(#5963) NATO standing up to putin!

      I was very happy to see NATO tell putin yesterday that they will not stop expanding. With that being said by NATO putin is left with the fact that he cannot control the narrative of peace talks. Which is the correct scenario since he was the one who invaded Ukraine with no provocation from Ukraine. All Ukrainians wanted to do was govern themselves under democracy. There is another dynamic at play that is to NATO's favor and that is the death count of Russian forces in Ukraine. The more than 987,000 dead Russian forces from this invasion is about to hit 1,000,000 in the next week or so.
     One million dead Russian young men because putin couldn't stand that Ukraine wanted democracy for themselves. The arrogance of putin to demand other nations do as he wants is the reason one million young Russian men will not live and have families. I am beyond astounded that the Russian people have allowed themselves to be used as cannon fodder by a psychopath but that is just me. However, with NATO now saying to Russia fuck you about whether we expand or not and the death count ready to hit the significant one million mark, putin is going to face even further obstacles to his attempts to destroy Ukraine.
     The psychological effect of losing one million soldiers to an invasion that had nothing to do with Russian fears of attack from Ukraine is powerful. I know the propaganda from the kremlin is all about making their populace afraid of the outside world but that cannot hold as more and more they are getting the news of putin's madness. NATO is buckling down and stiffening their upper lips in expectation of Russia involving them in this conflict. NATO will not back down and will fight Russia should Russia be foolish enough to militarily engage the NATO member states. With one million dead Russians in Ukraine just a handful of days away, putin is about to find that place between the rock and the hard place!

(#5962) Whatever comes after losing democracy will always be catastrophic

      I have seen a lot of foolishness in my days but nothing would compare to we Americans losing our democracy to a conman. It is incredible to me that we as a society would be able to be duped by such an obviously depraved individual. Yet here we are allowing ourselves to be led around by our inability to think in a ethical and honorable way. We Americans are showing the world that we are not ready to be examples of human rights champions. In fact we are showing the world that we are against human rights in order to serve our own personal desires. The lack of regard on our part for decency and respect has reached such a point as to not exist in many of us anymore.
     There is no greater form of self governing than democracy. Whatever would come after the demise of democracy cannot come close to being magnificent and rewarding. We will only find that chaos or subjugation are possible. Losing the civility of social agreement and enlightened opportunity is not a prospect I would ever endeavor to replace. Yet we Americans are on the verge of just such a consequence. Our traditions of tolerance and acceptance, although difficult at times has been an arc worthy of bending toward. But now the effort to stop bending that arc and actually reverse bend it is at hand with the conman.
     There is an abhorrent cleansing taking place in our American society that smells of race supremacy and genetic disparity. In every way possible this is loathsome and vile. The very foundation of democracy is inclusion, not exclusion! More evidence that fills our metaphorical lungs with a stench is the attempt by the conman to widen the gap between the wealthy and the working middle poor class. With his attempt to put more resources into a few hands while taking from the many what little they have is an abomination that in all scenarios of reality is cruel and inhumane! What happens next to our democracy is not yet written but what happens after we lose our democracy is a story I hope to never tell.

(#5961) We must remind the wealthy and powerful of our red lines they should not cross

      Social and economic pressure can work if we all get behind the cause. The cause can be anything that is in violation of our constitutional rights as human beings who control our own destiny. Understand what our constitutional rights of freedom, liberty, and justice, are within our society. Our pursuit of happiness in life without causing harm to others is a foundational starting point. It grieves me to see too many Americans who do not know what the rights of human beings are let alone those guaranteed by our constitution. Democracy is the paradigm where all our constitutional rights are created so keeping our democracy healthy and flourishing is how we not only protect our constitutional rights but how we expand them.
     The powerful and wealthy have deluded themselves into thinking they can control the destiny of us who are not wealthy and powerful. They are ill equipped to handle the effect of their delusion when the many of us decide enough is enough. Instead of the wealthy and powerful doing good with their positions in life they have chosen to become demigods who cannot any longer imagine they are also human like the rest of us. What they cannot imagine is that when we the people decide to stop their delusions they will be left with a choice. Either continue in their folly and pay a price they don't want or change their outlook on life and learn to live from their hearts.
     I don't expect the wealthy and powerful to learn to live from their hearts but there it is anyway. What will likely happen instead is that they will learn that we the people are a mighty force that can not be bent to their will. We will crush them in ways they have not considered and when we are done with them they will then become as insignificant as they think the rest of us are. We the people will not tolerate those who cannot find happiness in life even when they are wealthy beyond their worth. We the human being species is as durable a species as there ever has been so trying to force us beyond our own will is a non starter. When the wealthy and powerful know our resolve they had better heed it for our resolve is not pliable.

(#5960) There are two types of killers

      The first type of killer is a one who has no care to ending life regardless of situation. These are genuinely bad people who will kill to meet some need or craving they have. Much like with putin who will order the deaths of millions if it gets him his desired goal. He doesn't care about rules for murdering all he cares about is results. Old folks, invalids, women, children, none of these groups are immune to this type of killer when he/she sets their ambition. The bad people who kill are a menace and if they get their way will not stop murdering people as long as they are alive.
     The other type of killer is the one who defends and protects, either offensively or defensively, the right to survive of others or themselves. This type of killer is one who is a good person trying to keep good people from grave harm by killing bad people who would otherwise murder. There is a distinction here. Good people who have to kill to preserve good people from harm as opposed to bad people who murder because they don't care about other people other than themselves. So sure, both types are killers but one is forced to react to stop murder whereas the bad person who kills is the instigator of murder who needs to be stopped.
     I know this is a generalization but the reason for it is because we all must choose which type of killer we will be if and when that fork in the road moment arrives. Will we join in with the latest fad of killers who justify their killing with words of exclusion and hatred? Or will we join with the killers who have to kill to preserve peace and the rights of all humans? Many cannot even fathom the idea of having to kill for either of these reasons. Yet the fact remains America is armed to the teeth with weapons that at any moment may trigger slaughter. We have already seen mass murders of unarmed adults and children. When the killing time comes, if it comes, which side will you have decided to be killing for?

