A TRIP TO THE DENTIST

 Do you know anyone who relishes a trip to the dentist? Even the dentist him/her-self? Even if you get to pick a treasure from the treasure box! I suppose a masochist might look forward to it, or someone might really be desperate for a new toothbrush and small toothpaste, but seriously .....

  I love my dentists as people. They are a lovely couple, and we have 'been together' lo these many a year (decades). They are sweet, kind, and expert in their knowledge and application. They have held me when I cried at yet another dental catastrophe. In fact, all of my dentists have either been our friends from before or after we became clients. But - I continue to still hate going to the dentist! Yet I go. 

Shall we say it is a necessary evil? Use what phrase pleases you, it simply boils down to this: there're times we must do something that goes against our grain for one simple reason. It is for our benefit. We must be grown up about it. Ha!! Try asking too many people to act their ages rather than their IQs. Not always a successful maneuver.

Well, America needs to visit the dentist. We have too many open, festering cavities, infection seeping into the nation's bloodstream, poisoning us. The cure gets harsher and ever more difficult the longer we postpone facing the truth. Yet, postpone we do. Again, and again. Well, time for the dentist. Time to grow up, boys and girls, time to open wide and say aaahhh.

"We all were here; we saw what happened," said McConnell. "It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election from one administration to the next. That's what it was."

 That's what it was."

And there you have it. McConnell might actually be getting ready to sit down in the chair and face the drill. Maybe. It is a start. He has much back infection to deal with, but maybe, just maybe... But we need more intrepid souls willing to face that drill, willing to sit in that chair and hear the music playing, face their own music long delayed.

Trump continues to maintain and trumpet loud and clear that he was right in his insane attempt to overthrow the results of a legitimate election. He does not like it; hence, it must be wrong. But things do not work that way in the dentist's chair. Like it or not that cavity will be drilled, and one has to hang on to those armrests, close the eyes and pray long and hard to the dentist god. However, nothing will stop that brewing infection other than a trip to the dentist, a good drill and hand to guide it and some follow-up antibiotics, insuring no return of this deadly infection. It is what it is and will be what it must be. We hope.

There are many symptoms that can overwhelm all our efforts. A head dentist, Roberts, is losing his control over the ever more crazed extremists on his bench. And extremists are what they are. Forget conservative. 

We are being told to park some cars outside lest they catch fire. Well, this nation has already caught fire, is burning, even as we frack away the water, shaking terra firma even more. The tooth loosens. Can it be tightened, saved? A coin toss it is.

We have the equivalent of that horrific moose attack aimed at the democratic structure of our nation. We are being stomped, threatened, losing positions of safety. The infection spreads, the moose proliferate, riot, threaten, and the end.....? Are your teeth feeling looser, less secure in your gums? All of ours are, whether we accept the truth or not. A visit from the tooth fairy is valueless.

The world, wishing to join in the fray, be part of the gang, faces a financial crisis, though one financial expert assures us "I think the market correction will be modest, relative to what we've seen in the past when you have a gigantic correction,"     Would that we could believe him, trust in his dental expertise, even as we face other drills of fact vs. fiction.

Sick people are looking forward to testing out new weapons, all the better to kill, in the horrific ever-growing possibilities of open warfare in Ukraine. The choices are not good, equally terrible. To kowtow means to simply avoid for now that trip to the dentist, a painful, but necessary one and at the end, an unavoidable one. Albeit one that we might not survive. To go head on, to be brave and draw a line in the sand... well, that sand is on a wobbly foundation, the drill needs new bits and where are they? Nowhere to be found. Missing the guiding hands of expert and moral dentists as well. Between the devil and the deep blue sea are our dentists, their drills and their patients.

So now what? Well, there is a little four-year-old boy who was, is, one of the bravest warriors ever, willing to challenge his particular form of dentist chair and drill, fought his battles twice, and won.   "He was a real trooper and endured so much." 

We need to do the same. 

Difficult. Scary. We cringe as the drill draws ever closer.

And now, off I am to the dentist this morning.

  OOOOWWWWW!!!  I am a coward. What can I say?

  

BUY THE DIP

 That is the advice given to investors. Wait till the market drops again - Bam! Down goes my piddly account. Then buy that dip after the Fed declares the first hike. Yeah, great advice and opportunity for those with the bucks to follow that advice, but what about the rest of us? We have been tanking something fierce of late so who has the money to buy that dip? In fact, there we will be, at the bottom of that particular dip, trying to keep our heads above water, hoping to hang onto something to leave for the kids. Humpf!

Unfortunately, there are other dips, ones that demand a careful watch and evaluation along with clever moves at exactly the right moment. Much to our great dismay, it appears that there remain extremists also awaiting that moment in time. Then, they will strike. Then, they will kill our country. That dip will never be overcome even as the interest it cost us in lives, in money, in rights multiplies exponentially. A most undesirable dip.

Take a look around.

Re the GOP - "a radical insurgency that has abandoned any interest in participation in parliamentary politics," 

Regarding Tuker and his J6 'documentary' - "it is a collection of incoherent conspiracy-mongering, riddled with factual inaccuracies, half-truths, deceptive imagery, and damning omissions.”

'Always a welcome' to immigrants- "you're from another country so when you come here you should be kinda grateful that we allow you to come here and work." -

62% of the public believes the Supreme Court is heavily partisan, especially Gorsuch and his appearances at Federalist conventions. Such a lovely thought.

The world in general? Gotcha'!

-Amazon raising prices. Oy!

-A vicious social media shaming an Olympian who had the worst performance of her life and felt bad enough without their miserable commentary. Why must people be so needlessly, cruelly mean?

-Ukraine and Russia are ramping up to a conflict that will enflame the entire planet. Here we go again. Can we never, ever, learn?

"Three U.S. Navy Command officers have been re-assigned after Rear Admiral John V. Menoni fired them due to "a loss of confidence in their abilities to effectively perform their leadership roles." So confidence inducing in our trust and faith in the armed forces to do their jobs!

" ... with 2:35 left in the second period, and Canada upended the defending Olympic champion United States 4-2 on Tuesday". Okay, not as important to the world, but it is to me!!

Such messes. Such disasters, mostly of our own making. So heavy their weight that the dip deepens without stop, no brakes. The shovels keep digging away. Here is one to serve as the cherry on top of the wonderful confection I have served up this morning.

"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine without harming the community. Then they were quickly silenced, but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. 'It's the invasion of the idiots'." (Umberto Eco)

Of course, I am not included within that circle! 

Just sayin'.

Have a god day, take all safety and precautions necessary, but then again, do not be surprised as the drawbridge goes up right under you. We all could be that poor woman caught like that in West Palm Beach. Sometimes precautions fail and safety is negated. We all need to do better. For ourselves and others.

IT WILL PASS

  "Absolutely, it will pass."

Those were the words of Manchin, the very confused man who cannot find his firm and fast principles with both hands and the assistance of 48 fellow Democrats. Apparently, the same problem with Sinema affects both of them. Too bad for all of us.

In context, this statement was uttered when speaking of the Overhaul the Election Count Bill, a bill aimed at preventing the dangerous talk and actions of Trump and Trumpians as they attempt to overthrow the entire government of this country. He is working with Murkowski of Alaska and supposedly drawing in other Senators to the discussion. One wonders, however, how long these discussions will continue as the Senate is not particularly known for its short, to the point discussions. Fact. 

However, the point he and others are overlooking, perhaps out of ignorance, misplaced attempts to sow goodwill, or stupidity, or worse, mindfulness re the true import of J6. Along with the latest Republican inane yet oh so dangerous statement, re that infamous day. Will J6 will go down in history as the day it all began, or the day of the beginning of the end? Whatever, whichever, it ain't good for us. Not at all. Do not try to kid yourself or turn inside out trying to explain away the treasonous statements of the GOP. It is what it is.

