OH, THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE SAY

  Many, many moons ago there was a show re the things that kids say. Kids and older people are similar in speech in the sense that the brakes are not really functioning nor applied 100%. Kids do not understand the need for subterfuge and moderation and older people feel the hell with it; they are old enough to get a free pass on what they say. Hence - less brake holds on utterances. It is quite refreshing at times but can be hurtful.

However, when one peruses the sayings, the speeches and utterances of people, particularly famous people, those who are quoted, we have another story. Truths often are revealed, and the person then trips over his/her own tongue to 'resay' or totally deny what was said. Does not work at least not yet, but never give up is the way of the day for the dumbest ever. They refuse to understand that facts and reality cannot be denied nor erased. They remain. Period. Fake news is a pain and dangerous, but the truth is always there for those who seek it and are guided by it. Still and all, utterances are very telling, cutting, revealing, humorous, the full gamut. 

Here are a few good ones from recent days.

These epitomize the views of the producers of a sequel or prequel to Yellowstone, as relevant to the picture of the twentieth century, beginning on Dec. 18. Quite revealing, as it presents all the cracks that have widened into chasms these days, as the twenty-first century follows loyally and closely upon the heels of its predecessor. Read and think.

"Your fight is with me and I kill much slower."

"Greed will be the thing that kills us all." 

 "You attack my family, it's going to be the last time you ever do,"

Then, of course, we have those oh so beloved remarks of Trump, a deluded and delusional man who thinks he can 'think' up anything or make it disappear. All within the power of his 'gifted' mind. So blessed are we to have this man sicced upon us by the Fates!

“So I help a seriously troubled man, who just happens to be black,." 

 Add to that his denial that he ever knew or heard of Nick Fuentes. Well, maybe he is actually telling a piece of the truth as he is illiterate, but it has been on TV quite a lot so....Same old business of lies and denial, always the refusal to take responsibility and lack of distancing from ugliness.

 How about some juicy, revealing ones re the temper of the times.

"Nearly half of Democrats wanted to put people like me, who haven't had a vaccine, in a government camp," 

“Character is what you do when nobody is watching. It’s about doing the right thing simply because it’s the right thing, and doing it over and over again,”

From Pence: Congress had "no right" to his testimony regarding the Capitol riot.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for a leader that’s setting an example for the country or the party to meet with [an] avowed racist or anti-Semite.

“And so, it’s very troubling, and it shouldn’t happen,” 

And why is he still considered a 'leader' and it did happen!

Ye "warned against believing other celebrities and anyone who doesn't believe in God, because they are "being controlled" by the actual people who "influence the world," ...

"Another issue I have, is the fact that Elon [Musk] won't reinstate Alex Jones," ... "Alex Jones is a Christian. But you have a person who doesn't believe that Christ is Lord going to buy an American media outlet and picking and choosing who can be on the platform. Jesus is Lord."

And here we go again. Blood libel anyone?

 “ever since the election in 2020, I think the [former] president’s descended deeper into the heart of darkness here,”

Uh, think he was way over his head into that heart of darkness way, way before 2020.

Following along these paths, believing the liars, allowing, making excuses for criminal, immoral, disgusting behavior, is dangerous. It leads inevitably to a country divided. To a country failing, to authoritarianism and plain old disaster. It leads, actually has already led us, almost there, to complete failure of the planet as we waste time and energy on hate and dissension, allowing the earth to deteriorate further, approaching a Mad Max kind of world, where water wars are fought, where starvation is rife, where law is meaningless. Welcome to earth! 2022.

Remember the song "in the year 2525, if man is still alive..." Think we need to change the date on that!

And in the meanwhile, we will live - or die - with a world run amok, where law is illegal, where morality is a paper torn to shreds, where this happens:

 Brittney Griner.

32 years old; 

a mother; 

a wife;

an athlete;

 a person;

persecuted for being American, Black, Gay, woman;

Condemned to a hellish freezing penal prison;

known eyewitness reports of:

torture;

slave labor;

starvation;

 no medical care;

little food;

inadequate clothing;

inadequate shelter;

zero life expectancy;

a plaything caught in a maelstrom of other's creation.

TIME TO BRING HER HOME.

WAY PAST TIME

IT IS UPON US - 

RESCUE THE CAPTIVE

SAVE A LIFE

BRITTNEY GRINER CALLS OUT TO US.

HEAR HER CRIES.

FEEL HER PAIN.

SHE IS US, YOU AND ME 

AND WE ARE HER.

I. HAVE. HAD. IT!!!

  Up to here! And beyond. The stupidity. The lack of foresight. The refusal to look back and evaluate past actions, the horrific consequences we lived through -and continue to do so. I've had it with the rank stupidity and pride that are the engines blocking the thought process of too many. I have had it - and it looks as if there is no relief in sight.

 In fact, relief has moved farther and farther away, distancing itself from any return to sanity. Instead, we are honing blades, loading ammunition in our guns and semi-automatics, marching in uniforms, burning books and encouraging censorism and boast- of our acquaintance with or support of known terrorists, bigots of an order rivaling the worst   figures of humankind. All those who participated in the Holocaust - wish for it to return, even as they deny its truth and now in its denial. I have had it.

Most of all I have had it with all those stupid people, willfully blind, deaf and dumb in the sense of letting brains atrophy, who refuse to understand and accept the enabling roles they played in this whole mess. And continue to play by their opting for denial, excuses, and further disaster, to a point from which I am truly growing to doubt has any chance of reversing itself, repairing the damage wrought.  

I am sorry if my friends who supported Trump, and now his cursed surviving philosophy in the forms of DeSantis, Greene, Gosar, Boebert, McCarthy, Hawley, Haley, Walker, all the crazed extremists on both sides of the spectrum are upset with me for this posting. Aggravating as it was to see you support this manifestly false excuse of a human being the first time around, well, everyone can go wrong at some point. However, for not seeing the truth, ten years down the road, after all his egregious acts and statements, to continue? To support him, to excuse his malfeasance, his frauds, his blatant contempt for the law, his placement above the law. His towering ego and treasonous, seditious actions, and as I predicted - his most blatant, poisonous antisemitism pouring out and through all he has said and done. Supporter of Israel -not on your life. Just a political moment. Now, he dines with the likes of Fuentes and Ye, supports, instigated, a GOP which now runs on hate and bigotry, drooling for revenge, sponsors Walker, and the rest of his ilk, dumb as a stump and dangerous in their ignorance and vitriol.

Before this man appeared on the political scene one could laugh at him, excuse his moronic and allegedly criminal behavior, for he had no true power nor entry into it. And then- there he was - bigger than life and smaller than the head of a pin on the morality scale. Before this man political talk was allowed, was able to be carried on in a sane manner, a long time American trend. Today, no one talks politics other than with one who agrees with you. Otherwise, friendships have broken off, family divisions have multiplied and why? Because of him and all that he did, proposed doing, and spouted off. Because too many checked into his hate hotel and never came out, brains and wills removed.

