(#5907) Feeding my mind

      The beauty of life for me is the never ending quest to know things. I am nearer the end of my life than the beginning but the need to keep knowing that which I don't know is constant. It is sad to know that I will not live long enough to satisfy all my curiosity but I accept that inevitability. In the meantime, I find that yearning within me is being addressed with information that expands my conceptual horizons. I also know that once I expire the utility of all that curiosity within me is moot. Yet, while I live it is fulfilling to have the opportunity to enlighten myself with answered questions.
     Furthermore, the journey toward understanding is as satisfying as the understanding itself. Taking on concepts that I previously gave little thought to reminds me of what could have been had I been in the place I am now. Yet, the past is what it is but my present and future are not set in stone yet. So adding to my knowledge base despite it being of much influence now is still important to me. What seemed difficult to comprehend in my younger life seems to be easier now. I suppose I had too many other interests that diluted my comprehension back then. What I am finding as unfortunate is that wisdom often comes too late for at least me when I really needed it earlier in life. Again, no sense in using hindsight now when I did not choose to use foresight when it was available.
     None of us is perfect so we all at least have that in common. What I do know is that I am free to do what I want now and I am thankful for that. I have survived my youth and all its behavior in order for me to now feed my mind instead of my spontaneity. We are all just existing as we move through time and space so what better informative entertainment for me is there than learning and understanding. Somehow I became part of this existence regardless of intent or purpose. I am here so discovering what this existence has to offer beyond my own understanding is paramount for me. I know I cannot know it all but I can know some of which I don't know, when I give myself a chance.

(#5906) The tariff gambit

      What is a gambit? Here is a revealing definition from Google: "a strategic move, often involving a sacrifice, intended to gain an advantage, used in chess, but also applicable to other situations like politics or business." This term gambit realistically applies to what trump is doing with our economy concerning his use of tariffs. He, trump, is making an initial move with enacting tariffs as way to isolate America from the global economy. The world is now a global economy and trump wishes to reverse that and it appears at all costs to we the consumers. Tariffs have the unsettling effect of raising prices and we who have little will find we have even less.
     What trump hopes is that American products will pick up the slack of the lessening of foreign products without stating a plan for that to actually happen. He doesn't care either that we the American consumer are going to be hit with higher prices as inflation is still a problem that hasn't balanced back out from before trump's mishandling of the Covid pandemic in his first term. So instead of we Americans leading economic recovery all over the world we are now going to be bystanders. The rest of the world order will continue to search and find new solutions to economically grow and expand. Tariffs create isolation and that is exactly what the end result of what the trump tariff gambit will do to the American economy.
     Tariffs also allow trump to dictate our economy under terms favorable to his cohorts. He is willing to let the American consumer suffer with higher costs while he adjusts our nation into a disadvantageous bargaining position. Tariffs will increase prices for the foreseeable future with no relief in view. Tariffs traditionally lead to economic recessions and depressions and this latest gambit by trump is not immune to the same results. Denial is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. Well we are seeing that with trump, and again unfortunately, we are the ones who will pay the price for trump's denial about the effect of tariffs. We had the strongest economy in the world under Biden and now trump is on course to destroy that!

(#5905) Reality is now surreal

      With America in the hands of trump and his republican handlers the traditional normal is gone . What is now everywhere is the bizarre! However it is only bizarre if you don't understand that talking out of both sides of your mouth is the new normal. Mixing lies in with truths is a staple of republican politics. It is how they can convince otherwise decent human beings that their better instincts are flawed. With just enough truth and a convincing prejudicial story the narrative is set for many to be led around. What the trumps and republicans also count on is the less educated challenging their view on things. It is sad to say but so very true that we Americans have lost our curiosity to learn and stay abreast of current factual knowledge.
     Which makes the trumps and their ilk so successful at gaining American's loyalty. I won't blame we Americans for falling for the lies of the conmen but I will not dismiss our role in actuating the deception. Blame isn't my focus here anyway. What is my purpose is exposing the workings of what is wrong with us. The republican leadership since nixon has fallen down and not gotten back up to any semblance of honor. Instead they rely upon trickery and force to gather their following. The old republican party used to have loyal followers who were aboard because of restrained concepts, arguably good or bad, with finances. Those days are gone but the loyalty that too many republicans embedded is now their difficult millstone to release.
     As republicans have become tied to a laziness of mind we democrats never stop thinking. Which is the real difference between the two current parties. We democrats will not defend the indefensible, instead we will confront the indefensible; while republicans will accept the indefensible while contorting themselves into pretzels defending it. My life is simple as a democrat. I call it what it is after careful consideration. I cannot be like a republican who must always think of ways to call things good when logically they are not. As we all move forward into this current surreal time we are going to come to a point where the danger exceeds the illogic. It is then that we have to be able to stop the nonsense and return to the basic concepts of learning and adhering to truths, not fallacies.

(#5904) The republicans got their wild west opportunity

      We shall see how it plays out but a wild west scenario is the direction trump will push our society. No more fairness or equality. Instead it will be survival of the fittest even though no one is born with any greater deserve than another. What is so astonishing to me is that we the people of the US are willing to let it happen. Instead of building a society that honors all of us with equal footing. There cannot be peace when the struggle is self inflicted. Peace is where we all can come out into the light of day or dark of night and feel secure in our being. With this new dynamic not even the light of day is safe now.
     When it is open season on people like we are in, a shooting game preserve, the nightmare of a feared survival is not nuanced, it is starkly real. Instead of finding commonality so that our lives are simpler to lead, we have chosen to leave ourselves vulnerable to the uncaring who have no compunction to care about anyone but themselves. We did this to ourselves and are still doing it. I am in a bit of a state of shock that we Americans are so out of tune with normalcy and improving society for the better for all. We all who are born into this existence are  not incapable of seeing what other countries are doing to improve their societies so what is wrong with us?
     Whatever the wrong with us is has us spiraling down as an advancing society to go back to the days where punishments for doing nothing wrong is acceptable. Our nation is going against the rights of our species to have an existence that compliments us instead of one that degrades and subjects us. Our history has shown that nothing good comes from a society where less democratic values exist. Yet as an American society have failed to learn that lesson as a rule. The privilege now being installed will destroy individual creativity in order for the dullards in charge to have a lustful power. How utter embarrassing to our foreparents who fought so hard to give us, their children, a better democracy that we subsequently intend to destroy.

(#5903) I could stay silent and think I am safe but that is just not me!

      I hear the rumors of all the ways the trumps are going to silence their critics. It seems that many imaginations are running overtime on this subject. To be clear some of the ways are proving to be true like government mandated street kidnappings, imprisonments and deportations. I have been saying since day one of trump entering the presidential race back in 2015 that he is a disaster to democracy and no good can come about with his illusions of grandeur. I will keep saying what I know about him and what he is driving to accomplish. He wants to be the first King of America. The man is so up his own ass in love with himself that there is no room in existence for anyone who doesn't agree with him.
     If I somehow wasn't around any more it would likely be because I have had to answer for my voice not being silent. Now I am at an age where death is not uncommon in ordinary terms so that would be a good possibility but other than natural causes with validation I don't mind the threat coming from the trumps to being quiet. I will never support trump and his bullshit demented imaginings. So if I am in that unfortunate group of folks who have to pay a grave price for being myself then so be it. However, trump and his goons are not going to get away with it in the dark of silence.
     When the first Africans were brought over as slaves more than 400 years ago they dreamed of a day when the wrong of it would be rectified. Time has passed and the correction of the wrong, although still with its remnants, has moved toward justice. So will be the eventual correction of the wrongs of trump. Those of us who will not give up our individual rights as free human beings will be the sharp edge of the spear in combating the darkness trumps want to bring to our lives. We who have no wish to will be the martyrs that have to stand tall and fight with no resignation for the future to have a chance at recovering from the brutality that trump and tyrants like him love to inflict as a salve for their own inadequacies.

(#5902) The rule of law and the Supreme Court

      The republican party has been working to manipulate our society so that their version of our future is their reality despite what a majority of our society desires. They do this by corrupting our institutions with exploitations aimed at restricting voting and threats to our way of life. They are trying and succeeding at strong arming our electorate with falsehoods and untrue allegations of criminality. The republican party is not a political party anymore as it has become a cult following. They have found their piper and he is playing their tune nonstop. Giving republicans power over our society is our undoing as a democracy just as the republican party has envisioned.
     The republican vision is to rule omnipotently without debate. How the ones who support them cannot see this is almost surreal. Unless of course the supporters of republicans are just as invested in taking down democracy to inject their own prejudices and biases as an authoritarian foundation. Hate and fear is the republican way so those who are still supporting republicans have no shelter left to hide from this truth! Which now brings us to the Supreme Court. There have been signs that this republican dominated Supreme Court is breaking from the republican attempts to dismantle democracy. There is an existential struggle here with the Supreme Court and its reluctance to resign its place in our democracy.
     The rule of law has always been the foundation of the Supreme Court yet if the republican party has its way the Supreme Court will be delegated to being a process server for the leaders of the republican party. A few of the republicans on the Supreme Court understand this and are showing signs of disengaging from having their considerations nullified. The current last bastion of a constitutional institutional guardrail is not fully aligned with the republican intention to transfer power to a tyranny. The Supreme Court may yet find its courage and oath to democracy. Heroes are those who stand for the best of who we are when faced with dangers that are real. We will see how much courage the wavering republicans on the Supreme Court can muster for the sake of our endangered democracy.

