Well that escalated quickly....

 

Let's get the government out of our lives and into our pants....

Skip the beginning.
Ad starts at 3 minutes in.

Go watch it.

It's not about politics. It's about morality.

 I never liked Trump.
And after the disastrous job he did, I still don't.

And after you watch this guy, spend a little time reading this: Project 2025
Remember that the Republican candidate straight up claimed that he doesn't know anything about this.
I'm skeptical about that.

I found the following at this link.

CNN reported earlier this month that their review found that at least 140 people who worked in the Trump administration were involved with Project 2025, including six of his former Cabinet secretaries. One of those people, Russell Vought, Trump’s former Director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote a chapter of Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership,” which focused on how the president should wield power in office. Vought was also appointed by the Republican National Committee and the Trump Campaign to be the policy director of the committee that wrote the new GOP platform.

Another is Paul Dans, the director of Project 2025 and an editor of the “Mandate for Leadership,” who told a right-wing radio host last year that “Trump’s very bought in with this.”

It’s no surprise Trump has sought to feign ignorance about Project 2025, given the extreme policies laid out in it, including a nationwide ban on medication abortion, eliminating the Department of Education, and abolishing climate protections.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What really gets me is that a LOT of people don't know anything about this, either. I think it's important to make sure people at least get a chance to find out what they want to do to our country.

I usually feel like there is not a candidate I want to vote FOR, but there's always at least one to vote against.
I'll be voting against the felon and the shillbilly.

Hm. What is going on in my head?

I was sitting here typing while looking at the television.

And the title came out 'Hm.Wh atisg oingo ninmyh ea d?'

It says the same thing, but it's more... fun.

Tells me I need to look at the screen while I type.

Chopping up words in the middle like that and rearranging the spacing is one of the codes I show the kids when we talk about them. They seem to enjoy stuff like that, it makes them more interested in learning to read if they're not already readers. 

I use easy words when we start. Like this:
Tod ayw ewil lhav esomg raha mcra cker san dap plesa ucefo rsn acks owas hupa ndme etmea tth esn ac kta ble.

I've been watching the television series Bones.
As usual, I didn't watch it when it was on network television. I hate commercials.

Also, I don't care if I see the latest thing when it's out.
Bones was on for 12 years. I'm on season 4.

It's fun so far. I don't actually look at the screen much, though.
Mostly listening while I paint or draw.

I have looked up on occasion to see some pretty gory crap. I don't love that stuff, so not seeing it is okay with me. The stories are interesting, though.
And I'm a fan of David Boreanaz, too.

My employer-who-isn't-my-employer called today. He wanted to let me know that furloughed employees are now laid off employees.

When I asked him how that affects me, he said it really doesn't. They're doing it because on paper it looks like they have somewhere around 500 employees when the real number actually working right now is far, far less.

And since the government help for non-profit organizations has a lot of specific conditions (or is supposed to, we all know how much fraud has gone on due to filthy shitbag politicians) they had to change the paper.

I'm on the official list of people who do want to come back to work for the organization when the world opens again.

We chatted a little about the school I've been working in and the district guy who opened up the back door and let that bitch manager from my last job bring her ugly and mean-spirited ass in. We're not at all sure I'll be allowed back in, although that's optimum.

He said that the school had wonderful things to say about me.
"Nothing but wonderful!" he said. "And that's one of the reasons we want you back when it becomes possible."

We chatted a little about other possibilities of my running a program somewhere else eventually. I haven't given up on the idea of getting back to a job I love, at least not yet.

I don't want to go back to work until I have received the vaccine, but not sure when that will happen. Supposedly the Dept of Early Learning/Childcare Division will contact me, but I'm not holding my breath for that to happen. I don't have a lot of confidence in bureaucrats. Do you?

And there has been a little here and there on the news. Supposedly vaccines were sent to several states but somehow none of those states have nearly as many doses as they were supposed to get. No surprise, I'm sure they sold quite a few doses to other countries.

So glad we're rid of a large portion of them. Can't wait until more are out the door.
Fucking Heehawley, fucking treasonweasel Cruz, that toilet hound Mitch...

This article was worth a read.
Another dissection of the insurrection.
What a horrible bunch of people.

In other news, I've been painting more little things. I'll try to remember to post a couple in the next few days. I am being careful to put on an old sweatshirt because I'm kind of sloppy with the paint. On the evenings I paint, I end up with acrylic paint under my nails and on my hands.
Comes right off in the shower, though.

My sleep schedule is really weird now. I have never loved getting up early. But every morning I wake up around 4:30 or 5, get up and hug the man (he leaves at 5:30 or so) dump used water, and try to go back to sleep. Most mornings it takes me an hour or two to actually manage it. Why don't I just get up instead of trying to sleep? Because then I would need a nap at noon and I can't do an hour nap, I lie down  and I am OUT for two or three hours. Then I'd be up until midnight.

Half the time I am up until then anyway.
I have to be exhausted when I go to bed because otherwise I lie there and worry and worry and worry  think about all kinds of stuff and can't seem to rest.

I know this time has been hard on everyone, not just me. But I'm ready for the world to stop with the crazy shit.

Finally, I read this evening that the predicted pandemic baby boom hasn't happened. Some psychologist says that people generally put off decisions that involve a large part of their future when they're stressed. Huh.
Ya think?

IANAL

Don't get too excited there... simply means I Am Not A Lawyer.
Do you need to be one to have a good bullshit detector? I don't think so.


I've spent the month since the election reading everything I can get my hands on. Not only things that say what I want, either. I've read a great deal from the other side, too.

I see why they think they're right, but I don't agree with them.

Trump lost. There was a huge uprising among the voting public after four years of the most appalling and crazy shit most of us have ever seen from a president.

Like the photo below, where he mocked a reporter with a disability.

More people voted against him than for him. That's it.


Serious question here... can't trust:
Media.
ALLLL the poll workers and observers and hired election officials.
Can't trust the 'deep state'.
Can't trust ANYONE who says the election was fair.


Who can we trust?
Ohhh... only Donald and his assclown parade.
Yeah, that's not a problem at ALL.

Okay, so here's what happened.
More than six months ago, Trump started bleating about cheating.