Yes, there have been truly poor Presidents, Carter, Grant, and more, but not a one was a traitor to this country. Not a one has wrought this horrible process wherein America has become Amerika, where soon there will be tiny countries where once there was one, strong, confident, a leader for the world. Today - feh!! Under yet another reign of his, there would have been no support for Ukraine, always a constant appeasement for such as Putin, giving them free reign to invade over and over again. Under and because of him, where there was once a noble GOP, today there is a civil war within-between extremists and the even more extreme. The sane - no voice, no courage to speak out, and if they do, they resign. They leave the fray and Trumpian theory wins yet again.

Yesterday, Biden had this to say re Trump's shameful dinner and approval of blatant, known, antisemites condemned as such via their own words.  “You don’t wanna hear what I think.”

This, after the White House has already come out with this statement:

  “Bigotry, hate, and anti-Semitism have absolutely no place in America – including at Mar-a-Lago. Holocaust denial is repugnant and dangerous, and it must be forcefully condemned,” 

and his ex- ambassador to Israel told Trump that he mustn't deal with, let alone sup with "human scum". That he is "better than this". Well, no he is not. Nor are his base supporters of the gun toting, knife and hammer wielding, mob who wished to overturn this country. I hope and pray and plead that those who continued to walk after, excuse this man will recognize the truth, the damage, the life change he introduced and instigated within the country, just about breaking it, the harm to the world he inflicted and/or encouraged. Time To Stop. Well past time.

If we, as a nation, as individuals, do not own up to our part in this change to our psyche as a nation, as Americans, put aside our pride and then do all we can to counteract the damage, to heal the wounds, to once again talk of politics in a sane manner - well then there is no hope, no future other than one that will emulate this status for a large segment of the population. 

Remember her and remember this - there but for the grace of G-d go I - and you, and you, and you.....

 Brittney Griner.

32 years old; 

a mother; 

a wife;

an athlete;

 a person;

persecuted for being American, Black, Gay, woman;

Condemned to a hellish freezing penal prison;

known eyewitness reports of:

torture;

slave labor;

starvation;

 no medical care;

little food;

inadequate clothing;

inadequate shelter;

zero life expectancy;

a plaything caught in a maelstrom of other's creation.

TIME TO BRING HER HOME.

WAY PAST TIME

IT IS UPON US - 

RESCUE THE CAPTIVE

SAVE A LIFE

BRITTNEY GRINER CALLS OUT TO US.

HEAR HER CRIES.

FEEL HER PAIN.

SHE IS US, YOU AND ME 

AND WE ARE HER.

IF WISHES WERE HORSES?

  Historians have long touted the thought that Richard III lost at Bosworth Field, allowing for the reign of the Tudors, changing the tide of history, all because of a horse, or rather the lack of one. True? Not true? A version of the truth? Since none of us alive were there, take your choice but the true point of that statement is that "if only" does not work well in reality. 

If we spend time wishing rather than acting, making things actually come to fruition, well, it is on us. And of course, the second maxim follows on the heels of the first. That is: be careful what you wish for - for the reality of the wish is not good at all. Should one require a great literary rending of that idea, read The Monkey's Paw by Edgar Allen Poe. Wishes did indeed come true, but how - was neither pretty nor wanted. Lesson learned? Doubt it.

Henry II wished for someone to relieve him of the burden of Thomas a' Beckett. Well, two people heard and took him up on that and the consequences of the fulfillment of that wish set in motion the yearslong shaking up of the world order. In fact, we are still living with the ongoing consequences of that wish fulfillment. 

Need proof? Read the papers. Study history.  Religion has become quite a contentious part of our lives. No wonder that John Lennon sang wistfully that one should imagine if there were "no religion too". It is not so much the religion, if not twisted via twisted minds, but the impact of that twisting, the rise to power of those who use religion to serve their own needs. They saw no reason why they should stop forceful obeisance to their religion of choice. And today? I refer you to religious extremists of all ilks, including the growing shameful and shameless crowd of rabid extremist right wing 'christian' pastors, spreading the Word indeed, though not the Words of the Lord.

I must confess though, that the wish expressed by my most unfavorite person - guess who- well, read and understand, though I promise I will not personally take him up on the fulfillment of that wish. However, thanks to him and others like him, the proliferation of an attitude quite popular these days, that guns solve all problems, that violence and murder and mayhem are the medicines we need to address socials ills, well, be careful what you wish for.

"Give me freedom or give me death."

 Quoth he who has taken the idea of freedom and run it up into a growing anomie in the world today. Most unfortunate are the long standing current and longer consequences which are rapidly changing the world. Certainly not for the good. Not for the people nor for the earth itself. Should some gun loving creep of any ilk, take him up on that wish, well, wishes, ya' know.

There is a fundamental break in reality and understanding among too many these days. Freedom, in this "free country" - isn't it? - does not mean the freedom to go against rules and laws, to void moral laws, fair laws. It does not entitle one to pursue any and all, trampling over any person or belief in the way. No, that is anomie. That is terror. That is not freedom. Certainly not a god given permission to wreak havoc upon a nation and a globe, to run rampant over all the principles of democracy, of impartial nonbiased judiciary. 

Nor for the growth of nefarious creeps who will support a manifestly perverted being because why? Because, as Kemp stated re Walker, the biggest filthy #$%* to run for office these days.

 "We need to get that seat back," Quoth Kemp.

Dumb and ignorant beyond all. Perhaps innate perhaps a result of football injuries, but that does not matter. It is that this is the ruling sentiment of the GOP. Support any and all, even perverts, idiots who cannot distinguish between election and erection. It follows, obviously, to hell with that quaint idea that legislators are there to serve the public. Public service. Remember that term. Remember when there was a time when to serve the public attracted the cream of society. Today, it is all the lowlifes who previously would have been booed off the podium as they went about dismantling this country.

When such creeps, bigoted, dangerous to and for this nation, for the world, such as Greene, Omar, Tlaib, Hawley, Gaetz, McCarthy, McConnell, Lake, Trump, Trump, Trump, etc. etc., etc., are elected to office, well obviously someone, perhaps many someones, spent a whole lot of time wishing. Most unfortunate, someone or someones have been making those wishes come true. Much to the negative, the dangerous sides of life here in these once United States of America.

I wish I could wish to unwish those horrid wishes. I wish for many things, but not too loud for one must be careful as to what one wishes for. Choose very carefully only after great thought - and be better off by not wishing but acting. In those wishes and dreams and significant actions, do not forget

 Brittney Griner.

32 years old; 

a mother; 

a wife;

an athlete;

 a person;

persecuted for being American, Black, Gay, woman;

Condemned to a hellish freezing penal prison;

known eyewitness reports of:

torture;

slave labor;

starvation;

 no medical care;

little food;

inadequate clothing;

inadequate shelter;

zero life expectancy;

a plaything caught in a maelstrom of other's creation.

TIME TO BRING HER HOME.

WAY PAST TIME

IT IS UPON US - 

RESCUE THE CAPTIVE

SAVE A LIFE

BRITTNEY GRINER CALLS OUT TO US.

HEAR HER CRIES.

FEEL HER PAIN.

SHE IS US, YOU AND ME 

AND WE ARE HER.

UNCHARTED WATERS

 The term originally applied to the brave explorers, treasure seekers, and those seeking new homes who sailed, rowed, away from known coastal waters, venturing far across oceans, into uncharted waters. This was when there were believed to be monsters under the waters of the ocean, or even possibly an end to the oceans of the flat earth. Think of the bravery of these people. Think of the power of their motivations - curiosity, greed and even desperation.

