 1930's era Germany along with the return or exposure of virulent anti Semitism all over Europe, that one really must take stock and wonder. Do we leave our country yet again? Do we stay and hope that this time sanity and justice, humanity, will prevail? Do we go to Canada, to Israel, that endangered state, victim of such hatred as well? What do we do? Where do we go? Where, indeed, has the world gone lately?
     So, away we go? You answer with your thoughts for you know mine - and remember, the infection of hatred spreads, a virus with evidently no cure. It is the same hatred that puts Venezuela into the dark, with Rakhine and Rohingya slaughtered, with Syria bombed to rubble, with Buddhists and Hindus killing each other, with sects of Islam killing each other, and always, always, ends with slaughter and the scapegoating of Jews. And make no mistake about it. Proper criticism of a country is okay, encouraged so as to allow for growth and improvement, but do not say that the anti Zionism we have now is not anti Semitism. It surely is and is surely and manifestly unfair. The state, the tiny state so small that it can be driven across in two hours and down by five, whose airport is subject to close in missile attack, whose borders are attacked violently all the time, this state which encourages Arabs to continue their education, where Arabs are at work in hospitals, pharmacies, the sciences, in business, in the hospitality industry, whose women are being encouraged to also get education, to recognize their rights, this state is always being blamed for the violence that arises, mainly from the Palestinian side. No one notices that Palestinians moved into the Israeli side of Jerusalem during these years so as to retain their citizenship and residency in Israel for it is better for them there!! Does the world mourn the Israelis stabbed, blown up, shot, attacked, rammed, stoned? No, only the attackers are mourned and condoned. So where do we go? 
     Away we go....and I hear the strains of Anatevka from Fiddler on the Roof. I hear the sobs of the Jews burned in the Tower of York in England. I hear the bewildered cries of Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews as they were hunted and killed and hanged as punishment for the founding of Israel and as they were thrown out of a country where ancestors had lived for thousands of years. I hear the cries of Jews as the Crusaders slaughtered them on the way to slaughter Saladin and followers, but first - the Jews. I hear the screams of pain as they faced the fires of the Spanish Inquisition which even followed them to the New World. I hear the screams and horror of Jews slaughtered by the Cossacks, under Imperial orders. And I hear the cries of Jews killed so recently in France, a Holocaust survivor beaten and thrown out a window, a young man tortured. And yes, I hear the struggles of Jews here in the States who also faced anti Semitism in the professional schools, on Madison Avenue, in universities, in business, but who maintained a steady progress, for at least here there was hope and no violence. But then again, things changed in Pittsburgh. And now? Away we go? To where? And why? For how long? And why? And why? And when? To where? And why? Ad infinitum....

THE LAST BLOCKBUSTER

     Wow, that article hit me hard. No, I have no stake in the company nor have any emotional attachment to it. It is just what it signifies. A once robust company that brought a huge selection of entertainment to the homes of people all over the world, that set up even a partial new way of life with that ease of picking up a movie or two and relaxing, and that company, and yes, that way of life appears to be gone.
     So today one can go on to Netflix or TMC or any of a number of sites which offer movies and other entertainment, but it is not the same. One does not look at it as almost a family ritual, settling down all together for movie night. Today everyone is off on their own, fiddling with their individual phones, texting rather than talking face to face and we have lost something.
     We have lost the ability to communicate, to discuss, to see the point of view from the other. And it is telling. The most egregious telling example is that found in Congress and in the world at large of politics. There is no more back and forth, only shouts and challenges and lies and claims of aggrieved innocnence or bias. What one side does, the other does and a misdeed on one side is exaggerated to the point of idiocy if only to make a point.
     That is not to say that there is not good cause to examine certain deeds or statements, only that we need to make choices and to grow up. A violation of election campaign laws done inadvertently by anyone on either side is one thing - pay the fine and go on. However, the purposeful violation of these laws to a huge degree does mean that there must be an investigation and consequences and I could care less if it is Trump - naturally - or one of the Democratic party. The fact that there is so much that falls on Trump's shoulders is because he did it. Period. Note that none of the so called defenders are denying the misdeeds, only that the information was obtained incorrectly or that there is a 'conspiracy' - and yes, there is. It is the conspiracy to return the country at least somewhat back to the Blockbuster days. 
     No one wishes to go back on the technology that has advanced, but we all are sentimental about the days of family togetherness, of conversation, of trust and responsibility, of at least an attempt at decency and honesty. Today there is an arrogance that emanates from the Trumpians, an arrogance that states that they are above the law, above the rules of society, especially now that he is president and of course, his children are not to be touched. Why not? They are adults, have opened their mouths, often inserted feet, and they are responsible for their misdeeds as much as anyone else in this group of miscreants and alleged lawbreakers.
     But there is one thing more frightening than ever. When the election was held, and we were hoping for remainng sane here in the countnry, Trump already began setting the table for protests, for complaints of false voting, of fraud, and refused to say for sure whether he would accept the results, either way Now that is frightening, but he ranted and raved and even when winning via the antiquated Electoral College, three days later he starts claiming he also would have won the popular vote if not for fraud and cheating. Really? It seems that among Republican states there are more organized campaigns to deny voter rights than in any other states. And now,already, Trump is setting the next table, claiming that the 2020 election will not be fair, for it is rigged against him and what does that mean for us? 
     It means that for the first time in our history after we won our independence ,we are now looking at the chilling possibility of civil war due to the unsuccessful attempt to keep and maintain order because that man refuses to concede and leave the White House, transferring power peacefully, legally, properly, and yes - in the American way. This supposed braggart of a patriot is actually not one at all and it would be to his benefit if he could indeed muzzle all the press other than Fox News or the rabid right wingers who back him, follow his BFF Putin and lock up all who 'criticize or disrespect the government and its officials' - scares the bejezzus out of me - and there goes America. The final blockbuster of a country which once stood for honesty, for humanity, for justice, for human rights, for progressive thinking, for aid to others, and for yes, defending all the principles for which our flag stood, and no, not by maniacally hugging a flagpole with a demented look on one's face.
    And remember, I am not the only one worried. More and more the papers, magazines, print and on line media are all mentioning this worry; it frightens me greatly and it should do the same to you. We need to return to the days of Blockbuster, at least for a bit and turn back to the right way, the American way. This is one instance where for sure I do not wish to say 'told ya' so! Never. No way. And yet.....