Claiming far in advance that he wasn't going to lose 'unless the other side cheats'.

He went on and on about how unsafe it would be to mail your ballot in.
Unsafe to vote early, too!
Wait until Election Day!!

All his little criminal friends who constantly surround him and lick his butt boots pushed the same narrative.

Trump and Lindsey Graham, enjoying a moment

And his cult followers obediently said, "I shall not vote by mail, Sir."
Of course ignoring the fact that Trump himself was planning to vote by mail.
And that voting by mail has been going on for a long time without issues.

Then he hired big donor DeJoy to run fuck things up at the post office.

He would have succeeded, too, but too many people talked about what was going on. Decommissioned sorting machines and a deliberate slowing of the mail didn't do as much damage as they'd planned.

Many Republican states made rules that the mail in/early ballots MUST NOT be counted until after the election.

So you know all those people who waited in line for hours and hours and hours to vote early? They weren't waiting in line to vote for Trump. It's a pretty safe bet that most of the mail in ballots weren't cast in Trump's favor, either.

So the Trumpkins voted on election day.
The mail in/early votes in many states weren't counted until the next few days. Which is why it looked like Trump was winning. Until the ballots which were overwhelmingly Democrat were counted and then, well, then he lost. Because more people voted for Biden. Simple arithmetic.

He and his minions have filed all kinds of cases in several states. Which is what he does... he litigates when things don't go his way. It's how he's done things his whole life, why would he change now?


Now we have BILL BARR saying there is no evidence of election fraud.
Trump's good buddy BILL FUCKING BARR. (Trump is considering firing him, I read yesterday. He does that when people don't agree with him.)

There are people making death threats to election workers who are just doing their jobs, too.

And the milquetoast fuckweasel Republicans who are saying nothing... they're complicit when something bad happens to one of those people just doing his/her job.

Sure, if there is legal proof that something happened, then for goodness sake bring that proof out in court. But over 50 cases later, there's been hearsay,  conjecture, grandstanding, "hearings" which aren't legal hearings. They're theater, held in hotel conference rooms.

So far, zero real evidence has been presented IN A COURT OF LAW.

Lining up a bunch of idiots to 'testify' in hotel conference rooms is completely meaningless.

Just thinking it happened because Trump said so or Melting Rudy 'just has a feeling' is not evidence. And the continual, "We have LOTS AND LOTS of evidence" and "many people are saying"  but it's never shown in court... well, that's not evidence either.

When they allege fraud outside the courtroom for the cameras, then very carefully do NOT allege fraud in the courtroom, that should be telling even the most ardent skeptic something.

When in court they are only trying to toss the votes that didn't go along with them winning. And mysteriously aren't arguing with the people elected down the ballot, only disagreeing with a few counties in a few states that didn't go their way in the presidential election.

They took it all the way to the highest court, where people Trump put there through abuses of presidential power (solely for this purpose) didn't support his attempt to steal the election.

And no, there were not two 'dissenting opinions'. He's a graceless clod. Burning down the country on his way out.

He's putting himself first, whining about losing. He can't admit that there were more people who wanted him out than those who wanted him to continue not doing his job for four more years. He has done nothing for the country he claims to love since the election, just thrown tantrums and caused more deaths.

I don't understand it.

The 'dead people' who voted? No one has proven anything of the sort.
Likewise the 'millions' who voted "hundreds of times".
NONE of these things have been proven and no real evidence has been shown.

The link leads to a clear, straightforward discussion of each of the pieces of 'evidence' as they call it. It is worth reading.

Oh yeah, all those 'sworn affadavits'... none of those were brought to an actual legal court hearing, either. Why? Because as a lawyer, you get in trouble for shenanigans like those in a real court of law.

Trump failed to act when we were hit with the pandemic, instead turning masks and caution into political statements, mocking people who took those measures and now nearly 300,000 people are dead.

He refused to listen to the experts.
He set a shitty example, and so did his family.

I can't say he's done anything worth a shit as president, but throwing up his hands and repeatedly saying, "We're turning the corner!" sure as fuck didn't do anything to help.

The superspreader rallies he held while he was hoping people would elect him again and the ensuing infections/deaths? I don't understand how his cult still followed him after that.

He's taken in millions and millions for his PAC since the election, too. And a cursory reading of the fine print should have let people  know that almost zero was going to any attempts to steal the election, instead going into the pockets of the morally bankrupt family instead. But no, he keeps getting money. Which is why he won't admit he lost the election.

The same kind of people who send money to televangelists are sending money to Trump. Easily duped and weak minded individuals.

I *am* a little tired of the self-serving whining about how Trump hijacked the GOP, though. What really happened is that the GOP created the conditions that made it possible for the shitbag to con his way into the office in the first place. And fuck those people like Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz who hated Trump, spoke out against him (look up what Trump said about Teddy's wife!!) and now have somehow have flipped their allegiance and act all sanctimonious and self-righteous while they kiss Trump's ass.

I've been ready for things to be over for a long time.

As a country, we need to address the extreme amount of time between election and the start of a new administration. We're no longer dependent on people carrying messages by horseback, we can do things a lot faster.

He needs to be gone. He has killed enough.

Why wouldn't they toss fucking Mitch and ol' Ladybugs over the side of the good ship MAGA while they were at it?

So the other guys cheated, says Trump.

Okay. Sure. But why would the Democrats cheat only to get rid of Trump... you'd think they'd get rid of that fucking ghoul McConnell and Ladybug Lindsey if they were going to all the trouble of 'rigging' the election.

Pro Tip!! If you're going to court to try to have the results of an election overturned... one that's been monitored and watched by hundreds and hundreds of people from both sides in every state as the ballots were counted, simply standing outside the dildo store waving your arms and saying, "EVIDENCE! WE HAZ EVIDENCE! BIG EVIDENCE!" isn't enough.

The time to, you know, show your evidence would be during the scores of court proceedings.

I've lost count, but I think it's 35 times now that they've shown NO evidence and lost their case.

Some of the judges have been Republicans, too.

Also, claiming fraud while you're OUTside the courtroom and then saying, "Oh, no, we don't claim fraud!' when you're finally INside arguing your "case" doesn't make you look very good.