 "participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse,"

No. That is not legitimate protest. Attacking police doing their job to protect the integrity of the Capitol and those within is not legitimate discourse. Discourse, as a matter of fact, means discussion. There is no discussion taking place while attacking or being attacked. Discourse?! I think not.

So, will this attempt to avert disaster, to belay the coup on this country, will it indeed pass? Will the violence within our country, the pandemic of anger and severe anomie pass? Do people even want it to pass or are too many profiting from it? Led by you know who! Bills passed are not the defining cutting edge of defense of our nation. Nope, it is the behavior of those within and their inner beliefs. Unfortunately, it is always very difficult and onerous to wash out the garbage within and replace it with sense and sensibility. With truth. With destruction of the disastrous flood of lies so blatant that it amazes one that there are believers! And yet there are. I refer you to post Hitler Germany. To post USSR and tell me the difference re Putin!  

No, perhaps we can try to be optimistic, to trust in the strength of our government, of what it stands for, hope that there is an overwhelming number of quiet, steady people who will rise to do what they must. But why must it come to that? Why cannot it pass now - with all shaking their heads as they emerge from an evil enchanted forest - or golf course or mountain hideout.

'Splain it to me. I am waiting. And hoping. Are you?

INERRANCY - A NEW ONE FOR ME

  A simple breakdown of the word is easy: no error. But it is oh so much more than that in application, meaning, intention and possibilities for the future. The type of future is very much up for grabs now. If we are not careful, we will find ourselves in a true mess - at least for some, while others bask in a return to the religious wars of centuries ago. Perhaps not even, as we continue to fight, to pit, religion against religion, use "armed' religions, politicized beyond any similarity to the original. Once again, what have we wrought?

It seems simple: a Power, by whatever name called, defined and built the parameters of our physical world, along with various religious strictures and rules for society, its moral behavior and obligations. (Note: view Moonfall!) Over the centuries, people have taken these same religions, created new ones better suited to their self-perceived needs, and gone to extremes too often, bloodshed and mayhem the results. This is most manifestly NOT religion in its best clothing and public appearance.

Now we tackle inerrancy and its implications and complications for society, all societies upon the face of earth. It is a doctrine that neither contains nor advocates for the best of humanity, tramples truth, rewards those with a penchant for power, and offers little hope for a positive future. Sadly, this policy, originating in religion, has now been adopted by, and adapted to, political 'leaders', much to our detriment. The rest of us might as well howl to the uncaring moon. 

"Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible "is without error or fault in all its teaching"; or, at least, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact". Some equate inerrancy with biblical infallibility;"

And there ya' go. And here we are. Bigots, backwards looking people, nonthinkers, power grabbers, twisted souls who find refuge in religion, all cling tight to that definition. It is used to justify   war against gender issues, orientations, women, right to choose, and an education which does not please nor fall within their very strict boundaries, censorship galore. It is a definition that allows for religious wars and brother! have we had those aplenty in our history, even as they continue, replete with the required quantities of carnage and mayhem in its wake.

The Catholic Church and the Pope. The use of it by some Evangelicals to justify much of their benighted social policies. The growth of the power of religious figures in the Jewish and Moslem worlds. The growing religious fervor in a very dark and confusing world. Someone, somewhere, must know it all. People seek that reassuring personality, finding it, too often, in the wrong person.

Take a look around. People are seeking that assuredness, those boundaries they crave. From the very same people they should be fleeing. Political figures. Damaged religious figures the very opposite of what religion should mean - but too often fall short. We now have befuddled, led by the nose, herds of people who follow Trump. No matter the revelations of his alleged criminal, constitutional, traitorous behavior. They support justices who know not the meaning of justice.

All the while they use Biblical inerrancy in political application, even as those they trust are too often being revealed as extremists, disloyal citizens, and bloodthirsty creatures who have no right to be in leadership positions. They most manifestly are not "inerrant", replete with errors internal and external. Within and without. 

There is no beauty in them or their plans. There is no beauty in the faces and voices of those mobs, twisted, deranged, with anger and bloodlust, as they follow these fascistic creatures. So empowered are they by the 'infallible words and urgings" of their most 'unchosen', misbegotten leader. A leader so full of holes of morality, of humanity, that one can easily scan the skies, looking for that bolt of lightning for apostasy.

No, unfortunately no one is infallible. No one. Those who call for a "Christian" nation, for a Christian America, well, they scare the bejesus out of me. When a politician in Missouri is called out for his "Christian" values, well, I begin to pack.  Have not all religions and their adherents been there, done that at some time in the past - and even in the present? Have we not done enough? Can we not understand that while the Power Above might indeed be infallible, his adherents, interpreters, and presenters on earth are most certainly fallible. We find twisted religions, twisted souls, twisted hopes for supposedly blessed outcomes, and a most frightening and growing hopelessness and enmity.

No. We can and must do better. We must learn from history. Look around. See Putin emulate Hitler. See Quislings within our own government. See into the future for WWIV, as we fight with sharpened staves, still fighting over religion and what people have made of it. We deafen the sky with our shouts for blood, for revenge, for that Power to be on Our side, for how could that not be? Surely our leaders are infallible. And so, we burn down our house around us even as we seek hard and long for the flint to light those fires. Gotta' do better. Now.

THE ETERNAL CAPACITY TO LEARN

  Wednesday, we attended an exhibition entitled Machu Pichu at the Boca Museum of Art. It was wonderful and most enlightening. There was also a virtual segment similar to that of Disney in Soarin', as one 'flew' over the beautiful Machu Pichu. Even more fascinating was to see and understand the comprehension of these 'primitive' people of the world, its interlaced reality, far better than we have today, with all our advanced learning and technology. Today we continue to have deniers of that reality, much to our dismay and danger.

  Primitive by todays' terms, with monsters and gods abounding, the Incas did understand the necessary interactions of parts of Nature with the other parts. They understood the cycles and how to prepare for them, both in prayer and sacrifices as well as in actual constructions and planning, much of it simply amazing. On a vast mountain hidden in the clouds, a world was built based on that comprehension. It flourished until the invasion of the Spanish Conquistadors, condemning them to centuries of enslavement, decimation and ongoing grinding poverty. And through the centuries it slept, a secret, kept by the local indigenous people until the nineteenth century. It continues to amaze and astound as technology allows us to see beneath the covering earth.

The Incas understood within the very marrow of their bones that all Nature is related. What happens in one sphere affects another. Be it the rain cycle, the Sun or the Moon beclouded, the desert land growing, or the value, importance and magnificence of the ocean and all it provides. So, they took care of it. They honored it. They sacrificed to it and for it. They enriched it with their blood. They gave their best to it.

They built an advanced civilization with a huge highway allowing for commerce to expand, rules for society, art and culture, alliances to keep the peace, prepared for all possibilities until the unthinkable. The Spanish came along with their modern weapons, their greed and their overwhelming numbers. Within a few years, a population of almost 6 million was halved -and ongoing. For centuries until present days.

We were taught in school that the Conquistadores represented modernity, a blessing for these poor souls whose hearts were removed at a sacrificial altar. We were taught they had no true society, oppressed the people of that 'non-existent ' or valueless society. They should have blessed their conquerors, even as they were enslaved, killed, denied, and demoted from advanced understandings, a strong society, to a mess.

Today, millennia later, we continue to remain ignorant of what the Incas knew, felt in their innards, as they lived in close cooperation with Nature. Yes, they pulled hearts, but for the most, these hearts were given willingly, joyously even in religious devotion as the TOP ranks gave of themselves in order to keep ALL of society whole. It slaked the needs of the Earth, of the gods, of the animals, of the people around them. 

