Burn, Ban,Boycott

Thats right BURN your season tickets, to whichever sport the majority of athletes of color have taken a knee when the flag is raised and the anthem  played. BURN this season tickets just like the Germans did when they burned books fearing certain free speech might hinder hate speech. Thats right BOYCOT the NFL, the NBA and any other professional sports association whose “MILLIONAIRE” players have the audacity to protest police brutality, racism, and sheer distain and ignorance toward anyone not white. BAN all products with any Professional sports team name on it because, after all the players, like Gladiators of Rome, can be replaced, they are not real people, just humans used for exploit, and of course entertainment. Replace all of those items with one huge Make America Great Hat. BURN BAN, BOYCOTT because YOUR Flag, YOUR Anthem is sad, has become despondent, has lost it sheen, its shine, why somehow all of these UnAmerican athletes have sucked the red, white and blue out of America, the white off the picket fence, and have taken the mother out of motherhood, because all they want is the privilege that democracy provides, freedom of speech.

I am curious, is YOUR Flag and Anthem the same piece of cloth and song that is played and flies over the state capitols of very RED states whose majority of Republican Congress People are still trying to make same-sex marriages illegal…does YOUR Flag, and YOUR Anthem, still take precedent in the halls of justice of Republican lead legislatures who want to deny same-sex couples from fostering or adopting abandoned kids…Is YOUR Flag and YOUR Anthem produced before any business, when the business at hand is to discriminate the LGBTQ community in the work place, and fire them if an American employer is unhappy with another American worker who happens to be Gay. Does Your Flag and Anthem also thin that there are some good Nazi’s and maybe a few bad apples? Does Your Flag and Anthem understand that Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, and that Puerto Ricans are citizens, and that if if any Puerto Rican still wanted to stand for Your Flag and Your Anthem, first it would be in at least three feet of standing water, and secondly there would be no place to place the flag because the entire island is flattened?

Oh, yeah, lets talk about the insult to the Vets and Troops. Do you really believe the Troops were either enlisted or volunteered to serve this nation picking from a menu of items from our Constitution? No free speech for the Blacks, who needs the immigrants, Medicaid and Medicare, let them die, forget the Muslims and Jews this is a Christian nation. There is talk about BOYCOTTING the NFL on Veterans Day, how about a MAJOR protest that day to DC, letting Congress know their lack of funds for health care, the VA, PTSD actually makes YOUR flat and YOUR Anthem sad, no miserable, better yet, UNPATRIOTIC! For those of YOU who are all furclempt about taking a knee because somehow it destroys democracy, why not go back in time, eighth grade, exactly study your Civics Class, then maybe YOU better understand the value of YOUR Flag and YOUR Anthem and the true symbolism of both

10 Days 2 Grandma's

Two Grandma’s 10 Days: My Grandma Braff arrived from Braiylia Romania at 15, supposedly to become a new citizen and a new bride. With great happiness she welcomed America into her life, but refused to marry the nephew of the uncle who sponsored her access to America. Growing older and wiser this grandmother who as a child would insist tithe she knew what was best for her, and as opinionated as ever, became very quiet concerning the Jewish High Holy Days and in particular Yom Kippur the 10th day of the days of Awe, the day God supposedly closed YOUR on book of life, deciding YOUR future for the next year. Grandma Braff would tell her grandchildren, something’s are out of your hand, you must pick and choose the ways of your life, but in the end there is God’s fate, and HIS will be the words etched on the last chapter. Become what you think you should, but it must be Gods way in the end. She would say,”If you the good thing is the right thing to do, then make life easy and choose it.”

My Grandma Buncher, was born in Pittsburgh PA. A very tough a nails lady, who understood expectations of rules and regulations, but never one to just follow them as if she had no brain. She kept Kosher, as she would explain for the healthy reasons connected with it, and would pooh-pooh anyone who said otherwise. But she was not just a female, she was her own lady, the strength behind men, the pursuer of better, the quiet storm, who could blow away a house if she needed to. Grandma Buncher, Her take on Yom Kippur, was to respect the power of Judaism, but to realize it was not Just power to become successful, but asking questions, tons of questions, even questions God may not like or even worse prefer answering. There is only one kind of fate, and it is a compromise between you and GOD.

From Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur 10 days dance and glide into our lives. We are to find at-one-ment as Jews to explore our world and those who find footing inside it. We are to speak to God wondering and actually WONDER WHY. This year for the first time in a long time, I am not sure which Grandmother’s philosophy I should adhere to and follow. This year I have witnessed more ignorance, hatred, selfishness, shame and evil flowing though the atmosphere from I breathe, and as I pray to my God, I choke and actually feel smothered. It makes me sad to think that the newly printed pages of pure white already have the soot of self-serving and insincere covering them with a hatful haze. I have to ask, why how, why, when and how long, this pall will remain. I also must beg God for an answer are we not all equal for fresh pages in the latest edition of the Book of Life. Shana Tova, I hope!

standing

Roy Moore, recently won the Republican Senate Race for Jeff Sessions Senate seat. Roy Moore had been disbarred twice for his refusal to accept the Supreme Court’s decision making Same-Sex legal. Mr Moore believes that the only law he must adhere to come’s from the New Testament, and he also knows that creationism is real and that science is wrong. ROY MOORE stands for the Anthem and the Flag. His cohort, Jeff Sessions, lied when asked a few questions during his Senate interview to become Attorney General, a few questions he lied about were in regard to his Russian meetings and and acquaintances. JEFF SESSIONS stands of the anthem and the flag. Senators Graham and Cassidy, more interested in appealing to their spoiled billionaire Republican donors, recently were seeking the removal of at least 32 million Americans from health coverage, through in the end of Pre-Existing Conditions, and a couple other million folks would either become bankrupt or just die, GRAHAM and CASSIDY stand for the anthem and the Flag. PAUL MANAFORT, when in the United States and not the hall of the Kremlin, working for Putin, stands for the Anthem and Flag. Good ole Sarah Huckabee Sanders preaching the Trump lies, avoiding truthful answers, sharing innuendo and fake news , Ms HUCKABEE SANDERS stands for the Anthem and the Flag. And KID ROCK, cutting a whole in the middle of the flag, turning the flag into a poncho, stands for the Anthem and Flag.