There are penalties for lawyers who file frivolous suits.

And when you are arguing that 'many counties in Michigan had more votes than there are registered voters in those counties!!!' it's helpful when you look up the difference between MN and MI in your handy postal abbreviation handbook. Because you look like an incompetent fool when you confuse the two.

Another thing that makes you look stupid and horribly, horribly racist...
Tossing out black votes.

"If we take away all the votes from Wayne county, we win Michigan!" said mad & melty Rudy as he liquefied under the lights at his latest press conference.

You know, the one where they tried to blame Hugo Chavez because they didn't win?

Yeah, that was fun.

Whatever.

Facts don't seem to make any difference, some people have decided there was cheating and no amount of logic or proof is going to change their minds.

I have actually watched some videos and read a great deal of their ideas of 'proof'. No matter how I looked at those things, I still found them unbelievable.

Kind of like that goddamn 'Plandemic' video that was sent to me over and over by several different people in my extended family and shared on FB by some acquaintances. Just using volume (or in this case amplifying your voice by shouting it from as many social media platforms as you can) doesn't convince me.

I've heard that a large-ish group who have moved over to Parler (funded by the same people who ran Cambridge Analytica) as their choice of social media are threatening to write in Trump in the Georgia runoffs. OR... they're just not going to vote, dammit! We'll show them!!

M'kay. Either option works fine for me.

Here's a question, too.
Is it putting the interests of the people of the USA first when you're in a snit and decide not to help the Biden team with the transition? Are you fulfilling your oath of office?

Even if something happens and the election is overturned, as of right now Biden is slated to be the new president,  shouldn't you be briefing the possibly incoming team every damn day, you know, for NATIONAL FUCKING SAFETY? Shouldn't they have access to funding and intelligence just in case the results of the election stand? Because leaving scorched earth as your legacy is one more thing that shows you're a worthless asshole.

ETA... while I was writing this post, Emily (you had ONE JOB) Murphy of the GSA FINALLY signed off. It was an inappropriate and defensive letter that I found quite unprofessional, but I wasn't surprised since everything has been a mongolian clusterfuck since election day.

That letter stated that GSA is giving funding and access to the tools Joe Biden will need to take over in January. About fucking time.

Now, let's fix the laws that allow nearly 3 months for a transition to happen. We're no longer dependent on horses for transportation of humans and dissemination of news and government interference.

Because we're still in the middle of a goddamn global pandemic even if Trump refuses to acknowledge it and every day that he fails to take action, more people will die.

Despite his bullshit proclamations, the virus did NOT miraculously go away the day after the election. I know, I'm shocked, too.

And while we're on the subject, if, in the face of all the goddamn evidence (260 THOUSAND HUMAN BEINGS IN THE USA ARE DEAD NOW) that the virus is real, dangerous, and that you can spread it even if you're not showing symptoms, why wouldn't you wear a goddamn mask? Even if it only cuts transmission risk by a small percentage.

Even if I were so self-centered and arrogant as to believe that wearing a mask is somehow an infringement on my rights, I would still wear one. Just in case it helps someone else.

It's not fun, that mask-wearing.
Except it's mildly entertaining to me to don the mask before I go into the bank and demand money. Ha.

I had to get some silicone inserts to keep it off my lips, as the mask made me feel claustrophobic, but I wear the damn mask.

I have stopped going anywhere except for the grocery store again. I don't like going to the store, actually, it makes me a little concerned due to the huge amount of new cases and deaths, but we need to eat. Eric and Mason both have jobs to go to. Thank goodness, because there are one hell of a lot of people in trouble right now. No job, unemployment about to run out, some haven't been able to pay their rent or mortgage. Did you see the line of cars hoping for a food basket in Dallas over the weekend?

I don't blame Trump for the appearance of the virus here in the US, but  his inaction and callous disregard for the American people makes me furious.

I do blame him for his inaction. For pretending it was just going to go away. For not listening to scientists. For dumping medical people from his staff until he found someone who said what he wanted to hear. For his super-spreading campaign events. The man does not give a shit for anyone but himself.

When he got sick, he got medical treatment that regular people can't have. Most people can't even afford one doctor, forget battalions of 'em.
Hundreds of thousands have lost their medical insurance anyway. 

Meanwhile, he continues to endanger the USA. The narrative has changed from 'oh they cheated, I won bigly' to 'well they didn't help ME transition and they impeached me so fuck them'.

The transition to the Trump administration in 2016 was 'not fair'?
Well, the details are out there.
As usual, he's lying.

We're all just trying to get by until some form of order and semblance of safety returns.

Not all of us can just go play golf while people die, ya know? 

 

I'm ready to have things be finished. Really I am.

 

One of the reasons I try not to discuss political stuff unless I know someone pretty well is that so many people have a picture in their heads of what's real and right and are rabid when someone suggests a different viewpoint.

::sigh::

I've been chatting online with a group of women since 1998.
No, not a typo.
Way back in the days of AOL chat rooms and actual hosts, I hosted twice weekly chats in AOL's Homefront Hall, part of a forum dedicated to homeschooling.

We formed friendships based on common ground and 'watched' each other's children grow up and go on to their own lives. With the exception of two of us, everyone else is a grandma now, some of them have grandchildren who are 12 years old already. (insert obligatory 'wow, time flies' comment here)

And since my life is a series of digressions (gotta be the ADD way I do everything)... My own children have decided they don't want to have babies. I'm disappointed because I'd love to have grandchildren, but I've told my kids *multiple* times that having a baby 'cause your mom wants to be a grandma is  NOT a good reason to reproduce. Ha. I can't imagine smacking them over the head with it or showing any kind of disappointment.
I got to make my choices, I respect theirs.
Neither one arrived at the decision without a great deal of thought and discussion.
My kids are smart and capable.

I'd be a good grandma, though. Craft projects and cookie baking and really bad jokes. What's not to like?

So about those chat friends.
We had a great deal in common, but there were things we didn't agree on, too.
Politics and religion, the perennial favorites. Things like nutrition and being strict Vegan or eating whatever you want or (my personal philosophy pass the damn sugar) and curriculum (or no curriculum) etc. But there were so many things we liked about one another that long after AOL dumped their forums and chats we continued to catch up with each other once a week.