(#5901) With trumps, depravity overrules shame

      We are all human beings who face the same type of learning experiences. Many of us learn that our shame decides for us that whatever activity or concept we tried is not worth continuing. We, the many, use a balancing equation within our minds to determine what is allowable in our conduct and what should never be. We instinctively model an equation that includes morality, ethics, common sense, and legal acceptance. We also consider harm to ourselves or others. The many of us correctly conclude that either the behavior is not allowable because it does harm in some fashion or another to our decency and respect.
     But there is a significant number of people who choose not to use the same equation. Instead they have decided that no matter the shame of an improper thing they will continue to do it regardless of the shame that is obvious. They have started from a position that does not include the restriction of harming other people. They have started from the position that their own self indulgence in any activity is justified due to some craven concept that they deserve above what others deserve. Common sense, law, morality and ethics are not enough of a deterrence to nullify their lusts and cravings.
     Thus we have the trumps who, as a group of people, align with the idea that having a conscience is a negative human trait. They have removed the sensibilities of civilized behavior for one that discounts empathy in order to favor advantageous cruelty. Their ambition is to satisfy themselves at the expense of whomever is vulnerable enough to accommodate them. Once satisfied they are off to their next conquest. The trumps are like a horde of locusts. Feeding off the body of its host until the only thing left is waste. We, as the body, are feeling the beginning of the ravaging of trumps and unfortunately we have much time left to feel more to come. As more people come to the realization that trumps are a plague the hope is that we all together to do enough to create some kind of quarantine in order to ameliorate them.

(#5900) Getting past the threats

      The thing with a bully is that he is all about using threats to get his way Rarely does he like it when we don't react to his threats. Even worse for the bully is when we counter his threats with threats to him from ourselves. Most of us are civilized in that we don't expect to be bullied like we were when we were in grade school. We like to think we are living in an age where the childish things of our past are long gone and sensible actions are the normal. Well with the election of trump that is now the fantasy and the uncivilized bullying is the reality. So how do we respond?
     Simple, we stand up to the bully. It may sound simple but for many it is not. Being bullied leaves a psychological scar and if not dealt with early on in life when the bullying occurred the trauma of bullying picks right back up where it left off back in our childhood. The good news is that we can still overcome bullying by standing up to it. We just have to find our courage to do it. The thing also about courage is that it can still be found even if it wasn't found back when we surely needed it when we were young and bullied. Like a mulligan or do-over, we can move beyond this obstacle if we haven't already. I dealt with my bullying back as a boy and again later as a teenager. It is a process that needs vigilant effort to achieve.
     Now that I am an adult I don't find being bullied scary, I find it to be sad. Yet my response is unwelcoming to the bully despite the pity I feel for the bully. I will go nose to nose with any bully at any time because I know that is how to negate bullying. Bullies are cowards and one metaphorical, or not, punch to the nose is all that is needed to send the bully scurrying away. All of us need our stand up to the bully moment even if it brings out our fear and makes us cry while doing it. Whatever it takes to not back down and get ourselves moving toward an appropriate response in that moment. Courage is whatever form it takes to make the bully learn, the easy or hard way, that his bullying won't work on you or me.

(#5899) The beauty of diversity

      I went through a phase back when I was much younger where I thought everyone should be more alike than different. In my very limited knowledge back then I thought that if we would all just be the same we could do a lot more stuff where everyone was mostly in agreement. For example like we all see through the same set of eyeballs. But as I grew older and experienced the world in a more panoramic way I began to understand why we cannot all see the world through the same set of eyeballs. We are all unique in our own individual ways and that makes for sameness to be difficult if not impossible as a normal.
     There are many ways we can be of the same mindset but those are in ideas and ideals. Our experiences and our enculturation separate us in how we are raised and how we see the world. What I came to understand decades ago is that embracing our natural differences was preferable to forcing us to be the same. A variety of perspectives about most all things gives our species the greatest opportunity to not only survive but to thrive. We are not all just from the same box of thoughts. We are from many other boxes with even many who think outside those boxes we were raised to know. The great feature of our species is our ability to adapt to solutions for most all our problems.
     We learn how to successfully overcome problems by considering many possible solutions and then creating the best one through our varied options. Nothing in life is in a playbook for learning when problems arrive. What we do have is each other and all that we can bring to bear on any given problem. We are not predictable as a species because we are not all the same. That is a value of great importance because we cannot be pigeonholed into a category that has only one possible solution. We are unpredictable and that is almost a superpower. Drawing from a wide range of imaginations is what will push our species well into the future where our amazing attributes will continue to flourish.

(#5898) I just can't believe we Americans will just roll over to an ignorant wannabe tyrant!

      I know I am not alone in this. Every day I open my eyes from the night sleep I immediately check to see if there are any deaths of consequence. You know what I mean. Wannabe and real tyrants is what I mean. There are enough of them out there for at least one every so often to be expected by me anyway. But as has been the case for far too long none of the really awful people in our existence seem not to be at risk. When in all reality every moment they are alive should be a feared one. By not anything happening to them reinforces their belief that we Americans at least are all blather and no action.
     The wannabe tyrants are emboldened to keep taking as long as we don't stop them from taking. All we have to do is stand up to them. They are cowards all so them being confronted with their own fear is how we stop them. Being an honorable person is the only way to live life no matter how much that intrudes on our schedules. We don't teach our children anything by ignoring the best of who we are to enhance many of our worse behaviors. It is time to put our strengths out as a baseline and then operate from a respected position. We don't need conmen to help guide our destinies, we need people of like virtues who understand democracy and its source of tolerance and inclusion.
     When we have democratic leadership in the 3 branches of government our society leaps forward into innovation and creativity. Otherwise we get the tearing down of policies and opportunities from republicans that never fail to disappoint and harm. I will always be a progressive liberal that is well situated in the democratic party. I am also cautious about moving forward too quickly as everything is in a complex intertwining. That said, tyranny brings about difficulty and harm while democracy brings about hope and opportunity. We did this wannabe tyrant act on ourselves and once again we see the failure. Now is the time to end the experiment and return to our roots within democratic principles and the pursuit of happiness for all, not just some.

(#5897) Remember, the enemy of my enemy is my friend

      I don't care right now what side of the political spectrum you fall on if you are against trump and his acolytes. The reason I don't care is that if we don't save our democracy we won't have the right to choose any side. We will be required to be on trump's side or suffer. So regardless if you are pro social or pre isolationist, I will fight along side you to end the power of trump. We can sort our problems out later through democratic processes after the threat of trump is no more. That is how it should be. We together as a society should always be able to vote and protest our positions of conscience.
     Under trump that will not be possible. So we who are stalwarts of democracy need this moment in time to be our time and not succumb to tyranny and its prevailing insolence. I cannot think of a better way forward for those of us who see the threat of trump. It is my hope that despite our minor differences we can break out of this stranglehold trump has maneuvered. A coalition of the willing. There is no other judicial way, short of extrajudicial circumstances, for us to prosper again as a nation. What is happening now is that the world sees trump for what he is and the best of what the world has become no longer trusts trump's America as an ally.
     This is so unfortunate that we allowed a drug addled deviant felon into the highest office in the land. I saw how each time he was verifiably challenged he was given a by your leave by those who should not have done so. The cast of characters will be held to account when the demise of trump eventually happens and so should they be held to account. What happens going forward with our coalition of the willing is yet to be determined but suffice it to say it must happen sooner than later. The longer trump holds onto his undeserved position the harder it will be for us to dislodge him. Make no mistake about it. The trumps will not stop trying to reign over America in perpetuity regardless of our sacred constitutional law!

(#5896) Everyone born is scared

      There is absolutely no difference between any human being on this subject. Even the emotionally stunted understand fear even if they don't sense it the same way the rest of us do. It is because fear derives from the survival instinct and we all have that as a species. We could have a discussion about fear and if it exists in a world where no survival instinct is required but that will be for another time. What we have in reality is the necessity for the survival instinct at this stage of our evolution. So if you are wondering how people can show courage when in the grips of fear it is because we human beings are capable of overcoming that which would stop us.
     This right here is why I label us as an amazing species. We adapt to push beyond our limits and evolve into a greater being than before. No longer do we cower in our fear if we so choose not to. It is a choice! Not a physical or hereditary limiting. Even now I know fear in what I do but I do not allow that fear to be the controller of what I do beyond it. In fact my fear over time has lessened in its grip so that it is only just more a caution instead of a total freezing. Sure, I have much more growth to accomplish in subsiding my fears but at least I have found a solution to them that works for me.
     So allow yourself the opportunity to overcome fear. Do not be stifled by it when it does pop its effect up in your life. Instead use the fear as a gauge to measure not what your response will be but by what degree that response takes shape. Wisdom is always key when moving beyond a plateau in life where we have had difficulties. Small steps are best when big steps are unachievable. The key here is to demand from yourself the control over yourself that is yours. Do not let the scary apparitions of the past control what you do in the future. Remember always, that life is a risk no matter how deep we bury ourselves into a safe harbor. Live life as a badge of courage by the time you close your eyes for the final time.