THE UGLY AMERICAN - THE UGLY AMERICA

    Do you remember the book and the concept, the American who would and/or could walk through the world impresssed by his own self, arrogant, with the privileges that he believed his country entitled him too? We made progress from that image, though it has lingered behind in some ways, but today, we have an Ugy American image again, and a country that is turning uglier by the day.
     For the prototype of the Ugly American one only has to turn to DC,in particular, to the White House, Congress, and most dangerous of all, the Supreme Court. There, after years of silence - could it be shame at the truth of his treatment of women - now, Judge Thomas evidently feels he can speak out for he feels that only he, and he alone, knows the truth of the Founders and their minds as they wrote the Constitution. Now, with another Ugly American on the bench with him, pervert Kavanaugh, and the chief pervert nearby, he can go on the attack and state some of his very dangerous opinions, opinions that would change the face of America, its very inner core, that which makes it America.
     The progenitor of it all in today's world lives in the White House. Every ugly bit of nastiness that can be squeezed out is acted upon. He verbally attacked immigrants, legal and otherwise, and encouraged the physical abuse that resulted from his attitude. The ugly American was surfacing in ICE, in Border Patrol, and why not? The boss is okay with it. So secretly, a program that allowed for a path for legal immigrants to apply for children, parents, siblings, to come over and be reunited, was shut down, telling no one. Instead, we have slowed down the whole process of asylum seeking, almost to a crawl and have substituted threats and cages and family separation policies.
     The Ugly American in the Oval Office continues to unleash his ugly tongue and mind, afflicting the country with it, inflicting it on so many people. Shutting down the heart of America, shutting down its welcoming of new citizens, even of caring for citizens who have been here for years and years, for generations, as the social safety net was ripped and shredded. These were the end goals of this ugliness. Greed and corruption the words and actions of the day.
     We now hear of companies that paid money into the Trump Washington hotel after a decision was reached. Ugly! We hear that the chief Ugly wanted his kids to be able to know all the 'inside' crowd stuff, so he unilaterally pressured to get them top security clearances even though the experts and the authorities in this area said not a good idea. More Ugliness - and more danger for our country.
     Mr. Ugly then fell 'in love' with dictators, his old BFF affair with Putin rearing its ugly head and the new love of his life, Kim, was right there as well, exchanging love letters. Ugh!! This is the man supposed to be defending us, the country, to abide by the oath he swore? UGLY!
    Not wishing to stop at any time soon, Ugly contined on his path that endgngerd the country. He attacked its values. He lied and lied and lied and lied into five digit numbers of times. More and more of the imperialAmerican leaked through his outer hide, as he attacked the media yet lived via the words and advice of Fox News bigots such as Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. Other Ugly Americans such as Bannon or Gorka or heavy duty other white power/white supremacists stuck their two cents in. The ugly blisters on our souls thrived as prejudice was deemed okay, even valued, and the latest? A man arrested for gardening - and why? - he is black. Oops!
     This ugliness has condoned the rest of the world as it, too, grew in the muck of nastiness and ugly prejudices arose once more, coming into the light from whence they had hidden the past few years. So ugly oversize puppets are allowed in a parade in Belgium. Guess having almost 100% of their Jewish citizens nurdered in WWII - with their cooperation - was not enough. Jews survived the horrors of Nazi Europe and the cooperation of native countrymen all over and through the countries of Europe but here it is again. Here, once again, we have the old canards, the raging hatred, the demand to kill Jews and not only there, for nope, we graduated here in the country to acting upon this anti Semitism by killing Jews in Pittsburgh. And we elected three openly anti Semitic and vicious women of hate to Congress. I had hope for one, but she shattered that hope with her statement of support for them yesterday.
     The ugliness of it all, the payment of bribes, the maltreatment of women, the pride in that misbehavior, the lies when discovered and uncovered,and a defense not against the charges, but that the Big Ugly American is now immune to all consequences and punsihments because he is president. Wow!!! In a real world, BECAUSE he is President, he has to be better and held accountable for every misdeed and so it has been. VP Agnew, Nixon, Johnson and go back in history. But today, today the kids tell their parents that being a liar, doing the wrong thing is okay if you can get away with it for why not? Doesn't the President do the same thing? Times change, do they not and not always in the right way, in the correct direction.
     The ugliness of it all. The head honcho Ugly American and all of us potential and real Ugly Americans have retrogressed so badly. Is this what we want? Is this what we want to teach our kids? Is this how we wish to have history speak of us, evaluate us as the return of the Ugly American?
     I hope not, I really do. Time to act. Time to demand the right way. Time to put the place right. Now.

MOSEYING ALONG THE ROAD TO......

     So just where are we headed and are we truly moseying? Frankly, I believe we are on the road of getting what so many of us seem to want and even deserve, even as the rest of us will be quite ill served. Day after day, almost 10,000 lies later, after loads of indictments, guilty pleas, prison sentences, tell all books, and the repeated denials of the Demented One even as crazed mobs cheer on his bizarre language and behavior, gulp down his lies and the lies about the lies, even after all this with the next day promising, or is it threatening, more of the same - we continue on this road. This road only leads to the depths of hell, the depths of a deep loss when we lose our democracy and succumb to dictatorship, a dystopia of our own making, our own responsibility.
     The situation just gets uglier and uglier. We ignore the facts of life in the weather simply because these truths do not fit the plans and needs of the greedy corrupt individuals who now occupy DC. So we ignore the melting ice caps, the cracking glaciers, the wacky weather, the horror of a weather system gone wild, because to not ignore it would mean the loss of bottom line profits and money is all that matters to these people - money and power. It has even been reported that all that man wants to know about is the bottom line, a competition with other countries as if they were competitors in an industry and all else falls before that. Schoolyard behavior. So to hell with human rights. To hell with historical facts. To hell with science. To hell with people for are we not told oh so sagely that people really do not want a living wage, they would rather work for it. So says Ivanka, for she knows so much about struggle and hunger and ther fears , the existential fears that parents have about and for their children, worrying about feeding them and never mind fancy dinners!!!
     And the pile of dirt and mud keeps growing, a true compost heap of the values of a nation, and yet no one seems to notice the odor, the vile odor and the vile seepage it engenders. It oppresses us, it oppresses women, for the Demented One would like to establish his own Handmaid's Tale. It oppresses the LGBTQ community and supporters of human rights for these are evidently lower on the scale of humanity than we had recognized or so, at least, the Demented One and his demented supporters state.
     The evangelical movement stomps on their sense of sexual chastity even as they chase down the gay world. Never mind the piggish behavior of the leader. Hypocrisy reigns. I can perhaps even understand a bit why some people still support this man and his dangerous policies such as they are, for they are downtrodden and are looking for help, but certainly in the wrong places, for this man will only take away more of theirs than he has done till now. But explain to me why supposedly educated and thinking people can still support this thug, for that is what he is under all that fast food, tweets, and fancy golf clubs. A thug. A dictator wannabe. A danger, an existential danger to the United States that we know, that we cherish, that we take pride in. I just do not understand them. At all.
     And this hateful atmosphere, this dangerous miasma, permeates the world of the Democrats as well. It seems that in the name of diversity, we have traded in our past as well and allow words of hatred, words of deep anti Semitism, to flow forth from two women in particular - Tlaib and Omar. Time and again out of their mouth comes poison, filth, the rants of ages, the dangerous canards that have been used through the ages, including by their own ancestors who raided the Jews in their homes in Arab countries, who chased them out upon the founding of Israel, who still wish to destroy them and do not be fooled - anti Zionism, anti the right for the Jewish people to have a homeland of their own as compared to the numerous Moslem and Arab countries, is anti Semitism at its worst or damn near close to it. The only level left is the one that Hitler created, not allowing Jews to live - at all - nowhere, no how. I am stating it loud and clear. The Democratic Party must stand tall here and cut these women down to size or strip them of their committee appointments or do whatever it needs to make it clear that anti Semitism will not be tolerated, whatever the excuse given, whatever the denials are, whatever the form or shape it takes. Truth is truth. And why do I not include Ocasio-Cortez at this point? Because she does show some promise. Her questions at the hearing showed discipline and thought and a wish to deal with reality, not to take the time to boast and brag and  scold. Perhaps she will learn. I am willing to give her a chance, but not those two hate mongering Jew hating women who should not be there or should not have tax payers paying their bills, enabling their hatred and its espousal.
     Where are we? What exit are we approaching? Will we take the correct one or will we turn off into a swampy and nasty exit where the light diminshes as the hatred grows. No one is immune to the draw of power; no one is immune to the feeling that venting one' s frustrations in an angry mode gives one. But we must look in the right places for power and accept that the power we want, that we need, is the power of cooperation, of acceptance of the humanity of all, of the delivery from evil that this Demented One and his supporters would inflict upon us, far worse than he has done so far.
    What road, people? What truth will we recognize? Which prophets wil we accept and which shall we deride? Shall we wear blindfolds and plug our ears, turn off our brains, or shall we open up to the truth, sometimes a harsh truth at that, but the only way to proceed. Quickly now, the exit is nearing.