Their intricate amazingly detailed metalwork and their ceramics reflected these values. They understood the need for procreation, in both man and god, and the everlasting cycles between all of the facets of Nature. How many more years, centuries even, did it take for us to comprehend that simple fact, those obvious relationships? Have we even completed that understanding what with the deniers who persist in their ignorance, their negligence, their abuse of Nature?

 No, I have no desire to move into a house among the Incas, but perhaps we can learn from them, take from them what we are first beginning to understand. We can admire the beauty of their art, their lack of greed, for gold and silver were seen merely as components of jewelry, as gifts to the gods, while the Spanish saw these metals as wealth, to be sought rapaciously, steamrolling over all native populations who stood in their way. Who threw away all the vast knowledges of these peoples.

Now the funny part. I am, was, truly inspired by all we saw and read, by the book I purchased for more knowledge. By my purchase in the gift shop of beautiful woven coasters- and no, not made in China! Made by modern day descendants of that ancient proud civilization of the Incas. I thought of how this might be portrayed in paint, catch its spirit and beauty. Do I dare attempt this? Time will tell.

LIVID? NOT AT ALL. MERELY DISGUSTED, PURPLE WITH RAGE AND READY TO CRY

  No, for a change this is not about Trump et al, or even Whoopi's major boo-boo and consequent suspension - about which I have concerns. But that is all for another day. Though I truly wish we would take serious action and put that whole mess down. Indict, take to trial, imprison, fine, from top to bottom, whomever shares in the guilt.

No, this is about an issue closer to home and as more information is revealed, my anger grows apace. This is not a sudden whim of this group of people to improve their living conditions. Take a look at the changes asked for, even been granted over the years, ever since this group has intruded, yes, intruded, into the quality of life of our Village.

 Heretofore this was a development welcoming to all but criminals and cheats, adjusting to demographics always in a state of flux, all, or most, leading a good life, as much as their finances allowed. Recreational facilities provided athletic, cultural, and even avocational interest. Friendships were made, some broken, but no one felt a mass movement to totally change the ongoing gestalt of the Village, its vibrancy and necessity for so many. People moved internally to larger condo units, spent a great deal of money modernizing to their desires, and many changed from renters to owners. Most changes were within the law, the demands of the County, with minor, even arguable violations. Not so with too many instances of this group.

A little back history. This group or similar groups have been alleged to have long term plans which emerged as the situations grew to crisis proportions. Zoning regulations were ignored until it was too late to change, facts on the ground. From density of population to structural issues. Quality of material, adherence to rules and regulations, importing various religious buildings not zoned for, and went merrily about their way. The locals were ignored, bought out, found themselves outgunned in every area, driven from their homes.

The same issues have arisen and are rising in intensity here in CV. The reasoning they provide for changes are false. Manifestly so. The religious accommodations they ask for, are leaky (sorry for the pun). Those of us who are Orthodox, though not Chasidim, know the fallacies of their arguments.  Plan for years before, gather the funding, buddy up with politicos, take tiny, ever-growing steps, move in in larger amounts, begin disobeying and defying rule of the various Associations. Buy out owners at enormous amounts, a block busting technique. and step by step intrude on the living space of all.

Yes, the synagogue Aitz Chaim is crowded during the season. Yes, there is indeed a separate shul or building for this group as well as the mikve  after violating several rules of decency and public exposure within the pools of the Village and even a separate water reservoir at Aitz Chaim. They held themselves apart, other than taking over many boards as their numbers increased. Free for all construction has increased, even to the level of dangerous life-threatening realms.

So, Lie 1: Dangerous Haverhill crossing. Yes, it can be dangerous as some drivers use it as practice for a speedway, but the County has granted us a change in timing, proven very open to changes for safety. Consequently, cross the street WITH the lights and one will be OK.

Lie 2: They walk to service. Yes. They walk on Saturdays in the morning and at the end of day, and Friday night. Maybe. Most Orthodox going to synagogue Friday night means leaving the cars in the lot overnight so no walk Friday nite to the synagogue. No walking home Saturday nite. The cars will fill the lot, preventing the supposed villagers entering the area in cars, adjure them to use other means of transportation, further intruding on the lives of residents, to come by other means and feel oh so welcome. As they walk in, in shorts, t shirts, women in clothing this group feels immodest. Surrounding them - a group of dark suited, fur hat wearing men, even as shuttle buses and cabs enter to drop them off. Believe that and do I have a bargain sale of bridges and tunnels for you!

Lie 3: Read above and affix to the lies that fit.

Lie 4: They have always known that Century would never permit separate swimming pools, not WPRF nor the associations, so why move here? Why not take newly developed or developing plots or a vacant one and build there to heart's content, without disturbing others. Why? Because. 

Lie 4: Do not think it ends here. With dense housing allowed, with ownership of so many units, particularly in some areas. Can you just see the size, height of new buildings, or 'renovated' buildings? Who will remain here? Those who wish to bring the crowded areas of Brooklyn and Monsey and surrounding areas down to Florida.

And we lose.

Lie 5: No changes? A 6-foot fence in an area where there is an open view of waterways, can see safely into the parking lot of the Village, as more disagreements arise with limited parking area, and those of the Medical Building and across the street are jammed with the cars of the worshippers in the former actually resident serving building!!! Never mind Haverhill! Look within.

Lie 6: Heavy traffic will go on EVERY DAY, as there are prayers everyday with different times for these prayers. Forget open space, clear times of traffic, at an already dangerous internal intersection of the Village. Nope, that is a pipe dream.

Lie 7: Many of the aged who cannot walk already have 'synagogues' within residential units or units bought specifically for that purpose. Fire regulations of occupancy? Even as I shudder to think of emergency exits for how will that take place?

No, there are so many lies, misstatements, omitted statements, open view of the long-term planning that has gone on. We have a job ahead of us. All are welcome to this Village, but it is OUR home. If one cannot live within its regulations and rules for all, well, then one must look elsewhere. Where the rules might be different, or there are no rules as of yet. Fewer conflicts, perhaps in fancy new homes. 

Until now there has been no division between Jews of any sect and other residents so the Village. There must be none introduced into it, particularly with clearly seen long term planning and future plans for more. Their lifestyle is deemed incompatible with that of the Village, as they claim they cannot live here without intruding on the infrastructure and flow of life and traffic, on its rules. For the benefit of the Village, they must cut bait or fish elsewhere.

This whole thing has nothing to do with anti-semitism. So no shouts of what is not. It is a question of quality of life, of peace of mind, an ability to live our 'golden years' as we dreamed and planned for. That is the be all and end all of the matter.

Show up for the Zoom meeting, right in your own home and show up in droves to the two Zoning Commission hearings. It is your quality of life in the balance and mine too. All of ours.

IMITATION? REAL? DREAM OR NIGHTMARE? CALLING NEO

 There is an oft debated question, from living rooms to college dorms to high falutin' intellectual salons. It is a discussion that has even more relevance today as the world approaches a brink from which there is no return. Certainly not to anything resembling what still remains with us at present, as fragile as it is. As threatened as it is. The question is multi-faceted. It ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous - maybe. We are finding that once unthinkable thoughts and premises are not so unthinkable at all.  Even as we disguise our fears of the unpleasant possibilities by camouflaging them with a different milieu - different times, alien worlds, an earth that has never been. And yet. And yet...

Aeon flux. the Handmaids' Tale. The Walking Dead. Watchmen. The 100. Jericho. The Man in the High Castle. And on and on. Do not forget the literature, ranging from original novels of those shows, generated ideas for them, to the iconic ones such as Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm, 1984, The Scarlet Letter, Lord of the Flies and on and on as well. There are relevant episodes from shows such as The Twilight Zone, Yellowjackets and other serial TV shows. It is truly not foreign to the thoughts and presentations of the literati of America and the world at large. Not at all.