Now, all you, sports fans aghast, agog, full of angst because athletes taking a knee, to make a statement about inequality, racism, unfair police actions, tell me how just standing for the Flag makes you a better Patriot, a better American, a better person. Sorry, upset sports fans, democracy is not a toy you can just play with. You are not the good guy, denying freedoms and rights to people, lying to people about their future  because you perform a meaningless gesture with absolutely no honesty behind it. Get over yourselves because a bunch of so called millionaire athletes refuse to act as hypocrites and idiots as they watch the world of people of color become torn in half.

And another thing, please stop pretending that you are angry because somehow taking a knee offends the first responders and our Troops. WWII was the last war that was manipulated by politicians and our booming war machine industry. the Korean War never ended, the Viet Nam was was only encouraged due to the insecurities of Presidents, the War in Afghanistan and Iraq continue. All you sports fans selling your tickets or turning off the TV in disgust, do you think any of the Troops volunteering or being drafted to serve this nation did so with the condition that they ONLY would fit for the freedoms of white folks, Evangelicals, excluding pushy women who want freedom of their reproductive choices, or Jews or the LGBTQ community. Do you think all of the people in the Congress who stand for the Flag and the Anthem have committed even one-tenth of the resources of this nation to honor the Vets. Lets get real, just standing is an action not an answer to the problems facing this country. Its bull shit to think those who stand are somehow more righteous and truer Americans.

symbols

And like lost lemmings, eagerly awaiting the next trip off of a cliff, urged on by a pompous poisonous pied piper, any chance to seek a villain, the crowds go crazy because suddenly the man who embraces the Confederate Flag as true Americana, the guy who prefers men in white hoods and sheets calling them Patriots, the man who’s been paid for owned by Vladimir Putin, the man who defers attention toward his own misdeeds, demanding diversion and division, has played American citizens as punks. And in our own self obsessed red, white and blue and motherhood, many of us gladly play along insisting it is the object that matters and not the content.

For all of the fans who no longer can tolerate the audacity of athletes taking a knee or more importantly making a stand against Racism, Bigotry, Hypocrisy, have you no idea of the real world in which you live. Do none of you have wives or sisters of mothers whose personal body is considered property of the government. Do you not know any Jewish persons, who are no on the  trigger end of American Nazi’s, who DON’T wave the American flag, preferring a piece of cloth with a swastika emblazoned on it. Are you that sheltered from people with disabilities thinking that consider themselves too special to be able to enter a building walk up a ramp use a bathroom without EVERYONE making accommodations for them. For all the fans who just want to be entertained, by athletes, only concerned with their physical prowess, but happy to deny them any intelligent perspective, are you that much of a moron to permit hate to be hidden just as long as you can watch you game, pretending hate does not exist.

Everything I have written has been said by men and women who try hard to see equality in this nation. Equality is not limited to certain aspects of out cultural and social life. Equality should be the air we breathe, every action we take, and shared by any one of any color, sexual orientation, gender religion or not religion. Trump loves to make Much Ado About Nothing, because he is so void and empty himself. The only area of smarts regarding Trump is his ability to feign emotion, but he is a sly fox, and does so to entrap others. Sell your tickets, stop watching sports, but remember how NOT angry you were when the Nazi’s marched in the city streets of this nation, how oh well you felt knowing the growing collusion between Trump/Republicans and the Russians, and how silent you have remained as the citizens of Puerto Rico (American citizens) have been left to suffer and die. The Flag, the Anthem may ave and be played, but so far those symbols have meant absolutely nothing in making America great.

Let them eat cake

Always the dirty truth escapes from the vaults of the anti American citizen, Republicans. There is the FOX news story of course, fluffy with hints of red, white and blue, there are the Conservative talk show snippets including advice from Jesus. And there are the grumpy white men sound bites as they try to scurry away from reporters shouting all of you are just inciting fake news. 

The there is the very basic truth about this current bevy of GOP goons pretending that they and only they understand the needs and wishes of Americans. The truth regarding the latest attempt to incite Death Panels, Pre-Meditated Murder is two fold, the first is to cater to the Republican Donor Billionaires who refuse to EVER pay their fare share of taxes, hoping less budget for health care for the common man means more tax cuts for the gluttonous and greedy…AND if you listen closely to any one of perfect examples as to why Term Limits are a necessity Senators, it is plane and simple…they say we promise a repeal and replace and by God, no matter who has to die, we will do it. Let them eat cake!

Here we are again, the lives and welfare of even the voters whose faces have been up their own asses will suffer. The people who still cling to the Confederacy to their favorite White Robes and White Sheets, who love themselves a good Seig Heil…even they will suffer the consequences of a political American Party, only concerned and consumed by really, really, REALLY rich people, who imagine themselves Kings and Queens. And of course, the added feature to this horror show is the fact that little insecure Trump, just hates anything with the name Obama in front of it…Let them eat cake!

perhaps a miracle

It is the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and throughout my Jewish life I have been taught that this holiday is a time to celebrate, to appreciate what has come before us, and to seek fulfillment at-one-ment, toward the future, our personal future and for those in our lives. Spirits are high, hope, as it is supposed be eternal, is just waiting to be caught right at our fingertips, and the sweetness of apples and honey, the brightness of dreams, the ability to inhale, deeply await us. I so much want to believe all OF THAT, but cannot do most of that, with an honest heart, for this New Year!

