(#5993) We traded peace and prosperity for exhaustion and struggle

      What were we thinking? I cannot understand the depth of our collective ignorance. Yet, we can get our peace and prosperity returned. We just need to actuate or effect change that stops the current discouragement. Before we can even begin to understand what the change will be we all must find it within ourselves to be part of whatever is about to come happen. When we are all ready to step up to the starting line is when we all can start to visualize our hope of peace and prosperity. Coming to attention at he same time is when we can all move forward with some semblance of a successful strategy.
     We know what our enemy is and how he is going to react day in and day out. There is no surprise other than who is next victim may be. As relentless as he is we must counter with even more desire to overcome his insatiable appetite to destroy American democracy. Make no mistake here. He is all about establishing himself as a lifelong ruler under any circumstance. Since he can not do it under democracy he will destroy democracy so he can make his own rules. This isn't rocket science it is just progressive thought along a logical sequencing. He has shown us who he is and do not be mistaken by underestimating him.
     He owns the republican party lock, stock, and barrel. He will take the metaphorical republican musket and blow a hole in our society wide enough for himself and others to dominate for generations to come. Yet we who are in his way cannot sit down or move over. We must create such a shield as he would not be able to create an opening. We the American people have allowed ourselves to become pawns for him to move around on the board of life. We are pawns now and all we can do is move forward together in such a mass as to block any space for him to advance. We will get treated like pawns because he will not relent. But that is our fate to be cannon fodder for what is coming because we couldn't protect the precious gift of democracy when all we had to do was vote no to him!

(#5992) The republican party makes life especially hard for older folks

      I am not real old but I am just about to turn 70 years old. I worked hard in my younger life in manual and supervisory roles that took their toll on my body. As a home and building wood framer for more than a decade, an underground miner and logger for several years I have had some of the most rugged work to perform and it has worn me down as I keep getting older. I am still strong but nowhere near do I have the power and fortitude of my youth. That is the thing about aging, it is relentless in its winding down the height of our promise toward an end. So when the republican party is always looking to keep us seniors from any comfort as the end of our lives approach you should get my anger at them. not just for me but for all we who are not young anymore.
     There are many other age groups who could claim the same about the callousness of the republican party but for me it is front and center as an aged person. I don't expect a hand out from our government but I do expect some respect. At least with Democrats we get recognition for our life long work endeavors that do make our society a better place and that is admirable. The Democratic party has in my lifetime always been there to help the working middle poor class elevate themselves from no opportunities to several opportunities. And when we workers get older and unable to keep pace with the younger workers we had our Social Security and Medicare at minimum to look forward to as a foundation.
     Not anymore as the republican party is prepared to take a sledgehammer to our foundation of Social Security and Medicare so that the obscenely wealthy in our nation can have even more that they could never spend in a lifetime. We the working middle poor class are being used to destroy what little comfort Social Security and Medicare provide to seniors. It all makes me sad and mad at the same time that our care for our elders is such that it is not a priority. We elders of our existence are being discarded for a purpose that can only be described as intentionally greedy and disregarded for the pain and suffering we endured to live our lives improving society for those who follow us. Shame Shame Shame!

(#5991) Honesty isn't infallible, but it is close

      Here is how honesty works for me. Especially when it involves me in some hardship. First thought through my head is how wronged I have been. It is natural I suppose to think of ourselves as infallible when something jumps up out of the blue to make life harder for us. Even those things we control. Like this morning I noticed I was paying more than double the bill I normally pay for a service. My first thought was this bill must be a scam. Amusing since I defaulted immediately to there is no way this is correct. But soon afterward I had a lingering doubt that maybe I did screw something up.
     After careful examination I began to realize that I did screw something up. A something I never screw up. Once again by default I began to lay blame at the feet of ageism. Although again I quickly reversed out of that and understood that this month has been economically challenging with me jumping through hoops to make ends meet. I was the cause of my less than major trouble and there was no excuse for it other than I lost track of a responsibility. I am the loose cog in the wheel. I can say that with no shame or remorse. Because my world revolves around the truth of things not the salve many need to avoid the truth. Even though my first instinct was to look elsewhere for blame I quickly realized that looking for the blame was as easy as looking in the mirror.
     I say honesty isn't infallible because it does have its peculiar perspectives at times but in most cases honesty is infallible. All we have to do is remove our own biases and prejudices and then most all becomes rationally clear. In my world there is no bank error in my favor. What is more likely to happen is I make an error and then must unravel its truth and then rectify it. For one thing it settles me in that I know the logic always delivers when I pay attention to it. I also know that I am fallible so when the truth of something shows itself I am not surprised nor too reluctant to embrace it. I don't like making mistakes or being wrong as per my initial default thinking. That said, I am the epitome of saying sorry and/or making something correct.

(#5990) The end of trump is the beginning of civility and respect returned to our society

      You may hate the idea behind the democratic party of helping all in our society pursue their own happiness without harming but you are on the wrong side of human nature. Because there will come a day when trump is no more and his sexism and racism are no longer points for others to rally around. That day is coming with the age and bad health of trump getting worse as each day proceeds. If trump survives to the end of his term he will have become a real liability to republicans up and down the ticket. The chances of an overwhelming loss by republicans increases by the day. When that day of no more trump arrives is when the sanity of politics will return to those who are aware of the insanity now.
     Democrats and republicans will be clear of the power that trump currently holds over too many. That trump truly is the end all for trumpism is clear to me and despite his followers zeal they will scatter to the wind when there is no more trump to protect them. I have seen memes showing that when trump does die his funeral will be enormous but not for his life achievements, but instead for the turning over a new day when trump isn't in our lives making it miserable. I actually concur with the meme I saw in that the sense of relief that such a conman of enormous stupidity could have commandeered our society will spontaneously generate a massive sigh of relief and dancing in the streets moments.
     Afterward, when trump is not a factor in our society, we will start to move back to governance that focuses on democratic principles and reestablishes now broken alliances. An era where the putins of the world are back to being confronted for their crimes. An era where democracy and the freedom and liberties it brings will return to the forefront of American and foreign politics. We will not forget that many republicans colluded with trump to destroy our democracy here at home and there will be a reckoning on their heads. Beyond that though the rebuilding of bridges in our politics will be healthy and the protection of law and order will make for a quieter and more improved environment for our soon to be new future.

