SENSE AND NONSENSE

  At times one must distance oneself from the ugly reality of everyday life these days and invest, instead, in the joy of the moment, hoping and praying that the moment continues for years into the future. I apologize to my readers for neglecting to write that there would be a day of no entry due to flying and the obstacle course that flying these days has turned into. So, sorry. On the other hand, what a glorious time was had by all.

Then reality strikes. Ugly reality. Contrasts so stark that one wonders how one is ever to meld the differences into a workable whole, fit all the jigsaw pieces in with no single piece missing to spoil the entire puzzle. The ugliness, the petty meanness, the vanity and spitefulness of those engaging in these squabbles so stupid, yet so dangerous to our nation have embittered so many so as to preclude unity within groupings which used to maintain ties of goodness and concern through thick and thin. 

Blood was blood. Friendships were tethered with sinews, proud and thick. Open conversation was allowed, differences were celebrated as well as similarities, with the latter stronger, more powerful, than the former. Religious differences and standards were allowed without group censure, tolerated, even if close to anathema for some.

Today, that piece, those pieces, of the puzzle have gone missing. Seek as hard as we can, they remain invisible to the naked eye, ruining what could be, what should be, a beautiful conclusion, result, of tolerance, of moral value, of acceptance of the innate beauty within all humanity. We despair, wondering whether we will ever be able to finish that puzzle, bask in the accomplishment, the glory, the victory and its importance.

This past Sunday afternoon and evening proves that such an accomplishment remains within our grasp. Tolerance, attention to the ties that bind rather than to the words which divide - it works. It really does. If we could only bottle that essence, remind people that it does exist, that elusive and evasive possibility, that seeming impossibility these days. We have only to seek better, work better, feel better.

There is no doubt about the fact that the Jewish people are in the midst of great differences - of opinions, observances, thoughts about Israel -differences which often preclude friendships, relationships, unity, and befog the truth of it all; be it as it may, we are one people and must remember that, feel it in the marrow of our bones.

Sunday evening it all came together. Varying dress, varying levels and standards, clashing political opinions - it all made no never mind. There before our eyes, two young people were married. Their love for each other shined brightly, and even in the moment of gravitas of a sealing together, of two into one, these two were able to smile, to speak with love and humor. It produced a joy, a hope, that there is indeed the possibility of finding  those missing pieces, reminding all of the tethers that bind, rather than the differences which shred all in its path. The power, the strength of tradition - was totally awesome. The tears of joy fell upon the cheeks of many. The celebration after the ceremony was amazing, simply amazing, as all danced, the men whirling, stomping and the women creating new dances, new paths to portray their joy and happiness for this couple. The chatan, the groom, danced for his kallah, his bride, his partner for life, and the hearts of all were overflowing.

Two characters in a novel were having a serious conversation at a crossing point. One stated that not everything has to make sense.  "Some of the most important things in in our lives defy reason... here is my secret, a very simple secret. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye."

Open the hearts. Clear the connection to the soul.

That is the path. That is the way. Possible? Yes. Hard work? Yes. So let us all get started.

CONTRASTS

  Yesterday, while reading, I came across an excerpt from John McCrae's powerful poem Flanders Field. I can remember reading it in high school, felt its power then, but it is nothing as compared to the emotions felt today, in these troubled times.

"We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

    Loved and were loved," 

It is precisely more incisive at this moment, precisely when we are celebrating the wonderful occasion of a granddaughter's wedding. How do we meld those feelings with the emotions raised by a poem which pleads for an end to wars, to the coverups of deaths that rend the survivors, of losses that never ever go away, even as Nature tries her very best, cloaking the death with beautiful poppies. In fact, how does one allow thoughts of death in such a time of joy, an affirmation of the continuity of life, of the chains of generations which led to this point?

How? Why? Because it is at such moments that we realize, feel powerfully, the phases of life. Even as it begins new journeys for some, for others it is the final stretch. We realize the futility of denying death, its inevitability. However, at one and the same time, we try to pass on to the younger generation our apologies and our understandings, the outcomes and hopefully, the wisdoms of our experiences.

Generation after generation we have refused to recognize the futility of war. We glorify it, rightfully honor those  who died fighting for one noble cause or another, even as the same causes need more infusions of blood through the centuries. No matter how we name these wars, be it in terms of longevity, as in the Cousins' War in England, or The Hundred Years War, or the Civil War here, whose echoes remain, The Great War, the war that was to end all wars - which did not - its deadly futility remains hidden to the minds of many.

And so we leave these kids a world still, ravaged by war, its deaths, its horrid spillage of blood, its uselessness in the long run, the pressing necessity to find other answers, ones that benefit humankind. We apologize for we have failed in that task. In fact, we have made war an ongoing never ending part of life in areas of the world, with constant threats of ramping up with more powerful weapons, with savagery inflicted upon the 'losers' even as all are losers in war. The victors lose parts of their humanity, never to return, never able to undo the wounds of their souls. There are no victors, no victories, in war. No matter the nobility of the cause, for it returns almost immediately. The murders of Jews continued even as they returned from death camps to former homes. The anger of enemies rushed into the future, merely changing names. The beauty of  the poppies planted, the birds singing overhead - futile in the long run. The land continues to be soaked in the blood of those who perished.

I look at these kids standing under the chuppah, I am filled with joy and happiness for them, with them, fervently, with all the power of my heart and soul, only good, happiness, health, joy in and for their children, for a future. Yet I wonder if that is to be. Look around. See our world, besieged with seething hatreds, decimated by plagues of one sort or another, the devastation of the planet.

"Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

    The torch; be yours to hold it high.

    If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep," 

We were charged by the poet with a duty for the future. We have most emphatically not fulfilled that charge. And so it falls to those two kids and the rest of their generation. And the generations to follow. One can only hope and pray that these kids, beginning a life together, hopefully a blessed one, will take on that charge, that duty, and leave a better world for their inheritors than we have done.

To them and their generation I, too, leave a charge. Tell the truth, always, for not to do so is only to invite danger into your homes and nations. Respect the humanity of all, the rights of all, the basic needs of all. Strive to do your best. Keep G-d in your hearts and love each other.

Now to the joy in life. Mazal tov!! The glass shatters and the singing, the dancing, the affirmation that there will always be a time for the sounds and joys of marriage, for the hopes that these marriages present and represent.

Shortly, I will be in the midst of this joy, in the midst of the singing and dancing  - and I would not have it any other way. We are told there is a time and place for everything on this earth. Time to rejoice.

Kol sasone, v'kol simcha.

Kol Chatan, v'kol Kallah

The voice of joy, the voice of happiness

The voice of the groom, the voice of the bride.

             MAZAL TOV!!!!!

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT AND YET I CAN'T STOP BELIEVING

  That iconic song from the group Journey had the entire country singing it, hearing its message of hope and encouragement and was a major, major, major hit on Glee. Personally, I love the song and wish we could all hear its message, particularly during these turbulent times. We, in America, cannot seem to agree on anything. One says white, the other black, the first agrees and the second changes his mind. We are at a dangerous impasse even as the world stretches to new heights of tension and challenge. Russia invades, China aims for the world, warns its citizens to buy in bulk, frightening them, we are losing the cyber wars, the nations of the world are playing games of chicken with war ships and warplanes. What the hell is going on.

"If there is a second American Civil War, which side would you choose? It may be wise to make that decision now, in the spirit of planning for the worst while hoping for the best.

A recent public opinion poll by the University of Virginia Center for Politics finds that a majority of Trump voters want to secede from the Union. Alarmingly, nearly as many Biden voters, 41 percent, also feel it may be "time to split the country."

That is what is going on. Is your hair standing on end? When a bulwark of the world, a place of confidence and surety, of progress and innovation, loses its way, well, the population sees that, feels that, participates in it and the above is what happens. I absolutely hate reading this. Yes, I have been sounding the clarion call about this lo these many a year, but I hoped I was wrong. Was I?

