Staying Sane In An Insane World

It's not easy to remain sane in this crazy country that is teetering on the edge of dictatorship.

It's a daily, sometimes hourly, struggle to maintain my sanity. Luckily I have a few things that keep me from going over the edge. 

Exercise is important. I walk each of my dogs a mile every morning. Sometimes I go for a walk by myself as well. I usually walk between 4 and 5 miles each day.

Photography is a great release. Yesterday afternoon the clouds in the beautiful New Mexico sky were fascinating, so I grabbed my camera and took a walk in the neighborhood. Looking at images of beautiful places I have visited is a wonderful escape as well. This morning I enjoyed looking at gorgeous images of Yosemite National Park.

Reading is something I have enjoyed since I was a young child. I still read a lot, particularly biographies and historical fiction.

I spent my career working with the news media as a public affairs specialist for a non-profit organization and for a federal agency. So I am a bit of a news junkie. But today's news is too distressing, so I limit my consumption to one local news broadcast and one national news broadcast each day. I follow up with something that won't distress me.

I recently started working on improving my diet, eating less and consuming more healthful foods. It's too early to tell the impact of this self-improvement project, but I have dropped a couple of pounds.

What things do you do to maintain your sanity?

There Is No Common Ground.

For years, Democrats have tried to find common ground with their Republican opponents.

But increasingly, Republicans have made it abundantly clear that there is no common ground. The recently uncovered group chat by a bunch of young Republicans made it abundantly clear that Republicans are nothing more than a bunch of racist, misogynist, hateful, sexist, anti-gay bigots.why are television reporters always looking at their phones during their reports

What kind of common ground is there with people like this? Short answer: none. There is no common ground. 

I have nothing in common with anybody who treats women like second class citizens, who is anti-gay, who is racist, who believes in taking rights away from women. I also find no common ground with anybody who supports a would be dictator. What possible common ground could there be?

Today No Kings marches were held in more than 2,500 locations across the United States, everywhere from huge cities to small towns. Many people are unhappy with the current regime and its disregard of our Constitution and our laws. 

I am not optimistic that's a current regime will do anything other than criticize and mock those who took part in these marches. I do, however, believe that today's March shows that the sleeping giant of Americans who love their country is beginning to awaken.

Sticks and Stones

Let's talk about words. 

As a writer, I love words. I love finding just the right word for the situation. I love seeing how changing a single word can change the meaning and sense of a paragraph or sentence. 

I once had an argument with a guy on a trip about the use, and usefulness, of the Oxford comma. If you're not familiar with the Oxford comma, look it up. He would not let it go. At one point he wold me "Why don't you just admit that you're wrong?" I told him I wasn't wrong and I wasn't going to admit to being wrong. 

The argument continued for two days in our van. What this guy apparently didn't understand, or wouldn't admit, is this: There isn't really a right or wrong answer. It's a matter of interpretation, preference and training. As a professional public affairs officer for the federal govenment, I followed the guidance of the AP Stylebook. We did not use the Oxford comma. There is no right or wrong answer. It depends on which style guide the writer is following. As long as it is used or not used consistently, everything is fine.

Now back to words: Here are some words that too often are missing in our country:

Respect. Kindness. Empathy. Generosity. Honesty. Helpfulness. Morality. Compassion. Thoughtfulness. Community. Serenity. Gratitude. Generosity.

Aren't these great words? Aren't these attributes those to which we should aspire? 

Apparently not. Our society as a whole is sorely lacking in these 13 attributes. Instead, we live in a society marked by division, selfishness, immorality, greed, hatred and many other negative attributes. We live in a country where the highest elected officials in the nation use their words in negative, hurtful ways. Name-calling and using hateful, insulting words are the hallmark of far too many so-called leaders.

There have always been Americans who personify the worst human traits. But today's America is awash with the worst among us. Why is this? Why do members of the ruling party not only fail to work to help those they ostensibly represent, but actively work to hurt them by slashing programs that provide affordable health care and life-sustaining food? Why do they take glee in shutting down the government and threatening the jobs of tens of thousands of federal employees? Why? If there is money for a new, unnecessary ballroom in the White House, why is there no money for food or for education?

Why do people celebrate attacks on Jews or on people with skin darker than that of the white men who rule this country like a fiefdom? How can self-professed Christians act in so many ways antithetical to the teachings of the Christ they pretend to worship?   

Remember the old adage that "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me?" That's just not true. Words can and they do hurt people. They can and they do hurt nations. Words can inflect significant emotional pain, as anybody who has been bullied will agree.

How about if we all pledge to regrain from using words that hurt?

Time To Stop The Killing

Two years ago today, the Palestinian terror group Hamas carried out a horrendous and unwarranted attack on a music festival in Israel. 

Some 1,200 innocent people, ranging from children to senior citizens, were slaughtered. The terrorists chased people down, either murdering or kidnapping them. They snatched local villagers from their houses. Countless people were taken hostage. Although many of the hostages either died in captivity or were killed by Hamas, several are still believed to be alive.

There is blame for the ongoing killing on both sides. Hamas continues to kill Jews, while Israel continues to bomb hospitals and refugee camps as it searches for Hamas fighters. Caught in the middle are the innocent people on both sides of the war.

Some hostages have been released, with Hamas getting hundreds of its imprisoned fighters returned in exchange for a handful of hostages. Surviving hostages report being abused, starved and kept in dark tunnels. Palestinians were told to evacuate their homes, and are now facing a second winter living in tents. Food is very scarce, with starvation a real possibility.

There are no winners in this war. Certainly the attacks were, and are, not justified.  Muslims live peacefully in Israel. There is no need for the slaughter. Israel has every right to defind itself. But Israeli forces seem not to care about the innocent people of Gaza they have killed.

So many innocent lives have been lost. It is past time for the killing to stop.

This Country Is A Mess

 ... and the mess is inflected by the so-called leaders of the nation.

People are hurting. They feel abandoned and ignored by their government. The regime is sending armed troops into cities run by Democrats, so now people are being attacked by masked military and law enforcement.

The country's federal government has shut down, and nobody knows how long it will remain that way. Federal employees, of which I was one for 23 years, are facing fuloughs, unpaid work status and possibly firings (although the president has no power to fire them). Millions of Americans face the very real prospect of losing their health insurance or of it becoming too expensive to afford. Millions of others face the loss of supplemental food. Citizens are incredibly divided and angry. I am extremely stressed.

But I read something online that made me think.

I don't know the author of the piece, but it inspired me and prompted me to write this blog post. The piece essentially calls on people to change things: to hold the door for someone, to spread kindness, to offer a smile, to be nice to others, to be patient, to pay for the coffee of the person in line behind them, and to let another driver go ahead in traffic.

You might wonder why you should go out of your way to do these smal things. What difference will a smile or a bit of kindness make, you might ask. 

Let me give you an example. A friend of mine is currently visiting Australia, a country where she lived for more than a decade, and a country she loves. Her husband is making the trip miserable. He is a native of Australia whom she helped get US citizenship. 

She messaged me recently about his behavior. I sent a message to her, expressing my sadness that he is spoiling her long-anticipated vacation. She replied that she appreciated my reaching out. And again, she thanked me for caring.

Did my brief messages salvage her vacation? Did they change her husband's attitude and behavior? Sadly, they did not. But we never know who really needs that smile, that word of encouragement, that complement, that bit of sympathy.

I am a very private person. I'm not particularly friendly to those I don't know. I'm not good at small talk. But these things I have mentioned are easy for most anyone to do. Tell a woman you like her jacket. Tell someone she looks good in the color she is wearing. Pay for the groceries of the person in line behind you. (I did that with a Native American woman in a wheelchair once, and she -- and the cashier -- were stunned by this small act of kindness. The Native woman had just a couple of items, so I asked the cashier to add her total to my groceries). 