So - who is imitating whom? Life of art or art of life? I it possible or unthinkable? Will the 'warnings' of these books, fiction and nonfiction, old and new, be heeded? Will viewers and readers see beneath the disguises? No, it is not the zombies who chow down on us, but whom and what they represent. They are the consequences of our errors, egregious errors, even as they become minor additions, casually shafted to the head, as civilians struggle to replace society? Democratic or autocratic? Mad Max or civilzation? A Jericho where one American town is shooting at another in the struggle for survival? A new flag? Where does it end? Or does it?

As American politics become more and more divided on striking red lines, on divisions that cut so deep that they are mortal to the country, we wonder. Is there anything to be done? Can we do it? Do we have the wherewithal, inner and outer to correct the situation, reboot America? Frankly, I believe it is getting worse and worse and am gradually, at a faster pace than ever, believing the worst of mankind. The selfishness, the madness, the insanity and cruelty are growing by leaps and bounds, becoming less and less newsworthy. As people turn to distractions such as the important question as to the quarrel of the Royal Family or Halle Berry's dress to the premiere of Moonfall. Or who is dating whom in the celebrity world. Who the hell cares?

"Wherever they burn books, in the end will also burn human beings." - Heinrich Heine

In 1933, copies of Heine's books were among the many burned on Berlin's Opernplatz. To commemorate the event, one of the most famous lines from Heine's 1821 play Almansor is now engraved at the site: "Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen." ("Where they burn books, they will, in the end, burn human beings too.")

    A version of the original line from Heine's play       and oh so unfortunately relevant today. How true it was, and many still espouse it, as multiple millions were burned in ovens, like garbage, or in mass graves as the murderers and enablers tried to hide evidence of their war crimes. Life of art, yes? But where do we draw the line? Is there even a line now? As a right-wing nut job masquerading as a pastor, screams, shouts, rants and raves about his planned book burning, deeming books such as the Harry Potter series, Huckleberry Finn. Maus, Maus!!!, Anne Frank's Diary in all its presentations, oh and the list goes on. Irredeemable. The movies will follow. The banning of free thought and free expression follows as sure as night follows day and day follows night- until we destroy even that. Destroy our world.

It is a world where science is maligned. A world where lifesaving vaccines are portrayed as the direct opposite, as weird, homicidal steps are touted. Where public opinion and hatred is disguised as caring for others, calling out those who disagree. Where Israel is held to a higher standard and no, not referring to Hebrew National. Although methinks we had better pay attention to the voice of G-d as it manifests itself in strange weather around the world.

Everyone Loves a Dead Jew. A book published and I am awaiting arrival. How true it is. Everyone now cries, maybe, crocodile tears if they desire to fake it, over the Holocaust, minimizing its purely anti-semitic birthing. Oh, sympathy for Israel when it was under attack by six nations, when it appeared that there would be an extension of the Holocaust, a great opportunity for the fake wringing of hands and the tears. But when Israel saved itself in 1967, in 1973, in all the attacks afterwards, all the terrorism - anyone hear a condemnation as myriad busses, schools, homes were invaded, shelled, and civilians died - on purpose. But no, Israel is now deemed an apartheid state. Really?! Remember the song from a Broadway play which went "We're sorry we won it; we must have overdone it/ A Jew who is a winner is a disgrace."

Visit Israel. See Arabs, even in traditional clothing, walk freely down the streets of Jerusalem, shop in the stores, at the malls, eat in the restaurants, freely, no hounding of them at all. Enter the stores and find the Arab owners or assistants. Enter a pharmacy and yes, that lovely lady speaking wonderful native Hebrew is an Arab, earned a degree in Hebrew University, and who cares. Arabs live among Jews but when a Jew wishes to buy, legally, with money changing hands, it is an oh no situation. How dare they!

 Now, the inevitable corollary. They cannot be allowed to buy land in areas where there is no confusion: it is Jewish, state owned and designated land. But that would mean that a long outmoded  lifestyle would be allowed to stunt natural, legal growth of the state. Bedouin lifestyle cannot continue in a crowded state, the only state which provide sure refuge for Jews of the world. Would that we had it in 1933. The country offers to build new townships for them, with schools, modern day rights for oppressed women, cleanliness, homes. Apartheid? Most definitely not.

No, Israel is not an Apartheid state. Does it make some errors? What a shock. To err is human. But much of the rage comes from a rage generated by the murderous attacks of Arabs against the state and its population. When one cannot be assured that a trip to the supermarket will not result in a funeral by end of day. Think of the rage of French when there are attacks in their country. Think of the rage of Americans after 9/11, the calls for revenge, for blood! Are we apartheid too, here in the USA?

No. Reality is no longer a recognizable reality. It has morphed, warped, changed so that at times, increasingly so, we are confused and know not which street to choose, how to choose, or are we even being given the opportunity to choose? Methinks the latter part of that sentence is increasingly the truth. How can it be otherwise when Trump even admitted that he had attempted to overturn the election, to commit treason, and he is not yet indicted!!!! What are we waiting for? Waiting for more deluded souls to shout for what they know not, for what they do not understand, for consequences which will fall on them too?

No. Be it life imitating art, or art imitating life, there often grows such an intermingling that there will be no choice, no differentiation and not pleasant at all. Can we find a Neo who will gradually recognize the truth and join the fight, attempt to cure, destroy the wrong? Beats me! But we had better wake up or we are truly condemned.

And that is ALL of us.

"PLUS CA CHANGE, PLUS C'EST LA MEME CHOSE"

 Everything sounds better in French. There are no harsh guttural sounds, syllables. To say, je t'aime in French sounds ever more romantic and sigh worthy than I love you, its translation. However, all those sighs and soft sounds do not change a thing. The French are manifestly anti - semitic, growing fast even now. The French police were the ones who committed the infamous roundup of citizen Jews in Paris. 

No, the Resistance, however romantically it is now portrayed really did not do much of anything until an announcement that all men between certain ages had to report for 'volunteer' work in Germany. It was then that men figured, in for a penny, in for a pound. Fight here, hide, be snatched off the street, out of a house, or indeed.' volunteer". A bit of goose and gander here, but never the same.

That is the exact point that Whoopi Goldberg - Whoopi Goldberg! - crossed and trivialized. She did or rather said, buying into the terrible universalization or intersectionality of the Holocaust. This is when Holocaust deniers or minimizers, as far as Jews are concerned, are opting out of its racial core and attacks, opting out of its 'specialization' re the annihilation of Jews. Compared to the deaths of others, such as Gypsies racially persecuted. Jehovah's Witnesses were imprisoned, opponents, homosexuals, as enemies of the state, not in a racial category. Jewish American soldiers were imprisoned in concentration camps because they were Jewish, contravening the Geneva Conventions.

Sorry, Whoopi, I always liked you, admired the way you spoke up, your talent, but now?! You have blown it. You have drunk the Kool-Aid of anti semites. After millennia of anti-Jewish attitudes, murders, institutional pogroms, demonization, of denial of rights, with antisemitism immortalized in literature, we even are to be robbed of the rather dubious honor as the main target of the most planned, successful, if one can use that term, annihilation of Jews, in the history of mankind. No others ever faced such an organized plan worldwide in intention. Not Armenians, not Tutsis, not Rohingya, not Uighurs. It continued in a mad frenzy even as the war was lost. Trains, soldiers, resources, needed by the armed forces were diverted to the frantic do as much killing as possible campaign of the Nazis, along with the oh so valiant efforts of local collaborators. 

No, at least allow the Jews this so not welcome 'prize'. Do not diminish the Holocaust in its concentration on the Jews. Whoopi claims it was or took place simply because "we eat each other". No, sorry, and to use today's terms, Jewish Lives Matter. “Jews, it seems, are even denied their own suffering on its own terms. It is important to note that antisemitism was central to both Nazi ideology and Nazi war aims. Attempts to deny or minimize this fact are as despicable as they are ahistorical.”  