Actually, all of life is in uncharted waters. We can plan, we can organize, we can promise, but one never knows what can happen to snafu those plans. Life is uncharted and flexibility, faith in motivation, are necessary to have a sane world. When those uncharted waters turn out to be disastrous for individual or humanity at large, it is time to seek new mapmakers and send them out to chart the unknown and chart honestly for the safety of all.

However, maps have their limitations. Some cannot truly be drawn until experienced, such as space, or the depths of the deepest oceans. There are places remaining unexplored, uncharted and I wonder at times if we are not better off leaving that as the status quo until we know, learn better. 

Unfortunately, we never seem to learn from past mistakes. We scorched the earth with exploration and land grabs from the very beginning of venturing into these waters and have continued right to the very present moment. Nor do I see any chance of this land grab action abating any time soon. Uncharted waters that are deadly to all, yet on we go. A great fear is that as we take more and more steps to explore space and other planets, we will spread human venom and vice throughout the universe, bringing old, should have long ago been discarded ways of thought and deed into blank slate planets or even to previously settled ones with life forms other than what we know. What then?

We need to rebalance ourselves. We need to keep the sense of adventure and progress, but carefully and thoughtfully. We must ensure that we allow for misunderstandings for clashes of culture, for facing the unknown, even as babies learn to balance and step off into the larger world of their home and life. Babies must learn that critical skill of balance if they are to succeed in life. It is when balance of adults is off that we create and maintain a crooked, unbalanced society, one prone to evil and harm, uncaring of and for many, with tragic consequences ensuing. Today, we are so unbalanced that one can almost feel the earth trembling on its axis.

We, today, do not often realize how blessed we are in our lives. Yes, there is economic uncertainty - but when was there ever not? Yes, there is baseless, senseless, violence inspiring hatreds and biases, but at least we are trying to alleviate their harm and hopefully, teach the haters to rebalance. Probably a Sisyphean task, but we must try lest the unbalance of life will try to reset via war in all forms.

As we age, we learn how important balance is. We fight to maintain our own physical balance even as age encroaches on that sought after balance. We finally understand how important life balance is and where we went wrong. We try to pass this understanding on, the better way to explore uncharted waters of life and living, but the younger generations never seem to absorb that understanding, even reject it at times -just as we did not when we were young. Perhaps the sense of some unbalance is necessary if we are to enter uncharted waters demanding entry and exploration. Perhaps. Perhaps not. I just wish we could do at least somewhat better.

In the meanwhile, we must look to and into ourselves and appreciate what we have and how we can make it better for all. Especially those crying out in fear, in desperation, starved, dehydrated, beaten and tortured, calling out to the world from dark dungeons and imprisonment. There is no balance for them; hence, no balance for the rest of us as well. Simply think of America, the world, today and understand the concept of balance and the uncharted waters that remain.

While you are eating your turkey, savoring those yams, waiting with great anticipation for dessert, planning for the family games later and the football games of the afternoon, keep in mind those who cannot do all these things. Think how blessed we are even in the midst of the chaos of life today.

Keep them all in mind.

Think of her - 

 Brittney Griner.

32 years old; 

a mother; 

a wife;

an athlete;

 a person;

persecuted for being American, Black, Gay, woman;

Condemned to a hellish freezing penal prison;

known eyewitness reports of:

torture;

slave labor;

starvation;

 no medical care;

little food;

inadequate clothing;

inadequate shelter;

zero life expectancy;

a plaything caught in a maelstrom of other's creation.

TIME TO BRING HER HOME.

WAY PAST TIME

IT IS UPON US - 

RESCUE THE CAPTIVE

SAVE A LIFE

BRITTNEY GRINER CALLS OUT TO US.

HEAR HER CRIES.

FEEL HER PAIN.

SHE IS US, YOU AND ME 

AND WE ARE HER.

OH, THAT MONSTER IN THE CLOSET.......

 Well, there really is one there. A fact. Actually, fact is not a good term as we now have to deal with "retruth" activity and false facts, a totally oxymoronic term. A fact is a fact and if it is a made up 'fact", it is, by definition not a fact, but rather a lie. "False facts", whatever that is, is not a truth. Period. Anyone using a 'retruth' is immediately defined as supportive of a turn away from law and justice, and most definitely has more than a minor nodding acquaintance with that monster in the basement. Actually, the relationship is more like that of 'kissin' cousins.

Lately, actually for years, at an increasing speed, that monster has been climbing the stairs, those dark, steep, rank, creaky stairs which frighten all who see them. Some try to install a better lock upon those stairs, against the danger drawing ever closer, but locks will not stop the path. Only active truth, the recognition of truth, has the power to guard against the invasion of the monster and kin. That monster in the basement, on the stairs, is being met by the monster above, in the attic, whose steps rend the silence of the night. We wonder who is there, what are the plans of these approaching monsters regarding the inhabitants of the besieged house.

And what do those inhabitants do when they discover that those monsters, those alien creatures, are not alien at all. In fact, they are our kin. Once welcomed in, shown courtesy, even acceptance of relationship, it is not so easy to rid ourselves of them and repair their corrosive effect on society and on the unity of this nation, of the progressive countries of the world. The worst, though? When we look in the mirror, see the monster and know the truth of it all. The monster. is. us.

In the animal kingdom the aberrant ones of the pack, the herd, are isolated, even driven out. The leaders have combat to determine leadership, if challenged, in a known process. The leaders do not perform wholesale slaughter on the rest of the herd. Unfortunately, it is not the same in the kingdom of humans. No, for we savage entire groups, denying their humanity, their right to live among us, and we try to block them, exclude them from so called civilized society, left defenseless at best, dead at worst. The level to which enforcers of these ugly thoughts and deeds will turn is most frightening.

Humanity has gone thermobaric. That is the use of weapon or combination of weapons, such that will literally vaporize the 'enemy', denying their humanity, denying their right to exist, denying them the opportunities we have been lucky enough to have due not to our efforts but to those of our ancestors who did exactly what these people are doing. Trying to improve their lives, the lives of their families, and yes, some are illegal. Just as many of our own ancestors did, coming in by jumping ship, by paying smugglers, by use of false documents, whatever would work to deliver them from a fate worse than death.

 The desperation on their faces is the same desperation of Holocaust survivors trying to flee lands soaked with the blood of their families, of the Irish fleeing starvation, of the Scots rendered asunder from the structure of clans, of Italians fleeing poverty and rule of the Mafia, of Africans fleeing war torn nations and drought, of Asians fleeing oppression in their lands, or chaos anywhere. Why do we refuse to see the truth of it all and act properly, not humanlike, but animal like as they accept new members of the herd, even as humans exclude them.

As the Russians literally vaporize what once were Ukrainians defending their country, we vaporize others of the world by other means, the end results the same. Dead is dead.

Yes, that monster in the basement, the cousin upstairs, and all the rest in between are approaching, speed growing, the future glowing less bright, even going dark in some areas. We are the monsters, either complicitly or implicitly as we have enabled it all. Standing aside, staying "out of it" reeks of guilt and blame just as much as active participation. 

