Decisions Decisions

 ... and the impossibility of making tasty choices in the infoverse ...

Well .... may I say, damn?  Who would have thought that this close to a Presidential primary we'd be faced with two unpalatable choices; one decidedly more unsavory that the other one, who's merely gone from bland to past sell by date.  

Normally, I would just hold my nose and take the past-prime option over the clearly toxic one, but I am not sure my stomach could handle either this time around.  I may have to leave the table if the menu goes unchanged.  Ugh, not a very democratically spirited solution, I agree, but my appetite has been quashed for this election and I can't think of a spice that can renew my taste for it.

I hope my situation is just a result of being too engaged with the infoverse of news (mostly opinion, really), and frantic posts on Facebook, You-Tube, and various other social media platforms that get all too much of my attention, oh, these past 8 years or so.

I think I will experiment over the next couple of months and try to avoid that infoverse, or at least limit my exposure, and see whether my appetite returns.  I know there's not a chance in the epicurean universe of me gaining a liking for the Agent Orange - flavored menu choice, but maybe, just maybe, I can learn to tolerate the nearly-spoiled offering.  Perhaps a bout of COVID might help 😬

Stay safe everyone, drink plenty of water, and shop for nose-clips ahead of the election ...

Welcome to the Beginning (of the End?)

... when time flies too fast, but not fast enough ...

Woof, what a hell of a lot happened since the last time I put words to these digital pages.

A Global Pandemic

The Great(er) Political Polarization

The Rise and Faltering of the Age of Elon

Oh, and Wars Ending and Wars Beginning, let's not pass that by.

I kept my written silence during the insane 2020 Presidential campaign and its psychotic aftermath, and through all of the sadness of the growing pandemic.  Through bright spots of hope, and the deep depression of seeing hope, if not outright fail, then become diluted by forces seemingly beyond the control (or even care) of those we trusted with power.

Why keep mum through all that?  

 I was busy, sure.  But that's not the reason.  I started this blog to have a 'place' where I could say the things I need to say 'out loud'.  Mostly unfiltered and with a touch of humor.  Even when I knew that few if any would ever read my words, I kept it up as a kind of therapy.  But even I have an overload limit where events and their coverage in the media just become too much to grok and digest.  My passion to write flamed, guttered, flared, and then blew out.

What's changed now?

Well, I am older, less busy with actual work, and even more affected by the schism in this country than before.  I have more now that I want to say, as useless as saying it will be.  Plus, my family will kill me if I continue dumping my thoughts at them.

So ... if you are looking for a roller-coaster ride through my peculiar views on the news and the wonders and dangers of our World, tighten your seat belt and move away from any door plugs.

Where did 2018 go?

I don't know about you, but for me 2018's been a blur.

Talk about time flying when you are having fun.  I'd say it flies even faster when you are NOT having fun, or at least you WILL it to fly faster and just get it over with.

That's what 2018 has largely been to me.  Something to get over with, to get through, to survive if you will.

I think that's been the attitude of slightly more than half this nation's people too.  Who wants to stay in this time, with all of it's highlighting of human failing?  Let's please close our eyes and skip ahead, skip ahead.  Maybe when we open them again we'll be in a better place.

2019, is that you?

Heroes and Friends

... or, when the brightest lights go out how do you find your way?

You would have to be a recluse bordering on hermitage, or the reddest of red-state Trumpists to feel good about the news of the Country and the World these days.  But we somehow get by without walking fully-clothed into the Pacific or swan-diving in our cars off Angeles Crest.

This on-the-brink-of-depair state hits those of a certain age the hardest, since we also are feeling unmoored from 'our time' as well.  We are being slowly disconnected from the people and things that strengthened our view of our country and our world; the sources of courage and hope during all the years of almost unrelentingly sad news blaring at us from our TVs and from our newspapers, and now from our multi-various 'screens'.

Even in our darkest times we had Heroes, who would speak words of encouragement, or lead by example; sometimes sacrificing their careers or even lives for the right thing.

We also had cheerleaders and those who simply made us remember the good things still surrounding us, through their words and actions in print, in films, on screen, or through disembodied voices over the radio.

These Heroes and familiar Friends kept us grounded and upbeat, through every damn thing the worst of our kind could dredge up and throw at us. (And that was an awful lot).

