HIGH WATERS

  Yesterday a tsunami hit the shores of the West Coast of our country, an unusual, though quite possibly a most dangerous event. Thankfully, that was not the case this time but always, the risk remains, both from Nature and from Man. Of late there has been a chain of weird natural events, almost as if we are being sent message after message from on high, from whatever Power you believe in or from the depth of your own honest soul. There is something very wrong with us, with the world and we had better tackle this problem or there will be nothing left to tackle. Priorities are screwed up, to say the least.

There was another high-water mark yesterday, one that is always being challenged, others willing, eager even, to set yet another record. This high watermark has been exploding over the past few years, yet despite all these new marks, it is merely a continuation, albeit growing by leaps and bounds, dating from time immemorial, or more specifically ever since Abraham, the forefather of all, recognized his Invisible G-d, a unique one. It stamped a notice to the twisted world on the body and soul of all who followed in his footsteps, who worshipped the same G-d, called themselves Jewish, part of the Jewish nation. Here, yet again, surprise, but not really, shock, but not really.

So, damn it all, when is enough, enough? When can Jews expect to be safe in their own lands? When can we cease being the target of false canards, deadly lies, accusations beyond the Pale? When will it ever stop? Why was my Sabbath, the Shabbat of Jews around the world disturbed by news of yet another brutal attack on our people? Make no mistake about it; this is not only an attack on Jews. As I have said multiple times, more than I care to remember, that hatred and its inevitable consequences never ends, never stops with the elimination of its target or targets. It must feed on something lest it consume itself.

It is a fair statement that reactions were one of predictable choices. It was ignored. It was greeted with a yawn. It was greeted with glee. It was met with anguish. It was met with anger. It was met with fear. Luckily, it was not met with blood - this time. The next time, and assuredly there will be a next time, that blood might well be there. Thus, we have grown to expect. Thus, we have grown to know. We will always live in anguish, in the homelands of Jews in their homelands around the world. Not even in our tiny, unique country of our own, amongst the many Moslem and Christian and Buddhist and Hindu nations, are we forbidden to live in peace. The Jewish people are evidently not on the list of being worthy of their own land, a land that has been theirs from time immemorial, built and rebuilt, time and time again, always with Jewish inhabitants. Damn it all. A continual chasing of high-water marks that should never be, that should have been stamped out millennia ago.

That this hatred has grown to such proportions even in this country of ours is a high-water mark of shame. But no shock. Not in the atmosphere of this country these days, lo these many a year. How could it be otherwise when we can pick up a paper and read more lies, wallow in the falsities of social media, when a blood libel is actually raised, when a false pamphlet called The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a patently false publication created by anti-Semites is so easily available, when the sales of Mein Kampf are growing? How? Why?

There is an acrid taste of bitterness in the air we breathe today. When a prominent historian from Yale can write a most frightening article -" the states are preparing the legal steps that will enable Trump to be installed as president the next time around. And that in turn will lead to a terrible sort of conflict, the kind that we haven't seen before. we are on the brink of some kind of conflict. It's the kind of conflict that ends with some kind of basic political reconstruction, where the US as we know it doesn't have to exist."

 Echoing what I have been predicting, warning, preaching about lo these many a year, well, it is downright frightening. We Jews know what happens in such lands, in such places, under autocracy. We are the preferred target of the day, we and others who will protest, who will form a challenge to such a country. Jews thrive in democracies, where people are welcomed, treated fairly - at least most of the time. Thus it has been throughout all the days and years of our lives. And such is the challenge we are facing today, as a nation, as one country. Yet we have denial, a most dangerous denial, willful or not, conscious or not. Read his long article for perhaps one might wake up and taste that acrid air. Feel it burn one's soul along with one's lungs.

Whatever metaphor, analogy, allegory you prefer, high water or low, quicksand or cement, we are not in a very good way these days. Are we honest? Look past all the shouting, all the curses, all the blind to reality loyalties, the willful ignoring of dangerous people and ideas in some bizarre repudiation of our value set, of our ethos as Americans, as Jews, as Christians, as freethinkers, as humanists, as any sane, rational, thinking human being. Get over it, be you Democrat or Republican or any political denomination. Our country is drowning or sinking or both at the same time. The road to a positive future is befogged, almost to the point of Nacht und Nebel, the fearsome atmosphere of Nazi Germany and its conquered lands. There is very little time remaining to find a different path or to clearing that highway so befogged and dangerous. Little time indeed.

To prove a sad point, I will venture that many of you are not even aware of the event that I refer to, what happened yesterday in Texas. Check the papers, the media. Yet again, a synagogue held to ransom, to free a terrorist, the Rabbi and three congregants held hostage, a siege which thankfully ended with no bloodshed. But many consequences. Close, too close. How much more are we to fear this recurring. And recur it will most certainly do.

With respect for the BLM movement and supporters, there has to be a change. Jews have recognized the unfairness of your history here and been in the frontlines of protest and funding, linking hands, hearts and wallets with all. Why, then, is the BLM movement, along with suspicious allies, even Jewish self-haters, disregarders of the past, holding our people responsible, worthy of blame and death, of bloodshed, of anguish, of denial into the ranks of humanity as equal  members? Why are anti-Semites so welcome in your world? Why have you allowed this? Why have you forgotten the past, disregarded the present and mortgaged our future to evildoers? Anti-Semites. Again, ad infinitum ad forever - hatred has neither bounds nor boundaries, always seeking food for its ever-hungry maw. Always and forever and you are right there in its sights. I know there are those who will vehemently deny this paragraph, but it is my call, Think about it. 

We must all choose to be part of the solution, not builders and accommodators to the problem, an existential problem for all. Read the following. Think again. Reassess. DAMN IT ALL.

THERE MUST BE AN ANSWER. 

THERE HAS TO BE. 

LEST WE ARE ALL LOST. 

ALL.

Type in: Yale history professor Timothy Snyder...

                letter to the editor: Reader dismayed

Yale history professor Timothy Snyder told Insider he fears American democracy may not survive another Trump campaign

cdavis@insider.com (Charles Davis) - Yesterday 4:20 PM

cdavis@insider.com (Charles Davis) - Yesterday 4:20 PM

cdavi@insider.com (Charles Davis) - Yesterday 4:20 PM

A PLEA

  I am basically a nobody. I am not eloquent. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I am not an "influencer" nor a driving force in the world of today and I thank my lucky stars for that. The responsibility is overlooked as jarring moments of crazed behavior, over the top, is ever more admired. We have lost our anchors of sense and sensibility, lost control of the rudders of society. We are drifting without a motor, at the very least a properly working motor. We are open to the vagaries of so many detrimental factors and find ourselves lost in stormy seas, left open to monster freak waves, with little ability to avoid its damage and existential threat.

Why am I making this plea? Because we are lost. Because the situation is getting worse and worse. Because if we do not come to our senses, we are lost, will be lost and remain lost until this country is decimated, beyond repair, bereft of hope, and totally immune to any possibility of actually working things out. Certainly not in any sane, rational manner. Our supposed leaders of society have seen to that. One analyst asked if we are "doomed to be governed by irredeemable idiots". He is absolutely correct.

My plea is this: can we not return to our senses, learn from the past, hear the words of the past  wherever they are to be found, and do the right thing. A Supreme Court is not the place to decide medical issues, nor to approve deprivation of rights of so many, be it in voting or control of their own bodies, forced to carry an unwanted, even dangerous or hideously inseminated fetus to full term, a prison sentence for life. 