When the good, or timid, or too many stand aside, do nothing, say nothing, to stop the wrongdoing, the at times wholesale slaughter, well, follow that thought to its endpoint and understand. For those who do not choose to follow, understand that where one goes, so do we all. We might one day find ourselves in the same desperate straits as the once unthinkable becomes thinkable and real.

We are all the prisoners of humans gone ballistic in their monstrous behavior. We are all

 Brittney Griner.

32 years old; 

a mother; 

a wife;

an athlete;

 a person;

persecuted for being American, Black, Gay, woman;

Condemned to a hellish freezing penal prison;

known eyewitness reports of:

torture;

slave labor;

starvation;

 no medical care;

little food;

inadequate clothing;

inadequate shelter;

zero life expectancy;

a plaything caught in a maelstrom of other's creation.

TIME TO BRING HER HOME.

WAY PAST TIME

IT IS UPON US - 

RESCUE THE CAPTIVE

SAVE A LIFE

BRITTNEY GRINES CALLS UOONUS.

HEAR HER CRIES.

FEEL HER PAIN.

SHE IS US, YOU AND ME 

AND WE ARE HER.

"THAT'S A GOOD ONE!"

  Was the statement made funny? Yes, quite. However, it was also sad as it reflects on the state of mind of too many in the USA. Too many of the gullible, too many of the willing to be deluded and too many who see a path to their end goals through this corrupted waste of a human.

Trump is exercising his constitutional right to whine. That is what he does best, that is other than his lying and cheating and treasonous acts against this country. What did he say and why did Jimmy Kimmel respond that way? "Res ipsa loquitor." The thing speaks for itself, proves itself merely by its appearance, action and consequences. It is a common principle in American law. Thus, Trump's deeds and misdeeds actually prove his intent to cheat, lie and interfere with the results of the2020 election and the passing of power in legal, peaceful manner. Oh, quelle shock! Not!!!

Trump was whining re the investigations into his obvious malfeasance, his intent to defraud and cheat not only those involved with him politically, but also anyone caught in the stinking environs of his family's businesses. He said, "“Over the years, I’ve given millions and millions of pages of documents, tax returns and everything else, and they have found nothing,” Trump insisted. “Which means I’ve proven to be one of the most honest and innocent people ever in our country.”

The response of the audience: The Kimmel audience laughed ― and so did Kimmel. 

“You have to admit, that was funny,” Kimmel said. “That was a good one, right?” 

So sad, so unfortunate for us that he was a President of this country, turned a good state of national condition into disaster and antagonized every ally as he trampled over our ethics and morality and reduced this country to a state bordering on a Third World authoritarian corrupt nation. Funny, yet sad. That we allowed such things to take place. Worse, there were far too many who cheered him on, rooting for the evil, the wicked, the corrupt, the blatantly selfish attitude of Trump and his cohorts and enablers.

Words that led to bad action and that continue to affect us, especially within the Supreme Court. Yesterday the oh so 'brilliant and impartial' judges, three of them, decided that " although the new state Senate map may “disproportionately affect minority voters” in Tarrant County, there was no evidence indicating that the legislature’s “true intent was racial.”.    You try to explain the obvious wrong turn, the upside-down use of power given them for life. I wonder if their bodies and souls will ever recover from the insane twisting they have done to state or rather misstate the obvious. Along with a corrupt GOP out for 'revenge', cracked within and without, replete with extreme ring wing members who openly avow, shout to the rooftops how they plan to effectively cancel the truth, turn this country into a fascist model. Who wish to undo close to 300 years of democracy. Simply bad people, in the fullest sense of the word. Res Ipsa Loquitor.

The rest of the world seems to have acquiesced to all this. American Bishops have joined the growing club of prejudiced 'religious' haters, who hate all who present a danger to the survival of their backwards thinking. Whatever, whomever is branded the hate of the day. They yearn for a return to a time when religion was shoved down people's throats and publicly interfered with the civil engine of the nation. Separation of church and state? Bah! Humbug in their minds and intentions.

This poison circulates in the air and poisons elsewhere as well. The Taiban have returned to official Sharia law, lashing, amputating, stoning, those who cross the line in their bizarre version of Islam, women are banned from life, and so after twenty years of blood and death, what have we gained? The loss of so many. The rending moot of the hopes and dreams of women.

Inflation. A challenging future for the economy, foreign competition, supply chains, sharing more of the wealth, black hat hackers, desertification and flooding, the climate, the existential peril posed for our home, the retrogression in too many areas of basic human rights. The disgraceful, shameful fact that here in this country so blessed by G-d, we have homeless, hungry families desperate, for even working people cannot afford rents and basic sustenance these days. Who dare not dream nor hope.

Time to hitch up our national pants, wear belt and suspenders, fold the cuffs so we do not fray, drag or trip over them, check our shoes and get the show on the road. Trump, that rump of a person, well, if he were anyone else, he would have long ago been indicted, tried, convicted and redressed in orange, along with all those who climbed down into the mud and filth that he loves. Justice. Equal justice. About time we had that going on in this country.

And that means justice for all Americans wherever they are:

 Brittney Griner.

32 years old; 

a mother; 

a wife;

an athlete;

 a person;

persecuted for being American, Black, Gay, woman;

Condemned to a hellish freezing penal prison;

known eyewitness reports of:

torture;

slave labor;

starvation;

 no medical care;

little food;

inadequate clothing;

inadequate shelter;

zero life expectancy;

a plaything caught in a maelstrom of other's creation.

TIME TO BRING HER HOME.

WAY PAST TIME

IT IS UPON US - 

RESCUE THE CAPTIVE

SAVE A LIFE

BRITTNEY GRINES CALLS UOONUS.

HEAR HER CRIES.

FEEL HER PAIN.

SHE IS US, YOU AND ME 

AND WE ARE HER.

BEWARE! RABBIT HOLE AHEAD.

 What a great season ahead for rabbit holes. Looking glasses are all the rage throughout Europe and by the way, if you should see a blonde-haired little girl scurrying around or a Mad Rabbit muttering to himself, leave them alone. They are part of the New World we have chiseled out for ourselves. And the Middle East does it again, turning on a dime. For us, well, we have all three trends and they ain't lookin' good for us these days. Not at all. No indeedy!

       Saudi Arabia resumes beheadings for drug crimes (Anybody remember who also said the other day that anyone convicted of drug crimes should be executed? Hint: Begins with T, ends with a body part responsible for his 'thinking' - such as it is.) If that were not enough, the same moron has entered into a contract with Oman, making him a partner of a foreign country - forbidden when one is President - which he thinks he remains and wants to officially be again. Oy!!!!!

     Israel's right wing religious, some, not all, wish to emulate Iran and other crazy Moslem countries where men and women are segregated at public affairs, concerts, etc., etc., etc. What's next for these people - shrouds a la burkas? Arrest popular actors for removing their scarves? What the hell! Thank the Lord Above that the sane in Israel will prevent this.  Yet another sign of crazed religious fanatics wishing to impose their will on others, like it or not. Rabbit Hole ahead! Uh-oh, there just went a mixed group, right down that yawning hole in the earth.

