Failing the Future

In so many ways out institutions are flawed, fearful, and incapable of providing for a changing future. We still try to hold on to "the illusion of privacy" on the internet and in our personal dealings with media, when all around us we are "tracked, profiled, and analyzed" at least as potential customers,

Our schools will not "go paperless" into the virtual or even the experiential world because selling books and pencils is how we make our profits. Our "grade schools" are not supported (especially our teachers) while we seek some "miraculous change" that will make "learning automatic." Human beings want learning to be like sleep, easy and comfortable and non-combative. But learning is anything but...

We expect results without effort (online classes are great; I just fill out the worksheets and they hand me the degree), jobs without expertise, success without application. We try to emulate the "music man" of musical theatre --- just "think the note and you will be able to play that French Horn, or Bassoon, or whatever..."

Like our oft-mentioned President -- we limit ourselves to present knowledge and never "blow past' the parameters of current understanding." We flaunt our stupidity as if it were superior to knowledge -- safe in the belief that we will not be challenged because we believe something to be true.

Resist; resist; resist. Life is not an "idiocracy."  

Virtual Text Books

How long will it take colleges, including my own, to understand that their own bookstores (selling in paper texts) is the wave of the past. Making money off students when online resources are available, is what is putting colleges in the "respectability hole." How can you trust an educational system that literally bleeds every dollar out of you for: tuition, activity fees, lab fees, special fees, application and processing fess -- and then is complicit in the "Educational Business" game by keeping textbooks going long beyond their useful lifespan.

If colleges themselves are capable of going "paperless" -- why aren't students?  It is a cheat and the students know it. And they will "vote" with their feet.

Hope Springs...

Linda needs to "stay with it" -- continue her treatments, continue her therapies, continue her healing.
So hard when despair gnaws at the roots of one's day-to-day life. Impossible when the pain never seems to stop. Meditate and get right with yourself. Understand that this part of your life must be passed through, just like all the others.

Everyone has their troubles -- some of us have more troubles than others do. That is the fate; that is karma; that is luck. I for one don't believe God is out to hurt us, if there really is a God. I don't believe he/she wants to torture us, moment by moment, until we die. I am a positivist, a humanist, in that regard.

Positive Thoughts -- About Life, About Health, About Trump

If I could possibly send out positive thoughts to everyone out there who is suffering, hurting, in pain, or in despair -- all at once -- I would do so. We all need to begin to think positively, even as we resist, even as we refuse to give in to the stupidities and indignities being forced upon us.

My Sister Linda is having a very rough time right now, trying to survive way too much pain; way too many surgeries and procedures; inordinate amounts of suffering.  Just like immigrants, just like the poor, just like those of us who are so affected by the Trumpian onslaught -- my sister is just trying to do her best to survive -- in a hospital, with a very very slowly healing infection. Life is not fair; it seems like for some of us life is never fair.

Maybe there just is no "fair" or "kind" or "nice" -- only sadness and bad luck. I hope that is not the case -- I hope there is a greater truth than we are; a kinder God; a bigger Presence; just because if life is only random and chaotic, there may be no reason to live it.  

The Pain of Living...and under Trump

Life is tough enough -- into the lives of my students come cancers, financial problems, lost jobs, difficult problems with children/parents/spouses, school and learning problems, Veteran's Administration snafus, and every manner of difficulty that can be imagined. And all of those individual problems are exacerbated by living in the era of Donald Trump.

We are and will continue to be "unsure" about whether government is even on our side -- much less "of the people, by the people, for the people." The world and our smaller world is at "six's and seven's." We don't know what tomorrow will bring: war (with North Korea, China, Iran, someone else); an unstable earth (undone by rapidly rising climate change, pollution, instability, catastrophes, and unnamed future events. Life has never felt more like chaos than right now.

Time has "stood still" and has begun to sputter -- if that is even thinkable. Life is looking for its own balance. Resist.

What is the Outcome of a Trump Administration?

The "big" outcomes (to use a diminished Trump adjective) jump out at you: America will lose respect from other nations around the world; internally Americans will remain in a 'state of siege' trying to hold on to programs, values, and principles that make up our culture; our press corps and to some extent all of us will have to remain vigilant and resist the erosion of freedom itself brought on by the Trump autocracy; all Americans will have to endure the embarrassment of a "stupid" leader who has no regard for knowledge, truth, or even common sense!

Yes, it is a rough future I am predicting -- but unfortunately it has already begun. There are other elements yet to be discovered as well: possible "treason" by Trump and his "team" in working with the Russians to influence the last election; major "conflicts of interest" as Trump, his Family, his Brand, his Cabinet appointees and others continue to profit off of out country and set extraordinary precedents for corruption and malfeasance; and a possible "change of government" when Trump himself falls due to his own arrogant crookedness.  Resist!!  