(#5989) Child informational development and the Internet

      When I was a child I had the knowledge that my family members could share with me, my teachers and classmates at school, and the library where we first had to discern the Dewey Decimal System. Even then asking the big why questions had no immediate answers. In other words I was only able to search out answers that were less than complex. Most of the time I was told not to question some things as unimportant to my daily life. What I know today is that I should have been told that those were good questions and that although they didn't know the answers they would help me find a way to answer them.
     When people say that progress is slow this is a prime example of that. Life is hard and being all things to a child can be challenging to the nth degree especially a child like I was. However, the challenge has been lessened in this current time as technology has come about in a way that circumvents most all the obstacles to learning. One such major technological advance is the Internet. If the Internet had been around when I was first starting out in school I would have had many answers to questions instead of disappointments and the many times I was told to stop asking questions. Because the Internet would have been my backstop when my usual routes to questioning were stymied.
     When we are young is when our minds are most able to capture and retain information. Having an Internet option expands the depth of the young mind and allows it to immediately progress at rates that often enough took me decades to achieve. History should should show how progress in our individual informational gathering record on whole has leaped ahead through Internet data bases that are constantly evolving and growing. To be young with an Internet connection is a dream for me that I can imagine if it were me. We need to teach our children that there are no unsolvable problems just ones we haven't figured out yet. We figure them out through information at our fingertips.

(#5988) Unless capitalism is reformed with socialism, we will always have the poor.

      Greed, it is what makes the capitalistic world turn. Not invention nor creation, just greed. When greed is the engine that makes many of our industries operate in dysfunctional ways, the only fix to make capitalism less about greed and more about inclusion is to socialize it. Not totally, as ideas come and go and need to be allowed to blossom as needed. But the weight of all the industry centered around profit for the a small group of people is vastly disproportionate. All who endeavor in the initial idea of commerce are stakeholders, not just the money men but the workers and consumers.
     Our society should not be designed to placate those with money while making it hard for those who without. The great equalizer is society itself. We cannot allow just a few silver spooned to run away with our resources and profits to the point where we the people actually become expendable. We humans within society are not resources to be used by a few for their desire and pleasures. We allow for peace in our society when we all feel the opportunity to grow and flourish. When we don't feel that opportunity then our recourse is to topple our society and either invent a new one or remain in chaos and uncertainty.
     Better we take the concept of all for one and one for all seriously to heart. No matter our station in life or if we are in a position to make dreams come true then we must do all we can to help our society reach a higher plateau than the one we began on. I am not here to say we should allow the worst of us to live like kings, I am just saying that we need to raise the floor of our society so that the term poor is not synonymous with unfair and callous capitalistic practices. If someone chooses to be poor that is their choice but we cannot make people be poor because we don't care enough to give all a hand up toward their own pursuits. It is always better to be a good person who helps people than a bad person who only helps themselves. Try both and then tell me I am wrong!

(#5987) I have a quirky writing style and I am opinionated!

      I am at the threshold of having half a million views of my posts over the 16 plus years I have been doing this blog. A lot of the views have come in the last several years so the interest in my voice and writing style has been on the rise of late. Which makes me somewhat confused because for the most part I have not changed much from the beginning back in 2009. Yet the mysteries of time and space will have their way. Anyway, as to my writing style I do like to flourish my content with some generalities and specifics. I am not a writer who follows all of the proper rules of sentence and grammatical structure and at times can mess up the tense. However, I am free writing from my being so despite some editing at the end it is what I was thinking the moment it was typed.
     I am also someone who is looking to leave existence better than I found it. Which is no simple task. There was much about love and kindness we had when I started out that now seems less in supply. But also there were difficulties back then that are less so now. We are improving as an existence but we are also regressing. I suppose I could make a rudimentary chart to try to delineate improvements over deteriorations. Something for me to address at another time. This type thinking here is why I call my writing style quirky. I start on one premise toward a conclusion and instead end up with another premise toward another different conclusion. I am in other words like to mix my logic like I like to mix my metaphors, occasionally. :)
     Back to me being opinionated. I used that term as a general concept but inside me it is more absolute. I care about all people and want all of us to have the dignity of freedom, liberty, justice, and most of all the pursuit of happiness while doing no harm. I don't think I am asking too much when I try to live my life under these basic terms. What we have in the world is a gang of thugs who will do anything to keep the status quo of misery and pain for many while they bask in the glow of their own selfishness. In this sense my writing style is consistent. I am a warrior against the culprits who keep this existence in a state of disappointment and unworthiness. However quirky I may be!

(#5986) I am an American but I am also a victim of this current despicable regime!

      The world looks on at America with a puzzlement as to how we have regressed from being the greatest democracy and defender of our democracy in the world. I suspect a majority of we here in America also are in puzzlement about how we got to this soul crushing place. We keep electing the same corrupt and borderline sociopathic individuals to lead us so the puzzlement shouldn't be too difficult to comprehend. Why we keep electing these malicious souls is beyond my current comprehension but surely it must be for several reasons that all of which defy honor and logic.
     I would say that too many are loyal to a miserable political party out of some allegiance with the past. I would also say that too many are unkind in their souls about equality issues concerning race and gender. As well the fact that our population has slipped badly from being an intelligent citizenry to one that is vulnerable to propaganda and sensationalism. There is an awful mix of too many who are angry at the wrong cause of their unfortunate effects. We Americans seem to be able now to be so manipulated to agendas that are not realistically our cause. We have illogically taken on the burdens of those who would use us for their own gains.
     My hope is that the world will not fall into the abyss like we Americans have and instead will continue to fight for democracy and human rights. There are many of us here in America who will not quit fighting along with you but at the moment we are not as strong as we need to be. I don't know how all this is going to play out but I won't quit because I and others have the will to succeed. Nothing here is set in stone and as time moves on so do we who will never stop working to bring out the better and best of who we Americans are when we are not so gullible to the distortions and lies of our current existence.