Is it a bizarre conspiracy? Plot? as apparently one party plus two wolves in raggedy sheep's clothing (Manchin and Sinema) deem it a worthwhile idea to hamstring this country and its people, to encourage madness in a supposed base, and follow an acknowledged - by them, even - deranged character down his particular rabbit hole of deception, lies, delusions, hatred and an inevitable imposition of autocracy over democracy. 

The distance traveled in that rabbit hole, on its highways, is enormous. Quite frankly, we do not, at this point, have enough fuel to turn around and come back. Perhaps Manchin and his filthy millions from coal, will donate some to us, to enable a return to whence we came and to whence we must return. Doubtful at best. Never is actually the answer.

Last night we attended a wonderful replication of a Simon and Garfunkel iconic concert in Central Park in Manhattan. Their songs, their music, remain so apropos of today's world. Ergo, I plead with all. Let us heed those words, hear the pleas, my plea. They sang of a need, a desired goal, an intense need to "look for America". 

Yes, we have lost America, certainly that America.  We have lost sight of what she is, what she needs to remain. We have lost the beauty of so many looking for their America, looking for the dream, its  possibilities, its promises, its reality that should be. Instead, we now try to deny that gift, that opportunity, to immigrants, deny the very same opportunity our immigrant ancestors were given. We have lost America. The America that should be, not the America that we have tormented, disparaged, and twisted until any resemblance to what was, what should be, is just about beyond repair. What have we done? What has man wrought, as we spurned its beautiful gifts?

I plead with all. Let us talk with each other. Hear, heed and listen to each other, choose the right "idols" to worship; those of freedom, liberty, hope, justice, and yes, even the symbolic presentation of a Superman flying through the skies for "that freedom, justice, and the American way".

Perhaps I am a hopeless Pollyanna, a demented optimist, hoping, praying that there remains enough within our hearts and souls to fight the good fight, the negatives we have imposed upon ourselves. We need the inner core of American values to face the facts. We have turned on ourselves, eaten away at ourselves in a most cannibalistic, destructive  manner. 

We have turned all, no matter what, into political warfare, dividing this country as it has never been, not even in the soon be called Civil War I. Perhaps it is already fitted with that designation. We have  argued ourselves into a divided country, not by geographical features, but by our mouths. Continuing this behavior, mostly thanks to our politicians, especially the GOP, we will carve out several weak, small, insignificant, endangered countries from a single great one. Yes, it can happen here and is, in fact, in the minds and mouths of too many, to the point of open rebellion on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Are we totally lost, beyond redemption and repair?

You answer the question, but honestly, putting down your own divisive and powerful biases. Are you to stand for, defend, our America, or are you to continue down that rabbit hole, become human lemmings and herds of unthinking buffalo, ignorant of their own impending doom as they rush to the sea or fall off that cliff? The method of death matters not, only the impending death. A death of America. Quite possibly of many in resultant bloodshed.

Have our tongues not cut enough into our body politic? Can we not separate human, driving issues and problems to be the societal, humane problems they are, not political problems? Can we? My doubts eat away at me.

Thus, I plead, an insignificant member of American society, grateful for my grandparents who came here, that my parents were born here, that I reaped the benefit of brave and hardworking ancestors who instilled in me a love of country, a gratefulness owed to that country, and a determination to keep it safe. Perhaps, I hope, there are enough of us, the insignificant, tired, citizens of America who will answer the plea and turn this country around. 

I hope. I plead. I pray. 

THRESHOLDS

  Threshold is a term that can indicate positivity or negativity. It demands evaluations of situations, proposals, and deep understanding of where these thresholds lead us. Most of us do not realize when we have reached a threshold nor when we have crossed one, a situation much to our detriment. Many of us neither realize nor care if that threshold, easily crossed by them, is dangerous to others. Certainly not in the new and proliferating 'Wild West' scenario we have going on now all over the world.

Here is a scenario most of us do not understand because it means nothing to us. Crossing a threshold in a room, anywhere, happens gazillion times a day without much concern, care or preparation. On the other hand, I, personally, have had thresholds become an important part of my life. I cannot cross them without care and concern, without watchfulness, or should I say mindfulness as to the peril they pose for me and so many others.

Crossing thresholds demands that one lift one's foot over it or be confident of balance if stepping on one. Neuro - degenerative diseases imperil that sense of equanimity taken for granted by so many, including myself, until I met an otherwise situation. I have had to teach myself a new strategy, a new awareness, and allow for the flow of my life to continue. Will my accommodations meet with permanent success? I certainly hope so, but one never knows what life hands out to us, nor do we have much say in that at all.

There are thresholds that are other than physical. They are emotional, mental, and of vast importance to the nation all the way down and up to multi nations and to small groups and individuals. Think of the thresholds of life today.

We are at the threshold of war - again - believe it or not. We are playing dangerous games of chicken. All it takes is one step of a selfish, unthinking - or perhaps thinking, actually - person to set off that tripping threshold footstep and there ya' go! Ukraine. Kazakhstan. North Korea and its crazed leader. Putin and his megalomania. Trump and his deleterious effect on Americans today, with no end in sight as millions cross the threshold to an insanity of denial of reality.

Congress, for example, both Houses, have crossed the threshold into a kindergarten atmosphere which dominates all. There are tantrums. There are tears, crocodile and real. There is insane posturing and a 'nah, nah, ne nah nah' attitude, shameful enough in children, but absolutely disgraceful, unacceptable and dangerous when carried out by supposed adults. Any day now I would not be surprised by one who stands up on the floor with thumbs in ears, wiggling fingers, and a darting, extended tongue. Such is the threshold  crossed in our most eminent legislative body in the nation. Along with the more local legislatures who are actually contemplating or have already crossed back over a threshold that leads to a repressive and oppressive state of affairs and an  autocratic government. 

Rand Paul boasts of how useful misinformation is and how he used it. Mazal Tov on joining the ranks of self-admitted cheats. Trump pulls one of his tantrums and walks out on an interview that is not pleasing to him. Run away. run away, such a mature behavior! A threshold of dangerous idiocy and insensitivity to the needs of others. Worse is the fact that so many, too many, have crossed that threshold along with him, boding an ill wind for us indeed.

Cruz is pushing a case that will just about make it legal for one to bribe a legislator, or future legislator. The conservative dominated Court which has already indicted crossings of thresholds of sanity and morality, will most probably agree. Woe upon us that we have returned to such immoral behavior. Woe to us that this return has flourished. Anti-choice people take to violence and repression. Anti-vaxxers endanger others, a much larger group, pushing the need for mandates with teeth. Big banks are now telling their unvaccinated they "will  not be paid not to work" as they stay home. The biggest shame, the worst threshold crossed? The attempts, growing quite successfully, creating dangerous thresholds that should never have been recalled into existence, denying voting rights, making it nigh unto impossible for too many to vote, and certainly a moronic path.

Repression and oppression do not end. It feeds upon itself and when self-consumed, it latches and leeches onto others. No one is safe. Not even the supposed leaders for nothing stands in the way of a repetitive cycle of governments toppled, mostly via violence and criminal behavior. 

Not even G-d is immune to the consequences of threshold crossings. Religion has returned in full gear as a battlefield question. Is America a 'Christian' nation, allergic to other religions? Are we going to return to the awful edicts of the Middle Ages, all the way to today, where religions other than the majority are to be hounded to death, via methods both literal and figurative? Are we to ban all religions in an autocracy? Are we to criminalize faith or no faith, whenever and wherever it suits us? Are we to allow some faiths or sects to impose their lifestyle on us? Over we go? And who trips?Permanently and immutably.