Younger Sister Linda

My sister is "bravely" and "strongly" fighting her way back to health in a Milwaukee hospital. Taking
antibiotics, steroids, pain killers, and hyperbaric treatments daily (among other tests, treatments, and procedures) she is gradually healing the many wounds caused by cellulitis. One of her many doctors said it best: "that girl is certainly a 'fighter'". Too true.

Linda is still in for an incredibly awkward and long recovery -- I hope her friends, relatives, and employers all stand by her. She needs our support and she certainly will have mine.

Tttttrrrrrruuuummmmpppp!

A bully; an ignorant man; an autocrat; an oligarch; a misogynist; a homophobe; an anti-internationalist; an indomitably uninformed man; a father with no compassion; a husband
with no love; a patriarch with no sense of responsibility; a crazed ego; a narcissist; an inherently
flawed man; an unethical man; a jokester whose joke is himself; an emperor with no clothes; a failure; a bad leader; a small man (with small hands, and a small ....); a"big picture" guy who makes huge mistakes; a loser; a man who needs to be "fired"; a guy with little common sense; an egotistic jerk; and finally the current "president of the united states!"  Resist.

Pain as a World View

Americans are in pain. We feel the pain of embarrassment for the ridiculous nature of our President's ignorance, the fantastic "theories" made up about his conniving opponents, the stupidity of his decisions and dutiful responses to his more stupid backers.

We are hurting now because Trump is President. When will it end? That is the question we will ask ourselves until the longish nightmare is finally over.  Resist ignorance; resist Trump!

Hanging On...

My younger sister Linda has become a symbol of endurance and resistance for me -- akin to the attitudes and actions we must all have in these insane days of the Trump "ascendancy."

Linda has endured a near-death experience, yet another debilitating attack of cellulitis, and pain incomprehensible to someone as "lucky" as I have been.  She still faces a long healing time (hopefully not as long as last time -- 2 and a half years), incredible medical bills, and the continuing and ever-present worry that it could happen again. Just like Trump's careful planning!              

Endurance and Stamina

It's like being a "senior" with a chronic, painful disease. The road to health is a long and arduous battle: every day one gets a little bit stronger, wiser, and more capable of fighting back. Whether the disease is bad leadership (like a "Donald Trump" for example) or a painful case of cellulitis caused by infection -- the prognosis is the same: you will get better only if you slowly work towards your balance, your health, your wellness.

My younger sister has gone from a horrendous bout with a staph and "other" infections to painful open wounds and a tired body, to an immune system fighting gamely (with antibiotics) towards a body balance. The recovery process will be slow and not without setbacks.  There will be a slow recovery of muscles and tendons now used to being bedridden. There will be slow psychological comeback from being dependent to being independent. This is all a helluva lot of hard work.

And that's what life itself is. Resist, work hard, heal, and live.

Trump Has No "Ethos"

For those unfamiliar with the term, "ethos" is a person's or entity's character -- its sense of itself. Some people are honest, trustworthy, passionate, compassionate -- all in being "true" to who they are. But the "Donald" has no ethos. He wants to be everything to everybody. He has near absolute power as President of the United States -- and it has corrupted him absolutely.

Even more than when he was just a "failed businessman" -- the "Donald" is now a failed human being. He will do anything or say anything to be in every one's good graces. He will lie, cheat, switch sides, make up things, point his finger at others "giving false blame," over and over again. He practices the now-time-honored political trick of the "big lie." Say something over and over again for long enough and then at least one sycophant will start the mantra of "there must be something there if people are talking about it;" "if there's smoke there's fire;" and all that.

The "Donald" is unfortunately, leading America. And it may take a generation or more to lead us back to "truth, justice, and a truly American way." Please let this time under the "Donald" pass quickly. Resist.

And on a purely personal note. Linda -- please be well, get better, get healthy.

Trump -- Stopped

Trump has to be stopped! Before he completely undoes American values; before he completely corrupts the moral/legal/ethical values inherent in American society; he has to be stopped.

By the Republicans, hopefully. By the many, many citizens of all parties, faiths, and ethnicities who are concerned about his craziness. By the poor voters drawn into his "plans to make America Great Again!" By all the "cabinet members" who are really concerned about the "changes" that he is causing in America. By the sane, the hopeful, the women who care, the resisters, the family of the "mad businessman," by the rightful owners of our country!  We, the people.  Resist.

Happiness and thanks to all the women of the world: our Mothers, our Sisters, our Lovers, our Friends. Thank you -- keep on resisting.

Linda

Please Linda, I need you to stay alive. I need you to live. If there is any real justice in morality and righteous living -- you need to survive this recent and painful infection. You need to survive because you mean so much to so many.

The Church and School where you work as Registrar and Bookkeeper needs you to live. Your close friends and confidants Lisa and Jan need you to live. Your brother(s) and sister need you to live. All of us who know you, love you, respect you, NEED YOU TO LIVE!