(#5985) We Americans perpetrated an act of war without declaring war first!

      We sucker punched Iran last night  True to trump's bully form that is exactly what he did. The dishonor associated with attacking another nation without declaring war first is exemplified in the act that Japan perpetrated on Pearl Harbor. Although in Japan's case, which is no excuse, they intended to declare war but were not quite able to do it properly. With trump he just seized the moment on his own while only letting his two republican lieutenants in the Senate and House know just before he proceeded to bypass the rest of Congress, and Iran, and sneakily drop bombs on Iran.
     I can be somewhat assured that trump's intention of destroying Iran's nuclear material was not accomplished last night. So what he did in the probable case is only let Iran know he declared war on them. We the American people are not uncivilized like trump when it comes to rules of engagement. The rules are there to keep civilians safe from military targets. No such notice was given by trump to Iran so their citizens were not allowed to calculate safety measures. This does not surprise me because the sucker punch only works if no one is aware of the coming blow. That is how bullies operate because they are afraid of fair fighting!
     What will happen next is somewhat knowable. Much like we here in America after Pearl Harbor was attacked, our nation was unified in its determination to mobilize. We had the moral high ground and it fueled our focus to fight. That is what trump gave Iran last night and we Americans had better be prepared for the aftermath because it is coming. The election of trump the first time was our warning and the second time we didn't heed that first warning. Now that the warning has been ignored the effect of his ignorance and bullying ways will harm us in ways we still don't imagine. The pain is coming and there is no one to blame for it but us because we allowed trump to play at leading the greatest nation on Earth into a hole we we are about to fall down in.

(#5984) The rest of the snake will wither and die once the head is removed!

      The world needs this to happen. So do we who are not ignorant nor complicit! By hook or crook something is wrong with how trump got into office. Surely we know his Supreme Court gave him the opportunity by not upholding the rule of law concerning his actions on January 6, 2021. But even then the way the vote played out against the obvious will of the people has many of us perplexed. However, we have been given some clues from trump's lackey muskrat that there may have been some deceit perpetrated through voting machines. I am not saying I have any proof but I will say I have plenty of doubts for a man who really does need proof.
     The way all of this has happened and the events since his inauguration, suggests some sort of foul play has entered our trusted and civilized voting processes. History will tell the story but for now we need to find a way out of this catastrophe that is under a constant pressure of worsening. Every day I feel the growing frustration of doom as an inevitable consequence of his election, tainted as it may have been. Our collective despair is real and deepening as the hours move on. I also felt this the last time he hustled his way into our leadership but this time he is even more devious and cruel in his approach to lording over us.
     The end of the trump regime is something I long for with every waking hour. It is also the first thing I think of when I rise from uneasy slumber. Has something taken place to end his ability to command our lives with his own crushing intent? I am not passive about this I am publicly hopeful. However his end comes be it through resignation, medical emergency, or even his expiration, No hope is disallowed. The end of the trump regime will also end his cabal of bootlickers and their disregard for humanity. We Americans need our soul back and will get that when we have removed the guard who is imprisoning it.

(#5983) Second round of No Kings protests coming July 4th

      Two weeks from now on a Friday the nationwide protests against trump will start again. The importance of this coming protest is because not only to object to trump and his dictatorial policies but to celebrate our nations 249th birthday. Our constitution with democracy at its core is the value we all should honor. Not some conman who is barely literate trying to force us from our long heritage of bettering the world for all who would seek it. From battles overseas to attain democracy and the inner battle we are now having in the United States to keep our democracy, the message we send on July 4th must be loud and clear with participation of overwhelming support.
     It was generally estimated that on the last No Kings day protest on June 14th the total was around 13 million. Which made it the largest protest in American history. I expect that on July 4th a new record should be set with upwards of many many more than 13 million. We the people have one real good shot at this to let it be known the true conviction of our minds and hearts against tyranny and for democracy. This coming protest will be the perfect opportunity to display our intention of keeping our ability to direct our politicians and not be directed by them. No Kings is especially poignant in that trump is unwilling to protect democracy neither here at home nor overseas.
     Two weeks is plenty of time for us to each find our strategy and purpose for protesting wherever we are located in the US and across the world. It is my hope that all citizens of the world who are allowed to protest without being punished would find the time to join in and protest whatever the cause that is keeping a boot on our neck. Freedom and liberty to pursue our happiness without doing harm is the goal. Not the bitter disappointment of subjugation and deprivation. Our world belongs to the living and most of us who are alive in our souls need to show up and be counted among those who would value existence as more than a place where the darkest of motives rule unabated.