It seems that hatred for the most basic concepts of life abounds destroying the lives as would the preverbal bull in a China shop. Republicans, in the midst of one catastrophic event after another, are insisting to create their own hardships as they plan to dismantle affordable health care. Party of course before people, and trying to appease a small minded, bigoted, self loathing group of people while making life miserable for everyone else. I think of my friends in Houston, and Florida, I think of the strangers in Mexico, Montana, Bali and those living in South Asia.Can the sweet aroma’s of apple and honey float freely above the rank odors of floods, the crumbled concrete, the lives lost, the lives forever shaken. Was their Book of Life to include a chapter in it of devastation, disillusionment, and even death? 

It is the Jewish New Year, and I know I am supposed to ask for forgiveness, to demonstrate kindness, but honestly with  a lying, con artist in the White House, a crop of Republican politicians selfish and self-serving, disregard for the planet, disrespect for minorities, all I want to do is scream. I will pray to my God, but i will, in earnest, ask, why, what is next and when. Life around me is in such disarray, I don’t want to despair, but I am desperate for a miracle. My Grandma Buncher, very much a pragmatist, told me (I was the male grandchild, the prince), God just doesn’t make miracles, he ignites your abilities to make them happen. You want something like a miracle, then you make it happen, and God will assist! 

Seasons of Love

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure, measure a year? (Seasons of Love, from Rent written by Jonathan Larson)

Wednesday, at sunset, many Jews across the Earth will begin to rediscover themselves as the Days of Awe begin, starting with Rosh Hashanah and finishing with Yom Kippur. These ten days will begin with celebration, anticipating the new year and the many secrets yet to be discovered in our lives, it will finalize with a day of fasting and atonement, a 24 hour period in which we realize how fragile, frenetic, futile and fantastic our lives can be. Many of us, will pray in the Temples, or Shul’s and some of us will contemplate the greatness of our interpretation of OUR God, sitting on the cliff of a mountain, the edge of the sea, in the middle of a forest, or among the people we call friends and family. The High Holy Days will once again remind us that the Book of Life is a precarious, yet precious publication, in which no two copies are the same. Some will ask for forgiveness, some will receive the words, of course so, some will pledge to be better humans, and some will forget those words as the Torah is closed, and the next best thing arises.  For some there is tradition, for some it is a religious responsibility, some will wonder why me, and others may quietly mutter, thank goodness it was not me. A year ends and a year begins…Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes.

This year ending, for me, leaves me seeking answers, as to why it seems good people, must do a whole lot more good, just to keep up with bad people, who seem to get a way with doing less. This year ending, has reinforced my belief that I must be aware of my capacity to first change myself, (as if I were in an airplane, placing the oxygen mask on my traveling companion), then fight as hard as I can for change to affect those many around me.There are not endless minutes in a year, and if I am to be blessed that the last chapter in my book of life, reads: surprise, you got a whole new book coming up, I must make those minutes count. “How do you measure, measure a year?” Shana Tova!

Bucket List

The Party of Death, (except when it comes to their own member, politicians) is at it again, yep the GOP is making one last ditch effort to eliminate ObamaCare and turn it into TrumpCare, and as we all know oh too well, anything with the name of Trump included is a disaster (again, except for anyone named Trump or maybe Kushner). Seems Little Lindsey Graham and a newly gerrymandered Senator, Cassidy from Louisiana, under the dead of night and of course the nuclear threat of war with Korea, the devastation of two Hurricanes, have come up with a plan to raise insurance plans, eliminate pre-existing conditions, and making Health Insurance as healthy as eliminating the rules and regulations of the EPA. Catering to the base of the 30 some percent of Trump anarchist voters,  fearing that anyone of them might get Primaried, these two Senators have decided to serve their lemming like rodents and of course their Emperor Trump, rather than the health and welfare of the majority of Americans.

It seems also that the GOP understand how much closer the Mueller investigation is getting in convicting Trump and hopefully the entire cadre of Republican enablers, so creating death panels for the country is high on their list of fucking up this nation before all of them are in jail. Graham and Cassidy are heartless men who have no understanding of the average American. If they were interested in country, rather than Party, none of this last minute effort of Death Panels would exist.

This time there is added fear, as that Maverick Johnny McCain is best buds with Little Lindsey. They have some kind of Senate BroMance, and have hardly ever veered from supporting each other’s bills. Now, not to worry, America, cause with this new attempt at replacing ObamaCare, Lindsey made sure that the Congress can keep their socialist insurance, so Johnny McCain can continue to have the best treatment for his brain cancer. The thing about Johnny (the Maverick) has been and still is the bull shit surrounding him plus his grudge. He talks a good game, getting 15 minutes of fame whenever he can, but his heart is as dark as the rest of the Party of Death. The Maverick is still sore about losing to the Black Guy, so replacing ObamaCare with Death Panels is still on McCain’s Bucket List. I might ask how you live with yourself, especially when you understand the pain, the agony of a terrible disease, but then Johnny is a Republican and they could give a shit!

Dear and true

Colin Kaepernick, as an American decided that the words the music of the National Anthem no longer was an inclusive symbol of freedom for all Americans and protested by “taking a knee.” The NFL, a reactionary Corporation, pretending that Motherhood and Apple Pie were their priorities, made sure that along with the red, white and blue they too would keep America safe, pure and have undermined future opportunities for Mr Kaepernick’s football career. The NFL had no problem with their Players who beat their wives or girlfriends, or raped a few women on the side, or even created dog fighting venues…nope, those guys were okay to play because, at least THEY stood for the National Anthem.