MAGA-Maniacal

 Of all the incomprehensibilities spewing out of the red-state Trumpian geyser,  MAGA, or 'Make American Great Again' is the first and foremost.  It Trumps 'Lock Her Up', and 'Build that Wall', or even 'Fake News'.

MAGA implies that America WAS great at one time, but currently is NOT.  And that Trump, or the populist but thoughtless movement of which he is the leader and symbol, can make it great AGAIN.

This is ironic and doesn't make sense, given that the self-same supporters of MAGA are the first to cry 'America is the Greatest country on Earth', and claim that millions of immigrants want to come and partake of that greatness.

So what is it? Are we Great or Not Great?

Of course, I'm kidding.  I know the MAGA movement is really saying that Americans of primarily caucasian lineage living 'traditional' lifestyles and wrapped in a familiar religion are what makes America great, and anything or anybody displaying different values would undermine that greatness.

But that attitude, aside from being innately racist, grossly inhumane, and irreligious, is a bad plan for the future.

Sure, short term change can be (and probably will be) painful and disruptive. But without change there is no way to find better ways to live together as a human society. Without change we will never solve age-old problems that may only be solved given new perspectives.

In other words, societies need fresh blood, and new ideas.  Change in the form of immigration has brought just that to America over the centuries, and it can do it again.  In fact, the greatness of our country depends on it.

Build a wall and all we will do is stagnate behind it.

So,

Maintain America's Greatness by Allowing immigration. MAGA, indeed.

House Rich

... or why its getting weirder in America ...

Almost 17 years ago, my wife and I moved our family into a larger house in a new neighborhood.  We needed the space desperately to avoid the appearance of hoarding.  Although if I'd known the commercial appeal that 'real life' hoarding stories would one day generate, maybe we'd of stayed and gotten rich by being the pack rats we (seemingly) are.

But let me not digress.  This piece is about that larger house and the neighborhood around it.  A nice place, don't you know.

When we moved in, it was a place full of people mixing across a large swath of the economy, from the LA wealthy to the LA poor(-ish), and all between.  There were long-time resident ethno-cultural groups here cheek by jowl with the usual SoCal majority mix of whites/Hispanics.  Streets were lined with mom-and-pop one-off shops and independent restaurants among the car body shops and senior living complexes. An interesting place to live. Not splashy, but comfy.

During the big housing bubble prices for homes in the area became expensive out of proportion to any real value, but hey, the banks were giving away jumbo loans at 0 down.  In much of the outlying areas of LA, the Great Home Ownership Rush was On.  In my neighborhood it was there, but more subdued since the people who already lived there weren't in the mood to sell, and not much new was being built.  Besides, if we sold, where would we move?  We liked it where we were.

Then the bubble burst and everywhere you looked house prices were dropping like those Turkey's in WKRP's Thanksgiving Giveaway.  They dropped where I live too, but not as much.

And now, 8 years after that bubble burst, with other areas still recovering, LA housing prices have been rising with a bullet, nowhere more so than in my neighborhood.  They now stand at triple (or more) the price they fetched 17 years ago, beyond even the crazy highs of the bubble.  This extreme rise in value has led some locals to finally sell-up, grab the profit, and move to cheaper climes and buy a retirement mansion.  Good for them, I would say, only the people who are buying up and moving in are not the same kinds of people as those leaving, so the personality of the neighborhood is changing.

And how could it not? People who can afford to pay 1 million and up for homes that were half that 10 years ago are not like me - and probably not like you. They are Rich.  Not billionaires, but certainly millionaires, multiply so.  Either that, or they are far more skilled in managing their money than the average American, sadly including me.

I don't know exactly where they are coming from; another part of LA, refugees from even higher prices in the San Francisco Bay Area, or hillbillies who struck Texas Tea, Black Gold, Oil that is!

Wherever they are coming from they are changing the place.  Everywhere you look long-time businesses are closing and trendy, hip places are opening up, in chase of the money they just know is there.  Sometimes they close too, and another trendy spot takes its place. It's like America has acquired ADHD, or at least a shortening attention span.

Ok, I'll admit, I can't directly tie the rapid increase in house prices (and apartment rents) and their new richey owners to the change in businesses, but hey its a pattern that LA has seen elsewhere.  Like  that nice place I used to live with my family in the too-small house I sold to to get into the bigger house.  That older place is even trendier and hipper now.

People who held on there and here, and have not sold into this booming market, really like where they live and don't want to leave. But these places are changing around them into something increasingly unrecognizable and weird.