Angela Merkel warned us that the world has apparently not learned the lessons of WWII. Read that again. And again. Why not? And where do we see that? We see it in the GOP 'side' of the civil war as they absorb, nay, desire the extremes, the white power, the neo Nazis, the trash of humanity. Shall we all take seminars re WWII if we are to avoid this? Actually, sadly, I am growing ever more certain, much to my dismay, my horror, my fear, that this is indeed in the offing, a future with no hope, a future in which I see no place, no room at the inn for my people, the Jewish people, once again to be exiled, chased, killed, blamed, whatever negative one can think of. Nor will it be good for anyone else either. That is the way of dictatorships and hate.

Perhaps if this nation were to stop this infantile yet so dangerous practice of head butting, even as their brains migrate to their butts, and grow up. Look for points of agreement, ways to benefit the populace, stop ignoring violence or encouraging it. Avoid the calls to doubt the legitimacy of the elections, the basis of this country. Just stop!!!!! Before we cannot.

KNOCK, KNOCK

  Almost the last few words spoken in the play Come from Away, it made the point of the play. First, a quick review and a suggestion. It was great, fun, serious, hopeful, with hints of what was to come. Suggestion: go see it, at the Broward Center thru Nov. 17 and it will be at the Kravis Center as well (check for date). What I loved about the cast, other than their acting, singing, good cheer, audience rapport, was the fact that they were not the usual youngster cast one sees so often on stage. These were people well distanced from the teen years, even the twenties and more. Yet their energy was amazing, along with their talent and enthusiasm.

Caught by surprise, as was the entire world, the Towers tragedy forced 38 planes, over 7,000 people, to land on Newfoundland, swamp the little town of Gander along with the rest of the island. Instead of whining, moaning, cursing their fate, these people immediately swept into action, taking from their own pocket, and opening home and heart to the stranded passengers.

Based on fact, small vignettes were reenacted through song and careful words. The warmth was there, along with the sour and acidic signs of the hate that was to come and is still with us. The sentiment of "come from away", is that of welcoming all, for all, each and every one of us has come from away at some point or other, or our families did. Sometimes both.

It is a sentiment that once ruled this country, America, even as it continues to rule Gander and its citizens. At a time of crisis they were able to put aside the struggles and strife of the island and turn to the task of aiding the stranded, going so far as to make them feel at home, so much so that friendships were generated that have lasted for years. Return visits, funding of scholarships, and perhaps, just perhaps, left a spark of welcome and warmth that might strike a chord somewhere within Americans today. Once we too welcomed those come from away, etching that sentiment on a great big green lady in NY harbor. Yes, there was always anti immigrant sentiment as well, but the mix of Americans continued, allowing for absorption into the American cosmos.

Today we have instead embraced difference, an emphasis of differences which has cut a huge wound in our country. Have you ever heard someone say a Greek-Frenchman or  Somalian- Spanish? No, for they are French. Or Spanish. Or Greek. Or whatever. But they are most emphatically not hyphens. Period. So why has America increasingly stressed the hyphens, capitalized the differences, and forgotten that bottom line, we all came from away; we all became Americans - or should have. But that thought, that idea, is so buried deep under overlaying layers of hatred, intolerance, isolationism, selfishness, that even its echoes grow fainter and fainter.

Come from away needs to grow within our society. It should be a theme of the education within schools, shouted from the rooftops, printed in the media, a theme online, whatever it takes. We need to stress the positive rather than the negative, the sins of the past by people of the past, a past and a life structured on different mores. Stress instead the fact that America has come a long way and will go further - if we all share in the come from away sentiment and direction.

Perhaps oversimplified, with many hurdles and blockades newly grown or allowed to grow, but it can be done. If that small group of people on Newfoundland, in that small town of Gander and the rest of the even smaller places could do it ,then so can we. So must we.

Oh, why the title? Here it is. The question was asked why the people of that wonderful island were so bad at knock, knock jokes. Here is the explanation.

Knock, knock

Response: Who's there? Come in, the door's open.

'Nuff said.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN.....

  Hard to know what to answer these days. What does one believe in anymore? Why are the issues of faith growing? Is there an inherent danger in the ongoing crisis of faith? If so, what do we do? Do we even bother to do anything? Have there been corollary problems emanating from these beliefs? Are they even beliefs or mere shabby attempts to pull the shabby wool over pathetic attempts to hide bigotry, misogyny? Hmpf!

More and more, conservative evangelical belief and extreme forms of right wing religion have fallen in line with the Trumpian calendar of griefs, laws, and typical Big Lies tenets and approach to life. Normally, one could say that religious freedom is constitutional law, but actually, the way it is going now is that the Church and the State are crossing that mandated separation of powers, mixing in where it does not belong, much to the detriment and worse for the country.

Notice I did not write - 'our' - country. More and more I am feeling once again, that this is not my country, but rather some bizarre reproduction missing huge pieces for a necessary core. As as Jew I am truly frightened, on high alert. As a woman I am threatened, afraid of being 'afghanasized', doomed to a return to chattel law, in the face of  increasing outspoken opinion of so called political leaders, their deluded followers, particularly extreme evangelical churches, how stupid and incapable women are, how they cannot be allowed to control their own bodies, and what next? They cannot control anything? They cannot enter fields where they compete with men? No higher education, perhaps none at all? Where and when  does it end? Or doe it not?

Do I continue to believe in the inherent strength of the body politic of this nation? Difficult, when I read of crowds of humanoids awaiting the revival, the return to life, of JFK, Jr., who will then run for office with Trump. I kid you not. And these are our voters? Is it the water out there? Boll weevils in the brain? Where do we put our once almost unassailable belief in the wall of protection around our nation based on the integrity of our elections. our body politic, along with the bodies which make up that body politic?  

How do we believe in a Supreme Court of Justice, when Lady Justice is relegated to a dusty rear closet, never aired, never referred to? When the Judges of this court make decisions based on biased foundations, personal beliefs, from decisions of two alleged perverts? When they seemingly support right to choose if they disavow the Texas law, and in so doing actually leave a wider door open to the total banning of Roe v. Wade altogether. So much for women, those uppity beings who believe they are equal. Tsk, tsk. 

Wire hangers, anyone?

Those of us who retain our sanity believe that the truth will out, but how much more difficult can it become? Read and decide on each paper of the Archives individually? A crass attempt to postpone forever the truth and the consequences of those truths. Not a game, and all too real.

Whom do we trust? Our religious leaders are mixing into politics, many being exposed as perverted victimizers of women and children, unable to keep their own values and beliefs intact, tarring, unfortunately, even the pure ones. Our political leaders have long ago succumbed to the siren call of power and lust. Lost cause there. So where do we turn for succor? Perhaps nowhere. And that is the honest to god truth, the reason for despair in many Americans, the wave of hopelessness that rolls across the land, and the extreme, futile, dangerous attempts to alleviate it all. Danger ahead! Not even so much ahead.

A riddle. A conundrum. An enigma. A mystery. All not wrapped around each other, but rather enmeshed in each other, so much more difficult to unravel. Perhaps, possibility, with probability growing, of its impossibility to indeed unravel and smooth out. 

My sense is we are running out of time. We are running out of beliefs. We are running out of positive possibilities and running headlong into negative probabilities. Bad news. Bad news indeed.

Belief is powerful. As the people of the Jewish nation awaited certain gruesome death in the gas chambers, or at the edges of forest abysses, or at man made pits, or as they took on the might of the Nazi army with their smaller partisan forces, as they held tight to their little ones, to their elderly parents, to loved ones, they sang Ani Ma'amin, I Believe, a song of hope that goodness will prevail, the Moshiach, the Messiah, will come. They sang Shema Yisroel, Hear O Israel, the Lord our G-d, the Lord is One. That belief in the eye of death is difficult. Can we begin to approach that level of belief, in our ability to turn this mess around?