Trump, stands for the National Anthem, Trump most likely stands for the Russian National Anthem.  Steve Bannon and the Trump adult older kids stand for the National Anthem. Why even wily Jeff Sessions stands for the National Anthem. But somehow there is no problem in calling them true Americans, even though they have colluded with the Russians in hacking one of our major democratic principles, free elections. Or attacking the parts of the Constitution whose Preamble states: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

So much hypocrisy, so many double standards, so many empty definitions for what a true American should be, what patriotism really means, the purpose of democracy. Neo Nazi’s march, in support of Trump, and who Trump still insists some of them are good guys, representing a true enemy of this nations for which Americans died and yet if they stand as the National Anthem is played they get more respect than Colin Kaepernick. Men and Women, waving Confederate Flags, still holding on to those flags stand as the National Anthem is played and somehow they are considered real Americans. Isn't it time, no IT IS ABOUT time we stop pretending, that someone “taking a knee," during the National Anthem, is the real enemy, when in fact we have an administration salivating to destroy every single democratic purpose and principle this nation has held to be dear and true. 

justice

An insecure man, pathetic, pleasuring himself, using his tiny fingers, he reposts a meme, demonstrating his golf prowess, swinging his club as we watch his golf ball hit a female boarding a plane; watching as the ball strikes her on the back of the head causing her to fall. The teeny, parasite of the man showcasing a nasty temperament of course is Trump and the female to whom he is venting his anger and dismay, is a woman dressed in a blue suit who, at the original posting of this hateful video was a stand in for Hillary. Hillary’s book has been published and Hillary has taken to the media, sharing her point of view regarding Trump…and Trump’s only ability to respond is to do so via an act of violence. Trump fears he is not masculine enough…he has never had a healthy vision of his own machismo. Trump surrounds himself with Generals, Troops in military uniforms… he grabs the hand of the person he is about to greet and pulls the individual toward Trump almost as if they were arm wrestling….Trump believes that a beautiful woman increases the size of his own genitals…and one of the worst things any little lassie can do is to be smart, demonstrate strength in judgement and of course disparage Trumps empty, frail, narcissistic ego…

Back to a billion Tweets, Trump has once again provided this nation and the world with even MORE reason why ALL of us live in danger because a deranged man occupies the most powerful position in the world, and refuses to admit that he suffers from a mental illness too sever to be ignored. What, I wonder, will be the trigger, the instant flash, the one step beyond, the mere matter of its too late, before it actually is too late, and Trump, the victor has murdered any hope, chance or choice for a change for the better. I have been scared, remained scared regarding this man and his minions who support him. Where is the justice for the rest of us, and when will, if ever, I wonder, will justice FINALLY find footing and kick this man out of office and into jail! 

He is still here

Unless your head is up your ass and you like closed in spaces with very little breathing room, YOU know that Trump is void of a conscience. Many have ranted and raved regarding his major disability, pointing out the auxiliary ailments for this disability like a black hole for a heart, insecurity and paranoia, double speak, loving the lie and the inability to communicate in real sentences with correct spelling and grammar. But, NEVERTHELESS, Trump is excused for all of his faults, all of his ineffectual influence, all of his narcissistic notions, and has not really been challenged regarding the collusion by the Russians, the collaboration by the Republicans, and now the insane notion by Senator Chuck Schumer and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, that somehow they have out conned the Snake Oil Salesman from Hell. I have never been a fan of Used Car Salesman Schumer, a professional politician, but am quite disappointed with Ms Pelosi who I once considered a person with great insight. They think THEY got a deal with Trump and as if they were novices to the world of Washington, actually believe Trump won’t change his mind, depending on how popular he thinks he may be at the time, or until his Co-President Steve Bannon, tells him differently!

So, like the long list of Republican dupes or is it douches, like McConnell, Sessions, Comey, Spicer, and Ryan, Pelosi and Schumer have been made fools of, and have foolishly promoted the idea that ANY part of the Trump reign of terror is legit. The moron, Trump is GOOD at the CON, he is stupid enough to not care about the facts, but smart enough to make the facts which survive for mere minutes under his administration make fools of themselves. Each day, Trump Tweets or addresses an audience…every moment that follow either, someone from his The Emperor Has No Clothes Brigade of goons, reinterprets what Trump actually meant (forgetting that Trump knew exactly what he meant), and Trump-splains to the nation that hate is still on the agenda, fear is always on the agenda, and the only populist thing in Trumps whole brain is done for the 1%. And then we are all told God Bless America and now as good citizens lets go on our way. Do not pay attention to theOrange Guerrilla in the room.

What have we become? We all know, (those of us who understand blackmail, hacking, and collusion) Trumps administration is illegitimate, but yet we pretend that in the age of Trump the rules of the Constitution must take priority. Trump lifts his leg to pee on the Constitution, or actually uses it to wipe his rear-end, and the rest of us watch but do nothing at all to stop him. Shame on us!

The Rules

Play by the rules, most of us have heard those four words ever since we started kindergarten, or perhaps if we were lucky enough to grow up in a neighborhood where plenty of kids played outside. The rules, were the boundaries by which we could compete fairly, and the rules were also the hands of a boggy man who would reach out and grab you if you broke them. It was simple, we thought, as kids, and as kids most often, WE, using one voice could chastise the breaker of the rules, not out of personal anger, but out of fact. This IS the game, this IS how you play it, this IS how you get kicked out if you ignore, THE RULES.