(#5895) Carrying the weight of our ancestors with pride!

      This existence and how it is shaping itself is not just for those of us alive and those who will become alive in the future. This existence is also the effort of generations before us who brought us out of the dark ages of barbarism and raised up our democracy. They fought and died for what we are starting to let slip away and that knowledge is enough for me to fight even harder to protect the evolution of democracy's higher ideals. A more perfect union, not anything less! I can still hear my grandparents voices in my head telling me about how President Franklin Delano Roosevelt not only protected our democracy during World War I, but how he made life better for all Americans afterward.
     I remember seeing my mother when I was 8 years old crying her eyes out while watching the news of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy's assassination. Even my older brother John who passed away last year in May being fierce about how special needs social programs were there to protect the most vulnerable among us. These words and deeds will never leave my memories not should they. It isn't just me who is making decisions about how life should be it is those who have gone on before me and their fight to make our world better. All this to say that I am not just fighting to give children a better world to live in, I am fighting the fight all good decent human beings had fought for ages to give to me and the future.
     It is my honor and duty to stand in the now vacant shoes of my ancestors and represent them with all that they gave me. I am the result of their efforts just like all the rest of us are in the same way. We just need to know that fighting for the good in life is not just us alone, it is every single human being who has ever lived and fought for the better in life. We now represent them and as such should be bolstered to a position of strength not yet seen in history because of those who made us who we are. I know when my end time comes I will not be less than my ancestors and their efforts. I will add to the history of the human struggle to define itself as a force for the better/best good in this existence.

(#5894) We are in uncharted waters

      Like an explorer, we Americans are learning of our fate as each second passes us by. Not even the destructors of our continuity have a clue other than to eliminate our present. Unlike them though, most of us do not want our present to disappear. The current cabal has gotten the best of most of us and no one but we are to blame. What is on our side in this are the countries who used to be close allies. They get that Americans as people are still a value but they know that our leadership is corruptible and not worthy of friendship. I have no doubt they, like us, are waiting for a change to occur in our leadership so that we again become what we have always traditionally been.
     We the people have ourselves as a value along with the courts for now. The problem is that going forward we have a relentless leadership that is hell bent on seeking vengeance for nefarious acts they actually committed. A leadership that has nothing but spoiled brat written all over it. A leadership that thinks it is above the law and everyone else beneath it. For the next 20 months we must endure the onslaught of calculated harm that is coming at us before the next midterm election. Somehow we must find a way to wake up every day and maneuver ourselves around the pain and suffering that is real and brutal. I don't know how we will do it but do it we must if we are to stop the current insanity and reclaim our pride and dignity as a thriving democracy!
    My great hope is that an intervening act will occur to change the current dynamic. Yet hope is not an act it is a wish with no one to grant. I know that pain and suffering are catalysts that arise to deeds beyond normal behavior. We cannot have normal when our lives are being turned upside down with no help when the fall eventually hits. When bad people do bad harmful things it is because they have lied, cheated, and stolen when our attention wasn't as focused as it should have been. The solution lies within each of us and needs no justification. The good of the many is where we are and to illustrate that just think of surgery and how a scalpel neatly cuts out that which ails us. When the pain gets too hard to endure is past the time for the remedy whatever form that remedy takes.

(#5893) We survive this one day at a time

      Four years of excruciating reality but it is our destiny it seems. We did this to ourselves because we are not very bright here in America. We think we are but all evidence to the contrary. However though, the coming days that will turn into weeks, months, and years will be our way out. That is the judicial way anyway. Now there could well be extra judicial processes that either make it worse for us or better for us but we haven't seen that yet. All I know is that fighting with everything we have in a rights of species kind of way is what we have. So time is our hope and the better we prepare for the time left under this hideous cadaverous trump is the light at the end of the tunnel.
     I stopped drinking over 18 years ago and I did that by not drinking every day for the last more than 18 years. The same process applies to weather the storm of an idiot who thinks he is smart. Every day we must realize at our first awakening moment that the demise of our democracy and the lives of those who will be harmed by it  is our priority to defend against. All day long as we continue within our lives we need to multi task to our best abilities until we again close our eyes for sleep. Never forgetting that the only way to defeat those forces of brutality and cruelty is to stand on guard ready to react when the moment is ours to enter the battle.
     I am sad that we have to live this way when voting for Harris would have made our hopes and dreams more attainable than the nightmare trump is unleashing without care to the harm it causes. I know there is buyers remorse now that the realization of what trump is going to do is dawning on many but buyers remorse will help no one now. What all of us have to do is stand up when we need to and make sure that no one doubts our authenticity. There cannot be any appeasement nor ignoring. This is the end of the line for democracy in America if we, you and I, do not make it impossible for trump to achieve it. He and his allies, other tyrants and psychopaths, are not going to go away so we have to make them stop as best we can with every defense we can think of.

(#5892) Why too many fail as human beings

      What is it to be a human being? I suppose there are many different versions of answers for this question. But it really is simple for me. You have compassion and curiosity as your purpose in life. Everything else is just unimportant. So having compassion and curiosity as the drivers of my destiny I am well aware of what I need to do to keep them real. I fight to keep my identity above the allures and demands of things less important. I do not succumb to pressures from others who want less from life than their own true identity. They are the ones missing out on the strength and conviction of happiness.
     Back to the observation of why too many fail at being human. There seems to be a malignant capture involved in our society that nullifies our individual uniqueness. Our society is built upon systems that adhere to institutional norms. These institutional norms fold us into them with vague security and safety promises. So many of us are obligated to these securities and safeties to the point of illogical serfdom. We protect our positions within our institutions to the point of absurdity. Instead of being unique we squander our individual selves to accept the lesser of what it is to be human. We weakly accept our very lives as being in danger so we don't want to risk the possibility of dying.
     I mention compassion and curiosity as what it is to be human but there is another paradigm that is both inside and outside these two parameters. That being survival. We want to survive at any cost. Yet for a lot of us survival on our knees is not survival when we can imagine eliminating the threat. This is where we are at this point in our human existence. We either fear for our lives in a non stop destiny to destruction or we stop fearing and take courage in our strengths. I wonder and I care. Those are my strengths and when added to my ability to think outside the box I find that I am a threat to those who would try to capture me with their allures or demands.
     

(#5891) We can save our democracy

      By we I mean we the people. However it will take a sustained effort by a majority of us. As for now the courts are holding relatively firm against trumps anti democracy demands. Rightly or wrongly about the government shutdown outcome, as it turned out the seamless constancy of judicial decisions has been to our favor. Whether that seamless constancy would have continued during a short government shutdown is moot now. So we have lost on the policies that are horrendous with trump gaining spending choices but we kept in place the funding to keep our judiciary operating. It may well turn out to have been the wisest choice between two bad ones given some still uncertain events.
     However we the American electorate are at fault for this bad set of choices we are currently lamenting. The vote last November needn't have been cast for trump yet too many of us didn't understand the real implications. Well those real implications are no longer implications they are fact. How we survive this threat with both chambers of Congress with majorities for trump is down to the judiciary. Three federal branches of government make up our democracy. The executive branch, which is the Presidency. The legislative branch, which is the House of Representatives and the Senate which is commonly referred to as Congress. And the judicial branch, which is made up of our District Courts, Appellate Courts, and our Supreme Court.
     With two of the three branches of government controlled by trump the only way our democracy can survive is for the judicial branch to defend it. Yet, the judicial branch cannot alone defeat the current ideologies that are attacking democracy. We the people need to support our common ally in the courts and put pressure everywhere we can to make sure that the decisions by our courts are adhered to. This is a fragile time for our democracy and we all need to understand the nature of the threat. We have a current president who has no empathy for the rule of law nor anyone other than himself and his. His quest to dismantle our democracy is underway and all we have left to fight him are the courts and ourselves.

(#5890) Apparently too many people prefer being idiots

      I get it. In a society like our American one where too many prefer to be lazy privileged assholes why would they want to have any intelligence? It is easier for them to defend others who think for them and copy what they are told to believe? Again, the lazy part of their existence. What they obviously fail to realize is that when others think for you, you become their asset. No longer are your unique characteristics available for you to pursue but they are treated as crimes and decadents that deserve punishment. So if I wanted to be free to determine my own destiny I must first check in to see if that is allowed. Not because it causes some harm but because I am controlled by others who demand to think for me.
     My rights as a free person are contingent on me being able to decide my own destiny. If I don't know and don't care to know but still want freedom then I am a fool. Because freedom is not free when others are working hard to take it from you by being the decider of your fate. I have tried to explain this concept of mind control so many different ways and this is just another attempt at that. If you will not learn for yourself what is happening around you in an objective way then you are not going to know what is correct when the time comes for you to decide. If you keep tuning into the voices you follow then your complex life will be theirs to manipulate.
     The numbing of our own curiosity is dangerous and against our natures. Being curious is what life is all about. None of us is born with a previous knowledge. We learn everything about life and who we are once we begin to question. So to stop the questioning about life is similar to ending your life while you are still alive. It makes no sense as a human being that is kin to a survival instinct of incredible success. Our species is not one that quits on itself. There are some who cannot face reality and out of billions of us that is not a surprise. But the vast majority of us need to keep living with our curiosity and compassion in high gear to make our own existence worthy of being part of our magnificent human race experience.