Dear Lord, but I hope so, I truly do. Do I believe that it will happen? Go away Do not ask me that right now. 

TODAY IS THE BEST DAY

 ... of your life. Remember the song? Remember the optimism behind that song? Remember the America that was a bespoken fit for that sentiment? Remember the 'can do' attitude seen from the cartoon characters of Bob the Builder who assured all that "We can do it. Yes, we can.", to the growth of cities, the development of the middle class and so many who found much to hope for in their lives, from the office workers to the guy punching in at a construction site. American optimism. Remember that? Miss that? I do. I certainly miss it in myself as well as in my country.

How do we return to better times, when we can cheerfully walk out that door every morning with that feeling, top of the world, nothing can stop me now attitude? Perhaps the better question is - can we return, is it even possible, or shall we once and for all, wave goodbye as it fades into the distance? Truthfully, I am conflicted, not truly sure of myself on either side of the issues. What I do know, though, to the very core of myself, is that the existence of these questions, the mere wondering about it, shakes the ground beneath our feet. 

How do we deal with the glaring and growing inequities of society. Where once that middle class provided a solid core of strength for American society, that core is now endangered. The children of this class cannot afford college. If you are a minority or poverty stricken or wealthy - then there is help, but for the middle class boy or girl it is a Hobbesian choice: either forgo the possibility and its provisions for a good future, or burden oneself with loans that preclude  much of and for the future.

What is this? Why is this? The answers are not cut and clear nor of equal weight. The blame can be so easily shared by so many, too many. Selfishness. Greed. The lust for power. The growing debasement of those who would serve this country and its people in honor and honesty. Hence, the result: a sour taste in the mouth, a growing tendency to look away, don't bother me attitude, and a growing very un-American bitterness within the souls of all of us.

What does one say to that? How do we justify its occurrence? How the hell did we get here? Is there a road back, or forward, can we see beyond the new Great Divide - the red and the blue? But then again, how do we do that when the red, the GOP, the drinkers of Trumpian juice, fail to 'protect and serve'? Worse, if not in active planning re the destruction of our country's soul, then they are equally as guilty explicitly, complicit,  implicit, as they shake and shiver in their shoes, afraid to face up to a deranged man who is the closest clone of Hitler that we have seen in America. Who refuses to go away. Far worse and more dangerous, the many who do not want him to go away. The opportunity to indulge in their hatred, to wallow in it, even as he is bad for their well being, well, guess this opportunity is too tempting to ignore.

Even those who purport to support the people, to care for them, well, see the crooked road they hoe and follow, all at the same time. Manchin is Senator from West Virginia, the home of  Appalachia, one of the most poverty stricken areas in this nation, seemingly forever, rivaling any Third World nation. No jobs. No food security. Education? Forget it. Hope, dismal at best. This man, this millionaire or more, wealth accrued on the backs of miners and agony of souls, sits on his yacht, talking down to kayak goers who plead for him to aid the passage of a bill desperately needed if this country is to get back on solid land, all the while emitting a message of 'screw you all' . He enjoys his role as the devil in the broth. He has wrapped himself in the cloak of a Democrat while within, his GOP traits have a party! Thus he endangers the chances of his presumed party to repair the broken infrastructure of this nation, to give it a much needed infusion of cash and hope. For shame!

Is there a way to return to sanity? Can we overcome the horror of a sitting President trying to overthrow the legitimate government of this nation? Can we repair all the harm done, the damage inflicted, the hopelessness and anime that stalk the land? Big problems to address; big minds needed to fix it. Where are those big minds? Who the hell knows. What I do know is they are obviously not within the Senate, the House or the GOP, or even within many of the Democratic party.

Today is the best day of my life? Your life? The nation's life? How do we mesh it all? How and when can we expect to be able to sing in full voice, in beautiful, soul building harmony? I dunno. I simply do not.

DO YOU HEAR IT?

 Can you hear it? Do you want to hear it or is your preference selective deafness? The world is creaking, with obsolescence or overuse or self destructive behavior, but do we hear it? Or do most of us deny reality, deny the ever growing truth of the worries for self implosion of this planet, of life as we know it, as we hope for, as we go right along basing decisions on assumptions of a reality that will not manifest itself?

Look at how life has already changed. Once flying was pretty much assured. You made a reservation, got there on time, sat down, slept, read, ate, whatever made you comfortable, then deplaned at destination. Today, direct flights are dinosaurs. One has to fly hither and thither before reaching a "final destination". That is, unless you get dumped somewhere in the middle of the night to fend for oneself in the echoing emptiness of a deserted concourse, to figure things out for yourself.

One has to now fly defensively, as one is never quite sure if luggage will show up. Definitely one of the worst moments in life is watching that luggage sail round and round but yours is nowhere to be found. Oh, but wait, there is the vaunted tracking system. Aha! Your luggage was placed on the wrong flight! What happened to the tracking? Did it not read the error? And what about the clothes in there for the next day wedding? Oops! Nary an apology in sight! No more cheery ads for flying. Now people stomp through the airport, stand in lines, reveal the faces behind the masks, and pray they get there within a reasonable time. Two hours delay? Piece of cake!. Truly, what have we wrought with our airlines?

The echoes of the theme of Twilight Zone pick up in decibels. We read that Musk wants to build a tunnel or two to the beach in Ft. Lauderdale, avoid the traffic of the roads. Great thinking! In Florida, where flooding even on no rain days but at high tide times, is growing. So, of course, build a tunnel beneath, into the soft limestone, and hope and pray that the construction, the pollution beneath, and the waters of the ocean itself do not drown the motorists within one bad rainy day. Not quite the same as a bad hair day, but seemingly, too many people are willing to write off common sense, all the better to make a buck, ignore the consequences.

How about the nonsensical studies that do nothing other than eat up funds needed elsewhere. A study finds that those who believe in vaccine conspiracies are more likely to get COVID, lose jobs and are more socially isolated. That's a duh! Add to that those who make up 'religious' reasons to avoid vaccination, evidently worshipping a vicious god who prefers that his believers die. Brilliant thinking there don't ya' think! 

A politician says "enough is enough" and came clean re details of his conversation with Trump wherein that toxic individual asked him to "find" some votes. Kinda' like 'finding' things that fell off a truck. Same difference. Except that this was a sitting President with a mad goal, a treasonous goal, to subvert a perfectly fine election - other than he lost, obviously - to overturn the democracy of this country. Fie! For shame! And yet, tragically, there are those brain dead believers. Still. With all the proof showing up, for the truth will always out. Will people continue to deny the truth, to forget that Lindsay Graham, that little toady, called for the rebels to be shot. Uh huh. With friends like that ..... well, you know the rest. The ugly rest.

But of all the discordant tones besieging the music of the spheres, the worst is that jagged, ear shattering, blood spilling, ever haunting to the point of murderous death, that discordant music of anti - Semitism. Every damned day yet another incident. Not really an 'incident' for that implies isolation, one here, one there. It is not so. A Nazi flag flown at a synagogue on Shabbat. Threat, vandalism, even shootings, bombs, attacks. The consequences rear their brazen, ugly, deadly heads. Their jagged teeth rip at the souls of all decent people. At the same time they heighten the level of fear, of despair. When the hell will these creeps ever leave us alone?! My guess - never. This hatred permeates their souls, feeds upon, encouraged, by the growth of an atmosphere of sanctioned hatred of others, the hatred generated and used as a political tool, an avenue to return to office and burn it all down.