Whether we, the residents of those places where a rising tide of incredible (and to me inscrutable) affluence is leaving us as beachcomber's on a strange shore, can adapt and love the new normal, is a question without any clear answer.   I plan to stay until every other restaurant is trendy-casual and all burgers are gourmet, and/or until Home Owners Associations rear their intrusive, ugly heads. Even then I'll probably stay, since, like I said, it's a nice place.

Loss and Love

or, why darkness never completely extinguishes light

 It's a common belief that bad things happen to good people.  Or that the good die young. But that's not really accurate.

These things are thought because when good people have misfortune or die, others take more notice.  Because they were good.  The passing of good through the world leaves a wake.

The wife of a social media friend of mine recently passed away after a tenacious battle with pancreatic cancer.  If you don't  know about that kind of cancer consider yourself lucky.  It's a King Kong Bitch of a disease.

Because my friend is a friend through the world wide web and I've never actually met him, I also never met his wife.  I only knew her through his occasional mentions.  But I could tell much from those scraps.

I could tell she was loved, and loving.  I could tell she was smart. And I could tell she shared much of my friend's passions in life.

What I couldn't tell and didn't know was that she was sick, and sick with such a terrible form of cancer.

Just yesterday my friend told his friends at our communal forum that she had passed away.  He gave the news in the context of participation in our shared passion of motorcycle racing.  You see, his wife was the best of us in the game of predicting who might win, and the finishing order of the runners-up.  In fact, she was a whiz at it.

In his telling, he mentioned also what she'd meant to him; how she had supported him in his own racing and moto-interests for decades.  How she was strong; a fighter.

He mentioned the hole her passing had created and how he and his family were trying to pull it together and get on with life.

That's a hard ask, even if the grief may be tinged (as it often is in cases of prolonged cancer) with some relief at the ending of a loved one's ordeal.  But it's an ask that is answerable, because although good people may leave a gap when they die, their cumulative good effects on others over the years remain undiminished; the benefits reaped from knowing then still vital.

So, a good person's progress through life was stopped by a merciless cancer.  But her memory and her goodness will carry on with my friend and his family.  In this temporary darkness they now experience the light she bequeathed them will shine and lead the way out.

That's the enduring promise of Love. That it will not be diminished by Loss.  And why where there is Love there is never true darkness.

Rest in Peace

Tee'd Off

or, how I learned to fear golf as much as the Bomb ...

Back in the good old days of normally devious and corrupt politics, the cast of characters were just as chock full 'o nuts as our current crop, they were just a bit smoother and subtler.  Most of the time.

Richard Nixon famously wanted his 'enemies' to think he was a Madman.  He figured if they believed he was unstable they wouldn't push him (or America) too far, and they might fear him enough to let him (and American interests) push farther.

Now, we have a President who may actually be crazy.  There's no public face of stability with a covert Nixonian 'leak' pointing to secret madness, there is just plain nuttiness while publicly speaking or tweeting.  It would be comforting to think this was as much a ploy as Nixon's, but sadly the chance is nil.

Trump has a fine form of natural looniness that would be charming if he could turn it off when things got serious. It was in fact kind of entertaining when he was just reality show realtor magnate Trump. For many of his core base, it was what made them fall in love with candidate Trump.  It's not so entertaining now, since its so clear that his inherent crazy is an always-on never off state of being.

Faced with serious issues that could literally cost millions of lives, our President's behavior isn't a benefit.  Even Nixon would probably agree with that.

So now we get to stand by and watch our President tweet threats from the golf course. That's truly Mad ...

The Last Time I Saw Paris

... it was underwater

OK, only partly, but the flooding was severe.  And, OK, I wasn't actually there, I saw it on TV.  But it was very wet.

Point is, the weather has been crazy these past few (or dozen) years.  Surely you've noticed right where you live, even if you don't watch the Weather Channel like a Class 5 was barreling down on you.

But, back to Paris.  That city is on the radar this week 'cause that is where the Climate Accords were forged.  Those same Accords that Dear Old President Trump just axed.

Now, if you are an environment loving kind of guy, like me, who once wished he could be a combination of Charles Darwin and Jacques Yves Cousteau (with a little Lloyd Bridges as Mike Nelson thrown in), this dissing by Trump of the World's best effort (since the Kyoto Protocol was ignored by another Republican President) really sucks.