(#5889) Planning for the future in this current political climate when you are old is weird

      I am not real old but I will be 70 in a few months. With what is going on with trumps wanting to destroy our society as it is and has been for many decades is troubling to say at minimum. I also know that at my age, which has been a full life in many respects, I know that time is not on my side and realistically, at any moment, it may just suddenly end. Not that I have a premonition or foreknowledge of such an event but statistics tell me that I am not in the best position to discard normal eventuality. So as I try to equate a plan of action based upon what my options are I am conscience of all the uncertainty.
     I cannot look at how I am now and adjust my thinking to adapt to what I thought 50 years ago.  In fact given the turmoil the trumps are stirring I cannot even think like I did last year. Yet life as a human being is about taking what is now and making it into something. Which is what I must do. Our Social Security is being threatened not because we have done something wrong. But because others think that having a national insurance program like Social Security deviates from capitalistic values. Yet I don't see those same trumps attacking insurance companies as being anti capitalistic. For me the attack on Social Security is more about making life harder for the American working middle poor class. Why you may ask? I am still trying to figure that but obviously it has to do with eliminating worker demands for fair pay.
     Putting more people into the workforce who would otherwise retire seems to be the objective. With more demand for employment the ruling class will make pay less for those of us scrambling for work. Even we older people will need to work regardless of our physical and mental limitations. The trumps plan for turning our democracy into a tyranny is moving forward on all fronts. Which makes it hard for me in my attempt to plan for whatever my future will be. Yet I can see what is coming and will move to abate that as best I can. However, I know that I will likely be swept away like the many of us as the wave of trumpism is in full motion to annihilate we who would stand in his way.

(#5888) This is our reality, not to be defined by those who will not let us live our own

      Did you know that we the people are the deciders of what our own reality should be? We are not destined to be born into some reality where we have no say in it nor opportunity to change it. We all only live in this existence for a relatively short period of time. So how we live is what should be the utmost concern for all of us. The powers that be that currently control the methods and movements we are allowed need to be replaced with those of us who understand that freedom, liberty, justice, and fairness make for the foundation for all of us to follow. When we have these honorable principles of democracy as our philosophy then the pursuit of happiness is wide open.
     I always stipulate the phrase do no harm when advancing the pursuit of happiness ideal and that is because we need to always temper our pursuits that may harm. Other than that caution the best of who we are should always be the most of who we are. We do that by not chaining ourselves to archaic propositions that limit our abilities. 9 to 5 is one of those propositions. 9 to 5 is a guttural cry against those who don't see all of us as free and deserving of creating our own unique reality. 9 to 5 advocators would take our dreams and wishes and replace them with arguments that denigrate what we are possible of. I am not talking about those of us who have to work in the 9 to 5 realm. I am talking about those who keep the 9 to 5 yoke about our necks.
     Our reality does not have to be 9 to 5. We are all better off when principles of democracy guide our destiny than the greed and selfishness too often displayed for all to see. We are told that capitalism is the only way to keep our society going into the future. Yet I say no because capitalism breeds anti democratic illusions of grandeur. Capitalism and socialism together are better as a path forward as each advances and limits the other. We see the capitalistic illusions of grandeur now with trump, putin, musk et al. We the people are the power in this existence so we need to wake up to that reality and begin to demand our lives be filled with possibilities that actually promote humanity instead of discarding humanity when no longer profitable.

(#5887) Home of the free and land of the brave?

     Not anymore. I don't see it anyway. As hopeful as I am I must admit to reality when it is all around me. I don't see the freedom that is implied in the header. I do see some freedom but everyday I see less and less. Instead what I see is a trump administration that is determined to limit freedom instead of expand it. As to bravery there are amongst us many who show me bravery through defiance and protest. not on some battlefield where it is expected but in everyday life where the conviction to principles of freedom, liberty, and justice are challenged. Not enough though because the inevitable march by the trump crowd continues mostly unabated.
     Where the most bravery exists in this current environment happens to be in the court system. Our judicial process is what is blocking many more losses of freedom. How long they can hold out in the atmosphere of intimidation and threats is concerning. What will be left when the courts are bullied into submission and the rampage of trump's ego is unchecked? We the people are what will be left and our choices will be limited in our response. I have no illusion that if trump wants our military to support his freedom denying policies they will also likely conform. We are just a few stops away from being neutered as an enlightened and wise society.
     None of the coming dismantling of our democracy is a surprise to me but still it is shocking that we as the American people would let a conman who is incapable of empathy destroy our civilized way of life. We are no longer the home of the free and land of the brave. I would call Ukrainians as having that mantle. We Americans on the other hand have become too absorbed into our own fears and prejudices to even qualify as a beacon of freedom where the defense of our realm is absolute. What is coming is not going to be easy to stomach by those of us who saw this coming and warned of its looming arrival. But those who stood on the sidelines and ignored and/or voted for trump are going to be taught a brutal lesson that hopefully will guide them to yearn for the principle of home of the free and land of the brave.

(#5886) We Americans deserve our stupidity because we are too arrogant to learn

     It is like a badge of honor this stupidity we have allowed ourselves to embrace. I would like to say it is the fault of a privileged mindset but that is to much praise. More likely it is because we are lazy and try to shuffle off what we don't understand to those who pretend to do know what we don't understand. Which is why an obvious conman like trump can be elevated to such a previously honored position. Not only are we Americans good at being stupid we are good at denying we are stupid. It is as if our minds are not capable of distinguishing between good and bad. Or at minimum we are incapable of using the base logic necessary to compute a falsehood.
     The simple math equation of 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 is comparative to the argument premise + premise + premise = conclusion. A different number added into this math equation does not make it correct similarly a lie added to the argument does not make it a truth. It is always a lie when a lie is part of the equation. Real simple here folks. Yet too many refuse to acknowledge the lie as significant enough to change what they perceive as a truth into an actual falsehood. That indicates a willfulness to ignore facts and truths in order to get to their preferred conclusion. That is stupidity regardless of any defense of it. I know life is hard and us believing a fact that doesn't agree with our limited outlooks is difficult, yet it must be done if we are to advance civilization.
     What we get instead is a confusion that not only halts progress but sows disharmony. This constant attraction to our own hoped for outcomes over true outcomes is chaotic because the outcome must be truthful through logic. We cannot have falsehoods parading as truths. Remember, any conclusion of fact must be made up of truths. No lie or falsehood can be part of the process and still make the conclusion true. Everyone on the planet should know that arguments are resolved when only facts and truths are equated together. Somehow we here in America lost the thread on this very important concept and now we are in a terrible state of paying for it.

(#5885) Windy rainy day at home

      It has been windy and raining since I got up this morning at around 3 am. I am an early bird kind of person because I like the quiet of the morning better than the excitement of late nights. Of course when I was younger back in the day and preferred the hustle and bustle of the late night scene. Not anymore. I am older and less adventurous for those possible intrigues. My more sedentary life style suits me now and gives me plenty of time to reflect and admire the present around me. Like this morning with the wind whipping and the rain coming in sideways at times. I do appreciate the rain because we here in California do not see nearly enough of it since climate change has been shifting our previously normal weather toward hotter climes.
     I still sit outside under cover just to be able to feel the moist air and inhale the ambiance of swirling atmosphere. Seeing the occasional birds in flight hastily moving toward some kind of shelter captures my attention. I am reminded that our  lives are just part of the bigger picture of nature. Being a part of that for me is not only entertainment but it is vital to my existence. My soul senses the connection with not only our planet here but with the Universe in general. Maybe I get to reflect too much but I cannot imagine a more appropriate commune with nature than this morning with the wind and rain having it's way. There is always something to do to make life easier and better but sometimes, like today, the do nothing option is so persuasive.
     What I like most about the weather this morning is the joy in which it comforts me. It is like a another layer of life I get to enjoy that doesn't happen enough for me. I was wondering how this blog post was going to play out in real time as I am typing but once again the blog just seems to write itself and I just move my fingers to the tempo within all my molecular structure. It is almost like magic but not supernatural just a flow and vibe that is totally enhanced by the windy rainy conditions. I have the rest of the morning and afternoon to enjoy this happy to me weather and that I will do even if I can't help myself and do something to progress the ease of my life through some small accomplishments. 

