Cry, the Beloved Country

There is a breathtaking novel by Alan Paton (SP?) set in Africa that now fits the American scene. In this novel, if my memory serves; there is strife, there is racial tension and bigotry, there is racism.
There is also love, and joy, and a reordering of the mind -- even among the competing participants, to eventually welcome each other-- for the good of the country.

Just as in America circa "now" there are multiple journeys happening, multiple searches: for truth, and God, and values that really "give a damn." These searches also involve looking for specific people -- who have gone "lost" in secular, hedonistic, or even sociopathic lies. Those lost people must be redeemed -- just as our 'new lost' Americans must be welcomed back into the fold of civilization and humanity.

The "people off the edge" must be brought back to humanity, and life, and joy. And it must happen "for each of us" for the remarkable return to work. Let's start now.

But still resist, resist, resist!!!

Thank You, God!

Thank You, God: that we have all survived the 100th day of the Trump Presidency, that if we can just hold on a little longer Trump my appreciate himself to death, that if Trump goes away -- maybe some of his Cabinet members will return to humanity!!  WE THE PEOPLE are living in the most unusual time in American history, and for what it seems -- it may be the "end times" of American history.

The American electorate has given us a "suicide trait" candidate, a random mutation, that threatens to kill us all. How? By unwanted war, by slow motion civilized deterioration, by climate collapse, by value denigration, by sheer stupidity, by cunning avarice, by cruel egotism, by non-family values.
Donald Trump is an aberration. Resist, resist, resist!!!

Second Amendment Politics.......Crazy!

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution was originally placed there so that the colonial citizens of the new nation would "keep there guns" just in case they were called upon to
defend the nation from foreign intruders. A citizen army was thought to be the best insurance against another British, Spanish, or whatever incursion across our borders.

Now the Second Amendment is treated on all sides as some "god-given right" to keep my guns safe from the intruding US government: including any kind of licensing, control, regulation, limitation, or ("god forbid") take-away practices.  I can be "crazy," psychopathic, sadistic, unbalanced, revengeful, violent, or self-annihilating --- but I still have the absolute right to have a "gun at my side." Or so the debate, at least on one side, ensues.

On the other --- paint the bleakest picture of a world gone mad, shooting each other at first sight, in some kind of dystopian post-apocalyptic world -- and you have the insane opposition to guns. Take away the fact that the "world" sees  America as a "gun-toting Wild West kind of a country" -- and you have either side  of the gun issue living in a fantasy of their own creation.

Polls Don't Say It

According to certain polls, if the 2016 election were held again today -- Donald J. Trump would still win. That tells us some several possible things: that the polls can obviously be wrong, people can remain stupid because they choose to be uninformed, a significant portion of the American electorate is arrogant, selfish and uninvolved in the world, and maybe there are whole hordes of people who harbor a "death wish."

Pushed to the very brink of a "shooting nuclear war" with North Korea, America (the Nation) risks everything on the bloated and unsteady bellowing of our nominal President. The end of the world is possible, not because God wills it. But because bellicose Donald bumbles into it He has show himself to be an "ass" -- of course it is all just a 'bargaining mode' from the Great Negotiator.

You can see displayed why he so often "lost" his negotiations. You can understand why he had to have the "courts." or his dumb luck, or friends -- bail him out of his obvious idiocy.

Resist; resist; resist!!!!!

Trust...but Verify

The title of this piece is a time-honored American principle -- used in nuclear equipment validation, treaty authenticity, disarmament procedures, and a hundred other ways.

Now it is the time to apply them to Donald J. Trump!!!
   Is "he really a billionaire?"  Trust...but Verify.
   Does he have "conflicts of interest" in the Presidency?  Trust...but V.
   Is he a "crooked businessman?"  T...V
   Is he a "sexual deviant?" T...V
   Is he a "sexual predator?"  T...V
   Did he "cheat" on his taxes?  T...V
   Is he healthy?  T...V
   Is he a conservative?  T...V
   Is he a white supremacist?  T...V
   Is he a narcissist?  T...V
   Has he assaulted women criminally, and gotten out of it?  T...V
   Did he have his former wives sign "non-disclosure statements under threat" for nefarious reasons?                                                                                                                                         T...V
   Is his bullying a sign of mental instability, or Napoleon syndrome?  T...V
   Is he making money off of the United States through: Trump Tower rentals, Mir-a-lago trips, government workers necessarily renting Trump property, etc?   T...V

You can now fill in the hundred other instances where Trump needs to "come clean" to himself, his country, and the world.  

