TIT FOR TAT -- Doing my part
I stagger through the glass doors from the gym to the lounge next to the entryway. Stagger is a little strong -- just sweaty and hot from playing three games of pickleball mid-morning. I've joined another fitness center adding it to the YMCA. If I'm going to improve my game, be ready for the Big Sky State Games tournament, I need more opportunities to learn from the "Big League" (intermediate and above).
The snack counter offers a new homemade protein drink. I'm thirsty. "I'll try that one," and point to the sign. As the clerk begins collecting the ingredients, an interaction to my left draws my eye. I observe a woman finishing her chat. I take her all in: Shoulder-length blond hair from a bottle, makeup heavy enough for a clown (to cover her 75+ years?), and broad at the slow-moving hips limping their way toward the workout hall. As she passes behind me, she mumbles something to the clerk.
"Excuse me?" he says, leaning over the counter to hear.
"Please change the channel to Fox News."
Makes sense. Fake hair, fake athlete, fake news channel.
This 75-year-old, short, white-haired, slimmed-down woman with eyebrow pencil, Carmex lips, and a small potbelly to starboard (me) turns to her and says, "Why? Fake news."
She continues on, mumbling something about CNN being fake news.
"O.K., good." The clerk has the TV remote and changes the channel. "Now we have two TV's together on the same channel."
The next morning, I'm sitting in the same lounge waiting for a friend. But before I sit down, I say to the clerk, "Please change the channel to MSNBC." She changes it but it's not MSNBC.
"Do you not have MSNBC?"
"No," she says. "Just NBC."
"Try CNN. Do you have that?" And CNN appears.
I return to my seat and observe the area. A bank of treadmills lines up behind the wood barrier that separates the lounge from the treadmills -- all face the two TV's. One shows a male-oriented sports chat; the other displays CNN News. The eyes of four or five pumping female treadmillers all seem focused on CNN.
Round one.
[Actually, kudos to the blond-haired woman who arrives at the fitness center hopefully to work out. More healthy than being a couch potato!]
Monday, July 17, 2017
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
LIKE A BUZZING BEE
It's early morning. The sun is just thinking of rising over the Bull Mountains. A fresh tingle still lingers in the air. The earth is fragrant with the night's passing.
I want to just relax into the newness of today. Peace all around. Joy internal and everlasting. I am one with my world.
My hand lightly examines petals of the flowers as I float around the garden: marigolds, petunias, day lilies, even some nasturtium for our salads. They too lift their faces to the morning air. It is as natural as breathing. We are in sync, the flowers and I.
A loose petal droops and I reach to snip it. A low hum begins in the distance. I pay no mind; continue my path of examine, support, make better the way of growth for each plant.
Without much notice, the hum gets closer, now much higher in tone, starting and stopping. A bee that is out for its morning fill of nectar from my blooms in the garden.
Before long, the bee seems irritated and begins to buzz closer to my ear. I swat the air and begin to back away. It doesn't give up -- and follows me. Even using my hat to swat it doesn't discourage him.
I sit in the shade on the swing hanging from a tree limb. Trying to recapture the peace of my morning. But the bee's high irritating noise soon follows, now circling my head. Swatting is of no use.
I head for the barn. The familiar smell of hay can divert attention and may give relief from this constant irritant. But it's no good. The buzzing becomes louder, closer still.
Must I give up on my sense of peace? Is there no end to this intrusion? Will it never stop?
It even follows me through the screen door into my kitchen. I m angry. Frustrated. And ready to scream! Just go away.
My morning, my day, is ruined. What was peaceful has now disintegrated into anger, yelling, constant swatting in the air that has absolutely no effect. This buzzing in my ear -- all I want to do is make it stop! How long, how long will this go on?
This is my life today. Poor bee. He's done nothing to deserve the analogy to Donald J. Trump and his tweets. It isn't just the noise he makes which has disrupted my peace and comfort. His actions, the actions of this overgrown, unmitigated disaster is now destroying our world as we know it -- causing real death and real destruction.
I see it. I hear it. I can't deal with it. I wrap my head in distraction. I cover my ears. I close my eyes. I dive into a world of no politics. Just pickleball.
I swat my paddle to hit the hole-y ball. Much of the time, I'm on target. The thwack of ball meeting paddle is enormously satisfying. Even moreso when the ball sails right by my opponent and bounces in an open space, undeterred in its path to building my score.