(#5884) It is too bad current Americans don't know the bravery of past Americans

      We have somehow moved past the transition from brave Americans to indifferent Americans. We used to be all in for freedom and liberty with justice but now we are only into our personal selves in a most uncaring way. I may be premature in my assessment here but I cannot help but think that I am not. It could be that when we allowed private citizens to inject as much money as they wanted into our politics it made the simple task of informing the public of the truth almost impossible. So instead of being abreast of our facts and truths we are in a muddle of chaos with no clear understanding of reality. Either way, whether ignorant to bravery or confused about how to apply it, we are in trouble.
     Since the beginning of our nation we had been able to progress into a future where the worst of what we were before our revolution for freedom slowly changed for the better. However, for the last 60 years we have been morphed as a government and society into factions that not only discard looking for possibilities to improve but have become hostile to the idea of the melting pot. United we stand and divided we fall has been forgotten as a prized slogan. Instead we have decided that others are not as important as ourselves when it comes to equality, liberty, and justice. We have turned from the courage of our foreparents to fight for these values for all to instead just wanting what we can easily get.
     As I watch this dynamic unfold it bothers me that now several generations have left behind their obligation and duty to instill honor and principle into their children. The children have grown up and their lessons to their children are nearly devoid of behavior and character that exemplifies sacrifice and noble intentions. What they are teaching the next generation has very little to do with principles of democracy and more in line with prevailing traits of narcissism. The beauty of humility and sacrifice is the inner reward. Knowing that you could be a horrible person all about greed and depravity but instead choosing to be a person who is admired and well thought of because you would rather build a bridge of care instead of destroy one.

(#5883) Nothing but a roller coaster ride for the next 46 months

      I really tried to forget the last time trump was in office and it worked really well for about 4 years. Now it is all coming back. The endless days of chaos and absurdity that bordered on insanity. I am freshly reminded that trump sees the world in an upside way. He cannot rationalize like a normal person. He takes the absurd and drives it like it is genius. His idea of thinking outside the box is so ridiculous that it is difficult to image a sane person would push such reckless policies. His first go this time around is to shove our economy into a recession. It won't hurt him financially but it will hurt most all the rest of us.
     Knowing how trump is such a conman it isn't hard to think of why he thinks a recession is a good thing. He will lie and say that a recession is needed for our economy to reshape itself into a more profitable enterprise. What he is not saying is that many of us who are invested in our economy will be forced out of it leaving a gap for those with wealth to fill. A reordering of our economy is what he wants and those who profit off of it will be those with the most money. He trump, won't care that many will loose savings and jobs, because it is the fault of those who lost savings and jobs not his. The good of we the people is not a necessity for trump unless of course it helps him somehow. Always follow the money with trump.
     We are less than 2 months into his presidency and the damage to our economy is already spiraling. When Joe was president we didn't have to worry that he would prefer a recession over prosperity. But Joe is now gone and trump2 is our misfortune. How we all come out of this is the question and how that come out of it manifests itself is even further an unknown. All I know is that something must be accomplished to change this dynamic or the end result of 4 years of trump will not be healthy nor civilized. I keep saying this and will always stand by it, trump is destroying our democracy and we cannot let him do it at any cost!

(#5882) Will or is trump joining Russia to fight aqainst Ukraine?

      I have seen enough suggestions that indicate trump is going to fight against Ukraine using American resources. This would surprise none of us who know how devious trump is however, whether it is true or not hasn't yet been completely answered. We can see indications though. Like trump demanding that Ukraine give up it's territory to Russia because trump keeps saying Ukraine started the war with Russia. That isn't a good sign there. As well the support Ukraine received under President Joe Biden is now stopped. To most all of us out there we see trump is changing sides in the conflict. Knowing how trump operates, especially since his White House ambush on Ukraine's President Zelenskyy, it is safe to say that trump favors putin in the actual Russian invasion of Ukraine.
     Favoring putin at arms length is bad enough because of the support for Ukraine from the United States that is no more. However if trump uses the American military arsenal against Ukraine to help putin defeat Ukraine then the stakes are more ominous. A sitting United States president would actively be helping a dictator defeat a democracy through direct military action. How will that sit with all Americas who believe in democracy? What will the response be from those of us who have fought and believed in our own democracy? The question is a heavy one. Is this what the majority of Americans voted for? To defeat democracy so a dictator can continue to wage war over his egoistic obsession?
     Some of us are going to have a line in the sand moment where we say fuck it and do something about it besides just taking it. When and if that line gets crossed is when we will know if we have the courage to stop the ever increasing insanity before it destroys the very foundation in which our nation operates. When our democracy is helping a dictator defeat democracy we are at a crossroads where cross purposes reside. Which road will the many of us take and will we have many choices left afterward? Either way the fight for our rights and freedoms is about to get real. I know this much, I for one person will never acquiesce to tyranny when the option to save democracy is even a remote possibility. What say you?

(#5881) No one is above the law as a campaign priority

      I know this is a big if but if we are to have another election where we the people decide the outcome, the party in opposition right now needs to make clear the number one priority is justice. Going after and starting with all those who have broken the law while in a position of trust. No one is above the law is a position that has to be honored and held sacred. Our society demands it regardless of what the law breakers would say otherwise. No one, billionaire nor the penniless, is immune to the cost of lawbreaking. We have courts to decide the degree and severity of the sentencing but no one should be allowed to escape their due punishment.
     Not only does the criminal who commits a crime get their justice but them actually paying their price is a deterrent to others who would attempt the same. We must as a society adhere to our laws with a vigor and a blind eye to every perpetrator. No one is above the law is absolute. I don't care who it is or their station in life. If you commit a crime then you are subject to the penalties. It cannot be any simpler! The party in power today thinks it can skirt the intent of our laws to fulfill their desires and do it with impunity. They are at the moment correct as we see every day. Yet if we the opposition were to campaign on making all, and I mean all, lawbreakers culpable for their deeds then I believe we will have a winning strategy.
     So many of us feel powerless in this moment where the brutish and cruel are having their way with practically no oversight to their criminality. That has to stop so that the many more of us can again start to feel some pride and rebuild from our shaken souls. Another attribute of campaigning on no one being above the law is the fear it will start to manifest in the current administration for their acts now that may come as sentencings later. We must reverse the pain and suffering they are currently instilling into our lives and turn it back on them. Make them think twice about how they act in the name of our trust. We can defeat them if we get the chance so we best start preparing for that eventuality now!

(#5880) Ignoring reality is not an option that works

      36.3% of eligible American voters didn't vote in the 2024 general election. This post is for you. I am wondering why you didn't bother to vote when it is easier to vote here in America than pretty much anywhere else in the world? Is your disconnect from politics so far that you couldn't even understand what is at stake? Every right to be free and have the liberty over our own happiness is controlled by politics. It cannot be stated enough that we Americans in our society rely on a social contract that gives us the right to individually choose our own destiny through our vote. Each of us have a duty to participate in our politics because if we don't we get what we have now, a mesmerizing conman who is focused on installing himself as a king.
     There are few responsibilities attached with voting. We must register and then actually vote to make our voices heard. Now when I say that 36.3% of eligible voters didn't vote I am talking about eligible voters not registered voters. That number is smaller than the 90 million who were eligible but didn't bother to register. What ever category you choose to look at the 90 million is just too many who were eligible but chose not to participate. My question is why did anyone not want a say in their own liberty? I could speculate here and give several reasons but I don't think that is helpful nor accurate enough. What I do want to leave anyone reading this post with is this, what is more important than your freedom and why aren't you protecting it?
     Democracy and capitalism are two very different things. I can tell you that most all of us participate in capitalism in some way or another. What capitalism does is give us the opportunity to earn resources that we can barter for improving our living conditions. What democracy does is allow capitalism to operate on an improving scale so that all may participate on some kind of even footing. Without democracy to reign in the underbelly of corrupt capitalism we will find that the worst of moneymakers will control the best of who we are. This is why democracy oversees capitalism and keeps it more and more honest. Democracy is the politics we have that allows all of us to pursue our happiness as a right. What we have now is a lessening of democracy because not enough of we the people are voting to protect it.

(#5879) Having a conscience is being self aware, unlike putin, trump and musk

      When Rene Descartes proposed his evidence for existing, "Cogito, ergo sum", "I think therefore I am" it also served as evidence negating doubt. To have to say one exists is also an argument against the doubt of the existing. I bring this up as a foundation for saying that self awareness is natural to human beings and should be understood as proof of our natures. I say that curiosity is one of the two main natures, compassion being the other, of we human beings. So being curious and self aware about our existence is also natural. We know that curiosity is the sense that we need to know more in what we already understand. The same with self awareness, it is a sensing of who we are and adapting that to who we are in relation to others.
     Being self aware is not only knowledge of who we are and who we want to be but it is also a feeling of empathy toward all those in existence who are also confined by it. In other words we are all in this existence together trying to make sense of how to properly exist within it. The complexities of existing bring us together on a planet not unlimited in it's resources. So we build societies based upon the rule of law and principles of democracy. Well we should all be doing that but obviously we see too many examples of that not being the case. Such as those in the title of this blog post. The putins, trumps, and musks of this world have not evolved into their own self awareness and how that properly aligns with the rest of us.
     You will know those who have yet to evolve as civilized humans by their inability to function in an empathetic state. They see the world through the lens of insensitivity. They don't know the pain and suffering of others because they cannot extend out beyond themselves. They only feel their own sensations and disregard feelings of others as a weakness on the part of others. They are not evolved human beings. They are instead rudimentary souls who never defined for themselves an association of care with others. They mostly only care for themselves. This is a disorder that generally can be described as narcissistic personality disorder. Although it is possible to cure oneself of this disorder it is highly unlikely because complex self reflection and realizing personal flaws are often obstructed by the disorder itself.