American’s thought we were playing by the rules (albeit, rules stretched by unconstitutional gerrymandering/illegal voter restrictions/and the sudden emergence of dark money and Corporations becoming People) as we headed to the voting booths, in earnest doing our democratic duties and electing leadership. We thought the rules might be a little shaky, but still, in some oblivious observation, we counted on the rules to keep America almost honest and almost fair. As most of us played by the rules, it has become clearer and clearer that Trump, the Trump Campaign, the leadership of the GOP had another set of secret rules by which they played, all motivated by the ex KGB spy master Vladimir Putin. The obvious clue to understanding that rules were being broken by the Republicans were three fold…the first, was that the Russians not only hacked the DNC, but they also admitted to hacking the RNC, imagine the information collected regarding the RNC, and just how much leverage Putin and his hackers had dangling over the heads of the GOP leadership…the second was the amazing amount of business dealings the Trump family had with the Russian oligarchs, who under the Putin dictatorship, might be wealthy Russians, but they too had to pay the Piper named Putin…and this, the ever amazing prediction of the future by Trump Campaign talking heads and even trump himself regarding some surprising news that just might come forward regarding Hillary and her campaign.

So here we are September 15, 2017, and somehow the American public is told to STILL play by the rules, the same rules which have been stomped on, kicked, shredded, voided, and violated by Trump, his family, his Cabinet members, and of course the leadership of both the Republican majority in the House and Senate. I am tired of playing by the rules when the rules seem only to adhere to my life, my future, my equality, my freedoms. When do we as Americans STOP the bullshit of pretending Trump and many of the Republicans election into office was and IS legitimate. When will we finally find out backbone and make EVERYONE play by the rules? 

Ignorance of the Obvious

For me, it is just Ignorance of the Obvious, a disease that seems to freely flow in our current culture. Mass destruction caused by nature has caused havoc and horrors not only in our country, but throughout the nations of a shared planet. The lives that were lost are horrendous, but the lives of those who have survived have turned into nightmares from which we all wish we could wake up instantly! We saw the clown show of ‘one-up’s-manship’ performed by ratings hungry reporters, we heard the dire intro music with the words Harvey or Irma all in caps, and between the millions of commercials we were informed that people were evacuating but never told the hell holes they were asked to reside in for God, only knew or knows how long. Politicians patted themselves on the back, and the idiot residing in the Oval Office, could only tell the world how big these storms were or just how happy the victims seemed to be while sweltering in buildings, wearing damp clothes, having wondered what might happen to their homes left behind. The fires are still burning in the West, the 8.0 Earthquake took a serious toll in Mexico, the flooding on the Asian Continent is raging the lives of those already living in poverty, and some of the Caribbean Islands looked as if an atomic bomb had been dropped on the landscape. I am never sure how the survivors survive to be honest. A pit grows inside my stomach just considering the possibilities of what do you do next, where do you go and to whom do you turn.

This is when I do repeat the phrase in my head the Ignorance of the Obvious. The livelihoods of many have been devastated, there will be little to income for many, leaving not only a lack of shelter, a loss of self, but very limited income to first purchase boots to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps (You know the republican mantra of if you can’t do it yourself, then you are lazy and a burden to the government.) We think that the Red Cross will come to the rescue, and perhaps some volunteer will make an immediate impact to the wealthier citizens lives, we hope that the National Guard will keep order and assist in trying to normalize an every day existence, but even the Guard is limited in that task, and we await the politicians to pontificate on how we are Americans so of course we will get through this. I was not flooded, so of course I WILL get though this. The Ignorance is that because it is one more disaster, we can manage it, never reminding ourselves of the previous disasters from which the scabs are not yet healed. The Obvious is that if we truly were a country with compassion there are ways to move ahead.

I never understand why the Government does not hire locals, giving them a salary, to do the work of rebuilding their own cities and towns. So many people will be unemployed, having to wait for FEMA or the Insurance companies to play bureaucratic mind games, growing angry with the wait. So many people will take one step forward and two steps backs salivating as the government attempts to make progress, while usually using words instead of action.  For every disaster lets recreate the WPA,(Works Progress Administration) that was used in the Great Depression). Put people to work, give them a goal, actually lead them forward rather than having them stand in place for what must seem an eternity. It all seems on a human level so simple so inclusive, for me its just the issue of Ignorance of the Obvious that it won’t happen.

Jury Duty

I read my Jury Summons, understood that somehow, it was my obligation, as a citizen to offer my services as a potential Juror. I was reminded by the 15 minute orientation video, that I was special, that it was necessary for me to become one with my peers and if asked, to proudly sit, on a Jury for the Superior Court of California. I was also reminded, almost at the very end of the video, as the patriotic music was ebbing into oblivion, that a US Marshal would come and pay me a visit if I did not show up at court to do my American thing. I drove from my home on the West Side of LA to DTLA ( its cool, its upscale, its DownTown LA), taking Melrose Avenue going east. It was early in the morning because nothing says Jury Duty like being in court at 8 a.m. Melrose, like most of LA has become gentrified, rents are outrageously high, mom and pop shops replaced by clothing boutiques with price tags starting at $3000 for a dress, to Coffee Shops selling a basic latte for $8.50. But gentrification does take time, and as if a tornado had hit Melrose, the scenery changed, and mom and pop shops suddenly emerged, and with the battered buildings were many more homeless, either waking up from their slumber in from of a shuttered store, or some now claiming their territory for the upcoming day.  Had I not been a resident of LA I would have thought I had taken a turn, got lost of ended up in some strange configuration of a neighborhood?