Apologies do not matter, do not do a damn thing, for people hear and quote and believe as they wish, not as is. The ignorance, the hate, the violence, the same damned accusations continue unabated. We were accused of causing the Black Plague, cholera, of blood libel. Of causing COVID. Fagin, the Merchant of Venice, even today we are so 'privileged' to be the target of "implied bias". A best-selling novel by a well-educated Black author, fitting the definition of entitled, privileged person, other than being Black, uses the tired old stereotype of the 'Jewish lawyer'. The ethnicity, the religion of other characters basically ignored, the tired trope of a rather unpleasant Jewish lawyer. I am so tired of this. So very existentially tired - and afraid. Yes, afraid, for my survival and that of my people, in the "Goldeneh Medinah" the Golden Land, which held the hopes and dreams of thousands of persecuted, murdered Jews. That promise is tarnished. Our contributions denied. The hate? I refer you back to the title.

Within this past week alone is a summary of anti Semitism in this magnificent, challenged country of ours. Orlando - multiple swastikas, and mini   parades. Chicago - two yeshivas, two Jewish bakeries, and a synagogue vandalized and graffitied. DC - Union Station there were swastikas and graffiti as well as on two nearby synagogues.  NYC - Jews are being routinely targeted for street attacks. The authorities? Oh, they are so, so, busy trying to figure out if these were hate crimes.

                      DUH!!!!!

Why the over 6 month delay of confirmation of Deborah Lipstadt, a well-known author and scholar, respected, the target of notorious Holocaust deniers, and Jewish! as "the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism (has been) critical in urging foreign governments to protect their Jewish communities, establish national coordinators to address antisemitism, and develop and implement policies to combat antisemitism and hate,” in a letter written by over 96 Jewish organizations to members of Congress who have so blatantly denied, delayed, this step..

Perhaps we all need to read the opinion piece of Mark Twain re Jews. Feel the plaintive tone and questions of the Merchant of Venice, pushed to his limits, drowning in his despair as he stands to lose it all - his future, his daughter, his everything.

"the Jews constitute but one quarter of one percent of the human race....  his importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. ...His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine and abstruse learning are also very out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers.  He has made a marvelous fight in this world in all ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. ...The Jew saw them all, survived them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmaties, of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert but aggressive mind."  (Mark Twain)  

 "I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute, ...and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction."  (William Shakespeare Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 1)

Read the words. Hear them in your heart. Feel them with your soul.

 Enough already. Enough of no change. Enough of the self-denial and obfuscation of the anti-Semite, their supporters and adherents and those who look away.

Silence is deadly, a deadly as the actions.

Change must take place, true and positive change. Never mind the soft sounds of French syllables. The truth is harsh. the truth is on you to hear, to act, to truly change. NOW!!

HENCE, WHEREFORE?

  Hence, where do we go? Where do we go as a nation, as a people? How, exactly, are we going to face the future? Are we going to lose all we hold precious, or much of it, or can we perhaps turn the clock back, reset to the point where sanity, usually, reigned? Where people did not push others to the brink - and then over the edge. Then smirk. That is the current state of affairs in this once shining example of bipartisanship. Once people were able to disagree in a civil manner, dial up tension as expected, but omitted personal, venomous insult. Science was accepted as fact when proven and no one tried to push false and dangerous beliefs on others, in a most deranged manner. Ahhh. the olden days.

We have reached a crossroads, a major fork in the road. In fact, we already have walked down one side, seemingly choosing one option, and it ain't a pretty one. We have placed ourselves in a position of coming from behind in a search for a better world, one of progress, hope, and positive movement. Where has that world gone?

It has morphed into a splintered world, one of sharpened edges, able to cut one's throats without any warning. Suddenly one wakes up and realized what the combined efforts of authoritarian supporters has wrought. Not pretty at all. Not at all.

Hence, wherefore?

There is some wiggle room - we hope - some signs that some people have seen the light. However, the signs are still weak, still outshouted by the raucous noise of crowds who know not what they do, what they are enabling, what will be their fates if their shouts become realities. They know not at all what awaits them in that ugly, proposed world.

These supporters do not like when we rail against the politization of health measures that benefit the nation's public health. Instead of science, of research, of proven methodology, they support absolute lies and most dangerous ideas. Take Viagra and avoid COVID. Better yet, drink your own urine and lo and behold all will be well. Inject yourself with poisonous drugs not even meant for human usage and the stars will shine brightly above, though eclipsed by the brilliance of the fire burning down your homes. A fire lit by one's own thoughts and willful behavior. Self-immolation. Nothing but.

The sane are just beginning to realize that the golden boy of the fake gold plating is tarnishing quickly. Only the most extreme media report on his rallies of the crazed, those actively seeking their own death, though when COVID hits, they run to the strained hospitals, endanger the health workers, beg for relief and cure, forgoing their precious Viagra and urine, seeking life, seeking real cure possibilities. Draining the nation's resources. Delaying its recovery. Damaging all in their selfish, deluded advocating for the dangerous lies pushed by that malignant crew of power-seeking fascists. 

My home state of Florida is endangered by an evolving DeSantis, actually, devolving, as he and his crazed GOP legislators push through law after law, act after act, openly, viciously, taking away rights, cramping the freedom in which we are supposed to live. Evidently, he and his fellow fascists, supporters of authoritarianism, under their rule as the authorities in power, are flying high.

DeSantis is running to be selected as the GOP candidate for President. More appropriately, he should be named as the candidate of choice of - here insert the name of any white power, fascistic, crazed group, proud of its hatred for all other than themselves and I'm not sure about that last part. One cannot be a hater of humanity to such an extent without being a hater of oneself as well.

He says Florida is the "freedom state". Others beg to differ, amend that statement - "free to do as you are told". Well, hell NO! Most definitely so.

His freedom?   A slew of bills has advanced attacking everything from diversity rights, abortion protections and free speech in schools, in addition to a proposal that would legally shield white people from feeling “discomfort” over the state’s racist past. Not to forget his "election police". G-d forbid!

Amanda Gorman, that brilliant young woman who read her "The Hill We Climb" at the Inauguration, has the best encapsulation of what is going on. "I'm a firm believer that often terror is trying to tell us of a force far greater than despair ....a call forward, a summons to fight for what we hold dear. ... hope isn't a promise we give. It's a promise we live. ...the rest is history."

"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." So, who is it that we will allow to control the history of America, the history of mankind? If we are not them, then we are lost. Most assuredly so. A point emphasized in many dystopian novels and many essays. We must grip the fear Gorman writes of, hold it tight, use it as a hammer, an incentive to take back the world for the sane, for those who value progress, for those who actually are not self-haters and inflictors of all that is wrong on anyone they deem deserving of it.

Finally, here is a thought that has come to us, unknown as to author, nevertheless a most profound statement.

"From invention is born progress

  From reinvention is born freedom."

Let us reinvent ourselves as we should be, as we once strived to be, and have left behind as we career down a most dangerous choice of road.

YOICKS! I GIVE UP!!! MAYBE

  "Put your money where your mouth is."

We all know that saying. But what happens when you cannot figure out how to put your money wherever your mouth is? What then?

Well, in my case, thank the Lord Above for giving me my live-in techie. With a vocal call from the owner of that confused mouth, there he is, rescuing me yet again. But worry wart that I am, I wonder what happens when that will not be enough. In fact, it is already happening.

Have you tried to negotiate some of those web sites, trying to find what you are looking for, then narrowing it down among the myriad choices, then finding your cart, or your bag, or whatever it is called, and trying to pay for it? Oh, there are those pants you clicked on in error. How the hell did they get in the wagon? More important, how do I get rid of them? Trying to find the 'x' or the 'remove', is an adventure all by itself.