We've continued to do so. 22 years now that the four of us have stayed in touch. (Actually 5 of us, but one doesn't always manage to get to the chats, we all have lives and some are busier than others)

There have been marriages, divorces and grandchildren and cross-country moves. Job losses, loss of family members, financial difficulties, mental illness. We've supported each other through all of it, and some of us have even met each other in person.

Those 'imaginary friends' as my family has called them more than once, are as important to me as some of my friends who live nearby.
I am happy when something good happens for one of them, sad for them when things aren't going well. We text each other. Occasionally chat on the phone. I care deeply about each one of them.

Until recently, we've all managed to make it to our chats on Friday nights.

But one of my friends doesn't want to be there for awhile. She's not able to do political discussion without anger over the disagreements. I'm not actually certain about who she voted for, but she has so much going on in her personal life right now that any conflict is too much.

And it makes me sad.

I wish everyone could discuss issues instead of people.

I don't believe about half of the crap I hear from both sides. I know I'm not alone.

:::sigh:::

WHEN will this be over?

I spitted.

I know you've all probably heard about the trump brigade booking their press conference at  Four Seasons Landscape instead of the similarly named (but nothing like landscaping) Four Seasons Hotel.

::snort:::

Sharing the premises of this now-famous landscaping company are a crematorium and a sex shop.

For a brief moment in time, though, Rudy Giuliani was the biggest dildo on the premises.

Okay, oops, sorry, but couldn't resist and ended up in a small digression.

So this morning I was reading through the latest on Twitter. I've started spending more time there than on FB, I find that when people have to be brief they are wonderful at one-liners and zingers. I'm also avoiding a couple family members (MOM) who are barfing out talking points from lying asswipes and can't actually see what's going on.


While zipping through my twitter feed, I read this, which was reposted by George Takei:

" The Trump campaign thinks it can Hunter Biden its way into court with evidence based on innuendo, hearsay, and sheer fabrication. Sad! They are rudderless and stuck in neutral in a landscape company parking lot, as someone said, “somewhere between a cock and a charred place.”

I was drinking water when I read that. I didn't spray it all over  my computer but I did snort a little into my lap.

We CAN'T go there again.

I'm not a Trump fan.
I had hoped that when he ended up in the office even though he LOST that he might make an effort to rise to the occasion and be, oh I don't know, presidential, but we've all been around for what's been going on.

I won't rehash the last four years.
Y'all can read the news and stories just like I have.

I know there are people who believe he's done a great job. They all have the same access to information that I do, but seem to arrive at different conclusions.

Some of those people are members of my family. Some are friends.
They will still be my friends and family when this is all over, but there will be things we won't agree on. Ever.

Speaking of access to information, I found this link enlightening. It's a list of many things that have happened over the last four years. All in one convenient location.

A week or so ago Mark Meadows said out loud what so many had been thinking, that there was no concerted effort from Washington being expended trying to control the virus.

They gave up. That was the first official announcement, but I think we knew anyway. I know I did.

I can't say I was sorry to hear that he's contracted the virus.

I don't know him, so I can't tell you I'd wish him dead, but I do hope he develops an understanding of how horrible it is. Perhaps regrets being stupid about it.

Sadly, the fucker has great medical insurance that I'm paying for, so he can afford treatment.

So the attitude from our president and all his minions has been that it doesn't matter how many people die, eventually there will be herd immunity. Or not.

They just decided that they weren't going to bother trying to keep people alive and safe.

I guess the 230 thousand Americans who've died just weren't enough.

Cases went up and up and up and they still made no effort to socially distance. Trump held campaign rallies. People didn't keep their distance and didn't wear masks. Thousands more were infected.

Right now it's the worst it's been while many other countries, having taken appropriate precautions, are beginning to live again.

I'm angry about that, too.

So I'm (as usual) drifting from the point, the reason I wanted to get this written down.

Five years ago, just as the craziness of the election season started rolling, I read this: The fact that all of Washington DC is worrying about how to STOP Trump instead of wondering how they fucked up so badly that Trump seems like a good idea tells you everything you need to know about what they think of you.

I'm of the opinion that he was elected because of that arrogance.
 
People are TIRED of our "representatives".
They're only there to advance their own party and agenda.
NONE of them care about the people they're supposed to be there for.
And I think that's how Trump ended up in the presidency.

I'm sure you noticed what kind of job he did for us.

This piece, from The Guardian, says that. Sort of. And talks about what we must do while we're celebrating.

"let me offer my own suggestion for the reckoning that must come next, hopefully even before Biden chooses his cabinet and packs his bags for Pennsylvania Avenue: Democrats must confront their own past and acknowledge how their own decisions over the years helped make Trumpism possible."

I read news from many sources. I've been compulsive about it for a long time. So I was unsurprised when on election night, it appeared that Trump was ahead.

He spent the past six months or so talking about all the 'cheating' in our elections. And the people who listened to everything he said for the past four years just ate it up. (My mom, for example) He talked about how mail in ballots were just full of fraud, pretending that there was 'rampant' cheating when nothing of the sort has ever been documented. He was careful to talk about how absentee ballots were okay, though. Since that's how he voted.

ABSENTEE BALLOTS AND VOTE BY MAIL ARE THE SAME DAMN THING.

So everyone knew that the Republicans would appear to be ahead on election night and the day after. In many states (Pennsylvania was one) they weren't allowed to count the absentee ballots until after the election.

So when the absentee ballots were counted (and counted and counted and counted.. the people who waited 12 to 14 hours to vote early for two weeks weren't there to vote for Trump, likewise the mailed ballots) Biden pulled ahead and eventually had enough votes to win. What the hell did he expect?

It was agonizingly slow, stressful and through it all, instead of being presidential and telling us to trust the process that's been going on for a long damn time, he kept bullshitting about how 'they' were stealing the election.

And now, rather than conceding and asking people to work together (not a rule but a tradition... one that even Hillary did after he was elected!) he's continuing the bullshit filing of bogus lawsuits and refusing to admit that he lost.