THE MISSING INGREDIENT

    Over and over we have all been asking ourselves how we reached this point, how we allowed a charlatan to reach the highest office in the land? How did this happen? Why did this happen? I have come to think that there is a missing ingredient in the behavior and the thinking of people these days, particularly the politcians.
     The ingredient is honor. There appears to be no honor left amongst most of the politicians or their handlers or staff. "What is honour? A word. What is in that word 'honour'? What is that 'honour'? Air."   William Shakespeare Henry IV Part I
     That is what is gone. There is no honor in serving the people anymore for now the motive appears to be simply greed and power and the acquisition of one and the maintenance of the other. Without that honor, we have nothing. We have no pride in ourselves as righteous people. We have no pride or feeling for our country and its residents except for how it can benefit us. We have no sense of humanity, no connection between others and ourselves and our families and even families have been thrown under the bus and betrayed.
     This lack of honor is seen in all levels of administration and government, be it here in CV or state or national levels. We apparently have been willing to cede all honor for the fleeting thoughts and minutes of a supposed prosperity, not realizing that it is all false, surface only, not seeing the poverty, the desperateness beneath. We have lost the honor that led us to welcome others who wished to share in the American Dream, debasing them, dehumanizing them, and have returned to the lowest points of humanity.
     How will history look back upon these times; how will they describe it, explain it? Josephine Tey, noted author, once said, "Honestly, I think historians are all mad."  Perhaps that is true, particularly if they try to analyze the history they are recording and/or studying. Will they recognize the lack of honor, why, its consequences and most important - when it started and if it ever ended, if we ever found our honor again and reverted to the people we should have been all along?
     Without honor there is no grace in life. Instead we have the shameful spectacle of investigations and hearings in front of the world, hearings that bare the greed and the corruption, the lack of honor that appears to be guiding these people. We have guesses as to whether a President's family will also go to prison and whether or not he will force his daughter to choose between her husband and her father. The creepy feelings this engenders are awful. They are shameful. 
     Perhaps there is some honor left in a few people. Elijah Cummings perhaps is one as he pleaded with his fellow Representatives and the American people that we can and should be better than this, this spectacle. He pleaded that our job here is to leave a better democracy for our children than the one we found and yet we are doing the exact opposite. Why? There is no honor and whomever stated that there is honor among thieves never got it so wrong as that!
     We have no honor here in the Village either as the presumed leader persists in using language of demeaning terms and connotations to describe those who dare to differ with his plans and opinions. We have a President of the nation who sets a vile example to follow as he rants and raves tweets away maniacally, and uses foul language. Never before, at least in public, have we heard or seen this behavior, this oral behavior as well in our presidents, certainly not to this degree.
      Never before have we had people supposedly in charge of making life better for their constituents forget that responsibility, be it in the debacle of AB, road paving, negligence in being proactive in the problems facing our Village, or the nation's administration which has apparnetly tossed all out in the garbage, ignoring the right and honorable thing to do, instead pressing forward with rollbacks of safety regulations, driving climate change even futher, basically robbing the people of the nation of their funds and the right to expect honorable behavior from these people.
    Folks. Cummings was right. We can do better than this. We are better than this. We need to dig down and find all that we have lost that is proper, right, honorable and yes, the new dirty word, progressive, for that is the true path of our country, ever more progressive in chasing down all the ways and manners by which we can improve the state of the nation, its people, and the state of the world.  
     Aristotle said it all. "At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst."  Are we the best or the worst? Will we return to the proper strivings or will we sink even further into the muck of dishonor, greed, selfishness, corruption? Are we noble people or are we the basest of all that we contain? Our choice. Our world. Our honor.
    

QUE SERA, SERA

     Remember that pleasant lilt sung by Doris Day? What will be, will be was the theme and advice and we all sang along, did we not? But it was the wrong advice, the wrong mind set and unfortunately, it seems to have affected too many people today, or should I rather say - infected.
     Ask so many of the younger generations today what they think of the political situation in the country and chances are you will get a reply that indicates their indifference to the situation, their desire to just live their lives. How sad, how unfortunate, for when we cede control over our lives and the rules of these lives, we cede so much, and the lives which they wish to live will be shattered at one point or another.
     This indifference to what the "ruling class" does, is also evident right here in the Village. It is seen in the lack of volunteers. It is seen in the necessity to reduce the required delegates for a quorum. It is seen in the voting at the assemblies, where the zombies just go along and the others never show up, deciding to turn away from the abuse dished out by the Chair of the Assembly, the original 'disruptor' who interrupts others, who calls people names, who makes nasty faces, and who threatens to call reinforcements to enforce his desires. When an idea from an opponent is accepted by them, they then take credit and the rest of the Village - they just turn to their tennis and squash or the number of laps they did in the pool. In both instances, national and local, the idea of what will be will be is harmful, so detrimental to the quality of our lives and the future lives for our kids.
     The two worlds work the same. Tie people to the ruler and I specifically and purposely use that word, tie them with 'gifts' of membership on a committee, or even chair. Allow them the 'privilege' of opening the fridge in UCO which contains a lovely assortment of drinks and snacks, courtesy of CV UCO charges. Hold the threat of losing this 'validity' of their lives should they stray out of line. How many people have we seen who took their punishment and when David felt their reeducation was done, were then taken back into the fold, chastened and quieter? And how many people have we seen have this happen to in national or local government?
     Within the world of Trump, the Demented One, there appears to be no forgiving though. Disappoint him, cross him with differing opinions, take away his toys, tsk, tsk him for his tweets, or his crazy announcements, or visible lack of intelligence and off one goes to the figurative guillotine.
     What will be, will be is not a good philosophy. It is one of resignation, of apathy, of giving up control to another. It is ceding responsibility and not realizing the consequences awaiting us in the future. And it seems, that today the ruler who shouts the loudest is the one who gets the prize, and I wonder just how long it will take for people to wake up.
     Or have they already woken up and not in a good way. The speech by Trump at CPAC was just awful - and frightening. First he came out in a truly weird way, grabbing onto a staff holding an American flag and ostentatiously hugging it to himself. When patriotism is so blatant it is not patriotism but rather a ruse and we remember the old saying that reminds us that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Hello, out there....anyone home??? Need proof - just look at history or even at today's world and see the supposed patriotic statements and gestures by nations' heads even as they strangle liberty, freedom of speech, civil rights, and trash the judiciary. Sound familiar? Yup, right here in the good old USA as well. And the cheers of the audiences ring right back tothe cheers at other times in history. Chilling.
     The situation here in the Village is not as frightening. Forced to answer, to face questions, eventually we can get somewhere and nature will take its course and new people get elected to office and hey, some of us will be gone sooner or later, but the situation in the nation is more frightening. When the Demented One added to his hug by ranting and raving and cursing for two hours, one could only look on in horror as one realized that this was our President???
     We have now returned to the future and I wonder if someone will dig up the body of McCarthy as we seem to be recycling the old pinko and commie slurs, demonizing any and all who wish to better the situations of the residents of this country. One then becomes branded, as if it were an insult, as a "socialist" and supposed to go hide in a closet or somewhere to hide from the implied shame.
     Pure socialism assumes the best of people so it never truly works but when applied carefully, then it does. The 'socialist' president, Roosevelt - tsk,tsk. Through him and because of him, people managed to get through the Great Depression. Were his 'socialist' Acts all great? Was he always doing the right thing? No, definitely not and he made errors in many decisions, but he helped. 'Socialism" has struck in the idea of Medicare and Medicaid, in Social Security, in a safety net and that is great. Does socialism always have greater hopes and aspirations, steps towards a better society? Yes, but so do we all and picking on one person as a demon in order to make your point or to frighten people is not the way to go.
     And I wonder when people will wake up and demand answers, demand transparency, demand freedom of information and fact finding, demand of their representatives to do the right thing and get off their high horses! When, or will the mantra forever be - que sera, sera? Well, at least David does not advertise his private golf course in his talk, but when Trump does that, it just irritates the hell out of me, and out of the mouth of Cohen came what has been said and whispered before by so many. Trump has used the Presidency as a stepping stone to a better bottom line for his businesses, be it plumping for them in talks or tweets, getting the government to pay a fortune to his private golf clubs every time he takes his retinue there, or in talks of business with other countries and other despots.
     Que sera, sera - what will be, will be - most emphatically no. We will need to face what will be, to fight against the negative and force the world and the Village back onto the right, proper and moral path. It will not be easy, nor fast and simple, but it must be done. Que sera - no, for what will be, will be our wishes, our needs, our rights, a better world for all humanity, the best we can make it and no stupid throwback epithets or insults or tantrums can take away that prospect, that hope - if we hold firm and fast.