     Well, while they go oops! we can easily turn to Europe and our own home sweet home as terrorist violent action is growing, against Jews, Moslems, Asians in all sorts of variations. Jews are once again checking passports, again, unsure of their welcome and acceptance as native and foreign born citizens, not targets for hatemongers and bullets and knives and TNT. Nor fists and cars and trucks.

     Our oh so respectable GOP leaders are chewing the fat off each other - and I hope they choke on it - but good luck to them. (Not really.) Instead of holding out a hand, apologizing for supporting that rump of a man, that traitor, no, never. They are threatening "just you wait, 'enry 'iggins'" attitude. So mature. So responsibly governing a country. So helpful in the face of the myriad crises chowing down on us. The rest of the world as well, and the globe itself. Literally! Golf might soothe their tired souls, but not for the rest of us.

    Alito, the Great Protester over the leak of the Roe disgraceful decision is uh oh, caught with his hand in the cookie jar and crumbs all around as his leak of yet other decisions critically important to benighted conservatives and bigots and oppressors came down the pike, from 2014 and on. Hmmm! Throw him off the Bench is the least we should do. Along with the two perverts, one also allegedly conniving with his wife re Jan. 6, the know nothing Barrett. Heck, make a clean sweep and send Gorsuch packing as well. America breathes again.

     No more time for this today. Have to plan our visit to the new little prince and raid the kiddy stores again. Oops - error - was just told he is no longer the prince, instead promoted to The King Of The Roost! Well deserved. Now that is what life is all about.

But never forget -

     Brittney Griner.

32 years old; 

a mother; 

a wife;

an athlete;

 a person;

persecuted for being American, Black, Gay, woman;

Condemned to a hellish freezing penal prison;

known eyewitness reports of:

torture;

slave labor;

starvation;

 no medical care;

little food;

inadequate clothing;

inadequate shelter;

zero life expectancy;

a plaything caught in a maelstrom of other's creation.

TIME TO BRING HER HOME.

WAY PAST TIME

IT IS UPON US - 

RESCUE THE CAPTIVE

SAVE A LIFE

BRITTNEY GRINES CALLS UOONUS.

HEAR HER CRIES.

FEEL HER PAIN.

SHE IS US, YOU AND ME 

AND WE ARE HER.

TWTWTW - WHAT THE HELL!!!

  For those of you 'little ones' out there, TWTWTW stood for That Was The Week That Was, just about the first dedicated comic-serious review of the crazed week that had just passed. Timely, wacky, iconic, the progenitor of the plethora of such TV and streaming shows of today, where we can now pick and choose our favorite. It will be the one that bolsters our own already preconceived opinions. We can so easily insist that we remain in the muck and mire of our own making. Oh, such progress we have made!

The Beatles sang "all we need is love", a pathetic reminder of an era when an entire generation of young adults (now we elderly 'statesmen/women') of that time believed they could change the world via love. Well, that idea crashed, did it not? That love we 'needed'? Still MIA. The 'fake' love, the love that will kill you -plenty to go around and then some. That love sung rotted at the roots, twisted this way and that and has become the love of damaged souls who will love you to death. They are the modern descendants of the Inquisitors, of the rigid Puritan leadership, the Imams, the Rabbis, the religious leaders who 'knew' the Lord up close and personal.  Self- appointed prophets, spewing forth the words of the Devil instead. 

 More and more it feels as if we are the ones, the dogs of that statement of Kinzinger, that we all have caught the car we chased, and are far the worse for this 'achievement'. Referring to the most recent whine of Trump, who "refuses to partake" in the system of justice that will, hopefully, at last, put him to bed - in an orange jumpsuit, justice meted out and the inadequacy of McCarthy, we, the great clumsy mass of humanity, here in the USA and the world, failed to understand that truly, beware what you wish for - for when you do, uh oh in spades!

Yes, we laugh at the routines of the late-night shows, at the amazingly inaccurate biased reporting of anything but the truth. Are we laughing or crying as we mull the underlying truths?  Do we truly understand the present, imminent, existential danger of our present crossroads? Why have we chosen to follow those who have transgressed the rules of society, who wish to place us under their feet, subject to the sting of their lying tongues and cold hearts, souls that are more noticed for their absence rather than in their presence? Why have we so willingly become their victims, even as we, totally wired into their falsehoods, condemn all who differ from us, demonizing, calling, shouting, ranting, for more severity of punishments? We indeed have become the dog concussed by those cars we caught, mortally so, I am thinking.

The hatred, the rigidity, the antagonism growing in the very acidic air, has eaten holes within our souls. Our most sacred institutions, our prides, have been corrupted, become the cynical purveyors of more hate, more acid, in their benighted, purposeful behavior. The Supreme Court- anything but that. The Presidency - a desired home for the facists among us. The armed forces - rotting from within by the heavy number of whiteright wing extremists present in their ranks. The political system, our once vaunted democracy, is just about down for the count, no Rocky within to resuscitate it. Rescuers? Few and far between as outliers become the 'mainstream', pushing new rules, oppression within our nation. Miseducation and reeducation. Corruption and hate. Insistence upon a forced national 'Christian' religion, most definitely not christian. Pushers of lies, hate, of violence and corruption.

As an American loyal to the true America, its dreams, its ethos, its promise, as a woman, as a Jew, I feel a dangerous wind at my back, pushing me where I do not wish to be. I see before me the deadly swamp, rife with dangerous critters and quicksand and sinkholes fatal to those who encounter them. I see eddies of frothing water which provide for no escape once caught in their current. I see very few along the shores and paths who can and will provide for rescue. And I wonder - what have we done? What have we allowed? 

Why were we all so blind, deaf, unwilling to recognize the imminent dangers we placed in our own path? Why have we become so acidic, so hateful of all humanity other than our very own, our insistence upon the whip rather than the book, the selfishness that hurts rather than the outstretched hand that benefits all? Why have we turned a deaf ear to the cries of the starving, the emaciated bodies of little ones caught in a mess their very supposed protectors created? Why do we not feel the swollen tongues, see the sunken eyes of a deadly dehydrated human?  Why do we not see the rapidly rising to the point of no return devastation we have sown and now are reaping from our dying home, our one planet we all share?

The fate of one is the fate all. We must learn that there is no escape from the deterioration we have been championing in our own fatal stupidity. Judaism has long admonished us to treat each other as we wished to be treated ourselves. To love your friend and neighbor as you love yourself. It tells us that one who saves another, is as if one has saved humanity. Consequences are for all - yet we refuse to see the truth of that.

Once again, I beg you to feel that truth, walk in the shoes of another and know deep down, the horror of that life. Know your responsibility to move heaven and earth to ameliorate that awful path of those shoes. Judaism tells us that to redeem a captive is one of the greatest mitzvot, good deeds, and commandments that is upon humans to fulfill.

 Thus, once again, with horrid additions, here is

Brittney Griner.

32 years old; 

a mother; 

a wife;

an athlete;

 a person;

persecuted for being American, Black, Gay, woman;

Condemned to a hellish freezing penal prison;

known eyewitness reports of:

torture;

slave labor;

starvation;

 no medical care;

little food;

inadequate clothing;

inadequate shelter;

zero life expectancy;

a plaything caught in a maelstrom of other's creation.

TIME TO BRING HER HOME.