(#5878) The only way to stop a lie is to discover the truth!

      For far too long too many people have been too easily duped into believing things that are not true. It isn't that these lies are not easily debunked it is that too many folks prefer the lie over any truth! The lies fit their world view despite the fact of them being wrong. For them it is easier to live in an existence that is illogical than to accept reality as it is. Living life for the easiness of it is weird. It isn't true so why be part of a false consciousness? For me it is counter productive to accept things as true when they are false. I want to accept the truth as true and then build upon that to discover even more true things. That is the foundation of logic. My human nature is compassion and curiosity. Simply put, I care about my and others feelings as much as I care about what I don't know.
     None of us is born greater than another. Sure some of us are born into luxury and power while others of us are born into poverty and great hopelessness. Yet there is no difference in us as a species. We have the same bodily attributes and the same functioning mind. Those who are pampered and glorified through birth are only that because of a system of inequity. Not a correct system of genuineness . What does separate us as a species from each other is our gifted individualness. Some of us are massively talented and others of us have two left feet. Some of us have brains that enhance the incredible while others of us cannot even manage our own lives. It is through talent and merit that we only see differences.
     I mentioned a couple of factual differences but they are in the minority when it comes to our similarities. What we have as a species in common is overwhelmingly the truest nature of a human being. We all are born into this existence as an innocent. By degree we are all nurtured with emotion and understanding into our adulthoods. We are all given that basic foundation of knowledge that allows us to not only communicate with each other but an opportunity to fulfill whatever it is we wish to learn, know, and become. The pursuit of happiness truly is within all of us because we learn that life really is short. Living the best as an objective human being is always greater than living in an existence where the lies sow confusion instead of the truth revealing who we are.
     

(#5877) Don't be caught not knowing democracy is being dismantled

      Unfortunately, whether by hook or crook, the trump administration is clearing the way for democracy to be dismantled. It isn't a stark conclusion yet because the judges have not been defied by him and his acolytes. But that is the last hurdle for trump to jump over for his dream of being like putin comes about. There is one more subset branch of government that may also grind trump to a halt and that is the legislative republican controlled Senate. The republican controlled House seems to be in the tank for trump but the Senate has yet to confirm they are in the tank for trump also. We shall see soon enough but for sure the rule of law in the judicial branch is showing it isn't in the tank for trump.
     All other signs are pointing directly at trump and putin siding on the side of tyranny. With trump distancing himself from Ukraine and even starting to undo policies that helped protect Ukraine from putin, the change from democracy to tyranny is underway. We who were not allowed to have our candidate elected, fairly or unfairly, have been sounding the alarm for nearly a decade but it seems that too many did not believe us. Well that time is now here to see for anyone who would be objective. The next question then becomes what do we do next? How do we survive in this chaos that is disrupting our freedoms and rights? The first thing that must happen is for us to become clear with our awareness of the problem.
     Our nation together must realize the danger that is now in effect all around us. We may differ on a wide range of policies but not to the point of burning down our house and letting a cruel enterprise rebuild it. We are still the greatest democracy on the planet and can reverse this current dilemma. However we are short on time and need a charge as of yet unseen in modern times on the soil of America. We Americans are not filthy nor cowards. We are stronger together in unity than anything or anyone. Yet we need that unity to begin now as the dismantling of democracy is moving at a fast pace. We who are not willing to let democracy disappear on our watch must find it within ourselves to force an action greater than the force currently bending us toward its brutish will.

(#5876) The weight of time and space

      I suggest all you younger people get out into life and experience the wonders of our world before you settle in to your eventual routines. Because when you are young your body is vibrant and alive. When you get older your body will take on the pains and affliction that come with age. After a certain amount of time you quit refreshing as a young person and instead modulate into a declining state. Then is when you will truly know how difficult life is when your body cannot keep up with your still young mind. So take heed and get out into the world and live with a gusto that you find happy. I am sitting here on the threshold of 70 and still my mind thinks I am 20.
     The problem is that mind over matter is rare. So as I continue to stretch the boundaries of my limited abilities I only add to those limitations with aches and pains still new to my knowledge bank. The good thing for me is that I didn't start a career out of the starting line and instead experienced life on my terms before I became another cog in the wheel. Know this, we all eventually end up being a cog in the wheel. Just take some time before committing to that if possible. When you are young your abilities are at a high potential unlike later when gravity and repetition become major influencers. I won't tell you how I lived my early adulthood but suffice it to say I was adventurous and bold.
     I took nothing for granted and took care of myself in the most fundamental ways thus keeping myself true to me. Yet I was part of life not just watching it from a distance. I didn't get an early start on my retirement, I lived as if I was retired in my early youth. I knew from observation of the world around me that getting caught up in major responsibilities before I was ready would only usher in a failure for me. I know I am only going to live once in this existence and for a bit as an early adult I wanted it to be on my terms, a choice, not as a demand. Here I am now nearer the end of my life with few regrets about how I lived with memories I have experienced. I am fortunate in this regard. I look around and see people who have waited until they are older to get out and experience life only to be living it not in their youth nor the time of their youth without their best health.

(#5875) Awakening the sleeping giant

      In the 1970 movie Tora Tora Tora, the actor playing the role of Japanese Admiral Yamamoto uttered the phrase, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant” when attacking Pearl Harbor before officially declaring war against the United States of America. I get the same sense now from what trump and vance did to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in the White House a few days ago. In this scenario, trump and vance used a strong arm tactic employed by hitler when working to annex Eastern Europe into his control just previous to World War II. Invite the leader of the country you want to annex and then ambush them with threats. However, Zelenskyy didn't succumb to the pressure from trump/vance and instead defied them.
     The whole affair at the White House was televised so that trump's new ally, tyrant putin, could watch how trump supported him. The rest of the world also watched what trump assumed was going to be a climatic attack and surrender by Zelenskyy. What happened instead was a sickening by those of us who are not cowards nor bullies. We saw first hand the stench of trump play out in real time. His demanding of acquiescence from a hero who is not only fighting for his life but for the life of his country was a bridge too far. What trump was fighting for was favor from a dictator. The shock of it was nearly immediate.
     Not only did the rest of the world feel disgusted with the trump/vance bullying of Zelenskyy but we, myself included, immediately rallied behind Zelenskyy with unwavering support. So the plan of trump to annihilate the pride and conviction of Zelenskyy backfired and served to strengthen it instead. Meanwhile the backlash against trump has been swift and overpowering. An awakening has happened that not only reversed the effect that trump/vance hoped for but made a large segment of our American population awaken to the fact that trump/vance are not on the side of democracy! I use my own Facebook page to back my observations. From before the ambush my page was mostly silent about the trump destruction of our democracy. But since the ambush my page is filled with both disgust for trump and with pride for Zelenskyy/Ukraine.

(#5874) I feel the surge against the heartless!

      Those who play at being human are being found out! What the trumps did at the White House to President Zelenskyy has defined for so many people now the true nature of the trump administration. That trump is found out is a perfect place to start the revolt against him. What trump thought was a perfectly executed ambush of a hero like Zelenskyy has completely backfired into an indictment against the republican party. Even those who are trying to defend the trump dishonorable act in the White House are doing it against the hardened grain of protest and anger. Their defense of trump is hollow and timid with no force of truth.
     The American people saw what trump and his bootlickers did and are not having any of it. A rallying around President Zelenskyy is not only growing but it is exploding into a movement away from trump that trump was clearly shocked by. Even he is being off put by the reality he is now facing. Less than 45 days into his presidency and he has shown most all of us his true self. A dastardly coward who plays at being a human being. It is all downhill now for him and if he thinks he can bulldoze and bullshit the American people like he thought he could, he now cannot and will be forced to either continue to be berated every day for his deceptions or change from them.
     I know this much about trump. He will not change his behavior because he is not capable of learning and evolving. He will stand pat on his delusions and cruelties no matter how many turn away from him. I expect that the relationship trump has with the growing masses against him will lead to something untoward and ridiculous. The arc of justice is about to come around against the injustice trump would create. The force behind the arc is overwhelmingly mounting and what trump does next will define the next not too far into the future moments that are coming. A word of fact, we did this to ourselves and now we must undo it to ourselves by remaining true to ourselves.