THE BURN OF SHAME

      Wednesday was a bad day to be an American and it just keeps getting worse. Instead of having pride in one's country and leaders, person after person reflected the feeling of shame and said in so many ways, "I am ashamed to be an American today."
     How can one take pride in a government that is replete with liars, with common criminals, who, no matter how disguised they and their deeds are, are no better than common criminals on the level of the street. Greed is greed, corruption is corruption, no matter how dressed up it is. And cowardice is still cowardice. 
     There used to be a feather handed out to young men in Britain during the time of WWI if they did not serve in the army. A dangerous thing to do as it many times targeted men incorrectly, but I am thinking that perhaps we need to hand out these yellow feathers to our supposed representatives, remind them they are there to serve us, the country, and not thelowest common denominator of their district. If one caters to hatred and corruption, then one has fallen into a trap of quicksand from which there is no escape.
     The news of Trump's misdeeds, alleged criminal acts are not new news. People knew that open and public confirmation was going to happen as soon as the Democratic Party won the House. And the Republicans did not challenge Trump's misdeeds, only trying to challenge and demean the truthfullness of Cohen, a man badly debased in life and already going to prison for lying so what would have been his motive to lie any more and get a longer term? In fact, there was no motive and the man told the truth, confirmed by many other sources. But the Republicans chose to ignore the misdeeds of their leader, their rotten, miserable, demented leader, and behaved as he does - bluster, lie, lie, lie. Cowards, one and all, for not facing up to the truth, for accepting it, cutting their losses and maybe, just maybe, remembering that they are Americans, not Trumpians.
    What I, and most others, consider most shameful, in  addition to having allowed such a corrupt and incapable administration get into place, is the racism that was revealed in both Trump and the Republicans. It was along the same lines of, "Oh, my best friend is a Jew so I am not anti Semitic." And I think of the so many "friends" who cheerfully and greedily dumped their friends onto the cattle cars, stole their belongings, even turned away from spouses and children. People often have nasty motives and showing that there was one woman of color on a staff, and forcing her to stand there to be 'proof' - I can just about throw up!
     And the Democrats do not seem to be able to stand up to the shenanigans of the Republicans. The House bill on gun control, so necessary and needed, was tainted by the last minute amendment of the GOP that gave the whole border gang the ability and right to medicate the chilren they rip apart from parents. So much easier to just shoot up a kid with sedatives and other meds than try to treat them correctly, and hey, here's an idea - return them to their parents!!!! And approximately 26 'moderate' Democrats voted to allow that to remain in place, citing concern over their borderline districts. 
     And here we go again, retain the seat being the mantra, not do the right thing. How shameful it is that we cater to this lowest form of hatred, the actual physical harm to those we demean and call 'others'. How nasty, how so wrong, how so shameful. Perhaps if we held ourselves to higher standards, the voters would also follow along in time and we could become the better people, the better nation, we are supposed to be.
     Our 'leader' praises the dictator Kim who thinks nothing of killing his siblings and members of his country, of lying that he never knew of the American kid in custody who was eventually returned basically beaten to death, and Trump praises him!!!
     Trump is so embarassed by his own lack of intelligence that he has a canary at the thought that his grades from high school!, college and SAT scores would be revealed thus allowing people in on the fact that he has no brains and never did, only lying genes and the luck of being born into a wealthy family. He lies about the caliphate, he lies about everything and anything. Greenspan warns us about the dangers of the massive and mounting deficit, and yet the dangerous Trump continues to pressure others for his damned funds for his damned wall, his monument to hatred, to a return to barbarism, to the worst of mankind.
     Today I am ashamed to be an American. Why? Just read the above and see if you can find justification for any of it. I cannot, nor can many others. I yearn for the day when I can stand tall and proud, proud to be an American, proud to be a standard for the world. But now, shame makes me hang my head.

IS IT TIME?

     Today's posting is like yesterday's - two parts. The first will be a posting from Ed Grossman with his reasons for voting for him and then on to the regular posting contents.

WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR ME, by ED GROSSMAN
I have been a practicing CPA for over fifty years. Currently licensed and certified to practice in New York State and Florida. You can read my resume in the UCO reporter so I won't bore you with the details. Suf­fice to say that I have been a leader in multi-national corporations and would like nothing better than the chance to bring my years of experience and expertise to play for the benefit of the village I call home.
I am also the publisher of The CV Messenger, a very popular publication, bringing all the news fit to print to Century Village.
I threw my hat in the ring because I believe if I am elected to the position of Vice President of UCO I can make a lot of improvements in the way the village operates.

I am dismayed at the following issues and the way they are managed. If given your vote of confidence I fully intend to do something about them. 

1) The waste of our hard earned money in deals that are engaged without delegate approval, without competitive bids being sought and the lack of consultation with the delegates.
2) The consistent contravention of the bylaws by the current administration and the lack of enforcement of the bylaws by the executive branch of UCO.
3) The abandonment of dedicated accounts for budgetary items and the co-mingling of funds as practiced by our current Treasurer. In my opinion this method of accounting is a temptation for administrators to abuse their fidu­ciary duty in making expenditures.
4) The new Millennium agreement and the amended long term lease that gives Beneson Capital and WPRF ( The owners and managers of Century Village) an unfair advantage by giving them the ability to spend large sums of our money to improve their property without UCO administrators objecting or initiating the procedures which could require the owners to pay out the millions of dollars it takes to improve their property.
5) The censorship practiced by the administration where any question that the administration deems objection­able is denied access to the village media (Channel 63 and The UCO reporter) whether they are objectionable or simply are contrary to the direction the administration is following.
6) The divisive policies and behavior that has created warring factions within our village . When we stop listen­ing to each other and we disenfranchise valued contributors to the management of the village for petty egotistical reasons , we can see that the village is broken into factions that are slowly but surely pulling us apart . If we are not pulling together, then surely we are pulling apart.