Furthermore, how is one to choose or even find the item when one cannot understand the names. What the heck is an O.G pair of pants? Does an aging gangster, now walking with the aid of a walker come along with the pants? Do we get a choice as to which gangster? What if one does not desire one? Is there a choice to refuse that gracious offer? Seriously, a dictionary of current terms of fashion is fast becoming a necessity.

 Along with that should be a listing of the brand names and where they originate. G-d forbid you get stuck with a disguised company that is actually in China, and brother! Or sister!! You will learn the virtue of patience awaiting its arrival. By that time, you will have pulled out all your remaining hair from sheer frustration trying to contact that firm. The reason for it might have passed and you might even be a different size. Then try returning it. Forget it! You will eat the cost, with Goodwill the final beneficiary. Yoicks!!! Foiled again.

Now try your eagerly awaited purchase on. Uh huh. "Too big, too small, too little, too tall." Yup, reading Dr. Seuss to the kids when they were small is quite beneficial at times. Especially in describing the fit of clothing, all the same size, with manufacturers apparently free to make a size any size if feels like. Such fun for them. Such frustration for us. Such an adventure to shop these days. Yoicks again.

And then, and then.... uh oh - cannot even shop, despite the need, gone, the ability even to purchase anything. That mouth needing the proper money placement will go hungry, frustrated to the nth degree as ...wait for it.... bitcoin, block chain, cryptocurrency and all those related terms enter the fray. Oy vey! I can see myself sitting in the dark, no book to read as my Kindle is playing games with my sanity. No light to read by as I could not pay my bill in crypto coins. No food either, as the supermarket moved online. How the heck does one maneuver that new challenge? And thank you very much, but I like to pick out my own vegetables and fruit. Dang it all.

But do not give up. Perhaps some generous soul, caring for our benighted souls, will come to our rescue. Maybe. Maybe not. Another chapter in a changing life. Such excitement awaits us. There is always hope in the innate goodness of people, as difficult as that seems these days. Here is a heartwarming story.

Four years ago, a Sudanese family fled an unlivable Sudan, and became enmeshed in awful refugee camps. Worse, proof of their marriage was lost in the shuffle of survival. The pregnant wife and children were allowed in as refugees while the father was left behind, tagged as a single man, the worst category. Would they ever see each other again?

Luckily for the wife, two members of a church home group decided that the Bible was to be taken literally, lived, not just mouthed. "... and I was a stranger, and you took me in."  They remembered the story of the Exodus, its meaning for our lives, even today, in this confused world of ours. They remembered and lived the admonition to remember the stage of the Israelites as strangers in Egypt and the welcome they received as they were taken in by the Pharoah. 

We are all told to do the same.

And so they did. And so they succeeded. Four years after separation there was a most emotional reunion, with all crying. A miracle of the power of the little against the worst odds, of goodness; a miracle of modern-day life.  Oh, there will be adjustments as they reformat their lives as a family, but they are together.

The question now arises. This took place in 2016, a long, tumultuous six years ago. A most different world. Would this happen again in our hate infested and infected world, where we are now told to hate the stranger, hate those who are what we or our ancestors were.

What do you think? What do you feel?

A most new reality for all of us. Think I will retreat to my online confusion, for our present reality contains too much hurt and anger, far more difficult than learning the new way of life in an online society. So depressing to contemplate, let alone to deal with, to live the truth as we should be doing.

Yoicks is way too mild for this world of ours. We need to return to the law and ways of our older society, relearn those ways, live those ways, and then take them along with us as we learn new ways. 

IF ONLY ....

  The news report today, including articles within The Reporter, are rife with terms and phrases that seemingly convey much. Mostly though they are replete with hot air, heated rhetoric, positions totally the opposite of what they seem to state or support.

 Remaining with us is the political aspect, wherein lies are pushed over and over again, becoming 'truths' in the minds of too many, over-whelmed by the attacks on sanity, reasoning, and civility. Too many now wrap themselves in cloaks of despair, concern, uncertainty, and are just plain good and tired of local, state, national, and world problems that have seemingly replicated themselves from the past. We continue to prove ourselves deaf, dumb, blind and stupid, as we forget the lessons of history, the need to heed it and learn from it.

Most of us can remember the drills of our childhood days when we were told to hide beneath our wood desks or line up in the hallway, against the walls. That would, of course, protect us from nuclear bomb fallout. Even as the harrowing pictures of vaporized people, their shadows on the walls of Hiroshima and Nagasaki seared themselves into our minds. Even as we fought in two more wars, calling back the same soldiers or their younger brothers or even their sons. 

We fought wars we lost, took on more - that we also lost. Where we never had a realistic chance at 'winning' if there truly is a winner in any war. Where the wars were seemingly endless, swallowing up hundreds of thousands of men and women. For naught at the end of it all. The destruction of these wars followed the veterans home, suffering from unacknowledged PTSD, or from chemicals used during the war - by us. Placed within a poor medical program for veterans.  Yes, things are better now, but why are we still fighting, repeating the same errors, leaving behind locals who risked their lives and worked with us. Why? Why?

One excellent contributor to the Reporter spoke whimsically about returning to the past, turning back the clock. Sweet, as we paint the past with rosy hues, ignoring the problems that were overlooked, even as the Fifties, apparently an ideal time to grow up proved otherwise. The Wonder years were not necessarily so wonderful. That generation of privileged children grew into a most profoundly disturbed and disturbing generation, strong ideals, corrupted ideals, forgotten ideals, and lots of woes.  Idealistic and cynical, generation of rebels which morphed in time to a most conservative layer of society, even reneging on some of their fights. No, I do not wish to relive some hard years, not at all.

We speak of bodily integrity, with both sides of the tongue and mouth involved. Bodily integrity means that one has the power, the right, to control, to decide, what is to happen to that body. Hence, we are allowed to refuse treatment, or demand treatment. We can go to a doctor or ignore it, creating a worse problem, cost the taxpayers money, yet there is that principle of bodily integrity. But then it disappears, swallowed whole by society's ills.

Today there are too many rooting for closure of that right, at least in the area of choice by women. To remain pregnant or not. To have a child most manifestly doomed to a very brief, painful existence. To carry a fetus to term, conceived under violent or perfectly vile conditions. To carry a fetus to term when the mother herself would either die or be profoundly damaged. To carry a fetus to term when there is no money to care for it, and society most assuredly does not provide for it after birth. The hurts of impoverishment, underprivilege, of being unwanted, unloved ignored, society cold to all that. The uncertainties and pangs of adoption, not such an easy out. Ask an adoptee or the parents on both sides. No, bodily integrity is so necessary here, but where has it gone?

It has gone into a return to the past, to a past of dead and dying violated women, victims of society, killed, damaged beyond repair in back alley, illegal abortions. It is a world now wherein the poor find it almost impossible to find a clinic for a safe, necessary abortion. Even the pills that would help are being attacked by rabid anti-choice people, deluded into thinking they are doing right. They are not. The violence, even murder, perpetrated by the movement on doctors, volunteers, people seeking abortions is unacceptable. Kill life to 'save' life?!

The vaccines. Different. This is a public health issue. Typhoid Mary was found, not given a hug and kiss and told to "go and spread more disease". No, she was isolated, had to give up her kitchen career. For the public good. No one has to be isolated here unless it is necessary for their health and/or the health of others. Those who refuse vaccinations are indeed eager to get, be served by that same aid.

The vaccine is safe, assured, working. Masks certainly do not harm anyone, even perhaps saving them from disease or infecting others. How is that in any way equivalent to the issue of abortion, when a total body, a total person, future of individuals are at stake, not the health - or death - of multiples of millions!?

We must march forward, even if by inches, learn from, the past, not repeat its mistakes, under worse threats, wherein WWIII will be followed, inevitably, if humankind survives, to a WWIV, fought with sticks and stones and sharpened rocks attached to staves of wood.

We have got to do better.

SIXES AND SEVENS. WHERE ARE WE?