(#5959) The end of putin is near...

      Ukraine did not squabble about a ceasefire. Ukraine did not invade Russia to start a conflict. Ukraine was ready with a seriousness to end the invasion by Russia through mediation. But none of that mattered since putin showed the world what many of us already knew. That he putin wasn't interested in negotiations to end his invasion nor any ceasefire he pretended to forward. All putin has ever wanted to do is to expand his fiefdom and tyranny to countries that are not brave enough to withstand him. Well he met his match with Zelenskyy. From day one of the invasion Zelenskyy turned down offers for his own personal safety to instead rebuke putin and tell him through his forces to fuck off!
     With Zelenskyy being the good guy in this scenario, putin is left with nothing to hide behind. He has refused every effort to thwart further bloodshed in Ukraine and now the world is saying fuck you to putin also. Well there are those leaders who still suck up to putin but they are increasingly being pressured to back off the defense of putin and either help with defeating putin or stand back and let others do the job. Those who are standing back are a shameful lot and those who are still helping putin must be held to account. Because there will be an accounting when this putin invasion is finally stopped. There will be no victory for putin and those in his closest circle know it.
     So either putin will be ended on the battlefield or one of his circle will upstage a coup. The deal is here that putin has been so isolated from the world there is nowhere he can go besides Russia. His safety is his only regard right now even though he is still throwing everything he has into his impossible dream of conquering Europe. For those of you who worry over nuclear threats you needn't. the Russian hierarchy will not let putin destroy Russia by allowing him to instigate a nuclear attack. Because if Russia nukes anyone, every western nation on Earth that has a nuclear arsenal will return it on Russia. So what happens next is either Ukrainian secret services ends putin or his own people do.

(#5958) How I deal with trump

      I haver a couple of unbreakable rules concerning trump. I won't watch him or listen to him. I have done those things in the far past and have learned that he is an idiot. Another thing about him is that he doesn't care to learn so knowing that makes not listening to him now even more intelligent. I also know his heart, or truly in his case the lack thereof. For if he did have a heart he would feel the pain he has wreaked upon countless millions in his lifetime. He is an abomination to the idea of good. What we are witnessing with our American society is a fundamental breakdown in the concepts of integrity, honesty, ethics, responsibility, and learning.
     I went into work this morning earlier than I had planned thus this late blog post. What I was thinking about during my routine of driving was the breakdown in responsibility and knowledge. It is a cancerous outcome we have left our children to be burdened with. Not only burdened but they don't even know they don't know. We have created a more zombie like generation that has lost touch with facts and reality because they can so often escape into fantasy without caution. They will find that the solutions to problems that arise on their watch will be foreign to them as they do not use critical thinking in a complex world as a survival instinct.
     Anyway, back to how I deal with trump is to get my news about him through critical lenses that do not favor his absurdities. I already know he cannot brighten our lives with progress in human ways so what he does is try to hide his conman agenda. He wraps it up in patriotism and heritage all the while segregating and dismissing too many into realms of utter despair. His time in office has already dwindled by over 3 months and that is a silver lining. We have made it well past his first 100 days and we see some hope in our government to sustain our democracy. His ineptness coupled with his audacity has slowed his march to tyranny. If his incompetent path continues we may just survive his and his followers and overcome the greatest threat to our democracy since the American Civil War!

(#5957) Don't let fear stop you from protecting truth and justice!

      What I am saying here is that it is okay to be afraid. I am afraid but I don't let fear stop me from being the better person I know I am. I don't care about threats and intimidations. I only care about protecting all of us from the bad and working to get us the good. It really is that simple. There is a lot of emotion around so many things but when you set your mind to be on a side that is worthy of honor and respect then all that emotion subsides and the values you have chosen instead become a strength. I am in a state of fear and uncertainty about my own self but it is not a major factor in how I operate.
     If I am not myself then I don't want to be anything else. Especially when the other option is living without my conviction and sense of ethics toward the rights of humans. I would rather perish standing against the worst of who we humans could become than to live as a tool for others to utilize for their own purposes. I really am the steward of me and will never relinquish that duty. Like all human beings these days we must see ourselves as warriors for our own intentions. Regardless of any fear that may seem overwhelming the fact remains that an honorable life is worth fighting for even when the threat is real and grave.
     As we honor Memorial Day today and tomorrow we must remember our own ancestral heritage in keeping our democracy alive and well. Nearly 250 years of blood and treasure have been spent on making sure human beings have rights beyond the reach of those who would enslave us. We the citizenry of our country are the rulers and no one shall take that from us. If they try then they are susceptible to our wrath. Being afraid to fight is not an inhibition to fighting it is just an emotion to overcome. I think of those young men and boys storming the beaches in Normandy and how crazy afraid they must have felt yet forward into the gunfire they charged. That is how you deal with fear, you move forward to protect what is dear to you and all of us with all the power you can muster!
     

(#5956) Back yard work today

      I have so much to finish up out back with mowing, raking, weed eating and such so that is my focus. The nice thing about it is that I have already finished most of it and now it is just the back end of all the work that needed to be done. I won't finish including the front yard today but tomorrow I will. I would normally be working tomorrow but since the Memorial Day holiday is upon us I get another day to get the yards ready for hot weather. I do have to work on actual Memorial day Monday but around the country Sunday is used as a remembrance day for parties and picnics to celebrate those who have served us well in fighting to keep our democracy.
     We will also see the hypocrisy of the current trump administration attempt to make Memorial Day all about them in some distorted deluded way but most of us are in the know that fighting for democracy and the inclusion America had always stood for is the real reason for the remembrance. I have already started my work out back even before starting and finishing this blog post. I don't know why I did things out of order  because it usually comes back to bite me somehow but there it is and here I am now trying to get my fingers to type then they are so tired from operating tools and doing manual shoveling and raking.
     I did order an electric hedge trimmer that will be coming next week which is perfect timing in that I will have all the necessary work done and can then just focus on the hedges. I like doing yard work because it gives me exercise while also giving me satisfaction for how the yard looks when I am done. It isn't anything that would go in some fancy magazine but it is nice for me. On another note there were about 400 goats of all ages out back on both sides of the creek bed eating all the wild vegetation. It is probably more cost effective to hire the goat shepherd and his goats than to have a human work crew come back and clean out all the overgrowth. Life is good in the back yard and after today it will be even more enjoyable to just sit and watch the wildlife interact.