We are told that re COVID "the tide will turn ...  "We may be on the threshold of that right now."   A good threshold to cross, but what about the one crossed by hordes of dangerous, uncaring, unthinking riders of alternative vehicles who go nuts on the roadways? " "... the pack has been known to careen down sidewalks, clog roadways, drive at break-neck speeds, even intentionally veer the wrong way on roads. Called Wheels Up, Guns Down," Particularly, for some warped reason on Martin Luther King Day. Open season on pedestrians and other motorists? Open season for insanity, for criminal behavior? Where have we gone, what thresholds are left to cross before it is too late, the path back to sanity and comity erased behind us, no Hansel or Gretel leaving crumbs or stones behind.

We need help. We need reformation of thinking. We need to take down some thresholds and repair others, even, perhaps meet a need for new ones. We need a return into a room of sanity, need to cross that threshold immediately. However, are we able to do so or are there, will there, continue to be, too many opposed to that return to sanity, to unity, to America? I sure as hell am not too optimistic at this point. We are tripping too often as we cross thresholds, good and bad. 

As one grandchild used to say when little, "No I amn't." Well, no, I amn't either.

SEE, HERE'S THE THING .....

 ....we are nuts! Plain and simple. Together, on this "blue marble" in space, we have all lost our collective minds. It has apparently wandered off somewhere, invisible to search parties, if there are any still working, most probably stuck somewhere in the USPS which has taken the term "snail mail" to its utmost form and application. If not there, then perhaps someone deep sixed it in the depths of the ocean or simply pulverized it, weakening it until there is no common sense left at all. 

 It used to be that for the most part, Americans, and for that matter, the rest of the world, would take a look, moan and weep, complain, and then hitch up their pants and get to the nub of the matter and fix it, by golly! That Bob the Builder attitude has gone missing. We have forgotten that in this world of ours today there is no isolation, no nation that can stand alone, or do without the co-operation of the rest of the world. The legislators within these obdurate countries have also taken a wrong turn, elevating their personal concerns and selfish desires way, way above the needs of the people in general, or are catering to the deranged among us. The haters among us.

A dance company in an intense physically demanding rehearsal was told "You're killing it", in a most positive tone. Yes! That is what we should all be doing. Instead of looking to lay blame somewhere, always elsewhere, we need to look within and gear up, re-hitch ourselves to the stars and get the job done, difficult or not. Almost 100 years ago, a Black author, a most wonderfully powerful writer, Zora Neale Hurston, did exactly what we need to do. In a most difficult time for Black people, this is what she said.

"No, I do not weep at the world - I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife." She felt that even in those times, America was a land of opportunity, had a road to success for all. More important, things were getting better every year, every decade. She did not belong to a 'sobbing school" for she "has seen that the world is to the strong regardless...of pigmentation." She was indeed a progenitor of the Bob the Builder attitude - yes, we can. We must. We will. Might take longer than we like, but there it is. We can, we will, we must and to hell with all the naysayers.

Why can we not understand that no, the USA, Biden, cannot wave a magic wand and fix the supply chain myriad problems. It takes not a Village, but a World, to undo the Gordian knot of the myriad contributors to that knot. That will not be accomplished in any meaningful way unless, until we halt, immediately, the fracturing of the nations of the world and unite to solve our mutual problems. Just as we must unite in this country if we are to rebuild America, from the bottom up to the top, from the top to the bottom, forge ahead despite difficulties, regain that American can do attitude. Unfortunately, we are too busy hating and blaming, whining, refusing to do the right thing. We are blind, cannot see all those noses that we have cut off our faces in the fruitless pursuit of false justification for our benighted views and attitudes, encouraged by those who benefit and profit from the situation. What have we done!!!

America, the world, is in the ICU and we must  heal. There is no other choice, no viable path if we are to remain functioning in any kind of positive manner, gain any positive results. We must cut out the selfishness, defy the lies and the liars. In the more local matters as well. 

We cannot, for example, say that a new use of a building in the heart of the Village will not adversely affect the residents when it most m obviously will, and certainly in a powerfully negative manner. Open space will be lessened, ugly fences will go up, hiding two new "pools for modesty". Has anybody done a study how that construction will affect the Village, destroy the air, shock the buildings nearby of residents who have the misfortune of living there, subject to the noise, the dust, the explosions of construction? Nope. Nary a one. The building and its new additions - yes, a proposed addition, will loom closer and closer to us as we walk nearby. Traffic will decline, we are told. Who are they kidding? It will increase throughout the day, prime time and not. A most ridiculous request is to ensure that any change wanted can be done via a SIGNATURE and nothing else. Really wish I had a magic wand too! 

There is a further lie that the current Orthodox synagogue cannot accommodate them. Lie. There is plenty of room, particularly as there is a mobile building of their own directly behind and a structure which mainly only they wished to be built behind that! Nor are they year-round, so why do we need a place of worship, within the Village, not serving the majority of its residents, selfishly inserting itself, an alien element, into the heart of the Village, based upon lies after lies after lies.

 They knew there were no separate swimming pools in the Village, nor was it allowed, certainly not at the WPRF pools, so why come here? Why not find an empty parcel of land, or one first being developed, and locate there, their own little or big Village, isolate themselves, have no 'modesty' challenge - and by the way, the women certainly congregate at the pools with preferences for some over others. No infringement on their particular needs, not forcing their needs upon others patently not accepting nor needing of them, in fact, the very opposite. The medical building, if allowed to go through with current plans and the ability to change approved plans on their own whims, will adversely affect the entire place. As far as I am concerned, they leave themselves open to civil suit. 

Yet another big liar in our area is Atlantic Broadband claiming its new name means this -

"still determined to deliver fast, dependable internet service with amazing local support. And we’re making it easier than ever to keep you connected and entertained.

Our new name better describes our company and our mission. Most of all, our new name is our continued commitment to you that we’ll work hard every day to deliver experiences that are easy, that make you happy and enrich your life."

Uh huh! Still waiting for all that to happen, old name or new. Service calls are now on severe delay, a week or more, it breaks off in the middle of a show, and hard work? Where? When? Show me, please! In one instance we had four servicemen before the problem was fixed and as far as refunds for lack of service, well, that burden appears to fall on those being serviced rather than the company. Hope Breeze...means hardships will vanish in a new breeze and fresh air will come in. Somehow, I doubt it, but am willing to give the benefit of the doubt. Might be a dummy in that, but ---always the optimist!

"Lies, tell me lies..." goes the song. Not here. Not anymore. I wish the same for the world and the nation. So tired of the selfish, harmful, hurtful liars. So very tired of it.

HORSING AROUND

 If it was not so funny, it would be so sad; in fact, it absolutely is.  So sayeth Seth Meyers on his return from COVID isolation.

 “I tried to get my hands on some of that horse paste, but they were out of it at my local feed store,” referring to ivermectin. So instead he went with “horse pudding,” which “has no medicinal value, and is not a great snack either, but you can definitely taste the horse.”

What we have, in reality, is a country that is indeed  horsing around, drinking the Kool-Aid, and closing  eyes to falsehoods, divisiveness and liars and lies aplenty, visible, yet apparently not so for too many people. They do not catch the message in Meyers's words. Add to that the moronic arrogant comments from those who apparently have a G-d inspired words of 'wisdom', connection. Arrogance beyond belief. Yet there it is, and there are the people who buy into it - hook, line, and sinker and all that comes with it. Even as they die. Even as they see their country disintegrate. Even as they remain  impervious to the idiocy, the dangerous idiocy and the arrogance of those who maintain falsehoods as Biblical truths.  Even as the clock hands move ever closer to midnight.

