A Big Send-Off to 2017...And Hope For A Better 2018

Another massively challenging week has ended, and I am glad. It was really getting to me. BIG time.  

On Thursday, I published my second novel. Getting this one out the door was, for reasons I cannot explain, harder than the first one. But it's done. Sorta. the Kindle version is up, and the paperback will follow in a week or so. So, let me tell you about LINGUA GALACTICA

This is science fiction. It was written because Ziggy dared me to write a book better than the one he had just read.  The story was not bad, but the writing was terrible. Ten days later, I handed him a manuscript. Later that night...or more like the next morning, I woke up because the bed was cold. Figuring he fell asleep on the couch, I went in search of the bed-warmer and found him sitting at the kitchen table, like 5 empty Coke cans in a row, and an overflowing ashtray. He looked up from about three-quarters of the way through the stack of pages, and said, 'I hate your guts."

I just smiled and clapped, "Hey! He likes it!" and trotted back to bed.

For years we had another name for the book...which I won't mention here...but after we worked on an initial set of edits, mostly technology stuff, I set the book aside because it was, after all, kinda a gag gift. I never had any intention of publishing it. But sometimes stuff happens even when you don't pay attention. See, a friend had asked to read it on ZIggy's recommendation, so I sent a PDF. and without my knowledge, that PDF got passed around. 

After DREAM DANCER came out, a few people took me aside to encourage me to prep JEWS IN SPACE....okay, that's what we called it, only when we said it, we said it like the announcer on the MUPPET SHOW....happy now? Anyway, I never intended for that one to see the light of day, but it turned out it already had a following. Seriously. For a book no one was supposed to read, all these people are telling me they read it and it has to be next. Honestly, I was amazed. So I picked it up, got some people I actually trusted to read it, and with some excellent input and advice, began the slog of editing and rewriting the damn thing. 

A couple of interesting things happened along the way. First, We, the People elected a moron to be our Feckless Leader. And in the landslide of garbage that came down the pike with him, "Me, Too" happened. Second, my ambivalence toward the protagonist dissipated with the re-writes and I found I liked her a whole lot better. 

For good or for bad, I had to closely examine the relationship between two of my characters for any specter of inappropriate behavior. That scared the shit outta me. It was like editing for censors. Two people whom I had come to admire and respect suddenly were under a microscope the likes of which I never imagined. I had to make absolutely certain there was no hint of victimization or intimidation between them. I hated searching through an incipient romance with the eye of this new, unhappy lens. 

And that made me go back to DREAM DANCER and read it for the first time in over a year. Yes, the relationship between those two characters is commenced through the lens of what would be acceptable in his society, and how that does not translate outside his world. And it is addressed in the book, too. Quite directly. But is it enough for some people? The rules of that game have changed since the late 80s when the story takes place. One has to recognize that some behaviors were acceptable in some time periods and people acted accordingly. I really dislike anachronisms. Denying history is revisionist. You can't pretend stuff didn't happen. We read stories about other periods and we expect them to be, if not completely historically accurate, at least honest about societal norms. Ignoring how things were does no one any good. 

Remember what I said last week about artistic expression? This reminds me of what my cousins told me about artists in the Soviet Union and how they could only produce works that were acceptable to the Party. Is this the direction we are headed? I don't know. But I know as I start editing work on the next book, I'm already considering "Me, Too," revisions.  And, as a writer, this is uncomfortable. Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, 

You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.

Meanwhile, DREAM DANCER and LINGUA GALACTICA are already out there for your reading enjoyment. The protagonists of the two books could not be more different: one is an anthropologist trained to observe, the other is a fleet officer trained in communications and defense. Each has a unique approach to problem-solving. Only one of them I would want to meet in a dark alley. Please read....and please review on Amazon. Love it, hate it, it sucks, whatever. If you don't tell me, I don't know. And anyone who know me knows I hate not knowing. 

So there.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year! May 2018 bring only good things.

Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

The midterm elections are coming. Time to get busy.

How Deep the Morass?

Eve-Ray-Forever by Bruce Conner

I was wandering around the Milwaukee Art Museum with the senior son the other day, and came across an interesting video installation with a "R" rating posted outside...for mature audiences. It's by Bruce Conner, 1965/2006, and is called Eve-Ray-Forever. It's installed seemingly all over the place, including the Whitney Museum in New York.

