Fake News

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The thing about ALL news sources these days is that NONE of them have any credibility. 

Period.

So what the heck are we supposed to do if we want to know what's going on in our world?

Generally, I have to pick an assortment of sources from 'both sides' of whatever issue I might be looking into, read or listen until my eyes are bleeding and my ears are too (which I have to admit, regarding the ears, isn't quite SO awful now that I don't have to put them through the ordeal of listening to HRC's voice, whew), and then kind of split the difference.

Yes it's a pain in the ass and yes it's time-consuming. But I'm not going to take the word of either side just on their own say-so, not even (and maybe especially) the side that I think I'm most likely to agree with. Because that would be imposing a bias of my own on top of the bias that's already going to be inherent in EVERYTHING I read or hear.

Maybe that's why I tend to spend more time looking into science and history than politics. Science has to be able to confirm; history, while it's open to 'interpretation', has a lot of scientists to confirm or deny its veracity - or at least to present with clarity what they find when they look as deeply into it as possible.

Politics, on the other hand ... 

Yeh.

I'm Independent for a reason.

I sure as heck wish there were some 'Independent' news sources, ones that are looking at both sides of issues and presenting the 'facts' as interpreted by both sides - and give us a little credit for having enough intelligence to figure out for ourselves which side, or what parts of each side, we agree or disagree with.

Somebody ought to have a publication, or a show, that has divisions - Left, Right, and Center - with equal space/time devoted to each. Then I could just go to that site and get what I need without having to traipse all over cyberspace for hours on end all the time.

All we want is to hear as directly as possible the facts as objectively as possible. Honestly, we are very sick and tired of being treated like we have to have somebody else make up our minds for us and then inform us of what we think. Sensationalizing ... really ... quit it ... just ... stop.

Enough with the 'blame game' already. Just tell us exactly what happened without commentary; then let reps from the Left, Right, Center and any other pertinent perspectives have their say. Separately. ONCE. And be done with it. 

Believe me, social media will take it from there and we can follow up as we choose. But for pity's sake give us just ONE source that simply reports. We'll generate our own hysteria thank you very much, have our own disputes, and speculate to our hearts' contents. If we want your personal opinions, we can follow you on Facebook, or Twitter, or your personal blog, or whatever.

Just sayin'.

NONE of you of the media are the heroes of anybody. We don't believe ANY of you.

If I want to find out about something that happens in another country I go to the local news of that country. Actually, the same goes for events in our own country; although the infection or whatever it is that ails mainstream media has also infected locals at least we have a chance of finding out what's really happened in terms of actual facts.

When it comes to world news, have a section of that ONE source with blurbs and links, just to let us know when something happens. Same for state news. Again, we'll take it from there; we do know how to click on links. Heck, even the Millennials know how to click on links. All things considered, it's truly no wonder they're mostly confused.

Whatever happened to Who What When Where and (if relevant) How? I leave out the Why because that's not up to you to even comment on. If we want to know Why, we'd best ask whoever did it what their reasons were. 

Pffft.

Fake news ... 

'The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth' would be nice. A refreshing change of pace. 

A Rambling Meander (yes I know it's redundant)

2016  12  26  random thoughts

Got home from work this morning at about 0830 or so and slept for almost eight hours straight, a change for me from the fragments I’ve been able to manage lately (as in for the past eight months or more) so I’m amazed to find myself both awake and halfway alert. It’s also a bit of a surprise to find myself inexplicably ‘tuning in’ to things that generally are reserved for the times I’m going into that ‘universal’ mode thing, whatever you want to call it.

Par for my course, my first thoughts are of my family and friends up north – they’ve got serious Winter coming down on them and I’m grateful that they’re all both smart and experienced enough to keep themselves safe.

Next on my mind comes the situation of my nation and the world in which we live in.

Then the Characters, having allowed me to think about all that other stuff for a while, come to the fore.

After that comes, briefly, a bit about mine own situation.

Stories for younglings are likely to be on our agenda, along with a bunch of short stories about whatever anyone happens to come up with.

You see, my daughter has an email account for my littlest grandling, and I get to send stories and such to her. Of course she can’t read yet as she’s only nine months old, but one day she might want to read them – and there they will be just sitting there waiting for her.

Onward.

Per the Winter that’s settled in up north – we did pray for something other than one of those ‘winters that don’t show up’ years this year, to get the outsiders to go home – and so Winter obliged. Now the prayers are for an early, cool, long, slow Spring – to minimize flooding and get all that water soaking into Earth where it can do some good.

Onward.

As for the world in which we live in – my thoughts are both hopeful and a bit worried. The thing is that I can never be quite all the way sure that my ‘thoughts’ are entirely mine own or if I’m picking up on something that’s kind of ‘free-floating’ in the air around me.

No, I’m not delusional; I’ve gotten stuck with an INFJ/P personality type, which I certainly didn’t ask for and would have most assuredly chosen a different, more ordinary one, if I HAD been given the choice.

I also have this cast of fictional Characters for whom everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, is grist for the mill of fiction. Hence my view of the world in which I live in is always perhaps more geared toward seeing it in a context that’s quite a bit bigger than my own little bit of personal energy …

I suppose, for all practical purposes, it doesn’t really matter much does it?

Whether mine own or whatever else might be contributing, there are ‘thoughts’ that refuse to be polite enough to not come where they’re not invited.

That Hope is by far the first to come to mind, and the strongest, is a real big encouragement, I have to say. 

There are those who are in despair, which is understandable, and some of those I honestly do know and love … and hope to high heaven that they will soon pick up on the Hope part of the equation. Whether it’s mine own or our world in general, a person would have to look askance at me when I say it’s at the top of the list and dominates, but it’s definitely right there, and it is definitely dominating.

Maybe it has something to do with Hope springing eternal and all that, but for the past months, probably for the past year or more actually, it’s been powerful and growing. In the midst of it have been (thankfully brief) times of sheer and utter horror, but overall has been that sense of a swelling Light.

It’s impossible to explain but it is very much *there*.

And that, my friend, is Hope come calling in no uncertain terms. It’s associated with Healing, which is a tremendous relief; and Faith; and Peace, another huge relief although perhaps a bit puzzling given the circumstances; and its primary source seems to be something to do with the Balancing of the Spiral.

Yeah, I know that sounds kind of mystic maybe, esoteric no doubt, and probably about as unrealistic as a person can imagine.

But there you have it.

It is what it is.

Despite those who seem bound and determined to make of Earth a battleground, still the vast majority of what I’m *getting* is NOT all about fighting, or conflict, or any of the uglies that are besetting us and will continue to beset us. By far there seems to me a sense of growing determination that we (humanity) are going to find our balance and that the uglies are not going to be able to unseat it. Not permanently.