Random acts of kindness can brighten the day of the giver as well as the recipient. Please join me in sharing kindness. Join me in looking for opportunities to be kind and supportive. Our broken world needs more kindness and more compassion. Practice being full of grace and patience and umderstanding. These things cost nothing. 

But their value and their impact can be incalculable.

Tired of Peopling

 I am tired of peopling.

I am tired of adulting.

I am tired of dealing with bots.

I'm tired of people. I'm tired of idiots who don't even know which side of the road to walk on as pedestrians when there are no sidewalks. I'm tired of people who think it's perfectly fine to toss their unwanted cans, bottles, mattresses and fast food trash along the road. I'm tired of people who blindly follow a lying, cheating, money-grubbing pedophile and believe every lie he tells them without bothering to fact check his claims. 

I read somewhere that AI believes that people who are tired of adulting are feeling overwhelmed by the burdens and responsibilitis, the monotony of routines and the pressure to conform. When my daughter was a teenager, she couldn't wait to be an adult, not have to go to school or have a mom set limits, etc. Now that she is a single mother of a 4-year-old son, she really knows that adulting isn't what she once thought it would be.

Being an adult comes with incredible responsibilities for most of us: having a job, worrying about money, taking care of a family, saving for the future, and dealing with the emergencies that invariably appear.

I have been retired for 15 years, and I'm still tired of adulting. Within the past month I have had to have my roof repaired ($2000) and have two large trees trimmed to prevent future roof damage ($1600). Estimated income taxes were just paid. I spent dozens of hours battling with an insurance company. There are three recall notices on my car, so it's going to spend time at the dealership next week to get those things taken care of.

I recently returned from a great trip to the Canadian Rockis national parks. I got to take lots of photos, and the weather was beautiful. But being part of a group of 24 travelers on a bunch, at meals, etc., really strained my limits. I skipped the group dinners two or three times so I could get a break from the noise and the crowd.  I had to do that for my mental health. The people were fine. There were just too many of them.

So yes, I am tired of adulting. I would love to sell my house and buy a place not too far away, on a couple of fenced acres where my dogs (plus a couple more) could run and play without the need for a daily walk. My dogs don't like other dogs, so having a safe place for them to run and explore would be wonderful.

Clinging To Life

I came across this image while going through thousands of photos on my laptop in search of good images that have been overlooked.

I posted it to my social media page with the title Clinging to Life. And this is precisely what this small pine tree is doing. It somehow managed to put down roots surronded by rocks somewhere in the red rocks of Utah.

Clinging to life is precisely what I and many other non-cult members are doing these days as we watch our democratic republic be turned into a country we no longer recognize. It is a country where all three branches of government -- executive, legislative and judicial -- have surrendered their authority to the whims of one person who is steadily marching us down the road to becoming a fascist nation.

We are holding on and trying to figure out how to navigate this new country as our fundamental rights are stripped away. We are trying to come up with money to buy groceries as prices seem to increase each week. We stand by as we watch our country pick fights with other, smaller nations as a prelude to a declaration of a national emergency.  

Life is stressful in this country for those who understand and reject what is happening. We don't want war. We don't want to stand by and watch Russia escalate its unwarranted war against Ukraine. We don't want to watch as Israel starves innocent people in Gaza as retribution for the actions of Hamas. We won't stand by as women's rights are stripped away, and as members of the LGBTQ community face still more discrimination. We are horrified as the dictator in the Whie House continues with his illegal power grab with the consent of the Congress and Supreme Court.

I Will Not

No, I will not 'chip in' some money because I signed a petition.

No, I will not review my visit to a physician.

No, I will not review my purchase of a package of dish cloths.

No, I will not sign a petition so the company or the nonprofit can then bombard me with emails. 

No, I will not donate to a GoFundMe for some random person.

No, I do not, and I will not, create an account.

No, I will not donate to any politician regardless of party.

No, I will not provide my e-mail address so I can get pricing information online.

What’s with all the requests for me to review a visit or a purchase? These things are always worded in such a way that negative responses are very difficult to make and very rare to add. I really doubt that my review of a package of dishcloths made in India is going to add value to anybody's shopping experience.

So please, stop bombarding me and everybody else with countless requests for money or reviews. Enough already.

Life Without

 I saw something online this morning, one day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was murdered, that struck a chord.

The poster prayed that Kirk's death will serve as a wake-up call so that no more spouses, children, parents, relatives and friends will have to experience life without a loved one.

Just imagine if this prayer becomes reality. What if people didn't have to live life without .. food, shelter, education, security, personal safety, recognition (the kind we all need, not the kind celebrities crave), positivity and hope.

The only things people should be forced to live life without are scarity, fear, abuse, hunger, persecution and all the other things that we should no longer have to fear.

What a world devoid of life without wouold be. We can't create a world in which no one is forced to live a life without, but shouldn't we at least try?

Let Us Never Forget

 On this 24th  anniversary of worst terror attack in American history, I believe that Sept. 11 should be a national holiday. 

It should be a day to remember all those who died that day while going about their daily lives. September 11 should join other days of remembrance such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day. We should cancel Columbus Day, which is a minor holiday celebrated by the federal government, but not by anyone else. And it is an insult to Native Americans who resent having to honor a man who enslaved and killed so many of their ancestors.

Let us instead honor the nearly 3,000 innocent people who died on that beautiful September day in 2001. Let us also honor those first responders -- police, firefighters and paramedics -- who rushed in to help the victims. Sone 343 New York firefighters and paramedics died that day. An equal number later died of 911-related illnesses.  

Seventy two peace officers died in the line of duty on September 11, with an additional 229 who died of related illnesses.

These attacks killed people of all ages, from young children to senior citizens. They killed US citizens and immigrants. They killed men and women, people of all races, ethnicities and , religions. 

And let us honor the survivors who will forever carry the physical and emotional scars of that day. Let us honor all who were forever scarred by the memories of Sept. 11, 2001. 

Let us remember how Americans came together in the aftermath of that terrible day, in love and support of each other and of this great nation. It didn't matter the gender or nationality or economic status of the victims. We came together as one nation, united in grief. People lined up to donate blood. Other nations, including our adversaries, offered their condolences and their assistance. Our race, out ethnicity, our religion, our political beliefs, ididn't matter. What did matter was that our country had been viciously attacked, and our fellow Americans had died.

Now, more than two decades later, our country bears no resemblance to the united nation we became on that horrible day. Politians go out of their way to attack colleagues of the other party. People feel emboldened to murder those with whom they disagree. Despite the dangers of forcing a religion on others, Republicans are trying to force the United States to become a Christian nation.

Seeing what our country has become and what is happening to our freedoms and rights literally makes my stomach churn.

Let us work to regain the sense of a common humanity, a nation united, that we experienced in the aftermath of this horrible day. Wei need to work on rekindling that sense of unity, that sense of togetherness.

As NBC News anchor Lester Holt commented at the conclusion of a story looking back on the aftermath of 9/11, "What has happened to us?"

Above all, let us never forget.

Our Country Is Broken

It's been obvious for a while that our country is broken. 

There aren't just tears in the fabric of our country. There are gigantic chasms in our country. The chasms are so large that I wonder whether we will survive.

If you don't like somebody, grab a gun and shoot them. If you don't agree with someone's politics, grab a gun and shoot them. If somebody cuts you off in traffic, grab a gun and shoot them. If you disagree with someone's religion, just grab a gun and shoot them. If you want to add a bit of excitement to your life, grab a gun and shoot somebody for fun. This is the world in which we live.