(#5955) If I don't do it it won't get done!

      Everything about me is my responsibility. Just so you know I have known this since my early days growing up. If I needed something there were only a few instances in my past that were done by others for me. Of course I am also one who rarely asks for help when I need it. It is because I always see a way of getting something done despite the near impossibility. I do respect my mind for its ability to rationalize solutions when they are not easily available. So me being the one who tackles my problems is a natural for me. Yet over time this paradigm of my taking care of my business does wear me down.
     When I was younger I enjoyed the challenges associated with my own ability to solve my problems but as I have gotten much older the internal fortitude I used to take for granted has waned a bit. I am not the bright eyed bushy tailed young rabbit ready to sprint at a moments notice anymore. Now I ache and creak with less than prime physical attributes and mental fatigue is as well a factor. I think every morning before I rise after waking of the chores and duties out ahead of me before I can rest again. That is how I roll. I get my responsibilities done first then I get to find time to rest. It is a cycle that really has no end except when the end of me does come.
     That is my destiny in life now. To keep things in order while trying not to exert beyond my lessening capabilities. It is like a dance where I have no partner but I do have the music and the will to stay in step with the beat. Each movement executed to a precision without too may miscues. The dance metaphor really does work for me in that I am happy to be doing it while also understanding the achievement of the motion. My chores and duties are much more enjoyable when I can imagine them as all part of a production worthy of being performed. If it needs to be done I just do it and there is no debate within myself about my role.

(#5954) House republicans just voted to cut health care for 13.7 million poor folks and their children

      Just so the wealthy could have more tax breaks. You get that don't you? So many of us had been saying this about republicans for decades yet you didn't listen. You thought we were being ridiculous. Well who is ridiculous now? The thing is we also told you that republicans always voted against allowing health care to the poor to begin with so when you act shocked at this mornings vote by republicans to cut health care we can only assume you are disingenuous and not very bright. None of us here who want health care for all are making things up about the opposition we face from republicans. Yet you keep voting for them.
     What the republican led Senate does in the next few days is most likely the same as the republican led House, vote for it. Then the liar trump will sign it into law and the end of Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security will be another step closer to becoming. But you go ahead and keep believing trump and republican politicians when they say they won't touch our vital social programs. The republican party is all about serving the wealthy and lying to the working middle poor class. As soon as you finally figure this out hopefully all our social programs won't be gone. I personally don't have much hope of that since our American electorate is more concerned with the propaganda of "reality" television than actual reality.
     For me I am getting old and have lived most of my life so even though the social programs are being undercut that may well be needed by me I can still sigh but somehow bear it. Yet too many cannot. When the middle aged now reach old age there will be nothing left for them to rely on for assistance. You cannot appreciate or know the value of help when you are older until you actually are older so what I say now about republicans is that they are the most despicable group of people who are either too stupid to know what they are doing to not only themselves but the rest of us or they are the most miserable lot of people to ever be allowed to be in charge.

(#5953) One day a person won't get out of bed

      Like the twilight before sunset the savoring of the moment is near. The palpations I get when I think ahead just a little bit is happily welcome. The anticipated arrival of the historic day is in itself worthy of experiencing. I truly wish no ill will to anyone who is a human being in the better and best sense of the concept. But some do not measure up to a minimum standard of existing as a human being. Instead they envision themselves as some greater being with the only justification being their own surreal imaginings. For them I have ill will and that is just plain fact. I would hope no one would fall below the natural state of humanity yet there remain some who do.
     I don't have to identify anyone by name as their actions speak for them when considered. For that person or others alike, the sentiment of relief at their not being active in our lives anymore is proper and good. Some things in life are better moved past and especially when the era of them has done a suffrage for many as a result. The old saw of "the good of the many is greater than the good of the one." truly is an axiom worthy of acknowledging in this case. So similarly the dawn before the sunrise of days left is short and the rest is eternal. That is my silver lining when I think of the good that awaits so many of us just around a coming corner.
     We will all make our way out of existence and like most all of us we will not be much missed in a massive way. Yet this one the ending will trigger a massive relief world wide. Many famous people are remembered for their good yet with the infamy some have accrued their ending will not be honorable. So as the days count down eventually to hours Karma will be restored where it currently is silent. I never thought I would post a subject like this about a person yet it seems that I am unable to stop myself regardless. It is because it is true what I am feeling and in the bigger picture to deny it would be lying to myself about how I feel when the worst of what it is to be human captures us unforgivably.

(#5952) Finding our Zelenskyy here in America

      The republican party ran an ignorant uncivilized arrogant asshole and won. We democrats then must run a knowledgeable civilized compassionate asshole to counter them. Someone who is kind at heart but just as ruthless against the bullies. That is the kind of person as I can see is what we need. There isn't one in the democratic future at least right now. But to win again like we should because of everything else we must find this person immediately and begin our quest for 2028. We democrats have had the correct policies so finding the right person to lead us is all we need to do.
     Not through the traditional methods of working their way up through political politics but through fiery stances against the brutality of the republican party. Someone who has the qualifications for the office of president and is naturally able to win hard fights even in the dirtiest of conflicts. We need our civilized working man hero now much like the Ukrainians found in Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He was a comedian/actor/producer. He didn't come up through the political ranks he just answered the call within himself as a man who could fight to the death for his country with a decency and power necessary to overcome any odds
     Where is our democratic champion? The one to lead us back to being a stalwart democracy with no mercy for the despots and tyrants of the world. The leader who will not unclench their fists when demanding the best of our natures prevail against inhumanity. Where is the person who resembles us in ways that make them true to our own hopes and dreams? We need our leader now and wherever this person is they need to step up now and help bring us back from the brink of a despairing and bitter end. Our democratic leader must take the reigns of a shadow government and pull back hard against the wrong that republicans seem intent on allowing in the absence of an imposing opposition leader.