Now what? Do we have to go searching in the dark, like Diogenes with his lantern, seeking the truthteller, the honest man? Uphill battle, folks. Steep almost beyond any attempt to reach the top where truth remains. Apparently so, for what else can one say when a dangerous fool, a Senator, much to our shame, begs forgiveness for the sin of publicly stating, admitting, that the outrageous actions of Jan. 6 were indeed a violent attempt to overthrow this nation and bring about the downfall of American democracy. Really!! Meyers added “It was so pathetic I honestly thought I was delirious from COVID,” ... “But it turns out it was real and I was just delirious from my horse pudding.”

Brother! Sister! Do we need help. Immediate and immense.

We need help in all spheres of life, public and private. Small towns are losing their innocence as sense meets nonsense, as viciousness and  "otherism" lash out, as we are warned about "bubbles" of doom, be it financial, political, moral or anything else one can point to. We have lost the distinctive American optimism, the we can do it attitude that carried us from the American revolution to the victories of WWII. After that we lost something, defeated by a new world, a new realpolitik which baffled us and our leaders. We did remain hopeful corrections to our off route misadventures would be countered and made right. And we succeeded, to a point, but now, now, the bubble has burst indeed.

We have entered a phase wherein selfishness, greed, and hatred rule the roost, misguide our supposed leaders and leave us with a bunch of entitled imposters, false messiahs that herd us ever closer to the crumbling edge of the cliff. The metaphorical cliff that will collapse over our ship of state, mortally wounding us, as did that piece of cliff which fell on those poor tourists. We have become tourists in a land no longer our own.

Here in Century Village, we are facing our own Armageddon of sorts. Long a residence, a paradise of life for thousands, we are now under attack. There are those who are attempting an egregiously foreign and harmful act upon us, something that will change the entire gestalt of the Village, send a knife through its heart that can never be removed. The damage will be severe, too much so, and I fear we will never recover. I have written to this issue several days ago.

Up till now, the only commercial building within this Village has been the 'medical' building where doctors had offices which served the residents, hair salons were there, especially for those limited in ability to travel outside the Village. There is a drugstore which sells devices for physical needs, toiletries, and even food, even a sizeable amount of kosher food, all to serve the residents. Demographics have changed over the years, shifting, yet we were all one, one Village, disagreements and all. One Village.

Now we are being told that this building, entrenched in the heart of it, on the very corner of a busy four-way intersection, in a busy area of constant traffic, near the Clubhouse, will be morphed into a religious building, privately owned by a group out of Brooklyn and elsewhere, not serving the Village, but rather a segment of it. Separate gender segregated pools, foreign to the Village, after failed attempts to impose it on  associations of the Village, a large, overwhelming misplaced place of worship, and an addition, cramping the nearby associations, and complicating the movement within the Village while under construction and fouling traffic for the  foreseeable future - not wanted, not needed, not beneficial. Not to the Village as a whole.

This is an uncalled for, unnecessary, and in fact, harmful event. The Palm Beach Commissioners must vote against these plans. Anyone can own it, yes, but not to impede the peacefulness, the purpose, the unity, the gestalt of the Village, expose the residents to permanent danger simply by carrying out its plans and even adding to the building, most out of place within it, a jarring presence. The Torah, the Bible, tells us not to separate from the 'group', the kahal, in Hebrew. This is what this building and the proposed changes will do, if allowed.

This has nothing to do with religion or anything else. This would be wrong should any other private group want to change it all. In addition, there have been too many occurrences of some within this group who have not obeyed the rules and regulations of the Village, of the County, and in fact, have endangered residents both physically and financially. How would we even know the full story here re construction and rules, re the safety of the residents?

The Village has faced many difficulties over the years. We continue to face them. A huge development is planned contiguous to it. We have forced proper consideration of our needs and will continue to do so, just as we worked with the builders of another nearby development. We watch the traffic needs, for crossing the street, for the benefit of all residents. We now face a change of Atlantic Broadband, with whom we have, unfortunately, a ten-year contract. Now it has morphed into Breezeline, an unknown entity. Complications will abound, affect communication, our TV and streaming abilities. But we will work on this, for the benefit of ALL residents, not for a select, entitled few, not for a project which will change the entire Village, could realistically prove to be its downfall, a sea change from what it is supposed to be.

The Brady Bunch had a line in its theme song which stated, "It's time to rearrange", time to adjust to new needs and challenges in a positive, constructive, beneficial manner. We rearrange as needed, as it works for the Village, not only for a certain, but separate group wishing to enforce and enhance its separateness. Not the rearrangement proposed. Time to ensure the continued existence of our home here in Florida, certainly not to welcome, not approve, a project meant to change it permanently, harmful, detrimental to most of us who call it home, our only home. Change and rearrangement must be beneficial rather than harmful. Change must be judicious and positive. That is what we want here, what we need here, what we have tried so hard to do all these years. And so it must continue to be.

No horsing around here.

OVER IT?

  Apparently, according to a restaurant owner, people are "over it". They are over the whole shutdown, mask up, virus frightened world we have been living in for lo these past two years. Regular life has drawn an attractive beckoning to the people to just get over it, jump in, the water is fine. I hope so, I really do, but are we, as a nation, truly over all that accompanied the virus, sickening our nation in more ways than one?

Of late, a few Johnny come lately GOP Senators have conceded: the election of 2020 was legitimate, Biden won, and Trump needs to get used to losing, a sharp blow to his misbegotten, overblown ego. They have even conceded that there is no presidential protection for a former president. Whoa!!! Unbelievable, yet even after all this, admit that he is liable for criminal prosecution, they continue to state they would support him as the GOP 2024 candidate. Would that hold true were he to be incarcerated? I wonder. How "over it" are the American people of that sector of society? How much harm can they continue to inflict upon this country, our embattled democracy?

We need so much fixing of America. We are 'broke' and we do need fixin' in so many areas. Take our medical system. Obama tried to reform it and was obstructed by the GOP. These shenanigans of theirs continued, stalling Biden's ambitious much needed reforms in so many areas. So, medical. Here it became very personal to me. 

A medication was developed to combat a dangerous aspect of Parkinson, wherein severe drops in blood pressure caused many a dangerous fall- and lordy, but do I know about those! Broken bones, fractures, permanent damage - and yet the copayment for this essential drug is now, for me and the dosage I require - wait for it - $800 a month. A month. On top of all the remaining co-pays for other needed medicines. No can do. The day I warned about has come to be. The day we would find ourselves unable to afford me! And think of others forced to either come up with the unthinkable copays - if they even have insurance - for cancer and other conditions. So now it is legitimate for Big Pharma to tell so many to go take a hike. Really? Yes, really.

Over it? No, I do not think so. Over what, exactly? Over the attempts, already succeeding to a frightening degree to manipulate the system and deny voting rights to so many? Over it? As we are now being warned by distinguished historians about the demise of democracy for us in our time? Through the delegitimization of elections. A victory for autocracy, fascism, racism, all the ugliness that goes along with that.

Over the defiance of the law by those who are supposed to uphold it? As Senators and Congressmen, deeply enmeshed in the Jan. 6  debacle, refuse to obey subpoenas, block the inevitable, their guilt exposed? Over the awful exposure of Trump sitting gleefully, for over three hours, as our country teetered and tottered, as heroes were battered by deranged rebels? As Trump reran segments that he loved, the more violent the better? Giggling all the while. You try avoiding a subpoena. See what happens to you. Evidently some people think they are indeed above the law. Not over that, I tell you!!!

Rioting. Revolution and Civil War. Loss of democracy. Re-education camps, forced labor, hatred galore. No, not over it. We should never be over all that. Over the attempts to render this country's history moot, refusing to learn from history, discount what we do not like and indeed, make it his-story, the version of Trump and his fellow traitors.