It doesn't matter whether you are a Democrat, a Republican, an independent, a socialist or whatever. Gun violence is not the answer.

I have been around for some seven decades. I have never seen the country where I was born, the country in which I grew up and was educated and worked, the country I love, in such a mess.

Reasoned political discussions are non-existent. We live in a world of threats and insults, starting with the highest political positions in the land. Everything, including our beloved national parks and lands, are for sale to the highest bidder. Political appointments go not to the most qualified, but to those with the most money offered and to those who put loyalty to politcs above loyalty to the Constitution. The rule of law means nothing. There is one set of laws for the wealthy and well connected, another for the middle and working classes, and still another for immigrants.

Can the fabric of our country and of our society be repaired? If it can be, what is it going to take to start the repair process? To start the healing process? 

Welcome to America 2025.

Let’s Do Better on This and Future National Dog Days

Why are we still killing millions of dogs and cats every year?

I today, on National Dog Day, seems an appropriate, if somber day to talk about this. I worked for a large California humane society from 1980 to 1988. Although I didn't work with animals directly, I was nevertheless impacted by the constant influx of dogs and cats. I wrote and published the humane society's quarterly magazine, I provided the photos for the magazine, and I photographed cruelty cases to document them for prosecurtion. 

Now, some 35-plus years later, we are still slaughtering dogs and cats at a rate of between 2.7 million and 4 million every year. Sure, some of these animals are unadoptable due to to illness, injury or behavioral issues. But the vast majority of these companion animals is adoptable, if only someone wanted them.

I have adopted 15 dogs over the course of my adult life. Most came from animal shelters or humane societies, although a few were from rescue groups or were adopted directly from their previous families. Several were purebred dogs, but all were rescues. None were purchased from breeders.

Animal shelters require that adopted animals be spayed or neutered. My Jenny was spayed by her rescue group when she was just a few months old -- too young in my opinion. But clearly far too many people don't have their animal companions spayed or neutered. And clearly far too many don't take the steps necessary to prevent their animals from breeding.

Low cost clinics are available in most areas, so the cost of the procedure isn't the real reason for the population boom. Letting a female dog or cat "have just one litter" so the kids "can experience the miracle of birth" is BS. If people want their kids to experience the miracle of birth, they should also experience the miracle of death on a mass scale.

I had one dog who never got neutered. I was advised to wait until he was at least 2 years old to give the growth plates in his bones time to close. He died of meningitis when he was 2 years and 3 months old. Had he lived, he would have been neutered. Likewise, my daughter's golden retriever will be neutered when he turns 2 in October. She already has made the appointment. 

Dogs bring so much to our lives. They give us unconditional love. They serve as eyes for the blind and ears for the hearing impaired. Some can detect epileptic seizures and diabetic shock before anything bad happens. They can track and apprehend criminals. They can detect hidden narcotics and cash and weapons with amazing accuracy and efficiency. Some dogs can detect cancer and Covid. They are our alert system and our guardians. And they’re joyful, happy and often playful.

Dogs give so much more than they receive. And they deserve so much better.

Being Woke

The far right uses the word woke as a slur or an insult.

I don't see it that way. I hope I live up to the ideals of being woke. If being woke means I am kind, that I wish the best for others regardless of where they are from, where they live or whom they love, then I will wear this description with pride. Being woke doesn't mean I am a communist or a fascist. It means simply that I strive to be a good human.

To quote the late Pope Francis, "Who am I to judge?"

 

 

Do You Like to Eat?

So, do you like to eat?

Then think about this: No farmers, no food.

No bees, no food.

No field workers, no food.

No water, no food.

This brief and simple statement is terrifying. I don't know about you, but I enjoy eating. And now with the roundup of farm workers - - you know, the folks who toil in the hot sun harvesting our fruits and vegetables - - either being deported or being too scared to go to work for fear of being deported, who is going to do the hot, dirty, backbreaking work on which our food supply depends? 

One member of the regime has suggested that once the work requirment for recipients of Medicaid kicks in, there will be lots of people to do the dirty agricultural work. Sure, that 65-year-old granny will be a great field worker, right? 

And now, thanks to the current regime in Washington, farmers have lost valuable markets for their crops. Food is rotting in the fields. Grocery prices are skyrocketing.

And now that our longstanding environmental protections are either under attack or have been removed completely, bees and water are ar risk. Without bees to pollinate crops, and without adequate unpollueted water to irrigate plants, we will have no food.

I am not a big eater, especially since I lost my ability to smell or taste food as a result of a respiratory infection (long before covid came on the scene). But I still must eat. I love fresh fruit, the summer fruits in particular. So while I have a stockpile of non-perishable foods, i cannot stockpile fresh fruits and vegetables. 

With the threat of climate change, increasing temperatures and drought, the lack of field workers to harvest our produce and the destruction of environmental protections by the current regime, our food supply is increasingly at risk. We know that higher prices due to tariffs (the Trump tax) on imported foods are already showing up. Expect prices to go even higher. And there may be shortages down the road as well.

So, all you people who enjoy a fresh salad or a good steak (many slaughterhouse workers are brown-skinned immigrants), enjoy it while you can.

So Much Evil

Why is there so much evil in this world? 

Are humans inherently evil, or is there something that makes many become evil? 

And more to the point, why is there so much evil in the United States these days?

If, as some believe, humans are born with both good and evil tendencies, why is it that the evil ones seem much more common?

What prompted me to think about this was a three-part National Geographic television series about the Oklahoma City bombing of April 1995, which took the lives of 168 people, including 19 children. Countless others were injured. Add in the increasing number of acts of evil being perpetrated by the current regime in power in the White House and in the halls of Congress, and it seems that evil is taking over. Evil is winning 

If it isn't evil, what is causing the government, our government, to slash education, to slash programs that research deadly diseases, that provide food to those in need, not just in the US, but around the world? Programs that provide assistance to victims of natural disaster and that provide warnings of impending life-threatening weather events have been canceled. 

Evil is evident in the rejection of vaccines that have been proven to safely prevent deadly diseases such as covid. Even measles, declared not a danger in the US some 20 years ago, is once again sickening both children and adults, and taking at least one life. Evil is removing safeguards that protect our food supply. Evil is removing regulations that protect our air and water from industrial pollution. Evil is celebrating the murder of two people in Minnesota and the wounding of two others simply because they were Democrats. Evil is sending National Guard troops to take over the nations capital. Evil is asking the Supreme Court to ban gay marriage. Evil is snatching people off the streets of America and sending them off to some godforsaken place in another country simply because their skin is brown.

Evil has always existed in the world. Adolf Hitler and his followers are the epitome of evil. So were Josef Stalin and this followers. The history books are filled with stories of evil people, nearly always men. 

Now the United States is home to great evil. Homegrown eveil is the worst. But this time much of that evil is cloaked in Christian nationalism. How these so-called Christians can call themselves followers of Jesus Crist while at the same time condoning murder, while taking rights from women and demanding that women subjugate themselves to men, while removing equal rights from members of the LGBTQ community, while snatching people off the streets simply because of the color of their skin, is incomprehensible.

I find it particularly distressing to watch a country known for its support of the downtrodden turn into a country that celebrates cruelty for the sake of cruelty. Of course, there still are many Americans who retain their goodness and willingness to stand up for those being oppressed. But it is unfathomable that so many Americans voted to elect members of a party that is openly racist and sexist, and that support pedophiles.  

It's also distressing that so many people are totally lacking in the ability to see through the constant lies. I have seen interviews of voters who are finally seeing what that party actually stands for and explain in dismay "that's not what I voted for."  Yes, this is precisely what you voted for. The candidates' own words told you, and their actions showed you, what you would get if you voted for those people. 