This is my world -- most of the time, This is my challenge: how much can I control? If I practice enough, if I try the same movement over and over, will it make a difference? Do I see improvement in my skills? Very, very slowly, it happens. If I keep at it, not give up no matter how discouraged I get, I will become better and better. Persistence pays off.
One day, there will no longer be this irritant in my ear --these bloody tweets. No such thing as a President Trump. He will surely, inevitably, do himself in.
Meanwhile, as with any unmitigated disaster, he changes our world, ruins our peace, and has absolutely no clue. All I want? Go away. Just go away.
It's early morning. The sun is just thinking of rising over the Bull Mountains. A fresh tingle still lingers in the air. The earth is fragrant with the night's passing.
I want to just relax into the newness of today. Peace all around. Joy internal and everlasting. I am one with my world.
My hand lightly examines petals of the flowers as I float around the garden: marigolds, petunias, day lilies, even some nasturtium for our salads. They too lift their faces to the morning air. It is as natural as breathing. We are in sync, the flowers and I.
A loose petal droops and I reach to snip it. A low hum begins in the distance. I pay no mind; continue my path of examine, support, make better the way of growth for each plant.
Without much notice, the hum gets closer, now much higher in tone, starting and stopping. A bee that is out for its morning fill of nectar from my blooms in the garden.
Before long, the bee seems irritated and begins to buzz closer to my ear. I swat the air and begin to back away. It doesn't give up -- and follows me. Even using my hat to swat it doesn't discourage him.
I sit in the shade on the swing hanging from a tree limb. Trying to recapture the peace of my morning. But the bee's high irritating noise soon follows, now circling my head. Swatting is of no use.
I head for the barn. The familiar smell of hay can divert attention and may give relief from this constant irritant. But it's no good. The buzzing becomes louder, closer still.
Must I give up on my sense of peace? Is there no end to this intrusion? Will it never stop?
It even follows me through the screen door into my kitchen. I m angry. Frustrated. And ready to scream! Just go away.
My morning, my day, is ruined. What was peaceful has now disintegrated into anger, yelling, constant swatting in the air that has absolutely no effect. This buzzing in my ear -- all I want to do is make it stop! How long, how long will this go on?
This is my life today. Poor bee. He's done nothing to deserve the analogy to Donald J. Trump and his tweets. It isn't just the noise he makes which has disrupted my peace and comfort. His actions, the actions of this overgrown, unmitigated disaster is now destroying our world as we know it -- causing real death and real destruction.
I see it. I hear it. I can't deal with it. I wrap my head in distraction. I cover my ears. I close my eyes. I dive into a world of no politics. Just pickleball.
I swat my paddle to hit the hole-y ball. Much of the time, I'm on target. The thwack of ball meeting paddle is enormously satisfying. Even moreso when the ball sails right by my opponent and bounces in an open space, undeterred in its path to building my score.
This is my world -- most of the time, This is my challenge: how much can I control? If I practice enough, if I try the same movement over and over, will it make a difference? Do I see improvement in my skills? Very, very slowly, it happens. If I keep at it, not give up no matter how discouraged I get, I will become better and better. Persistence pays off.
One day, there will no longer be this irritant in my ear --these bloody tweets. No such thing as a President Trump. He will surely, inevitably, do himself in.
Meanwhile, as with any unmitigated disaster, he changes our world, ruins our peace, and has absolutely no clue. All I want? Go away. Just go away.
Saturday, February 11, 2017
RETRIBUTION
Donald Trump, thin-skinned and bullying as he is, always takes it out on others when he experiences a loss. On Saturday, February 4, he suffered a loss. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously stayed his ban on Muslims from seven different countries. His ban was disguised as a "security risk" in an Executive Order. When "a federal judge in Washington state temporarily blocked the ban," Billings Gazette reported, it "plunged the new administration into a crisis that has challenged Trump's authority..." and was described as "...an extraordinary setback for the White House". In other words, a huge loss for Donald Trump.
What happened next? This past week, ICE in a coordinated effort conducted raids on undocumented immigrants from at least six different states across our country and deported them. When ICE deported immigrants under President Obama, they were based on "clear guidance prioritizing deportation of high level criminals". With Donald Trump, there is no priority list and any felon (no matter what they've done) is susceptible. Even a mother of two teenagers who had been checking in regularly with her immigration officer since 2008 (because of using a fake Social Security number to find work) became a target. She was no threat to her community. Donald's raids are indiscriminate, causing fear and panic among immigrant communities. Donald's raids in fact could "include virtually any undocumented immigrant living in the United States". [CNN Politics]
It's obvious that Donald doesn't do his homework or, more likely, doesn't care. According to Joy Reid, "foreign born people alone contributed over $232 billion to Los Angeles total GDP in 2014". Donald's highest concern is not for we Americans, undocumented immigrants or otherwise. To be seen NOT as a loser is his highest priority.