Trump Is My President....Unfortunately

There is little hope for him. He is in ignorant, arrogant, untutored, ill-educated, and uncouth kind of person. His highest "ethos" is his desire for profit. He is everything that is wrong with America.

He panders, he bullies, he threatens, he lies, his inane thinking knows no bounds, He is incapable of being consistent or coherent. He is a sociopath (in the kindest sense of that word) who has not reached the extremes of his own pathology. Yes, he is my President. I don't hope for "his success" but for "our success" in spite of him.

He has and will make profits off the Presidency -- until he is either impeached for malfeasance, or he plunges the world into cataclysmic meltdown: economically, culturally, morally, politically, or even humanly.  He is our President -- but he is a man out of control, a madman in search of sycophants.

He is Trump. Resist; resist; resist!!!

One Last Prayer...But Not For Me

For Tosha, for Linda, for the inspector viewing my house tomorrow,for the inspector viewing my house on Wednesday, for my students,for my students who are seriously ill (endometriosis, cervical cancer, depression, others), for everyone that I know and love .. one last prayer tonight before I sleep and dream.

These are difficult times for America -- and my small victories or losses are inconsequential   compared to what is going on in the world. I acknowledge all that -- and give blessings to everyone I can, who needs them. And for all of you as well!

Resist; resist; please resist!!!

Pride in Tosha Fowler

I am so very proud of my daughter Tosha Fowler.  As she "wings her way" towards a one-year appointment at an historically important Ohio university -- I think of her, and send all my very best wishes. She needs to succeed -- and one way or another, she will. Whether the "job" falls to her or not -- she will be all the better for it. For next time; for her work with her company; for her life/love/plans for marriage!

I love her -- Ms. Tosha Fowler -- for what she is: a talented, kind, deep, and strong young woman, who also happens to be a brilliant theatrician. She must succeed -- or there is no justice in Karma, no kindness in Fate, no honor in God.

Resist; resist; resist!!!

Earth Day Needs to Challenge Trump

Politicians, especially ones who blithely quote outlier "scientists," alternate facts, and their own opinions as facts, should not be leading us down the "garden path" of global climate destruction.
Pretending that we don't have man-made climate problems on earth will lead us to global suicide. And for what?

To fulfill campaign promises to an audience of naysayers to the "elite" scientists, thinkers, and researchers of these problems? How insane are our autocratic White House people and their Cabinet leaders? Are they so cynical that they would "undo the earth" to please their own "profit" motives, or for sheer outsider belligerence to the previous 100 years of scientific progress?

Does pleasing Donald Trump (for a job, for money, or for power) make them more justified than pleasing the "truth"? How morally defunct are these sycophants?

No, resist, resist, resist!!!

The Importance of "Resisting" Donald Trump

Donald Trump is a failed businessman. Getting by with bravado, audacity, and sheer ego -- he finally formed a fortune around a few golf courses (bought from others, not created from scratch) -- his personal estate and club (Mira-a-lago), and some branded but undistinguished properties around the world and centered in NYC. So why is Trump "failed" -- because he has stiffed contractors, hurt individual property owners by his demand of "eminent domain" in certain communities (Atlantic City for example) -- and taken full advantage of bankruptcy laws designed to help "real community investors" (rather than "fake"  community investors).

Trump's business advantages label him a small-time hood masquerading as a big time real estate "poobah." His ethics, or lack of them, are what he really is: a fake, a liar, a bully, a very bad man.

We must resist this kind of "influence" in the White House because it undercuts most of the principles and behaviors that underpin our country. Our value are compromised every day by Trump and his "giddy co-conspirators" among the Republicans. We must, absolutely must, resist Trump and his crazy and inhumane mystique. He is not a good man.  Resist, resist, resist!!!

Women

Every time my life floats out of control with deadlines, demands, appointments, etc. my brain naturally and unabashedly moves into the world of "women." Not in any pornographic or awful way, but mostly in the way that I actually contrast the style(s) of life of the women I have known -- in all different capacities -- with my own style. When I am "tasked" I am a "hell bent for leather" kind of a job finisher. I have always been that way -- since boyhood.