Because there are lots and lots of folks (with very loud Voices) who want it to be otherwise, mine own little Voice is going to get no attention and I’m all right with that. Because, you see, this little Voice is but a very small indicator of something that’s one heck of a lot bigger and stronger. So I’m not going to fret myself about coming across as a lunatic.

Yes there are worries – there have to be else we’d not be able to deal with what we’re going to have to deal with. The worries poke at us and keep us from falling back to sleep.

Will the United States, Russia, Israel, China, Argentina (where did that one come from – what the heck), Australia, Scandinavia, Canada, UK, India (???), and France (???) … do what? … I don’t know … do what has to be done on behalf of everyone who wants Peace?

And what will be the price of that Peace?

Again, I do not know.

What I do know is that what I have felt rising is not diminishing in either nature or intensity – and that’s good news.

Maybe it’s the Buddhists and the old Indian understandings of Peace and Unity that have been (at last) reconnecting themselves to the positive flows and exerting some of their old influence?

Maybe it’s partly a reawakening of our own North American Elder Folk’s spirit, the one that goes back to before fighting became the ‘norm’, which is a long way back indeed considering the tribes have been at war with one another for millennia.

Maybe it’s got something to do with the political situation finally prodding folk all over the world into actually paying attention to what they perhaps had come to take for granted. Asserting their own Faith in opposition to something being used for the harming of others … and I’m talking about the kind of Faith that rides deep inside, not associated with any one creed or dogma or definition.

Me being me, and our Characters being themselves, putting it in terms of the Justice, Mercy, and Peace of the Mother coming into play tends to make the most sense to me.

In other terms, there’s an inherent Balance that’s the fundamental Law of the entirety of our world, the one that stretches from infinity to infinity – the one whose fractals are part and parcel of every aspect of the whole thing, the triangles of which are immutably woven into spirals at every level, all of them moving and moving and moving from infinity to infinity in constant unremitting motion. That would be Energy, at times taking on form as Matter.

And that’s a scientific train of thought that nobody wants to follow any more than anybody wants to follow the esoteric one that is actually the exact same train of thought.

What, people want to know, can we expect in the coming Time?

Warfare, for starters.

Not what anyone wants to hear, is it?

What happened to that whole big Peace thing? What about all that Hope that’s supposedly infusing the atmosphere of our world?

Well, those things are what are behind the warfare, as always.

To get to one, you generally have to get through the other – Peace will not come on its own without conflict because there is some powerful opposition to Peace.

Otherwise, Balance would never become.

Can’t have one without the other, and that’s just the fact of the matter.

People can try to deny it, they can try to avoid it, they can try to say it doesn’t have to be that way – until the cows come home they can try to convince themselves and everyone else that there’s a different way (and I for one would dearly love to believe them) – but Pi in the Sky wishes have zero chance against PHI in the Sky reality.

Warfare is what’s coming?

Warfare is ALWAYS coming, in one form or another.

But I write fiction; I’m not a prophetess, so don’t take my word for it. I just have a hunch that what’s ahead for us isn’t going to be all that different from what’s behind us, that’s all.

We can (and we do) try to make our reality fit into the frame of what we want it to be – and that’s fine because that ability and that instinct is a gift to us and we’re obliged to use it whether we would will it or not – and so we can, for millennia on end, use that gift to help us get through what we have to get through, to do what we have to do when we have to do it, and to ultimately survive for as long as our species is going to remain viable in our world. It is not a vain pursuit but one of a more vital importance than even the most dedicated of us realize.

It is a source, for good or for ill, of the Balance which will be kept no matter what.

So yeah, to say that it’s important is something of a massive understatement. Our universe is going to continue to unfold as it should, something folks have been aware of for a lot longer than we might imagine or that many of us want to believe.

And that’s okay.

Infinity is eternal, remember.

We aren’t going to be able to wrap our heads around that concept and we don’t have to.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t the reality in which we live in.

Anyway, warfare is pretty much going to be a given – until we’ve almost destroyed this very world in which we live in, or at least our little bit of it (which is of vital importance to us because it’s the ONLY bit of it that we DO live in).

Eventually, hopefully, we’ll figure out how to exist without overt warfare.

Don’t go holding your breath on that, because it’s liable to be a long time coming and carry a price tag that we, of our time, are not going to be willing to pay.

But the time will likely come that the conflicting ideologies will indeed come to agree to disagree and warfare will just stop.

How?

Well, the only thing that comes into my fiction-oriented mind is what the most idealistic of us (including me) will not even consider. That is that the fighting will stop when Earth is divided fairly equally among the ideologies that wish to dominate the whole.

Sooner or later everyone is going to reach the conclusion that there’s no way any single choice of belief systems is going to ever be able to dominate the whole. Humankind is flat out not designed to accept any such thing.

And so the division will come, likely after a couple of things happen.

One is a no-brainer – warfare that will come to within a hair’s breadth of utterly demolishing a very hefty hunk of Earth herself.

The other is a more natural thing, and when the two come together, at the same time, there won’t be so very many of us left to come to the conclusion I just mentioned (that ‘peaceful cohabitation’ of conflicting factions is not going to happen).

And the survivors will agree to separate and to keep themselves to themselves – to develop their own ways independently of the others.

Fictionally speaking, this concept is where the world of DANANN comes from – that’s one of the books of SONG – where the Quadrants are each self-supporting and closed to the others.

We haven’t gotten into what it is exactly that each of the Quadrants is like that makes them so different from one another but I suspect it has to do with both politics and religion since those seem to be kind of the things that divide folks. Not skin color or intelligence quotients or anything else, at least not that I can think of.

People tend to fight about both territorialism and expansionism, for both political and religious reasons.

So in the end (temporarily at least, relatively speaking) it will come down to eliminating both of those concepts by giving each a ‘safe place’ in which to do whatever it is that they want to do, so long as it doesn’t interfere with or harm any of the others.

So what are the divisions going to be?

Elephino.

As I said, I write fiction; I’m not a prophetess.

My best guess would be that Northwest would be for the people who, at the time of the division, are in favor of theocracy.

Northeast might be set aside for those who are ready, willing, and able to blend many diverse cultures into one.

Southwest could provide for those who wish to live simply with Earth and with one another.

Southeast could well be where the ‘spiritual-minded’ can live unfettered as they choose, to follow whatever paths they want without being judged by anyone, so long as they do no harm.

And so the divisions are defined, borders are laid out, resources of each quadrant are assessed to be sure everyone has plenty of what they need to be self-sufficient, and the quadrants are fine with leaving everyone else alone and being left alone in return.