(#5873) Choose your battles wisely

      We are in the mix of it now. With the trumps running the show we who are now relegated to spectator status need to consider hard when the right time will be to enter into the fray and stand on the side we know is correct. Most of us are concerned about our financial livelihoods so not creating a financial disaster for ourselves is prudent. Yet a time will come when all other considerations about our current economic status will shrink in the face of a harsh and cruel unwelcome social order. We must have a mindset already in place where we have a plan for sacrificing what could be safe for ourselves momentarily for the unknown that offers us a chance to rebuild our democracy.
     I am talking about risk! When do we risk being a part of the solution when we are still beholden to letting others fight for us? Playing it safe so that neither side in the battle can identify us as their adversary. That tricky balancing act of not of not being identifiable yet also being a part. Listen, I know how that works. In my less admirable past I avoided doing what is correct because I feared any and all reprisals. I would skirt the issues but not entirely so that no matter how the solution came about I was not seen as a bad guy. But in my heart and soul I knew I was. I have lived long enough to have made many mistakes but what I have done in my life is correct them once understood.
     You won't see me shirk or slink around issues that are important. I know that being on the correct side of democracy and honor is worth any price I may pay. No price is too large for me to pay when freedom, liberty of life, and pursuit of happiness is endangered. I have already chosen where I stand with my voice and my deeds. The rest of us must find our way to the same conclusion. The when that happens is all that remains to be accomplished. Silence is a strategy that will only temporarily work when others have sacrificed too much. Getting past silence because of fear of many things in our lives is how we eliminate the threat of those who would silence us forever!
     

(#5872) The embarrassment that is trump

      I will not give up my right to speak about that which offends me. I don't care about any type of threat the trumps level. They are a disgusting cabal of ignoramuses. What they did to a true hero from Ukraine is so low that it leaves a stain so filthy that I cannot stand the stench of it. I am an American who did not vote for trump, I voted for Kamala Harris much like I voted for Hillary Clinton.Two people who would have upheld the honor and dignity of the United States of America with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But instead we got trump 45 and now trump 47. Both trump administrations have been an embarrassment but what just happened yesterday at the White House exceeds embarrassment.
     It is one thing to disagree about policy but it is quite another thing to undercut our allies to favor our enemies. That is what just took place with trump and his minions disgracing themselves trying to bully a man who has given up everything to fight for the life of his country and their hope for democracy. Democracy, that which we Americans fought for over the last 249 years. So the premeditated ambush from the trump cabal was almost stunning in its strategy. We all know that trump favored putin but we didn't know to what extent until yesterday. The full stop advocacy of trump for putin is now on record and the dishonor trump showed to our vulnerable ally was one of the worst displays of treachery ever seen from a leader of the United States.
     Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, famously said about the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, "...a date which will live in infamy..." much like what trump did yesterday February 28th. A treachery that ambushed our ally in the name of our enemy. The thrust of trump's attack on President Zelenskyy was to bully our ally into accepting the terms of our and his invading enemy. The world is upside down currently in America and it is as disturbing as it is real. We have a leader now who would give the world to his buddy putin and let the rest of us suffer the consequences of his act. I don't know how this is all going to play out but it cannot be that our America is about to become putin's.

(#5871) I miss so many good people

      I suppose I am just being nostalgic but it is good for me to remember those who have gone on from this existence. They were all different in their ways but in all cases they were special to me. This isn't one of those only the good die young posts. This is one of those I really miss too many of the people that helped shape my life and brought the joy out in me. That is what this post is about. Those that are no more too soon for me anyway. I will be selfish here and admit that I am thinking about how I feel about this and not anyone else. I know how I feel while I don't exactly know how others feel. I also suppose what irks me is that too many that are unworthy of a special consideration in my life are still here.
     So instead of being surrounded by the best people I knew I am less so now. So many bad people in my life are no more but they were banished long ago because once I am thrown under the bus so to speak I don't let that possibility ever happen again. So it isn't that I am surrounded by more bad people it is that I have less good ones to share life with. Going through life from the early days until now opened up lots of scenarios where the people I could interact with showed who they were. Nowadays it is harder to meet people in interesting situations because I am older and more set in my ways of dull and boring happiness. Gone are the days of adventure and discovery so my life is pretty much defined now.
     I am still able to meet new people occasionally but the meeting is more perfunctory than energetically hubristic. I find that getting to know good people needs to involve them in situations where happiness and hope are options. When someone new allows you to see them at their core and the core is bright and shining then goodness will flow. I have had the good fortune in my life to meet people like this and now that many are gone there is a void in me that is not ever easily replaced. I again suppose that it is the nature of mortality, we get what we get for a short time in relative terms and then when what we got is no more then that is our reality. I don't like that fact and apparently I am lamenting it here.

(#5870 Canada and Mexico have been good allies, trump? Not so much...

      I am done trying to tell you people who voted for trump how bad he is because you don't listen. So now we all get to see just how right the rest of us were about him. You especially because you seem surprised by his actions toward everyone except the extremely wealthy. There is a derangement within trump that is obvious to those of us who literally see and hear him talk and act. He is not some savant that is beyond understanding he is an idiot who is cruel and sadistic. He loves being the center of attention within his club of wealthy. It makes him feel whole somehow. Like I said, deranged.
     The rest of us are insignificant because we are not wealthy and individually powerful. So our neighbors to the north and south are in the category with the rest of us, insignificant. Which is why trump does not care what happens to them like he doesn't care about 97% of Americans. So like us, he will vilify them for the sake of his vanity. While he is at it he will also try to undermine them and take from them because he knows that it will impress the dictators he admires and the psycho/sociopathic among his wealthy group. He, trump,  needs lauding. He craves attention like the young child who cannot stop saying look at me.
     When it comes to trump and his unhealthy behavior and character in life, I will not be led around by his deranged outlook that savors pain and suffering as a cost for his egoistic benefit. I will always stand with those who are not harming but are being harmed. Much like Ukraine. Where trump is pushing the narrative that Ukraine is at fault and putin is the victim. Canada and Mexico are our allies and a message to them from me anyway is to find a way to survive trump, much like a lot of us here in America and then embrace any chance you can justifiably participate in to move past the most egregious president that has ever been allowed to lead the United States of America.

(#5869) We must now plan for near future Universal health care

      It is now just the Senate that is left to block the trump devastation of Medicaid. With 53 lackey republican senators it seems likely that medicaid is done for. If that does come to bear then when the next voting time comes in 2026 we must have already started advocating for a universal health care plan. Making lemonade from lemons is the concept here. Once Medicaid is officially gutted by republicans the only other way forward back from that damage is to finally break the current American health care mold and replace it with what 32 other civilized countries have done and install a universal health care system.
     One that involves all Americans for equal health care coverage. Ushering in a universal health care plan would finally end the middle man insurance profiteer that currently only adds to the high cost of health care. Health care coverage would then be decided by doctors and patients what is necessary with no more denials based upon corporate profit. If Medicaid and even parts of Medicare are destroyed by republicans then we democrats must take their destruction and create something even better when we retake control of our democracy. We must have a plan in place ready to campaign on when the republicans do their dirty deed.
     There is one thing I know for sure and it is that no matter how awful the republicans behave we democrats will outsmart them in the end. The reason is that republicans are only good at hurting people while we democrats are real good at finding solutions to help people. Whatever the republicans do in this presidential term we democrats will repair it with not only a solution but an improvement. In this case getting to universal health care is primed up with how republicans are going to leave tens of millions of folks with no health care coverage. We democrats must begin our strategy now and have at least an outline for the moment the Medicaid and Medicare undercutting begins. Right now is the time for the planning of universal health care!

(#5868) Other than hatred and fear, liberals and conservatives have much in common

      For the most part we liberals err on the side of caution. Which at times makes us look like we are coddling too many who conservatives think should be forced to fend for themselves. What I think conservatives fail to realize is that, although we liberals do make a few mistakes on help, we liberals understand that life is not equitable and fair for everyone. We liberals take the stance that where inequality and injustice are factors we try to alleviate that with equity. Conservatives see that and cry foul. They want their share of whatever equity is prescribed to the underprivileged and downtrodden as if they themselves are underprivileged and downtrodden.
     Historical racism and prejudice need a prescription for healing regardless of those conservatives who cannot see that difference. Slavery, like genocide, are the most horrendous acts of human behavior. Those acts of inequality are deeply ingrained into the psyche of those afflicted. To bring these class of folks back from the darkest past a race or creed of folks could endure requires an understanding that conservatives are unwilling to dwell upon. Let bygones be bygones is their mantra in those few moments they actually acknowledge the events. We liberals on the other hand know that a cure is required for that bruised and battered psyche so we set out an attempt to show we care.
     I have come to this conclusion recently and it does make sense when filtered through the lens that blocks out hatred and fear. Conservatives and liberals are much closer to each other than they think. Because we both start from the middle and slowly work toward either end of the spectrum however we are tied with an unbreakable band that keeps pulling us back into the center. That center is our democracy. We both want what we think is best for our nation. Finding common ground to achieve our goals is a premium and the best we should hope for a beginning when living in a democracy. Understanding our history and the historical grievances that are fact should be a core human trait outside any political party stance.