Like any good art, it got me thinking. Some of it is very violent, some of it borders on pornographic, but it is all meant to shock. But it was the juxtaposition of female nudity...no male nudity that I noticed...and the violence which immediately make me think "Me, too." Not meaning me as in myself, but the whole objectification-of-women piece about which we are finally hearing so much.

And that's where it all gets murky for me. 

Ashanti fertility fetish

If art glorifies the human body and shows it in a variety of states, does that instantaneously render those pictures to be now something other than art? And what, exactly, is the definition of art?

Venus Rising from the Sea  

Is the creation of a statue that is meant to be symbolic of fertility now to be deemed unacceptable? Does Botticelli's rendering of Venus arising from the scene become obscene because there is a nude woman in the picture? Or does the time and place of creation enter into the discussion about how this can be discussed? And what do we tell our granddaughters about these depictions? Aren't they all objectification of women?

Pedro Berruguete-16th century

I can hardly see deep south US not getting upset about a picture showing where Mary pops out a tit for her kid. This is shameful behavior. And last year, New Hampshire's GOP state senate guy Josh Moore said,

"Who doesn’t support a mother’s right to feed? Don’t give me the liberal talking points, Amanda. If it’s a woman’s natural inclination to pull her nipple out in public and you support that, then you should have no problem with a man’s inclination to stare at it and grab it. After all .. it’s ALL relative and natural, right?"

Really? If you are nursing in public, it's an invitation to grope? Whoa!

What about these? Picasso on the left and Matisse on the right. Anyone want to talk about objectification here? Georges Braque, André Derain, Picasso, Czobel, Othon Friesz, Herbin, Metzinger and Matisse's foray into Cubism were not without controversy. The Cubists all got slammed by boards and even the public. They were called shocking and obscene. Is there a proper to confront the paintings, drawings and sculptures so that they remain in the canon of art, or must be they excised? 

JonBenét Ramsey

If you want to change the culture, change the conversation, or even change the expectations for women in tandem with the behavior of me, can you keep some of this stuff or does the baby go out with the bathwater? And speaking of babies....what about this? What message do we send young girls who see this stuff on TV and think it's real? Yes, that's JonBenét Ramsey.We don't know who killed her or why. There are lots of theories. But the one I cannot shake is the one about how are males supposed to address her; as a child, as a proto-woman, as a painted object? I don't know. In the end, did that matter in her murder? Has anything changed in the last 21 years? Not really. Hell, we even had reality shows about little girls dressing up as whatever: TODDLERS AND TIARAS. 

But then there's art. How do you give up Bottecelli and Rubens, Houdon or even Picasso? Is there a line we should be drawing in the alabaster to say  anything before this date is okay. Anything after this date is not so okay?

Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741–1828)
Diana the Huntress, 1776–95

Art may be universal, but criticism is not. What is beautiful, stately, and elegant can be someone else's butt ugly and inappropriate. There is no accounting for taste. And isn't that what it really is? A matter of taste?

If we want to change the social mores and change the question at the same time we have to figure out a way to allow our collective past to be our collective past. The social condition of the 18th century is vastly different from the social condition of 2018; those differences have to be recognized. Since you cannot change the past, you can't expect someone from 1776 to act like someone from 2017, either.

The "Me, Too," movement is already descending to a pathetic punchline. I don't want that to happen. I want the "Me, Too " movement to be at the head of a conversation that makes the new awareness the usable, functional, and practical. It's all well and good to say this is about sexual abuse, misconduct, assault, and objectification, but without a time-frame of parameter for judgment, what we become like Madame Defarge endlessly knitting while waiting for the guillotine to fall. Truth has nothing to do with it. 

Is that what we really want?

I don't like Madame Defarge. I don't like knitting. I like art. We, the People have way too much on the table right now to get derailed on this one issue. It's not going to go away any time soon.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

If you've not been to Kennedy Space Center at Port Canaveral, 

Go before the troglodytes dismantle it.

It's just that simple. 

Due Process, Alternate Reality, and Who Cares?

I am sitting in my room at the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando. Let me just say that I am having a really good time. I loved Diagon Alley and all the shops come to life. Didn't buy a thing, although I confess I was really tempted to get a wand. However, everyone knows the wand chooses the wizard, and there didn't seem to be a wand that chose me. Alas.