Racism and sexism are not new to America. But that our government wholeheartedly embraces these things, and tries to rewrite history, is appalling. Just yesterday the president demanded that the Smithsonian change some of its exhibits because, according to him, they point out the horrors of slaverly. Spoken like true racist indeed.

I can only hope that those or us who are resisting the rush to fascism and the country's embrace of evil will prevail. May America defeat the evil that has taken over our federal executive, legislative and judicial systems before it is too late.

Make Good Trouble

The late member of Congress and civil rights activist John Lewis encouraged people to make good trouble. 

"Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America" is his most famous, and most inspiring, quote.

I believe, as do so many others, that now is the time for us to get in good trouble. Our country is being turned into a fascist nation. Our rights are being stripped away. Our government institutions are being destroyed. The most vulnerable among us are having their health care and their sources of food taken from them, all to provide funding for a big tax cut for the countrys billionaires and large corporations. Immigrants, even those in this country legally and those who are citizens, are being rounded up simply because of the color of their skin. Once they are snatched off the streets, they are shipped off to a detention facility hundreds of miles from where they live, or even to another country with which they have no relationship. Our institutions of higher education are under attack. Women's rights are being rolled back. Our LGBTQ brothers and sisters are being marginalized.

Lewis believed in non-violent protests. As private citizzens we can join peaceful marches and protests. We can call and write to our elected members of Congress. We can stand up for those unfairly targeted by the government's nameless masked goons. We must understand that the attacks will eventually turn on us.

So yes, this is the time to make good trouble.

I Stand With Them

I am not part of the LGBTQ community. But I stand with those who are. 

I am not Hispanic, but I stand with those who are.

I am not Jewish, but I stand with those who are.

I am not Ukrainian, but I stand with those who are. 

I do not live in Gaza, but I stand with those innocents who do.

There is little I can do to help the five groups mentioned above with their current world struggles. I have no power. I have no influence. I don't have a great deal of money. I'm not a politician.

And realistically, my standing with these groups of people won't make any difference to them and to the challenges they face. But just maybe, knowing that one senior citizen cares about them and is appalled by the way they are being treated will help them understand they are not alone.

And maybe knowing that I stand up with the oppressed will show the world that each of us can and should stand up for others. For me, it’s a matter of self-respect. I refuse to side with the tyrants. I refuse to stand with the oppressors.

Where Is Our Common Humanity?

I recently watched a three-part program on National Geographic television about the 1995 terrorist attack on the federal building in Oklahoma City. 

Toward the end of the program, former President Bill Clinton talked about what happens when we lose our common humanity. It has become abundantly clear to me that the United States has in fact lost its common humanity. I think we have been losing our common humanity for a while, but the current regime has made it more obvious that our common humanity has become very, very endangered.

This country is incredibly divided along political lines. There appears to be no effort to, as the saying goes, work across the aisle. I blame one party, and one party in particular for this. Followers of this party think it's okay for them to assassinate or attempt to assassinate representatives of the other party?  I clearly remember when both Democratic and Republican members of the US Congress set aside their differences, came together and worked for the good of the American people.  Where is the common humanity now?

We are now controlled by a regime -- executive, judicial and legislative -- that thinks it's okay to terrorize immigrants in this country simply because they happen to have brown skin. They are tased. They are kidnapped off the streets. They are shipped off to what some have described as concentration camps before being deported to countries with which they have absolutely no affiliation. Where is our common humanity? 

We have one political party that is doing everything in its power, whether legal or illegal, to protect the leader of the regime from serious charges that he was involved in a child sex abuse operation. The ongoing attempts to deflect the American public’s attention from this issue are so far being met with failure. Where is our common humanity for the girls who were induced or tricked into this ring of sex abusers and perverts?

The current regime in power has, apparently with no concern for those impacted,  canceled life-saving programs that have provided food and medicine to the poorest of the poor overseas. This same regime will eliminate health care for some 10 million to 12 million Americans. Where is our common humanity?

The fact that this regime is cutting food support to hungry people, including children, the fact it is costing women's lives with its draconian rulings that prohibit pregnanet women from getting live-saving care simply because they are unmarried or because their fetus died in utero, is unconscionable. Where is our common humanity?

Thousands of people in Gaza are being starved while the world stands by and watches. Tons of food supplies are waiting, undelivered, as people starve. A 4-year-old-girl died this week of malnutrition and starvation. Where is our common humanity?

Russia continues to target apartment buildings and other non-military buildings in Ukraine. Where is our common humanity?

Maybe some day we humans, allegedly a superior species, will wake up and find our common humanity.

Some Thoughts About Words

There are certain words and phrases I simply dislike.

Here are the first to come to mind: 

Sales event 

Moderate to severe 

Terms and conditions 

Cookies (the computer kind, not the edible kind)

Travel consideration

Snacks

Why is every car sale advertised as a 'sales event'? First of all, I don't believe that cars ever go on sale. And what makes it an event?

The term moderate to severe is heard numerous times every day in every commercial for every prescription medication. Is every disease moderate to severe?

Terms and conditions is another phrase used everywhere, from Web sites to online. "You must read the terms and conditions." "Terms and conditions apply." The terms and conditions always include multiple pages of small type, or they are repeated verbally by someone who must be an auctioneer.

Cookies. Why are these things called cookies? Real cookies are good. These electronic cookies, small bits of text placed on any website I visit, store information about my Web browsing activities. How does this benefit me? I'm not sure that it does. I routinely reject cookies on various sites, and I have seen no change in my browsing experience. 

What does travel consideration even mean?

And snacks is a word I have always disliked. There is simply something irritating about the sound of the word. 

This is true for several words that end in -y-or -ies. For example, the word patty, as in sausage patty. And what's wrong with using the word underwear rather than panties. I understand that panties is a diminuative of pants, but it is such an annoying word, especially when used to refer to women's, not children's, underwear. To me, it infantilizes women. 

As you probably can tell, the proper use of the English language is important to me. And it's more than spelling and grammar. It's also the sound of the words we use.

How Much Is Enough?

How much money does one person need?

Really, how much wealth is enough? 

When you have enough money to buy absolutely everything you want, be it houses or airplanes or yachts or private islands, or even a presidential election, how much money do you need? 

Based on America's richest people, I guess that number has no limit. A million dollars? $10 million? $100 million? A billion dollars? 100 billion dollars? There seems to be no upper limit to what these people want.

Just look at how excited they are about getting their 2017 income tax cuts permanently extended. Other people, including the lower and middle classes, pay their fair share of taxes. And they will pay even more under the recently enacted tax legislation. Meanwhile, the uberwealthy pay nothing or next to nothing in taxes.

Some billionaires, including Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, leave most of the money to charities. Others, such as the current resident of the White House, are so greedy they even steal money from a children's cancer charity.

Singer/songwriter Taylor Swift is a multibillionaire, but she does a lot of good with her wealth. She makes a substantial donation to the food bank of every city where she performs. She gives large bonuses to her stage crew. She has contributed to disaster relief, education, cancer research, women's rights and LBGTQ rights.

Dolly Parton is another person who does a lot of good with her millions. Her charitable works focus on childhood literacy (the Imagination Library, for example), disaster relief, college scholarships, medical research and other causes. 

There are millionaires and billionaires who do good things with their immense wealth. Sadly, many do nothing but hoard money and do everything possible to get more, regardless of who gets hurt in the process.

I am not wealthy, but I believe that those who can afford to help are morally obligated to help.

Not Celebrating This Year

 

America's Independence Day is just one day away.