(#5867) 3 years of boldness and courage from Ukrainians

      Today marks the 3 year remembrance in time since February 24, 2022 that Ukraine had to stand up to the tyrant putin. Tyrant putin invaded Ukraine in 2014 to capture Crimea away from Ukraine but this one on February 24, 2022 was putin's attempt to annex the rest of Ukraine. What followed was President Of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying that he would not go into exile and instead would stay and fight the Russian horde to preserve the Ukrainian identity. Here is a timeline of the first 2 months of Russian attacks on Ukraine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine_(24_February_%E2%80%93_7_April_2022)
     Like a hero of our own Revolutionary War here in America, Nathan Hale and his dying words at the British hangman's noose, said this: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." A Ukrainian soldier defending Snake Island responded to this command from a Russian warship. “This is a military warship. This is a Russian military warship. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties. Otherwise, you will be bombed.” The Ukrainian soldier said this. “Russian warship, go f*** yourself.” On the second day of the Russian invasion these words and deeds of the Ukrainian soldier on Snake Island helped galvanize the resistance within Ukraine and in the hearts of those of us outside Ukraine who love democracy and its freedom.
     3 years later the Ukrainians have been holding off the tyrant putin led attempt to commit the genocide of Ukrainians while committing war crimes too numerous to list here. Just remember Bucha! It has been one of the greatest feats of human endeavor for me knowing and supporting the Ukrainian honor of courageous soul and how they fight to survive in the face of great odds against them. That tyrant putin thought that his illegal and monstrous invasion of Ukraine would be accomplished in 3 days highlights his ignorance and vanity. 3 years now with more than 868,000 dead Russian soldiers, Ukrainians are showing the world that fighting for democracy is an honor that all should hold dear!

(#5866) Writing my daily blog posts are a struggle

      Instead of having good things to celebrate and write about if Kamala had been elected, I have bad things to be disgusted about with trump. Over the next many months it seems that the worst of what could happen is more likely than the better and best of things. If happiness could be scaled out, the current level of mine is very low. Which makes for a not so imaginative writing session each time I sit here configuring a post worthy of being written and read. I have obviously lowered my standards in order to keep a daily post written because I know the best of me is not being exposed through my writing.
     I am not angry or upset but I am bordering on those two feelings too closely. The title of my blog is Man of Hope yet the hope is being weaned out of me with each passing day. With Joe and Barack leading our nation it was like they were always in the background trying not to be like trump, who cannot find one single day to remain oblivious. With trump having to be the center of everything it makes for a burden that is so damn heavy to carry. Yet we and I must do so because the alternative of quitting is even a worse burden. We know that. However the cost of the worst always being right in front of our faces has no value nor benefit, and lessens our motivations for life.
     Which is why it is so hard to find a topic each day that has a richness of happiness and positivity. I have written over 5800 of these daily blog posts and the bulk of them have been what I hope to be insights into how our lives are fulfilled. Yet too many with trumps in charge have been less so. Which is where I am this morning. The trump dismantling of our democracy is a reckoning many of us foresaw yet not enough of us could make the effort to realize the warnings. We did this to ourselves and now we must endure the consequences of our poor decision. People like me who did not ask for this and advocated against it are also now caught up in the aftermath of the poor decision of others. We are all in this together as with any strong democracy through thick and thin yet the thin still waiting to come is what is hampering my ability to be much more upbeat about our American experience.

(#5865) When we spend our time hoping for deaths to happen we are in a bad place!

      Waking up each morning hoping the news will deliver a much hoped for demise of some souls is not a healthy way to live. Yet for too many it is that exact reality that is faced. I am not just talking about random people wanting death for others to occur. I am talking about 100's of millions of souls who are hoping their lives will be more worth living if those souls who are harming them would just be no more. It still makes me confused when I think about how we allow ourselves to be run roughshod over by too many who couldn't care less about our existence? Even when we have the means to stop some of the worst people alive from ruling us, we still allow them to rule.
     In my mind I expect others to think rationally like myself. Using logic and common sense to understand the nature of our decisions. So obviously I am not correct in my formula. Because if I were correct the trumps and putins of the world would not even be a memory by now. Yet instead they are dominating our lives with constant pressure to take from us the little safety and security we currently have. I know now that it isn't just ignorance that keeps us from a better life, it is fear. We are afraid of threats applied directly, indirectly, veiled, and/or conditional. Fear is a real thing and is not to be taken lightly. But it cannot be the final factor in determining our choice.
     We must not let the threat of fear carry us to a place where the user of fear triumphs. I know that each generation of our societies need to win the battle against fear as a validation for living in freedom. Sadly, the last few generations have failed to win that battle and now we as a society are paying the price. I know this though, the fight to succeed over fear is never over so the sooner we begin to defeat fear as a threat the sooner we get more comfortable overcoming fear when it eventually tries to come around again. Mastering fear is a value that strengthens with time. To be an individual as a human being requires that we are able to rise above fear so that the rest of existence is ours to command on our terms, not the users of fear.

(#5864) I am still stunned that trump seems to have won the election

      I have this numbing feeling that just won't go away. It is just baffling to me that he could in any universe have gotten more votes than Harris. I know in a couple of decades some other truth may come out that there was some form of trickery involved but for now there is no proof. I suspect though that if some deceit was employed by republicans it was in the form of eliminating likely Harris votes across the country where there is less scrutiny over our sacred right to vote. If our democracy demands one thing of all of us it is that our right to vote is absolute.
     So if votes were not counted in too many jurisdictions then in theory our democracy truly has crumbled. Right now we are seeing the effects of our democracy crumbling in real time with trump acting the part of a king. He is ignoring the will of the people, which validates denying one person one vote, so that he can establish himself as the only voice of America. His lackeys are ruthless cads who also justify a takeover of our democracy. The followers trump has are not that many but loud and ignorantly obnoxious they are. We who are civilized in our personalities and behavior are due to change our approach if we desire to fight for our democracy.
     If the trumps of the world are willing to fight dirty with fire then we the civilized must fight back with even more fire. There are no Marquess of Queeensberry rules to guide our confrontation. There is only survival mode for the fight then after victory we reassess our behavior to reconform back to civilized behavior. When the horde is inside the gate there is only no rules. So avail yourselves of the idea that when the time comes the staying alive is greater than the means employed to win the battle. We who are civilized will find our choices disgusting and even filthy yet our breath maintained when the battle is over is all that matters in this desperate time.

(#5863) I dream of a day when my bills are not on top of my head

      I know I am not alone in this. Most all of us are driven by what we owe and how to pay that owe. It doesn't get much easier as time goes by either. At least in my experience. Just when I can see above the water another emergency of some sort seems to appear and I am again planning a time consuming payment plan for that solution. However, I have been able to manage and for that I am grateful. It is not too bad being me when the big picture is looked upon. Yet I and most likely many of you feel the strain and desperation of the obligations we encounter despite the contradiction that we don't take anything with us when when we "shuffle off this mortal coil".
     That day when my monthly bills are even with my knees will be a happy day. When I know that the amount I have coming in is well enough above the amount I have going out. Not that I want to be surrounded by wealth, I just want to be able to know that my bills aren't the only thing I live to pay. I like being able to do things for good people when I see a need and when I can't, I feel that disappointment. I don't know what the end date on my life will be but I am hoping it isn't before I can rise above my bills and spend some time and resource on helping people within my surroundings a little bit better than they are now.
     I am not sure why I am writing about this subject but I know how I am. When something is heavy on my mind it is difficult to think of anything else. I give myself a window of about 2 hours to write my daily blog post when I am on a workday. I was called in to work on this day when normally I am off. So the topic of bills has been rolling around in my head as I project their payments and when they finally will be less enough than my income. I figure about 2 years without a catastrophe intervening will get me to that desired position. The thing is though I will be well enough into my 70's and still working, albeit part time. I do believe my health is up to it and my mind is still sharp enough to handle the tasks. I do worry about my motivation but the bills, like with most of us, seems to be enough to keep me on edge and going.
     

(#5862) I am no admirer of cruelty

      I may get off kilter sometimes because I can't believe what we do to ourselves but I never let those moments stop me from doing what I can to make the world better. I am no perfect soul but I at least want to try to be. It is the quest not the destination. So when someone asks you why you want to do good and decent things just tell them that it makes you content and happy. Because that is what it does for me. I know my time here in this realm is much nearer the end than the beginning so for me the less time I spend making life harder for others is a priority.
     Our founding foreparents had it correct when they included in our Declaration of Independence the following sentence "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." So we know what unalienable means let me add it means universal/absolute. The pursuit of happiness to me is the purpose we all should channel for our lives. What is the point of living a relatively short life span if not to enjoy the endearing emotion of life? Those who work their lives in efforts to harm are not in connection with their own spirituality or our Declaration of Independence's charge.
     I am in connection with my spirituality because it reminds me that this existence is greater than me and I am no greater than anyone else. There is no delusion in my life because doing good and great is the better and best of my honor. Neither do I have these emotional senses within me in order to deny them. I have them to be able to experience them. Same with my curiosity. I am bold about wanting to know that which I don't know. I am objectively still innocence in action while also being courageous in strength when my curiosity is piqued. I find that all the good and great in the world is because others are of the same mindset. Just as all the bad and worse in the world is from another form of mindset that admires cruelty as a necessity.