I know it's the night before the highly anticipated Panorama in Alabama. I know, too, that tons of money have been pouring into Alabama for Mr. Jones. And I know this is going to be ugly no matter what happens. But I also know this is a bellweather election for these here United States, and that no matter who the people elect, they will own that choice. They have the right to send anyone they want to the Senate. 

That's the beauty of democracy, and the curse. I don't know how much longer We, the People, will be able to preserve this union. The moorings and the underpinnings have taken a few severe hits in the last 6 or so months. We are no longer standing on such firm ground. And it breaks my heart.

And it breaks my heart that Senator Klobouchar betrayed the trust of the people of Minnesota by joining the warlock hunt demanding the resignation of Senator Franken. Senator Franken was denied due process despite his call for an ethics investigation. He was denied the right to answer their questions. 

And it breaks my heart that the Democrats of the Senate not only betrayed their own colleague, but they betrayed any woman who has suffered violence and serious trauma at the hands of a rapist. They have equated a fanny pat with full-blown, forced, violent, vicious sexual intercourse. Anyone who has experienced that violence knows there is a difference. A BIG, WHOPPING DIFFERENCE.

Funny thing, Senator Franken was castigated for saying:

Some of the allegations against me are simply not true. Others, I remember very differently.

But when Sarah Huckabee said,

As the president said himself, he thinks it's a good thing that women are coming forward, but he also feels strongly that a mere allegations shouldn't determine the course. And in this case, the president has denied many of these allegations....Look, the President has addressed these accusations directly and denied all of these allegations.

we were expected to take his word for it even though there's video tape where he brags about forcing himself on women. Okay. Why not? Lots of people also believe the Palestinians want peace. 

And y'know, none of it means squat. We are too far off the road for redemption. 

What matters is that I went on THE TRANSFORMERS ride at Universal Studios today and it was the best ride ever. Escape from Gingrott's was good, and RACE THROUGH NEW YORK was pretty exciting, but TRANSFORMERS RIDE was amazing.

Tomorrow, we start with Hogwarts, then later in the day we move to Cape Canaveral. 

Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Coming soon to your neighborhood...as in any day now.....

Dear Lou Dobbs

On December 2nd, you publicly stated:

I think U.S. Marshals should follow him, and any time he wants to go follow the president like he is, and behave… I mean, this is just bad manners. It’s boorish, it’s absurd, he doesn’t realize how foolish he looks. I mean, he should be brought back by the Marshals. Isn’t there some law that says presidents shouldn’t be attacking sitting presidents?

You are absolutely right. There is a law, and it's called The First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 

President Obama's statement, in case you didn't actually read it, which would be my guess because if you did you would not be sounding like the asinine blowhard you really are, not only does not mention Feckless Leader by name, it references Mrs. Obama. 

See, here's what happened. In Toronto, Mrs. Obama said:

...[it is] never a good idea” to put your first thought in the morning on social media, and  [never a good idea to] “tweet from bed…Then you need to edit and spell-check it.

As a journalist, Mr. Dobbs, how can you possibly think this is  bad advice?  President Obama was simply agreeing with his wife:

Michelle was giving the general idea . . . don’t say the first thing that pops in your head. Have a little bit of an edit function...Think before you speak, think before you tweet.

All indications to the contrary, this is not practiced consistently in the White House these days. Months later, no one is quite sure what covfefe means.

So, let me explain this to you in simple, everyday words you might be able to understand:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

This is called the Preamble to the Constitution and it starts by telling We, the People, that We, the People, are responsible for our own country. This is followed by the Constitution itself, which is then followed by 10 Amendments called The Bill Of Rights. The first Amendment is the one I mentioned above that contains the line:

Congress shall make no law respecting ...abridging the freedom of speech...

This freedom applies to We, ALL OF THE PEOPLE, not just some of the people. It is not only our right, it is our civic duty to comment, criticize, or condone the word, actions, and/or behavior of our elected officials. That right is not abridged when someone steps down from public office.

Your statement, on the other hand, suggesting that President Obama should be muzzled, is, therefore, unconstitutional. Not to mention stupid since neither President nor Mrs. Obama called Feckless out by name or reputation. They commented on the sagacity (common wisdom) of unconsidered, mindless, tweets...much like your statement. 