If you think of money before most else, then you might think what the President did is a good thing.  After all, cleaning up current and preventing future messes takes time and money, and is not nearly as much fun (or as profitable) as making those messes in the first place.

Or maybe you are someone who believes that God made everything we see for the sole purpose of supporting mankind, and we can do whatever we damn well please with it.  And, anyway (you might say), if it gets bad enough God will rescue us.  No need to lift a finger ourselves.

If you are the latter type, I guess you never had a Mother who taught you 'God helps those who help themselves'.

Whatever you may find as a reason for supporting the lack of support Trump gave the Paris Accords, I must tell you that you are being unreasonable.  Trump's told you it was a 'bad deal' for the USA.  Apparently we had commitments (as one of the World's top two creators of greenhouse gases) that were tougher than some other countries.

Well, forgetting for a moment that the US negotiators thought those were reasonable at the time, there is nothing in the Accords to force a country to abide by its commitments - the country can always change the terms if the circumstances change.  Trump could have kept us in the Accord and negotiated a different commitment, but, no, he had to throw this particular baby out with the bathwater.

Don't believe we could have stayed in and changed the terms?  OK then, check this:  although Trump stated the USA was quitting the agreement, we can't legally pull out until nearly 2020.  During that time Trump and his government will do absolutely nothing to comply with any of the terms - because he can, and could do even if still in the deal.

So, pulling out was just making a political point of keeping a campaign promise, and maybe also of thumbing his nose at the Europeans who were mean to him during his recent trip.

But here's the deal, and its where those Paris floods come back in again.

The crazy weather doesn't wait.  Every day we pump out the crap into the air and water, the more extreme and unpredictable the weather will become.  And, it takes time for anything we do to make a positive change.  So, if we were to cut emissions tomorrow, the improvements might not be seen for 5, 10, or even 20 years.  It's not like we can wait until the last minute and then save the World.  Basically, the 'Last Minute' is nearly here, and we are about to miss it.

Those Paris Accords were a visible sign that all countries on Earth were in this together and would work together.  It was a handshake. A Gentleman's Agreement.

And our President just cut out its heart.

Accepting the Unacceptable

'Grin and bear it' doesn't really help ...

It is not easy to parse the World in which we wobble through a second decade of the 21st Century.  Nothing quite seems to make sense.  Not logically, not practically, and not even by the measure 'common sense'.

In fact, senses seem to have been taken leave of, for many people.  At least I assume they are people and not replicants strategically placed by evil aliens to disrupt our society and increase sales of antidepressants and premium scotch.

I think I might need both of those 'treatments' as I read (or hear, or watch) not-so-fake news every single day about the clown team in DC and their Big Bozo rambling destructively about like the Three Stooges on cocaine.

Then there's the former giant communist empire being resurrected as fully and as quickly as possible by that Happy Topless Horseman, Vladdy, who just so happens to have possibly, probably influenced our elections to help get Bozy in.  With Bozy's team possibly, probably helping from the inside.

The replicants say it is not so.  That Bozy is not in Vladdy's pocket.  But hell,  there is so much smoke you can't see the damn fire. Something's burning, and it just might be the constitution.

But what can a poor boy do, ('except work in a rock 'n roll band)?  How do you manage when every attempt to counter each and every insult to our democracy inflicted by the Big Boze is met with howling troops of replicants who don't seem to care what he does?  As he said himself, he could almost literally shoot people on the street and still be supported. At least that's how it appears.

So, here's the gist.  If you aren't a clown on Bozo's team, and aren't a replicant, how do you manage these events?  You have no real influence outside your limited social media circle, hold no powerful elected office, and can't support the effort with the wealth you don't have.  What can you do?

Well, there's the antidepressants and the premium scotch.  But you can also find and give your support to local, state, and national politicians who you feel aren't clowns - or replicants.  You can also try to reprogram replicants you face using kindness and tolerance (the antidepressants and scotch can help you with both).  Or, just work with the replicants on practical things and ignore their crazy clown politics until you can vote their Bozy out of office.

It also helps to turn off the news and avoid your social media from time to time, to rest from the onslaught of Bozo pratfalls.

Hmm ... I guess the Ringling Bros Circus hasn't ended after all, it's just changed venue.

Sudden Attack of Nostalgia

Watching a recent Colbert, a guest recalled a past role where he played an elf named 'Swifty'. For the majority of the viewing audience that didn't rate a second thought.