(#5951) Worshipping at the altar of contradiction

      Regardless if it is religion or political, no one belief or politician is worthy of our individual full trust. I have seen religious movements that attempt to bring all together but the methods used are lesser attractive and more fearmongering. I have seen politicians promise us all they could think of while only delivering disappointment after disappointment. I have lived long enough and learned that neither religion nor politics is fully trustworthy and/or absolute. Given the complexity of our species there are so many different aspects to who we are. Trying to fit us within some mold is a fool's errand. What I can say for sure that most all of us want is peace, knowledge, and happiness.
     Deliver those things and I won't care what you call it. I am one who has no belief about why we exist. I am also one who is wary of any politician who doesn't speak from their heart about truths and facts. I am not against religion as a personal observance but not as a nationalization. I am against politicians who speak out of both sides of their mouth, but will accept a politician who speaks truths and fights for them. I do not accept compromise in the area of intent. Either you want our existence to become a place of joy despite natural sorrow or you are a conman out to deceive for the purpose of otherworldliness.
     I prefer the current state I exist in within my own mind. It is a generally happy place where the good in the world is highlighted and the bad is thrown on the pile of disgust. If I could eliminate the bad I would and have no qualms about it. I don't adhere to some irrational concepts that have no thing to do with my current existential surroundings. I am alive in this existence and that is where I live. I accept what is here with respect and obliging honor. My own inculcated prejudices are not allowed and have been dismissed by me long ago. I have grown up here in existence to know that I am but one among billions and that the future is not mine to hold. However I can presently be a positive example of what kind of human being I am so others may do similarly for themselves.

(#5950) I couldn't afford health care until Obamacare!

      Not having health care didn't toughen me up, it made me shy about the things I should attempt. Waiting was painful when I was injured or needed something like immediate dental action. Not having health care has most likely shortened my life and made me more miserable than anyone with health care. That is a fact and I don't know anyone who went without health care like me for so long who disagrees. Needless to say I have been an advocate for universal health care for most of my life. Having to exist in the American version of dog eat dog demands is tough enough without having a safety net to catch us when we are not well.
     It isn't just about health either! It is the cost of trying to stay healthy. The republican party here in America understands only one thing, making money for themselves regardless of the grave costs to others. There should be no insurance middlemen in health care. Think about this for a moment. The republican party has not only refused to raise the federal minimum wage here since 2009 they have successfully fought all attempts by democrats to raise it. Even back then the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour was paltry. So in the last 16 years the minimum wage has remained at $7.25 an hour. If that isn't the most shameful aspect of the republican party then it is near the top. Meanwhile the cost of living has continued to rise whereas the purchasing power of those on minimum wage has fallen.
     It is hard enough to get by on living essentials when wages do not keep up with price increases for food, shelter, transportation, clothing, etc... So how does one who has even less money keep themselves healthy when they are injured, sick, or suffer from natural processes? How does one do that when the profit margin on health care is the only factor? 32 other first world countries have successful universal health care yet we here in America are unable to do the same thing? There is a rot in our nation, specifically in the republican party, that cannot get past the greed and cruelty that comes with profit above life itself. It needs to be rooted out and replaced with the concept of a healthy quality of life instead of the disease of greed!

(#5949) Enjoyment in life not struggle!

      The idea that I even have to post about this subject tells everyone just how ridiculous and unfocused we are as a species. There are many of us who know this and try to live this way but there are just as many who don't know this and keep contributing to the problem of keeping us struggling. We don't need possessions to make us happy we need purpose to our lives that bring about satisfaction and that costs nothing but our time and energy. I do my chores and then some so that I am constantly reminded that getting things done is what I do best and it serves my need to be validated. yes, even I feel like I need to be validated. But not by others but instead by myself.
     I am the ruler of the good ship Carl and my stewardship of me is intricate and at times unique. But the simplicity of my purpose in life is in my care to do what is right in front of me. There is no ego in that just a simple task followed by many more. I am not trying to avoid anything I am just trying to make things better for our existence. I wish I had been better prepared at a younger age to learn more than I know now but I am where I am and that will have to be good enough. I don't blame nor accuse. I am the master of me and all choices have been mine. So what I do going forward is all about maintaining and creating a better existence for those coming after me, whomever they are.
     I didn't get to choose to be here in existence I was born with no foreknowledge to my being. Yet I was nurtured and then learned what I could from what was offered and here I am. As my wherewithal has slowed, my contemplation of purpose has not. Factually my body has slowed down but not my mind nor my will to push myself. I don't get enjoyment from the advertisements, I get enjoyment from being a part of a greater naturally good force than myself. I get my satisfactions from helping others achieve in ways that are fruitful and appreciated. Instead of making life a struggle like some current negative forces I prefer to have a positive force in my life and will eventually die knowing I didn't waver!

(#5948) Stranger Things...

      I usually think of a subject before writing my daily blog but this morning I thought of this, upside down world. It is from the television series Stranger Things. Where there exists an alternate world that is teeming with a nightmarish surrealness. Much like our current political dilemma. In the trump world the bad guys are to be admired while the good guys are losers and foolish. How this was allowed to occur is something that has not been fully explained yet but in some amount of time the answers will come. In the meantime though the not upside down population of our nation is scrambling to figure a way out of this unnatural dreamscape!
     Sure, there are the extrajudicial ways that no human being in their right mind hasn't given pause to at least consider but that is extreme and not the way to end this bizarre moment in time. The most elegant way forward is to apply so much pressure that the trumps have no other alternative other than to acquiesce to the will of the people. The cruelty and brutishness this administration of trump is capable of is not strong enough to withstand a revolution of will against them. Because for all the bravado the trumps exhort they are not resilient to receiving equal force against them. We the people are. We have known hardship and survived whereas trumps only know the softness of privilege.
     How the upside down world was eliminated in the series was a group effort by those who were not going to lose reality. Same with we the people. We cannot allow the darkness of trump to blot out our sunshine with their dreary clouds of despair. What we have learned from trumps is that they are relentless in their daily attacks on our civility and perception. They do not care about facts and truths only their version of a twisted demented paradigm that is kin to the upside down world. In reality we could just shut our televisions off and take a break from it all but this is not that. We cannot turn the trumps off so we must live each day ready to withstand and overcome their endless soul sapping upside down world.