Maybe we can soon be over the terrible days caught within a deadly pandemic, as we learn to live with it, develop better vaccines, medicines, and a growing herd immunity. Maybe. But life will go one - we hope. We must learn to distinguish that which we can indeed "be over' and that which we must never ever be "over". If we do not, well, as they say - the rest is history - or will be.

UFOS, BIG LIES, OFF RAMPS, AND DO NOT FORGET VIAGRA!

  Reading the news this morning I was not exactly sure if I were actually in my home, or somewhere else in a delusionary world, a la The Matrix. I looked around for Neo, but no help in sight. Thus, I am left all by myself to figure out what the hell is going on and where and when we got off the road of sanity, of comity, choosing instead the road of conflict and demand deafness. Oops, almost left out the Viagra. Gotta' watch that!

New argument of the day. UFO investigation office. Under whose supervision is the apparent elephant in the room. Quite frankly, do we not have more existential, pressing issues than this? If some aliens get their kicks flying around and playing chicken games in the sky, let them, as long as they leave us alone. These visits are probably the teenagers of the aliens, doing the equivalent of the old American practice of driving down Main Street on a Saturday night. Who cares? Think they want any part of a world gone mad, of a planet replete with people who will do the job for them, eliminate all in a mad scramble to reach the top! They can sit back, take a drive or two and observe the crazed Earthlings. Something to do on a quiet night. 

Seriously, can we not address more urgent matters before we adopt the Twilight Zone theme song as our new mantra? All the while boosting the newest "cure" for COVID. The old dudes are jumping all over this one, thinking "Hey, think I'll go get me a little Omicron, get the Viagra cure, and hop out of the one bed for the other!" Seriously, Viagra? If there is a useful ingredient in that pill then use that, but do not place the Viagra pill in front of those 'deprived' guys! Can you imagine the jams around medical facilities! Oy! On the other hand, maybe that would bring out the anti-vaxxers of the backwoods and swamps of America. Whatever works!

Seriously, let us get back to reality, as strange as our reality is. Locally, we have a group trying to insert a DVT into the heart of Century Village. They wish to establish a house of worship in the heart of the Village, at a main crossroad, negating its current role in the life of the Village - a drugstore, medical offices, sundries and food for travel limited residents, parking places, a sane traffic area, a meeting place, and more. To hear that this group will close off that space, will draw away from the Village, will eliminate its role in the Village, cause it to become an alien presence, a site of traffic woes, elimination of factors which ease the life of Villagers - well, no go! 

Particularly as they request the right to change plans of supposed approved final plans! Huh! What does final mean? Who supervises the building, the digging, the shocks of construction? Who will ensure that County Codes are strictly adhered to, for the safety of all? Especially when members of this group have engaged in dangerous renovations in their units without following the rules, literally endangering the lives of others. 

What are the plans to manage the increased traffic, the literal threat to life and limb, not only of a "lifestyle" but also of physical lives as the crossroad is squeezed beyond any kind of possible safety? Not to mention the loss of parking spaces it provides for busy days and nights at the Clubhouse. This site is integral to the Village and its residents. To cut this building off, to have fewer spots, narrower spots, out of use for the Villagers at large, increasing difficulties in everyday life of the average Villager, well, this cannot be. The building has been a commercial center serving the Village within its very heart and needs to remain so. Period. 

How do we deal with the illusionary behavior of the mass of Republicans, those who have bought into the myth of the Big Lie, the many Big Lies, of Trumpian troglodytes? They buy into those Lies, enhancing their divisiveness, their attack on the fabric of this country, denying its very founding principles, even attacking the country in a most awful physical manner, with hundreds wounded and people killed. Ranting and raving, these people, these insurrectionists, were no better, no different than any other rioters and rebels from any other country. We have fallen into the ranks of the Third World Countries and thank you, Trump!

Our troubles have shifted the balance of the world, given power to our long time and long-term  enemies, Russia and China, imperiled the very safety of other countries as these two play out their political power games. We, the former guardian of the world, well, we sit on our thumb and rotate for we are despised as a now weakling country, destroyed by its former president. Shame on us!

If that were not enough, the sky is literally falling upon us. Chicken Little was correct! Seriously, not a sky segment, but a segment of a cliff, falling upon a boat load of tourists on a lake. Unbelievable, and yet it certainly is real. Along with the rest of strange phenomena of Nature. Hmmm, what about those aliens and UFOs? Hmmmm.... Wonder what would happen if we gave Viagra to those aliens? Seems to be a wonder pill, curing all ills in sight, at least to the happy dudes! Can't hurt, can it? But think of sex crazed aliens running through our streets. Or is that happening already? Hard to distinguish between one aberrant behavior from another these days.

I think today what gets me the most is the new study that tells us that a female patient with a male surgeon has more likelihood of a negative outcome, even unto death, than a male patient. 

"Overall, the analysis suggests that when a male surgeon treats a female patient, that patient is 16 percent more likely to experience complications, 20 percent more likely to remain in the hospital for longer, and 32 percent more likely to die than if they were treated by a female surgeon."

Speak of aliens among us! But women are not aliens. When will there finally be a gender equivalence? When will there be a recognition of the power and importance of women in the history of humankind? When will this 'implicit' bias be conquered? How many more female patients have to die before it is 'fixed'? This negative outcome applies to women of all colors and ethnicities. Together at last, huh!

Need some relief? No Alka-Seltzer here but have fun and schedule a walkthrough of America's most expensive home. $295 million - but remember, it has five pools, a thirty-car garage, and a bowling lane. Great place to be during a lockdown! Seriously, what a behemoth and so unnecessary. Yet, there it is.

Could we pay a bit more attention to our real problems and reschedule the aliens and their UFOs for another day? Makes sense to me. You? Folks, there is no off ramp from the problems of the  world. They are not the problems of others. They are yours, ours, as well. We need to address them, stop this backbiting and sniping at each other. The drowning waters, the lack of water, the increasing shortages of food, the rising prices, the homelessness, the growing inequality and inequity of society, the fires that consume our forests and cities, our own innards - do we not have enough to do without taking on aliens, who might even have their own Viagra!!?? Let us get real here - for our very existential sake.

THE WEATHER

  The weather is often used to fill in a conversation gap, or when an oops! remark is made by a conversation participant. Sometimes it works; at other times it is basically useless. Hopefully, it will be of positive use in the blog today.

Shakespeare believed in the importance of weather and its predictive ability. The weather in both  Macbeth and Julius Caesar was extremely stormy, accompanied by weird supernatural events. There are similar tie ins contained within other plays of his and perhaps there is some truth in these statements. 

No, I have not gone off the tracks, but am merely drawing a line between recent weather and the political stances of the day. Both are truly not very good for us, are they? Both portend much bad news to follow. The question is twofold. Will the weather change, the atmospheric weather, that is? The other is whether the political environment will change, and if so, in what direction? Will it mimic the weather or perhaps, perchance, will the sun come out in proper order and degree? Annie sings loudly and hopefully in a song of encouragement - the sun will come out tomorrow, but mayhap she need think again. What sun? The brutal one of desertification and drought or the sun of optimism and moderation? I am not too hopeful here, folks. Where do you stand?

The world in general has been subjected to what is called extreme weather. Rarely now is the term "100 year" used to describe such weather for it is far beyond that. Folks stand stunned as they wander through the remains of a burned home, a flooded home, a tornado tossed home, or a strange snowstorm stranding hundreds in freezing  temperatures. Now the term used is "500 year" event. Next? 1000?