It is imperative that the residents of the village have an administration that works in the best interests of the village with the proper checks and balances in place that regretfully no longer exist.
I can only hope, and I do believe that my friends and neighbors in the village will see beyond the hyper­bole and the smoke and mirrors, and will come together to support me in my quest for fair play, truth and justice in this most critical election.

     When reading of the Holocaust or even going further back in history to the expulsion from Spain and Portugal or even before that to the expulsion from England under Edward II, one often wonders as to why the clues were not read, why they were not acted upon - why did they stay?
    Well, first and foremost is the problem of where to go when leaving one's homeland or place of residence. Where to find the welcoming country who will accept the refugees, make them welcome? We, as did many others for the most part, found that refuge here in the colonies and then the  USA though unhappily it was not until much later in time so could not provide refuge till then. But at least it was there and Jews came over from the old countries to a new country where the first President, the heroic General Washington, had given them a letter stressing their welcome, their contributions, and they felt safe, even though there was always a sense of awareness, alertness, to the ever remaining taint of anti Semitism.
      The countries of Europe, particularly those of eastern Europe, remained with blatant and physical anti Smeitism and so the Jews, thousands, left, but some remained, so the question is why? Well, there are the standard reasons, ranging from lack of funds, to family problems, to stubborness. But when the violence even tok place, when the signs and actions of a most vicious hatred of Jews broke out in Germany and Austria, why did they not move? Why did they not leave for the safety of other countries?
    Well, first of all, other countries were not so easily found, including the USA, with its anti immigration laws rising from the 1924 anti immigration bills. Second, after one's family had lived in a country for hundreds of years, had made a home, established a business, had educated their children - why leave? The reasoning said to hunker down, play it safe, and though more violent and harsh than standard (!) anti Semitism, perhaps this too would pass. So, many stayed until it was too late and there were no welcoming shores, not even our country as they turned away the St. Louis, sending the passengers back to certain death, refused to take in refugees from openly disastrous countries, refused transports of children, and only the few and the rare helped rescue Jews, especiallly children.
     And now? What to do? For as long as I can remember, there have always been discussions as to whether we would recognize when it was time, time to go? And luckily for us, there was that one welcoming place, the state of Israel, where despite the efforts of so many nations, we remained a viable, prospering country which even in the extremely dangerous days of the War of Independence, broke and fighting, literally for its life, welcomed in the refugees from Europe, from the continent that had murdered their families, welcomed the refugees from Arab countries who had struck and killed so many at the establishment of Israel and then threw them out minus their accumulated wealth and posessions.
     But now, now what is going on? And we have all, unfortunately, gained more of an understanding of the question - is it time to go? Is it time to pack up and get the hell out of here before the gates are slammed shut andother gates, the gates of ghettoes and death camps, slave labor camps, the doors to hell, open up to swallow us up?
     You scoff at the thoughts? Well, scoff not. The level of oral threats and words of anti Semitism, the rising violence contained within, the rising tide of violations of Jewish property, the beatings, at least 12 in Crown Heights in recent weeks, and the killing, the deliberate murders of worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh - and do not forget the other shootings, such as the boys years ago who were shot in their car as they were on the ramp to the Brookly Bridge. One mother, Deborah Halberstam makes sure we remember. The dramatic rise in incidents has risen dramatically this past year.
     Thoughts of  - time to go, time to leave, maybe we had better get out of here or maybe we will stay, too old to grow new roots, but the kids, the grandkids? And yesterday's shocker was what, the last straw? In LA, a community center, supposed to be a place of welcome for all, in California, where Jewish people have raised so much funding and materials and places of refuge for immigrants, a frightening mural was painted and the ones who commissioned it defended it as freedom of speech. It depicted a most horrifying skeletal and  witchlike figure with long bony claws Wrapped in the American flag embellished with Jewish stars, it held a dead baby, dangling from one claw and stacks of dollars, of snakes, were there as well.
     Folks, this is not freedom of speech. It is the fire in the crowded theater. It is the equivalent of open urging of hateful people to take action. Words of hate, incitement to violence are never to be allowed and if we punish people for blackface when they were teens or college students, then we can punish people for this, or disallow it from the getgo.
     Yesterday was a day when I truly looked around and asked mysefl if it was worth our lives to remain here. It would be hard to start over, a strain on financial resources, a rending of the souls as we left what until now felt like home, but is it time? Should we recognize it as such? And once again, there appears no other country to welcome us as the horrific rise in anti Semtism in the countries of Europe is frightful. France has allowed its innate and constant anti Semitism to rise to the surface. Britain has again allowed it to surface from where it has been hiding just beneath.
     I do not know why this happens. Labelled the 'chosen people', meant to spread and share the light of G-d, of morals, of a moral society, of a caring society, it appears that we have been more chosen for death than for anyting else. And yet, Jews have made contributions from time immemorial and it continues today - just open your phone! There is no rhyme or reason, no sanity behind, it just nasty hate.
     And when the nastiness rises in the USA, when the leader of the band is sitting in the White House with his recognition of "fine people" in white supremacists, with his seeking the favor and support of them,with the KKK daring to march again, with threats, physical and oral, rising, with his former partner in crime telling all of us that he is a racist, well, time to go?
     I agonize over the thoughts that race through my mind? I wonder if the fully assimilated Jew will remember the ancestry? I wonder if just as some other countries have begun to do will be done here - test the DNA and track us down? Where will it end? When and how will it escalate? Should we take the chance that it will not, that if we get rid of that man and show disaproval of all that, will it subside, hide below the surface, but not be acted upon? Will it then be safe for us? And what about the growing fears that should he still be in office for another campaign and he lose - will there be a possible violent reaction and where then will we be - blamed by all sides for this mess as has been done throughout history?
     Time to go? Time to abandon our homes? Time to go to our other home where we are welcomed? But what then, for Israel, without the personal intervention of a divine miracle, cannot stand alone. No country can. And what then? Time to go? Time to go? Time to go? Round and round it echoes in my head. Time to go?