And so there is Peace.

There’s no trade, but no trade is necessary.

There’s no interaction or communication, but no interaction or communication are wanted.

There’s no travel between the quadrants and little within them (except for those too independent-minded to have been able to choose any of the four options and so they are assigned all of the islands of Earth for their own), but ‘no travel between quadrants’ is part of the solution that eliminates territorialism and expansionism.

Politics and religion take a little longer to deal with but they eventually end up irrelevant because there’s no real purpose in ‘preaching to the choir’.

So things change and it doesn’t really take all that many generations before the quadrants are the norm that nobody bothers to question or even wonder about.

Part of the ‘ease’ by which this whole thing is accomplished stems from the fact that, at the time, technology has begun to reign supreme.

There are no books, for one thing. What few are left by the time the near-destruction of Earth is complete are gotten rid of while everyone’s focusing on survival. Books were a big part of what caused all the trouble in the first place, or so it is perceived, so nobody wants them anyway; they’re reminders of what the survivors of humankind want to leave behind.

Technological communication is all there is, and it is naturally edited to eliminate references to anything to with the things the people of Earth so desperately want to leave behind that they agree to ‘the quadrant option’ in the first place. When the time comes that knowledge of the Histories of Earth is completely deleted from the technological system by which Earth has come to be governed, nobody even notices.

Meanwhile, technology has come up with solutions to most, if not all, of the physical and psychological ailments of humankind. They’ve all become things of the past, too – and nobody wants them back any more than they want the books back, or to be reminded of ‘the bad old days’ in any way, shape, or form. In less time than a person would expect, nobody even realizes that there ever even had been ‘before times’.

Do I think any such thing is really going to happen?

How would I know?

But I’m not going to bet against it.

Take away the reasons for conflict and give everyone what they want while replacing their need for self-governance with a set of computer-generated ‘laws’ that apply to everyone … and spend several generations ruthlessly enforcing said ‘laws’ by way of technology and electronics (so that actual people are not involved in the enforcement), with the assent of the survivors of humankind … and you’re gonna end up with Peace.

Everybody’s living in their own utopia; nothing left to fight about.

With nobody to try to convince, it won’t be long before the religions of the world won’t even have to be outlawed; they’ll die natural deaths as their followers won’t have anyone to argue with about anything and the folk will turn their minds gradually toward survival and development of the resources at their disposal within their relative quadrants.

Politics likewise. With no opposition, there’s no point.

So.

In the wake of the *theoretically inevitable catastrophe* of humankind-created all-out war (and other man-made factors) in a deadly fatal combination with to-be-expected natural events (let’s go with an impact, earthquakes, volcanic activity, climate change, tectonic plates shifting, etc.) just exactly WHO is going to come up with this ‘reasonable alternative’?

My guess would be the atheists, scientists, futurists, techs, and the Dalai Lama.

They’re probably the only ones that anybody is going to be ready, willing, and able to listen to.

Why?

Because they’ll be basically the only ‘neutral’ folks on Earth at the time, with no bones to really pick with anybody. They’re apolitical and non-religious. All they care about is having the resources they want to develop the knowledge they want, with the Dalai Lama thrown in to represent a spiritual aspect (which by that time the rest of them will have long since acknowledged as an inherent part of the whole PHI thing). They’re also the best prepared to ride out a catastrophe.

Plus, by then they’ll have developed the technology to be able to provide the neutral enforcement of the only real ‘law’ everyone has to go by: Harm None.

And they’ll succeed. For a time, they’ll have their Peace.

Yep.

And then the whole thing is going to start all over again, because it has to. That’s the deal. Balance is what makes the world go ‘round.

You know the Norse legends? Ragnarok and all that? The basic story line is, I think, probably dead on. People being people, there have to be ‘characters’ that folks can relate to and be interested enough in to keep the Story alive, but the point is always the bottom line cyclic nature of the whole.

I have a feeling that none of the story lines of our ancient myths and legends are linear as opposed to cyclic in nature.

Just as we will never be able to wrap our heads around the concept of there being no literal ‘In the Beginning’ we also cannot wrap our heads around the concept of there being no literal ‘The End’.

And really, we don’t have to wrap our heads around any such thing. I doubt much, if any, of all this stuff is going to be happening any time soon, probably not in the lifetimes of anyone who is now alive at least.

Each and all of our individual lives do have a Beginning and an End. Each and all of us are made up of energy, waves and particles, and it’s up to each and all of us to Choose to contribute the energy that belongs to us, however temporarily, to whichever ‘side’ of the Balance of all the energies of our world we want to support.

Keep in mind that both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ have to be equally represented, if that makes any sense. Keep in mind that apparently ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are relative terms. I think that the whole concept of PHI is based on opposition being a requirement for Balance. ‘Good’ and ‘bad’ don’t actually come into play at all – only ‘opposite’.

Back to politics for a moment here, can anybody be truly surprised at the response in the United States by a long-quiet (and apparently presumed dormant) population? As long as there was a relative Balance going on, said population had no reason to assert itself. When there came a threat to that relative Balance, with overt ‘we’re going to dominate and you can’t stop us’ behaviors … well … guess what.

For me, the fascinating part of this whole scenario is that we all seem to be functioning instinctively. Ask us to explain and we’re liable to come up with all kinds of ‘reasons’ for why people are as they are. They make sense only up to a point, because most of the factors have been a part of the equation for a real long time. So why NOW have those factors all of a sudden become issues?

I think it’s not so very different from any of the cycles of power our world has been through.

It’s kind of like physics, right?

Actions produce equal and opposite reactions and the chain of events spirals ‘round and ‘round ad infinitum.

Instinct kicks in on some level that we as individuals aren’t even aware of.

Aggression triggers retaliation, no matter on what scale.

If I could believe for one instant that what’s coming could be prevented or avoided, I’d be first in line to try to figure out how to do it.

But I think the best we can hope for is that, when all is said and done, the survivors will recognize the requirement for Balance, and put their energies into keeping that Balance not by the cycle of aggression and retaliation but by focusing on maintaining Balance by refusing to try to tip it.

No, I don’t see that happening, which is a sadness to me because it would be really nice to be able to believe such a thing might be possible.

Bottom line?

Because apparently there are plenty of people who are bound and determined to be aggressive, there are going to be just as many who are bound and determined to take the opposite position. Neither side is going to ‘win’. On the other hand, neither side is going to ‘lose’ either.

The cycle might, for a time, seem to favor one or the other but no matter how much jockeying for position goes on the result is going to be Balance. Even if these particular ‘sides’ annihilate one another, more will pop onto the screen and keep the cycle spinning. Even if, somewhere along the line, a time comes that Balance is kept by maintaining a fragile Peace, it ain’t gonna last. Somebody will choose aggression; retaliation will be the answer, and …

Man.

