what now?

 Vaccine mandate for large employers: Here’s what to know as SCOTUS decides its fate: How the justices rule will ultimately determine if the administration’s strategy for ending a pandemic that’s killed almost 1 million Americans must be rethought. Most Americans have already chosen to get vaccinated, but Biden has said these numbers aren’t high enough. The White House’s plan hinges on the idea that mass inoculation across all workplaces is the best way of beating COVID. “Too many people remain unvaccinated for us to get out of this pandemic for good,” Biden said in November when he announced the mandates. (Fast Company).

 

Uh -Huh. Just as a point of information: The Supreme Court has been closed to the public for nearly two years because of the pandemic. Only court staff, lawyers in the cases, credentialed reporters, and justices’ law clerks are allowed to attend oral arguments, and all m must be masked and possess negative test results for Covid. (Washington Post).

 

We are to believe, from the questions asked by Conservative Justices, that a matter of personal liberties is at hand, and somehow, the Executive Branch is treading on individuals personal freedoms, by demanding proactive measures for halting the spread of COVID. The same Justices who somehow forgot to consider the personal freedoms and liberties by and for the Females of the Republic of Texas, by permitting the 6-week abortion ban to stay in effect, HAVE SUDDENLY decided that SOME PERSONAL FREEDOMS are not the same OTHER PERSONAL FREEDOMS. And if my liberties are important, why can’t people decide to sit in the Supreme Court Chambers and NOT get vaccinated?

mischaracterization of the event, HUH!

 Some Georgia Republicans planned to spend the anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol praying — not just for those killed or hurt during the Jan. 6 riot but also or the “‘J6 Prisoners” and “J6 Patriots” who stormed the building in a futile attempt to keep President Donald Trump in power. But after bipartisan blowback, the Cobb County GOP on Wednesday canceled what it had been calling a “prayer vigil,” citing “mischaracterization of the event.” (Washington Post)

 

One more Anniversary, January 6^th. One more BIZARRO splot on the calendar, surrounding my grand appearance into this world back in the day, (26,296 days to be exact). One more day when TRAUMA, TERROR, HORROR, HEARTSTOPPING, ANGST, AND ANXIETY, not only made my cup feel half empty but filled my cup with a poison if sipped, even a half an ounce of it, would cause DOOM/DESTRUCTION/and possibly DEATH! 

 

I had to consider, what I might write about on January 6^th. I have read, watched, conversed, and ruminated over this Pox on our nation. Lots of speeches with tons of “Never Again, COUP, Treason, Traitors…” Democrats outraged, along with a very small handful of Republicans, Most Republicans acting the coward to not even show up to work, except for Twiddle Dumb and Twiddle Dumber (Greene and Gaetz). And then I read this article about Georgian GOP, wanting to praise Seditionists, Fascists, (you provide the name for Enemy of the State), but what really PISSED ME OFF, was the excuse the Georgian’s used when actually called out… they said it was just a “mischaracterization of the event.” And that pushed ME over the edge, because the excuse that bad people doing bad things is not a BAD thing, just a mischaracterization of the event, IS exactly what everyone from McCarthy, Cruz to FOX, to almost every damn Republican elected official has claimed. The truth, left to die, not only is gone, but as it dies, way too many other lives suffer!

Stupid Superhero

 “I believe there is a sadistic effort underway to euthanize the American people,” Dave Bateman, co-founder of Entrata, a property management software company, wrote Tuesday, KSTU first reported. “I believe the Jews are behind this,” he added. The email also included antisemitic and false claims that the Jewish people conspired to make a vaccine that would weaken immune systems to kill off billions of people and that for 300 years “Jews have been trying to infiltrate the Catholic Church and place a Jew covertly at the top.” (Washington Post) … They stormed the Capitol. Now they’re running for office. At least 57 individuals who played a role in the day’s events — including some who were arrested on charges related to the Capitol attack — are running for office in 2022. (POLITICO)… With the virus raging in the Sunshine State, now might be a good time for the leader of that state to step up and, um, lead by example, right?

Well, that's not the approach that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken. Exactly the opposite in fact. DeSantis has been extremely cagey when asked direct questions about his vaccination status. (CNN).

 

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. -Albert Einstein… “It didn't occur to either of them that lives would be lost, that the world they were to defend would shift under their feet and never be the same again. They only dreamed of the adventure.” - Author: Adriana Trigiani… I don't want to be totally repetitive and doing the same thing over and over again for the rest of my life. I don't want to do that at all. - Author: Alex Pareene.