Melrose lead to the 101 Freeway, a maddening mysterious road with more merging per mile, more exits per mile and more mindless drivers on their phones all trying to get to the same place, but never quite getting there on time. In LA the use of a turn single to merge is an insane arcane practice, a turn single in LA justifies the car in the next lane to speed up and of course not let you in. Sometimes my Pittsburgh driving skills are just so ancient. A few exits later and I am in DTLA. I understand why it is called DTLA, because THIS neighborhood is so new, so fresh, so fantastic, so much millennial. And like so many urban planners, the folks in LA, decided that the poor, the homeless, the mentally ill, who used to inhabit Down Town, were really no longer necessary.  And like so many urban centers, all proud of their shiny high-rises, and expensive restaurants and overly expensive shops, the former residents were shifted away, to rot in parts of town not yet pricy, to fend for themselves, because it is not too cool to build homes for the homeless.

My case was to be at least a 30 day trial. The judge asked who might have a financial problem with the duration of the trial. Strangers, just innocent citizens of LA, had to openly discuss their income, in front of all of us. Somehow a single mother, making $20,000 who needed to take her kids to school before work and pick them up after work, was the bad guy for requesting a waiver for 30 days of a trial. Caregivers, family members were told to hire someone else to take care of their parents or spouses or children. All 50 of us had to hear the trials and tribulations of total strangers, all seemingly shamed because they needed to work, they needed to take care of family members. Its the law, said the Judge. As I sat there listening to real life concerns, all I could think of was the Judge telling us we must abide by the law, while the guy sitting in the Oval Office has broken almost a dozen laws. How was this fair I thought? How does America work, I wondered? 

September 11

Yesterday was September 11. Briefly, the day was acknowledged, by the media, with snippets of the ceremonies held in New York City, DC, and in Pennsylvania. As if September 11 was no longer THAT newsworthy, the media permitted it a 15 minutes of fame moment, but as is usual, the glamour was no longer, prime time, and all we got was a quiet remembrance of a day that both ended the lives of thousands and changed the future for millions. September 11, 2001, was history, a subject we often fail, as a country, to study, let alone learn from. Interesting to wonder if in the future, September 11 will be known for a Hurricane named Irma, rather then “the day the music died," as the lyrics go for the song ‘American Pie”, by Don McLean.

Trump and his wife Melania, he with even a more somber sour puss on his face, and she hidden behind another expensive pair of sunglasses, with her ever ready pout, stood in front of a microphone, addressing, I suppose, the nation, albeit, even Trump’s September 11 appearance received little attention, to let us know a few things. To paraphrase Trump, he told the audience that September 11, should remind us of the evil things out there (I guess out there was a reference to the rest of the world). Trump, ever the so called populist huffed and puffed and added , but we are America and tried to assure us that September 11, will never again darken our doorstep!

And that is when for the one-hundredth time I almost threw my lamp at the television set. Trump, the Putin puppet, the family man whose family business has been supported financially by Russian oligarchs, the man who embraces the good Nazi’s, White Nationalists, the KKK had the audacity to tell America that the EVIL IS OUT THERE! Trump has brought the EVIL into the White House, He has brought the EVIL into his Cabinet, he wines and dines with EVIL. I am not naive, (Trump IS a con man) and God knows too many red, white and blue Americans seem to be, BUT once again, Trump stooped low, and he seemingly got away with it, once again. A man whose election was bought and paid for by Russia, with the collusion of the leadership of the Republican Party, stands in front of America on September 11, 2017, acting as if HE is the good guy communicating that the EVIL is out there is just one sad day for this nation, and one day too many he still sits in the Oval Office.

Circumspect

We were reminded over the past few weeks, of a few things…Texans pull together to help fellow Texans…Ted Cruz is worried about re-election and actually pretended to care about his voters…Floridians, are strong folk…Marco Rubio doesn’t watch Game of Thrones, but suggests Floridians snuggle up to their TV’s and watch it during a hurricane…the American Virgin Islands are out of sight and out of mind…aid from Mexico is not important…Cable news crew love to stand out in weather and show us just how stupid they can be, and try to out do one another for ratings, while spending little time on the masses in shelters or those who were stranded trying to find a shelter…Trump once again likes his weather bigger and better…Scott Pruitt is still working for the people called Corporations and is insulted that we even mention climate change during two, once in a Century, cataclysmic natural events taking place one week after another. And that a news cycle is JUST a news cycle and Hurricane Harvey was JUST so yesterday!

Death and destruction, total frustration and most likely economic tragedy for the very poor, not to mention post traumatic symptoms, have befallen and are continuing to infect this nation, but once the actual news event is not worth the ratings, not much else is said or done about it…Remember Hurricane Katrina and the folks who still have not had their lives refreshed or renewed! There were 90 members of the so called Freedom Caucus ( a bunch of Jesus loves me gerrymandered Christian Conservatives who still wave the Confederate Flag) felt that assisting Texans or Floridians was not what the Founding Fathers wanted when they and of course Jesus wrote the Constitution, so they voted against the Federal Government providing 60 Billion dollars in aid. (Oh yeah, as if that will make a difference.)

The entertainment spectacle on every news outlet was amazing. Scary music, and the bold image of IRMA flashing in front of our eyes and then we saw maps, and heard about cautions, and saw videos…Nothing wrong with any of that, and perhaps for those Americans who still had power it was educational…but now what…Will we now find out about the recovery in Houston, the lives of people in the Caribbean. Will we hound the GOP on climate change…or will we just react when the next disaster arrives, acing shocked but never circumspect!  