For thousands of years Jews have sacrificed themselves as they sought to rescue their holy scroll, the Torah, or holy books. In a burning synagogue, there will always be those who run into that fire to save them. Thus, when in a frat house in George Washington University a Torah is selectively desecrated, as the animals ignore Christian items, the hackles are raised. The cost is growing each and every day; the fear , the hatred, the desecration, the shattering return of past horrors, questions as to where next, will it ever go away, will concentration camps and true ghettos once again blight the land?

 Do not answer quickly. Think it through and then think of the larger picture. What does it mean to and for the everyday person? Hatred never ends, forever needs to fill its gaping, ugly maw. Everyone is 'next'. Remember that. Feel it in your bones, in your guts, in your very souls.

Today is indeed the times which 'try men's souls". The words ring out loud and clear. The warning is loud. Either we shape up, as a union of humanity, of humankind, clear the air, literally and figuratively, or all our plans can be for naught. Such is the nature of our actions upon this earth. Use it or lose it? Use the proper way or we will lose it, and perhaps even deserve to, if after all the millennia we continue on our so wrong a path. Time to shape up indeed. No more prep. No more practice. We have run out the clock on that. Real existential time here, folks, the real game. Where will we be at halftime?

GOTTA' LOVE IT!!

  If a person does not possess a sense of humor these days, well, he/she had better find blinders, limit  contact with the outside word - outside their apartment walls, that is, ands stick to old shows without new PC invasion, with sugary sentiment and always, a happy ending or one that reduced you to tears. Good for the soul.  

Seriously, without humor it is indeed most difficult to maneuver these days - and keep one's sanity pretty much intact. Mostly people have not been paying attention to our critical political crises in which otherwise heretofore normal (for the GOP) people have morphed, as a recommended article maintains, become victims of body snatching! It is both funny and sad, a brilliant use of words and language to delineate a most critical situation. Written by a still uninvaded conservative writer, Matt Lewis, in the Daily Beast, yesterday, entitled Trump's Invasion of the Body Snatchers Ate the Republican Party.

Find it. read it. Laugh. Cry. Moan. Scratch your head. Makes as much sense as all the other theories trying to explain what happened to the GOP.

And now....back to home, good old CVWPB - or maybe not so good old CVWPB. An owner since 1998, I have seen major downtrends within the Village. To be fair, it mirrors much of what is happening elsewhere, but this is home, not vacation pod, for many of us here - including me - and we need to do better. So sure, the past two and a half years have been not so good all over. We hoped 2021 would change the dial on the world's situation, but it did not for the most part. In fact, it deteriorated even more as people were isolated, and furthered that isolation by opting out of so much. Too much.

Before reading on please read the following disclaimer. Please do not lay this on Gerry. He is my husband, not my boss, as I am not his, (at least in this case). He has closely worked with many in UCO and disagrees with some of what I have written. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa - me and me alone. And those who agree with what I have written.

In CV there already had been a trend, a downslide, of interest in UCO, basically the governing factor here in the Village. The President, David Israel, had clawed his way in to the position and maintained it through let's say, not such nice ways, insulting others, allegedly playing games with boards that suddenly, on Voting Day, came into existence, - and are we not seeing the impact on our Village what with the deterioration of those same associations with Brigadoon Boards. Additionally, he sicced the County on an entity outside the Village which had displeased him by allowing a poster hung on the fence (as do many organizations) for the opposing candidate, an act which entailed costly consequences for that entity without a great deal of funds to fall back upon. Nasty is as nasty was.

Gradually, the Village government became a tight sweaty group of the Elect, a la the Pigs of Animal Farm, whose hot little hands grabbed all, wanted all, and morphed themselves into members of almost every committee; hence, progress was stymied. Double voting, as Officers, on several Committees in one way or another, their bosom buddies appointed and opponents ousted or downright blackballed. Whatever worked.

Of course, people began to lose interest, frustrated by the tight stranglehold David et al had on UCO. Oh, there were and are some excellent people there who work hard for us, but what can  one say when most officers would respond to the request to report on the month's work they had presumably done, with a succinct statement: - "Nothing to report." What the hell were they doing month after month in UCO other than chowing down on snacks so kindly paid for by us. 

Credit given where credit due, they did show up for the most part during COVID, but what did they accomplish? Damned if I know. Or anyone knows. The Village deteriorated. Despite the ongoing efforts of Don Foster to take care of the Village for us. A building is going to be demolished - down to the ground. Other buildings have severe deterioration. Where was the UCO VP for that sector? Why do the VPs not make rounds, have set meetings with Association Boards? Why? Danged if I know. Too busy snacking probably. 

As for David Israel who suddenly recalls at election time that there are associations, there are Boards , there are Presidents of those Boards, of course kept to his usual state of sleepwalking and did not meet, did not supervise, did not do his diligent responsibilities. Hence the ever growing worsening situation we have with no one interested in running for office. Now UCO is driven to pleading for candidates. How embarrassing. How bad for the Village. My home. Your home.

We have subsidized WPRF to an obscene degree. Allegedly we have paid for cars for  Mark Levy while struggling to pay the transportation fees for our bus system. Does anyone know anything for sure re the Millennium or what has been happening the past twenty years, why we waited so long to begin negotiations - nope. All is a deep, dark secret, kept in the hot little hands of David et al. Remember the body snatcher article? Well.......

Again, seriously, very much so, any new administration will have its hands, its minds, its everything, full. As with Trump, the papers and records will reveal what has been going on or not, as the case may be. A most difficult task, to unravel, rewind on a proper spool and then create new viable, refreshing and possible ideas. Hard work indeed. Anyone out there want this - other than David or his chosen successor?               . I thought so. The newer residents do not even know there is a UCO or even where the Clubhouse is.

Volunteers? Draftees? Anyone? Body snatchers? Trumpods? Davidpods? Help!!!!  

A RUBIK'S CUBE

  Could not get back to sleep, and as I lay there, staring at the ceiling - so nice since we got rid of that 'popcorn', for some strange never to be known reason, thoughts of a Rubik's Cube arose. Now I never have been good at puzzles like that. They bored me. They were useless, for after you solved it, learned the trick to do so what then? Nothing, just a silly twirling of the sides and repeat.

From time immemorial I have guided my life with goals in mind. Whatever I did had to have a purpose, one that moved me forward, be it in comprehension of situations, or understanding of human relations, or expansion of horizons via books. But think not that amusement and sheer fun were off the menu. Not at all, for those apparently aimless moments added to the joie de vivre of life.

Now I mused about that darned cube. Life is like that cube except there is no 'answer' or 'trick' to the Rubik's Cube of life. Most of us spin the sides throughout our lifetime. Each time we feel there is a wonderful balance ....Boom! Something comes along and upsets it, renders the solution and plan we thought we had, in balance and surety, no more. We had to spin again and again, find a new balance or semblance of one, ease into it, ahhhh... and Boom! Kept us hopping, for sure, added zest to life along with a sense of accomplishment when a seemingly unsolvable Cube suddenly fell into place - at least for a while, for times of differing durations.

Most of us fell into a routine that allowed us peace in life, at least knowing the situation, as best one can know. That is why, I believe, that the COVID pandemic and shutdown, the continuing narrowed choices for the walls of our Cubes, upset the balance of many. Suddenly the game changed. Suddenly the possibilities to shape, to solve were limited, beyond our powers, beyond anything most of us could do other than do the best we could in a strange new Rubik's Cube of Life.

Lockdown. In confined quarters, alone with those dear kids, or that wife or husband of 'x' amount of years and our solutions no longer worked. Patience wore thin, sudden strangers stared at each other, conversation became stilted and limited. The eyes ran circles in their sockets as the head they were in sought rescue. All the while that answer was there. The many new solutions possible were right there, if only one could open eyes and minds and see them. Feel them.

The answer was to open up, go off road, think out of the box, challenge oneself with once otherwise ridiculous challenges. Surprise, surprise, for many  newly discovered worlds became favorite sites on that Rubik's Cube. Even better was when there was no problem with the confinement, and the newly introduced little blocks on the larger block of the Cube added zest, interests, challenges taken on and mastered, moving on and up those new colors attached to the new Cube. 