Turn the page now. The existential world of USA politics mirrors and reflects the political weather of the entire world, a battling orb between democracy and autocracy. Even as two storm systems beat up the country, we face a storm that appears to have no quick end to it or worse, a losing end for the people. Frankly, I believe that the side of democracy was losing, is losing, as fear and greed grow the pull of autocracy. The advocates of democracy are plain and simply tired, exhausted by the past five or six years and perhaps even more if one goes back and sees the early manifestation of  virulent extremism masked as a more stringent conservatism. Make no mistake about it. The 'conservatism' of today is the extreme extremism of yesterday, hurtful, harmful, hateful. No exemptions. No escape.

However - the sun came out yesterday in DC, in the very same Capitol that stood as symbol, a bloody symbol, of the war within America, a war that I have long maintained is a war for our collective soul as America, as a true United States of America. Evidently, Biden agreed with me out loud yesterday. About time!!! AMEN!!!!

Why he waited so long to point the finger at the true cause is a puzzlement, although perhaps he is too nice a man. However, when one is hit with a lead club one cannot fight back with a wet handkerchief. Dealing in a rational, peaceful  manner with "the former President"? No way, no how and we have learned a painful lesson on that. Hopefully those leaders of ours have caught that lesson, internalized it well and will go after the deranged, demented, dangerous "former President" and his adherents. It is time. It is past time.

When an entire opposition party save one can ignore a moment of silence - for the deaths and wounding of so many, for the dangerous delusion of so many, for the thankfully failed coup which battered our hearts and souls - well, folks, we got trouble, right here in our own River City. We had better pay attention to that trouble and a marching band will not be the fix. Rather it calls for many bands, marching to preserve our country, to preserve democracy, to give us all a chance to fix the weather, real and metaphorical, else all is lost.

Time to refute the lies of Greene who states that COVID was caused by a 'space laser created and operated by a Jewish banking system'. And she is supposed to be a "friend" of Israel? Spare me such friends!! Time to refute the lies of Ron Johnson who says "losing between one and three percent of the American public to Covid-19 was an acceptable outcome"  - that would be more than 3 million people, but what the heck, right?!  Time to refute a man, a "former president" who is opening a site that is going to be the absolute opposite of its stated name and mantra -  "Truth". Bah, humbug!! Blatantly and in the open. Worse, there are still those who continue to believe in a man who has only contempt for them and plans to bleed them dry and then toss them away.

This "former President" this instigator, this traitor, worse than any in our history, who emulates the behavior of Petain under the Nazis, the Quislings who undermined and gave away their country, Norway, must be silenced, thrown into prison for his crimes and evil intentions. There is no other way. Only then, perhaps, will the rest of the people come back to their senses. Harsh, but show me another way. None in sight.

So, how's your weather today?

"RISE UP"

  So we are urged to do once again, only this time it is against another target, though all are tied together in this continued push to defy the government. "MAGA nation should rise up and oppose this egregious federal government overreach."  Even when it means a most probable and awful death, with accompanying threats to the lives of loved ones. That is the temperament and the lack of intelligence within these anti-vaxxers who have made their stand here, pushing for the right to kill themselves and endanger families and friends as their 'contribution' to the armies of 'liberty' in their demented and twisted minds.

Personally, aside from some unfortunate thinking among sane people that I know, befuddled by false information on the internet, I say let them get their wish. Let us encircle their centers of population ensuring that no one gets out of the contaminated area unless there is a submission to vaccination. Otherwise, let them enjoy their just desserts. 

They are a danger to the health of the public at large. This danger must be contained if we are ever to defeat these recurring forms of pandemic, tame it down to a manageable returning visitor, controlled via timely, even repetitive boosters, and pills. No more, no less than we have done with other threatening diseases, only this time sanity seems to have fled the minds of these anti-vaxxers. Harsh, yes, unfortunately so, but show me another way and I will jump on it. However, sadly so, I doubt these people will ever return to their senses. Not with the surrounding temperature of society as we know it today. Certainly, again, sadly so.

What about today? A terrible anniversary. One that should never ever have sprung into existence.  Fortunately, some of the violent talk, the pictures of armed rebels, of rooms filled with arms, has died down significantly. Even as extremists argue as to whether to take credit or to deny their participation. “The violence in the rhetoric is still just as blatant as ever,” Even as they try to belie the facts and the reality: there was a coup attempt and it failed, bloodily, violently, and further rent apart the soul and heart of our nation. Our poor besieged nation. Our threatened nation.

January 15 and Jan. 23 appear to be dates of substitution - a rally in Arizona which hopefully will go splat as it did in its most recent one, and Jan. 23, a day scheduled for a march of anti-vaxxers on Washington, promoted by the traitor Steve Bannon. Has he not caused enough damage to the nation? Why the hell has he not been indicted, tried, convicted and imprisoned already? Why have our prosecutors moved slower than a snail on pushing for the prompt judicial response to the insurrectionists, particularly the planners and instigators. We all know who and where they are, all their delaying tactics.

This morning Biden will talk of the need to protect democracy. Kamala Harris will portray it, rightfully so, as an attack on our values and freedom, "the American experiment is being tested, and that we must work to secure voting rights, ensure free and fair elections, and safeguard our democracy for generations to come. That is indeed the import of this day and the ceremonies and events to commemorate it. Pelosi had it correct when she stated they "are intended as an observance of reflection, remembrance and recommitment, in a spirit of unity, patriotism and prayerfulness." - in a hope that it will indeed be so. 

Finally, we are told by a Representative, that a trauma is a trauma. It cannot be overlooked nor denied. Nor can one hide from it. A national trauma will affect all within that nation, wishful thinking useless to deny the impact and the future impact of that trauma.

 That trauma must never ever be repeated. Not if we are to survive as a proud democracy, stand as a bastion of freedom, of righteousness, justice, honor, and ever constant improvement, a role model to the world at large. Only thus can we be assured of,  proud of our United States of America. A long, hard slog, but it can be done. It must be done.

"BIGOTED, NONSENSICAL AND NEBULOUS"

  Words. They have changed the world. They have elated and tormented, disappointed and  fulfilled. However, they are also the words of the title. Too many times we mistake the words that fall into the category of the title, for words of truth, even when we damn well know the truth of the situation. We make what we wish were true, actually be accepted as truth, through willful blinding and deafness or malice aforethought. We must not forget the malice. Nor can we excuse people from the evil outcomes when they say, "we didn't know that would happen." Be careful what you wish for, for it might come true.

The words of the title were used in a book detailing the life story of an Iranian Jew who remained behind when the Shah was overthrown by extremist Islamists. Hanged for the same old tired, yet dangerous, and seemingly eternal accusation, that Jews were of dual loyalty, and in this case, even of single loyalty - to Israel. Excuses, excuses, with deadly results. "Nebulous, nonsensical, and bigoted". Bigoted, nonsensical, but certainly not nebulous when they rise up from the garbage heaps, the sewers of supposed civilization of thousands of years, even right here, openly bruited about, in the United States. Today, yesterday and most frightening and shiver inducing - for the foreseeable future. Beatings, demoralizing words, open faced lies, old canards such as blood libel and worldwide conspiracies have resurfaced, growing louder each and every day that goes by.