 

January 5, 2022. The day before America witnessed the approved version of Sedation, Treason, Insurrection, Civil War, and a COUP, by one Donald Trump, his staff of idiots, his family of fools, his court jesters, and a magnitude of MAGA minions minus the intelligence and wherewithal to actually know, they were all lemmings asked to jump into an abyss! January 5, 2022, and as scared and afraid as I am regarding the TRAGIC anniversary of another day that will live IN INFAMY, I am also struck by the headlines which, somehow, remind me that this nation, has not learned a single lesson from history, current, and of the ages! Jews are now the real culprits for COVID and those VACCINATIONS… One can cause a COUP and be permitted to run for office, thus ensuring future Fascism, and a Governor prefers to let his political ambitions trump, the health, and welfare of the common person. I hesitated in writing this blog, actually not certain how the current events of January 5, 2022, would play out, BUT I should have learned a sad lesson about America and way too many Americans… STUPID is a SUPERHERO!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and why NOT

 With hospitals in crisis, it’s time there were consequences for vaccine holdouts (opinion/Globe and Mail).

 

When is enough, enough? Is that my wisecrack rhetorical voice? Is that a naiveté expression of total disbelief? Am I honestly acting flabbergasted and reaching for straws? Am I even being disingenuous in asking a question for which the answer should be obvious? And while I am at it…what are the reasons the majority of Republican politicians on a Federal, State, or Local Level for promising the stupid the potential of death, destruction, and doom, forsaking any morality for the sheer delight of remaining PROFESSIONAL POLITICIANS? Has the GOP leadership in this nation taken on a mantra of Assisted Suicide for their followers, just NOT TO BE PRIMARIED during the Mid-Terms? And while I am poking a very dangerous Virus made from Human Selfishness, why the fuck are a majority of Evangelical Christian men and women religious leaders of their so-called God, doing this by aiding and abetting pain and suffering; by ignoring science for their own self-gain?

 

Why has this nation permitted the underbelly of society to act as the brain and muscle of decision making, allowing the Ignorant, Racist, Bigoted, Dumb As Shit, Hateful, to lead the way? I am tired of reacting to Death Chant’s from the Republican Right Wing, the Q-Anon, the Hypocritical Entertainers from FOX, the Wanna Be Fascists! With hospitals in crisis, it’s time there were consequences for vaccine holdouts (opinion/Globe and Mail).

 

 

 

What will be Left

  

Joe Biden faces the prospect of a primary challenge from the left-wing of the Democratic Party amid unrest over his age, poll ratings, and failure to push through his legislative agenda.

The president has entered 2022 in a vulnerable position, with polling indicating the Republicans are well-placed to seize control of the House of Representatives in November’s midterms.

Biden was dealt a serious blow last month when Joe Manchin, a Democratic senator from the conservative state of West Virginia, all but doomed the flagship “Build Back Better” plan, which had been the linchpin of his domestic agenda. Adding to the uncertainty surrounding the White House is Biden’s age: he will be 82 shortly after the 2024 presidential election. (The Times/The Sunday Times)

 

There have been lots and lots, perhaps TONS and TONS, of reasons for me to worry about the future of MY Country, My Country’s Democracy, and MY Country’s seemingly deaf dumb, and blind response to all of the terror, trauma, pestilence and putrid attacks on Law and Order/Freedoms/ and Justice. I despise the Hypocrisy, Histrionics, Arrogance, Lies, and Intentional dismantling of Democratic principles, by the GOP, and try my best to call them out any time the poison of Insurrection and Authoritarianism becomes as rancid as an abandoned unflushed toilet located on Old Route 66! BUT, when the hear the Democrat Party’s Left-Wing begin their own crusade to punch holes in an already fragile Democracy, I just want to SCREAM, WHAT THE FUCK! Right now, we are on the edge of COLLAPSE in maintaining Democracy, we are inches away from a Right-Wing Dictatorship, and instead of supporting President Biden wholeheartedly, it seems the leadership of the Democrat Left, has joined partnerships with Moscow Mitch, MAGA Cruz, Pathetic Pence, and the House of Representatives America First Caucus, (which somehow when looked at seriously is anything BUT America first or second or last) Come on DEMOCRAT LEFT, right now, there is no real Democrat Majority in the Senate, the House is nothing but EGO Manic wanna be Politicians. Americans are still uncertain of each day, and somehow the Democrat Left has piled on Biden, adding to disarray and dangerous dismantling of the promise to finally bring this nation, MY nation off the brink of collapse. As disgusting and disingenuous as the Republicans ARE, at least THEY have a common goal, to WIN. It seems to me, the Democrat Left right now is more concerned with how many followers they have on TWITTER and Facebook! Don’t agree then read the following headlines from the Media!