And I was usually (from grade school at St. John Kanty's onward) in a stressed situation. For me even simple grade school learning was a huge task -- thanks to dyslexia. Then high school at the most stressful and competitive school in the state -- then college, then Europe, then "theatre," then grad school number 1, then grad school number 2, then a brief time as a professional in Chicago -- and then Interlochen -- my first real job, unwished for and yet central to my accelerated growth as an artist.

Dumbfounded as I often am by my own success (much less my survival, in many diverse jobs) -- I still take comfort in the process of working towards success, much more so than with success itself. K know that I am primarily a "learner" -- I learn everything, even things that right now may not be useful, but that often come back to me and become useful. Life is like that. Karma and Fate, and "Grace" collide in the universal consciousness.

Resist, resist, resist!!!!

The Hurried-er I Go; The Behind-er I Get

There must be an axiom somewhere that covers falling behind in all one's commitments and plans just because of the anxiety anticipating getting everything done.  I hope that's clear -- and it expresses itself in the title of today's offering. Way too much to do, even though there are two months or so to do it all. Coping with one's own inner goals is perhaps the key.

I have always been a planner --five different ways to achieve a goal, which one will I choose?  But working out five or more alternatives each time one makes a major decision is never easy -- never.
And sometimes just completing all those alternative plans becomes an impossible goal in itself.
And that is the curse of pre-planning: when does it become the "impossible dream" all on its own.

Resist, resist!!!

Racism in America

Those "damn Yankees" in the North of the United States used to say that racism was a cultural, religious, and regional trait of the American South: the Bible Belt, the "Heritage" protectors, the truly racially segregated. Those of us living in this century now know that isn't the case. Racism is rampant throughout America -- and distributed by religion (stiff-necked religions are the most racist), by white supremacists/KKK members, by businessmen/women who see "profit" in division and turmoil, and by fearful little people who blame everyone else for their own troubles.

Racism, or xenophobic responses to skin color differences, are usually a matter of ignorance and lack of human sensitivity. There are racist protests that are really all about economic differences (they're taking our jobs); fear (they're raping our little girls); hatred (how come they have "affirmative action" and I don't); anger (they're different-- let's get'em); and stupidity (send that guy with the turban-thing back to Africa where he came from).

Americans are unremarkable in their overall lack of knowledge. But they are especially stupid when they elect a double-dealing leader to "shake up the system." That kind of extreme stupidity is our undoing. Resist; resist; resist!!!!!

Trump Rolls Eggs

Trump is the unofficial White House expert on everything. And he is his own worst enemy. He doesn't know anything about kids, or raising them, or kindness/compassion towards children --- he is a Neanderthal when it comes to families.

And yet he still insists on lecturing the nation on what a "good egg roll really is"; Trump knows what he knows but he doesn't know how much he doesn't know, does he? He could use a heavy does of self-deprecation, if such a stance is even in his "reality television" bag of tricks.

What the Trump administration (or non-administration if you'd rather) is doing is trying to dismantle 70 years of growth and compromise towards a "global consciousness." He wants his people to do this by trimming their areas of "dead weight" (read liberal or progressive people, ideas, programs) and bring us back to the age of the "robber barons." And that is precisely how Trump sees himself -- a "Robber Baron." Maybe that's why he named his son Barron.

Resist; resist; resist!

Living With a Woman

During the course of my life, over some 45 years I "lived with" more than one woman. And this of course was in a sexual not roommate sort of way. These women were all attempts at permanent relationships on my part, and for the most part ended in failure.

I lived with a beautiful, troubled woman in Traverse City -- who had just come off a horrible relationship (and an abortion) and needed "closeness and comforting." I was that guy for her. I also helped her by paying for some of her Master's Degree, where she promptly "fell in love" with one of her teachers -- and left me, crying, but with little damage. The "signs of the breakup" had been there for months -- and meeting her bitterly divorced parents helped to destroy the then "us."

There were other besides Margaret (Peggy). They were more short term and might even fall into the category of "dating." There was Helen (ballet dancer who pursued me between other lovers); and Kathy (public radio new director) for whom I was the "breakthrough guy"; and Kathy (the medical technologist) who wanted me, but only on her terms; and Joyce (first love) who only wanted to be married. I loved all these women, each in their turn. But never felt the pull I had with dear She -- who
would become my wife, my friend, and my tragic partner.