(#5982) The rule of law, atheism, and honoring your good heart

      This is the lens that I see the world I live in. It is also my handbook for living a life that can find respect for others in the world. Now there are some who defy my ability to respect all but they are the worst of what humanity has birthed and outside my ability to forgive and forget. That is my life encompassed until it is shattered by those who would destroy me and those like me who have noble intentions. In those cases the worst of who I could be is activated in a measured way so as to protect what are the values of a good life. I am a duality when needed but otherwise I am simply one who works hard to live by the rule of law, atheism, and the best my heart can conceive.
     I understand some cannot find all three of these paradigms within them and are conditioned to having beliefs that keep their lives in balance. I can easily accept that as their personal choice and to honor that. I can also see that some are not attuned to rule of law and that to me is troubling. I know some laws are unjust and need to be rectified to a better example however overall the rule of law is vital to all our safety and security. What is a good heart? Love and kindness are two words that come to mind. Beyond that there is tolerance and respect that show by example. A good heart is needed by all to really be human and not just some brute who must have what isn't theirs to have.
     These three principled paradigms are what motivate me to pursue my happiness. The beautiful part about it is that my happiness is not a set or predetermined people, place, or thing. I just want to have around me the people, place, and things that make me smile and are happy. This existence can be anything we want it to be and if we all would just stop for a moment and recognize that the stress and strain of our daily problems would seem far less important and much more easily prioritized if we would just enjoy our moments instead of aggravating over them. For me the bar is low because I already have the respect for the rule of law, for my atheism, and for the purposefulness of my good heart.

(#5981) Time for all the arm chair christians to feel their armageddon moment

      The right wing political christians have been waiting for their come to Jesus moment and it may happen very soon. They elected trump their god figurehead to be their shepherd and he is about to lead them right into the next existence, or so they believe. For me a non believer in any religion, this is just a bunch of hooey that is likely to kill many who are like me. After the election night last year I came quickly to the understanding that although we barely survived him last time we were  not going to survive him this time unless some extraordinary event altered the course of our deserves.
     With trump now acting like he is a big ally of Israel and their desire to start world war 3 I somewhat expect him to join in the carnage. He is a fan of putin who is causing regional carnage in eastern Europe but the Israel/Iran thing will cause far more nations to get involved and there are many who possess nuclear weapons. I used the word armageddon in the title to define the end of time and space for the majority of humanity. Whether any human survives the aftermath of a mostly unusable planet is debatable. Either way, the end of what we know as normal will never again occur for any of us who do survive. I am saddened that too many would rather live in a world where believing in something that is not rational is worth the near to total destruction of our planet.
     Yet here we are living in a world where belief systems overrule logic and reality. More than being sad that our species is capable of deluding ourselves for what to me is unfounded fear is the fact that most all our enlightenment over the millenniums will be lost to the ravages of a post nuclear world. We are within a time frame that is about to do the most foolish thing ever done in the history of the world. Most of us won't be around to reason and analyze it but just know the conclusion is a punishment that supersedes all other punishments ever given. There will be no chastising christians or trump supporters who brought us to this point but before most of us are gone I wanted you the enablers to know that we know what you caused.

(#5980) This is what I know...

      On November 5th 2024 when it became clear that trump was once again going to become president I had already resigned myself to the likely fact that my existence was going to be a struggle to maintain. Because trump doesn't like people like me and I don't like creatures like him. So one way or another my time is bound in the ultimate battle between me surviving and trump surviving. I am not that powerful and he unfortunately is. I know many who are like me who also feel the depressing letdown of having to defend ourselves against trump just because we see his cruelty and what he can bring to silence us.
     Fortunately for me I have lived the better part of my life so it ending isn't such a devastation to my emotions. But to have it ended to a sniveling coward with power is enough to make me fight with everything I have to prevent it. Yet I am not the one with force behind me. The problem I have also is that trump may well end the lives of too many much too soon and that is unacceptable to me. He is not worthy of being anyone in charge of anything let alone the fate of America and our slowly slipping away allies. Why I am writing about this now is because trump may unleash our military might in an irreversible way at any moment. My best guess is that he won't because what I know of him he does not like following through on his threats.
     However, his threats to involve America in a devastating confrontation where nuclear weapons are present is unnerving. Unnerving or not though I am not impressed with any of his rhetoric and regardless of his decisions I will not stop fighting to stop his agenda until one of us is stopped. There is my line in the sand as we all need to make each in our own time. Those who voted for this absolute mentally instable jackass are the reason our democracy and society on whole may well be torched to the ground. Nothing good will happen under trump so stopping him is all I can see to do to save our democracy and as well save we who believe in humanity.

(#5979) Ukraine is fighting for democracy so why don't you support them?

      Let me clear here. Do you know what democracy is? We the people, that is what democracy is. We who make up our society are the ones who represent us through federal elections that are held at orderly time intervals. In our case every 2 years. But what does our democracy represent to us? For we the people it gives us the rights of human beings established in our Constitution and our Bill of Rights. What are these rights that are established for us? Basically they give us the freedom and liberty to pursue our own happiness without causing harm to others. Who are we the people? We the people are everyone who is part of our society regardless of race or gender.
     This is what Ukraine is fighting for and what we who are already in command of should be fighting with Ukraine for them to attain theirs. If you are not fighting for the rights of human beings then what are you fighting for? Do you understand? Every person living in our democracy should be a defender of democracy. Because freedom and liberty are not guaranteed in any other form of government. So if you are not fighting for democracy you can see why the rest of us would think that you are trying to destroy democracy when you don't defend it. So each and every person should ask themselves if they are defenders of democracy or not!
     Even though our American history has been messy it has always fought for the rights of humans to live their lives pursuing their own happiness without causing harm. We have overcome many of our most glaring American hypocrisies and cruelties to evolve to a point where under law all are equal with liberty to cause no harm while pursuing our individual and collective happiness. This is what Ukraine is fighting for. The opportunity to give their citizens the we the people title in choosing and directing their elected officials as they deem most helpful for all of their citizens. If you are not supporting Ukraine and it's magnificent fight to preserve their fledgling democracy then what and who are you fighting for?