But this is not a day to celebrate our traditional freedoms, which are rapidly being stolen by a Republican regime hellbent on remaking our democratic republic into a theocratic cult of personality where anyone who isn't white straight and male doesn't matter.

Women continue to lose the freedom to choose when or whether to bear a child. A woman who suffers a miscarriage can face criminal charges. Women will die when unable to get the medical treatment they urgently need because physicians fear being criminally charged. The far right zealots want women to know their place, stay home and have multiple children.

I saw something online recently that said that the 4th of July has been canceled due to a shortage of independence for women.

Deark-skinned people -- whether US citizens, legal immigrants or immigrants here illegally -- risk being rounded up and shippted off to other countries where the unforunate people have no history, no knowledge of the culture and don't speak the language. This is not deportation.

Now the regime is considering revoking visas and the citizenship of naturalized citizens. Cruelty, it seems, is the point.

Trans people are being forced out of the military, and those who recently completed training at a US military academy will never be allowed to serve. How is this making America great again?

Voting rights are at risk, as are the rights of asylum seekers and immigrants.

The right to peaceful assembly and protest, as guaranteed in the US Constitution, is at risk. Congress and the legislatures of 19 states have introduced 52 bills that would limit the right to protest.

Freedom of speech is at risk, with the regime demanding the firing of those who speak against the regime.

The right to due process is being violated daily when immigrants are snatched off the street, shoved into a vehicle by unidentified masked men, and deported to a prison somewhere in the world without an arrest warrant, criminal charges or appearance before a judge.

Freedom of religion, as well as freedom from religion, is a joke as the regime and its allies push to make this country a Christian nation. Actually, make that a christo-fascist nation. Courts have consistently shot down state requirements to require that the Ten Commandments be posted prominantly in school classrooms and in courtrooms.

The regime has caused the firing of tens of thousands of federal employees for no real reason.

The regime is slashing international, life-saving food and medicine. The regime is throwing millions of Americans, many of them children and the elderly, off Medicaid. The regime is sladhing food progams millions rely on for their survival.

The president continues to be an embarrassment to this country (those who aren't cult members). He continues to grift and to lie about everything.

So, while I love my country, I do not love what it has become. America has been, and should be, so much better. 

What Kind of Person Are You?

I ran across this question in a book I read recently, a biography, of notorious Nazi concentration camp guard Maria Mandl.

The question was asked of the author of the book by a survivor of the notorious Nazi concentration camps. She was not interested in the author's credentials, but rather in knowing what kind of person she was. At the heart of the question is whether someone would be the kind of person to hide a Jewish person from the Nazis, at the risk of losing their own life.

I think this is a wonderful question, something each of us should ask ourselves every so often. Not the part about hiding a Jew from Nazis, but more widely. What kind of person am I?

I'd guess that most of us consider ourselves to be good, caring people. But are we really? From my point of view, far too many Americans are anything but good and kind.

I once was Facebook friends with a woman who commented that she had health insurance, so why should she care about those who don't? I ended our 'friendship' at that point. Should I state that I have access to plenty of food, so why should I care that some people in the US, and even more around the world, don't have enough to eat? That's not the kind of person I am. And that is why I support organizations such as Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen and Roadrunner Food Bank, which provide food to those who cannot afford food. 

We're not talking about luxuries; I don't care if someone can't afford a luxury car or a mansion. I'm talking about health care, housing, food and other necessities. How can I not care?

Would I, had I lived during World War II, risked my life to hide a Jewish person? I have asked myself that question. And honestly, I don't know the answer. I like to think I would have, but I don't know whether I would have been brave enough to take that risk. Fortunately, I am not likely to ever find myself in that position.

But I do think I am a good, kind person. I have adopted 16 dogs. I adopted my daughter from an orphanage in Siberia. I donate to a variety of charities throughout the year. I care about the environment. I pick up trash in my neighborhood, I drive a hybrid vehicle, I recycle everything that is recyclable where I live. I donate to a variety of non-profit organizations in the US and internationally. 

I think this world would be a much better place if more of us took a close look at ourselves and asked, "What kind of person am I?"

Whatever Happened?

Is this how we make America great?

Do we make America great -- and that's assuming America isn't already great -- by attacking our closest allies, cozying up to tyrants, upending the world's economic system by imposing tariffs on imported goods, and by sending troops to attack Americans protesting the removal of immigrants with no due process? Is America made greater by removing freedom of choice from women, and by trying to impose Christian nationalism on the populace? 

Is America made great by cutting taxes on billionaires while at the same time removing several million low-income Americans from health insurance? Are we made great by refusing to allow one of the world's best universities to admit international students, thereby depriving our country of some of the best and brightest minds?

Are we made great by raining insults and retribution on anyone who dares to disagree with the wanna-be dictator in the White House? Are we greater after transfender members of our military are summarily kicked out of the service they have willingly agreed to join?  Does threatening to arrest the governor of the state of California -- the world's fifth largest economy -- make America great?

That isn't my idea of greatness. Whatever happened to due process that is supposed to be applied to everyone in the US, regardless of immigration status? Whatever happened to the rule of law? to defending the US Constitution? to respecting the rulings of courts of all levels?

I Just Don’t Care Anymore

I am quickly reaching, or perhaps I have already reached, the point where I just don't care.

Everything is overwhelming, especially things that are most important to me. I care about the environment, which is at grave risk of being destroyed by the current regime in Washington, DC. I care deeply about animals, both wild and domestic. Species protected by the Endangered Species Act are about to lose protection. I care about children, and I am saddened to learn that the Head Start program is about to be canceled. I am furious that the current regime has seen fit to deport several young children suffering from cancer. What kind of society are we living in?

I care about peace, and I just learned that the so-called leader of the free world is about to commit American troops to fight in Yemen. That’s not our war. And of course, the young men and women who will be sent to fight are not the children of the super wealthy. The Republicans love war as long as they can stand on the sidelines and watch. Oh, and as long as they can make big bucks from the war. 

The dictator-in-waiting is threatening to "walk away" from efforts to end Russia's war on Ukraine unless an agreement is reached soon. The only way Putin will agree to end the war is if Ukraine capitulates to Moscow's demands.

I am constantly bombarded with appeals for money, online and in snail mail. My charitable donations dropped by probably 75 percent last year. No matter how much I donate, it's never enough. I donated $500 to one non-profit, and was quickly asked to donate $1500. I made an annual donation to another group, and was then asked to donate for three consecutive months. I am always asked to "cover the cost of my donation," something that really annoys me. What's next -- covering the cost of the computers that process my donation, or the cost of electricity? I refuse to pay for the privilege of making a donation.

So I just don't care any more. Not when the super wealthy in this country don't pay their fair share of taxes. Not when they spend ridiculous amounts of money on superfluous, wasteful spending. Not when the president of the United States spends hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on his never-ending golf trips. Not when multimillionaires have millions of dollars to spare for a 10 minute ride into space.

I refuse to give up. I will remain hopeful that things will get better, as difficult as that may be. I will continue to do things that bring me pleasure. But it sure isn't easy.

It’s Just Too Much

I don't know about you, but the constant chaos, lies and pandemonium that we Americans, at least those of us who aren't members of the cult, are forced to live through are taking a toll on my mind and body.

It's exhausting. Reading day after day after day after day about the incessant babbling of the president of this once great country. Watching him travel at taxpayer expense to Middle Eastern countries where he is treated like the king he wants to be as he sets up deals that benefit not our country, but himself. It's all about him being feted by very wealthy people. Watching how his government prosecutes people who dare to speak out against him after he has insulted them repeatedly is extremely distressing. Watching the courts refuse to do anything to try to reign him in is very discouraging.