I'm concerned about it because even my mild-mannered mother is ranting about how terrible things are about to happen and how her 2nd amendment rights are about to be stolen (like she goes out armed and ready, lol) and how 'they' are cheating.

What. The. Fuck.

Trump has a bit of time before he either leaves or escorted out.
I don't pray, but if I did, I'd be praying right now that he doesn't make shit worse before then.

I'm sure those prayers would be answered the same as the prayers I prayed back when I was still a believer in the power of prayer.

Yep.

 

I have nothing much to say regarding the election.
No point in it, really. No control over any of it, same as usual.

I have had some trouble sleeping, though.
So I decided last night that I'd take some Benadryl to help me sleep.

It did. I slept like a brick (with nightmares in its head) and woke up after nine hours. Of course there were three pee breaks in there, because of course there were.

And I've been hungover all day long.

I don't drink alcohol, haven't for more than 20 years, but in my teen years I had an alcohol-induced hangover once or twice. Apparently taking Benadryl wasn't a great idea. So I got up early-ish, didn't take a nap. Hoping that will help me sleep tonight.

So I've been reading things here and there. Trying to make sense by getting a more or less balanced picture in my mind.

And no more Benadryl.

Okay, off to make a meal and drink another bottle of water, which seems to be helping to flush the yuck out of my system.

I'm looking forward to when this shit is over.
Past time for the electoral college to be gone.

Doing something

I know I'm not the only person who's been feeling helpless/hopeless.
This is not a good time for a lot of people.

I probably don't need to tell you that since you are (probably) a people, too.

Although I don't know, perhaps green and scaly monsters from Venus read my blog. Raise your hand if you're a monster?

Yeah, I see you. I had wondered but didn't feel comfortable commenting.
Go ahead and put your hand down.

Anyone else?

Oh. I thought so.

Okay. So things are really tough right now for a lot of us.

People are having trouble feeding their families.
Paying the rent or the mortgage.

When it comes to extras, like a bicycle for a growing child, or a birthday present for a little guy, people just don't have it. They're lucky if they've had three meals today, the power is still on and they have clean clothes.

So now let's add current events.
Not the plague, which is what put quite a few of us into the perpetual too much month at the end of the money, but politics.

I have seen a lot of ugliness in elections. Ever since I was old enough to vote I've paid attention to what's going on.

The lies and the ugliness and the complete moral bankruptcy of our "representatives' just make me ill.

But I've never seen anything as bad as this year's campaign.
Lying assholes, using adversity to score points against their opponent, unable to recall facts or speak coherently for any length of time, willing to say or do anything at all to hold that big stick.

And that goes for both sides.
None of them are worth a shit.

Do I hate some of them more than others?
Yep, sure do.

My feelings about them and their fitness for the positions with which they've been entrusted aren't very charitable, I'm afraid.

You've heard it all before anyway, and not just from me.
Many incredibly eloquent people have said what I'm thinking, only in better words.

What can we do?

Not a lot.
I suffer through at least 10 exhortations to VOTE every damn day. It's on the news, it's on social media, it's on the blogs I read.

And for the same reason that hundreds of thousands of people still pretend to believe in a god and go to church every Sunday (just in case it matters) I do vote.

Do I believe voting makes a difference?

No, not really.

Different people sit on their useless and arrogant asses in offices and pretend they belong there, and shit on different groups according to who their party hates the most. None of them have any integrity or capability of independent thought.

In a broad sense I will agree that my vote *could* make a difference if enough people thought the same way I do on things, but since most of the time the person I voted for doesn't get elected and the things I don't want to see happen keep happening, I'm not terribly confident.
Very little ZERO faith in the system.



Over the years I've listened to a lot of discussions between my work kids. Four years ago, although they were divided, they were able to sit down and discuss the candidates both before and after the election like rational human beings, something that the adults had a problem with.

Our conversations always lead to the same conclusion(s).

We can't control what happens in government.
We can't keep our "representatives" from doing dishonest and harmful things.

This discussion, from 2016, was particularly productive.
We talked about what we CAN do, not about feeling helpless and not being able to do anything with meaning. It was about taking charge of our own spaces and being kind. Being decent. I am tired of overused words such as mindful, but I think it fits here.

If you see something you can do to make someone else's life be better, even if it's only for a little while, then DO it.

I try to keep that in front of me.

Ordinarily if I'm able to do a little something to help, I just do it without comment. It's not about me. The small things I do are usually anonymous if I can manage it, and I don't write about them here.

But I was considering that this afternoon.
I'm not working right now, so these philosophical questions aren't being asked or discussed with 'my' kids in our little group.

I have had some discussion with other adults lately, and I'm sad to say that they're all going through some awful stuff right now. I'm definitely not alone.

I've said before that I will never have a huge amount of money, never be able to make huge, splashy donations. I'd be uncomfortable with people commenting about it anyway.

But I know from experience that doing small things can make me feel better.

So I've decided that YOU would probably feel good if you could help someone, too. This is why I will break one of my rules and tell you about something I did today. A small act of kindness.

On our local buy nothing group, a mom asked if anyone had some used Transformer toys to give her little boy for his upcoming birthday. He's going to be five, and those are his favorite thing.

I asked if I could message her. While I was waiting for her response, I visited Amazon and found a couple really cool things I know my own five year old would have loved.

She messaged me, and I sent her the link. Asked her if he'd like them, or would she rather find a different set around the same price. She was stunned, as that was the exact thing he'd chosen for 'later' because she'd explained to him that his birthday present wouldn't be on his actual birthday because money is tight right now.

I told her if she wasn't comfortable giving me her address I'd have it sent here and we could meet in the grocery store parking lot.

She gave me her address and I had the package sent to her.

It's a small thing to me, but we had quite a conversation after I told her the package would be there Monday.

Right now in her house they have one adult working. The other adult lost their job in March. They've kept the lights on and the mortgage is only a month behind. But there was no extra money. She said he was so sweet about it, "That's okay, Mommy!"

And she's having a baby in 3 months.

So I felt okay about that small gift.

It inspired me to write about it and to challenge all of you to do one good thing for someone.

It doesn't have to be big.
You don't have to write about it.
You don't even have to let me know you've done it.