No easy twist of a wrist, rather an entirely different approach to life. Think how much better it was when the confinement partners never had a problem in the first place. What happened then was that the new insertions drew them together even more. Laughter, shared love and experiences, pride in accomplishment - good replacements for some of the faded colors of the Cube.

Think not that the Cube philosophy remains confined to the home. It does not. Most manifestly not, particularly in our times. People's Cubes have become misshapen, unable to be fixed, or the fix was being avoided. There was too much something or other on the  Cube that enticed their owners and operators. Bad juju, as they say.

And the answer is....asks the emcee .....and silence reigns. Or a happy shout, a modern day eureka! is heard. Those open to modifying their Rubik's Cube will hear, think, and do. Those not open, well, they become the bane of our lives, to varying degrees. That bane, those multiple bands, need restructuring, replacement in proper order on a newly renovated Cube. New solutions with no tricks engendered. It can be done. It has been done already. We can continue to do so. With one caveat - that we do the restructuring with care, with respect, with understanding of how these banes grew into existence and how they are part and parcel, like it or not, of our Rubik's Cube. Hence the need for care. Hence the need for repair. Hence the need for all to allow themselves new growth, new colors, refurbishment of a proper, refreshing kind.

It can be done. If only we all do so, join in. No, not that impossible dream that the Man of La Manche sings, but perhaps our own possible dream, a little one with big end results, ends that lead to new beginnings. Let us dream on.

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR'S HAIR?!

 In a world gone mad there are points of absurdity that boggle the mind and serve as distractions from real events and worries. It is a form of circus to the masses approach and unfortunately, it appears to be a good bet for the wrong people. Here are a few succinct quotes from today's topic articles. Read, compare and then tell me that your danger reading meter has not gone nuts, buzzing away. Those warnings are either ignored or used to shore up the wrong people. Much to the detriment of our world. Our future, with a possibility of no real future actually coming, approaching at rapid pace.

"just saw buzz lightyear with hair and screamed NO so loud that all my cups and glasses just shook." Buzz Lightyear has hair and I don't know how to feel."

"When people say to me 'I think Western Democracy could be seriously disrupted and undermined,' I'm no longer dismissive." TONY BLAIR

" due to Trump's contempt for the democratic process, there's "a reasonable chance over the next three or four years of incidents of mass violence, a breakdown of federal authority, and the division of the county into red and blue enclaves." 

"GOP is now an anti-truth, anti-democratic cult of former president"

 "In the House and in top Republican-led state governments, the chief litmus test is loyalty to Trump and his false election fraud claims."

"60 percent of Republicans think President Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 election should be “overturned” 

"President Trump did not voluntarily disclose his tax returns during the campaign, his political opponents assume the information would damage him", (Well, that's a duuh!)

"Save democracy by rejecting Donald Trump and his Republican comrades, or allow them to run roughshod over our hard-won democratic principles and institutions by completing their coup — which now appears to be a runaway train".

Now take a deep breath and think. Where and when does an individual's responsibility come into play? What happens if that responsibility is shirked, or lackadaisical? To the point answer - it ain't good! Not one little whit. I think it is quite clear that every single one of us, worried for democracy and its approaching demise, has a serious burden of duty to respond in kind, insure our future, insure a realistic electorate which understands what awaits us if we do not wakeup, toss out the trash, and get back to reality and urgently needed steps to fix the mess.

Nor does it end at the national level. No, it is there in the state legislatures run by Republicans who are instituting partisan arbiters of election results, voter suppression laws, and a whole sale cowardly bowing of the knee, the head and the soul to the darkness of Trump et al.

It spreads its tentacles all over. DeSantis, quite fond of eating for himself, refuses to apply for $820 million for pandemic relief, particularly for food insecure families - children going hungry while that man stuffs his face - and his daughter's as well.

The idiots who wish to be in charge, permanently, ignore the obvious worsening of the world's climate, progressively worse heat waves, to the point of hostility to life itself. But never you mind, keep up with the fossil fuels, forget conservation and prepare yourselves to share the fate of the rest of us as the world turns into a fiery wasteland.

And the inevitable backlash begins. A white executive was fired and replaced by two women of different skin tone in order to 'increase diversity'. Major no-no. Guaranteed to turn the stomachs of many at the rampant misuse of good ideas. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in DC of a time when color will not matter, only ability. Why can we not do that now, here? Because we are too engaged in other, more important things, like concern about Buzz's hair? Not good. It all began with the oh so very wrong step of capitalizing the nature of skin tone. Why White/Black? Why not white, black for skin tone should have zero, zip, to do with anything. Stop emphasizing the outer layer. Rather pay attention to what is inside. Let's begin to prove that, live that. Do not add yet another level to the issue.

People, find something good to say or do, help another out of a mess, and seriously, work to throw out the trash. As for Buzz Lightyear, perhaps he, too, succumbed to the siren call of those hair growth ads. His business! We have other , more urgent tasks to attend to.

AND SO IT GOES, AND SO IT GOES, AND SO IT GOES - AND GOES WHERE?

  The question is, with attitudes that we now have, exactly where are we going? We had better be aware and alert else we engender permanent change in the firmament of our skies. Then where do we go? Not any place good. For sure. We are already well on our way to that change, those changes actually, a land grab of our values, of the promises of this country. What do we do in turn? Nothing really, other than  allow, give way, to the continued deterioration of this nation, a new trend of the times, along with retention of old hatreds, evil thoughts and deeds. Thinking? Nah. Ain't that the sorry truth of it all?

"At this point, we’re living under corporate and medical fascism. This is tyranny. When do we get to use the guns? No, and I’m not — that’s not a joke,” asked the audience member. “I’m not saying it like that. I mean, literally, where’s the line? How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?”

How does one deal with a nation that now has someone asking such a question, in all serious righteousness? I could not think of an answer that would shock that person and his supporters back to  sanity. Are we, as a nation, too far gone over the horizon to return? Are we? I shudder at the thought, equally as much as I shuddered at the question. My lower jaw had to be hauled back in place after the shock of reading about that.

Must 'it' go where it is going? Are there no voices of inspiration, particularly during times of great national, even world, stress?  Not so. "What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who live in it after we are gone? (Winston Churchill)

 There we have it, but actually we do not, no longer. Can we haul it back, haul the nation back onto a plain of reformation, of healing a broken state of unity, more like a now state of disunity? The answer I want, plead for, strongly desire, is that of a yes, even a tentative one. However, what is heard   more and more, louder and louder, is a growing chorus of 'no'. Where are we going from here?

“trying to provoke you and everyone here,.. “They are trying to make you do something that will be violent that will justify a takeover of your freedoms and liberties, the likes of which we have never seen.”

We are sinking ever deeper into a moral morass with strong influence and provocation to the negative. Our supposed leaders incite violence, talk words of hate, and then beg relief when the hatred turns towards them. Relief from a government against which they actively incited insurrection! Sorry, folks. Remember the cake and the eating of it? See Marie Antoinette if you have forgotten.

To finish the job to complete the ruination of any hope into the future, refer to the multi page article in the NY Times about Israel. Once again - "What the hell!!!" Will there ever be a time when Jews will no longer be a recipient of hate, unbalanced, insane, putrid, malignantly unbalanced hate? Why is it that other nations are accepted as arbiters of their own country border lines? The attacking nation or the one invaded keep or lose the land in question, depending on the outcome of the fighting. And it is accepted, perhaps after some pathetic words from so called leaders. So why, why, is Israel different? 