For me it opened the floodgates of memory.

'Swifty' made me think ... Damon Runyan, and that made me think ... The Lemon Drop Kid, and that made me think of Bob Hope, and then memories of all of the movies he made that I like (and even a few I didn't) came pouring out of my brain's equivalent of a dusty, cluttered closet.

And with those memories came an overwhelming wave of bittersweet nostalgia.

It's the kind of experience we older folks can have that younger types just can't generate.  They haven't lived long enough.  This is one of the few nice things about getting older.

But as I mentioned, these thoughts are bitter as well as sweet, because the things we remember are gone - often long gone, and their like will never return.

The feeling that ensues is sometimes an odd, off-kilter one.  It can make me feel dizzy and disconnected with the present.  But only for a moment.

The wave of triggered nostalgia fades and the present resumes its rightful prominence.  For a moment, though, you are suddenly young again within your old self, seeing the world again with youthful emotions.

For all of you in the same temporal boat, enjoy riding the waves of nostalgia.

Rip Van Wayne-kle

Whoa!

It's already April ... 2017 ...

And not a single post on this page to keep the bots alert.

You can chalk that up to ennui. Or laziness. Both are at least partially true.

Also, distractions of my full-time paying job can get part of the blame too.  That's been there for quite a few years of this blog's history, though.

No, the really real and definitely not fake reason I haven't been posting here is that others have been posting their hearts out on the very same subjects that interest me.  And most of them have been doing it better than I could.

So, I've let them 'speak' for me.

They seem to have the better ability to cut through the shock-induced fog and see the world clearly enough without fear and loathing biasing their POVs.  Not so me.

But I hope this will pass soon.

I began this blog on the run-up to Barack Obama's historic first election.  Naturally, that was the main focus for quite some time.  Over the ensuing years I branched out to indulge my fancy in musings on life, human nature, science, and even some poetry of a sort.

It was meant to be though-provoking to anyone who stopped by to read it, but I really tried to keep it light and inject whatever humor my talent would allow.  I hope I did so with some success, although it was hard when each blog post was done on the spur of the moment and sent out into the world without much review, reflection, and possibly badly-needed editing.

I kept it up for a few years but the pace slowed, eventually to a crawl, and then to this latest somnambulation.

To the maybe one or three people who routinely viewed this blog back in its heyday, I must apologize for letting things fall away.  I promise to try to pick back up someway, somehow.

But it will be difficult. Looking around for ideas these days I have been struggling to find anything to say that can be said with humor.  Colbert, Trevor Noah, SNL, and Samantha Bee do this well and make me laugh enough to hold back the tears, but I can't yet find the spirit to follow their lead. Not even in my micro-blogger way.

So, I am making a promise to visit with you here at least once or twice a month for the rest of this year.  I won't promise that much of it will be humorous, although I do hope it will continue to be thought-provoking.  You can think of it as free group-therapy, if that helps.

See you (or at least the bots) back here soon ...

From Russia, with Love?

In the news lately we've been hearing that Russian hacking intentionally targeted Hillary Clinton and the DNC, with the intent of putting Trump in the Presidency.

Well, if so, I surely hope Russia is happy, because it worked.

I have to say, I'm impressed.  I've been to Russia and, although I loved the people and had a great time, I'd give the infrastructure a C at best.  Lots of potholes and grand old buildings with painted over cracks.  That a country struggling to keep up appearances was able to find the time, talent, and resources to hack-attack is amazing, but perhaps also an indication of warped priorities.

I must say I'm also sad. Russia is a magnificent country peopled by big-hearted folks with steely resolve. They make for excellent allies but can be relentless enemies.  I'd much prefer the former, and so would most Russians, if you asked.  So this alleged hacking is depressing because it widens the divide between our peoples rather than bridging it.

Now, I'd like to speak directly to any Russian's reading this (highly unlikely, but hey, maybe):

My Russian Friends, I know you like or at least admire us.  This in despite the fact we've saddled you with our fast-food culture and cheesiest of chain restaurants. You should know that most of us like you too.  We admire how the Kremlin looks, and envy the vast open spaces that are even vaster and more open than our vast open spaces.  We kind of like the idea of 'Siberia' too - its become an integral part of our cultural idiom.  And lets not forget you have had two very impressive meteor hits since 1900 to our zero (noticeable) hits.  Very scary-cool.