They're taking my enthusiasm away. They're taking my will to do anything except sit home and read or watch television. They're taking my energy away. All I want to do after the sun goes down is to crawl into bed. Fortunately, my dogs keep me up and moving. Each gets a 1-mile walk every early morning.

I have lost many hours of sleep, worrying about this country and what is being done to dismantle it. One recent night found me awake for 4 hours as I stared at the ceiling in the darkness. I thought about getting up, but if I got up, my dogs would get up. And their routine indicates that after they get up and go outside for a potty break, they have breakfast. That wasn't going to happen at 1:00 a.m.

I am looking forward to some travel this year that should provide not only a respite from the terrible news, but also offer opportunities for some great photography. I have reduced the amount of time I spend on social media, and the only news I watch is a 30-minute local news program followed by a 30-minute national news broadcast. 

I read a lot, but sometimes I get tired of reading. I exercise every day. And most of the television I watch is historical or archaeological or science-based. I cannot deal with the inanity of sitcoms with their canned laughter. 

A break from the insanity of American politics will be a welcome respite, especially when I am overseas. Of course, for the first time in my life, I have to worry about whether I will be thrown in jail as I return to the US because of something I may have posted somewhere online. So much for freedom of speech. So much for the Fourth Amendment. So much for our democracy.

What Takes Your Breath Away?

I follow a number of photography pages online. 

Recently I got a friend request from a retired physician who is also an amazing wildlife photographer. He has been posting photos of leopards and other wildlife from his recent travels. To mark World Leopard Day recently, he posted a breathtaking photo of a male leopard walking directly down the road toward him. 

That is the kind of image that takes my breath away. It's also the kind of image I dream of capturing. Sadly, that leopard was killed by lions, a fate that happened to my most favorite Kenyan leopard named Fig. Fig is pictured to the right, the first time I saw her in Kenya. She had a daughter named Figlet who is still thriving in Kenya. Figlet has raised several beautiful cubs.

Lions and leopards hate each other. So I'm not surprised when I hear about lions killing a leopard. But it still always saddens me.

Another thing that has taken my breath away is viewing (and photographing) some of Mother Nature's handiwork -- landscapes. I confess, however, that as beautiful as some landscapes are, nothing can compare with the amazing wildlife I have been fortunate enough to photograph.

My preference for landscape photography is mountains, the bigger the better. Pictured here is Shiprock, the remains of an ancient volcano on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. This monadnock is a mountain that rises abruptly from a flat or gently sloping plain.

Finally, certain singers and music take my breath away. Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand come to mind immediately. I recently saw a video of three sopranos singing with Andre Rieu's orchestra. The song, Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, is such a moving song. And one of the sopranos, whose name I don't know, has an incredibly beautiful voice. 

When I was in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, at the conclusion of walking the Camino de Compostela pilgrimage route, a soprano known as the 'soprano of the arches' was singing outdoors. I bought her CD so I could enjoy her incredible voice at home. That was the first time I had heard Cohen's masterpiece, and I was hooked.

I hope you find, and enjoy, things that take your breath away.

Never Too Old

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. -- CS Lewis

This quote seems very timely and appropriate right now. A couple of days ago, I signed up for a photography trip to Sri Lanka in 2027. The thing that caught my attention in a major way was the opportunity to photograph leopards, which are my favorite predator, Asian elephants and sloth bears. The opportunity was just too good to pass by. So I put down a deposit.

The trip is a full two years away, and I suddenly started wondering whether I still will be in physical shape to go. Sri Lanka is a really long way from where I live in America’s desert Southwest. A quick check of an airline website shows that it’s likely to take between 35 and 40 hours to get there. And as the saying goes, I’m not getting any younger. I’m in good health for someone my age. But I’m not as strong or flexible or resilient as I used to be in my younger days. 

The trip itself is listed as a level one, which means there isn’t a lot of strenuous activity or walking while carrying photography gear. Of course, just getting there will take a long, long time on an airplane. That definitely will take a toll. But, travel helps keep me young and engaged. So I will pack up my cameras, tripod and my lenses, and hope to have a very successful expedition to Sri Lanka.

There are still so many places I want to visit. Among them are Rome, the Scandinavian countries, the Baltics, the Balkans, and other places in Italy. 

I just hope I can maintain, or improve, my current level of fitness, and that my health remains good.

Service and Humility

The world has lost two great but humble men in the past 4 months. 

Former US President Jimmy Carter died in late December at the age of 100. Pope Francis died on the day after Easter at the age of 88. 

Jimmy Carter was a southern Baptist. Pope Francis was, of course, a Roman Catholic. But these two men had many things in common despite their different religions. 

Carter served one term as president. He then devoted his life to traveling the world to monitor elections and guarantee their fairness. He and his wife devoted countless years to building homes as part of Habitat for Humanity. He taught Sunday school at the Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains, Georgia for many, many years. He and his wife lived in the same modest home in which they had lived for decades. 

Pope Francis, the world's first pope from Latin America, was born in Argentina to Italian immigrants. As he rose through the ranks of the church, he remained a humble man, taking the bus to work every day. After his election as Pope, he refused to live in the richly appointed 10-room quarters reserved for popes, instead living in a Vatican guest house. He had a warm, outgoing personality, caring in particular for the poor, the ill and young children. Francis was also working to modernize and liberalize the church, despite opposition from other members of the clergy. 

Both of these men devoted themselves to making the world a better place. Both were models of humility and simplicity. Both never forgot where they came from, their ordinary roots. We need more men like Jimmy Carter and like Pope Francis.  Service and humility were the hallmarks of both.

We need people who don't focus on accumulating great wealth, but in serving the world and the forgotten and overlooked of the world..

Did You Ever Wonder?

Did you ever wonder what this country would be like had JFK not been assassinated and had he gone on to serve one or probably two terms? 

Did you ever wonder what this country would be like had Kamala Harris won the presidency in 2024? She was incredibly qualified to be president. She served 4 years as vice president. She had 4 years' experience as a US senator. She was the attorney general for the state of California for six years. She was the district attorney for the city of San Francisco for seven years. She is strong, but she is dedicated. She is honest. She loves people. She cares about this country. She brought such a sense of excitement to the political arena. Sadly, her gender and her ethnicity caused the country's racists and misogynists to vote against her. 

I know that if we had a sane and experienced president, we would not be in a massive trade war with the world. We would not have a president suspected of insider trading. We wouldn't be rounding up people and shipping them to a horrible prison in El Salvador without providing them with due process as required by law. We wouldn't have the most inept, unqualified cabinet in recent history. We wouldn't have a president using the White House Lawn to sell cars for a multibillionaire.

The stock market wouldn't be on a roller coaster ride caused directly by the insane whims of the occupant of the White House.

We wouldn't have removed all mentions of women and minorities from government Web sites. We wouldn't be dismantling federal agencies and their programs that provide life-saving care to millions around the world. We wouldn't need to bail out America's farmers because a trade war and the cancellation of programs that buy American food have left the farmers with fewer global markets for their produce. 

We wouldn't be wasting tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on endless golf trips.

We would be tackling our problems in a sane, intelligent manner.

Now I Understand

That's right. Now I better understand how a dictator can take over a previously democratic country. 

I've often wondered how the Germans in the early 20th century could stand by and watch Hitler and his fanatical followers take over their country. How could they have allowed this to happen? 

Sadly, I now understand exactly how this happened. It's not that the German people of the early 20th century were necessarily bad. They were simply responding to a leader who promised them things they were lacking. 