(#5947) trump isn't a president he is a wannabe dictator

      The sooner you see trump in his true light of wanting to be a dictator, the sooner you will understand his every move. Every thing he does is to further his vision of being ruler of the world, starting with America. He has not yet conquered America and he is finding that it isn't as easy as he thought it would be. If you need evidence of his dictatorial ambition look no further than his executive orders. He treats them as decrees! Instead of allowing the legislative branch of our democracy to function as the law makers, trump instead chooses to bypass them with his own ideas about what we the people need.
     I say that facetiously since he doesn't really care about what we need, he only cares about what he wants and how to manipulate us into allowing him to have it. The fact that he is so transparent in his actions should make for a no doubter on this factual claim of mine. His latest evidence is his desire for all of us to sit up straight and give him our full attention when he speaks. He is so badly in need of validation that he will order it under duress if necessary. He is already coercive in his quest to rule the world and will do everything in his power to fulfill his demented dream. Those of you who support him are just as delusional or you love that he is an arrogant racist/rapist. Shame on you!
     For those of us who will do everything in our power to obstruct and deny him his plans to destroy our democracy, the work is cut out for us. I am now getting back up to speed from the devastating reality of his election. That election ripped my soul in half and stitching it back together has been a painful process. I am healing up though and although getting too old for this type of bullshit I must be a full strength if I am to be helpful. All of us are now in the corner with nowhere to go but straight ahead into the fight. It is a fight for the survival of our democracy and those who would take it from us are a brutish and cruel lot. So be prepared to fight fire with fire and aim well and straight when the aiming time comes.

(#5946) Our national media are hiding under rocks!

      I will say this much, not all national media are cowering but most are. The things trump and his accomplices are doing in broad daylight is shocking. Yet most national reporters and editors are silent in their reporting. Fear has struck them big time and they cannot seem to put their own principles of right and wrong ahead of their concerns for what they see as their future. Well their future is on their knees if they don't find their spines! Daylight used to be the great disinfectant but not anymore. What the trumps are pulling off is the epitome of a highjack, a brutal and unethical coup of not only our way of government but of our very souls.
     The best backstop that should defend we the people is the press. Telling the truth when it hurts or helps is the honor the pross is the steward of. What we have now is not so much a commission of conspiracy, it is instead a subservient omission. The paramount factor is fear and it is being dealt out by the trumps in all corners of our society thus making us afraid as their weapon of choice. Why does anyone go into reporting on the news? There has to be a yearning inside us that drives our ambitions with force. The news requires us to report on facts and truths. What we are witnessing is silence and acquiescence to fact and truth which must be a sobering betrayal to those who have bent their knee to a force of fear.
     Generally, if it wasn't for the courts in our nation the trumps would be nearly unstoppable in their quest to end democracy and install trump and his minions as unquestionable overlords. The media has stopped being independent and has now become propaganda for trump to create narratives of his own choosing. Case in point. The trumps create a problem that didn't exist and then find a solution for that problem and call themselves geniuses. The media plays along and doesn't report the illogic of it all and instead focus on the victory trump claims. It is devastating that the fourth estate has fallen so far down to their knees, instead of fighting for the truth, in order to join the republican party as the cowardly culprits who would end democracy in America!

(#5945) The fake negotiation by putin is to buy time

      If it isn't obvious to you then let me explain why it should be. The aggressor invader only offers a peace negotiation when a deadline for a consequential ceasefire is demanded. The response by putin to the ceasefire was to extend the time of the beginning of the ceasefire so that the consequences that came with putin not accepting the deadline of the ceasefire could be delayed. It appears that is what is happening. Now in 2 days the date set by putin for a negotiation in Turkey for peace gives putin a few more hours to extend again the new peace talks while avoiding the harsh penalties of declining the ceasefire. It is all a stall by putin who only wishes to keep his invasion of Ukraine going.
     In the meantime putin is attacking Ukraine on several fronts in the hopes of taking more strategic Ukrainian land so that when and if a negotiation does come about putin can sabotage those talks so that he can launch even further into Ukraine. Remember, putin is the aggressor and a much larger geographically nation that Ukraine and putin is a self absorbed dictator who cannot stand being humiliated like Ukraine is currently doing to him. The aggressor would stop aggressive behavior if a real peace plan were his intent. It isn't as putin continues to attempt to destroy Ukraine. He has been at it for over 3 years now and the longer putin keeps fighting into Ukraine the less the chance he will give up.
     The patsy trump is who putin is trying to keep on his side by agreeing to a peace negotiation because putin does not want a ceasefire. If trump were objective at all and was a true ally to democracy none of this putin maneuvering would be allowed. But the patsy trump is no critical thinker thus his obedience to the crueler and more brutal man in putin. Fortunately the most powerful European democracies are led by men and women who are not patsies. What they need to do is to follow through on their timeline of putin not accepting the ceasefire and begin to deliver the means of war to insure Ukraine is victorious in the long run against putin. Stay hard and fast against bullies and their patsies!