    "This is a low confidence forecast at this time," the agency said Wednesday. "Significant changes are possible."  

"Not only is it illegal, it’s just plain unconstitutional,"

"...school board has banned the acclaimed Holocaust survivor-themed graphic novel Maus amid a conservative push to control the narrative on what is taught in history classes. The board had considered censoring the book to remove the "foul language" but eventually voted to ban it altogether by a unanimous 10-0 vote.

 "...argued that it was appropriate material for a teaching module on the Holocaust and helped students learn "the difference between right and wrong" and how to "be ethical people with compassion and morals and respect for others."

Trump then interrupted his playing partner.

“Forty-fifth and 47th,” he said."

 "...powerful coastal storm Friday night into Saturday night...will likely impact at least a portion of the region with heavy snow, strong winds, coastal flooding and dangerous seas," the Weather Service says. "However, still some uncertainty on the exact storm track and intensity, which will have a direct impact on snow amounts and other storm details."

"... there’s something more fundamental at stake: the survival of democracy.

“We can talk about all of those things, but everything that you are about, everything that I care about is at risk if we do not protect our democracy and if we do not protect the cornerstone of our democracy, and that is the right to vote,”

“I really believed that we could have died that day,”

So, what exactly are we referring to here? What is six and what is seven. Does it even matter? Is it the weather or the very air of the country? Is it about a bomb cyclone with powerful winds and potential damage or are we understanding the comments of Shakespeare who consistently maintained that weather and politics reflected each other? Personally, I am beginning to believe that thought. How could I not, when the comments on one mirror the comments about the other.

Look up and reread those comments. Can you tell one from the other unless more information is forthcoming? Nope, so closely are they attuned. Who knows? Perhaps even with our thoughts, particularly when reinforced by ill-conceived   actions, we can influence the turns of weather as well as with harmful actions taken or not taken re the weather, the climate, the environment. Equally so with the political life blood of this country. Right down to the lowest or down ballot candidates.

The same uncertainty. The same lack of confidence in our ability to predict, foretell the almost positive consequences and where it will happen. Why? Can the situation(s) be 'fixed' or ameliorated to some degree, one that allows or gives us time to deal with lack of confidence, inability to predict the 'weather' we are facing, improve understanding of cause and effect - long and short term? 

I believe, fiercely and strongly, that if we do not change our entire approach towards both, we are doomed. To death of democracy for sure. The consequences? Draw your own 'weather' map, isobars of pressure and storms galore wherever one points that laser. Death of our America as we know it or knew it. Death of the planet, at least as far as habitation by humankind? Or visions, predictions of Ice Ages, Sixth Extinction, returns to the caves, Mad Max syndromes, Snowpiercer lives? Who the hell knows and that is precisely the point. The only thing we know for sure, is that we are in for a long-term siege, mounted defenses and offenses of democracy, of sanity of actions and thoughts, of decency, compassion, forethought, all the traits that so many at the top of the heap have forgotten -much to our misfortune, again, to say the least.

We must stop saying 'the least' for we are long past that. We are in the category of 'for sure' when we contemplate both topics - weather and politics. When have we ever had such existential threats facing us?  The weird and dangerous weather events -flash floods along with drought. Fires raging through the natural infrastructure of the land. Entire species moving lock, stock and barrel along with the flora because the environment has changed so drastically. 

The death of democracy? The repetition of history again - Russia and Ukraine and what pretense will be used to 'justify' invasion. The reaction or lack of action of the world? The drums of war beat loud and fierce once again. Do we disinter Chamberlain as our diplomat in charge? Or will it be Churchill? Better yet - someone in between with a magic formula?! 

Understand that I am not a fan of Ukrainians, remembering how they joined with unique enthusiasm and numbers, bought into the plans of Nazism to eliminate Jews from the face of the earth, my murdered relatives, as closely related as first cousins once removed. Tell me, - why are we still dealing with Holocaust denial, even as the last survivors die? Who will hear the echoes of their pain? Will those echoes die for lack of attention, for belief in lies over truth? But invasion? NO!

The same thing that is happening right here in our country. So, who do we defend, or do we say as the Duke of Verona did in Romeo and Juliet - call a pox on both houses whose fight and enmity brought tragedy to their own families along with the rest of their city?

Will we ignore the storms that rage through this country or will we face the facts, make hard decisions and take strong actions, ones necessary to safeguard, to rescue our country from its worst citizens? Will we lay responsibility where it belongs: On the perpetrators, on the evil influencers, on those who stand aside and do nothing, hide their heads, entire bodies within the sands of the world, even as the sands are drowned by the rising oceans?

There is no running away from it all. It is here. It is intertwined. We all are at personal risk, we and our children, our extended families, our friends, our nation, our world. By the increasingly hostile, unpredictable Nature along with the growing hostile, but perhaps predictable- sadly so - nature of and consequences of the politics of our times??

Sixes and sevens? Perhaps nines and tens.

   "For those who suffer, 

     Those who endure,

     And those who fight."  (Dedication in a book)

"For the human soul is virtually indestructible,

 And its ability to rise from the ashes

 Remains as long as the body draws breathe."

(Alice Miller - For Your Own Good)

Perhaps there is yet some hope.

BOMB CYCLONES TO ADIOS

 Such a delight it is to read the day's news, past, present and future speculations - most manifestly not! It can make you cry, laugh, shake your head in despair and amusement, all at the same time. You scratch that same head in total bewilderment, wondering just when people lost their collective minds and succumbed to the ridiculous to the sublime, no matter from whose mouth it exits, or what nonsense is espoused. Today is a perfect example. What a mess!

Some good news first. Mark Cuban has opened a pharmaceutical rescue operation, where drugs will be the cost plus 15% and no more middlemen or monstrous additions to that cost. I will be checking things out as I received notice of a completely illogical, unaffordable co-pay that will double my co-pays for each and every month - if not more. And I have not yet heard of the change in co-pays for other drugs and no, not one or two, but try oh, maybe 20+ and growing. Completely undoable. Particularly if one wishes to do such outrageous activities such as breathing easily, eating food, paying the freight to keep a roof over one's head, paying taxes, paying utilities and actually using that AC when the weather is hot, hot, hot. Minor problems I guess, right?!

Forward, ho! We are far from done. Are you feeling squished here in South Florida as every single empty lot, beautiful stands of trees, open landscapes are targeted by developers greedy for fortunes, cramming in unreasonable amounts of houses, apartments, and people, with little land for recreation or simply for zoning out? Nope, not necessary. Not to developers nor, evidently, to too many of the Commissioners or the Zoning Committee. Even as they go home to mammoth homes on large spreads, pools galore and huge and we, the little people, well, we just have to make do. 

Curtail that outdoor activity. Forget admiring nature or going birding. Nature walks in preserves? What preserves, shrinking by the day as we build roads for the new developments, encouraging more development needing more roads, needing more lands, more destruction, leading to more crammed developments, on and on ad nauseam. Surely the next thing we can expect is a Mad Hatter and a strange Queen emerging from our newly exposed land. Ripped from forests, ripped from their jobs of beauty and oh, yes, giving us oxygen, absorbing carbon dioxide. Never mind, just do not run anymore. Just a little sacrifice, correct? Finally, as far as the noise wall, or moving into the living quarters of homes in the path of the proposed enlarging of the Turnpike, well, just a little sacrifice for the good of all, right? Be a sport.

Cake and eating it too? Petere Dinklage, a wonderful actor, including in Game of Thrones, portraying a brother in a family of beautiful people, while he is a dwarf. Tough lot in life, yet he does quite well, pulling off many self-rescues and trending towards the, if not good, then towards the less evil. He complains about a new production of Snow White. Why? Because ... complete the title ....and the Seven Dwarves. What nerve! Insulting to dwarves. Even as he is now working in a new production as a malevolent dwarf. Huh!