If anyone should be muzzled, Mr. Dobbs, it is you. You call for illegal actions, the overthrow of the constitution, and you tell lies. Just like Feckless, only yours are worse. You're supposed to be a trusted source of news. Instead, you are the assistant Pinocchio. You enable and abet a sociopath.

Please do a service to this nation and go away. Go to Moscow. They'll love you there. 

We, the People, however, have no desire to have a person in the public forum actively preaching treason and sedition. Oh, do I need to define sedition for you? Hmmm. Maybe you should just go away and leave it at that.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Turn off the news every so often.

Listen to a symphony or a Beatles album. Something original.

Just remember to be kind to your brain. 

Dignity of Earth and Sky versus Feckless Leader

Photo: Ken Wolter/Shutterstock

Meet Dignity of Earth and Sky. She's 50 feet tall, and stands on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River near Chamberlain, South Dakota. She is a Plains Indian woman, a member of either the Dakota or Lakota Sioux nation, native people to this land.  She was designed by Dale Lamphere and her dynamic star quilt was created by David Claymore. Three Native American women posed for the sculptor. She was a gift from Norm and Eunabel McKie to mark the State of South Dakota's 125th anniversary. The dedication ceremony took place on September 17th, 2017.

The diamonds of the star quilt are not stationary; they move. Star quilts replaced buffalo robes as gifts for life cycle events, the most important of which were the memorial quilts commemorating the Lakota dead. Dignity's quilt is made of glass painted in shades of dark and light blue; they catch the light of day and spin with the winds of the Great Plains.  As Mr. Lamphere said of his creation,

Dignity represents the courage, perseverance and wisdom of the Lakota and Dakota cultures in South Dakota. My intent is to have the sculpture stand as an enduring symbol of our shared belief that all here are sacred, and in a sacred place. My hope is that the sculpture might serve as a symbol of respect and promise for the future.

A friend posted a picture of Dignity on her Facebook page and I wondered how the hell I missed this, especially when it's just not that far from me. I wondered how this did not get huge amounts of coverage. And then I knew why.

We were busy focusing on the smokescreen: shitter-twitters, Feckless Leader's refusal to disclose the Mar-a-Lago Resort visitor list from January 20 and March 8, denials of Russian collusion, un-presidential world appearances, the White House dithering on the Paris Climate Accord. On September 17th, Tropical Storm Maria was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane. We, the People, could've used a little break from the bullshit had anyone bothered to tell the country about Dignity's dedication.

We woulda heard if it was a statue of Custer. Boy, would we have heard about that! 

Or not.

While we were missing the dedication of Dignity, our government was undermining the rules of checks and balances in an ongoing attempt to shred the fabric of our star quilt. While we are distracted, they persevere.

Meredith Corporation has announced its intention to buy TIME magazine. with backing from the Koch brothers. As my friend Jill Cozzi (aka Brilliant at Breakfast) noted,

Having completed their purchase of the U.S. government, the Koch brothers now set their sights on the press.

Should we be concerned?

Net Neutrality is on the chopping block. The Department of Justice appears to be demanding AT&T sell Turner Broadcasting, which includes CNN, or sell DirecTV as a precondition for approval of the $85 billion merger with Time Warner. The Oval Office Occupant routinely trash-talks about journalism, journalists, and the news media while he consistently lies like a rug. 

We've been so busy obsessing about fanny pats, that we seem to have given a pass to a predator who now says that's not him on the video tape saying all that stuff about grabbing pussies and 

I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look.

Well, he now says it's not him on the video tape, that it's an imposter. In that case, I guess it's not and we should all just forget it ever happened. That's the same stand Feckless takes on Putin's meddling in our elections and Roy Moore chasing 14-year old skirts. Who should we believe....that pathological liar...or our lyin' eyes?

Instead of focusing on important stuff, like federal judicial appointments, the latest Keystone oil spill in South Dakota, the bogus tax Ponzi scheme, or dueling agency heads over at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, we are falling for every trick in the GOP playbook. 

On the bright side, the Washington Post had a moment of clarity and actually vetted a story that turned out to be a honey trap: A woman approached The Post with dramatic — and false — tale about Roy Moore. She appears to be part of undercover sting operation.

