Climate change deniers- here is a thought for all of you in government
“Mother Nature does not negotiate.”
Climate change deniers- here is a thought for all of you in government
“Mother Nature does not negotiate.”
Pronouncements are for booing,
lawyers are for suing,
Lady Liberty weeps.
Laugh
1/28/17
I hear that there is an increase in visits to psychiatrist’s offices now. When my longtime friend starts sending me rightwing bullcrap but no original thinking on politics I kind of wonder if he has been brainwashed by the incessant drivel coming from Fox News. Has he no respect for women, just like his fearless and clueless leader?
When every other news item is about our new president, there is bound to be some blood pressures going up, up, up.
I am happy to say that mine was just checked at my doctor’s and it is boringly normal.
Out on the street corner there is a set time on Saturday for demonstrations, and this week it is about Black Lives. The signs are sponsored by White Women against racism.
The local book store carries a book title “Crazy Clown President”.
I think that is the secret to getting through the next election cycle- just bring out your sense of humor and join the chorus of voices that are saying we are being run by the inmates of the Monkey House and laugh.
Crazy as a daisy
and twice as lazy
Hail to the Trumpster
Headed for the Dumpster
I would have never suspected that I would look forward to attending a Catholic funeral, but there I was, wiping away tears for a man that I had only known in childhood briefly, and as an adult met once in a supermarket.
The fact that he was a vet, and brother of a long time friend made it all the more necessary that I go and participate.
The service had not changed, as the liturgy of my childhood memories of service had not changed, but the fact that the priest was from Viet Nam showed that the church is running out of seminary candidates born in America.
Plus, his accent was so thick I could hardly understand him.
The eulogy given by the deceased son in law was very touching, and got some chuckles, as we found out that the dearly departed had a love for the Raiders, and played a mean horse shoe game.
This VietNam vet was a man of habit, and got up and went to work with no complaints or demands from society.
One new thing that surprised me was that the pall bearers wore Raiders jerseys in honor of this man’s love for his team. What better way to show what was important to him?
Although the words of the funeral mass did not give me any hope of “Life everlasting” I recognize that we as a culture, especially the Hispanic culture need a crutch to get us through the rough patches. Whether it is a religion or a rain dance, we have a need to communicate with the unknown and ask for clemency or assistance.
The one greatest boon to be in church and listening to prayers and eulogies is that the mind cannot wander to stressful happenings other than personal grief.
I am thankful to the church for giving me a respite from discussions of the Man with the Orange Mop Top-You Know Who.
Congress
1/21/17
An excerpt from my copy of the U.S. Constitution.
Section 8
CONGRESS has the power to Promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective writings and Discoveries.
I think members of Congress have often overlooked what the framers of our Constitution actually meant with this provision.
Notice what words are capitalized. We get the idea that Progress of Science must have been on their minds, as new discoveries in the New World made necessary the protection of these inventions and discoveries. Benjamin Franklin was sort of big on independent research and discovery, and any invention provided a means of income to the holder of a patent.
Now we seem to have some dinosaurs in government who think that the Progress of Science is to be done away with, and the results of discovery and consequences of those discoveries are not valid.
For example, we have the erroneous thinking that vaccines cause a physical condition in children.
This is causing the new generation that does not read history very closely to decide that there shall be no vaccines given to their children, thereby causing a pocket of potential disease vectors.
The Center for Disease Control is funded from our taxes, and should be given the respect of following the good advice on this matter. They also should be given the recognition that the studies showing global warming will cause new outbreaks of formerly contained diseases new opportunities to spread worldwide.
Congress has gone along with the big corporations that deem profits should take precedence over the health of the country and the world, by calling into question the results of scientific studies and computer modeling.
To hear them talk you would think that doing research on atomic energy for the purposes of military dominance is all that matters. If a big corporation cannot make money off a scientific finding, then it should be attacked as being wrong.
Congress is full of dinosaurs that will go the way of their predecessors, with extinction around the corner.
The only thing wrong is that they will take down the rest of us with their negative thinking.
Rainy Day
1/20/17
I was not going to watch television today, so went out to see a movie at 11:30 without an umbrella, having skipped the weather report and seeing sunshine overhead.
At 11: 40 I got caught in a downpour that blew in from the south: a direction I failed to check.
After sheltering in a handy laundromat, I went back to my drugstore and picked up some medication and bought a new umbrella, so that I could have one stowed in my backpack at all times.
The old one had been repaired too many times anyway.
At home, I turned on all the heaters, set my wet coat, hat, scarf and bag to drying, and decided to make some cookies.
My method is to throw things together and hope for the best. Sometimes “cake” comes out like doorstops, and cookies come out more like scones, but what the hey- I am too old to care.
I had planned to spend the day watching a kiddie movie out at the theater, read my juvenile fantasy book, and listening to classical music.