AMERICA. AMERICA

     Today's posting is in two parts. The first part is simply a continuation of yesterday, with a reminder that we need to vote to change the same old status quo that we now have in the Village. Time to truly reintroduce a democratic UCO, wherein there is discussion, opinions that differ, a civil atmosphere wherein no one is insulted, degraded, cursed or whatever negative form is used to intimidate people. So, in addition to any other choices, and there are some that are okay, I recommend that you fill in the bubble for these people and help get our UCO on better footing.
   VP - Ed Grossman
Executive Board - In no special order -
     Myron Solomon      Carole Szepesi
     Gerry Sutofsky        David Torres
     Olga Wolkenstein    Marcia Ziccardy

     The times - they are a'changin' - or so we hope, both here in the Village and in the country. They certainly need to do so. I, for one, certainly hope that we get at least an infusion of better working brains, open to new ideas, discussion, moderation and compromise. It certainly is disconcerting when the supposed leader of the country needs to be man'splained about terms of economic policy - and in front of representatives from other countries. Shame on him and shame on us that he is in our office.
     But more than that, is the hope, the so urgent need, that we get more civility and morality into this government and no, I do not mean an infusion of religion, of the further intrusion of religion into our governmental levels and branches, but simply moral values such as oh, say, no cheating, no stealing from the people, stopping the disgusting and incestuous revolving door between industries and their executives in public office, proper behavior, acceptance of all as equal before the law, remembering that we are a haven for "the tired, the poor, tempest tossed" and that principle allowed us to establish and grow the country.
     Think it is hard? It sure is, especially as we are coming from behind now, have allowed the wrong ideas and actions to establish roots within the country and have allowed hatred and prejudice to flourish. We have allowed the supposed leader to state really weird things such as that Kim is "my friend", and that North Korea can have a TREMENDOUS future (capitals all his). Wonder if he will replace the other lovelies on his BFF list like Duterte or Putin or Erdogan or whomever.
     Perhaps we can actually return to the time when the media was not demeaned and even deemed an "enemy of the people"- a truly dangerous term to use like that. Perhaps it is actually the illegitimate President who is actually the "enemy" of the people! Just ask Junior about the media for he feels that he is oppressed - uh huh, just as much as likely as it was to expect him to truly understand the facts of life today here in these states.
     There is hope. The House passed the bill about the so called emergency and 13 Republicans actually found their spine and voted against this false and dangerous declaration of national emergency. It now remains to be seen whether all those blustery mouths of the GOP who jumped on Obama for violating the same boundaries - was actually different, but never mind - well, money and mouths and spines. Let's see. McConnell has already taken the deep dive into hypocrisy and who will follow?
     A new gun law. Hopefully, a return to sanity re choice for women and stopping the lies about what it means and a return of funding to Planned Parenthood and allow them to carry on with the good work, the so necessary work, for women's health in ALL areas.
     Perhaps we will have no more of people like Gaetz of Florida who has opened his ugly mouth and spewed hatred before and continued on this path with his threat to Cohen, scheduled to testify openly today in the House. Guess he did not like it when Cohen, no angel when in thrall to Trump, spoke of Trump as a racist, a conman and a cheat and who knew quite the large amount about the nasty shenanigans going on in his campaign and in the Trump Organization and how the offspring are tainted by their actions as well. Dearie me!
     Filth. Evil. Danger. And worse than that when acted upon, words put into action in the most negative ways. Can we all not be Americans once more? Can we not have at least a step towards unity rather than division? Can we not find and back those who would do this, would back it in words and deeds? Let us return to America, to a true United States of America, and incidentally, to a better Village as well. Neither here in the Village nor here in our country, must it remain a pipedream. We are not yet too far gone down the path to perdition. We can return. We can fix it. All it needs is the effort, the desire and the spine.

HONESTY, HONESTLY!

     Honest Abe. Washington and the cherry tree. Folk tales, apocryphal stories perhaps, but they do emphasize the fact that honesty is among the American values we cherish. So honestly, where the hell is that honesty today? Sitting in the Oval Office we have the prime violator of honesty, a man who lies with every breath, who woul not recognize truth if it hit him in the face, and sitting here in our UCO building we have another man who often tells a lie or is it avoiding the truth?
    The prime rule of their behavior appears to be - remember to keep the others in the dark, deny, deny, deny, and hope for the best. Well, it does not work. How many times will both of these men deny what is right there, manipulate and threaten in order to get their way, push and push against the will of the people until their desires become the law of of the land or the law of the Village?
     Call those who oppose one's views or desires names, call them violators of peace, disrupters, if you will, repeat that every day and watch those who fall for this mimic their every 'mistruth'. Obviously, the Village comes nowhere in ranking of importance to the fate of the nation and the world, but to most of us, it is the world that we know, that we live in on a permanent basis or for much of the year, and hence, troubles here affect us greatly - honestly!
     So Trump et al refuses to hand over papers, demands that he and his control investigations into his nasty shenanigans, or those of his favorite buddies, such as Labor Secretary Acosta who worked out such a good deal for a pervert molester of children who just happens to be a rich dude oh so friendy with Trump. Hmmmm. And how about our own CV where numerous requests for release of documents resound in an echo chmaber - no, no, they are not yours, we won't, we will not, too bad or after many moons and possibly tampered documents are released and second hand at that. I know personally, for when I requested original voting ballots it was as if I asked for the keys to the kingdom!
     But that was yesterday right? But yesterday has segued into today. Time and time again we voted against the AB proposal and yet here we are, three months away from Comcast cutoff, the largest company in this business, poised to grow even more, as we invited in and laid out the red carpet for a small company that has damaged much of the Village infrastructure in its vaunted 'horizontal drilling' which drilled so successsfully into pipes of all types and shredded the vegetation. Yes, they say it will all be fixed - just hope that the punch list is resolved a whole lot better than the disaster of the road paving - the disaster that we are living with right now as the roads crumble, the stripings of the lanes are nonexistent off the perimeter road, but hey, breathe easy, for we have replanted the area around the UCO buiding more times than I can count!! And repaint it oh so nicely. So what will happen on D-Day here when only one third have signed up for appointments? Now how will our glorious local leader be able to pin the blame for this on his favorite target, Ed Grossman, the unique 'disruptor' who demands answers, spends his own funds liberally to publish a truth telling paper, to dig for the truth.
     Now Ed is running for VP office and Dave, in his ultimate lie, the fake Village blog which is actually his own bully pulpit, deems all those who will not follow him blindly, without question, as disruptors. No, they are not. They are often truth seekers, demanders and chasers of the truth and it makes David very uncomfortable. Too bad! So.... I would tell you to do just the opposite of what he says on that blog and vote for the names he does not support. Or choose very carefully among them. The ones he leaves out are good people. I know, for many are my friends and one,in particular, I know very well. He is my husband, an independent person, who stands up there at the mic when he has a question, asks politely for an answer or makes  a comment, uses please and thank you, and never gets into a shouting match or fight. So, David, how are Gerry and the others you malign 'disruptors'? Shame on you. People, vote for those who have fought for you, who tenaciously chase after the truth, face and reject the abuse they face from David's mouth and typing fingers and the related 'support' of Lanny as he brownnoses oh so nicely. Vote for Ed. Vote for Olga.Vote for Carol.  Vote for Marcia. Vote for Gerry. Vote for Dave Torres, vote for those who would defend you, yes, ask the harsh questions when they must, but who would be there to serve you - not themselves. Do not vote for those who have proven time and again that they are the automatons of David, with no minds of their own.
     As for the national liar in chief well, he has gotten us into one fine mess after another, raised the acceptance of prejudice and violence, reached new heights of intolerance, cannot seem to keep his hands or mouth off of women, seemingly seems to have an emptimess between his ears, loves Fox News and his gurus Hannity et al, and for the piece de resistance, he has now pushed his buddy, Putin, into delaring the list of American targets that Russia has and that they could hit in less than five minutes with their new missile. Oh, please, Donny, keep on irritating all the world, even your best friend. Please keep putting us in danger. Please keep intimidating your Republicans and those fake Democrats like Manchin and Jones. Please keep on the path of destruction so that perhaps even as the world is consumed with poverty and war, destroyed by naure's catastrophes that we have caused and denied. I guess sometimes it is good to erase the slate and start over and you certainly are pushing whatever Power there be to do just that!
     The lies, the dishonesty, the devaluation of honesty, the crises that arise from this dishonesty - when and how do we stop it? We make our own clean slate, erase the office holders who have caused so much trouble, and vote in fresh and honest voices, people out to seve the people, not themselves. People who will put the benefits of others before their own. People who realize that actually, the needs of the people are their own needs for they are OF the people and do not hold themselves aloof from them.    
      Honestly, people, the choice is ours even as the time has come. Choose wisely and well. Choose boldly and for the benefit of your worlds, both national, global and local. Think and choose unselfishly for as hard as the road might be as necessary corrections and repairs are done, the results will be infinitely better, open and transparent, with a government run by honest, courageous people. Honestly.
     