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE 

FACTS BEHIND THE CURTAIN!

But do pay attention to what this sick, sick individual said to 3 of the surviving 13 Navajo Code Talkers on Monday:

 You’re very, very special people. You were here long before any of us were here. Although we have a representative in Congress they say was here a long time ago. They call her Pocahontas. But you know what? I like you. Because you are special. You are special people, you are really incredible people.

How dare he even talk to these men who gave their all for a country with a history of hatred directed at them...while standing in front of a portrait of Andrew Jackson, the president who signed the Indian Removal Act and was responsible for the Trail of Tears? Could you possibly see Angela Merkel giving an award to Jews who survived the Holocaust while standing in front a of portrait of Hitler? It would NOT happen in Germany, but it sure happens here. 

His thrall, Sarah Huckster, had this to say when confronted about her boss's racist remark: 

I don't believe that it is appropriate for him to make a racial slur, or anybody else. I don't think that it is was and I certainly don't think that was the president's intent. 

This is not a leader. This is a teeny-tiny putz with a teeny-tiny brain to match. He hates. He dismantles. He destroys. He abuses. He lies. He runs to do evil. I wonder if Jared gave him a copy of the Al-Chet, the Yom Kippur confessional, and he's making his way down the list. He does nothing but bring shame and humiliation on this nation. 

Today was no different. And we tolerate it anyway.

In a contest between Dignity of Earth and Sky and Feckless Leader, there is no contest. Dignity wins every time, hands down. Dignity of Earth and Sky represents the best that we can be. I don't need to tell you what Teeny-tiny Brain represents. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Silence is not a protest.

Silence is acquiescence.

Remain silent at your own peril.

Gropes, Conspiracies, and Senator Franken

Long, long ago, in a lifetime far, far away, Ziggy and I considered collaborating on a novel. This was during the unfortunate period when he decided he would move into my office and we could "share" things. After a week of, "Hey! Listen to this...." I told him if he didn't move out of my office by the time I got home from work the next day, I would never cook again and he would starve.

He moved back to his space in the living room. 

But there was that brief moment of collaborative consideration...long ago tucked into a drawer and forgotten.

Until this week when I found it. 

He called it CONSPIRACIES, but I referred to it as The Siegfried Follies. We used to laugh about it every once in a while, and we talked about it while he was dying. "Think you'll ever finish it?" he asked. "Finish it? Heck no! We barely started it!" I think he was hoping I would promise to take up the mantle. 

Until this week, I never thought I would. 

Ziggy always maintained nothing was a coincidence, that everything had a beginning, a middle, and an end, all of which was orchestrated by human intervention. So in this story, the protagonist, a guy name Dickens, is a mild-mannered insurance adjuster who goes to work every morning, does his job, and goes home to his wife and 2 kids every night. He has no friends at work to speak of, a couple of friends from his childhood whom he sees now and then, and some neighbors with whom he and his wife socialize. One day, his boss calls him into his office where the HR dude is waiting for him. The department secretary has reported him for sexual deviancy and says he has impregnated her. 

As the wheels are coming off his life, Dickens begins to think this is a diversionary tactic. And as the case against him progresses, it becomes increasingly clear to Dickens that this is a set up, that he is being used, and that while he is sitting in jail for an act he did not commit, there are dark powers afoot fanning this smokescreen. 

The plot was so complicated, I could never keep track of it. If Ziggy was here, he would be able to explain how every time Dickens' name was in the news and all the attention was focused on him, nefarious things happened. Every time the dark powers need to do something dreadful, they would toss another charge on this guy until he was charged with rape, sodomy, pedophilia, and embezzlement. 

I guess what I'm getting at is that right now, I think Ziggy would've said everything we have witnessed this past year has been a smokescreen, and every diversionary tactic has hidden a seriously nefarious event. 

What? Me worry?

I don't really give a flying fart in space if Roy Moore runs for the senate. If the people of Alabama wanna display their Confederate-flag-flying-Christian-values by sending a serial pedophile to congress, then let them. Who are the rest of us to tell them their version of family values is fucked-up beyond recognition and certain not WWJD?

Behind this brouhaha, in case you missed it, was the preliminary passage of the most vile tax reform bill that the congressional-confederacy-of-incredibly-moronic-dunces could come up with. 