Germany and its allies had been defeated in World War I, and the Treaty of Versailles placed some really onerous obligations on postwar Germany. A worldwide economic depression and the rising power of labor unions and communists caused an increasing number of Germans to turn to the Nazi party. Bank failures and unemployment further bolstered Hitler's claim that democracy was not working for the people. 

Then along came Hitler, who promised to rebuild and strengthen the German state. The Weimar Republic had lasted 12 years. Hitler promised a thousand-year Reich. He promised to restore Germany to greatness and to expand its territory.

He also gave voice to Europe's simmering anti-Semitism. All of Germany's problems, according to Hitler, were the fault of the Jews.

Hitler, by all accounts, was an amazing speaker He was animated. He shouted. He got his audience riled up. He had his personal photographer take pictures of him as he rehearsed various dramatic poses. I don't speak German, and I haven't read translations of his speeches, so I don't know exactly what he told the massive crowds who went to hear him. But I do know that he was a mesmerizing speaker. 

No one could ever call the current occupant of the White House a mesmerizing speaker. He rambles. He is incoherent. His speeches are full of lies. He speaks in a monotone. He drones. He jumps from topic to topic. But he tells his rabid, often poorly educated, followers what they want to hear. They want someone other than themselves to blame for their lack of education and skilled jobs. It's the fault of the 'libtards.' It's the fault of immigrants. But of course it's never their fault. Why should it be, when the leader of the cult never accepts responsibility for anything?

Clearly, critical thinking is not among the attributes of his followers. And the current occupant of the White House also plays to the fears, insecurities and prejudices of his cult followers. Rather than blaming the Jews, he blames liberals for the economic problems his followers face. He blames minorities for the struggles of his followers. When a commercial airliner collided with a military helicopter not far from the White House, he suggested the crash, which took the lives of nearly 70 people, was probably caused by DEI hires. And those "very fine people" he praised after riots in Virginia marched through the streets chanting "Jews will not replace us."

He also gives voice to the fears and insecurities of his followers. Women don't belong in the military; they should stay home and be mothers while serving their men. Women also don't belong in positions of power. Gays should be kept in the closet. In his view, and the view of his followers, only manly white men should be in power. The rest of the world has been taking advantage of America, according to the occupant of the White House. He claims that the tariffs he has imposed on goods imported from other countries -- that will be paid by consumers -- not by the exporting countries will make America wealthy beyond measure. Of course, his followers can't or won't recognize that these tariffs will cost average Americans thousands of dollars every year.

Like Hitler, the current occupant takes advantage of the state of unrest in the United States. And he doesn't just take advantage. He foments violence among his followers. Demographics are changing, with white people becoming a minority, something his followers fear. Already hundreds of migrants in the country illegally have been rounded up and deported without due process, something to which everyone who lives in this country is entitled.

Now that I better understand, I am even more fearful of what will happen to my country.

What Is Wrong with People?

Seriously, I ask myself this question frequently.

I was walking my dog early one morning shortly after sunrise. We were at the edge of the only paved road in my area, where there are no sidewalks and often nowhere to step off the road. Suddenly I spotted a small car approaching us very quickly, far above the posted  25 mph speed limit. The driver was driving into the sun, and there was no shoulder onto which we could step. Did the driver see us? We moved as far to the edge of the road as we could, but I was worried that we might be hit. Fortunately, we weren't, but it made me wonder why the driver didn't slow down until he passed us.

A few days later, a white pickup truck passed us so closely I thought we would be hit. Again, we stepped as far to the edge of the road as possible, but the driver didn't slow down or move into the other lane.

Too many people these days are just plain rude, selfish and self-centered. If I am driving and see someone walking along the road, I slow down and move a bit to the left to give him/her some space. But all too often, I don't get the same courtesy. I am left in a cloud of dust by drivers speeding along the dirt roads in my neighborhood.

A couple of years ago somebody broke into the offices of the local Make-A-Wish organization, which grants wishes to children with serious medical diagnoses. The thief or thieves stole gift cards and other things of value. Thieves have broken into a storage area holding Christmas gifts for children, collected by the US Marine Corp. How low will some people go? Apparently there is no bottom.

Online nastiness is everywhere. And this nastiness has nothing to do with the common politics-based anger and hatred so prevalent in our country.  

Lack of compassion isn't limited to the United States, of course. I remember falling on an ice-covered sidewalk in Moscow, Russia, years ago. Sidewalks in Moscow, unlike in the US, don't get shoveled. Several people walked past me or stepped over me as I lay sprawled on the ground. A nice elderly woman then approached me, offered me her hand, and helped me to my feet. 

When and why did so many people lose their sense of compassion? It takes so little effort to help others. Most of us aren't neurosurgeons rushing to perform brain surgery on a critically injured person in the hospital. We can take the time to perform a small act of kindness, but too many choose not to.

I recently came across an obese man whose electric scooter had become stuck in the loose dirt on one of the dirt roads in my area. I had my dog with me, but I asked if he needed a hand. He was able to step off the scooter and extricate it from the dirt, but he appreciated my offer to help. What did that act of kindness cost me? Nothing. It cost me nothing. 

Maybe it's the way I was raised, but I have no problem holding a door for someone, or letting a shopper with only a few items go ahead of me in the checkout line. It's common courtesy, and it costs me nothing aside from a couple of minutes of my time.

Again, I have to wonder why we are so self-centered and rude? All of us can, and should, do better.

Freedom of Speech?

You know, never in my more than 70 years of living in the United States have I ever been worried or fearful about what I wrote or posted online.

After all, the very first amendment to the US constitution provides for freedom of speech. Sadly, we can no longer count on the protections is of constitution. I am an American citizen. I have always been an American citizen. I worked for the federal government for some 23 years. I have never been arrested. I have had zero, zero arrests or other engagements with law enforcement.

But after reading multiple stories about US citizens and others legally in the United States being grabbed by border patrol and other unidentified, masked people, locked up and held for sometimes weeks with no charges brought against them, no explanations, and no ability to contact an attorney or family members, I am no longer confident that what I write may not come back to bite me. This is proof positive that we are now living in a dictatorship.

So now I wonder whether I will be allowed back into the United States when I return from my overseas travel this year. Or will I be thrown into a jail cell and held without explanation or the ability to contact anybody?

The other thing I wonder, given how unpopular the US regime is internationally, except for a few dictators, is what kind of reception will I get from people in the countries I’m planning to visit? I certainly hope that people in other countries will understand and except that not all Americans agree with what the current US regime is doing. There are tens of millions of us who strongly disagree.

Despite the guarantee of freedom of speech in the US Constitution, it now seems very evident that freedom of speech applies only to those whose opinions and writings are acceptable to the current regime. Those with dissenting opinions don’t enjoy freedom of speech any longer. We must all take a knee and worship the dictator currently occupying the White House.

I am incredibly saddened by what has become of the United States in just a couple of months. And I am incredulous that after 250 years of nationhood, we have sunk so low, where we collude with dictators and attack and abandon our allies.

The Saga of Singles

Do you know which group of people gets discriminated against, legally, all the time? 

Single people get discriminated against all the time. Want to take a trip? Prepare to pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars extra for a single supplement. Want to go out to eat? Just wait for the host or hostess to say "just one?"

Single people, in my experience, are likely to be given a tiny hotel room with barely enough room to turn around, usually located near the elevator or the ice machine, which means the room will be noisy. Going out to eat often entails the single person being seated at a table near the back of the dining area close to the kitchen. Again, a busy and noisy area. 

On a British Airways flight from London to Chicago a few years ago, as I handed my boarding pass to the gate agent, I was informed that my seat had been moved so a family could sit together. Rather than the aisle seat I had reserved months before, I found myself in a middle bulkhead seat adjacent to the onboard toilet. As you might imagine, after several hours of constant use, the toilet really smelled. 