What a kind of depressing sort of thing to be thinking about, huh?

*laughing*

Depressing only because I haven’t included the multitudes of wonders and joys and beautiful times that, honestly, really do make up the bulk of what I’m *getting* from every direction.

Because, think about it, what is GOING to be the response to this deep darkness that seems to be threatening the world in which we live in?

THAT is what seems to be in its ascendency right now – that response to darkness, which is Light.

Threatened by aggressive Hatred, what is the retaliatory response going to be?

Yeah.

That wheel, it does indeed go ‘round and ‘round, doesn’t it?

For my part, the getting to Choose thing is a no-brainer.

Choosing to go with the Light when threatened by the Dark?

No-brainer, like I said.

It’s recognizing what’s coming at us, and focusing with everything we’ve got in us on the antithesis of that darkness that seems to be at work here, and it’s that focus that makes our lives truly a journey of love and peace and joy and all of the things of the Light.

The best part of the whole of it is that Light-filled journey so very many of us are sharing, whether many of us are aware of it or not.

One thing that the Dark will never understand, never ever ever, is that the harder it pushes, the stronger becomes the Light. You’d think that too would be a no-brainer, but (being as I happen to like the Light I can say this without compunction) nobody has ever accused the Dark of having the wit to figure it out.

Maybe that too is part of why the Dark seems to always want to be the aggressor, who knows? Maybe that part of the whole has just enough wit to have figured out that the Light has something the Dark is missing, and so is constantly trying to take what would be so freely shared. I reckon maybe there’s half a wit involved in that.

Did I just call half of the energies of the world half-witted?

Yes, I do believe I did.

Since everything has to balance, I suppose that means the energies of Light are blessed with having a wit and a half.

Whew.

That’s a relief.

Justice comes in all sorts of ways that may or may not make any sense to us; so does Mercy. Peace is something we all might be able to understand, but we have to go through the first two before we get there.

Justice is the Balancing. Mercy is Survival. Then (maybe) comes Peace, with or without a price tag but probably with one.

And that’s kind of a view of the world in which we live in from the unique perspective/s of our Characters.

Onward.

Mine own situation is that there are challenges but I’m managing to make it through them one by one. The losses of this past year have broken me in some ways but yammering about those losses isn't going to do the least bit of good. Better to focus on what is left to me.

Women's Issues

Women's issues have been near and dear to my heart since I was 18 years old and walked into the Women's Center of the UND campus to start my job there. I've worked with Crisis Pregnancy Centers and been a Domestic Violence Advocate.

It doesn't hurt that I've got a darned strong woman as a mother, either. 

My sisters are gifted with talent, business acumen, creativity, and tenacity. 

The four daughters I bore are now strong, loving, powerful women in their own right. 

My grandmothers were amazing survivors of times we might not make it through - but they did. So did the generations before them.

Strong women have been my good friends for as long as I can remember.

So.

What are women upset about?

Well, I suppose the same old things: wages, inflexible or irregular work hours, single parenting, birth control, rape, child care, freedom to choose whom they love, marketing of women both figuratively and literally, the abuses of women (in some cultures atrocities against women are all too much the 'norm') ... you know, women's things.


Women are also plenty upset about the same sorts of things that men are upset about when it comes to conditions both local and global, but they've also got their own ^^^ objectives which, if properly addressed and corrected, might prove to go a long way toward the mending of a lot of other plagues that beset us.

Think about this for a minute.

There are all sorts of things that divide us as a people in general. Socio-economic standing, race, religion, lifestyles, politics ... you name it and it's a dividing factor.

When FINALLY  the women of the west manage to get their act together, none of those things are going to matter a whit to them. 

Not. A. Single. Factor. Will. Divide. Them.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it for a while.

Women make up fully HALF of the population of the WORLD.

In the United States alone there are well over 150,000,000 of us. A hundred and fifty million women, choosing to stand together for something or against something is going to have more than a little OOMPH to it.

Now, some of us remember at least part of the days of The Women's Movement from back in the day. Not the WAY back days of Suffrage, mind you, but the ones of the century just past. We are now the women of the Boomers and we are legion. Okay, more than legion but that's a phrase that has a specific sort of connotation of there being a LOT of something.

If you think that 'movement' was something, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Because a lot of us Boomers are still around, and the Millennials are even more plentiful.

And if you think we Boomers were enthusiastic about getting behind a 'cause', look at the Millennials. They CARE. Exactly what they care about, and whether or not we happen to agree with them or think them brats, the point is that THEY CARE AND THEY CARE DEEPLY.

So.

Let's give them something worth caring ABOUT, shall we?

No I'm not an old 'feminist' trying to resurrect something that's not going to be resurrected.

This is NOT about man-bashing or about avenging the wrongs of the past (and they too are legion, but we have to let them go). 

Why?

Because there's more at stake now than probably ever before in the history of humankind, that's why. 

The Women of the West HAVE to be confident in the wielding of their own power, folks. We soon aren't going to have any other option so we'd best start getting used to the idea.

We cannot correct the ills of our world alone; neither can the men. We cannot waste ourselves in stupid needless battles. We are needed and our men are JUST as needed. Granted, they haven't exactly set us the best example in general, but we cannot do this without them.

Do this? What 'this'?

The Dalai Lama nailed it back at that speech he gave in Canada a few years ago, people. It was in Vancouver in September of 2009 and a link is below if you're interested. He said that the Women of the West would have to save the world. 

Western women (click to link) have something our more Eastern women don't seem to have quite as much of, and here we are griping. Really. We've got a freedom that many women of our world don't enjoy, let alone take for granted, let alone whine in spite of.

We can do what they cannot, and we'd best be getting on with it.

Because it's going to take a bloody long time just to clean up our own back yards, it behooves us to stick together and get that job done in a timely manner, because the rest of the world ain't gonna sit around watching us and waiting for us to finish what we start at home. 

Since I'm an American and North America is my home, I'm talking of the Women of the West as my peers and colleagues here in the United States and Canada. Mexico too has a lot of powerful strong women, and here's hoping they will begin wielding their own power as well.

You see, we are the grandmothers, mothers, sisters, daughters of the land and we don't seem to be anywhere near as proud of that as we have the right to be.

And I'm not talking about women necessarily taking on political roles, although that certainly is a part of the whole thing if that's what they're called to do. We aren't all particularly suited for such things, and neither are our men for that matter. There are plenty of examples of both men and women ill-suited for that so we'll let it rest for the moment and focus on the vast majority of the rest of us.