While our revoltingly crass Feckless Leader is calling Kim Jung-un fat, he's repealing common sense regulations like not bringing elephant trophies into the country because he thinks no one will notice....well, usually he's right about those things, but this time he got caught with his pants around his ankles all the while he's tweeting about Franken but remains classically silent on ol' pedophile Moore. 

And ol' Feckless has gotta be dancing the cha-cha over all this sex stuff. Right up his teeny-tiny-tootsie-roll alley.

What should be a watershed moment of empowerment for women, when casting couches and desk-chases are finally being exposed and excised, is now a total joke ending with "me, too." The media glommed onto this circus and turned it into everyone's 15-minutes of fame. It's not about date rape or a staged photograph (imbecilic as that was,) it's about ME, ME, ME, ME, ME.

Well, people, guess what. You've sent women's empowerment back to the basement. You've turned it into a whiny, annoying, media circus with no teeth. You are making sure that a guy like Al Franken, who owned his behavior and stepped up the the line to claim it,  will be drummed out of public service...to what good?

Yeah, go ahead and rag  on me for calling it like I see it, but too bad. I watch it all unravel and all I can think is that this is so tidily well orchestrated that all those ranting Democrats fell right into the trap. Instead of dealing with the real issues...like private jet and golf course tax loopholes... you are making sure that the men who have, over the course of time and awareness, become the allies, are now swept out with the real trash like Cosby or Weinstein.  Instead of recognizing that what was once tolerated cannot be tolerated any longer, we have a warlock hunt. Anyone with a penis and two hands is a suspected sexual predator.  My own personal boob grope was by another woman. And she's still out there, still outrageous, and people think she's wonderful. But she doesn't have a penis, so I guess it's  okay. Happy now?

Let's get something straight: this is not about blaming the victim. This is not about excusing bad behavior. This is not about tolerating harassment or abuse. This is about perspective. This is about recognizing the rules have changed and what was once considered "harmless," is not. This is also about someone owning his/her behavior and changing what needs to be changed. And it's about how to move forward. 

We, the People, were so busy being outraged by bullshit that the bigger, more dangerous picture, is hidden behind the smokescreen. Instead of confronting this administration over the planned de-funding of Medicare, we're jumping up and down about a fanny pat. Folks, there is a difference between jaywalking and vehicular homicide. Both are against the law. But are you gonna throw the jaywalker in jail for the rest of his/her life without possibility of parole?  For pity's sake, think past your outrage to what you are condemning this country to!

But getting back to my original, well orchestrated point. Folks, you have been setup. None of this outrage is a natural extension of bad behavior taken in context. This is yelling FIRE in a theater, then sitting back to watch the pandemonium. The timing is so impeccable...right after the Democratic victory in Virginia. Do I really need to post Charles During doing The Sidestep from Best Little Whorehouse in Texas again?

If you're a guy, can you say you never copped a feel or tried to get to 1st base? You would probably teach your sons that's just not done any more, but are you disqualified as a parent if that was what guys did back then? Or do you tell you sons, It was wrong and I shouldn't have done it, so don't you do it?

I am so tired of extremes. That is nothing more than another way NOT to deal with real issues. Keep it up if you want to see what's left of these here United States polarized into two camps of hate. Please get your big kid underwear on and start behaving like someone who cares for America more than they care for saying, "Me, Too."

As for Conspiracies? I don't know. I will have to see how this all plays out. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Make soup. 

Soup is always good during the winter. 

BECAUSE IT IS TOLERATED

Take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus. ~ Jim Ziegler, Alabama state auditor 

And that makes a 32-year old guy hitting on a 14-year old okay?

We are inundated with "Me, Too," stories. Every single one of those stories represents the freedom to recount and retell, coupled with freedom to finally move forward. I seriously doubt there is a woman in America who has not experienced an unwanted sexually motivated event. There are extremes, of course, and there are some that make us squirm and some that make us so angry we cannot fathom how anyone could offer an explanation. And some are just passed off as guy stuff.

T-shirt for sale

Yeah, and to some degree that's the explanation....but absolutely not the excuse. There is no excuse, but if something has always been tacitly permitted, It's because it was to be tolerated. If something is tolerated, no matter what it is, it's gonna happen because it's gonna be seen as okay.