When I got home I emailed British Airways about my terrible experience and wondered why my aisle seat that had been reserved for months was given to somebody else who didn't bother to plan ahead so the family could sit together. 

My first email was ignored. So I emailed again. I finally got a rather snarky response thanking me for all my emails and offering me a paltry voucher to use on another British Airways flight. It was useless, because I had no plans to fly on British Airways within the designated 12-month period. I now do my best to avoid British Airways and Heathrow Airport in London.

I have been single for many years. I also travel a lot. So I have experienced all forms of travel -related discrimination. I realize that the discrimination I have experienced is far less than the discrimination faced by ethnic and religious minorities in this country. But it is discrimination nonetheless, and it is perfectly legal. My property tax dollars help support local schools despite the fact I have no children in school. The argument is that having an educated population benefits all of society. That's great, but sometimes I feel that we singles are taken for granted.

Let's face it: the world is designed around couples. I think many people feel that there must be something wrong with single people. The expectation is that people should be married and have kids. I am happy being single and living by myself (except for my two dogs). 

I am not aware of any national organizations fighting discrimination directed at single people. So I guess we singles will have to put up with it if we plan to eat out or travel.

How Did We Get Here?

 How did we get here?

That's the question that kept me awake far into the night as I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling for 4 hours rather than sleeping.

How did the greatest democracy on the planet so quickly become a fascist-leaning, exclusionary nation run by a small group of oligarchs?

Just look at a few of the things that have happened this month:

• A 10-year-old American girl battling brain cancer was snatched, along with her parents (in the country illegally) as they headed to a doctor appointment. The family was deported.
• The Voice of America, which for the past 83 years has spread independent democratic journalism around the world, has been silenced by the current administration. Who gains from this silencing? Russia and China.
• Tens of thousands of federal employees have been fired without notice and without justification, all in the name of alleged 'fraud and waste.'
• Thousands of employees at the Veterans Administration, which provides healthcare to America's veterans, have been fired.
• Long-term department heads at the FBI, FAA and other agencies critical to America's safety have been forced out.
• The Department of Education is being shuttered, a step that supposedly requires congressional approval.
• All references to women, Blacks, Hispanics and Asians have been removed from numerous government web sites.
• References to the critical role played by Native American code talkers, whose use of their native languages played a crucial role in the fight against Japan in World War II, have been removed.
• Millions will lose or see drastic reductions in the Medicare coverage and food stamp benefits.
• Potentially life-saving research has been halted after funding was pulled.
• Information about the World War II Code Talkers -- Native American men who used their native languages to create a code unbreakable by the Japanese -- was removed from the Web by the Department of Defense "by accident". After a public outcry, it is being restored.

Apparently this administration believes that only white men are capable of making contributions in their chosen fields of expertise, rather science, the military or the law.

The hypocrisy, racism and misogyny of this administration are astounding. Evert day I wake up and wonder what new disaster awaits us.

Now the dictator-in-waiting and his cult members are claiming that judges have no authority and no right to challenge il duce's pronouncements and actions.

The question now is two-fold: What do we do next? And now do we get out of this mess?

Witness to Kindness

I was at the grocery store yesterday. Ahead of me was a woman with a cart loaded with food items.

I noticed a Hispanic man in line behind her, with only a carton of eggs. She told him he could go ahead of her, which he did. He thanked her, paid for his eggs, and as he left, he turned and thanked her again.

I commented to the cashier that it takes so little effort to do something nice for someone. She agreed that we need more acts of kindness in today's chaotic, anger-filled world.

I tell this story as a reminder that we all have the capacity to do something nice for others. 

What did her act of kindness cost her? Maybe a couple of minutes of her time. That's it. I believe letting that man go ahead of her in line brightened his day, as well as that of the cashier. And I was glad that I was able to witness an act of kindness. 

So the question is, when doing acts of kindness is so simple, why are they so rare? Why don't more people do something nice for others with no expectation of reciprocity? Have Americans in the 21st century lost their ability to care about others? And why are some people so nasty?

For what possible reason could a member of Congress, calling on another representative in the House of Representatives, refer to her as Mr? The representative he insulted is a transgender woman. She's made no secret of that fact. So why did her colleague - - and I use that term loosely - - feel it necessary to call her Mr? When another member of the House asked the offender what he had just said, the first person repeated what he had said, calling the transgender woman Mr. The only reason I can see for this insulting behavior is to cause pain to the transgender person. Apparently the guy doesn't agree that transgender people are human and should receive the same respect as everyone else. 

That brings me to my second question. When and why did Republicans become so damn nasty? I do not understand the whole transgender thing, but I have no animus against transgender people. 

I used to work on occasion with a transgender woman. She used to be known as Steve, and she's now known as Stephanie. The fact that she is transgender is none of my business. I worked well with her, she was pleasant, she knew her job, end of discussion.

Why do so many Republicans, many of them self-professed evangelical Christians, feel it necessary or their right to be nasty to other people? 

For me, I will continue to look for opportunities to practice small random acts of kindness. 

In a world full of cruelty, be kind.

A Reminder to Be Grateful

Savor what you have. Savor what you have been given.

These inspiring words are courtesy of Linda Stager, a Pennsylvania blogger and photographer. I wanted a precise definition of savor, so I turned to an online source, which described it as "in psychology, savoring the moment refers to intentionally focusing your attention on the positive aspects of an experience." Bingo! That's precisely what I was looking for, 

Soon after reading Linda's words, I ran across this message from a couple of years ago by Lisa Karwoski.

Instead of complaining about the cost of things & knowing it’ll get worse, here’s a different mindset.

I crawled into a warm bed last night & I know where I’m sleeping tonight. There is a roof over my head & the house is warm. The fridge & cupboards have food. My pups are safe , fed, & happy. I turn on the tap & have clean water.

I am blessed. If I have to take less trips, walk a bit further, so be it. We are luckier than most people that we share this world with.

I think it's good to be reminded of how fortunate we Americans are, especially during these times of chaos and high prices. Yes, egg prices are soaring. But for most of us who don't own a bakery or a restaurant, that is a manageable inconvenience.

Think about the farmers whose entire flocks of chickens and ducks have died of bird flu. Think about the bakers struggling with the high price of eggs needed for their baked goods. Imagine the challenges they are facing. Some local restaurants have added a $1 surcharge to egg dishes. That is a small price to pay for those who can afford to eat out.

As I was spending a few extra minutes in bed this morning, enjoying my wonderful mattress and the bedding that keeps me warm, I appreciated the comfort and warmth available to me whenever I need it. I listened to the quiet breathing of my dogs as they slept nearby.

Then I got up and took my dogs outside for their first potty break of the day. I immediately complained about how tired I was of being cold (I detest cold weather). But I have closets full of coats, jackets and other warm clothes. The homeless who must spend cold nights outside aren't so lucky.

Breakfast is, and always has been, my least favorite meal. Which boring food should I eat this morning, I wondered. But unlike those struggling to buy food, I have a pantry filled with food. There are yogurt and eggs in the refrigerator. I have extra boxes of cereal (I buy it when it's on sale) in the garage. So while I don't like breakfast, it isn't because I have no food choices.

I need a reminder from time to time about how fortunate I am. So many in my country are struggling. So many have lost their jobs due to the actions of a deranged South African billionaire who thinks he is the answer to making America's government more efficient. He is not remorseful and he seems to have absolutely zero compassion for the people whose lives he has destroyed.

So thank you to Linda and to Lisa, neither of whom I have ever met, for the timely reminder to really savor all that I have been given.