(#5978) Expect more chaos from trump as he calls putin after his underwhelming 3rd world military parade

      There is no doubt in my mind that trump has to talk to putin regularly so that he knows what to do. We are being manipulated by putin through trump. Which makes for an impossible task on our part to convince trump to change his ways. The tyrant putin will never change his ways and now neither will trump. If trump didn't get that we the American people are against him it is because he doesn't care. Even I am now suspicious of the vote totals from last years election given the stakes that trump was dealing with. When muskrat said he delivered the vote to trump I can easily see that the possibility of vote fraud on the part of muskrat operatives. through voting machines, isn't out of the question.
     With putin pulling the strings I can also see why trump is relentless in his attacks on democracy. Which brings me to a conclusion that I have held for a long time now. Somehow someway we Americans need a final break from trump. No other dupe in American history has been such a useful idiot for our enemies. The sooner trump is not in charge anymore the sooner our society returns to a more normal perspective. We still have problems with too many republicans but they are not the shell of trump that putin moves within with ease. Once trump is beyond trying to control our every waking moment the closer we are to reestablishing our democracy as a world vision.
     Yesterday's protests everywhere were a real slap in the face of trump and he is smarting deeply. Which means the advice last night from putin will quickly take shape today from trump. So expect some new or growing violation of our rights as a retribution for we the people showing trump up. This is real simple folks, we are in a battle and the winner will rule America. Either we the people overcome trump and force him back to the rock he slithered out from under or we the people will no longer be able to withstand his vengeance aimed at us for making yesterday's king like aspirations of his miserably fail.

(#5977) Our battle motto: Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst!

      The beauty of being on the correct side of history is that we can actually smile when we have a moment. Basking in the triumph of knowing we are the better and best of what humanity should be is a value that is unlimited in price. Yet knowing we are honorable and noble in our thoughts and deeds about what life should be is not the same as being prepared for the reality we are currently living. There are too many ignoble folks who are blinded by their hatred of those who are not of their ilk. They are prepared to cause chaos and harm whenever it is feasible for them to administer.
     We we who are not generally attracted to chaos and harm must also prepare to defend against those who are generally attracted to a range of violence. We must hone our skill level in some areas to be better prepared for the force that is aligned with brutality and cruelty. Each of us is different in our skill levels and approaches when confronted with our rights being ignored or breached. Those of us who are not prone to being offensive or even defensive are at a fork in the road of life. We must either choose to resist the attacks that are surely coming our way or we must figure out how to escape to fight another day. Because there will be no safe harbor to sit this one out in any more if the forces of anti humanity succeed.
     I am myself always of a duo nature. First it is to be the curious/compassionate person that has evolved into a reliably sound and respected human being. But at the same time beneath that desired persona lives a survivalist. Even more than a survivalist in that I have a personality akin to a hero type. I would gamble my own existence to help save the existence of others who are threatened. But that is just me. We each must find it within ourselves to discover who our survival persona is and activate that person when and only if required. We cannot be caught unaware of the danger that is confronting us right now and it will cost all of us some amount to defeat it but we can and should for the sake of who we are as decent honorable people.

(#5976) The courts the courts the courts...

      For those of us who knew that the republican controlled House and Senate would be complicit with most everything trump tries to do to erode democratic constitutional guardrails, it is the courts that have stepped up and said whoa, wait a minute! I knew that the district and appellate courts would favor saving constitutional laws but I worried that the 6-3 republican split on the Supreme Court would side with trump when they eventually got to make the final decisions. But my sense now is that most of those republicans on the Supreme Court are suspicious of trump and themselves losing power.
     More is yet to be revealed and those revelations are coming very soon. If the Supreme Court sides with trump on election manipulation and national guard control then the verdict for a free election in the coming midterms will be unattainable. If trump can commandeer state national guard troops at his pleasure then voting, which will become more cumbersome will be difficult to achieve when troops are at the polling places as obstruction. There is so much going on right now and for those who are not yet ready to engage in the reality the rest of us are screaming is at our doorstep then I admit we will have little to no chance to escape the coming trump authoritarian rule.
     None of our constitutional institutions will survive, not even the Supreme Court. Which is why I expect the court to rule against trump for their own survival. Not out of some great respect for our constitution but more to assuage their own personal fears. Whatever the reason the verdict to uphold democratic norms is vital and although selfish on the part of the republicans on the court I will be happy for it. The rule of law should always be defended but in this moment that is under a cloud. The republicans on the Supreme Court gave trump a get out of jail free card and trump is emboldened to grasp for more. I expect the republicans on the Supreme Court didn't expect their gift to trump to come back and bite them in their asses!

(#5975) Ten years from now the history books will be unbelievable

      We still don't know what will happen in the days ahead but what has already happened is bewildering. The present will either get worse or some intervening actions will change the course of our continued spiral down from civilized progress. I am not being flippant nor embellishing. We are on a downward plateau right now that is ominous to democracy and to civility. The harsh cruelness of the putins and trumps of the world is not an aberration it is a destination for them. The more time they have to consolidate their narrative changing pessimism the more likely we go from bewilderment to unabashed painful incredulity!
     In my mind the history of this time will be a triumph for the forces of sanity and good nature. Not the cavalier attitude of wanton destruction. But as of this moment the outcome is in doubt. So there is still time to bring order back to our culture and society with some change that reflects that. If not then the only other opportunity we will have to regain normalcy will require acts that stretch the bounds of polite society. Now is the moment when the proper way to rebut a cancerous world order is doable. We the people still have the strength to negate the egos of those who would be our masters. There is no other way to face them up than to stand or sit with power!
     This time will be a blemish on our culture as it may well allow a cruel and inhumane conman the dishonorable opportunity to disrupt the ascension of a 250 year old democratic movement for the sake of hatred and prejudice. The names linked with this time are duty bound to be disgraced for all future lives to see and read about. That is the thing with history, despite the victors defining it there is always an underground movement to keep the truth secure for when the light of day does reappear. None of these acts by the oppressing republican party will go forgotten nor will their heritage survive the brutal disgust that will perfectly follow. As the wannabe kings see things in their own dimension the many of us see beyond that and work with all we have to succeed above their limited scope.