A city councilman from Austin, Texas, wonders if raids of undocumented immigrants in his city are in retribution for Austin's work as a sanctuary city. I, too, see these actions of Donald and ICE as retribution -- and a repeat of history.
On November 23, 1938, "Berlin: Germans Track Down Jews in Raids on Aliens" is a headline in the Chicago Tribune. "Secret police today were reported to have searched homes of foreigners suspected of having harbored German Jews since the mass action against Jewry began 10 days ago. ...Berlin police have given assurances no more arrests of Jews would be made but today there came a belated report of a raid carried out in Frankfort on the Main. Advices [sic] from Frankfort said Jews were accosted on street cars and in other public places and taken away."
Does any of this reporting ring bells for you? And if you're not Jewish, no problem? And you're not an undocumented immigrant, no problem? Think again. It is our Judiciary thus far that has righted the wrongs of valid visa-carrying foreigners and Americans caught up in Donald's Muslim ban of last week. Confusion, Donald's stock in trade, reigned supreme. And you think that can't happen again?
We must remain vigilant and our Judiciary must remain independent. Retribution in Germany, 1938, and in the United States, 2017, is not part of our democracy. Our vision for our country does not include retribution because of Donald's ego. It does instead stand for something far greater: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Donald Trump, thin-skinned and bullying as he is, always takes it out on others when he experiences a loss. On Saturday, February 4, he suffered a loss. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously stayed his ban on Muslims from seven different countries. His ban was disguised as a "security risk" in an Executive Order. When "a federal judge in Washington state temporarily blocked the ban," Billings Gazette reported, it "plunged the new administration into a crisis that has challenged Trump's authority..." and was described as "...an extraordinary setback for the White House". In other words, a huge loss for Donald Trump.
What happened next? This past week, ICE in a coordinated effort conducted raids on undocumented immigrants from at least six different states across our country and deported them. When ICE deported immigrants under President Obama, they were based on "clear guidance prioritizing deportation of high level criminals". With Donald Trump, there is no priority list and any felon (no matter what they've done) is susceptible. Even a mother of two teenagers who had been checking in regularly with her immigration officer since 2008 (because of using a fake Social Security number to find work) became a target. She was no threat to her community. Donald's raids are indiscriminate, causing fear and panic among immigrant communities. Donald's raids in fact could "include virtually any undocumented immigrant living in the United States". [CNN Politics]
It's obvious that Donald doesn't do his homework or, more likely, doesn't care. According to Joy Reid, "foreign born people alone contributed over $232 billion to Los Angeles total GDP in 2014". Donald's highest concern is not for we Americans, undocumented immigrants or otherwise. To be seen NOT as a loser is his highest priority.
A city councilman from Austin, Texas, wonders if raids of undocumented immigrants in his city are in retribution for Austin's work as a sanctuary city. I, too, see these actions of Donald and ICE as retribution -- and a repeat of history.
On November 23, 1938, "Berlin: Germans Track Down Jews in Raids on Aliens" is a headline in the Chicago Tribune. "Secret police today were reported to have searched homes of foreigners suspected of having harbored German Jews since the mass action against Jewry began 10 days ago. ...Berlin police have given assurances no more arrests of Jews would be made but today there came a belated report of a raid carried out in Frankfort on the Main. Advices [sic] from Frankfort said Jews were accosted on street cars and in other public places and taken away."
Does any of this reporting ring bells for you? And if you're not Jewish, no problem? And you're not an undocumented immigrant, no problem? Think again. It is our Judiciary thus far that has righted the wrongs of valid visa-carrying foreigners and Americans caught up in Donald's Muslim ban of last week. Confusion, Donald's stock in trade, reigned supreme. And you think that can't happen again?