Some of us are too old, or ill, to actively participate in what I'm talking about, but the input of their wisdom is incalculably vital if we're going to be making any headway at all. So first thing off the bat is consulting with our Elders. For one thing, it's good manners; for the main thing, they've got decades of experience in dealing with humanity that most of us don't. So ... go and ask them. 

Being as I'm almost old enough to be consulted, and have known a LOT of women older than me, I have a fairly decent idea about what you'll hear. I'll tell you later if you want; for now there's a concept that needs to be presented.

Now, as the grandmothers, mothers, sisters, and daughters of our land, we kind of have a responsibility here. We've kind of been letting that slide for quite a while, but it's not too late to get to our feet and start raising a ruckus.

We don't need to be raising a ruckus about that list up there. Everyone is already long sick and tired of hearing it.

No.

What we need to be raising a collective ruckus about are things like ... well ... like the stuff that's been going on in spades for a long time and seems to have intensified in the past couple of years.

You know what I'm talking about. 

Riots, for one thing - and violent crimes - and people being threatened. You know darned well what all I'm talking about because it bothers you as much as it does me.

We might have to, at first, take on the troubles as women. But, knowing the strength of our men, we'll soon have them at our sides. Not behind us backing us, and not in front of us protecting us, but at our sides.

I'm not talking about all of us suddenly getting a radical hair up our backsides, you know. All I'm saying is that if something happens to be developing in your particular area, don't just yammer about it over coffee. Call all of the women you know and get yourselves together to confront it. Never try to 'go it alone' because you aren't going to get anywhere except probably hurt in some way or worse. Call people. Do something. Intervene by at least making your presence known and your Voices heard. 

This million women march at Washington isn't exactly my cup of tea but it has gotten my attention. Most of us will not be there. We will be at work or at home. That doesn't mean we are not a part of the whole thing. It's very rare that anything happens on such a big scale; we aren't going to fret ourselves about the women who are ready, willing, and able to attend that big march. I for one am pleased that they're going to do what they're going to do (as long as they're reasonable about it and nobody gets mean). If I were one of the organizers I would ban political signs, and signs that have to do with any specific issues from the above list. I'd have everyone carry signs with one symbol on them:

And leave it at that.

It's the symbol of our gender, in case you were wondering. It means female.

Personally, I don't happen to think that much of any of this has much of anything in particular to do with women's rights or women's issues. I think it has to do with taking a stand against the things that are wrong in our world, our society, and our home towns. 

For the record, women are not all innocents. There are as many horrible women as there are horrible men.

But I think there are enough of us who are not horrible, both male and female, to tend to those among us who are horrible.

I live in the country, but if I lived in town there would probably be ten or so women who feel the same way I do who lived on my block or cul-de-sac. In my neighborhood would be maybe fifty.

Fifty women standing together would be almighty intimidating to just about anyone.

Suppose, just as a for instance, you live in a town where there's going to be a protest of some kind. Women are justifiably notorious for their ability to spread the word about anything and everything in a heartbeat or less. Do that. When the protest starts, be there. Not as part of the protest, unless that's your thing, but just be there. If those are your kids out there protesting, or your siblings, or your friends or relatives, keep an eye on them - for their own safety and your own peace of mind. The very fact that you're there in big numbers might de-fuse what could otherwise get out of hand. If it does get out of hand, holler for whoever you might have in the protest, grab about twenty women to go with you, and go get your own the heck out of harm's way. Lock your arms together and go get them. Then don't step back. Instead, step up. 

Keep in mind that women don't really have any 'boundaries' to keep them from working together. The women you're locking arms with might be of any color, any socio-economic status, any religion, any lifestyle choice. NONE of those things matter, not when it comes to 'mother' stuff. What binds us as women is by far more powerful than anything that might divide us. Believe it because it's the absolute truth. Even the females in the protest are going to feel it in a way they won't want to acknowledge but it will be there, as sure as the sun rises and the stars shine in the sky.

After a few times of all of us standing together, we'll have our numbers doubled because our men are going to be standing with us.

If random acts start up in your neck of the woods, gather yourselves together and make your presence known.

On college campuses, do what we used to do - never be alone and never leave anyone behind. If they want to have a rendezvous with somebody, that somebody had better have passed the test of being closely scrutinized by a large group of women before we trust them with one of our own.

On a less dramatic front, use that incredible communication system to do good things, to help people who might need a hand. If you happen to know of somebody who needs food, clothing, or shelter, make your calls, spread the word, and tend to the needs of that person, that family, in a way that they will be able to accept and not feel like crap about it. Just gather the stuff they need and get somebody to go and give it to them with a note that only has that symbol on it, you know the one:

Nobody's going to be insulted at a gift from a mother, nobody. Their needs will be met and they're going to become a part of the people who are taking their stand against the ills of our society and our world. 

Another tack to think about:

A lot of us would truly love to help those from outside our own country who are in desperate need of help. We'd love to offer help to the refugees who really do need a safe place.

That's another reason for us to get ourselves pulled together to tend to the business of cleaning up our back yards. We cannot offer a safe place to others who are in need if our back yards aren't even safe for US.

We who are the Women of the West do not need to choose any particular 'issue' to step up to the plate for, to go to bat for, to take our swing at, and to maybe hit a grand slam out of.

Every 'issue' affects us as women. That is our strength. As women we can take a stand about anything and everything. Because we're mothers, or will become mothers, or at the very least we HAVE mothers.

Our issues, as Mothers, are Justice and Mercy and Peace. It's as simple as that. 

If you're female, you're automatically one of us, no matter what.

And the thing about the 'Mother' identity is that (surprise) you can't have a Mother without there also being a Father involved.

So our fight is NOT against the males of our world.

Our fight is about those things I just mentioned:

Justice
Mercy
Peace

Because all men also have mothers (duh) they too are equally invested in the whole thing and will figure that out in their own (slow but sure) time. They've had several millennia in which to do their thing. Now it's our turn, but we aren't going to do it alone. We're going to do it together, the way it's supposed to have been all along.

Reinventing the Wheel

Think about your own self for a minute. Now think through your family, friends, associates, co-workers, folks you meet on the street regularly enough to say hello to, folks you don’t know as well, people you know on line but not in person, people you might know something about via media … basically, everybody you know or know of.

You’ve just defined your own interpersonal spiral. It begins with you and spirals out from you to include all of the others. Because your spiral now has a definition, it has just become a cognitively recognized part of you and cannot ‘un-become’. It is now a permanent part of your memory. At odd moments for the rest of your life it will pop into your consciousness.

Each and all of us have these interpersonal spirals, all of which flow out from us as individuals to intersect and interlock with those of everyone else. This too is going to pop into your mind at odd moments for the rest of your life. The interactions of each can and do affect all.