War after war, declared or simply there, wars of survival against a foe which has a mantra of "From the river to the sea Palestine will be free." Meaning that the Jews, the Yahud, will be forced, real and implied, into the sea. It is not Israel that is being fought, but rather the continued existence of the Jewish people despite all that has been done to them, against them, over the millennia. It is ever ongoing, seemingly never to be lost to the darker side of humanity. 

The very same Bible that Christian nations quote and hug to bosoms, the very same Koran that Moslems treasure, is the same Torah, the history of our nation, that the Jews hold dear. So why is everything within accepted, written in stone, other than the Promise - a land of our own. A land which never ever was deserted, not mentally, not emotionally, not in reality. Always there were Jews living in the land. Always there were prayers to return, even inside a synagogue hidden in a concentration camp. Always, the land of the Jews.

Oh, I can argue all day long and well into the night re the fact that Israel is the land of the Jewish people. From time immemorial. Palestine and Palestinians are a made up figment of political expediency, a convenient distraction for Arab states where the people live in poverty under repressive governments. Hence, keep those camps. Annoy the world. These people, few of whom actually lived in the land over the centuries, actually came during the Ottoman times or earlier, urged by effendi, landowners from Greater Syria, who wished for their land there to be farmed. Refer to the writings of Mark Twain and Pastors galore who visited the lands; read their reports of the desolation.

 No flowering land of orange orchards and bountiful olive and fig groves. Those rusty keys they hold up as proof of ownership - sorry, folks, the landowners owned it all. And those keys? How many do you want, for they are found in droves in antique stores there.  You, too, can buy one and maintain that the key is proof of your 'ancient' ownership of land that the dastardly Jews are stealing from you! Why the hell not, as the world is always ready to think less of the Jewish people. Read later on of the contrast to the lands bought, legally, that the pioneers, the refugees, fleeing danger and death, looking for a future, returned to the past, and rebuilt, again, their ancient land, their ancient home, long promised them by  G-d on high, where there would be no ghettos, no restrictive laws, free to be and do, and just as much for the Arabs living within the borders. Simply look at the Arab citizens and see the truth - their advancement, the numbers in university, integral parts of the economy, in and of the government, the very armed forces of Israel, at the very top level.

So it goes? To where? Only when we can read and live the words of Major General William J. Donovan - "It's okay to stumble, as long as you fall forward." Only then will there be a positive impetus, one which hopefully can overcome the burgeoning negatives of our nation. One can hope. But one must also act, be role models for a better present and a positive future. 

Not all is perfect - not in America, Israel, or anywhere in the world. Read this brilliant mantra of a teen murdered by his peers.  “Yesterday was history. Tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.” Would that we all could live those thoughts. Would that hatred be vanquished. If only.......

If only.

WHAT IN THE NAME....!!!YES, IN THE NAME OF WHAT?

  There, I believe, is the crux of the matter. What in the name of - insert favorite excuse - made me - you - whomever, do that? Then its time for truth, for what name, in service to what name, could have convinced you and others to do and say as you did? That is indeed a puzzlement, to quote the King of Siam. Is there, can there, even be such a reason, an impetus to engage in scurrilous behavior to this degree? To the depths of its consequences?

The answer, unfortunately, is yes. Additionally, it is doubtful that the reasoning of these evildoers will ever change or go away. It is part and parcel of the makeup of mankind and I do mean man -kind. Peruse the historical files and one fact shines in its blatant and forever role in the development of dictators and wanna-bes. Every dictator, every authoritarian figure, throughout the ages had at least one very crucial trait in common.

That trait, along with it pitiful corollaries, is this: the desperate need of the wanna be and the sycophants, is to be recognized as important, as a larger than life figure, as one who has 'made' it, who can cause others to grovel, who can indulge and bring to life every perverted nightmare of revenge and an "I'll show them" temperament. 

Look at those men. Caesar needed continuous streams of praise. So did Stalin. So does Putin. Manifestly so, so does Trump. That is what drives them, be it to amass funds, to fool all re those very funds, to raise great fear in others to disobey you, the high and mighty.  All in the way, all opposed, for whatever reason, are swept away in a growing wave of "I'm joining in - why the hell not?" There, succinctly stated is the underlying causation for the growth of dictatorship, the power of formerly despicable social outcasts, weirdos, people who never had true respect, or enough respect in their needy minds, drastically needing forever boosters, ever inflowing streams of praise to fully exist.

Sick people, Dangerous people. People needing to be separated from society. People who need to face the consequences of the sins they have perpetrated or tried to against society. And therein lies the rub. That crowd of losers, always about this man, is dangerous as well. They have bought it all, hook, line and sinker, allow themselves to be deluded, even sacrificed in the name of that societal renegade, should have been outcast. Why? Because they too have needs which must be met. Typically, there is a common thread of misogyny and don't the men love that! There is an atmospheric presence of anger, of revenge, of self pity, of a need to 'get theirs', no matter the cost to themselves, loved ones or society at large. Pure selfishness, a resultant evil synergy with the addition of smug self satisfaction at how far they have come down that road of self justification, self glorification and the fear of others when they are seen.

Note that these early inductees to this perverted plan of an inadequate man, are weak, many limited in brain power or misuse of said cells, or weak specimens of physical humanity, an outcast even from real society where they felt they belonged. It is that opportunity to 'right' all those imagined but deeply felt wrongs that provide an illegitimate plot its strength, its legitimacy, fake as it is, to flower, to afflict us all. In fact, these weaker versions of that damaged leader, provide the food for the continuity of the evil as the wanna be or the existing dictator means very much to grow and retain power.  Not so much the wealth, or other perks, whatever they think needed to prove omnipotence. Rather, it is the need to feel and be looked upon as Power Personified. As the one with life and death power. That, and only that, will satisfy that evil need. That is, as long as there is constant replenishment.

The followers, those of the next hierarchal rank, are equally as bad, perhaps worse. They refuse to see the truth. They refuse reality. They deny wrongdoing, learn to engage and enjoy it. Look at the next rank below Trump. DeSantis, Cruz, Boebert, Greene, Gosar the Fascist who feels he has to issue a childish dare to Biden - what a wuss! The list continues, unfortunately with Hawley, Cotton, Abbott, Giuliani, pathetic soul that he is, McCarthy, and on and on. People who have willingly sold their souls to the Devil, that other big time needy one who tramples over all in his driving need to feed his perverted soul.

And us, the rest of society? Well, we had better wake up. Evil unfought is evil triumphant. Make no mistake about it. That entire crew knowingly engages in a plot to build a fascist government, here, to remove rights of all, to assert their power any which way they wish. Evil laughed at, as they laughed at Hitler, grows by leaps and bounds, taking advantage of every misstep of society. Make no mistake about it. That is our future if we do not stop laughing at the antics of Trump et al. Instead, hold them accountable for their crimes, for their treason increasingly exposed. Notify them and the world that most Americans will not desert the guardian posts of our nation. That is what it means to be an American.

PALM TREES?

 Palm trees have always been the symbolic image to all wishing and hoping, in the middle of a severe winter, to get someplace warm, where the palm trees sway in the breeze. Well, now we hear otherwise and I almost laugh. Once again, this is something I have been saying for so long. These palm trees are not what they are cracked up to be. Sorry, fellow Floridians, but facts are facts.

Those of us who live here have been warning about this for years. These trees are a danger in many ways. They do not shade anything worth a sou. Particularly if those 'pincushion' ones are planted, with a top that points up doing nothing for those on the bottom! Particularly when beautiful stretches of oxygen producing, carbon absorbing, shade giving, canopy trees are clear cut. Another development. Another street and highway widening. Another wooded area lost to greed and overdevelopment. Drainage problems, resource problems. But there go the trees we need; instead we get maybe one palm tree for tens of canopy trees? Loss of beautiful Nature, increased water drainage problems, and strain and drain on resources. By the way, the replacement trees are but a fraction, a tiny fraction, of the trees lost to us. Do not forget to include the natural beauty and variety of these trees lost to us. Palm trees? Feh!! Nowhere close!