(#5944) The tariff scam was all about market manipulation

      When you elect a conman to run the government don't be surprised when he grifts the hell out of it. His fear tactics and bullying have paid off for him. He got a whole lot of people to sell their shares in tariff raising sectors in order to capitalize off the sales. Buying cheap and selling expensive is how to make easy boat loads of money off the market. Especially when you are the one manipulating the actions that make things volatile. The big scare with China tariffs, once threatened as high as 245% did the worst damage since we Americans import from China numerous amounts of inexpensive items.
     Well now the threats have been put away and the stock market is recovering so the low buy is now paying off in higher value for those once threatened stocks. I am no stock market aficionado but I can see a scam when it appears. For one thing claiming tariffs are a good thing for a country that will not manufacture the lower priced items makes no sense. Secondly tariffs are never paid for by the exporting country. The added price is for the importing consumers which is us. So his big boogeyman ploy should have been scoffed at in the beginning but there are so many who take his word for gospel when all he does in reality is mislead and lie.
     Anyway, trump and his cohorts have made a bundle and will keep making more bundles of money because once a grifter always a grifter especially when no one will hold him accountable. If our democracy somehow survives we will have to recover from from this massive theft to not only our resources but to our ability to ever trust again. Politics is about helping people, it is not about grifting in order to help the politician. If we the people are not able to somehow recapture our ability to hold law breakers to account then the robber barons will not stop until they have bled our nation dry of not only our treasure but of our will to fight for our rights as human beings.

(#5943) May 12th is quickly approaching in just hours now.

      The deadline given by European leaders for putin's Russia to accept a 30 day ceasefire is almost here. The ultimatum given by Ukraine and it's allies must be followed through on or putin will use any hesitancy to his advantage. That putin has already rejected the ceasefire hours earlier tells that he is defiant in the face of the European threat. What comes next is crucial to Ukraine as it needs to follow through on the threat because putin wants Ukraine and he will not give up what he has already seized in any negotiation to come. The fact is that putin has shown he is in this invasion to win it and nothing Ukraine and it's allies hope to achieve through peace negotiations will stop putin from his immoral and illegal quest.
     The fact remains that any deal that rewards the invader is appeasement and is not to be allowed. The only way to stop putin and his tyranny is to fight them until they are no more or call out uncle before that! What the west needs to do is to keep their promises to defend Ukraine and help them in all the ways Ukraine needs. The time for pussy footing around putin is over. Put the pressure back on him and his country by supplying Ukraine with the tools and weapons to not only defend their sovereign nation but to push the Russians back to their original borders before they invaded Ukraine 12 years ago.
     With putin dismissing the pledge of Europe to go all in for Ukraine if the ceasefire is not agreed to must be a promise kept. The allies should never rescind their promise for a fake from putin to want to negotiate sometime in the future. He is the most untrustworthy person in any negotiation so it would be like Charlie Brown trusting Lucy to hold the ball for him to kick. She always pulls it back as he launches into his kick. The ball is still in putin's court but he has shown he will not play fair. So what Ukraine and it's allies must do is stick with the plan of the ultimatum and implement it with authority. In a few hours we will know and by all things good in the world I hope Ukraine and it's allies follow up with their promise.

(#5942) From fear to courage, it is a process for most of us

      It was for me anyway. Several times in my life I thought I had won the battle of fear only to find out that as time goes on fear comes back. Only when it tries to come back and it isn't allowed do you know that you have overcome it. I am still startled and afraid in some minor areas of my own phobias but not so much in the area of one or more humans attempting to either bully me or force me. I have had that battle with myself and no longer fear the worst consequences of pain or death. I am no more of a human being than any other but in this area of deciding that death is not the line I back down from is a major difference.
     In fairness it helps that I have already lived the better part of my life and that is a fact. Yet if I had to decide back then under the current circumstances I may well have come to this point much earlier. Quality of life is the key here. When just quantity of time is the only reason for living then fear has won over courage. I hadn't been faced with that in the past other than scary moments I allowed myself to participate in. They were just moments not a cumulative effect like the era we are in. Our democracy allowed us to be ourselves for the most part and now we are being shaped into images that are not our choices. That is unacceptable when coming from other human beings who should know better but don't.
     Eventually we all will have our line in the sand moment where the final battle for courage against fear is fought. Make yours count as a final battle and not just a stay for the moment. There is nothing like the feeling of courage when it conquers. The feeling cannot be taught in some book or by passing down memories that aren't experienced by the listener. We each have a final battle we must either fight or shy away from into a lesser way of living. I will never choose to live lesser and will always fight. Courage to fight is the battle waged and if we succeed then our destiny as an individual human being is justified on a greater plane than just existing at the by your leave of others.

(#5941) There is massive nobility in duty and sacrifice

      You can see that wealth is not the great feel good achievement in our societies. Too many of the wealthy are unsatisfied and uncaring. I would have thought that being wealthy and doing good deeds all the time would be the greatest achievement one could purpose out of this existence. I expect many others feel that way as well. Yet what we have is too many wealthy beyond what they could spend in a lifetime being more greedy than ever. Not only greedy but filled with thoughts of their own surreal greatness. What the rest of us see are beings who are so lost in the lust for more that they cannot see what could be the beauty of life all around them.
     I have very little, enough to get from month to month but there is no backstop for me. If there was a backstop I would only need enough to be able to live without fear of being destitute. Although I could live on the streets if that is what came of me. There is no demand within myself to have more than others. There is no need for me to possess beyond what I would daily use. There is no craving for what others have in an insatiable way. I am just happy to be alive and able to not be much less unfortunate. There is a humility in that feeling of being worthy despite my lack of any fortune.
     What I have found though is that when I give from what little I have I feel a happiness that comes from my own pride in myself to be worthy of greater things than myself. Not only do I know that others are helped in some way from my actions but that I am being true to who I am. I am the hero type albeit in small ways. Yet nonetheless true. I am content in that my duty to my responsibilities are met and that I can go without some things so that others can have when they don't. Those little sacrifices are what give me joy especially when they are nuanced and subtle for no one to know. My life does not scream out accomplishment for tributes. Instead it is a series of happy moments that are in a positive and constant flow.