Nor does this situation end within the boundaries of the Jewish world. Not at all. The entire constitutional and existential crisis within this country is based on nebulous accusations, most manifestly blatant lies, nonsensical statements by a deranged man that are accepted as gospel truth, his cult followers, his fellow Fascists, the deluded and dangerous members of America First, of QAnon, Proud Boys and more. Horrifyingly, there were 147 GOP Congressmen who voted against certifying the absolute, legal, election of Joe Biden, his victory in a huge rejection of Trump and his filthy politics. Most awful is hearing that they have donated over 8 million dollars to a group called the Sedition Caucus. Open, brazen and most definitely not nebulous, not nonsensical in intent and desired results. All this topped by a rotten bunch of cherries who belong to America First, a reincarnation of all the violent, hateful anti nationalist groups throughout history. Fascist through and through. Boding well for no one, even its adherents.

Worse, we have Big Business and Big Banks who donate to these open traitors, to these treasonous descendants of Benedict Arnold. Even when they know the truth, see the results. How do we combat this? Beats me, other than to continue to speak up and out, make it clear that American democracy and its believers, its proponents, will not go down without a fight. We cannot allow political fatigue and wishful thinking to play a role here. We must accept the truth as it is, not as we wish it were. 

If we neither accept nor remember the past, deny the present, well, there will be no future worth anything at all. We will have condemned our kids and their kids to a miserable life, certainly not the Goldeneh Medinah, the Golden Hill, the Land of Promise and Hope that enticed our ancestors to undertake perilous journeys and work so hard to build that future.

Trump has postponed his planned rally for the Jan. 6 Anniversary Remembrance. Worse, it was planned to be held in Mar A Lago, a hop, skip, and a jump down the road from me. He promises a replacement at a planned Arizona rally on Jan. 15. Actually, it means no never mind to his true plans - the overthrowing of this government, of this country, of treason to its population, and he will never stop unless we stop him. The courts and its world must act. NOW! Too little too late will not work for us, for our survival against a tide of poisonous, decadent, selfish Fascism.

His fans, like his daughter Ivanka who traded her liberal values for fascistic ones and the POWER she would wield under her father's reign, tried to get him to call a halt to the violence at the Capitol, to the failed, though bloody, coup attempt. They all knew, one and all, of his plans, of his dementia, his determination to turn this nation upside down, and only stepped up when they saw the results.

What did they think would happen? Did they think the endangered targets would willingly climb onto a platform and put the noose over their own heads? Did they think that the outnumbered, yet heroic, Capitol Police would meekly surrender, fail in their mandates? Did they even think at all? Ever? Or were they so immersed in what they thought would be theirs under this most manifestly unsuitable being that they refused to stop this train before it went off the tracks?

An expert in the process of elections warns us that we are "uniquely open to manipulation" in our election process. How true. How frightening. With the GOP now attacking the process by violating voting rights, by turning the clock back to antebellum days, by twisting the laws of the Electoral Process, by inserting puppets of the GOP and controlling who COUNTS the votes, well, expect nothing good to come out of 2024. For that matter, even 2022, for that will make the trend clearer, the future, I believe, even murkier than it already is. Democracy can be going down for the third time and where are we? Where are the voices that should all be raised against this? Where?

In a conversation about her life and how she retains a tether to reality, Cher said,

 " I don't forget where I came from, but I have to keep being reminded and I think the key is really to make sure that I remind myself."

Perhaps we should take our mapping out of our future from those words. We must remind ourselves who we are, where we came from and where we wish this country to go. These words are neither bigoted nor nonsensical, nor nebulous. Neither is the very clear line drawn between the two choices we have and the two possible futures. Very clear indeed. 

LAW AND ORDER? OR NOT?

  We must choose - immediately, with no delaying tactics any longer. We must decide whether we are indeed a nation of law, with no one above the law, even those with the name of Trump, as Letitia James stated or not. Are we to be a nation where the law is observed more in the breech than in the observance, a nation which takes its law and order in hourly doses of popular TV shows? 

Served with subpoenas, three children of Trump - Jr., Eric and Ivanka - refused to obey it. Perfectly modeling the behavior of their insane wannabe  dictator father, Donald Trump, the madman of the century. Only under the massively misrun regime of Trump has the country seen so many supposed  leaders and role models turn into emissaries of the dark, of open and major flouting of the law, refusal to accept responsibility for their crimes and  misdeeds, be they civil or criminal, or both, for that matter. Openly and brazenly, these people, led by a deranged being, openly acknowledged as such, have decided to ignore the law, place themselves above it, and turn the horror of Jan. 6 into a fairy tale of lies - as one person put it - of "denial, disinformation and diversion".

No, the instigators and the crowds of mob crazed would be, could be killers, were not Democratic Party members.

No, the reporting of it, the event itself, was not a big hoax.

No, it was not a large group of tourists who were accosted by evil doers.

No, the crowds were not peaceful, nor did they have only positive plans. They came loaded for bear!

No, the FBI did not set this up.

No, they were not defending "their" election results for DONALD. TRUMP. DID. NOT. WIN. BIDEN. DID.  Conclusively. In Popular Count And In Electoral Count.

Now to be called to account for their misdeeds, major and/or minor, these traitors, these cowards, these same people who huddled in the Capitol or begged Trump to gainsay that mob, instigated by  his very deeds and words, are now trying to evade that accounting with every tactic they can use. Our courts are used as delaying areas, turning this whole thing into a farce. Children and adults are asking why are this man and his cohorts not in court, indicted, facing conviction and hopefully guilty verdicts? 

Why has he evaded the consequences of his behavior, of his mouth? Why? That is an answer beset by irrationality and a most manifest plank of a present-day GOP. 

Flout the law in the name of Trump. 

Flout the law in the name of "America First".

 Flout the law with the contempt one has for lesser beings.

Flout the law no matter what, for you, yourself, are always and forever, above the law.

Flout the law, for this is a tenet of fascism and authoritarianism.

So, which do we choose? True law and order or the fake variety, wherein the elite of society, by their own classification, crooked or not, are above the law or set their own laws, relevant only to and for them, as is happening now? A decision must be made and very, very soon, sooner than you might wishfully think.

It took that incompetent man SIX takes for his one sentence tape on Jan. 6. Along with 187 minutes of watching it and turning a deaf ear to the pleadings of his enablers. Even they were alarmed. 

I close with these words from a political and business analyst and reporter. 

Read them and weep.

 Read them and shiver in your shoes. 

Read them and decide - are you "fer or agin'?

Read them and understand your responsibility in this mess and in its repair.

 "There's a very sophisticated infrastructure of disinformation by design -- including both right-wing TV and social media rabbit holes -- so if people want to live in this narrative, they can, very happily. But here's what I see: Growing distrust in the integrity of American elections; a failure to acknowledge or learn from an attack on the Capitol; and an ongoing campaign to get election deniers to become election officials. None of it paints a pretty picture of what might come in the years ahead..."

OY GEVALT! SHREYEN GEVALT!!

 Nope, not a bunch of typos. Rather it is my reaction to reading the news and wondering what the heck is happening. In these times of almost Biblical proportions - perhaps exactly of Biblical import - why we do not have a plethora of sack-clothed, ash on head, criers? Why are they not wandering the streets of America, warning of the doom that awaits us? That doom is no longer positioned off stage, awaiting entry, but is already onstage, inching, crawling, leaping, much to our detriment, ever closer and closer to center stage.

What does the title mean? Gevalt is defined by the dictionary "(especially in Jewish use) used to express dismay, shock, or surprise. a warning of violence." Oy gevalt is "used to express shock or amazement", a step up from Oy alone. Finally, shreyn gevalt is the strongest use, has " a darker tonality. When uttered in a tone of genuine alarm, “Gevalt!” is, "like “Help!” in English, a cry for rescue in serious situations, as when you are being attacked, your house is on fire, you are in danger of drowning, etc."    Now perhaps the title is clear.