(#5974) By this evening 1,000,000 Russian soldiers will have died in Ukraine!

      The inevitability of guys like putin and trump will occur but in the meantime what carnage will they create? Life is not an ever lasting event so while we are alive every human being has the right to exist without being harmed for some other person's ego. With putin and trump their egos are rampaging. It is just insane that the Russian people are so unaware that 1 million of their sons are no more so that putin can spread his tyranny beyond the borders of Russia. No society in this day and age is totally unaware of what is going on around them. Even with a tight control of propaganda, the missing sons cannot be hid!
     Stopping the egos of these two less than honorable men has to be the priority number one in the world. There is nowhere that will be safe if these two continue to devolve humanity from striving to be an equal and free one into one similar to peasantry and serfdom.  There are billions of us who are at risk of losing the rights of humanity to just two individuals who consider anyone not them to be little more than cattle. These two men somehow have transformed themselves into gods answering only to themselves. We who are ruled by institutions that gave then rise to power must stop the insanity if we are to keep our own.
     Each day that goes by with either of those two men still in charge is another day that we who are still able will be less so because of the advances they are making to quiet our dissent. We have to be stronger than our sense of duty and actually put it into motion. The shackles are coming for all of us no matter if we support them or not. What everyone should know is this, that no one is them and no one is safe from their harm. Insanity knows no logical formula, only chaos. No one will be safe from the egos of these two failed human beings and until they are not leading any more they will be the end of all of us.

(#5973) Our power is our voice and then our vote

      We are still having elections here in America but I know the trumps are not welcoming to us voting anymore. They have complete control of our government and do not want to relinquish it. For now though there is nothing they can do about that except to declare Martial Law. It isn't a coincidence that the several state protests where trump is sending his thugs in disguised as ice agents is to stir up enough trouble to activate National Guard troops and now the US Marines. Even though the vast majority of protestors are peaceful and well within the stewardship of the local and state authorities. This clumsy plan of trumps to incite riots and confusion is the prelude to his attempt at Martial Law.
     I have told anyone reading this blog so many times that trump wants to be a dictator like putin is a dictator. It is clear now that the only way he can succeed is to stop voting in America and he can do that under the guise of Martial Law. We who would protest must understand that provoking the security forces that are mobilized is a double edge sword. It on the one hand makes us feel accomplished standing up to trump's goons but on the other hand plays into his narrative that Martial Law is the answer to the problem. We must be careful not to unduly hurt or harm those who are witting tools of a fool. Our protests must be peaceful and let the carnage of trump play out.
     The courts have been a real thorn in the side of trump and when he does do his stupid constitutional breaking activities he is almost always called out and rebuked for it by the courts. We the protestors must trust in the rule of law to rectify the absurdity and harm of trump and when in a matter of a short time have our next election and destroy the power trump currently has for the second half of his term. Our right to protest is not a right to combat. We must just use our voice and our presence to make known that we are not going to go quietly into the goodnight when our democracy is being overrun by a coward at heart. There are consequences to voting and if you are realizing now that you didn't get what you voted for then join the rest of us who knew and let's end this reign of stupidity and harm the proper way.

(#5972) So many distractions will not deter us!

     The never ending concocted distractions by putins and trumps are trying to take our focus away from their real agenda of making us forget to pay attention to what really matters. With just 3 thousand shy of one million dead Russian soldiers in Ukraine and a legislative bill that will rot the heart of our democracy are in play right now with little attention on either. For putin it is imperative that the one million number not reach his citizenry even though he has a tight grip on the news that enters Russia. If the Russian people actually knew the real cost of his invasion into Ukraine they would sack his ass in a heartbeat.
     For trump his very tenuous position is that with the Los Angeles contrived chaos he hopes to not only neuter Governor Newsom but work behind the scenes in D.C. to get his lifetime appointment to president bill passed into law. He just needs 50 votes in the Senate and although there are 53 republican senators even enough of them know the bill is a monstrosity to democracy. He is almost in position to get his 50 votes but is better helped to do it with no one looking. Instead the focus is on ICE raids by his thugs pretending to be agents. What we the people have to do is multitask like trump is and do more than two things at once.
     We are all headed into modern day uncharted waters. There is no escape for us to find a safe harbor without the dynamic of current events changing. How that happens and what form that takes is yet to be determined but if a course change is not navigated our democracy will surely crash on the rocks of finality. The inmediacy of our ability to pay attention to what matters most is upon us and we will fail if we cannot give our all right now regardless of the subterfuge trumps are employing. We will all swim together or we will sink separately. We will see how and if we save democracy.

(#5971) Pick a side: Try to protect human rights for all or not

      Only you can decide how your existence is lived. Do you want every human being to have freedom, liberty, and justice or do you want that only for yourself and those who you think deserve it? Because anything short of wanting each human being to have the right to their own life is discounting democracy. We are at a crossroads in Los Angeles. The trumps are playing out a scenario where they use extrajudicial tactics, nothing short of vigilantism, to arrest and detain individuals who are being deprived due process. The trumps are using masked individuals to kidnap people off the streets with no warrant issued from a judge.
     We here in America had been a beacon of liberty up until the trumps and now with the trumps using the same oppressing playbook as the tyrant putin we are no longer a "shining city on a hill". I don't normally use passages from the bible but in this case it is applicable. No more is there a beacon of hope as an example for the rest of the world. Instead it is the opposite. Where the downtrodden are treated to the same effects that made them downtrodden. So pick a side. Do you support the method of trump because this has always been his method, bullying, cruelty, and brutality to force his agenda of destroying democracy to bring about a life time power role like putin has for himself.
     California is now the flashpoint although other states are also involved. But here is where trump is coming full bore to exert his force. There is only one way to stop trump and that is through defiance. If we Californians do not stand up to trump and block him from using us as his tools of division then he will succeed in turning our state into his playground. Democracy is on the line here and if we don't nullify trump through resistance then we are all next for subjugation and punishment. We here cannot relent in our effort to stop the harm that is breaking our democracy. Pick a side wisely because the rest of your existence depends upon it.