I just wanted you to know that even in the middle of this horrendous political mess, in the middle of the pandemic, in the middle of the worst feelings of my life at least, there are things we can do to feel better.

The reaction of that mom made my heart very full.
I hope her little guy has a wonderful birthday.

I didn't ask who she's voting for. I don't know anything about her other than what we discussed. Those things don't matter, she's a fellow human, having a difficult time.

Do you know of someone who could use a little boost?

Desperation

In the State of Oregon, when you buy a soda or bottled water or Gatorade or some other drink in a returnable container the vendor charges you a 10 cent per container deposit at the purchase point.

When you take them to the bottle return, you get that dime back.

For a few weeks (a shorter time when we have a houseful of people) we toss our returnables into a green bag that's hanging in the laundry room.
Every once in awhile, we scan our little keychain barcode at the grocery store kiosk and get a little printed ticket that takes 20 bucks or so off our grocery bill.

It feels like savings, although of course it's not.

We paid that money out, it's just being returned.
When we moved to Oregon in 1989, the bag boy (yes, it was always a boy) in every grocery store we patronized had to personally count them. We'd go to the back of the store, usually a dimly lit and stinky area that felt like a stop in another dimension and press the customer service button.

(And why do they call it customer 'service' anyway? Asking for a friend...)

Eventually a kid would show up to count the cans.
One.
At.
A.
Time.

He usually wore latex gloves, but sometimes did it bare-handed. A really shitty job to have to do. Then he grabbed a pen with his sticky fingers and wrote a little ticket to take to the checkout. Fun times. And all we got was a nickel for each one back then, didn't go to 10 cents until 2017.

Next technological leap was a kiosk outside the stores. It was filled with constantly jammed machines and was another big pain in the ass.The kiosks were a stinky, cramped and crowded mess shoved off in some forgotten corner outdoors or in an open-to-the-outside alcove on the exterior of the store. When we had cans to bring back, we'd usually have to wait for someone to finish counting their cans so we could have a  machine to feed them into.

If it was winter, we'd have to stand in the wind and rain.
In summer, there were hornets buzzing around. All that sugar everywhere, I guess.

The machines were constantly jamming or full and unable to accept more cans/bottles.

Then you had to push a button. Over the store's PA system you'd hear, "Customer service at the bottle return." Sometimes that button would be pushed multiple times and NO ONE CAME to help.

It was frustrating and we finally got tired of the bullshit and started tossing our returnable cans and bottles into our bin at curbside.

Most weeks a little old man came and went through our recycling bin about 5 AM on Friday mornings and took them all. We figured that at least the stuff was getting recycled and that we were doing the guy a favor.

Going through the inconvenience of trying to return them just got to be too much.Not sure when, probably in the early 90s, the state 'improved' things by opening bottle return places.
Bottle Drop they call it.A roll of 10 Green Bags costs $2.00.
Then they charge 40 cents for every bag you drop off to be counted.

When we go in to get bags, they print stickers for us, too. Then when we take them back, they go into a little door on the side of the building and someone there scans the tag, runs the items through a machine to be counted and the money just shows up in our account. We scan our keyfob at the store and get a little paper ticket with a dollar amount. Present it when we check out and just like that, a big 20 or 30 dollars off the bill.

Since the plague hit, the lines at the place are all the way along the edges of the parking lot. There's no place to park. It's like an anthill.
They're practicing social distancing, but from the time it opens in the morning until it closes at night, there are people in line. Every time I've driven by since mid-March, the line is alllll the way around the parking lot and down the little drive into the industrial area that's behind the little plaza. There are at least 40 people in line at all times of the day.

So there are people asking on Facebook for anyone who is willing to donate their cans. People are willing to go stand in line for two hours in the heat to get their ten or twenty bucks.

Once in awhile someone offers some cans and bottles and there are 10 to 15 people wanting to come get them almost immediately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And our "representatives" can't decide how much money to give to corporations and their big campaign donors.

When this all started, they added a bit to people's unemployment benefits, which kept the economy going a little.

Not everyone got the extra. Some didn't get any help at all.
Which has led to people lining up to get a little bit of cash at the bottle return.

It's awful.

Think about how much worse it would be if they didn't even have that.

I'm scared for the direction this country is headed.

The moratorium on evictions is about to expire.
People have no money.
Many are hungry.

And the people who are supposed to be representing all of us are wrangling over stupid shit. I noticed that they managed to agree not to shut government down... meaning that they get to keep their gold-plated benefits and big salaries, and of course keep all the money given to them by their corporate bosses.

I'm starting to get more than a little angry.

I can't see that voting for one candidate over another is going to do a fucking thing, either. Since it IS both sides fucking off and doing nothing to help.

Can I change your mind?

I told you about my husband's step sister a couple weeks ago in this post.

I haven't seen her since 1982, when, towing a 4x6 Uhaul trailer with everything we owned in it, (room to spare!!) we left Looseyanna.

We'd had a discussion on FB, which isn't really the best forum for serious introspection and enlightenment, and she ended by lamenting, "What the hell happened to you?"

Because of course if we don't agree in life, the other guy is wrong.

There's no room for differing philosophies or ideas in the world view of people like her.

So therefore no point in discussion.

I won't try to change her mind, she is who she is/how she is.

There are many good and decent qualities there, her political ideologies aren't the only things that define her.
She's family, and if she needed help and I was able to help her, I would.

I have friends and family who hail from a lot of different viewpoints along that crazy zigzaggy line that goes from faaaaaaaaaaaar left to faaaaaaaaaaaaar right.

It doesn't mean I don't still love them.

But it does mean that I'm not going to waste my time and theirs in debating those issues and differences.

We're all capable of extrapolating our own viewpoints.

It's sometimes amazing, and often amusing that, when presented with the same sets of 'facts' (which aren't always factual) and information (also slanted), that we arrive at vastly different conclusions.

But I draw a very definite line at evangelism, something that makes me bristle no matter what 'church' it comes from. I don't like it in religion, in multi-level marketing, politics or education, which is another area I hold very strong opinions in.

I respect your right to believe how you believe. But do not expect me to believe your way, and don't try to drag me in that direction. I have stepped back to allow you your beliefs and thoughts, please extend the same courtesy to me.