So my Friends, I am told that you really, really hated Hillary and worked very, very hard to help Trump be our next President.  I am sure you had what you thought were good reasons for doing this, but I'm here to give you a solemn warning.  Watch Out For The Donald.  One minute he'll be telling you what a terrific, terrific people you are the next he'll be tweeting something nasty about you at 3am.  Remember that you've just helped him assume the single most powerful position in the World, and please don't make the mistake in believing our democratic institutions will limit his actions.  You will soon be learning as many Americans are doing just now, that these institutions are largely 'gentleman's agreements' and aren't really enforceable. Even a little.

Your Friend Donald may turn on you when the moment suits him.  I hope you have an answer if that happens.  Maybe if you still have those hacks into the RNC and the Trump campaign we've heard rumor of and that you haven't released, you could use those as leverage to get Trump doing what you want. Maybe.

In any case Russia, if you intention really was to have Trump to deal with rather than Clinton, you got what you wanted.  And now that you have I'd ask you show us Americans a little pity, and yes, maybe even a little love.

Спасибо (Spasibo)!

Mars Time

Reflecting on both a recent National Geographic article on Mars Exploration, and the Ron Howard docudrama series, 'Mars' ...

Mars, so what's the attraction?

It's nothing like Bradbury's 'Martian Chronicles'
It's nothing like 'Jon Carter' (and let's be thankful for that)

The place is a dump, astronomically-speaking, or at least a run down ghost town, so what's makes this little planet so appealing that otherwise reasonable people would be willing to risk their lives to go there?

Seriously - go look at parts of New Mexico.  That's a lot like Mars, except you can breath, won't usually freeze to death, and won't be mutated by radiation (well, if you avoid the old nuclear testing bits).

But exploring New Mexico is not as exciting (no offense New Mexico, I love you).

Exploring Mars IS exciting, and I think mainly because you can't breath, will likely freeze to death and be blasted by cosmic rays (but you won't get cool superpowers out of it).

So, there will be plenty of thrill-seeking types looking for the kind of excitement that Mother Earth just doesn't pack anymore, and willing to go to Mars.  But what about the scientists and engineers who will need to spend their life's work focusing on the place and how to get there (and maybe back)?  What's in it for them?

Well, let's face it, as local space destinations go, Mars is the most appealing.  It's bigger  and farther away than the Moon and therefore automatically cooler. It also comes with a kind of atmosphere.  A thin and deadly one, yes, but an atmosphere.  And let's not forget there is always the possibility of finding recognizable life buried there somewhere.  So though the place may look like New Mexico, it's definitely cooler to planetary scientists and exobiologists.

But what does all this mean to average you and me?  All but a very few of us living today will never set foot on Mars - or work directly to get people there.  The rest of us will be cheering the lucky ones on and paying for it.

Ah yes, paying for it. Will we see any benefit from all this activity which will ultimately cost trillions?

Er ... no, not right away, anyway. There may be some cool inventions that spin off from this effort that improve (or complicate, you know tech) our lives, but nothing big and nothing soon.

But, hey, the history of humanity - or at least the history of that part of humanity that has always embraced reason, science, and technology, claims a clear path forward.  We have to go somewhere or we will go nowhere, and Mars seems like the best alternative right now to stagnation.

So, here's the bottom line:  Don't support going to Mars because we will see benefits in our lifetimes.  Support it because this country (and the World) needs to believe in something bigger than itself.  Something that transcends all the usual human desires, resentments, and resulting strife.

Mars, it's time to go!

Idiocracy or Madness?

... have we become idiots or just gone entirely mad?

The faithful few readers of this blog may remember this post from 2011: http://waynetpov.blogspot.com/2011/11/idiots-united.html, in which I reference the movie 'Idiocracy'.  The fear of my long-ago post was also that contained in the very recent LA Times story on the subject, which is that social media has amplified stupidity to an alarming level and given voice to cretins who would otherwise be powerless and ignored.

But I am beginning to think this is looking at the situation incorrectly.  I am starting to believe that some form of mass psychosis, maybe even madness, is sweeping the land.  I say this because I know many people who are most definitely not idiots who nevertheless voted for Mr. Donald Trump (all hail his excellency!)