(#5940) I love my empathy

      My empathy is what defines myself to me. How I react emotionally to different behaviors and outcomes in the panoramic view I have on life is my modus operandi. Over time and space I am at a place where I have a comprehensive sense about what is good in the world. So when my empathy kicks in at a level that I become immersed within it, I know that something special is about. To me that is my life gauge. Without this gauge I would be less human and more automaton. Which I am very grateful not to be. For one reason the lack of empathy must be a confining space when in association with so many who are empathetic. For another reason the lack of empathy would deprive me of another sense that helps us to nurture our species into an even greater evolving human being species.
     The catch phrase of empathy being human is noteworthy in that not only is it generally true but it does play a role in our ability to survive. My blog post is built upon the two premises of care and wonder. The care part is the empathy that we own within ourselves to feel our emotions in acceptable natural order. I do not suppress my emotions out of some duty to a code that has no real purpose other than to deny how I feel. I do contain my emotions out of respectful civility but never do I relinquish the genesis of the experience. It would be disingenuous of me to deny myself a natural emotive behavior out of some one else's perception of decorum. In other words, I will feel my empathy, period!
     To hear some people talk of empathy as a degenerating and negative paradigm, is to put it mildly, horseshit! Empathy is the fuel that fires my engines of life. Because I care is why I live. Without my empathy I would just be a shell of a human being pretending to be more than I am. I don't live to pretend, I live to exist in reality with all that makes me human. I am proud to be a full functioning human being who not only has the mindset and strength to fight and defend but I am also able to feel the weight of the interactions that most always stem from some kind of harm. Those with no empathy are so much less than human that I would have to classify them as subhuman. Not as a matured human being species that can feel and understand the current turbulences of life that not only we ourselves experience but what others experience as well.

(#5939) Will American democracy survive the trump self harm until the midterms?

      About 18 months from now will be the next national election here in America. 18 months is around 78 weeks, or 546 days. I know how hard it is to live just one day in the trump reality and it is excruciating. Yet pain is what we voted for through counted majority in 2024. So excruciating or not it must be endured. We can all hope for an intervening act but that is more wishful than real. So buckle up and endure! Then if we are able to survive the audacious and demonstrative nature that trump continues to breathe into life we will only then have a chance to upend him in ways that would nullify most all of his ambitions. Until then it is all we can do to stop his worst visions from becoming our heartache.
     We may well stop his worse visions, but his less worse are still craven and sociopathic. The election of trump is the epitome of self harm. Not only are we harming ourselves we are harming all who would be in association with us. We see now the world is shying away from us because they know we are like an infected patient who will not mask up nor stop spreading our sickness to others. We are fast becoming the pariah that we previously viewed in the cruelest of dictators and strongmen. Those felt no need to protect life if it disagreed with their unnatural impulses.
     However surviving until the next election is no guarantee that we will automatically correct our shameful past election. I have sadly learned that the gullible can continue to be made gullible regardless of the harm that is on their heads. What we need to do is to rally those who are aware of the mistake of trump and then offer them a helping hand to reverse the grave inevitability that will surely follow should we fail in the next midterm. We cannot only count on logic to backstop the trump propaganda. We must speak and show truths that cannot be denied with the terms of fake and hoax. The real pain must be our underlying slogan of response. We must keep ourselves alive in the mess that now threatens our present and future.

(#5938) How can Russia continue to sustain its personnel losses in Ukraine?

      Short answer it can't. I was looking at a post a year ago about Russian losses in Ukraine and it struck me as powerful. After more than 2 years of Russians invading and dying in Ukraine about 460,000, that number has increased in the last year by about 500,000. So the first 2 years took nearly half a million Russian young men out of the Russian society and this last 1 year has nearly doubled that. How many young men has Russia available to be liquidated into Ukrainian soil before the cupboard is bare? How many more deaths of young Russian men will it take for the people of Russia to say enough?
     I don't care about Russian propaganda and its ability to silence its citizens. When young men don't come home from the invasion the mothers and fathers brothers and sisters must know that they are no more. How many will it take before Russia has no more young men to feed to its self imposed death frenzy? In less than 6 weeks Russia will have lost 1 million souls to their leaders ego. It may even be less than 5 weeks at the rate they are being eliminated. In all the world of family how can the Russian people continue to support a maniacal man who is not adverse to using these young men as cannon fodder for his daily propaganda reports?
     I had felt earlier on in this invasion that the Russian people would eventually end this madness back when it reached several hundred thousand. But it seems that my intuition about them trying to save their children in the Russian society is too sensitive and not enough uncaring. The Russian people have to find it within themselves to love their children more than they love themselves. If not then they do not deserve any victory that honors their disgraceful lack of empathy. The Russian society ahs failed in my opinion and they are shamed by it. Their shame needs to be broadcast so that no other beings on earth will ever follow their miserable path.

(#5937) The American manifest destiny of full democracy will return

      It was all doom and gloom in my mind on the night of November 5th 2024. I had already survived the catastrophe of trump in his first appointed presidency. To have that thrust on me again was a despair that I rarely feel. Yet within that utter despair I found a way to move forward even though I was thoroughly gutted. I was numbed to the point of spending time just staring out into space wondering how in the name of all that is proper and good with our nation we would let a craven creature like trump back into an honored position of trust when his whole being is nothing short of dishonorable.
     In the several months since that election night I have begun to see a path forward that gives me some of my fortitude back. I see the intent of our citizenry to push back on him and his cronies. I also see the world at large in a majority way push back against him as well. It is as if the election of him has solidified the resolve in many who otherwise had taken democracy for granted. Their awakening is more than symbolic it is an absolutely necessary. I can even now see the effect through adjudications that have defied the wrecking ball trump is laying to our constitution.
     America, previous to trump, had always stood on the front lines of democracy protecting its very existence. Not now! With trump in charge he is enamored with tyranny and what it can do for him. Instead the world has taken up where we Americans under trump are currently failing. I am proud of the fact that my American ancestors instilled into the history of the world the remarkable advent of an improving evolving democracy. The world is like the beacon of freedom that has replaced the now muted silence of American advocacy. Yet with each passing day America is growing her spine back and in some short order will again rise to the top of her courage. The American manifest destiny has always been up until now about spreading democracy and that time will soon come again!