There were even others for whom I was a lover -- but tragically not a husband. I let dear Kate escape me -- because of the differences we had due to age. And Kathryn, and Kristine, and even more. There were some others whom I pursued -- in vain. And now, when I am not quite done living, there doesn't seem to be anyone left. Am I wrong, again?    

Resist, resist, resist!!!

Easter "Hope"

I  have some "hopes" and "dreams" for the World this Easter, this Passover, this Feast of Unleavened Bread! May we avoid another senseless war in the Middle East, in North Korea, and wherever else the political/military situation is tense. My the many protesters -- for and against the current American political scene -- come to their senses and all cooperate on peaceful, fair, and progressive change for the good of all Americans, and all people!

The "message" of Easter (and other holiday/spring festivals, ceremonies, etc.) always uses renewal as a way of bridging the horrible present with the better future. Human beings need to grow in wisdom, kindness, and love -- my dear "She" taught me that.

Our "moral prescriptions" must not become our reasons for hatred. Just because our beliefs are different does not mean we cannot live together in peace. Buddhism teaches me this. May our many Christian sects learn that God is all encompassing and is not the vengeful tiny God of the Old Testament (and the thinking of ancient peoples). God is Great -- or He (She) is not God. As the medieval thinkers put it, in a conundrum: "If God is Good, He is not God; If God is God He is not Good!" God is more than Good, and lesser only than what He has created.  He does not control everything because he created creatures with "free will." Our right to choose is not a limitation on God, it attributes to the "glory of God."

Resist, resist, resist!

The Kernel of History

Living "today" -- in the time of Trump and disinformation, and "alternate facts," and outright lies, and unending conflicts of interest, and consumerist/capitalist "democracy," and narcissism, and autocracy,
and the 'alt-right,' and the "populist movement," and millennial diffidence towards tradition, and lack of respect for anyone and anything, and hatred (homophobia, racism, white 'privilege,' chauvinism, anti-feminism, white supremacy, etc.): is not very calming for any normal human being.

And yet, we are now at the "kernel of history": where the popcorn pops, where the problems are seen and dealt with (or not), where things "come to a head" (whatever that may mean). As TS Eliot might say: "this is the way the world ends, not with a bang -- but a whimper!"

Resist, resist, resist!!!

Friends and ...Lovers...and Family

One former lover, the crazy one, has finally gotten married. That was the best I could hope for her -- after our own "relationship" deteriorated into chaos and backbiting. We were the "wrong match" -- not just because she was a Gemini, and I a Cancer. But because we have known each other in two phases of life -- one nearly 40 years ago -- and then again in the near-present. We hoped we would be the same -- and we were not. Or, we were, and we just never knew each other "that way" 30 odd years ago, when she was a near child -- and I was a smitten former teacher.

And then there was Kitty. She and I could have been a couple -- a permanent couple. But I was not ready -- and I did not understand how physically "right" we were for each other. And there was Susan; but we were both "married" and I was incapable of violating my vows. There were several others: Helen (a dancer I loved, and often hungered for); Cathy (who was the right girl at the wrong time); and Maureen (once married, totally afraid); Peggy (cute, but undone by her own previous and continuously troubling relationships -- she married her MSW teacher; hoped that helped with her grades at MSU); and then there was She. Spectacular, kind, loving, balanced "She." She was better than me -- and I did not deserve her; and I don't think I was the best husband for her. Part of her "family" loved me (thank you ET) and part did not (Millie, I was a better person than you thought I was).

She was the high point of my life -- and I could have easily died when she did. I wanted that; I thought it was the best thing for me. But it was not to be. I lived on, bedeviled and obstructed by the "things" we had earned together. And which now she could not enjoy as she richly deserved. And I live on, trying to justify my continued existence by some level of knowledge, some modicum of kindness, some good outcome. And I long for the past -- sometimes my many pasts. But they are gone. And I am here. And so...I live.  For now.   Resist, resist, resist!

At Risk America

America is "at risk" under Donald Trump. Yes, his kids are beautiful and handsome -- but they are also "complicit" (by anyone's definition) in the most ill gotten, stupidly conceived, and operationally deficient White House in the history of the United States of America. And that is truly saying something. Our American history has given us some: stupid presidents, some crazed presidents, some illicit or even illegal presidents -- but Trump exceeds them all in corruption, stupidity, bad planning, and immoral behaviors.