Now, what

With a kind of hissing sound, a rolling of the eyes, or the ever present dismissal waving the right hand in a snippety manner, we usually hear the following responses…”Now is NOT the time”…”Lets not make personal tragedies turn into political rhetoric…’"Right now our thoughts and prayers are sufficient enough!” All three avoidances were used at each and every mass shooting, in this country’s history whenever a reporter or Progressive politician asked about Gun Control. The Republicans, all rehearsing their Party’s line pretending to huff and puff that someone might have the audacity to question the insanity of not one iota of an attempt to curb gun violence, act as if some sensible discussion let alone life saving law is more immoral than the lack of stopping murders of innocents. It was never the right time, immediately after the third, fourth, fifth, sixteenth time of mass murders, and now we still don’t discuss the issue of gun control.

Wildfires in the western states, ravaging thousands of acres of land…Supposedly once in a 100 years catastrophic hurricanes and flooding, not only in the United States but in the Southern Asian Continent…An 8.0 earthquake in Mexico…Drought in Africa and parts of the US…and in response from the same Republicans whose personal space seems to be insulted, when questioned about Climate Change or Global Warming, tell us,”Why are you making this a political issue, its just Mother Nature, shit happens.” The Evangelicals placing their heads up their own asses, respond, God created the Earth and surely wouldn’t ruin it, or that is why God sent his only son, Jesus, to make sure nothing really bad happens. Corporations buy and sell politicians, and try to erase any fact that guns kill, and climate change kills.

So, what happens next! The Congress just passed a bull shit stop gap of billions of dollars, for what? What happens when the money runs out and another once in a Century disaster takes place? What happens when the rebuilding is built for those who can afford to start all over again, but nothing really drips or drops for the poor, the homeless? What happens when murders by the people who own guns rises, or the sea levels rise? “Too soon to discuss anything relevant…too emotional to have a relevant conversation…too much time and effort might have to be asked of the Corporations who are people, or the 1% who somehow think their families will never be killed by a madman with a gun, or that their kids will survive melting icebergs, and polluted air. Harvey is yesterday’s news, and just as quickly Irma will be a blast from the past.

Some Words

I have always understood the power of words. When a good writer places pen to paper he or she is approaching a canvass, as an artist might, and with the first word of a sentence, the first sentence of a paragraph, the writer is expressing his or her form of art, and expression of self. The older I get, the more I embrace the careful value that the placement of words have, and the emotion many words can convey, or sadly lack of emotion. What we say, how we say it, for me, take time, involve empathy, compassion, sincerity, perhaps sarcasm, and truth. I have discovered the BLOG, and happily so, have made every attempt to speak up, speak out, and be heard. I don’t want to spend my dying days wishing if only I had said….

I love to write, and I love the esthetics of words. Like the hues and colors an artist chooses, I try to pick, choose, select and suggest words that make a point, point out hypocrisy, and place the burden of truth on all of us who prefer to deny it. But today, September 8, 2017, I have somehow become unable to say exactly what I feel, regarding the overwhelming natural disasters which have plagued not only America, but Mexico and the Asian continent. From wildfires, to hurricanes, from flooding to earthquakes, the amount of personal devastation to toward those I know and love to mere strangers on this planet, have wreaked havoc with my brain. I am not certain anymore what can be said.

Today, as I watched MSNBC, the reporter interviewed a woman in South Florida, she was late in line and there was no more plywood. She had no car, but has a daughter and a mother for whom she is the leader, the one to be counted on. I watched as woman was interviewed on CNN, from the Meyerland neighborhood of Houston, telling the reporter, this is the second time her house had been flooded, but she has a mortgage, and reality insists that she must build on the same property, again. I sent messages go safe travels to my Florida friends who were lucky to exit the state, with all of them wondering exactly what will they come back to. Thank goodness, for the moment, I can be an observer of the dire  and destructive way of the world. I am confused as to what I say…do i wish them well…do I pray for them…do i write prose about their courage…I am not sure, in this moment of time which words I should and can use. I have always, ALWAYS understood the power of words, but today, I feel like Superman being tasered with a bolt of Krypton…

A Dude

Poor pitiful, pathetic Paul Ryan, huffing and puffing trying to blow down the house of the Democrats, when in fact the blustering, bellowing BS of Trump, knocked at your own foundation and caused you to implode. Wham, Bam, Thank you Ma’am, your bravado turned out to be nothing but a whimper, followed by a YES, Sir, Mr Trump, anything you say!

Now, one has to wonder, Mr Wonder Boy, (at least some Republicans considered you the next best invention since white bread), when did your backbone collapse, when did your spine turn into mush OR better yet when did you decide to participate in the Russian Collusion by assisting Putin to turn you, McConnell and I am sure a whole bunch of other GOP politicians and pundits into his puppets? Surely, an egomaniac, self promoting, its all about me man like you, would NEVER let an insecure, clown like Trump give you marching orders. Surely, Paul Ryan, all American savior of America, could never be led by a narcissistic idiot whose only knowledge of the world is based on where he owns property. And surely, the Speaker of the House, the third man in power according to a once believable Constitution, shouldn’t be expected to flip then flop then eat his own words, especially when it is done as a demeaning public spectacle!

So, here is my question Paul Ryan, and as an American citizen, I really do believe I am owed an answer…Are you just a shell of a man, a facade, a failure of a figure of a man who has no direction, no distinctive qualities, no conscience…are you a Party before Country kind of self serving lacky…OR Mr Speaker (Remember when you were supposed to be the future of the Republican Party), are an anarchist, a traitor, a participant in an ugly attack on the democracy of this nation, so fearful that your policies are so unpopular that you and your Republican leadership ilk, took bribes from Vladimir Putin to destroy any and all principles of the United States? What a sham, you are, Paul Ryan! Oh, yeah how can you look your kids in the eye or kiss them good night, knowing that you are being blackmailed by the king of the KGB, Mr Putin of Russia. Its hard being you, isn’t it dude! 