WAY PAST TIME

IT IS UPON US - 

RESCUE THE CAPTIVE

SAVE A LIFE

BRITTNEY GRINES CALLS UOONUS.

HEAR HER CRIES.

FEEL HER PAIN.

SHE IS US, YOU AND ME 

AND WE ARE HER.

OFF DAY

  SORRY, FOLKS, BUT TWO ITEMS INTERFERING WITH A BLOG TODAY. 

FIRST IS A FINGER WHICH DOES NOT OPEN THUS TYPING IS OH JUST A WEE BIT IMPOSSIBLE AT ANY REASONABLE SPEED.

 SECOND, AND FAR MORE IMPORTANT, TODAY IS A DAY OF JOY, A DAY WHEIN THE CHAINN OF GENERATIONS ADDS PLUS ONE TO OUR CHAIN. TODAY MY GREAT GRANDSON HAS HIS BRIS AND JOINS THE JEWISH NATION.

WE CONTINUE ON DESPITE ALL THAT MANKIND HAS THROWN AT US. 

THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE, EVEN IN THE DARKEST DEPTHS. 

HENCE, BRITTNEY, WE CONTINUE TO HOPE AND PRAY FOR YOUR SWIFT RELEASE.

 IN THE MEANWHLE, FOR YOU, FOR ALL -

 Brittney Griner. 

Locked up. 

In freezing temperatures sent from Hell. 

Lack of food and health care. 

Cruel inhumane slave labor. 

Lack of freedom. 

Lack of hope.

Bring Brittney Griner Home. 

NOW!!

WHEEL IN THE SKY

 Interesting experience last evening. Caused many a thought and a firmer understanding of the place of music in society and the reinforced theory of repetitive history. It seems we humans never learn. Never take history's lessons to heart. Much to the negative side of life. Yes, there are songs with optimistic tones and overtures; however, many of these songs are thought of as Pollyannish, naive, and the adherents of the themes of these songs as overly optimistic and not tethered to reality. That is indeed a shame for often those songs are what inspire people to protest, to examine, to fix. In a positive manner rather than negative. Again, sadly so, the negative often overpowers the positive and well, here we are. 

 It was a concert, a tribute to the songs of Journey, a band which had several great hits and in fact, many of their songs were used in the TV show Glee. Last night, a song which hit hard was Wheel in the Sky. The refrain is thus:

", the wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'
I don't know where I'll be tomorrow
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'"

Think of it. We mortals struggle, strive, fall back and inch forward, fight each other rather than talk and all the while, that wheel in the sky keeps turning. Nothing we do will ever stop that circular motion, that movement of time which circles back upon itself, the wheel that inspires thoughts of cold winters, hostile environments, and pessimism re the possibility of anything good ever lasting. Sad. So very apt for these times as well as their time of origin. Yes, summer comes, but summer goes, taking along with it a world view infinitely brighter than the ones winter brings. 

Many epics retell, reformat this idea - merely read the multi novel Wheel of Time, or the great opus of George Martin, memorialized on TV via Game of Thrones and House of Dragons. Return to the Iliad and the Odyssey. Read the Bible carefully. Can we not do better than this? Are we doomed to always compare sizes; your force is weaker than mine, hence I'm the boss. Or I am stronger than you, have weapons of mass destruction and am willing to use them. How does one defend humanity against openly destructive powerful figures? Not well at all. Reference history for that one. We truly do not know where we will be tomorrow, and we indeed "can't take it anymore". Yet we must.

The question is thus: why insist on hate, accept temporary dangerous fascism over iffy, often failing, yet so much better democracy? Why do we allow openly fascistic authoritarian figures, plagued within their minds with mental illness untreated and a growing dementia. We ignore the facts and jump on a broken portion of that wheel in the sky, forget the ways of love, of friendship, of language, and turn to violence and threats, to extreme viewpoints, language, and deeds.

The iconic song of The Beatles, Imagine, does just that - a world void of that which divides us, a world of peace. It is a song of yearning, for most people prefer peace, a good peace, over war. That overwhelming wish is seen and heard in Hey, Jude, as audiences round the world stand and sway, almost hypnotically, a religious chant of sorts, in a long, lasting refrain before the song ends. "La, la, la, la, la, la la" goes the refrain. The eyes close and there is an almost palpable deep thrum of air as the wishes of so many converge in agreement, thought, hopes and dreams. So moved are some that tears run down the face. Why can we not morph these deep feelings into action against those who would rather use the negative, be the destroyer rather than the builder.

In Separate Ways, Journey sings of how we stand "worlds apart", a divide apparently impossible to bridge. So alone we remain. Today our world is one of lies, of tension and threats. It is a world wherein the greatest experiment of mankind, especially in modern times, is being existentially challenged. By whom? By a man grossly demented, unafraid to voice his authoritarian bent. and uses music diametrically opposed to his intents but is too stupid to even know that. "Proud to be an American" - not his America or rather AmeriKa.

 I do not feel loyalty or pride in or to that false nation. It is a nation led by haters, by extremists. Using a song sung by freedom fighters, by those wishing a better world for all, the choice of "Do You Hear the People Sing" from Les Misérables is obscene. It is a song of hope and defiance, even as the singers and their companions die, one after the other. But their intents, their beliefs live on after they die. So do the ideas of a true America. A true America. One that turns away from a crazed dangerous man. A man who wants to execute all connected with drugs, even as his dimwit audience of smug 1% cheer. Do they not know that their recreational drug use, their children using drugs are the very ones who will find themselves on the wrong side of the gun? No, apparently, he has them bewitched with his new imperialistic chant: "Make America Great and Glorious Again".

As a Jew, with generational transfer of DNA traumatized through centuries of living under dictators, of 'glorious' nations and leaders thinking themselves great, triumphant over truth, I know this is a monumentally bad turn for America unless we do the right thing. That all come to their senses and reject this man, this dangerous imposter, his followers, his ideas, his hate.

We must hear, internalize and absorb deep into our bones the words and plea of Journey's epic song -"Don't Stop Believin'" -

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that feelin'

Don't stop believin'
Hold on

We must refuse, defy, shun and defeat.

Lest we find ourselves in a world where this happens:

Brittney Griner. 

Locked up. 

In freezing temperatures sent from Hell. 

Lack of food and health care. 

Cruel inhumane slave labor. 

Lack of freedom. 

Lack of hope.

Bring Brittney Griner Home. 

NOW!!

BLENDER BRAIN

  This is the most apt descriptive term of the chaos that passes for a brain in that clearly deviant, demented, fascist ruler wannabe, enemy of all that is sane and right, Donald Trump. Michael Wolff has written an intuitive opinion piece regarding the state of the inner turmoil that is Trump's brain, or what passes for it. It also poses a great crisis of the near future should that man actually live long enough to regather the losers and misguided, and evil minded who continue to support him and actually pull off a win. Accompanied by the dangerously gerrymandered election status we now have, thanks to the GOP and its clearly off the beaten track of sanity and true patriotism members.

America is in trouble. Every time there appears to be a window opening, slowly, creakily, we find that same window being slammed down by some crazed GOP member or one of the twisted extreme leftist outliers on the Democratic side such as Tlaib and Omar. Frightening too is the realization that this extreme hatred of others, this poisoness growth of hatred and the use of extreme language and threats has polluted the very air we breathe. How else to explain the unraveling of a once sane Nikki Haley now calling to "deport" Warnock. What the hell! 