Since it’s on your mind at this moment, think about the good, the bad, and the ugly that each of the above persons has in them, beginning with your own self. There’s some of each in all and well you know it.

Now that the thought is right here, so to speak, let’s reinvent the wheel.

You’ve no doubt got your individuals pegged into categories. That’s because we do that automatically. We like orderliness and will arrange patterns instinctively. When you think ‘good’, or ‘bad’, or ‘ugly’ a certain subset of individuals will come into your mind. Although you know full well that each of those individuals also has each of the other characteristics, the way you view them based on your experience is going to define their identity on your spiral.

You’ve just defined the spokes of your own interpersonal wheel, the one of which you are the hub. The strengths and weaknesses of all of the individuals included in your interpersonal spiral have designated their place on one of the spokes of said wheel.

And that wheel goes ‘round and ‘round, your life being the path on which it turns.

‘But,’ you say, ‘I don’t want some of those people to be a part of my spiral, or my wheel.’

Too bad.

They are there and there they will remain. You can try to remove them all you want; they will not leave you. Ever. Once included, they cannot be excluded. Ever. Once someone or something has become a part of your cognitive recognition, you cannot un-recognize them or it.

Sorry.

That’s just the way we’re designed.

On the plus side of this whole thing is that the negatives do play a vital role. Accepting that will help you reconcile their presence in your spiral, your wheel.

You see, not only do we seek and find patterns because it is instinctive to us, we also MUST have balance. That’s probably the most basic law of all of creation.

And so, as the wheel of your own individual spiral traverses the path of your life, each of those spokes in turn hits the ground. The impact travels up that spoke straight to you at the hub. The wheel is balanced, and balanced it must be – all the time. Each of those spokes is exactly as important as all of the others. Trying to get rid of any of them is a lesson in futility. We are absolutely unable to do it.

Your individual spiral and wheel are of the most importance to you; mine are most important to me; everyone else’s are most important to them. That’s the way it’s designed.

However, our individual spirals do indeed intersect, interact, and interlock with those of everyone else. The scale expands from us as individuals on outward to include our families, friends, associates, co-workers, folks we meet on the street regularly enough to say hello to, folks we don’t know as well, people we know on line but not in person, people we might know something about via media … basically, everybody we know or know of.

Because the individual spirals of all those others also intersect, interact, and interlock with those of everyone else’s, the spiral keeps expanding and growing. Our uniquely individual spirals are part of a much bigger one.

The pattern is set, immutable.

Science calls it PHI, the Golden Mean, Perfect Balance, whatever. Folks of Faith know it as God’s Plan. Either way, it cannot be changed. It is Law and we are governed by it. From the enormity of the Universes to the tiniest sub-particles we are able to identify, our world is governed by the spiral, the balance of energy that literally cannot be altered.

So when you, just like me and everyone else, would really love to just get rid of the ‘uglies’, remember that we flat cannot do it. That’s not much consolation, is it?

What we CAN do is try to fill our own spirals, our spokes with as many of the ‘good’ folk as we possibly can manage. By doing so, we may be able to collectively bind our own positive spirals more closely together which would force the negatives onto fewer spokes, so to speak.  Overall, there will still be the same number of positives and negatives, but maybe, just maybe, we can minimize how often our negative spokes hit the paths of our lives by focusing on developing the number of positive ones … which would have the effect of concentrating the negatives into a few powerful spokes rather than spreading them out into more, but less high-impact, ones.

Again, small consolation, eh?

We cannot change the Law. Balance will prevail, no matter what.

Choosing to throw the power of our collective energy in on the positive side of the equation, however, might just make more of a difference in our individual lives than we think it could.

The ugly is always going to be with us in equal proportion to the good. That’s kind of a given.

But we don’t have to be any more a part of it than we absolutely have to on an individual basis.

Choose to seek, find, and nurture the good that is all around you. Focus on the beautiful, the kind, the gentle, the strength of the good, because it is powerful indeed.

At the same time, do not neglect to recognize that the ugly is with us, as all around us as the good is. What good we choose to seek, find, and nurture will be our defense against the ugly.

So as you’re thinking about your interpersonal spiral and the wheel that rolls along the path of your life, think about how you can strengthen the positive spokes so that when the negative ones hit that path they will have less of an impact on you at the hub. By strengthening your own spiral, your own wheel, you are strengthening those of the folk whose spirals most closely intersect, interact, and interweave with yours. That bigger spiral too becomes stronger, and spreads faster and further than you can imagine.

It’s a bit of an irony, isn’t it, that the bigger and stronger the negative becomes, the more likely it is that the positive will react by coming to the fore to counter it. But so it is. So it has to be. Balance will prevail.

We can, each and all of us, choose whether to put our personal energy into the equation for good or for ill. It is already a part of the bigger spiral, but we really do get to pick which direction we are going to send the power of our individual energy.

I get to choose; so do you.

On-going ... Justice For All

Original Post:

11/11/16 - After the November 8, 2016 Presidential Election but before the January 20, 2017 Inauguration.

Update/s below :) so skip ahead if you've already read this first part. Look for Lady Justice. (That's her right up above.)

Facebook post by Michael Rex:

"And now for the other side, if you're a Trump voter who is tired of being called a bigot, if you say you voted for him based on gun rights or economic issues, or because you think Hillary really was that awful, and in spite of his rhetoric, rather than because of it, I believe you. If you're in my life, I clearly don't think you're a vile hateful person. But if you're now watching protests across the country and you don't understand why, or think they are just being sore losers, let me break something down for you. These people aren't just angry or sad that someone they didn't support won the election, they're scared.

They're black Americans who hear talk of law and order and remember a racially charged stop and frisk program, or see an emboldened KKK holding a celebratory parade.

They're Muslim Americans who worry that spitting in their face is now okay and violations of their rights to assemble and their rights to privacy are about to come.

They're LGBT Americans who fear not just of the loss of marriage rights or restaurants gaining the right not to serve them, but of an administration that thinks it's more important to research electrocuting the gay out of them than AIDS.

They're Hispanic and Latino Americans who are scared their children will be bullied in schools, and their families ripped apart while their culture is mocked.

They're women who are wondering if we've normalized groping, and if their career endeavors will be judged by their face and body, and not their minds

I believe you when you say you didn't vote for any of these things. Most of America wasn't thrilled with the choices we had in this election. But If you didn't know that this is why they're protesting, if you think it's really just about free tuition or more government giveaways, then you, like the elite liberals you love to castigate, have also not been listening. If you're tired of being called a bigot, then you need to use the same voice you used on Tuesday and speak out against these things fully and clearly. It's not enough that you didn't say them yourself. You need to reassure your friends and family members who feel like they no longer have a seat at the table that you still stand with them, even if your priorities were different on Tuesday. If you aren't willing to do that, then you have no right to call for unity."