(#5970) Prejudice, cruelty, ignorance, thuggery, and cowardice, our American devolvement

      The title covers what we here in America are currently exporting into the world. I am so ashamed of my fellow Americans for turning their minds off to the truth of our demoralization. What is most ironic is that most of us still think we are on the high road. How unnatural it is for me to witness this absolute illogic. I know people who think they are doing good in the world while consciously wrestling against their part in destroying the good in the world. There is a word for that and it is called cognitive dissonance. From Google: Where a state of mental discomfort experienced when a person holds two or more conflicting thoughts, beliefs, or values simultaneously, or when their behavior clashes with their beliefs.
     I do believe most of them understand the conflict but have decided that their personal choice outweighs the evidence of their damage. The logic of their conflict is downgraded so that their desire is accomplished with minimal to no guilt. The fact that they are not able to comprehend the differences is an example of their inability to think in a complex way. I am not a psychologist nor sociologist but the evidence is simple enough to generally rationalize. To me the conflict speaks of some deep conviction or personal harm that must be justified regardless of it's effect on the logic of the conflict. That in itself is proof of a stagnant mindset against the growth of reasoning, analyzing, and concluding. It also speaks to the limited ability of too many people not to understand what freedom means and actually looks like.
     As it is right now we here in America are being portrayed accurately. We cannot even stand up for our own democracy and the rights of humans. Two of the main concepts that allowed us to stand shoulder to shoulder with honor and admiration. We are even now attacking the rule of law as the cohesion that makes freedom, liberty, and justice equal for all. Our American nation is shameful and not worthy of any reward for enlightened exemplification. Not all Americans are under this dystopian spell and hopefully the nightmarish return of those who would will be short and unsuccessful. However the truth is that in this moment we are not a redeeming nation that can hold its head high without lying to ourselves.

(#5969) We the people

      The individual power we have as ordinary citizens seems to ourselves to be very insignificant. Yet, when we all or most all pull together for purposes we exponentially gain in significance. When these moments of unity occur the power we have is historically greater than any power against us. So far we the people have proven that there is nothing that will stop us when we put our minds and hearts to the obstacle. Since the trump election I have been so inwardly depressed about what catastrophe lay ahead for our democracy. But then I saw the small steps ordinary citizens were taking to call out the impending carnage and the slow assimilation of others to join in on that call out.
     Slowly but surely we the people began to align with our courage and hopes to put up a fight regardless the outcome. Either win fighting back against the doom that was coming or die trying. It is that attitude that prevailed on D-Day and this time again it began to rise. Since the early days of trump in office the courts have shown that they are not ready to be complicit in trump's takeover of our democracy. More and more judicial officials are aligning with our constitution and that is refreshing and inspiring. Now more of we the people are making the decision to fight back against a take over of our democracy and it is still building. We the people had begun to boycott those who would lord over us and it is giving them cause to rethink their ambitions.
     One such is muskrat. He literally got trump elected and was rewarded with a position by trump's side. But as he has found out, his greed and lust for power like trump's was in competition with trump and trump will not tolerate that. So now muskrat is turning against trump and has made his life much harder with his statements and threats. The enemy muskrat, of my greater enemy trump, is my friend for now and watching them fight between themselves for all to see is a favor to the world. We the people are starting to get the upper hand on the failed human being trump and it is optimistically revitalizing to see just how far down they will take each other.

(#5968) If you support trump you are against democracy!

      The facts speak for themselves. Here in America trump wants to over rule decisions by our judiciary with the wave of his hand. In the world outside trump supports dictators and tyrants over our previous allies. I am not some novice here who is just guessing about the character and behavior of trump I am just telling it like it obviously is. There is no calculus that I have to pretzel into logic, there iare just simple facts that are not in dispute. The congressional bill republicans want to pass as law would give trump power to change monetarily, to effect judicial decisions against him. Making some rulings impossible to enforce.
     More than 180 court cases have gone against trump and his attempts to circumvent our constitution and with passage of his brutal budget bill he would have another way to legally bypass judicial rulings against him. As to the world trump has made it clear that the illegal and criminal Russian invasion of Ukraine, where the sovereign nation of Ukraine wants to exercise their democracy, is good for putin and trump likes putin. So Ukraine and their democratic aspirations are not held in esteem but the tyranny of putin is allowable. There is no argument here that trump favors a tyrant over a nation of people seeking democracy.
     Now you can dismiss my points anyway you like if it makes you sleep better at night but to renounce the logic of facts in order for you to sleep better is still supporting tyranny over democracy no matter how it is justified. As an American I am ashamed of our citizenry who are less caring about people dying than they are about how much more money they could make.. Who are we as Americans anymore? I don't like us at all because we are so not human like. We as a nation could have ended all this push toward tyranny last November but we didn't have the intellect nor the guts to do what would have made us proud as a species. We Americans are not currently the manifest destiny of the world and neither should we be at this juncture.