She keeps sending me video links, wanting to 'prove' her point(s).

But that's not really what she wants.

What she's hoping for is that I will watch one of the videos, experience the emotional equivalent of angel choirs singing a song of enlightenment and fall to my knees, expressing the error of my ways and vowing to go and spread the good news.

Which isn't going to happen.

I haven't engaged with her about anything political since then, she 'liked' a post I shared with Pixel blending into the chair in the momcave and we had a little shared 'isn't she cute' discussion.

I can see that superficial type of relationship continuing indefinitely if she will stop trying to change my mind.

Toward that goal, I copied most of this post and pasted it into the private message she sent to me this morning.
She can respect my boundaries or piss off.
Either one is fine.

I don't have a deep investment in our relationship, I've been doing okay without her in my life for nearly 40 years.

How about you? Is there room in your personal philosophy to believe you don't have all the answers and may not even have the truth? Oh sure, we  all think we know. But do we?

hahaha... the follow up!

Remember the knee jerk reactions I was talking about in my last post?
It's a wonder these morons have any facial features left.
:::jerk:::
:::bash:::
:::repeat:::

Well, some pissed off Democrat has made a petition, two actually, to make sure that if senators walk off the job again, they will be ineligible for re-election.

I hope it passes so I can laugh my ass off when the balance of power shifts again (as it always does and Republicans are once again in control of the state senate) and Democrats decide to walk out and are rendered ineligible to run again. Or they have to show up so that doesn't happen.

I really don't see any other way the Republicans were going to be heard on this one. I don't support the Republican party any more than I do the Democrats, but I do support this walkout. It's shitty legislation that wouldn't do a goddamn thing to help the climate. It would line the pockets of a lot of people, which, although it's not the publicly stated purpose, was the entire reason for the 'emergency' legislation.

I'm tired of our "representatives" here in our state.
And nationally.

I read a lot of political stuff lately, although I'm not sure why I bother, it's not like I can change a goddamn thing. There are one hell of a lot of people who are feeling the same way I do.

If there were a candidate people who feel this way could actually vote for, s/he would have a pretty good chance of winning.

I am looking forward to the inevitable consequences of this petition if it passes.

What the actual fuck

Let me preface this by once again reminding you that I am not registered as a Republican or a Democrat. I can find things I agree with on both sides, and many more things that are appalling and fucking crazy on both sides.

I've often described myself as socially liberal and fiscally conservative.

It's interesting, there are those who only hear the word liberal and others conservative in our conversations about that, but don't actually have a clue what I'm trying to say.

People aren't interested in dialog or explanations, either.
They've decided their position.

I'm okay with that, but I'm not okay with them deciding what *my* position needs to be.

One of the reasons I don't bother to say anything quite often.

People mistake my silence for agreement when it's usually that I've been rendered speechless by their stupidity.

I don't like the out-of-touch bunch of shitbags who are the only ones who can run because they can afford to live without principles.

I can't imagine what it would be like to feel no shame when playing stupid political games, you have to know that the public is looking at you and that most of them are much smarter than you give them credit for.

Not that smart, I guess, when you consider that they elected these dumb shits.

I'm very tired of people at the local, state and national level who claim to represent me or mine when it's business as usual and they're only interested in advancing their respective agenda/party.

I'm disgusted by the way the democratic process has been perverted and twisted into some crazy, psychotic mess that bears no resemblance to what was intended when our republic was founded.

In the state of Oregon, we're currently experiencing political grandstanding by the Democratic party.

They've decided that the most important legislation they can pass in a very short legislative session is a 'cap and trade' bill. That's what they're calling it, but it's really just another tax. They (both R and D!!!) have taxed almost everything they can. They've doubled our vehicle registration fees twice in the last ten years and promised to use it to repair our roads. Another fucking lie.

Only a goddamn idiot thinks more taxes will change the weather.
These are the same dumb shits who took away the single use plastic bags, which are actually the option that used the least amount of natural resources. It's a wonder they have any facial features left from all the knee-jerking they do. 
::jerk:::
:::BASH:::
:::repeat:::

So here's what's happening. The Democrats have a supermajority, meaning they can pass anything they want to. They have enough votes to push any shitty legislation they wish to into law. But the Republicans have to show up. If they don't, the legislature lacks a quorum and can't vote.

So the only way to stop this idiotic legislation (which we voted down before!!!) was for the Republicans to refuse to show up.

They walked out and can't be found.

The Democrats are making the most of it, blaming the Republicans for obstruction of the democratic process. Bringing up all the VERY IMPORTANT other legislation that they can't even vote on now because "those damn people" didn't show up!!

The media is helping the cause by slanting the coverage and kissing Democrat ass.
Gee, that's a surprise, isn't it?

What the media is not saying, and should, is that the Democrats deliberately prioritized the scheduling. Things like help for the mentally ill, capping the price of medications for diabetics, and other emotionally charged legislation was pushed aside so they could shove this tax through. And now they're blaming the other side for it all.

The Republicans have done the same thing to the Democrats in the past. Using the same strategy, Democrats walked out of the 1995 and 2001 legislative sessions. In fact Kate Brown, who's our current governor, was the Senate Democratic leader in 2001. She called their walkout a tool, and said it was 'very appropriate under the circumstances'. Apparently it's only appropriate when the Democrats do it.

This isn't the only hypocritical thing Kate's done lately. She also flies here and there via private jet. Using more fossil fuel in a couple trips than I do in a year. Or two. I'm tired of the self-righteous bullshit from both sides, but since Kate's so worried about our climate emergency that she tossed all the other legislation aside to ram this bill through, it seems like she might want to cut back on the jet usage.

Back to the 2001 walkout.
The Republicans were foaming at the mouth and angry and blamed the Democrats for obstructing the legislative process.

And the bullshit goes on. They all lie, they care only about advancing their party and their agenda and none of them gives the smallest fuck about the people who elected them.

Every elected republicrat

Hello... they're not listening. They're. Not. GODDAMN. Listening. And you're going in circles.

Are ya ready?
Got your voter card all spiffed up and ready to use?