So far, I have read some of the book, got my daily exercise, and listened to some of the top 100 classical favorites.
Here in the Bay Area we vote on our choices, and “Ode to Joy” usually is the top choice.
Right now we are being treated to “The William Tell Overture” which is not one of my favorites since I have been hearing it for over 70 years now.
Since all my plans for the day have been skewed, I think I will just cocoon for the rest of the day, and watch the rain dimple the swimming pool.
Since I have begun packing and sorting my pile of possessions, my apartment does not feel anything but upset. On cold days I tend to sit too much, and in front of the television where I can play Blu-ray DVD’s, get France24, Fox News, and lots of BBC and PBS programs.
The only station that does not offer news or commercials is the ARTS station out of our local community college, College of San Mateo.
Some of the offerings are really old, but one of my favorites is a dance number out of the 1929 movie The Great Gabbo.
Those forgotten movie stars showed me what dancers could do, with her snake-like twining and his athleticism.
They may have trained with the circus.
So here you have half of my day, which is proving to be so ordinary and boring, that I hesitate to publish this to even close family to say nothing of on the web.
But that was the point of it all today.
I for one could totally ignore what is happening outside my immediate attention.
I have not called anybody today, nobody has called me or texted me, or even hailed me on Facebook.
Well, I don’t know about that since I have not gone out to the laundry room and plugged in to the internet.
Staying home, baking cookies, listening to Mozart and company, reading books, and then settling into an afternoon of comedic movies is one way to save your blood pressure.
To quote one of my favorites from The Wizard of Oz, “Don’t look at the man behind the curtain”.
To all those who are looking, to all those who are not accepting the political realities of our world,” Keep Calm and Carry On.”
I do hope that this is a boring enough account of my day.
I may not go to the Women’s March tomorrow either, as it is going to rain again and I hate getting feet wet, and dislike crowds.
My thoughts are with my friends and colleagues who did get to Washington D.C., my friends who fight the pesticide use near schools in Watsonville Ca, and all my friends from various clubs who want to go and make their views known.
It remains to be seen if these views will trickle up to where it may make a difference in government policy, but I hope the younger generation of women never give up trying.
1/13/17
Right now there is not much love going towards the Russians.
This is no surprise, since the Russians do not love us very much either.
When the soldiers from the old Soviet Union were being shipped home from Afghanistan in boxcars, leaking blood and ichor, then the mothers and fathers of those boys had a reason to hate us, as a government and a society.
I think the memory is long, and when we supply a billion dollars of American taxpayer money to kill Russians, and then brag about it, the consequences ripple down through the years.
Russia has always spied on everyone who challenges its power and influence. They manipulate the news, plant false stories, steal whatever is not nailed down, and call it patriotism.
We do the same.
When the war in Afghanistan was over for the Russians, they went home in defeat, and we had a public celebration party.
Then a book was written, a movie made by friends of Meryl Streep, and the game of thorns started all over again.
In all this repeating of history my main fear is that someone in a high castle will do something stupid.
When I had money
1/05/17
Now that I have seen 77 birthdays come and go, I get to thinking and comparing my past life with today’s reduced circumstances. I started out poor, gained ground through the married years, and enjoyed some perks of having excess money to spend. I then returned to watching the pennies and keeping a strict budget.
So what was it like to have extra money?
While living in a new four bedroom house in John Wayne country I would hop in a Cessna 172 and with a girlfriend in a separate plane would fly off to some other airport a hundred miles away just to have lunch.
If you have ever eaten at any airport large or small, you know it is nothing to brag about.
I would hop in a classic sports car and zoom out to a glider port to fly around in a fiberglass sailplane, not going anywhere but in circles.
Well, I did achieve some altitude over the glider port of Lake Elsinore, but that was not really an outstanding achievement.
For a family outing I planned a month long vacation in Europe, first buying a car at the Volvo plant in Sweden, and then touring down to Yugoslavia for the New Year’s celebration in Dubrovnik.
Even after my divorce, I joined a sailing club in San Diego and sailed under the Coronado Bay Bridge just to go to lunch at a bayside restaurant. This outing took all day, but I was not in a hurry.
Later on after working in New York City and enjoying the sights of same, I took a cruise on the Mediterranean, and saw many ports of call, including Monaco and Istanbul.
Even before that, I had purchased a small house of my own in Western state New York, and signed up for a trek to Tibet in 2006. I consider that the high point of my travels, and especially since there have been such curtailments of travel in that country, so that the vistas we enjoyed in the Kham region are no longer offered to tourists.
Yes, when I had money, I could go to fancy restaurants, shop at Tiffany’s, and wear designer clothes.
Now my meals are all homemade; I buy my clothes from thrift stores, but no one can buy my memories of when I used to have money.
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