  Children must be protected from seeing and hearing how dwarves are portrayed, transferring that to the real world, that no, they are not bad nor so very different from us, especially in the inside and mind and heart and soul. As so many generations of children did. But never you mind, for apparently, I do not know how a dwarf feels nor have faced any antagonism. Hmm, something wrong there, very much wrong.

No, I cannot say I have walked in the shoes of a dwarf, but I have walked, and will continue to walk, G-d willing, in the shoes of thousands, millions, of people who most certainly have faced their own discrimination. Additionally, such a wonderful distinction, been the target of a 90 minute conference by the biggies of Nazidom, in Wannsee, to establish an oh so scientific plan to eliminate all the Jews of the world, as each country was conquered. Oh, yes, they had lists and plans, targets to reach, quotas to fill, all the while squeezing money from their bodies and souls by working them to death. Moreover, if people still survived then certainly, they must be destined for destruction, too strong for the plans of the Nazis, so scientific and oh so calm, in their plans. And not to forget the children and the women of child bearing age, a source of more Jews. Nope, cannot be. Target those groups especially hard and what a good boy you will be. Maybe even get a medal or two, an opportunity to reap monetary rewards from the piles of belongings left behind. Oh, yes, such piles and piles.

So no, Mr. Dinklage. I do indeed know those shoes. Indeed, I do. Nor should you think this is over. Not at all. Over the weekend carefully weighted leaflets - in Miami, San Fransisco, Denver - stating 

"Every single aspect of the COVID agenda is Jewish," said many, if not all, of the flyers. Listed on the paper were government officials who have played parts in managing the coronavirus pandemic and who the flyers say are Jewish, according to local NBC affiliates and regional - distributed by  "a loose network of individuals that engages in antisemitic stunts to harass Jews," said the Anti-Defamation League statement. "They work alone, in small cliques and occasionally travel across the country to work together in larger teams."

All this as RFK, Jr. states  ."things are worse for people today than they were for Anne Frank, the teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp after hiding with her family in a secret annex in an Amsterdam house for two years.  His father and uncles are rolling in their graves, as his grandfather kvells! Not for the first time either. Joined by such other luminaries of our Congress, like Gosar, Perry, Omar, and not to forget Boebert who so cannily recognized a group of Jews as a reconnaissance team for a future insurrection.  Evidently the Jews were heavily involved in Jan. 6 events. Huh, you say? Oh yes, pay attention to my shoes, but be careful of which synagogue you attend for you might be next!!!

In the meanwhile, we have a bomb cyclone threatening the East Coast. We have whiners on Wall Street and Big Banks whining that now there will be no non risk opportunities for them for profit, as interest rates are raised in order to tame the economy and inflation. Tsk, tsk. How many others have never had that opportunity!! So of course, instead of calmly planning the right steps, oh just panic people by predictions of huge crashes and devaluations. For sure, that will help as you buy all stocks at low prices, then watch as we pull together and restart the proper engines with smooth purrs. Oh, the profits you will make indeed.

Jakarta is sinking. Island nations are being drowned in the seas. The climate is wacked out. Hatred and utter nonsense grow apace, as lies become truths, and deluded people refuse to see the inevitable end of a fascistic movement -lest we lose it all. 

As for Adios. Well, there is now an Adios Sinema group and what a joy for that. Add Manchin, the cowardly GOP, not a good guy in sight, the white supremacists who shout for blood, the far left which had gone berserk. So many more to bid goodbye and never come back. So, adios to them and adios for today. Gotta' read some more - from a novel. Saner territory.

 

FRAGILE THINGS

  I very recently picked up a best seller titled The Nature of Fragile Things. The title alone intrigued me, particularly at this time, or rather in the times of our lives. It opened with a quotation.

"Surely something resides in this heart that is not perishable - and life is more than a dream."                   Mary Wollstonecraft

It hit me, then and there, how apt this quote is. Life is certainly more than a dream, but we must add to that statement that most people have a dream to work towards, to toil hard to attain. If we forget those dreams, if they are forcibly removed from us, from any possibility of actuality, then life becomes little more than a grubbing for survival. Life then becomes another category of dreams - that of nightmares, living nightmares.

We all know the living nightmare of the political world we now inhabit. We all know of the eroding base of our democracy, of the two nations that have emerged within its population, a most dangerous turn of events. However, today I will write of a smaller nightmare, of an event of impending breakage, of the fragility of a place now facing an attack on its very being by another group, one known for steamrolling, for forcing issues to courts, after placing facts on the ground, for causing loss of dreams of too many, as they watch them turn into nightmares. As they pursue their 'dream', as they tread heavily over present reality, as they plan to change the entire feel and facts of a development of approximately 14,000 to 15,000 residents, some part time, and many full time, including myself, the fragile nature of the things here are obvious.

They wish to import the crowded nature of urban living to a rural development. Century Village is open, huge swaths of grass between buildings, with trees in the parking areas, with pools and courts for various activities. It is a paradise for many, at times a troubled one, but we overcome and go on. A dream fulfillment of retirement for many. For many who cannot afford to move, who literally are living on their last pennies and have nowhere to go, no funds to spend, no dream to replace this one. I myself would find it difficult in many ways to have to remove myself, separate myself, from my personal dream here. And yes, I resent a group coming in and almost immediately trying to change the aura of this Village, of imposing their requests, their designated needs on others. I truly do. The fragility of my life is at risk. Perhaps I am selfish, but those are the facts, madams and sirs. Those are the facts.

There are many other plots of land undergoing development around the area, again, perhaps too many, but there it is. There are empty plots awaiting development. The fulfillment of their dream, of a southern residence is quite possible elsewhere, building it from the ground up, with their own rules, with their own consequences if they slide by certain safety rules, as they push the envelopes of laws of zoning, as has allegedly been done before. But not in my dream. That is their dream.

 Mine is to live here in peace with all, accepting demographic change as it occurs and has indeed occurred, but we live in peace and harmony - for the most part. We all want this dream to exist, and we are very, very nervous re its fragility and the attack upon it. It is not correct to impose a dream of oneself upon the dreams of others, breaking them, crushing them, in a selfish, unwanted, imposition of their dangerous dreams.

We have seen this group flout laws of safety here in the Village. Violating social distancing at pools in the height of the pandemic. We have seen the very fabric of buildings torn apart, imperiling other apartments, indeed the very lives of others. Now we are being asked to quietly sit by as they wish to cram two more unneeded pools, in precarious physical location, verging on a huge lake of the Village, add ugly fencing, cram the parking area, add yet another two-story building on this site, hence giving us the oh so comforting urban crush feeling. They are removing a building from its service, much needed services, for the people of the Village, as it has done since the beginning of its existence.

Not to forget the impact - the noise of constant cars in and out in a congested area, on a dangerous four corner main intersection, in a Village where driving is not always a safe gambit. Now to add more oil to the fire? NO! No more lies about a reduction in traffic there!! Really!! Is the next target the shows at the Clubhouse which generate traffic and need parking area? Or forbid clubs during the day, the general traffic of a busy important building that services the entire Village? Or change the bus times if they generate too much traffic at prayer times? Or block their cars entries and exits into their narrowed, less buffered parking area?

There are two synagogues within walking area in the Village. One is an Orthodox one, founded by early residents of the Village and there is a place, indeed a physical place already there for their services. If they are a bit crowded during the season, well, so are the other synagogues, and we all manage. To create yet another, within the very heart of the Village is to invite trouble, a great deal of it. It will cascade into more requests for purchases of buildings for private needs, add more traffic, ruining the very air, physically and emotionally. It will add yet more separation within the population. NO, that is not the dream of us, but rather a nightmare.

The Zoning Commission must turn down these outrageous requests or demands. They must. For the sake of all of us. We must all show up for the Zoom meeting and for the two hearings to follow. WE MUST.     PLAIN AND SIMPLE.