     The same 

SISYPHEAN TASKS

     In school, at one time or another, we all read the tale of the Sisyphean task, of being doomed to a hopeless task for all eternity, be it the rolling of a huge rock uphill only to see it roll back down again, or, it seems, having humankind finally come to terms with what is right and proper and what is not.
     Why, in the year 2019, are we still fighting battles that appeared to have been won before. Why was a society that appeared to be over the brink already of accepting 'others', of accepting LGBTQ, of accepting the idea of transgender, of accepting , finally, the fact that women are imperative to the functioning and improvement of the world, that ability, capability, honesty, knowledge - all were required in order to serve the people, be it in government, the judiciary, or wherever they chose to contribute, why has this society gone backwards, esposed the hatred once more, rushed headlong into the faults of yesterday and trampled on the progress we had made?
     Yesterday I saw two productons that brought this point home. First we attended a most wonderful production of Fiddler on the Roof at the Broward Center. The stagecraft and presentation were wonderful, if somewhat different at times from the traditional Fiddler presentation, but one  truly fixed the message of the play. It opened with 'Tevya', not yet presented, reading an introductory paragraph while dressed in modern clothing. Soon enough, the outer layer was discarded and we were back in Anatevka of old, totally immersed in "Tradition" and all that followed.
     The second was a CD of the movie "Boy Erased", a shocking presentation of the farce, of the hypocrisy among so callled people of G-d, of faith, who are willing to be violent, to throw away their children, to do harm all in the name of 'healing' them from the sin of homosexuality. It was not blood and gore that made one tremble but rather the understated but overly brutal methodology and the wonder why the hell we had to be making a movie like this today!
     In fact, why is it that the hate, the animosity, the baseless shredding of humanity is still so much a part of us. At the end of Fiddler, the modern dressed narrator, Tevya of old, came back on stage as the Jews of Anatevka were walking once more away from a home from where they had been expelled, and touched the shoulder of the fiddler, the one on the roof. Past and present touching, the circle still unbroken, and this is not a good unbroken circle at all.
     So why does it appear to me that the task of being human and humane, of being openly accepting of people who are not clones of oneself, is the modern day Sisyphean task. Will we forever have to deal with this? Why are Jews being killed once more - in the streets of our own nation and as they fight against the rising tide of anti Semitism again in the countries of Europe where there has been an ingrained vein of anti Semitism since time began. Why do haters, proponents of violence, have the nerve to apear in public, be it in Charlottesville or at a KKK rally planned in Dayton for May 25. Why is this hatred still here?!
     These biases, these murderous hatreds, for they are murderous, are our modern day Sisyphean tasks, and we must break that old, that unbroken circle. That effort starts in two places - within oneslf, or as Michael Jackson sang, with the man in the mirror, and with the heads of government. But when one has a head who apparently supports this type of behavior, this hateful thinking, by excusing it, by calling them "fine people", by speaking and  ranting with and about hatred of brown people, of accusing people seeking haven, just as our ancestors or even ourselves did, of being "rapists, murderers, drug cartel and gang members", well, what do the young in our society learn and in fact, what do weak and hateful people , adults in society learn?
     Can we complete our task? Can we roll these awful hatreds not up a hill, but down the hill and bury it deep within the earth or under the fathomless depths of the oceans, never to rise again? If we do not, if we continue to allow these words of hate to be spoken, to be then acted upon, then woe upon us, for again, it can never be emphasized enough, hateful words lead to hateful deeds lead to hate filled murders and genocide. Why do we even have to worry about genocide in 2019 and yet we do. Shame on us. Shame on our leaders. Shame on humanity. Time to do the right thing. For once and forever.

I WONDER IF

          I wonder about many things, some good, some bad, but what I wonder quite a bit about now is the future. Ever since that Demented One decided to run, in an attempt to boost the bottom line of his Trump Organization, I have wondered what our bottom line will look like by 2020 - should we make it to then. How much of our integrity and unity as a nation will remain and what can we do with it to bolster the propects for the future.
      Over these three years and into the fourth I have become more and more concerned. He was a joke, a doofus, one who thought he could take his fake TV personna to the masses and lo and behold we found that the disunity of the country was far more than we had thought and protest votes made it possible for him to win the Electoral College votes. But remember - he did NOT win the popular vote, which is how we all thought the elections are decided. Wrong, so wrong, so wrong in so many ways.
     Never theless, we are stuck with the results - but are we? It is now evident that the election was tampered with and I have maintained all along that he is not our legitimately elected President. I certainly feel he is not mine, for sure! But be that as it may, what do we do and more urgently, what do we do to insure that we get the full results of the Mueller investigation in all its aspects, that it is publicized, transparent and let the truth come out, whatever it is.
     Do I think that I and so many others are wrong about what we expect to read? No, but I am willing to accept that he is just a mean,nasty, pervert with greed uppermost in his mind, with no care for anything or anyone other than his own business and his three older children who are just as greedy and culpable in all his misdeeds. Still, it would mean that he has committed crimes and no person should be above the law. No false claim of executive privilege should allow one to escape consequences of misdeeds.
     Will that be accepted? The weak Republicans who are willing to shred the Constitution, ruin the checks and balances system, weaken their own right, will never go along with what is right. They appear to have lost all moral values and strength. But there is one more issue that must be addressed.
     Did Trump knowingly collude with the Russians both pre and post election and moreover, is he continuing to do so? That, my friends, is the crux of the matter. That a sitting President should collude with the enemy just boggles the mind. Worse, at least for me, is the fact that every comment I have made re the Demented One, re his tainted offspring and the underwhelming Jared, the fears for the future - all that are of timeliness have come true and even if I was an outlier at times - I am not now. Mainstream media, analysts, etc. are saying the same things and so what is left?
    What is left is the most frightening of all. I have long wondered, in silence and out loud at the future plans of this man and those who support him, benefit from his misguided - at the very least - behavior and statements. I have worried about the possibility of civil war, armed struggles between the two sides of what America will be in the future. I have long wondered aloud about his plans to take over the ountry, to become our first dictator or king - take your choice. I was told I was over the line, but was I? I wish I was, but yesterday I read an opinion piece by a very bright person, who asked the question - what if Trump loses the 2020 election? What then? Will he leave the Oval Office? Will he go peacefully? And remember, this is the man who already stated in 2016 that he did not know if he would accept the results of the election if he were to lose.
     So what now? What now when we have an NRA magazine with large printed words - TARGET PRACTICE - alongside the pictures of Nancy Pelosi and Gabby Gifford, already a victim of a shooting attack. What now? Have we not learned a damn thing about gun violence? Have we not learned a damn thing about the motivational power behind words and pictures, that there are people out there who will act on them? Have already done so? Is this where we are at and if so, then the answer to the question above, will there be a peaceful turnover - hangs in the balance, a scary balance.
     So I wonder. The Mueller Report. The publication of it. The consequences. The disunity of the nation. The dangerousness of the Demented One and his followers, his evil planners - and yes, they are evil. Today there is talk of natural and man made catastrophes such as we have never experienced, world changing, but is this possibility not also world changing and are we ready for it? Are we willing to accept it, should it happen? Are we going to see armed troops in the  streets of the nation? Have we totally lost our way? I wonder - and so should you.