What makes an intelligent person vote for not only the least qualified candidate ever to run for our top office, but also the most openly morally bankrupt in a generation?  How can they cast their ballots for someone who has KKK backing, support from Russia, and who proposes to install Sarah Palin in a government office (Secretary of the Interior), give high power to both Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich, and who thinks it would be wise to deport 11 million immigrants (and ignore the inhumane effects).  Let's not also forget they would have to ignore his disgusting attitude towards women and his advocacy for torture as a 'useful' tool.

But somehow these intelligent people either ignored all those awful aspects of Trump, or dismissed them as something our system wouldn't permit him to actually do, or (gulp) embraced those horrid ideologies themselves.  Somehow, someway, these intelligent people made the most illogical, damaging choice they have ever made.  These smart people added their voices to those of the truly idiotic crazy-core of Trump supporters and gave him the reigns of the most powerful office and the most powerful military in the World.

I believe something akin to temporary (I hope) insanity gripped these intelligent people, leading them to a form of blindness to the truth. I hope they will snap out of it as the reality of what they've done begins to take shape.  I hope when this happens they will use their intelligence to resist the worst impulses of the person they've put in office, to the best of their abilities.  I hope they will join with the slightly more than half of the Nation that did not vote for Trump and will fight to keep our personal freedoms (and not just our right to carry guns into a Del Taco). 

Most of all I hope this return to sanity happens very soon, so we can all work together to ensure that Obamacare isn't repealed until a workable replacement is enacted. That we can figure out a humane compromise on immigration, and that women won't be left with no options but to seek back-alley abortions.

Crunch Time

or, after all the spewed vitriol, it's time to vote (or shut up)

I can't remember when I've wanted a day to come and pass as much as I want Nov 8 to get here and then get gone. After all, the longer this mess lasts the more friends I am likely to lose - or at least majorly alienate.

It's not that I try to irritate people, it's just that I can't effectively hide my shock that sentient beings I call friends (and relatives) would actually vote for a candidate with exactly zero bonafides that befit him for the office of President.  I mean, forgetting his 'ideas' (which are abysmal) what is there that recommends him over, say, a department store mannequin?  That dummy has the advantage over the other dummy in that it can't talk (and send terror through our allies while doing so).

I can't bear to list the Republican candidate's bad plans or the times where he or his minions have fanned the flames of hated and promoted the idea of violence against his opponent.  To list them is to relive them in painful clarity.

No, all I'll do here is to urge everyone to get up off their chairs and vote this Tuesday.  Don't let anything short of medical emergencies or major natural disasters (like that Great Meteor some are praying for) deter you from exercising your constitutional right (and DUTY) to cast your ballot.  This holds true even if you are deeply conflicted about the choice for President and intend to write in Mickey Mouse or Tom Hanks.  There are lots of other offices and initiatives that need your attention - at least go for those.

OK, that's It!  Off you go - review your choices, mark your sample ballot, and plan to be at the polls in time to get 'er done on Tuesday.  Good Luck to Us All ...

Lemmings 2016

Or what lessons might we learn from a small Scandinavian rodent ...

A popular (though somewhat scary) image from my childhood school learnings was that of thousands of small rodents called Lemmings pouring over a cliff to their deaths, each blindly following the Lemmings in front of them, who were in turn following the ones in front of them until we get to the first jumper(s) and have to wonder what the heck they were thinking and did they know the impact of their verticalistic impulses on their fellow Lemmings.

Never mind that the suicidal aspect of the Great Lemming Jumps has been discredited, it is still an apt metaphor for some (or a lot) of the political insanity that's been playing out in the news and social media.

If there a better way to explain the steadfast support that many are showing for a certain republican candidate for President, no matter how many warnings they receive that he may be about to lead them off a cliff?  It seems these supporters are following the lead of those further up towards the front, in the form of some conservative 'news' pundits or faded political stars trying to stave off the end of their careers, who all seem to be clinging to a desperate belief their candidate can somehow jump off the cliff but fly, not fall, and they (if not the rest of the Lemmings behind) will grow wings and fly with him.

If that is what the pack-in-back thinks, gravity of a political sort may soon give them a painfully demoralizing lesson.

Let's imagine a reality in which the Lemmings and their human political analogs watched their Leader(s) teetering on the brink, noted the height of the fall and the distinct lack of wings, and turned and walked away, muttering something about idiots.

Great Expectations 2016

... "you can't always get what you want ... but if you try sometimes, you get what you need"

What do we need?  