If there is a God in heaven, justice demands that you need to live. Our human lives cannot be ruled by whim and bacteria; they simply cannot. The world needs you to live. Please fight this infection. Please live. You are loved; we need you.

America's Failed President

To all you 'let's shake up Washington DC voters' who voted for Trump: you have changed our country, for the worse. You have inverted our morality to make us a near-autocracy. You have forever changed the media -- and not for the good. "Truth is lies; lies are truth." You have given us a post-apocalyptic world and a new blooming dystopia -- all in just several months.

You have allowed "cheating" and "lying" and crooked government (via our business partners) to become commonplace. You have begun to negate several hundred years of positive history into a Machiavellian nightmare. You have killed America. No thanks to you, my stupid and shortsighted fellow Americans.

A Serious and Deadly Time

My dearest sister is currently in the ICU at Aurora St.Luke's South Shore Hospital in Cudahy, Wisconsin. She is facing a return of the "bacterial infection" that caused lesions/blisters  on her legs over the past 4 years (those that would not heal). She is in the ICU because "sepsis" has set in, her blood pressure has sky-rocketed, and the infection is resisting treatment (antibiotics and steroids).

Tomorrow she will undergo a TEE (trans-esophageal echocardiography) test, to determine if damage to her heart valves has been caused by this deadly bacteria. I hope not.

At least this time they have the bacteria classified and treatment has been directed against this strain; the only question is whether the treatment will be in time. I pray so. With all my heart. With all my soul.

My younger sister has never 'deserved' the bad health breaks she has gotten. But in the past few years at least they have been frequent.  I ask anyone who reads this short piece to send out good will, and a little prayer if you believe, for my gracious and wonderful sister. Thanks.

Education Unmasked

In our fervent desire to "do more with less" and to give 14-year-olds the right to go to college early -- we have made some horrific mistakes.  We have given those youngsters their own computers, Chromebooks in one instance/Ipads in another; and told them that this "device" will make them better students. Then, to limit their "game-playing," shopping, and other instincts -- we have slapped serious controls on these devices. These same students are taking "college classes" but they cannot use their Chromebooks/Ipads to communicate with their instructors -- even to submit assignments, give teachers notice of their absences, etc.

These devices are then like "class workbooks" rather than true computer devices. Using the Internet or the World Wide Web is restricted in multiple ways. So, the upshot is these young students have "devices" that can't truly be used -- and are no more technological than a "blackboard and chalk" (current technology of that would be a "whiteboard and dry erase markers").

This is "progressive education" in Georgia -- in the "best schools" in Georgia.

In addition these students are put in 8-week classes (called min-mesters), to earn full college credit for a course, in courses that are no meant to be mini-mesters (like my Public Speaking course) -- and then are asked to "learn" or even to "excel" in this environment. The students persist -- but very, very few of them excel. They may earn a decent grade -- (a "B" say) -- where in a normal 15 class they could easily earn an "A" because they could then get the reading done, prepare for their projects, and practice their "public speaking skills."

Once again we have cheated the students from having a good educational experience, and cursed them with negative feedback when the majority of the "fault" is with the un-educational system.

Ad Lib Government

And now the Trump regime has yet another scandal to tamp down. The new Attorney General seems to have "lied to Congress" about his contacts with the Russian Government during the waning days of the recent "presidential campaign." One could see how Jeff Sessions could overlook and forget the contacts he did have, after all he was just inquiring about the best recipes for "borscht" that the Russian minister had to offer (and not about politics, or sanctions, or anything illegal).

And now the Trump "fake news" charges will start up again -- and the good will gained by Trump appearing almost recognizably human during his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday last, will be lost forever. Pity. "Pity the fool" who believes anything the Trump-up-box has to offer.

After only a month of incompetence, corruption, and inane talk of a mandate "to do horrible things to people" can we no legitimately ask: "is this the worst American Presidency ever?" Yes.

I Am Sorry to Say...

Donald J. Trump is my President. Donald J. Trump lies outright like any "carny worker" touting his midway game. Donald J. Trump is a "user" and probably a felon through many of his "business deals" before, during, and after his "Presidency."

Donald J. Trump is a "pseudo-believer" in countless unfounded conspiracy theories. Donald J. Trump is a "TV charlatan"! Donald J. Trump is a human being with a totally changeable set of human values, depending on his need to "win" at any given moment. Donald J. Trump is un-American!
Donald J. Trump represents America's worst face, the one that looks inwards and claims no moral high ground in any debate. Donald J. Trump is a cruel and unyielding huckster, trying to make "cheating and lying" the new norms in politics, government, and human discourse generally.

Donald J. Trump is unfortunately, the current President of the United States.  Resist.

Resist!