We must remain vigilant and our Judiciary must remain independent. Retribution in Germany, 1938, and in the United States, 2017, is not part of our democracy. Our vision for our country does not include retribution because of Donald's ego. It does instead stand for something far greater: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Saturday, January 7, 2017
KNOWLEDGE is POWER, FREEDOM
On New Year's Day, I take a Winter Walk with five others through the trees in Riverfront Park along the Yellowstone. Intermittent flakes, wind, and fierce temperatures into the teens accompany us as we trample on a path through three feet of unshoveled snow. Moving ever so slowly, we learn about trees: cottonwoods, green ash, red-osier dogwood. Several hous later, split pea soup, rolls and hot mulled cider warm us quickly in the home of our expert-in-the-field.
It's getting dark; time to leave. A problem arises: in the cold and wind, my driver's-side door won't latch when closed. Luckily, David and his significant-other fix the latch with a screwdriver and, very carefully on the iced roads, I make it home. Just short of that, however, my door unlatches. It must be held closed until, outside my garage, it latches again.
If my door is going to be this unpredictable, sometimes latching and sometimes not, how difficult will it be getting around town the next day? Yes, my door latches when I check in the morning but will it come loose again mid-trip? Arriving at the YMCA to work out gives the answer: the door won't latch when I try to close it. I climb back inside, door latches, and head back home. What am I to do? The next morning is a cardio class. Can I make it? Would I just have to stay home because I couldn't depend on my door latch to work? All this uncertainty; I don't understand how to solve the problem of this unpredictability.
I google it. To my immense relief, YouTube shows in several different videos how simple it is to correct a door latch problem. My self-confidence returns in a rush. I'm free. I'm powerful. I know what to do, I think.
With knowledge comes power, freedom. Without it, there is none. Feeling off-balance and powerless can be the result. Consider Donald Trump. He's not even our President yet and he's already practicing methods that keep us in the dark, keep us in a state of not knowing, not having a clue about what's happening.
One example is a lack of news conferences where Donald can answer questions about his upcoming administration and its policies. There has been no such news conference since last July. Besides us, news pundits, legislators, even some of his staff, we are told, know very little. His communication with the outside world has been through tweets -- and they may change on a whim, without notice. As one interviewee suggested, Donald's tweets have now become the policies of our country: government by tweet.
Another example of keeping us in the dark is Donald's manipulation of the media, and thus us. On January 11, next Wednesday, Donald and others have created a schedule of important meetings to be conducted -- all at the same time. The highest six positions in his Cabinet will have their confirmation hearings conducted the same day at the same time. Most, if not all, are controversial and require our attention. Will this be possible when focus is changed to many hearings rather than one at a time? In addition, Donald will be addressing his first news conference and that, too, will happen at the same time on the same day as the confirmation hearings. Why would Donald do this if it weren't for sowing confusion, weakening any possibility of giving due consideration to each proposed Cabinet appointee, to even Donald himself at a news conference?
Most despicable is the fear and confusion that comes from asking for names of government employees who are currently working in policy areas with which Donald and his administration may disagree (climate change, gender studies). Why do this? If he and his ilk can't outright fire them, can they reduce their salaries to $1 to force them out of their jobs? My understanding is that this has been tried in the past but failed because it was deemed unconstitutional. That may not stop Donald from indulging, however.
Continuing to go against all evidence of Russian intervention in our elections, Donald keeps us questioning his motives for supporting Vladamir Putin. Why? What might be the reasons for this? We don't know -- we're in the dark. Donald does not show us his tax returns. We don't know if he is in some way beholden to Russia (individuals, banks). Do they have something on him that we know nothing about? We just don't know.
Last, but not least, Donald continues to draw attention away from his conflicts of interest. Will the January 11 news conference clarify this? Will he indeed divest? Or, by scheduling his news conference during confirmation hearings, he guarantees that attention to him will be diluted and therefore contain nothing but pablum to pacify.
We have little knowledge of what to expect from Donald except more of the same. In order for us to return power to the people, to maintain our freedom in this country, to create balance where there is none between Donald's administration and us, we must know what's happening. We must, as Michael Moore suggests, keep track of what's happening.
We don't gain knowledge through putting our heads into the sand. Knowledge comes from reading reputable newspapers, magazines. It comes from trustworthy experts who relate information they have gathered from various sources. It comes from being curious, asking questions, speaking out with your own observations. These are just a few ways to keep track of what's happening. Observe. Question. Discuss. Respond.
It is only through knowledge that we have power and freedom. Donald and his ilk only have power over us when we choose not to participate; not notice when he is manipulating us; not pay attention to what he is doing. Groups all over the country are reading "Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda". It shows the way to work at a grass-roots level. Google it -- it's a way to begin. (Now, back to my door latch.)