How's this:

To be safer from violence (from other humans) - fewer battles and terrorist acts would be a start; innocent people not having to fear their own police would be even better; adding being treated more equally and with greater fairness despite your religion, ethnicity, gender, or social status would bolster this basic need

To have enough healthy food and drink - nobody should have to subsist on cheap fast food

To have a stable place to live - everyone should have a home they can reasonably count on being available to them; one they own, rent, or share with others, but something reliably there

To have effective basic medical care - nobody should die or be incapacitated for lack of medical care; and nobody should have to face bankruptcy to pay for mandatory treatment

To have an education- everyone should have access to the education and training needed to function in the world; this shouldn't bankrupt or burden anyone with unmanageable debt

To have gainful employment - everyone should have the opportunity for jobs that will pay a wage capable of providing the basics of life

To have the potential for social and economic upward mobility - everyone should be able to improve their condition, whether through hard work, education, or just luck; whatever the means and how difficult the task it must be possible or else we deprive our society of hope; being "able to pursue happiness" or more simply have 'freedom of choice', is an important addition to this (even if not strictly basic by definition)

These seven are what I think are basic human needs. You might be able to add more.

The Dark Mirror

... or what do you see when you stare into the internet abyss?

Sometime in my distant youth an unknowable combination of genetics, upbringing and experience conspired to turn me into what I am today,  that most hapless of internet inhabitants, the 'Voice of Reason'.

To me, everything boils down to logic and fairness. You don't lash out at someone or something unless there's a supportable, logical reason, and the lashing on balance is fairly dealt.  Better still don't lash out at all.  Fairness is the Be All and End All, and logic its guide.

This attitude put me at risk in my high school and long-haired college days during 'discussions' with local constabulary.  I can say in retrospect only my absolutely obvious innocence saved me from my righteous (but logical) indignation landing me in the clink on more than one occasion.  Does Right Make Might? No, not in the real world, Dorothy!

This attitude, though tempered with age and experience, still today makes me an outcast, weirdo, and sometimes unwelcome commentator to my 'friends' Facebook rants.  

I too often interject with what I see as a reasoned appeal to calm and careful appraisal. Logic and fairness the goal. You'd be amazed (or maybe not) on how this goes down.  

And something even nastier happens from time to time.  Just as I sometimes reveal myself on the internet to be a lame-ass 'Dudley-Do-Right' know-it-all, some other of my 'friends' who are totally nice people to meet and interact with in person, reveal themselves as ideologues only slightly to the right of Genghis Khan's right-hand man, or slightly to the left of Karl Marx's dentist.  And being me I have a hard time deciding whether I should hate these people that I normally 'like' just because they are odious baboons on Facebook or Twitter. It's a logical dilemma on what constitutes fair appraisal.

Its been a difficult lesson and I am still trying to learn it fully.  Its a lesson on what the internet really is (or at least what certain social portals within it are). 

What we post on the internet is frequently our unfiltered, unedited, innermost thoughts.  Some of us spew out amazingly toxic vitriol which we'd never say to someone face to face.  We don't want discussion or gainsaying or an appeal to logic and fairness. We want to vent and we want the world of our 'friends' to support or stay silent.  

Perhaps its cleansing internet therapy, but it shows the World, or at least our circle of 'friends' exactly how dark our dark sides can be.  

Passionate Politics

 There's no doubt that political speeches can be boring.  The more the speaker brings in actual facts, plans, and specific pronouncements, the more boring it can get.  This leads to a quick channel switch to the latest episode of River Monsters (or similar less painfully-real 'reality' escape).

Now, give us passionate sound bites, over-the-top promises, and unproven but so, so nastily enjoyable dirt on opponents, and we lap it up.  Hey, we'd say, its almost as good as the latest Mountain Monsters episode, where someone may have actually smelled a Sasquatch (!)

Personally, I like a little passion in political stump speeches.  I understand facts and wouldn't mind hearing modestly-detailed plans, but I don't need a scholarly lecture by a candidate taking up my precious viewing time.  On the flip side, I want passion but not so much to the deficit of intelligence that afterwards I come away with no clear idea as to why I am suddenly feeling scared, or angry at [insert name of group or individual].  I have enough vague unease and unspecified, poorly-directed irritations already, thank you.

So, somewhere between Cosmos and the Sharknado series lies the factual sweet spot for political speeches to hit.  I'd say so far we've been dodging a lot of bull (sharks)...