Trump is a "bad businessman" with no understanding, little comprehensive education, and the slackest learning cover in the history of slack learning curves. He is a fool; he is easily-duped; he is a "mark" for anyone trying to outwit him. His legendary "ability to do deals" is all self-fabricated and mostly hyperbole. He is a man who has lost more money than he has every made -- and is only rich thanks to the "kind graces" of US tax and bankruptcy laws.

Trump is a "buffoon" as a world leader. He neither understands nor accepts the concepts of: protocol, respect, collegiality, comity, nor graciousness. He is an inept oaf -- and he unfortunately represents us and the US in the rest of the world . Resist!

In the Midst of Things...

Life happens. In the middle of illness there is a happy moment of success -- like a house finally being sold for what it is truly worth. In the middle of a happy laugh -- bad news about low enrollment permeates the air, and slices budgets and hopes in half.

In the middle of state of Georgia reorganizing and merging colleges (Georgia Southern "eats up" Armstrong State University) -- there is finally the inducement to move on, grow, and exceed the bureaucracy that was. In the middle of the chaotic and ridiculous Trump Presidency there is a flare of hope for continued foreign policy initiatives of Obama: to NATO, to Israel, to England, to the world.

I pray for those under duress: from health problems, lack of funds, or simply a "lack of clear vision going forward." I will do my best to alleviate those feelings in those I love. Linda, Tosha, Becky, Takoda -- take note!  Resist, resist, resist!!

Resist, Resist, Resist

What does the "resist" movement really mean?  It means that we should "resist" normalizing lies,
bad behaviors, unethical and inhumane treatment, the dissolution of order and regulation just to save money, the firing of career employees just to stack a department with your own cronies and other nepotistic appointments; it means all those things and more.

We have to resist just to save the society and civilization we respect. We cannot give in to jejune capitalist instincts -- capitalism and the almighty bottom line -- and other Trumpian perversions. We have to "resist Trump" because he is not "the Great Disruptor" for good; but the "Great Disruptor for Himself." Trump is an egomaniac, a narcissist, and a stupid and immoral man. He has proved it every day he had been in office --- resist, resist, resist!

Linda Must Persevere

Some people are very private -- about their lives, their thoughts, their hope, their desires. My sister Linda is such a person. She also does not tolerate fools nor rough handling easily -- whether it is by a doctor, or a boss, or a friend.

Now Linda is fighting a group of physical conditions which is continually sapping her strength and obstructing her life. She must become angry with her condition(s) and really struggle to defeat them. It is not the doctors nor the nurses (nor the physical therapists, specialists, whatever) -- but the condition(s) she has due to her ongoing illness. "Cellulitis" is the enemy -- the infections that caused that condition are the "hidden enemy" -- and most importantly Linda's own complacence is the "real enemy." She cannot let this happen to her again -- no staph or strep infection can exist in her body unnoticed. The enemy lurks within the common cold -- or not enough sleep -- or even just a tired body. Health has to be earned; it is not given easily -- to any of us. It's a hard lesson to have to learn.

Resist; resist; resist!

Respect All Men

Trump has to learn this. His actions, for example: bombing the Syrian Air Force and bases, will also kill innocent civilians. Trump needs to know that bombing and military action means death -- life is not a video game. Life is not any kind of game. People's lives are always at stake when armies, navies, and military aircraft are called into action.

Trump needs to respect his own team as well. Our soldiers and military personnel everywhere are always at risk, and now even more so, when "Presidential actions" are motivated by raw response without planning, thinking, or understanding. Trump is a loose cannon -- and somehow needs to control himself, or cede his presidency to someone who can.

As for the rest of us -- the homefront, the American people -- we too need to "respect ... all men." No exceptions, no holdouts: not by race, or gender, or religion, or in any other way. All men deserve respect; all women deserve respect; all people deserve respect!  Resist; resist; resist!

Trump the Hero

Without a plan, without clear or complete thinking, without a way forward --- Trump plunged the US into a shooting war "against" Syria. We were already there, with "military advisers," technology, and planes -- fighting on behalf of the Syrian rebels (and against ISIS). But now we have added another "front" to our war and two more (at least) enemies -- Russia, Assad's Syria, and perhaps Iran.

