Firing Up

In a mediterranean climate zone, like Southern California, parts of South Australia, and well, the Mediterranean, summers are hot and dry, and winters are cool and wet.

What happens between the Summer and the Winter, though, is Fire.

At least that's what is becoming the norm here in Fiery SoCal.

Apparently, the cool, wet winters spur spring growth, then the hot, dry summers desiccate all that grown vegetation into perfect fuel.  Then, for reasons still not entirely clear, certain humans decide to strike tinder (intentionally or unintentionally) to that perfect fuel.

The result is a hard and often impossible to control wildfire.

Hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars get spent to fight it; homes and landmarks get lost; and sometimes lives too.  Tens of thousands of living things die or flee to other territory (bears in backyards, anyone?)

When the fire is finally contained, whether through human perseverance and skill, or through running out of fuel to burn, we all breath a collective sigh of relief; and believe, fervently, that something will be done to prevent this, or at least to do a better job of fighting the next one.

And then it gets cooler, and wetter, and we forget for a season.

The Endings of August

The month of August has always felt like a demarcation of the year.  Not in the same overt way the 4th of July does, or even Thanksgiving, but you can still feel it 'in your bones'.

Summer is ending with August, and so, shortly, will most summer vacations.  Back to school, back to seriousness, back to the real year that took a break sometime in late May and needs just now to get its act together.

Other things end in August too.  Some people get divorced.  Others lose their jobs.  Some lose their lives.  These things happen all year, of course, but August seems somehow a more fitting backdrop.

One 'thing' that clearly ended this August was any pretense that the Republican Party is dealing fairly with the American People.  At their convention in Tampa nothing was revealed of any substance, except that virtually everyone who took the stage spoke in meaningless banality; ignoring, slanting, skewing, or just plain corrupting the truth as if truth had no meaning at all.  That was what we learned about the GOP this cycle, and it felt like a true ending.

The Curse of Intelligence

"Envy the slow, the witless, the truly stupid, for they know no doubt."

I put that in quotes, but I'm paraphrasing, since I don't remember where or when I read that sentiment. I do believe it's true, though.  (I've had enough surreal airport and bar conversations to prove the theory.)

Imagine how simple a day would be if you awakened to firm, unshakeable belief in any number of subjects that intelligence tells us are debatable and anything but written-in-stone.

Imagine absolutely no doubt even where ample evidence exists to instill doubt.

Imagine believing as gospel every statement issued by your political party, your religious leaders, or FOX News.

Imagine being a member of the Tea Party or an acolyte of Limbaugh.

What an assured existence that could be.

Trouble is, if you can imagine any of those scenarios and their consequences, you are not qualified for a simple, doubt-free life.  You think too much.

Damnable July

July has not been a kind month.  Midsummer has always been a lunatic time; awash in mysticism, magical thinking, and weirdness.  2012 has seen fit to add tragedy into the mix.

The lunatic actions of a young man mired within his own dysfunctional thinking took the lives of 12 innocents, and altered the lives of 58 others.

Making this horrific July even worse is the return of the endless conundrum mimicking a discussion on the question: 'How can we deal with gun violence?

I have an answer to that shouting match between NRA/2nd amendment zealots and their equally off-base Zero Gun opponents:  Don't Waste Your Breath - unless both sides are willing to move off their positions, or just sit back and let the reasonable middle deal with it, there will be no solution.  The more each group of diametrically-opposed 'thinkers' rant across the divide, the further from any practical solution we become.

And in the meantime, July 2013 awaits ...

Turning Point 2012

It may be arguable whether any moment in time is truly a 'turning point' - unless you have the luxury of looking back on that time with the perspective of some distant future, but it is my belief we are approaching one of these moments.

And it is NOT the Mayan Apocalypse 2012, but rather something much more alarming because many of us may live to feel the consequences.

Yes, this moment, as some of you already have guessed, is associated with the upcoming Presidential Election, but it is not about who wins.  Really, it isn't.  It's about WHY - or perhaps it should be HOW - they win.

Our future will be shaped by the means used to win this election.  And that is because the winner will likely have spent more money and exercised more undue influence than the loser.

It is true that politics has always involved money and influence, but we are entering an unknown sea of excess brought on by Citizen's United and PAC-mania, and made worse by an aggressive media that has corrupted the News into focused propaganda.

So when the dust clears on the morning after the election this Fall, take a moment to ponder what was done to get (or keep) the winner in the White House.  Consider what promises, alliances, and departures from ethics and conscience were made.  Think about how much more of this will be needed at the next election.

It's my dystopic opinion that We will be lucky to survive with a functioning national democracy.

Poetry Break: At Speed (In A New World)

At Speed, with no particular destination in mind; just the road ahead observed and quickly dispatched, was there, then here, now gone.

Nothing sticks when you are moving fast, and doubly so when that movement is on two wheels.  Maybe it's the wind that makes the difference.

If only this could be a permanent state, a life spent at Speed In A New World.  Perhaps it will when the time comes ...

For now there is a downtime, a return to stasis.  But Souls aren't meant to be still too long (Rev It Up).

The End of The Party?

Do any of you reading this have friends who post political opinions on Facebook?

Sure you do ...

Recently one of my more progressively political friends posted his decision not to vote for Obama.  He's chosen to vote for another candidate who is less prone to compromise. My arguments that unwillingness to compromise is anathema to democracy, and lies at the heart of our governance problem posed by an unrelentingly stubborn Republican House of Representatives, have so far fallen on deaf ears.  He is firm in his belief the only honest option is to (essentially) opt out.

Of course, his alternate liberal candidate has no chance in the election ...

As with every other random perturbation of logic that has floated across my path of late, I have chosen to take this as a sign of impending change.  Potentially negative, possibly the harbinger of Doom ...

And here it is:  the future of the Democratic Party looks grim and dim.  Or grimmer and dimmer, for those of us already sensing a mean twilight approaching.

Before you mention it let me say that I know my friend's opinion is not the majority.  But his views aren't exactly extreme fringe, and are shared by more than a few, even if most aren't ready to abandon Team Donkey for 40 days in the political wilderness just yet.

But the worry lies in the comparison with the Republicans.  Somehow they encapsulate their fringe and incorporate it while neutralizing its worst political (but not social) effects.  Their fringe will definitely vote for Romney come November. The GOP seems to move forward after disasters like a headless chicken that can still find the coop.  

Not so Demos.  We are divided by failure and then divided again by success.  It's crazy, but that's where we seem to be right now - a party with a sitting President with a chance of being beaten by Mitt Romney, who comes with a classically handsome head but with an indiscernible brain.

So it is that I wistfully predict the demise of the Democratic Party, no matter who actually wins in November.  I hope what arises in its wake is truer to my friend's ideals, but I am not optimistic he will ever get what he wants.  After all, politics is compromise and so is democracy; you really can't have the one without accepting the presence of the other.

Personally, I am hoping that on the day after the election, compromise will begin in earnest, and a functioning democracy is restored.