 

With Donald Trump lurking, is the U.S. sleepwalking toward calamity? (editorial/Globe & Mail) … If we are to save our democracy, there must be a reckoning for the Jan. 6 attack (opinion/Washington Post) … A majority of Americans believe U.S. democracy is in crisis, according to a poll released Monday… The survey, conducted by NPR and Ipsos, found that 64 percent of adults in the U.S. believe American democracy is in crisis and at risk of failing, while 19 percent of those polled said they disagree with that sentiment. (The Hill)

 

Oh YEAH, for the record, I am a PROGRESSIVE VOTER. I am a REGISTERED DEMOCRAT. I understand the need for more EQUALITY/FAIRNESS/INCLUSION. But for the record, until the entire wound from the 4 years of TRUMP, and the aftermath of the November 2 Big Lies, and the INSURRECTION AND ATTEMPTED COUP on January 6 is hermetically sealed, and the infection completely cleaned out, having a war within the Democrat Party will do nothing but bring back the TRUMP YEARS of DESPERATION AND DOOM!

 

 

 

 

 

Lights Out

 Sunday, January 2, 2022. Driving back to North Truro from Provincetown I noticed the very dour, and dreary array of once bright and brilliant Christmas lights and decorations; seemingly cursed to a nasty ending, as the “Tis The Season” has abruptly come to closure. (I remember growing up in Pittsburgh, as January poked its grey-haired head and almost instantly insisted that anything Christmas be over and done because there should never be joy when the calendar clicks onto real winter.) I almost felt sad for the deflated Santa’s, the once sprout reindeer, rendered flat and splattered. Strings of one precisely placed lights hanging low, and out of precision, almost begging to be removed already, seemed to mingle with the mangled branches of proud evergreens, now, almost too embarrassed to be known as Christmas trees! No more Sirius XM, Holiday Music channels, instead, playing the Top 100 tunes of 2021, and on other stations the Top 100 of years gone by. It seems we have moved beyond, the Peace On Earth Days to, the days of BACK TO BUSINESS AS USUAL…AND oh yeah, and WHY NOT!

 

I have tried to find the good from the meticulous monotony of the bad. I have looked for the glow of promise seemingly dulled by the mirk of the miserable. I have even ignored the ignorance of the idiots enticed by the machinations of the evil; thinking, COME ON, time moves on can’t we as HUMANS do the same!

 

BUT: 34% of Americans say violence against government is sometimes justified, new poll finds. Cheney: Trump sat in the White House watching Capitol attack on TV. GOP Senator, Marco Rubio, calls Omicron surge 'irrational hysteria.’ “We’re seeing a surge in patients again, unprecedented in this pandemic," said Dr. James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University Hospital. "What's coming for the rest of the country could be very serious. And they need to be prepared." Three people are dead and four more injured after a shooting at a Mississippi New Year's Eve party. Watch out for 2022 — Trump isn't finished just yet. (CNN)

 

Christmas decorations, sometimes placed on homes and stores as early as the day after Halloween. Boxes of Christmas heirlooms tediously opened and placed on mantles, tables. Strings of lights of green, red, white, eagerly purchased with brand new bulbs, or meticulously unwrapped from Christmas’s past, ready to showcase a celebration. Nothing new about all of this, and honestly even as a Jewish person, lots of delight in witnessing it. But then the fervor and frenzy, fascination, and freshness evaporate, and, all that glittered is now yesterday's news, making way for today’s facts!

 

 

beginnings to ends to begin

 “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”-Edward Everett Hale… “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”- Seneca… “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”- T. S. Eliot

 

Be it January 1, for Western Cultures…June 24, for Polynesian and New Zealand Cultures…September 11, for Copts and Ethiopian Cultures…September 26, for Judaism…February 1 for the Chinese… and a myriad of other dates, for cultures and religions around this world, somewhere sometime, someplace, a calendar will become a precise pinpoint of ending things, then starting things, and on and on and on… For most, the event of a NEW YEAR, will, among the many emotions sprung, remind us, that time trudges on, and as it continues, if we INDEED, look back, we will say “HUH, HOW’D I GET HERE, WASN’T IT JUST YESTERDAY, yesterday?”

 

I make no new year resolutions, because for me, any promises I propose, I DO INTEND TO KEEP, thus any resolution I might consider, even in the privacy of my own pre-occupied head, would seem like a challenge! Challenges are cool at least for that moment, and often thought to be a worthwhile effort; but in the future, BOTH close and further away, those PROMISES, sort of nag at me, call me out, and or fluff up with frustrations.  I yearn for more, most, many, better, best, and strive to make the difference…BUT to make a difference, I have discovered each and every time takes a lot more than me to ACCOMPLISH. 

 

“So, today, is not the same as once upon, or what will be will be,” said my Mother. It IS, instead, all of what your life has amounted to for the moment.” “When today, falls on a new year, what happens is that for 24 hours, minus the time you sleep, nod off, or daydream, you get the chance to say if change is necessary, I will try if change should be taken, and if CIRCUMSTANCE, is about to arrive, I will welcome it.”-Rena Buncher! Happy New year, to all…BEGINNINGS TO ENDS TO BEGINNINGS!