I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.                                    Donald Trump - caught on tape- 2005

 Let's try this again: BECAUSE IT IS TOLERATED.

The support Roy Moore is getting is because in Alabama, this kind of behavior is common. These are the same people that would have insisted that same 14-year old girl carry a baby to term in the event that harassment turned to rape. They don't give a flying fart in space about the girl, only about preserving the ejaculate of a rapist. 

BECAUSE IT IS TOLERATED.

Girls in Afghanistan are sold into child marriages, raped, and abused all the time. The GOP rants about Muslim child brides and sharia law, but hitting on a 14-year old kid in Alabama... if you're a white guy with power... is okay.

BECAUSE IT IS TOLERATED.

Guys like our Congressclown Jason Lewis are totally teflon guy. Nothing sticks to him. He can vote 100% with Feckless Leader and his loyal cabal sticks with him. Doesn't matter he votes against the people of the state of Minnesota at every turn, but he's against abortion and equal marriage rights. He says this isn't discrimination because gays are free to marry a person of the opposite sex. And he calls transgender people abominations. And it that's not enough, he supports the rape of the environment as well. In February 2017, he voted to repeal the Stream Protection Rule, a regulation that required coal companies to restore streams and mined areas to their pre-development conditions. We won't even talk about his poison positions on tax reform and health care. But all of that means nothing because he refuses to meet with his constituency in open, public forums.

BECAUSE IT IS TOLERATED.

We, the People sure tolerate a whole lotta stuff that is fundamentally bad for us. We currently have a sitting government that is stripping away the rules that keep the food chain safe. We have a sitting government that has offered to pay anyone in the State Department who wants to leave...but there is no move to fill crucial vacancies. 

To reach that number, [Secretary Rex Tillerson] has already frozen hiring, reduced promotions, asked some senior employees to perform clerical duties that are normally relegated to lower-level staff members, refused to fill many ambassadorships and senior leadership jobs, and fired top diplomats from coveted posts while offering low-level assignments in their place. Those efforts have crippled morale worldwide.                  New York Times, November 10th, 2017

And the GOP went after Clinton because Benghazi was understaffed? 

BECAUSE IT IS TOLERATED.

Inexplicably, We, the People tolerate leaders who clearly hate us. Our sitting president uses twitter like a 7th grader and no one can take that damn phone away from him. His endless stream of embarrassing tweets has not abated despite his promises to be more "presidential." He obsesses about Hillary Clinton, as if he is still running against her. But he's not. It's smoke and mirrors because he thinks if he does that we can't see him. That's the real fake news. We, the People may be dumb, but we are not that stupid. Or are we?

We must be that stupid BECAUSE THIS IS TOLERATED.

Feckless Leader, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Lewis C.K.....their behavior is not aberrant....it's borderline normal. That doesn't make it any less disgusting, inappropriate, or outrageous. They got away with this for years BECAUSE IT WAS TOLERATED and they did more and more and more because no one ever said they couldn't do that. 

Well, the buck is about to stop here. THIS WILL NO LONGER BE TOLERATED

The opening of the harassment floodgates is a spectacular piece of guerrilla theatre. It got the pain out of the closet and into the streets and airwaves. Yeah, there will be some instances of revenge hunts, but by-and-large, this spilling of guts is the real thing. People who have carried this load entire lifetimes are dumping the weight. They are shucking off the shackles of embarrassment and powerlessness to stand tall. 

This is but an opening salvo. There are lots of behaviors We, the People don't have to tolerate: rape of the land, pollution of national waters, denial of health care,  dismantling of the educational system, discrimination in the workplace. The list is long.

If We, the People get nothing else out of this election cycle, it had better be that destructive behavior, be it sexual, political, economic, or civil, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. 

Roy Moore and Jason Lewis will lose their teflon coating. Feckless leader and his assistants will be exposed for the misogynistic, anti-American bastards they are. Yes, this will take work. This means we open the tent flaps to welcome anyone who wants to see these here United States re-emerge as a force for good, an example of what can be, and a respected world leader. 

Respected world leaders don't call other heads-of-state short and fat. Respected world leaders don't embrace other heads-of-state who brag about popping someone, even if it was a drug dealer. And a respected world leader sure as hell doesn't undercut his own intelligence agencies to take sides with an oligarch. 