Trump is a "disruptor" -- but he is not a "fixer." He often walks away and leaves a bad situation to get worse over time. Hopefully he has not done it "again" in Syria -- you can't just declare "bankruptcy" and run away this time -- it's on you.  Resist, resist, resist.

Tarbaby ... and Trump

Donald Trump has not yet learned how to even try to be a President. He thinks everyone will blindly applaud him for striking out at Syria (and Assad) with cruise missiles from hundreds of miles away -- in response to Assad's government once again using "universally condemned" sarin gas on his own people. Assad is a murderer, an immoral "leader," a war crimes perpetrator and an abhorrent and selfish human being.

Pricked by his viewing of pictures of "gassed children" Trump brought down a single cruise missile strike in punishment of the Assad regime -- 59 cruise missiles in exchange for the lives of several hundred totally innocent Syrians.  That action does not make Trump an "avenging angel," but rather a rudderless respondent to a crisis that has been with the world for a decade or more. Trump's sycophants will flock to support his bizarre and unpredicted response -- as if somehow it was planned all along. But the "good guys" do not win because of this strike -- the war continues; the US efforts are now split against ISIS and Assad, Russia is at least provocatively irritated at the arrogant Trump, and the world is a less-safe place tomorrow.

Trump is no genius; he is no savant; he may be the least prepared and most unerringly stupid leader America has ever had. He is not "shaking up" the system (know as civilization), he is superseding it -- surmounting it -- crippling it. He is looking for credit for his "great humanity" -- which will really be a stalking horse for his "great ego." Resist.

Trump and China

Since Donald J. Trump is such a poor historian -- such a poor judge of human beings -- such an inadequate leader -- and so unskilled at planning for the future: his "negotiations will not go well."
Already during his campaign for the presidency Trump used China as a "whipping boy" -- blaming them for outwitting and outplaying us on every trade deal, in every "deal" made over anything.

Just more areas that Trump doesn't understand: human rights, agreements between nations to protect human beings, rule about chemical/nuclear/other weapons of modern warfare, what it means to be a government not an autocracy, the limits of any leader in any form of statehood, what human beings want, what human beings deserve, and on and on. Trump is doomed to be a loser -- because he does not understand how things worse. No matter how well versed he may be in "the art of the deal" -- there is "no deal" if you don't know what game you are playing, on what battlefield you are fighting,
in what venue you are clashing.

Trump is a "loser" as a human being -- he should not be our President. Resist!

Consequences?

Lies have consequences. Half-truths have consequences. Using logical fallacies and alternative truths have consequences. And these consequences will "bite you in the butt."

Donald Trump is proving the adage that some people can't fool "any of the people, at any time" if they continue to prevaricate, merchandise, and mishandle what is true, fair, and real. Even the steadfast "voters" who simply wanted to shake up the system by voting Trump, now realize that they have been "had." Losing the Presidency is the best thing that could happen to the USA; and maybe the best thing that could happen to Donald J. Trump as well.  For the good of the country, resist.

Trump

In certain card games a "trump card" takes all lower suits, all lower denominations. In "life in America" a "trump" is an aberration, a mistake, a foolish self-glorifying error.  Our "trump" is a wayward, willful, and already failed President of the United States. This Trump has done more to harm Americans and citizens than any foreign power. He has corrupted the process of government, betrayed the art of compromise, and done meaningful damage to the American Psyche!

Trump is the failure of all of us.

In Search of Some Miracle

Americans are, frankly, in search of some kind of miracle. Something to save them from the erratic behavior of their President. Something to make all the bad decisions he has made somehow mitigate themselves, and turn out to be not so bad.

We seek a wiser sort of human to undo all the horrors Trump has visited upon the environment, the healthcare system, the tax code, the EPA, the FDA, the NIH/NEA, and countless other agencies. Trump, he says, is watching out for our best interests -- as he decimates international trade and climate agreements, perpetuates and spreads his own kinds of racism, elitism, and xenophobia across the land; creates havoc on the Internet and among good practices in many fields, and generally proves to the world that he bears a "mandate for ignorance."

What is that miracle? Who is that miracle? Ivanka? Jared? Anyone?