(#5936) My dreams at night are in an alternate universe, somewhat like our reality

      I have been trying to figure out why my vivid dreams at night are in some other scenario other than reality. There are bits of reality interspersed but the action and behavior is much different. Instead of being like what actually happened in the past the reality of my past has changed and characters who earlier in my life had passed away are now still alive and interacting with me. There is always a nervous tension as well. Somewhat like I am working hard not to fail at what is important to me. The obstacles and problems that arise in my dreams are vaguely familiar to reality but not in factual ways.
     I am not someone who can decipher my or any other ones dreams but I do get a sense that my dreams are in conflict with what I would hope reality would be. I can say that I don't remember any dream of mine being nothing but happiness but these dreams lately are all about conflict and distortion. Much like what the current state of American politics portrays. Our national politics is always front and center with my mind so it isn't surprising I would see the similarity of my dreams being disjointed and unkempt with our current reality. I am much like a machine, I am user friendly with what works and when it doesn't some fragmentation is the result. Similar to the abnormally surreal dreams I have been having.
     I wish I could remember if I was having this same problem the last time trump was running things. But I don't and don't want to imagine a reality that is false to confirm my current opinion. All I know is that my mind is unsettled when I am dreaming and my reality is always a part of that dreamscape. This alternate reality dreaming is difficult to comprehend which adds another layer to the chaos that happens when I live in those dreams. Making sense when I am dreaming is not absolute in fact it is rare. But I push on in my dreams because it is like a test for me. I must pass this test every time if I am to awaken back to reality with control over what is real and what is not. The whole thing is somewhat cartoonish and as well somewhat nightmarish.

(#5935) The trump fever is breaking...

      It didn't take long this time in the trump presidency to awaken people to his abysmal personhood. The world at large has already gotten it and in the elections in Canada, Australia, and local elections in England the point was made. Anything trump is a loser. With both leaders of pro trump movements not only losing in efforts to take leaderships of Canada and Australia, but both lost their local representative seats in government. The backlash in England, with many previous conservative politicians losing to liberal ones bodes well for liberals in the next national British election with the Labor party now predicted to win back the office of prime minister.
     This just happened within about a weeks time so I would promote that the upsurge against trump is spreading overall. It seems like every few weeks here in America there are protests nationwide that are significant. The courts here in America are adjudicating primarily in favor of overturning trump dictates through lawsuit decisions and stopping/staying executive orders. He trump thought that he had filled the supreme court with lackeys to do his bidding. What he is finding out though is that enough of these supreme court justices along with the 3 liberal supreme court justices are not bending their knee to him. If anything they are being emboldened by district and appellate court justices and even state court justices who are honoring their oaths to the constitution, not to some demand of trump!
     Standing up to the bully who is trying to destroy our democracy is what is saving us. I know it is not easy nor simple to stand up to the bully. However the alternative is to cower and submit. I won't live life like that and it seems enough of us are the same. We need everyone to understand the importance of what is happening right now. There is no time to dismiss the imperative moment of now for some other less important wish or hope. What the world is doing is powerful in that they are showing us how much they appreciate the democracy that America created into government 248 plus years ago. We should keep standing up to the bully until he cannot move without our consent. Which is the heart of democracy!

(#5934) The disease of hatred is about us in the US

      Like a body that has been infected, we Americans are displaying the symptoms of hatred and cruelty. Where it comes from is an out of balance society here where the working middle poor class is not well treated. But like the body of an individual who has been infected by viral or bacterial antigens, we the body politic react with antibodies of protest and pressure to fend off the invading disease and help to return our body back to better health. It isn't trump that is the problem. It is the ones who voted for him and still support him that is the problem. He is just another symptom of our overall ailment.
     Of course he is still a problem and must be dealt with in a superficially expeditious way but the core of the problem is much deeper. Where the lack of things has caused so many to blame others who are at no fault because they were told by the real culprits that others were the problem. I am here to say right now that the wealthy are mostly empowered with sociopathic tendencies who will do much to blame others to mask their own greed. It is that greed that is causing the woes of the working middle poor class and we need to recognize that. In a more just world the wealthy would share prosperity with their workers and consumers and triumph in the fact that in their life they were good stewards of humanity.
     We know what the cure is and it can only come about with government forcing the wealthy to abide by rights of humans in a more tangible way. We cannot force people to be good people but we can force their ability to operate in our governed society toward being a good operation. The unwritten but understood contract for society is that we care for each other in order to keep peace within society. All participate in this endeavor until they don't and then they must be dealt with in a manner that dissuades others from upsetting the unwritten contract that keeps us all within safety and security. We are at a point now where the human rights violators feel like they can violate society at their whim. That is why we must punish them with a vigor to end any thought of impunity for their brutality.
     

(#5933) We are leaving behind too many with our technology requirements

      From Real ID to electronic wallets the economic landscape is changing and for the most part even those of us who are somewhat technologically savvy are having some trouble keeping up. Everything costs money and if you don't even have the basics like secure computer access or a smart phone you will quickly find yourself buried beneath an insurmountable avalanche of despairing insignificance. What we don't want to do is alienate our citizenry from essential and necessary life sustaining functions, by requiring new technology without having easy and simple access.
     Capitalism can get us so far but not all the way which is why governmental programs to bridge the gap for the poor are so necessary. No one wants to live their life in poverty since we only have a finite amount of days to live. So making life even harder on the poor because we don't keep them at a foundational level able to access essential priorities is cruel. Nearly half our American population hovers around the poverty level so expecting them to pay at minimum hundreds for a reliable computer and thousands for a smart phone is mush worse than foresightful, it is negligent. Leaving the many without the tools and information to use the tools and expecting them to keep up is as callous an approach only the worst of us would employ.
     It has always been my desire for our societies to evolve to smarter and more efficient opportunities to pursue our happiness but not at the expense of those who are not able to keep up. Each of us must make our own effort but we have to have the ability to even try. Which now is becoming harder because some in power are not leaders but takers. The idea that we can just leave souls without the ability to engage in our societies is beyond human and should never be allowed to progress. The time will come when even more of us are left behind the technological advancement and it becomes the divide that too many will never bridge. It isn't the expansion of technology that is ruining us it is the ones in charge who put their interests above the interests of humanity.