In response to the above, I said:

The thing about all of the 'uglies' listed above are that they are ALL AGAINST THE LAW. The thing about Rule of Law is that the laws of this land are indeed for everybody, something that seems to have gone missing somewhere along the way, especially it seems in recent years. No wonder folks are afraid. That's precisely one of the reasons that We the People (finally) stepped up to say: No More. 

I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I am not hyphenated. I am an American citizen, period. 

We are governed not by a president, not by congress, not even by our courts. 

We are governed by the Constitution of the United States of America which grants sovereign rights to the PEOPLE of the United States. It is We the People of the United States of America who wield the final authority. We are not just saying 'NO' to corruption in our government; we are also saying 'NO' to those who have long been disregarding the fundamental premise of our form of government. 

We are a Constitutional Republic, not a democracy, for a darned good reason. 

The difference between the two is that in a democracy the majority rules; a Constitutional Republic ensures and protects equal rights to all citizens of the nation - prevents that 'majority' from straying from the collective Will of the People of said nation. That's also the reason for the separation of powers - the 'checks and balances' - of our Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. The whole thing is designed to protect EVERY citizen. It's been a while since that has been acknowledged, let alone emphasized, so it's no wonder people aren't aware of the concept. 

The only ones who should be afraid of Rule of Law (aka the Constitution of the United States of America) are those who have broken, are breaking, or plan to break those laws. Everyone else should be heaving a great big sigh of relief. 

Protests are perfectly legal. Rioting is not. Having differences of opinion is perfectly legal. Infringing on the rights of others is not. Having a heated debate is perfectly legal. Punching someone in the face is not. Worshiping (or not) in whatever manner best suits you as an individual is perfectly legal. Harming others, for ANY reason, is not. 

THAT's what our nation is SUPPOSED to be all about. 

'Haters' on all sides are entitled to their hatred, believe it or not. What they are NOT entitled to is acting on that hatred in a way that hurts anybody else. 

*I'd apologize for the extremely long post but I'm not sorry.* 

Unity under the Constitution is a win-win-win-win ... for all law-abiding American citizens. I expect that it might come as a shock to some, who don't really understand what Rule of Law actually means, when January of 2017 rolls around and our Constitution goes back into effect. Most of us will be absolutely unfazed by it, or appreciate it; too many are in for a rather rude awakening when they are made to understand that no they really aren't exempt after all. What do you think that blindfold is all about?

p.s. We've already spoken out - with ballots. If you're getting your information from the media, you haven't been listening to the ones who cast those ballots. Most of us did it for ALL of us, including and probably mostly FOR the very folks referred to in the first part of this post. Jerks on both sides are giving the vast majority of Americans a bad name and inciting angst that's so totally NOT what ANY of the rest of us want. 

2017 July 17  

Just about six months in and my neck is more flexible than it's ever been.

That's from watching the ongoing partisanship at play both here in the States and abroad. I have to say the performance has been nothing short of amazing. I barely even know where to begin, but know darned well there's no way I can hit any but a few of the things that have stuck in my mind. These have been some busy months, I tell you true. I'm lucky not to have whiplash.

First, apparently ISIS is out of Mossad. I've heard it said that the 'Caliphate' is finished, but that doesn't mean an end to trouble. Our President has handed the military reins back over to the military so there's hope that even more progress will be made. Europe's plight is abysmal at the moment. The Middle East ... uffda is the only word that comes to mind.

The partisanship is nowhere more pronounced than in DC of course. The health care thing, however, is bogged down not by opposition from the Left (which was factored in from the get-go) but rather the attempt by the Right to replace the ACA or phase it out or some such thing rather than simply repealing it (which in my opinion is what should be done - there's no place health care is even mentioned in the Constitution so it would fall under the 10th Amendment and belong to the States/People - but what do I know?) and being done with health care being a Federal issue except to keep Medicare and Medicaid funded for the States to disburse. 

The only good thing I'm finding is that at least this batch refuses to sign off on something they haven't even read. Still, it would be a much quicker read if it just said, "Whereas, ... ; and, whereas ... ; and, whereas ... ; now therefore the ACA is herewith repealed in its entirety." After each whereas you put things like 'failed to deliver as promised' and 'caused harm to the citizens of the United States of America' and 'has no Constitutional basis' and yada yada. You could even skip the 'whereas' part and the 'now therefore' and cut straight to the chase. Short and to the point. But what do I know? And really, what do I care, for my own part? I'm no more affected by the ACA than those guys are, not on a personal level - but I do care, and deeply, about everyone else who is affected by it.

Our Veterans are finally seeing some light at the end of their perpetual tunnel as the VA is in the throes of a good house-cleaning. Happy face!

Unemployment is down and the stock market is up. Big smile! TWO big smiles!!

Had I not spent about a decade in the Construction Zone, and if I were as gung ho about the Wall as many are, I might be frustrated that it's not built yet. On the other hand, the flow of illegals from south of our border has dropped significantly and law-breaking illegals are being caught, so even without the Wall there's progress on that front. Sanctuary cities might soon find themselves footing their own bills, which might help too.

Our power-generating industries are seeing some growth I hear, a relief in many ways so long as alternatives are being aggressively developed. We are out of the Paris Accord, so will have billions in the bank that would not otherwise have been there. I think we ought to be aggressively developing our renewables, as I just said, but prudence pokes in and reminds me that those billions don't mean we as a nation are out of the red yet - that's going to take a while. In the meantime, we can at least get/keep ourselves out of any kind of dependency on foreign oil. Except I think we should go partners with Canada (I lived too close to Canada for too long to think of it as an actual foreign nation) and make North America completely self-sufficient while the rest of the world can have the fossil fuels we would have been using. Taking our share of the demand off that market ought to ease things for others, a person would think. And, somehow, gas prices are about half of what they were for too long there, and once in a while actually take a further dip for a little while.

It is now the rule that for every new regulation put into place, TWO existing ones must be removed. (In my opinion, the ACA only counts as one existing regulation so they can get rid of something else too if they want to add some kind of new regulation.) Of course there's nothing to say they can't remove as many regulations as they want; it just means we aren't going to be getting new regulations without getting rid of twice as many old ones.