PATHETIC

I am not a good teller of jokes. I either forget the punchline, or get bored when someone is sharing a joke and there is way too much verbiage to get to the punchline. But TODAY, I must share a joke. Sadly it is a sick joke, and the punchline even more sadly, is all about the citizens of this nation.

Today, Thursday, September 7, 2017 Donald Trump Junior had been called to speak to the STAFF members of a Senate Committee, pretending to look into the collusion between the Trump Campaign and the Russian Government. So, I will share the joke. Donald Trump Jr is speaking to the STAFF people of the Senate, regarding his meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower. Trump Jr is NOT under oath, and the New York Times reports that Trump has changed his story a third time as to why he was in a meeting with the Russians. This time, according to Trump WHO IS NOT UNDER OATHE, was that Donnie Jr was doing the American public a great service because he ONLY met with the Russians BECAUSE they might have some information regarding why HILLARY as president would be a BAD THING for this nation. Donnie Jr was meeting to save America from HILLARY! What a Mench!

So, after my lengthy intro to the joke, here is the punchline. Senators couldn’t find the time to meet with Donnie Jr…Donnie Jr, of the acclaimed Trump family, you know the family caught in about a dozen or more lies was NOT UNDER OATHE…and NOW for a third time Donnie Jr’s story has changed. I guess three times is  a charm, except for Trump Jr i am sure there will be a fourth and fifth time. Laughing yet…funny enough…or is the word I am searching for PATHETIC!

Horror movies

The really good horror stories, the kind that cause you to keep a light on as you sleep, always begin with the supposed creature lurking on the outside, the parameters of the house. Something out there wants to get inside your home and of course eat you. I can eat a whole bag of popcorn and then another as i watch the characters run, scream, dash from their cars, their bikes, or run half naked from the beach madly, and emphatically trying to get to the safety of their home. Once inside, the characters lock the doors, bolt the windows, cower in a corner, thinking that all they need to stay safe is to keep the monster outside, because of course, everyone in the house is one of them, the good guys! The really, really, REALLY good horror movies provide the viewer with the truth, however, cause most often the barriers to keep the monster outside turn into a trap and only lead to bloodshed INSIDE, because monsters can always be among us, and at times it is not until the end that we find out. BOO!

So Trump and his band of bottom feeders believe that 800,000 Dreamers, kids either born in this nation, or who, at an early age grew up in America, are monsters. 800,000 people who work, study, support a nation they have known for most of their lives, are suddenly creatures, creatures that a group lemming like insecure racists want to remove. Like the townsfolk in a Frankenstein movie, the uneducated on facts but fed with fear fools are t the ready to practice their patriotism and of course Christianity by breaking up families, and sending children right smack dab BACK into harms way. Remember, like in the movies we think OUR home is safe and without any evil entity.

Like a horror movie, as if real, life was scripted by Stephen King, the truth of the matter is that the monster does dwell inside the house. The KKK, The Alt-Right, the White Supremacists, are home grown villains and monsters. Stupidly, like the characters in the movies, we overlook the obvious permitting ourselves with the guiding principles of hysteria, and ignore the creatures INSIDE who want to rob us of our freedoms. We blame the OTHER, the dark skin, brown skin, the ones with funny names as the slimy sinister creature. Kick them out lock the doors, but then one we accomplish that we are stuck INSIDE OUR house and who do we share the four ways with, but men and women whose only desire in life is to destroy any democracy and decency from our lives. Its all true, just watch a really good horror movie!

Stop Hiding

Hiding behind apple pie, baseball and of course motherhood, Paul Ryan looked into the camera and applauded the survival of civility within the United States. Citing the effort of neighbors helping neighbors, in Texas, furling his brow regarding Hurricane Irma as it heads toward Florida, The Speaker, paused inhaled oh so dramatically, and provided us with a dour, dreary droopy kind of dramatic expression and said civility must continue. Of course, Paul, the hypocrite,Ryan continued, to let the world know the Republicans were truly concerned. What he didn’t say, was that it was the republican plan to cut funds from FEMA, it has been the Republican plan to gut the EPA, and that the Republicans still insist that Climate Change and Global Warming are terms invented by Liberals and progressives.

Hiding behind his own disregard for the Constitution, insisting that President Obama’s decision on DACA was illegal, Speaker Ryan applauded Trump for his bravery in bringing the issues of Dreamers to the forefront insisting that Trump (an illegitimate President) was doing America a favor by demanding 800,000 people be deported. Arguing that because of Trump, NOW, the Republicans, (who at every turn in the road refused to create any laws safeguarding legal immigrants) will act in accordance with civility and discuss the Dreamers. After all Trump, according to Paul Ryan, demonstrating empathy provided law makers until March to decide the fate of 800,000 people, who have only known, and who have served the needs of this COUNTRY.

Hiding behind the emptiness of heart turned into a black hole, when asked why Ryan could not just ask his fellow Republicans to join the Dems and IMMEDIATELY pass a lawton keep DACA in place, so 800,000 legal immigrants could stop worrying about deportation…Paul Ryan shrugged, tried to answer that boarder security was just as important, and good ole’ Trump gave Congress plenty of time to pass a law. Imagine Paul Ryan, if between September and March your kids had no idea if they could stay in the one country they have known ALL of their lives. Imagine, Paul Ryan the angst, the anxiety, trauma and fear each and every day that would haunt your kids, sending them back to the same countries, who upon their arrival there would jail them, demean them and perhaps murder them. Stop hiding Paul Ryan…do you have no conscience or do Trump and Putin just have too much blackmail on you for your own disregard for democracy!