(#5967) Grow beyond fear because trump will harm anyway

      When the realization that trump is coming for something you care about and fear sets in that is normal. However being afraid of what he is going to do is not a static position to keep. What a normal person would do is accept the fear because it is real and then grow from it to a place where the fear is replaced by a determination to fight in any way you can muster. Growing beyond fear is the key. Staying in the fear is resignation and defeat. In a perfect world fears would be non-existent. Yet we don't live in a perfect world so adapting to our surroundings and feelings is the human way of survival and growth.
     Think of it this way. We are two types of human beings. We are the normal civilized person we live our lives as everyday and then we are the warrior type person who rarely comes out to show themselves. When fear starts to cripple us in our civilized mode we have to transition to our warrior type self in order to function and survive. I mean we don't have too as many examples of people living cowardly lives can be found but they never gave courage the chance to succeed. Because life is not always safe and comfortable nor has it been so in our entire history as a species. So recognizing that we have this instinctual adaptability to calm our emotions we have honorable options.
     First we must tell ourselves that we are free human beings belonging only to our own choices. Then we have to understand why and where the fear is coming from. I know personally that standing up with courage is difficult when your mind and body just want to hide. But hiding is not a solution it is just an avoidance, a procrastination. Becoming our warrior selves is what will help remove the fear and instead replace it with a righteous type anger. Through that positive anger we are able to unfreeze our physical body and activate movement to stop the root of the fear. Our species has always had both these modes of living. We look to live civilized lives but the danger of fear keeps reminding us that we are also warriors who must protect our civilized selves.

(#5966) What happens with trump when putin is deposed

      There is little doubt that trump is like kin with putin. He is either/or beholden to putin or in admiration with him in a power hungry way. Regardless of attachment trump is bound to putin in a tethered way. So if putin becomes inoperable what happens to trump? For me it is a win/win situation for Ukrainians and sane Americans if putin is no longer the leader of Russia. Because I feel that trump needs putin to be able to function even when his functioning is already mindless to many degrees. Without putin trump becomes rudderless and adrift in a world that has little to no pity left for his antics.
     My main focus here is on the Ukrainian people and how they can end the invasion of their country by the war criminal and psychopathic putin. Yet the side effect of putin being no longer a factor is that trump will lose his what I will call his mentor. What happens to trump when he doesn't have his mentor to guide him in destroying American democracy as it were? This much I know. Without putin trump becomes a more confused and disoriented person. He won't have the altar of putin to warm his innards to mayhem and suffering. The defeat of putin will be the beginning of the end for trump as he will not be able to achieve his lifelong goal of joining putin as a successful dictator/tyrant.
     The saving of democracy in the world is at the moment all in at Ukraine. With Ukraine able to end the reign of putin, democracy glows much brighter and the darkness of tyrants around the world starts to shade from black to a visible gray. To me everything that should be going good in the world must not have putin in the picture. If putin wanted he could have been a great man by instituting freedom instead of servitude. He could have embraced rights of humans instead of trying to control all humanity. I feel no loss if putin is gone and by extension trump, as he will have the same opportunity to change, as putin squandered, his course and join the betterment of humanity or end up relegated to the infamy of history.

(#5965) The weaker putin gets the more vulnerable he becomes

      Yesterdays drone attack on Russian airbases was a major victory for Ukraine. Not only were dozens of war planes damaged and and destroyed but the geographic nature of the attack was stunning. Russia is a vast nation with a land mass of more than 6.6 million square miles and was not able to defend against this well executed drone attack by Ukraine. With so much space to defend Russia took for granted that their rear air bases would be safe from the front line invasion they were attempting in Ukraine. So instead of being safe from the fighting up to over 1000 miles from the front lines Russia found out that they were not.
     The genius of Ukraine and its determination to keep its identity is proving to be the downfall of putin. Not only is putin in real danger of being caught unawares in secretive Ukrainian military schemes he is also coming closer to being deposed by a disappointed Russian populace. The Russian hierarchy is getting embarrassed it seems every day by putin and his inability to not only defeat Ukraine but to keep it from attacking Russian military installations. With Ukraine showing that it is able to not only defend itself from the Russian invasion but to attack Russia everywhere within Russia, puts putin in real danger.
     There will be no way putin can use propaganda to disguise this latest air attack from Ukraine. The scrambling has already begun in high circles within the kremlin and those around putin. He putin cannot make this go away with any rhetoric that would change the narrative. What is expected from him is a military response which will be rushed and disjointed. That putin was caught with his metaphorical pants down will add to his inability to work his way out of this disaster. He is the only one responsible and now the Russian people are getting a real look at the weakening putin as he blusters about trying to hide his swatted red ass from being seen by all!

(#5964) Every day putin is getting closer to his deserved fate

      Not only are Ukrainians and their allies continuing to rebuff putin and his efforts to overrun Ukraine, but mounting pressures inside Russia are also building. Make no mistake, putin has a strong grip on Russia and is not shy about being ruthless to keep his power. Yet he can only threaten and intimidate for so long when the life of the ordinary Russian becomes unbearable. When will that point be reached where there is no progress invading Ukraine but instead great military losses and an economic downturn so bad that Russian revolt against putin becomes the only option? It may be months from now or even tomorrow. The fact that it may happen within a short amount of time is reason for optimism as a democracy loving person like the majority of us.
     Another 11,000 or so deaths of Russian soldiers in in the next handful of days in Ukraine will bring the total to 1 million that have died on Ukrainian soil. I have lost track of the sanctions packages against Russia but the total must be close to 20. The oil exports from Russia have been halved so there are less rubles coming back into their economy. As well the ruble has lost half its value. How much longer will the Russian people allow themselves to be bullied into a prolonged nightmarish existence? The pressure is mounting from social and economic desperation within, and the military pressure from Ukraine and its allies from without. The rock and the hard place is a two pronged problem that putin, who is mostly isolated, will find increasingly impossible to withstand.
     In my mind putin's days are shortly numbered as leader of Russia the only question now is how that is brought about. Internal rumblings are to me how he will be deposed. Those rumblings will take the form of sabotage and treachery. To each strongman in the world the same fate will happen it is just when and how. I don't know why some people are born into this world to make life harder for everyone else but they are and to deal with them requires a resolve that cannot waver. With putin it began with Zelenskyy defending his heritage and his people following him as a real leader. With tyrants like putin they have no one who loves their intentions as fear is the only source of their tyrannical power.