More attention has been being paid to our educational system than I've ever seen. At least a part of that has to do with what we're discovering about our facilities of 'higher education' and what it says about the caliber of the schools that have been producing a lot of the 'students' who attend them. In different places, at different levels, people have started keeping a lot closer eye on the educations their young are getting (or not) and my gut tells me that there's likely to be a bigger surge in home-schooling (it's already nothing to sneeze at) and private or charter schools as options. I think that has been going on for longer than most realize but my feeling is that it's going to take an even more significantly big jump - and would have taken that jump regardless of Left/Right affiliations or anything that goes on in Washington. Until our educational system gets back up to par, other options are likely what I would opt for if I had younglings. Not saying all places are in such dire straits, but enough to cause some serious concern.

On a personal level, I was happy that my tax refund wasn't taken as a penalty for me not having had health insurance last year. It went instead to my student loan so that's a win-win for me and for Uncle Sam. I don't at all mind it going toward my own loan, but I have to admit that yes I did kind of mind it going toward somebody else's health bills when I myself accrued health related bills of ZERO for that time span. But then I'm not a socialist. I can't afford to be, having bills of mine own to try to pay.

International relations are either great or horrible depending on who you ask. Don't forget that we Deplorables elected a non-politician (a businessman instead) in November of 2016 for a reason. Against the will of the entrenched republicans (largely), and most assuredly against the will of the democrats, we saw a viable alternative (viable being a matter of perspective; from ours, Hope is always viable) and there you have it. To many of us, having someone to protect and preserve our own best interests as a nation both at home and abroad is a big change of pace, and a vast relief. Others feel differently of course, but I am not 'others'. 

Knock on wood, the riots here in the States seem to have abated somewhat although protests continue off and on. Likewise terrorist attacks in our homeland. Perhaps they would have died down anyway, but it's just as likely that *perhaps* it might have something to do with the rumor that our Rule of Law has begun to come back into effect. Not everywhere, mind you - Chicago is not exactly safe these days, and there are other places as well - but hopefully a good dose of Justice followed by a healthy shot of Mercy will help bring some Peace to even those places before say the end of this century.

Europe, on the other hand ... 

Every day I bless my ancestors and that's all I'm prepared to say on that topic for the time being. Otherwise this post would become hugely too emotional.

In case you're wondering where all those agitating rioters might have disappeared to ... I think a bunch of them have gone on a Continental Tour.

One thing I've noticed just lately is that references to our Constitution have been coming into conversations more than I ever expected. That brings me joy and hope for the future.

I'm still waiting on regular reports from various Cabinet members, but have been pleased that a number of folk who are experts in one thing or another have been available for their input about issues. As I said, we're but six months in and not everything can happen at once, so let's not rule things out just quite yet. Plus, I don't have time to keep up with everything so perhaps I've just missed a thing or two or three in the process of living my life in between everything else that's going on.

I heard just the other day that there are actually some California folks who are speaking out and standing up about conditions there. 

OH. 

Holy buckets!

This belongs at the top of this update. Supreme Court Justice appointments. Our beloved Constitutionalist Scalia has a worthy successor. WHEW. Other vacancies are in the process of being filled, although not yet on the Supreme Court, subject to getting past the hurdles and caltrops used by people who really ought to know better by now. There are likely to be one or two more vacancies on the Supreme Court within the next year or two, hopefully to be filled by Justices who believe in our nation.

As for that list of folks up at the top of this post, the ones who are 'afraid', I'm hoping that they will soon get over it. Their fears are no different from the fears of us all, when it comes right down to it, and all of our fears are addressed by that same Rule of Law. Not rule of tyranny; not rule of political party; not rule of majority or minority; not rule of emotion or opinion - Rule of Law. That means our Constitution.

If I hear the word Russia one more time except for references to geology or archaeology, I do believe I may vomit. Copiously.

The same goes for 'investigations'. We can assume the legitimate investigators are doing their jobs and will let us know in due course what conclusions they come to.

And I don't really mind that our President uses social media to keep in touch with us. We already knew he blurts before we ever elected him. We blurt too sometimes. Many of us blurt a heck of a lot more than he does, although I have to say most of us do not have anywhere near the mind behind those blurts that our President does. I find myself going through what I know of history, ancient and more recent, looking for someone to compare this President of ours to - some come close, but ... I'll have to dig deeper I think to find a match for him. There are candidates in different arenas, but none who manage to fit all those arenas into one person. This too is of course a matter of perspective and depends on who's doing the looking. Socialists and communists are going to come up with a whole set of boogeymen while the rest of us are going to be looking among the heroes of our world's history for comparisons. 

I want to comment on a phenomenon that seems to me inexplicable but maybe somebody can help me to understand. Today's democrats don't seem to have much imagination. If you want to know what they've been up to and where to begin looking, all you have to do is wait and listen. Sooner or later they'll accuse somebody of something heinous. Just thought I'd mention that on the off chance somebody in the world hasn't figured it out yet. No I have no axe to grind, not being a republican; I'm an Independent, but an observant one. I'm just being a bit snarky. And don't worry about the democrats getting a heads up. They have tunnel vision. That's snarky too, I know. I'd be snarky about republicans if they'd give me something to be snarky about. Aside from most of the ones who are now sitting in Congress, most republicans seem at least halfway sensible, at least the ones I know. There. Snark.

On the whole, I personally would rather snark about the plodding republicans taking their own sweet time about things than hear one more word in the dazzling display of spectacular speculation of the current crop of democrats. 

We Independents are the audience here more than we are active participants on a regular basis. We get to yap and yipe about everybody to our hearts' contents. And you know what? There are more of us than a person might think. Consider this for a minute. You can't possibly believe that every democrat out there is a radical rioter dead set on global communism. Likewise you can't possibly believe that every republican out there is a dyed-in-the-wool demon-hunter with everyone except them being the demons. 

Between those two ends of the spectrum are a whole lot of in-between folks who just love our nation and want what's best for all of us. You might be an Independent and not realize it (yet). The further apart those two ends get, the more of us there are in that middle ground. Just sayin'. That middle ground is our common ground as a nation. If our politicians can't recognize that, and insist on remaining divided, it doesn't mean that We the People have to follow their lead and allow ourselves to keep getting sucked into that division.

Snark advisory.

You'd think that both the democrats and the republicans would have figured it out when our nation collectively elected an 'outsider' as our President. 

Huh.

Because red and blue are already taken, I suggest white as the color for us Independents, to round out the colors of our Stars and Bars. Before you get on your high horse and call me racist, there's something you should know about the color white. It is the presence of ALL colors, very literally. Look it up. And get off your high horse. Come on down and walk with the rest of us for a change. You might be surprised how much you like us. You might be shocked to find that you are us.

WHITE (take my word for it or click on the link)

 "Q:

What colors make white?

A:

QUICK ANSWER

White is produced when all colors of the visible spectrum are combined."