The world cannot afford to wait for a slow return to normal, socially acceptable, sane leadership from the United States. It simply cannot tolerate the ever-widening cracks in the wrangling countries of the globe, or the senseless killing that remains alive and well in too many countries. It cannot continue to shoulder the ever increasing weight of a return to a most insidious ancient paradigm of murderous hate - antisemitism. Yet again this morning I wake up to read another incident, another addition to the rolls of antisemitic behavior growing in daring and number. Dozens of graves in an Illinois cemetery were defaced, smeared with red paint, swastikas and offensive graffiti. A national TV show allowed one of the cast to make light of antisemitism, rampant and virulent, turning to humor, twisted and bitter, to downplay the tragedy and terror this hatred poses for too many. One cannot make light of a senseless hatred which has led to the slaughter, bitter and cruel, of millions upon millions of people of the Jewish nation through the millennia. NO! Not to be tolerated!!

The world needs a quick reset. The continued existence of humanity, certainly in any kind of positive, civilized, caring, progressive society grows dimmer by the hour. Are we here in America to turn on the ethos of America, its raison d'etre - a dream of democracy, a welcoming of those seeking refuge, a future, a dream? Are we to turn our backs on all that is right, allow ourselves to sink ever lower, deeper, into the muck of hate, of anger, of fear, of every negative trait one can imagine? 

My family is 6 generations here, five generations American born. Why do I continue to remain uncertain of any good future for my family. Why do I look at the latest addition to the family and wonder about his future and the world in which he will grow up. What horrors await him? Is there any realistic hope, any realistic prospect that we, of this troubled country, this wracked world, can return to sanity? I wish I knew. I truly do.

In the meanwhile, we live in a world which can turn on a dime, to the negative, to the unthinkable. Perhaps once, if, we ever grow to understand that we are all alike, all in this leaky rowboat, together, and we cannot look aside or indifferent upon the fates of others, perhaps then there might be some incoming ray of hope. We need to remember that old phrase - "There but for the grace of G-d go I." No one is immune. No one. We cannot allow the sickness of those blender brains to destroy us, to destroy the progress we have made, to block the future progress that is so desperately needed.

To remind myself, you, and all citizens of the world, once again - 

Brittney Griner. 

Locked up. 

In harsh freezing temperatures sent from Hell. 

Lack of food and health care. 

Cruel inhumane slave labor. 

Lack of freedom. 

Lack of hope.

Bring Brittney Griner Home. 

NOW!!

WANTED: INSTRUCTOR FOR LOGICS CLASS

   PLEASE NOTE: AUDIENCE CONTAINS MANY DOLTS.

Did you ever wonder where that oh so rare ability to think, logically, backwards and forwards, well, where the heck did it go? It seems that those whose thinking governs our lives have signed off on that requirement and simply shoot off with permissions and approvals without understanding the consequences.

The County Commissioners approved two variances for Khal Chassidim which pushed the arrow of death deeper into the heart of the Village. They, in fact, have signed the death warrant of the Village as it is right now. Instead of a unified community, all for one and one for all, I foresee in the near, very near future, the Village fractured. Now consisting of smaller communities, huddled around facilities enclosed by walls. Gone are the views of lake, of swaths of green lawn and interesting gardening features. Blocked by walls. As for the perimeter walking path - forget that! 

These communities are centered around private interests. And why not, as the Medical Building has now been appropriated by one extreme religious group and listen ... hear the Village death knell as private pools and walls to isolate are thrown up at record pace. What is next? Well, why not a Catholic little village. Or Baptist. Or Greek Orthodox. Or Bahai. Or Humanists. Or sects within sects, each shaving off yet another slice of the Village corpse. Why would they not do this? In uncertain times people tend to gather 'like with like' and before the count reaches 3 - we are many, where once there was ONE.

Against the overwhelming disapproval of the residents, the Commissioners approved this oh so bad plan. Moreover, we are not done with the harm of this abomination within our home. On November 28th there is yet another opportunity for this group to ask for approval of original plans and the ability to amend those plans as they go along. Sweet deal for those who can get it, is it not?! Where the hell and what the hell were these Commissioners thinking or were they thinking at all. If they were, it certainly was not with the welfare of the Village and its residents in mind, so for whose benefit, was it?

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking ..." Perhaps Rodin's The Thinker could help us. Or the shortsighted Commissioners. Can't hurt.

This ominous lack of forethought, not following a decision to the consequences, appears to be endemic to officials of this County. The other day the Palm Beach Post had a huge front-page top of the fold article re the horrendous buildup of traffic on Okeechobee and the resultant extended trip times. Twenty years ago, when we moved here, into an already built abode. there were times that one could actually drive in any direction with little traffic. Then, piecemeal, the road was extended and widened and of course, the developments came, chewing away at the beautiful lots of forests and greenery, bringing in more people, more traffic, more gas fumes and much less of the beauty of Florida. Farms were consumed. Nurseries were consumed. Old time areas of individual homes and land were swallowed up by greedy developers who gifted us with jerry- built homes, going up in unimaginable speed, many scarcely an extended arm's space between. 

So the roads were overwhelmed so there was approval for more roads to accommodate more people, so reserves were violated, so more people moved in, so the roads were widened or newly built so ..... Get the point?

Okeechobee is a traffic tragedy. Southern has been turned into a highly trafficked highway. Belvedere is jamming up with yet more developments thrown up in miraculous speed. 441 has become almost impossible at certain spots and is always crowded. New roads and extensions are deemed necessary Preserves. Kinda' helps clean the air we breathe- but there they go. Timber!!! 

Ergo the question. Why have the County Commissioners given approval for two more huge developments in our area. One on Haverhill for approximately 700 units and one on the beautiful expansive lawn across from the fire station on Okeechobee, yet another 700 units PLUS retail and commercial buildings and parking to accommodate all the cars all the time. What do you think will happen to Haverhill, already a dangerous street, and Okeechobee? No rocket scientist needed here. 

Uh huh! Yet more congestion and more cars. The time to get from Century Village to Palm Beach Lake Boulevard, already a challenge in the morning rush hour, will increase from 20 minutes to 30 - 45 minutes. So.... what now? No more room to widen, is there? Only room for articles to highlight the stupidity and lack of logical thinking of those responsible for it all, be they County or Travel and Road Committees or whatever name they use. They have failed in their job. They have failed in their responsibilities to us, the residents of the County who desire to live here with a modicum of livability!

"nuff said about that.

 As we live here, in comfort and freedom, with our issues, they are nothing compared to the situation of Brittney Griner. 

Locked up. 

In harsh freezing temperatures sent from Hell. 

Lack of food and health care. 

Cruel inhumane slave labor. 

Lack of freedom. 

Lack of hope.

Bring Brittney Griner Home. 

NOW!!

AND DOWN IT WENT

  Wow! That was a shock to the system. The end of an era. The end of memories of that time, when all seemed different as compared to now. When there was a sense of optimism even as markets performed erratically. When, though all was not well in the Golden Land, there remained a sense of optimism, hope, an ability to look beyond the day to a soon to be better future. It allowed the nation to heal wounds remaining from the Vietnam War. It allowed those who thought differently or otherwise or 'out of the box', to join in the fray in a responsible manner. 'Indoor steps and voices' were used, rather than the brutal words, gestures, and deeds of today.