SHADOWS

     We have all played with the shadows on the wall, making our fingers play puppets and animals, but we also have known the other side of shadows. Walking in a  deserted area and seeing another shadow, shadows being mistaken for people in a dimly lit room, or even the figurative shadows hanging over someone or something.
      Today, and for quite a long time already, we have had a shadow hanging over our country. It is the shadow of disbelief, of despair, of shock. It revolves quite a bit around the shadow of deep mistrust and shock that we have suffered these past few years. Nothing is as nothing was. Promises made are promises either not kept or turn out to be less than expected and even harmful - pay attention to the bottom line on your tax filing.
     But the worst of it all is the nasty stuff going around, revolving around the question of collusion, trafficking with the enemy to the detriment of the country, to the violation of its most sacred values, and all for the purpose of getting elected. And why get elected? It seemed and still seems as if one of the main reasons was to enrich the coffers of the Trump organization and the Trump family, what with deals and higher registration in various hotels and golf clubs, and lots of goodies and perks for the incompetent, corrupt appointees.
     We have had traitors in our history, from Benedict Arnold all the way through to the latest armed forces officers arrested for spying for Iran or planning mass attacks on pillars of our society. But for the President to be under this shadow?! This is the mind boggling and most depressing shadow that has been growing and growing, casting much of the country into darkness.
      So if the Mueller probe is ending what will happen now. I have read one mind numbing, nit picking article after another, explaining the legal points about conviction of this collusion and it seems that much might happen under racketeering. But even should there be not enough of the "legal" points to convict, just the shadow,the implication of it all, is, in my mind, enough. Enough to force the man to resign. Enough to have a huge upheaval of the administration. Enough to force a reevaluation of the whole system of elections, Electoral College, political gerrymandering, and the need to make these elections impervious to hacking and interference.
     There should be no shadows over a government. It needs to be transparent and exposed to the light. Shadows seem to generate other shadows, seeping down over the lower levels of government, giving almost tacit condoning of corrupt and/or incompetent administrations.
     There is hope as we see the enthusiasm of the 2018 midterms burgeon into the numerous candidates for President. Others might worry over the numbers but I do not, for they will be slowly cut down in number and the thing we must hope for is that there be no spoilers to steal the election from where it should be and that the best person become the candidate. I hope, at this point, that Klobuchar comes out on top and with an appropriate VP partner. We need a good and solid administration headed by one with goood common sense, experience in the world of foreign and domestic affairs, one who has proven oneself capable of handling difficult situations, of standing up to handle tough situations, not backing down nor losing one's values. I believe that is Klobuchar, although there are several other excellent candidates should she not be chosen, but that would be a loss as far as I am concerned.
     Shadows, like much of life, can be used for good or bad. They can be fun and they can be creative. They can be reassuring and they can be threatening and ominous, hiding reality or presenting reality in a dark manner. We need to weed out the misuse of shadows in the country. It is as simple as that. And as complicated as that.

PUSH COMES TO SHOVE

     There are always times in life when a difficult decision must be made. It would be a time of  momentous importance, life changing even, but decide one must.
     Today, we, the people of the United States of America, are getting closer and closer to such a moment. A decision must be made and the consequences understood. Are we going to allow one man and his minions, along with his partners in alleged crimes and in political machinations inimical to our democracy, to create the first coup in America and take over the government and we become another Hungary or Poland or any banana or Third World republic where rights and laws are ignored, trampled upon and made a mockery of?
     Trump allies and Republican cowards and those of anti democratic bent are whining about a 'coup' to unseat Trump. No, it was not a coup but rather a group of sentient and sensible people trying to salvage the country they loved from the trash heap of broken Camelots of history. It is within the law to remove a President from office due to inability or desire to properly perform the required duties. It is called the 25th Amendment and has been applied before. Trump is very clearly a man troubled by mental disorder, emotional instability and a lack of business acumen as proven by his many bankruptcies. He has been shown to be without morals or compunction, violates laws and the rights of contractors and knowingly hired undocumented workers even as he ranted and raved about them - and then fired them en- masse when uncovered.
     He has lied more times than can be counted though the Times and the Washington Post do a damn good job at keeping track of them. He has belittled dignified people doing their jobs and purposely appointed incompetents and greedy people to positions where they have done much harm to the country already. He has been definably shown to be uneven, revengeful, uncontrolled, unbalanced, and almost mad at times with his tweets and rambling talks. He has, to a massive degree, endangered this country, the exact opposite of his job definition and responsibilities.
     Today we have a Coast Guard officer arrested for plans to commit mass murder in terroristic actions, declaring himself a white supremacist and has amassed quite a large amount of materiel. We have Ilhan Omar supposedly apologizing for her nasty and disgusting openly anti Semitic remarks but note the words and their implications. "Let me reiterate my sincere apology for any actual hurt my words have caused," Omar reportedly said. "I know there are a lot of people who in the last weeks have expressed support in trying to say this isn't anti-Semitic or this shouldn't be looked at in that way."This is as fake an apology as I have seen in a lifetime of seeing forced apologies made by bullies and attackers in schools. It is meaningless and avoidant of the truth of the situation.
     The rage that is present in this country has risen to unequaled degrees, I believe, not seen since the Civil War. Are we awaiting or on the cusp of a second Civil War? Many believe so and so do I - unless, when push comes to shove, people in positions of authority reach deep down to their very souls and make the right decisions for this country - and not for themselves and their various powers and greedy needs.
     Shooting people, running over a family of eight for road rage, the deliberate intermixing of a news media staff and personalities quite openly with the office of the President with openly taken quoted from the Fox news personality in the tweets of Trump. We have attacks on the media which insists on calling the truth, deemed "enemies of the people" with retribution called for!!! We have the highest number of hate groups in 20 years! We have proven chicanery with the election in North Carolina and accusations of the same thing with the presidential campaign of 2016, the election and the horrifying and unthinkable - yet eminently possible - situation where the very leader of the country is deemed a possible enemy agent. My G-d! What have we done? What have we allowed?
     And now, push has come to shove. People will have to step to one side of the line in the sand or the other, but decide they must. Stories of babies thrown over fences collide with truthful incidents of mistreatment of migrant children. Lies about business ethics are proven wrong by the facts. Hidden details of  a supposedly transparent administration belie the truth of the matter.
     Push has come to shove. Decision time is coming. Probes will be finished - but what will be revealed to the public and even to Congress? Will we, indeed, in fact and action, go after the truth and prosecute where prosecution is needed or will we allow certain people to be above the law? Will we back our democratic traditions or will we give them up? Push and shove, people. Push and shove.