THAT SHOULD NOT BE TOLERATED.

Come 2018, we can only hope we can live up to our own hype. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Only you can prevent abuse. 

Guns and Whores

Before you read anything else, I want you to watch this entire piece from the New York Times. Once you've seen in, you will better understand what I am about to say.

10 Minutes. 12 Gunfire Bursts. 30 Videos. Mapping the Las Vegas Massacre.

Watch the whole thing. With the sound. Then consider this statement from our sitting president:

To have found the shooter so quickly after the first shots were fired is something for which we will always be thankful and grateful.                                                                                                       on Las Vegas mass murder, 02OCT2017

Now that you've watched the video, still think that was so quickly? 59 killed, 241 injured.

I want to make this very clear: gun violence is absolutely, without question, a mental health issue. Specifically, it is a mental health issue for Feckless Leader and his cadre of Congressclowns. 

No one in their right frickin' mind would have the gall to tell We, the People...and by extension the world, that the murder of 26 people worshipping in a Sutherland Springs, Texas church is not a gun issue:

Mental health is your problem here. This was a very, based on preliminary reports, a very deranged individual, a lot of problems over a long period of time. We have a lot of mental health problems in our country, as do other countries. But this isn't a guns situation.                                                                                                                    Feckless from Japan - 06NOV2017

 Take a moment to visit this website: MASS SHOOTING TRACKER. Lots of opportunity there to drill down into the data to get an overview of mass shootings in the US. 

Did you know there was a mass shooting in Plano, Texas on September 10th, 2017? 9 people were murdered at a football-watching party. The guy was angry his wife was filing for divorce. So he killed her and 8 of their friends.

This is not about the right to bear arms. NO ONE IS TAKING AWAY YOUR HUNTING RIFLE OR PERSONAL HANDGUN. This is about people collecting militia-sized arsenals. This is about owning a semi-automatic weapon for fun. This is about NOT regulating what is available for sale. 

And don't give me the black-market bullshit. 

This is about the availability of mass firepower. If you have mass firepower, wanna tell the rest of us why? Are the neighbors coming to get you? If you have an arsenal, maybe they should.

But for our elected leaders to continue insisting THIS IS NOT A GUN OWNERSHIP ISSUE is proof positive they are they are nothing more than cowardly whores. And I do mean they are for sale. Wanna see for how much? 

Thoughts and Prayers for Texas. NRA Funding for Washington

Screw "fixing" the tax system so that the middle class gets royally screwed, where, unlike our congressclowns, we're not getting paid for the pleasure. Screw the environment when there's a frickin' nickel to be made off the rape of the land. Screw selling our natural treasures to the highest bidder who's gonna rename Yosemite National Park "Wells Fargo Casino and Resort." Screw our kids' chances at an education by selling the public schools to a for-profit consortium that will "reduce" waste by closing schools desperately in need. And screw health care for We, the People. 

You need a license to drive a car. You need insurance to own one. You need a license to hunt and fish. How hard is this to do for guns? We have the model. We know it works in all 50 states. 

None of this matters as long as we have a government that subsidizes mass murder by remaining silent. Red, Blue, Green, Purple, Pink, Plaid, or Polka Dots....if you don't get up off your ass and start telling your personal congressclown this is NOT okay, then you deserve to be in attendance at the next Las Vegas event, or be sitting in a pew in your local synagogue, church, or mosque. If you choose to remain silent, you have given up your chance to be safe in public. 

For the record, here are the top 17 mass shootings in the US since the Carillon sniper shootings at the University of  Texas in 1966. These guys were not all Islamic terrorists. They were not all Muslims yelling "Allah Akbar." 30% were identified as Islamic terrorists... which means 70% were guys with mental health issues who were shooting up gathering places:

These figures are for shootings only

Nah, we don't have a gun problem. Only a mental health problem. 

Yeah, every one one of those shooters had "issues," but those issues only point up how ignorant, stupid, lazy, cheap, and prostitutional our elected officials really are. They sell themselves for cheap to the gun lobby. In the end, they are holding the smoking AR-15s in their gun-residue-covered hands. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

If you don't stand up to be counted on this issue, 

if you let the clowns in congress get away without tackling sensible gun laws, 

then you own a piece of this, too.