Opponents were vilified but not threatened as to life and limb. Insurrectionists were not emboldened to riot and invade the sites of democracy. Thinking in gray, rather than only in stark black or white allowed for bipartisanship and a functioning government. Yes, all was not well, life not that bowl of cherries, and sometimes the pits overwhelmed the edible cherries, but the sense of we can do it, we can fix it, always remained, growing and shrinking, but always there.

Today, we do otherwise. As the once beautiful, popular Deauville hotel imploded, as it sank to the ground, with it sank memories and hopes, dreams that came true and dreams that did not. Remaining behind was the tinkle of laughter, the ghost notes of music, the sounds of children excited for this beautiful hotel and its beach. The joy of parents as they were able to provide this finally, for themselves and the kids. 

Today the Deauville is no more. What will replace it? Another hotel, housing for the elite, apartments empty most of the year as the numbers of homeless grow, unable to afford the rents? Will it become a symbol of the rottenness of our times, the greed, the apathy re the problems of others, or will we see a sign of a better future, a restoration, at least in part, enough of with what made America  America, take root once again.

Frankly, we have not yet taken our lessons seriously enough. The shouts of deniers. the notes of the Sirens of disaster. The greedy dreams of power and wealth. They all remain in too strong a number. We, the guys, the women, in white hats are too few at this point and must grow in their own numbers and strength if we are ever to have our country back again.

The question is thus. Will we implode that which needs it, replacing it with better, firmer, stronger ties to democracy, the American ethos, its sense of confidence, as we walk the right path? Or will we implode the remnants of another time and replace it with worse, making no allowances for the needs of the public, the imperative to improve, to ensure rights, all gone with the wind, floating as a wisp, carried hither and thither, never to return, lost in a hostile world - of our own making?

The choice is ours.

The dreams are ours.

The historical imperative is upon us. 

And all the while, as we go about our daily lives, Brittney Griner remains in her living nightmare.

TIME TO BRING HER HOME.

NOPE! UH-UH. YES. EMPHATICALLY SO

 We need to pay attention to words, especially words that come down through history. We need to understand the implications of those words and their historical context. There are so many lessons, so many words of wisdom and warning. Unfortunately, so many opportunities missed that, if caught, acted upon, would have saved us a great deal of angst and national wounds and division that long remain with us and continue to do grievous harm to the body politic.

    "We Americans... are characters in this living book of democracy. But we are also its author. It falls upon us now to say whether the chapters that are to come will tell a story of retreat or a story of continued advance. "President Franklin D. Roosevelt's final campaign speech.

Does that ring a bell somewhere within your head? Have we not heard similar words the past few years, increasingly so as we approached these very important midterm elections, the message sent re these election choices? Have we not heard these very same warnings, from the mouths of pundits, analysts, common worried citizens, professors, lawyers, constitution experts, the President himself as he spoke of the challenge to democracy that we faced?

Almost every time a concern is raised, there is always some dolt in the room who will announce, in a pompous, pontifical, contemptuous voice, that "It can't happen here. It won't happen here." Well, he knows not whereof he speaks for we have had times where the democracy of ours was on very shaky grounds, on its way out. Only through the very careful, observant watchdog eyes of those who know the truth of the real possibility, did we oh so narrowly avoid disaster. Worse, we do not learn. We ignore history and facts, even remain ignorant or denying of it, and fall into the same traps, the same milieu of denial, over and over again.

Thus the answer of "Nope" to the question of whether or not it can happen here, is a huge uh-uh and an emphatic 'oh yes it can'. Unfortunately, there are enough nefarious dudes out there who viscerally hate democracy, its principles, its striving to improve itself, better the lot of its populace. They form posses, militias, cults, and gather to them the dissatisfied, incompetent, deluded, and nasty people, enough to fill their rolls and train to revolution, oppression, repression, and vicious hatred of 'others' who bother the hell out of them.

Always and forever, part and parcel of these antidemocratic rebels is a virulent, deadly, ever growing in violence, obscenity, and ambition, frightening antisemitism that never seems to fade away. Rather, it hangs around, found in every economic class, belief and religion. It is a go to theme, a distractor, a focus point - whatever works. It is cynical and bloody, and 80 years ago a brilliant madman and his henchmen and eager or cowardly souls, almost managed to do what has been tried through the centuries - the annihilation of Jewry down to the last newborn.

Oh, but it can't happen here, right? We have safeguards, right? Wrong, so very dangerously wrong. History tells us otherwise. It teaches us, but what is supposed to be taught never seems fully to have been caught. Tragically so.

Most people do not know that in the 1930's and 40's, in Los Angeles, there was a huge Nazi underground, at times not really so underground at all. They laid a firm foundation to take over LA and use it as a base to go national. They successfully courted politicians, workers, the wealthy, the celebrities, promising them glory and making antisemitism popular, permitted, and encouraged. There were huge German Bunds, youth groups, camps, throughout the nation, strong ties to Germany, with members taught how to fight or how to get placed in critical positions. There were huge Hitler parades, gatherings, perfect puppets to their masters overseas. 

And they very nearly succeeded.

It was only through the persistence of Jews who noticed, always watchful, friends who refused to bite the bullet, and some government figures who accepted the truth of the dangerous conspiracy, that this very real and almost successful threat was defeated. There was a series about this several years ago; I wonder how many even bothered to watch.

Fast forward to present day. Look at the rebels, violent, blood on their mind putsch makers. Hear their words and rants. The Auschwitz t-shirts, the scapegoating of Jews for the troubles of the nation, all the activities of these groups prior to and after Jan. 6 and know the truth. 

It almost happened here 90 years ago and very clearly, frighteningly almost happened here two years ago. And it certainly can happen at any time now. While thankfully many Trumpian deniers of election results, buyers of filth and lies, Jew haters, were defeated, there remain enough, too many, who did win, and the concern is there - should be there. First infiltrate the government, use reinforcing violence, and have at it. The likes of Boebert, Gaetz, McCarthy, the weak McConnell, the filth of Marjorie Taylor Greene, the dangerous stupidity of Walker, the viciousness of a Mo Brooks and a Ron Johnson. The hatred of Omar, AOC, Tlaib.  All the characters in this book of democracy - still present and accounted for.

Which set of characters will prevail? Will a nation survive and prove true to itself? What are the odds? Check with the bookies in England for they often create the odds in campaigns, matches and such. But remember, this is not a ticket you can rip up and discard, for the effects of a losing bet are far more permanent and dangerous to life and limb.

A postscript: See the havoc, the pain, the bloodshed, the cruelty, the treating of humans as trash, as pawns in an obscene political game. Brittney Griner has been sent to an unknown harsh, the harshest of Russian gulag prisons - a general penal colony, the highest security, the harshest conditions, the worst of the worst criminals, and many do not survive their prison terms there.

We need to rescue this woman, this American, this wife and mother. I cannot sleep at times as I worry about this disaster that has befallen her. 

What the hell are we doing? Where is the humanity of the world?