The (Shiny! Glittery! All-new and different!) voter carousel is already whipping around madly. Gonna be pickin' up speed until November. Yahoo.

Gotta say centrifugal force seems to be the only thing holding our prospective 'representatives' on their horses.

None of them (horses or representatives) seem to be very well put together or tightly bolted. I'm sure I could come up with some remarks about nuts and screwing and how it's happening to us all, but most people have already made up their minds that the whole problem is the other guy.

If you're a Democrat, the problem is the Republicans. And if you're a Republican, the Democrats are to blame. None of them are willing to take any responsibility for the mess we're in. The ONLY WAY to fix EVERYTHING, all at once? VOTE for the right party!!

And if you don't believe that, if you somehow believe that we are OWED BETTER, then according to a lot of people out there, you're the one with the problem!

That's right. If you believe you're entitled to adequate representation and that the people we elect should be answerable to us, you're just not thinking correctly.

That's part of the reason we're in such a goddamn mess they say... our unrealistic and completely ridiculous expectations.
Accountability?
Getting what we thought we were voting for?
How does that work?

Sit down and shut up. You're hopeless.
YOU ARE TO BLAME FOR THIS!!

Actually, when's the last time you could vote *for* anything?
I'm not asking as a partisan voter, either.

Just a fellow human on the merry-go-round.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So the (rahrah!!) voters are on their go-rounds of choice, some riding the blue ponies, some on the red.

Most of them don't seem to notice that there really isn't an actual destination, their horses are moving, so they just think they're going somewhere.All they know is that their blue horse is ahead of those (ignorant, cousin-humping, clinging-to-their-bibles-and-guns redneck deplorables) damn red ones.
Or that their red horse is a much better and stronger horse than the blue horses being ridden by those save-the-planet idiots who shout that bullshit message from their fleets of private jets and go home to one of their 10 mansions, enjoy their free healthcare and laugh all the way to the bank liberals.

And instead of realizing that the carousel is simply going in circles instead of going toward any sort of destination, everyone on the rides spends most of their time hating the people who are riding the "wrong" horses. Pointing at them. Calling them names. Paying no attention to the scruffy animals controlling the ride.

Another ridiculous thing.
Some of the riders are carrying flags. One, two, five... they can carry quite a few.
These are special flags, used to show extraordinary things about certain riders. You'll see them on blue horses and on red ones. You'll be able to recognize how special those people are by their demeanor... noses in the air and a nauseatingly pompous attitude.

Both major parties excel at virtue signaling, an easy way to show your perceived moral superiority without having to actually do anything other than point at (or ignore) lesser beings and sniff derisively. Neither party has cornered the market on being superior, though.

Excerpt from the Wiki I linked above:
'In an article from The Guardian, David Shariatmadari argues that the typicality of virtue signaling to show off one's own values makes it no different than the acts that it was supposed to abhor. That is, virtue signaling is designed to call out individuals on their lack of action, but the very act of doing so is an act of virtue signaling in itself. He addresses the recognition of one's virtue signaling as "smug" and points out that it comes from individuals with a false sense of power or superiority.'

Raise your hand if you know at least one person who's constantly doing this.
It's like a preemptive strike... puff yourself up and say how much you're for _______ before someone accuses you of not being on the right side.

I'm getting tired of seeing it, especially from people who may not be as virtuous as they pretend to be.

I'm okay with a large variety of ways of looking at things.
I'm okay with people who disagree with me, too.
Just don't pretend you're without 'sin', you fucking hypocrite.

And let's have a dialog about it, not pretend the issue doesn't exist.
We don't have to agree. We just need to be open to discussion.

I actually tried that last week.
(Week before... oh wait... January 4. Time flies.)

I posted an article and suggested we save our venom and vitriol for the people who have done this to us rather than our friends and neighbors. I should have just posted the article without commentary, since some of my "friends" didn't actually click on the link before taking a swing at me.

Not only was I called a liberal AND a republican via messenger (not by the same person, however)  I  attempted to discuss and was shouted down in short order, I got a smarmy and condescending 'agree to disagree because I love and respect you' from Brenda (WTAF???You didn't even read the link, you disagree that we should treat friends and family as such and save our anger for those who deserve it? M'kay...) none of the people involved have reached out in any way to talk about it.

And that whole agree to disagree thing is the same dishonest crap as "Well, I love you but I don't approve of your lifestyle/hate the sin but not the sinner."

Sanctimonious drivel.

If you've surmised that it really rubbed me the wrong way, you're correct.

At least one of those individuals gets paid to listen, too.
To evaluate both sides and try to help people come to an agreement.
How's that for irony?
She didn't even click on the goddamn link before patronizing me.

Just another casualty, run over by the horses.
No room for discussion, ever.

I posted the link in the first place because I'm just so tired of people hating each other instead of talking.

I tried to discuss.

Being dismissed without a moment's consideration for my feelings or thoughts isn't my favorite thing and it stopped me from making any more effort.
I won't try again.

Another kind of player in the game are the passive/aggressive Shirleys, named after an actual girl I went to school with.  Shirley was afraid to just state her feelings because she was afraid someone might not like her, so she'd say, "Hey, what do you think about ____?"

Then she'd listen carefully to all the nuances and all the gossip.

Shirley never did state her own opinion. Instead she'd visibly align herself with the people who could stand up and bluster without fear. The side she thought would win, usually the one with the majority of popular kids.

She wouldn't be mean to anyone, not in a straightforward way.
Disingenuous, our Shirley.

This whole thing feels like 7th grade.
People may not actively be bullying, but  that brand of virtue signalling (agree to disagree... look at me everybody, I'm taking the high road!!!) is a form of bullying.

There are many reasons to stay away from Brendas and Shirleys and the people they hang out with.

Regretfully, unless something changes, I'll be doing that.
I felt like I deserved more respect, but I guess not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So.
People.
The horses you're riding aren't heading for a destination.
Please.
Look around.
In your lifetime, have any of the horses gone somewhere?

Or let me rephrase that, have any of them gone to a place that would be helpful or do something good for you or yours? Somewhere productive or constructive?

Why do you think it's going to be different this time?

And why are you angry with your friends and neighbors when they're not the ones who did this to you?

Tell me.
Please.