So, as we huddle inside, sheltering against the brutal heat and humidity, we read of nor'easters, atmospheric rivers, bomb cyclones, huge life endangering  mudslides due to humongous rains in burned forest areas. Any day one can either expect to see Noah on the Ark or Johnny Appleseed and Paul Bunyan on public service tours! 

Folks, humor is fine, but this is truly a major, existential problem for humanity, particularly those living in areas where so much abuse goes on. Shares of the remaining lands are being bought up by the uber wealthy who then close it off to the rest of the world, hoarding Nature, hoarding space, as they selfishly reap the beneficial effects possible through money. The same money they drain from the besieged middle class flowing into their pockets, in what I am told is the "Great Consolidation"  - that drainage of money in one direction only. Manifestly not yours or mine!

After the Dark Ages, after the world opened when the worst of the Plague died down, the middle class gained maneuvering room for growth, gained economic and political power, demanded rights. They expanded the world's knowledge, financing journeys, encouraging artists of all types, and thus the Renaissance. Are we going to use our 'plague' to reverse the shift in power and once again allow wealth and power, good living, into and for the Few?  

So you see, the palm tree is merely a representation of what is going wrong in our society, with our values, in the increasing tension and anger running rampant in a powerful, putrid stream throughout the world.

What can we do? We are only little, individual voices. Can we, will we, be heard? Yes, most emphatically so. Voices raised against the war in Vietnam contributed greatly to its shutdown. The anger at the loss of life, the return to a barbaric, stunted, limited life for so many in Afghanistan after twenty!!! years of war, well, that anger helped bring it to a close. The fear, anger and raised voices against the backward thinking of the GOP Party members who railed against vaccines and masks   are succeeding and/or being ignored. 

Raise our voices, send letters to representatives. Join protests. Organize. We can make our thoughts and our power known to those who want our votes. Little by little, but littles add up. Do they not? And for heaven's sake, let us get some trees back. Let us hold back on some of that development.

Voices work. Palm trees do not. 

PACKAGES

  I would venture to say that most people love receiving packages. Delivered. USPS. Left by the doorway. Anyway, it is exciting and brings out the child in all of us. Even when we know the contents, still, to open and see what you ordered, it's here, it's a great and universal feeling. That is, of course, providing it is not a delivery of ominous content such as IRS, disappointing contents, and such.

However, there are other packages. These packages are not warmly welcomed. In fact, most of us complain re these 'packages', feel much put upon by them, and wish them gone. We often feel cheated, oppressed, upset by them and their apparent unfairness. We wonder why it seems that we are the only ones getting a package of such type.

Well, folks, having heard of many of these packages being delivered to people I know, love, and respect, here is my sincere advice. Accept these packages as part of life and value yours, rate its presence far better than the package delivered to your friend or neighbor. Even when the package is most debilitating, nothing good about it, understand that there is always, always, someone out there with a worse package. Take yours, as miserable as it might be, and go home with it. Deal with it. Prepare for its consequences. Think about what it means for your life. Understand it, if it can be. Live the best one can. And know, that the person, family, group, that seems non stick, all problematic packages seemingly sliding off, has packages you might be ignorant of, but behind those closed doors, something is always going on. And understand that there are packages from which there is no return envelope. It is yours to keep on a permanent basis, like it or not. The truth is, one has to deal with it the best one can and turn for aid from whence it can come. Harsh , but reality. Cry and then cry again. That is okay, but do not allow it to harm your responses, the necessary actions that must take place. 

"We were so sad, we were tired, we were cold, we had gone without food for days, we were faint with - we were not even sure if we were hungry or not, because it goes away, I do not know if you ever....Thankfully, you will never know, oh G-d, please may you never know." (Survivor)

Yes, we get hungry, we say we are starving, perhaps even have had to cut down on food intake for various reasons, but the package above... may it long,  forever, remain far away from us, and indeed from all. Yet it does not. That package gets delivered, is being delivered to myriad numbers of people round the world. Why? Because some packages within people were and are misdelivered, forcing others to share, unwillingly, in the results.

Those packages are life debilitating and life threatening, to the point of no return. Luckily for us, yes, luckily, most packages are not of that depth and power and oftentimes there is a route for aid, for advice, for dealing with that nasty package. Sometimes not. But trust me, when you then look within, seek out the packages in your life, you will say to yourself, "I will keep mine, as bad as it is."

Being human, we get wrapped up so in our own package contents that we forget that life goes on, that we must prepare for what life hands us, handle that which is 'unhandleable". Everything other than the most critical of times such as the Holocaust victims and their package, can be handled. Even the knowledge of impending permanent result, such as death, such as strong changes to lifestyle and abilities. Even the unbelievable can be approached with some sort of plan, for did not at least some survive the Holocaust, the 'modern' day camps, the genocidal tendencies of people, the constant attacks on our way of life, our rights, our power and ability to hope and prepare for a future.

We must also remember that there are good packages, some presenting themselves with surprise. Precious newborns. A child who blossoms, finds him/her self, a recognition of one's value at work, a promotion, a long held wish being fulfilled. Even better, the two varieties of packages can be intertwined, appreciating the one and working on the other. Hard. Almost impossible. Often impossible. But packages can have alleviating factors applied even as they burn its cruel way through our lives. 

Think not, readers, that I speak whereof  I know not. I watched my whole life as my parents were hit with one facet or another of a package that would not stop delivering. They dealt with it, moved on, and built a wonderful life filled with love and success. As we too are handed some very unwanted packages, knocking  on the door,  we too must  learn to handle those packages and their accumulated and growing weight in and on our lives. Hard. Harsh. But when I look around, see the packages others have received, I feel for them even as I thank G-d, appreciate that mine is a tad less intrusive, more hopeful perhaps, easier to deal with, to make accommodations for. Whatever. The point of all this verbiage, is take your package and deal with it, run with it, work on it, and always, always, never give up. There is always a better way to work these packages even when to see that is most difficult.

While I certainly do not very much appreciate some of my delivered packages, I also very much value other packages. Even the bad has some good as I find a sudden and most unexpected interest, perhaps even a talent of some small quantity, in the world of wood and the joys of running a paintbrush on a blank surface, and finally seeing something, a result. Not to ignore the inner satisfaction as well, as I open myself up to new thoughts, new experiences and experiments. No, that does not include sky jumping! My sanity remains intact!

Packages and life. Sometimes to be received with open arms. Sometimes to wish be gone. Some handled with more ease while others are just about impossible. The only way forward is to be angry, or glad, or mixed, and then face reality. Do what must be done, what must be changed. Live life the best one can, even under great stress. A smile works better than tears. Laughter is indeed the best medicine, even if temporary.

The little boy in The Music Man sang gleefully, voice raised in expectation of the wonderful packages on that Wells Fargo delivery truck. Would it not be nice to have that optimism that all packages are good. We know that is impossible, but we must, must, find something within, even the appreciation of what we once had, and empower ourselves to move on, to act, to love, to live.

May all our packages be good ones.

THE "ONLY" QUESTION? WHICH ONE?

  "The only question is how long it will take," 

No, that is not right, neither legally nor morally. Certainly not if one applies the rule of common sense, the rule which underlies every sane, law abiding, justice approving, fair treatment and rational understanding of a common principle of a proper society. That is, from time immemorial, as soon as human beings recognized the rationality of having laws which protected members of that society. These laws exacted, or laid down consequences, of violation of those laws, hopefully following the precept of "the punishment fit the crime". 

Humans, such as they are, have a tendency to push the envelope at times, checking how far they can go before being held responsible for their violations of laws. The longer the violations escape their dues, the more the members of that society will skip merrily down that road of evasion. The more that society will suffer, perhaps even undergo a massive restructuring of that society, an unraveling of all that makes it a safe and protective, righteous society. That, my friends, simply using the rule of common sense, is, simply put, not a good idea! Not at all!

"sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts"

That is the definition of common sense according to the dictionary, a basic statement clear to all. Common sense demands that society, particularly in the form of the government of that society, behaves in such a manner that it serves as the protector of its members. According to Thomas Paine, the American patriot, society is a necessary evil, for in an ideal society there would be no need to have such laws, no need to have consequences laid out, for people, using common sense, would instinctively understand what is good, what is not, and behave accordingly, always landing on the right side - justice, fair play, equal rights for all.

Well, folks, hate to break it to you, but many reject that understanding of common sense. Lust for power, to prevail over all, for money, or from their own innate evil, all contribute to the violation of common sense, of the very purpose of society. They  create immoral laws, contravening the actual definition of societal law, or simply go their merry way, giving two hoots for it all. Particularly if their behavior at the outset, receives no punishment, no correction, and worse, receives adulation from the misguided, the deluded, those seeking their own way to the head of the line. For their own selfish desires - over all that is good for the mass of that society. 

Common sense dictates the understanding that such behavior is most manifestly not such a good idea for that besieged society. Common sense demands that we apply logic to the situation and elect, appoint, people who would understand their role and duty towards society. But we do not. Nope.

Society is violated. Wrong is done, perpetrated,  attacking the very foundations of that society. What is next? Punishment. Consequences. Common sense. The youngest child learns that, knows that, instinctively. However, to the contrary, today we  have a man who violates, openly, the laws of society, common sense behavior and skates over any and all consequences of his misdeeds.

There is much smoke and fire enveloping Trump et al. The misdeeds, the offenses are clear. They prove a danger to the fabric of that society, America, its fulfillment of its stated goals and laws, its forever present drive to strive for better. Common sense says bad, very bad. And we ignore that fact, those common sensibly understood ways of society. This man and his camp violate the laws and then use supposed laws, interpretations of said laws to  justify, excuse and escape consequences.

Common sense rules such as inherently oppositional, of clear and present danger to a righteous society as supposed to be. When we take the path of allowing some to have their cake and eat it too, and deny a piece to all others, well, bad. Very bad. That is exactly what we now have, despite all the laws on the books meant to deter such behavior.

So what was that? What behavior? What questions do we have? Is there an only question? Well, yes, but that question has many paragraphs, and the evil doers are falling through the gaps, allowing for  egregious violation of common sense: if one does wrong, one must pay for that wrongdoing. Attack a legitimate government, the underpinnings of society - receive the consequences. It is common sense. Remember: do the crime, do the time.

Thus: Fight breaks out between Rep. Jerry Nadler and Rep. Jim Jordan Or this: "killed for sleeping while Black.  Along with this: "... parked legally .. he wasn't posing a danger to anyone.

(Officer) knocked on window, startling him awake. They did not announce themselves as officers. (He) sat up and started the car. (Officers) immediately opened car doors and reached inside to forcibly remove him.  grabbed arm, and (Officer) wrapped his arm around  head and pulled, while (other officer) pushed from the passenger side.  

Scared, attempted to drive away, but (officer) jumped into the passenger seat. (He) looked at (officer) and asked, “Why are you in my car?” (Officer) attacked ... punched him, stunned him with a Taser six times, then used the Taser to strike him in the head. (He) never hit back. Moments later, (Officer) shot (victim) five times, killing him. .. had been in the car with for only about one minute before he opened fire. 

The result: qualified immunity and massive misinterpretation of a law meant to provide protection for officers when in danger, but not to permit wholesale killing and fatal or near fatal violence against the victim. Particularly when the victim had done nothing wrong.

This is what happens when we do not enforce the adage "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime" and the unspoken following bit: or else know you will face the consequences.

Common sense. One question. One answer.

A society gone rotten from the top down.

And what do we do? How do we answer?

A riddle worthy of the Riddler.

I'M SHOCKED! JUST SHOCKED! ( NOT REALLY)

 We are in a weird spiral. The more outrageous things become, in deeds and words, the more we appear to either ignore, for far too long, much to our detriment as people, as Americans, or we go to war on it, trampling over other concerns. We all seem to have forgotten that there is a place for everything , a time for everything, if only we would pay attention and get back to work, the true responsibilities of our government; however, we continue to waste time and energy taking potshots at each other. Or, we plan ever more egregious behavior. All the while, our country sags, believing the worst when the truth is actually not so bad. And the media rolls right along with it. Shocking! Just shocking!  Again - not really.

To be fair, there are moments of true shock, though I believe we are growing thickened skins when having to face the imminent - yes, imminent - possibility, almost a probability, that our democracy will shatter. Now that, come to think of it, is indeed truly shocking, yet, too many feel ignorance is bliss, simply ignore and it will go away. It will not.

Time and again, we see, hear about awful behavior from officials meant to be doing the opposite. We are battered with words of warning, those sounding the alarm growing in number, but is it too little, too late? Would we really be shocked when the attacks on the underpinnings of the nation and our democracy by Trump et al actually achieve their goals? Not really, and truth to tell, they have traveled a goodly distance along that road. So, reality, my friends, reality. We have ignored, laughed, for far too long, but that deranged, demented man, that toddler in an old man's body, is entrenched within our system, much to our dismay and future possibilities. Shocked? Shocking?

Not really.

Why?

Read the following and then answer that question.

"for one of the country’s two major parties to commit itself to the destruction of democratic elections is a terrifying thing for the country."

"...the one thing it must stand for is overturning a free and fair election."

"Frank Herbert’s "Dune,” “The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it.”

"...to make a fundamental shift in how our economy works for working people, to build the economy from the ground up and the middle out, not from the top down," Biden said." (I wish.)

"A sitting sheriff in Washington State has been charged with making a false claim that a Black man....."

"Republicans Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins, and now a third, Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, who was charged with lying to the FBI..." 

 "unconstitutionally malapportioned" (Referring to legislative gerrymandering over and through the entire nation.)

"... Trump's family business, which is already under indictment in Manhattan, is facing a criminal investigation by another prosecutor’s office" (Yawn)

 "I thought this would happen in countries I studied, not countries I lived in," Rice continued. "Our institutions have to be upheld. What happened on Jan. 6 was wrong. I don't know how much more strongly I can say what happened on Jan. 6 was wrong. I also know that as a government and as a country, we've got to be concerned about the things that are making life hard for Americans and hard for American families." (From her mouth to  G-d's ears!)

Manchin thinking of leaving Democratic Party. News for all - he already has all but in name only!

"Sinema refuses to support any tax increases on the wealthy." (Yawn 2x)

Violent behavior by officers in NYC subway after 'disliking' being questioned as to why they were maskless. Solution - slam the questioner through the stiles! Yup!

Indeed. Words, actions, lack of actions, hypocrisy, threats, all possibly bandwagon jumps rather than true beliefs. Even, G-d help us, with many who actually could care zip about loss of democracy, even favor dictatorship, by a madman, an autocrat, a corrupt one. It will be better for this country, or forget the country - better for them. So they think. Living in delusion. When they wake up....will they be shocked? Confused at reaching this point? Oh, yes, once again engaging in denial of truth and reality. Shocking! Yet not. 

I wish there was a yellow brick road, obvious and safe, to follow to a magical Wizard. That road had dangers along the way, and the Wizard was a foolish, lonely old man, wishing, hoping to get back home. So are we. So must we.

Is that shocking? It shouldn't be. Yet there it is.

So, people, what do we do, what do you do about it? No, sand and head burying will not work long time, is not the answer. Shocked? Well, perhaps we all ought to get over the shock, get down to the nitty-gritty and force our elected representatives to actually do their jobs. Shocked? It seems so.

We had better do something soon. That is a fact.

Shocked? Shocking? Get over it.