We do have those dire warning prophets around, only they are in the newer streets of the time, the avenues and byways of the media, from print to air of various kinds. This crowd of "prophets of the day" is growing, and I have long been a member of it.  However, the question is - is it enough? Was it soon enough? Or was it too late, way too late to do anything other than to wake people up to what is going to happen, no doubt about it? I am increasingly falling into that viewpoint and am growing more frightened every day that passes by.

Every day we seem to do nothing permanent, nothing that has any content or even a connection to the poisonous reality of all the events of the  past five or six years. Nothing that smacks of equality between the severity of the crime and the severity of punishment. We have hauled into court hundreds of the participants in the mob, some egregiously so, crazed, almost like living Zombies, climbing on people, ranting and chanting, determined to kill as many as they could get their hands on. No different than the lynch mobs that stain our national history. They have received various levels of punishment, but there is a glaring hole in the middle of all this. 

Or rather the hole is filled with the images of people who thought it all up, carried it out, refused to stop its violence, even as it grew too truly epic and frightening, life altering proportions. It went into overdrive and that man, that representative of the devil on earth, sat there for 187 minutes, as people were beaten to within an inch of their lives, or even killed by this crazed mob, before finally acquiescing to the pleas of others to call a halt. Who are those people, those aiders and abettors in this monumental treasonous attempt to overthrow the country and install a dictator? Trump, and Jr. and Eric. Bannon, Jordan, Perry, Giuliani, the same old, same names and newer ones, uncovered in the shame on their souls, that come round and round on this ugly merry go round, the one that plays the now offkey, fractured, ear piercing national anthem.

Do not think I am alone in this role, shrieking to the heavens, 'Oy Gevalt!!" I am Shreyn Gevalt with all my heart and soul. Will enough do the same? Will others think the same and say so? Will it be on time? Will the body of the nation finally understand the mess we are in, the quicksand of political throes that has grabbed ahold of us and refuses to let go? No rescuers around? Well, do not take my word for it. Here are the words of others. Read them and weep? Shrey Gevalt! Beg for attention? Hang a head in shame at one's own errors? Whatever works, folks, but it had better work soon. For the sake of all of us. No escape.

“a number of people made attempts to contact” Trump on January 6th, “nothing happened” for 187 minutes.      there was “communication” between members of Congress and rioters at the U.S. Capitol."

"In the words of Lindsey Graham: 'Enough is enough, I'm out of here, I'm done with this, the party's going to move on, Trump's going to be left behind'" "Boy did that not happen. Why do you think that didn't happen?"  “At the end of the day, there's no other option right now in the Republican Party.”  (Frightened yet?)

" Trump floated the option of seizing election equipment in states whose results the former president was challenging with advisers     "These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long."

(Same old fascist theme of the Big Lie.)

"We mustn’t dismiss these possibilities just because they seem ludicrous or too horrible to imagine,” the US could be under a rightwing dictatorship by 2030, a Canadian political science professor has warned, urging his country to protect itself against the “collapse of American democracy”.

"... today we live in a world where the absurd regularly becomes real and the horrible commonplace.”

"Homer-Dixon’s message was blunt: “By 2025, American democracy could collapse, causing extreme domestic political instability, including widespread civil violence. By 2030, if not sooner, the country could be governed by a rightwing dictatorship.”

"Let us be reminded that before there is a final solution, there must be a first solution, a second one, even a third. The move toward a final solution is not a jump. It takes one step, then another, then another.”

The normalization of fascism till the rhetoric becomes policy. Think 2024, folks, even 2022. NO time to waste.

"America is now in fascism’s legal phase ...."  Gevalt!!!!!

AND SO IT BEGAN AND SO IT WILL END

  "History is prologue." We have all learned that, heard that phrase, been cautioned as to the power of the past. Unfortunately, that lesson appears to have been internalized by the wrong crew these days and ignored by others who are just too tired, too exhausted, energies and hope spent. Pessimism has set in. The words of ancient prophets and the words of today's analysts begin to converge, delivering the same warning, the same foreboding and forbidding forecast: doom is upon us. We have earned that doom through our own behavior, our own actions or lack thereof. The end is nigh. A kingdom would fall, a new power would emerge to claim top of the heap position. History buried the previous power that was, and history moved on.

Yes, history is prologue, gives us a glimpse of the future even as it prepares us for that future, for a   past replayed right before us. Some, too many, participate in hastening this repetition of the past. Too many of us sit passively by, watching the democracy known as America, the United States of America, slowly and surely begin the process of dying, with total death not too far away.

How many of us can remember sitting with our parents or teachers at some point after having committed some misdeed or stood by while some reprehensible action was undertaken. Spoken with and to, lectured, questioned, warned, and given a mantra for possible improvement and food for thought. "Let this be a lesson for you." We were being told that the past has an effect on the present and the future. Each bit of history, personal, familial, national, has a lasting echo throughout the ages. At times the past pops, unexpectedly, welcomed or not, and we must deal with it, even as that sentence rings in our minds. Lordy, but our parents were right.

Too many of us threw away that precious tidbit of wisdom and hence, the current situation. Our America is dying, American style democracy is in its death throes. The past is prologue, but we failed to recognize that fact. Jan. 6, 2021. A violent coup attempt at the citadel of American democracy. People killed. A mob turned to violence, urged on by political leaders of the wrong ilk. Mob mentality prevailed, possessed them. They were led by those who knew exactly what they were doing, a shocking list of traitors within our very government. 

It is now a year later almost to the day, Thursday of this week the exact day, and plans have been made to remember, to reprise(?) the day, and even to win the day. Opponents of their dastardly plans are almost exhausted beyond any efforts to revive a powerful and active opposition. Americans have now resigned ourselves, acclimated ourselves, to their getting away with it. 

They ask, shout, question, demand answers as to why those in charge, those who instigated, those who committed treason, are not, were not, arrested and punished, held responsible to the fullest extent of the law? Why not indeed? No answers forthcoming. The silence is thunderous, drowning their cries as Garland sits on his thumbs and rotates, as Biden calls for an outmoded, impossible bipartisanship, not with this crowd of present-day GOP members. Absolutely not. Certainly not with their nefarious, boasted about plans to permanently corrupt the system and process, forever and a day, ensure that only Republicans - and what a misnomer that is - win any future elections, from top to bottom. Who counts the votes is their new mantra. 

Not so new when one looks back at history, our ignored prologue. What lesson are we etching into historical records today to set a prologue for the future even as 1939 at Madison Square Garden sent us a frightening message with the entire arena crammed with 20,000 cheering corrupted souls, League of the Friends of New Germany. Yes, history does repeat itself, particularly when that history is not internalized, when it was not, did not, become a lesson for us. Much to our detriment.

It is time, past time, for us to choose Will we sit quietly, uselessly, by, as a poisonous history overtakes us, as past examples become facts of the day? Frost spoke of the "many miles before" sleeping. It was a call to all of America, to the world, to understand and accept their responsibility, to participate in the betterment of humankind else become a part of the problem in a most negative manner.

Mark Twain warned us, advised us as to how we needed to live our lives, gave us exemplars in his iconic novels. These same novels, along with too many others, are now ironically added to the censorship list of "banned" books, soon to become the fuel of the rabid "book burning" ceremonies of crazed Germans. The fires of Nazi Germany which consumed the world, whose lessons were never 'caught'. Thus, history becomes prologue indeed.

All we need do is hear the voices of those who know the truth of the past, the present and the future. Heed their warnings wrapped in deceivingly gentle words. Live life accordingly.

Mark Twain told us that.

"Let us endeavor to live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry."

Maybe we should all try that. Now. Together.

Or is that a pipedream already, too late?