On New Year's Day, I take a Winter Walk with five others through the trees in Riverfront Park along the Yellowstone. Intermittent flakes, wind, and fierce temperatures into the teens accompany us as we trample on a path through three feet of unshoveled snow. Moving ever so slowly, we learn about trees: cottonwoods, green ash, red-osier dogwood. Several hous later, split pea soup, rolls and hot mulled cider warm us quickly in the home of our expert-in-the-field.
It's getting dark; time to leave. A problem arises: in the cold and wind, my driver's-side door won't latch when closed. Luckily, David and his significant-other fix the latch with a screwdriver and, very carefully on the iced roads, I make it home. Just short of that, however, my door unlatches. It must be held closed until, outside my garage, it latches again.
If my door is going to be this unpredictable, sometimes latching and sometimes not, how difficult will it be getting around town the next day? Yes, my door latches when I check in the morning but will it come loose again mid-trip? Arriving at the YMCA to work out gives the answer: the door won't latch when I try to close it. I climb back inside, door latches, and head back home. What am I to do? The next morning is a cardio class. Can I make it? Would I just have to stay home because I couldn't depend on my door latch to work? All this uncertainty; I don't understand how to solve the problem of this unpredictability.
I google it. To my immense relief, YouTube shows in several different videos how simple it is to correct a door latch problem. My self-confidence returns in a rush. I'm free. I'm powerful. I know what to do, I think.
With knowledge comes power, freedom. Without it, there is none. Feeling off-balance and powerless can be the result. Consider Donald Trump. He's not even our President yet and he's already practicing methods that keep us in the dark, keep us in a state of not knowing, not having a clue about what's happening.
One example is a lack of news conferences where Donald can answer questions about his upcoming administration and its policies. There has been no such news conference since last July. Besides us, news pundits, legislators, even some of his staff, we are told, know very little. His communication with the outside world has been through tweets -- and they may change on a whim, without notice. As one interviewee suggested, Donald's tweets have now become the policies of our country: government by tweet.
Another example of keeping us in the dark is Donald's manipulation of the media, and thus us. On January 11, next Wednesday, Donald and others have created a schedule of important meetings to be conducted -- all at the same time. The highest six positions in his Cabinet will have their confirmation hearings conducted the same day at the same time. Most, if not all, are controversial and require our attention. Will this be possible when focus is changed to many hearings rather than one at a time? In addition, Donald will be addressing his first news conference and that, too, will happen at the same time on the same day as the confirmation hearings. Why would Donald do this if it weren't for sowing confusion, weakening any possibility of giving due consideration to each proposed Cabinet appointee, to even Donald himself at a news conference?
Most despicable is the fear and confusion that comes from asking for names of government employees who are currently working in policy areas with which Donald and his administration may disagree (climate change, gender studies). Why do this? If he and his ilk can't outright fire them, can they reduce their salaries to $1 to force them out of their jobs? My understanding is that this has been tried in the past but failed because it was deemed unconstitutional. That may not stop Donald from indulging, however.
Continuing to go against all evidence of Russian intervention in our elections, Donald keeps us questioning his motives for supporting Vladamir Putin. Why? What might be the reasons for this? We don't know -- we're in the dark. Donald does not show us his tax returns. We don't know if he is in some way beholden to Russia (individuals, banks). Do they have something on him that we know nothing about? We just don't know.
Last, but not least, Donald continues to draw attention away from his conflicts of interest. Will the January 11 news conference clarify this? Will he indeed divest? Or, by scheduling his news conference during confirmation hearings, he guarantees that attention to him will be diluted and therefore contain nothing but pablum to pacify.
We have little knowledge of what to expect from Donald except more of the same. In order for us to return power to the people, to maintain our freedom in this country, to create balance where there is none between Donald's administration and us, we must know what's happening. We must, as Michael Moore suggests, keep track of what's happening.
We don't gain knowledge through putting our heads into the sand. Knowledge comes from reading reputable newspapers, magazines. It comes from trustworthy experts who relate information they have gathered from various sources. It comes from being curious, asking questions, speaking out with your own observations. These are just a few ways to keep track of what's happening. Observe. Question. Discuss. Respond.
It is only through knowledge that we have power and freedom. Donald and his ilk only have power over us when we choose not to participate; not notice when he is manipulating us; not pay attention to what he is doing. Groups all over the country are reading "Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda". It shows the way to work at a grass-roots level. Google it -- it's a way to begin. (Now, back to my door latch.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)