America's "National IQ" in Trumpian Freefall

America's "national IQ" in freefall—rejecting history, reason, freedom for all rather than the few & democracy by re-electing convicted felon Donald Trump who undermines institutions, foments chaos, & pardoned violent insurrectionists and sides with our international autocratic enemies like war criminal Vladimir Putin. 

A nation embracing autocracy is a nation in decline. 

If we were to imagine a "national IQ" as a metaphor for collective reasoning, decision-making, and long-term planning, the trajectory of the U.S. would suggest a severe decline in critical thinking and civic responsibility under the scenario you describe.

After the Obama and Biden administrations—both of which emphasized democratic norms, institutional stability, and a return to global alliances—the re-election of a convicted felon with autocratic tendencies and a history of undermining democratic institutions would indicate a failure of national judgment. It would suggest that a significant portion of the electorate is either unable or unwilling to recognize the dangers of authoritarianism, misinformation, and corruption, despite the clear historical warnings.

The pardoning of convicted violent criminals from the January 6 insurrection would further signal a breakdown in the rule of law and an embrace of political violence as an acceptable tool of governance. This would mark a shift from a nation that values democratic principles to one that tolerates or even encourages lawlessness when it serves the interests of those in power.

If a nation’s IQ were measured in its ability to uphold democratic values, sustain rational governance, and protect its institutions from internal sabotage, then under these conditions, the U.S. would be in intellectual and moral freefall. It would indicate not just ignorance, but an active rejection of wisdom, history, and accountability—factors that typically lead civilizations into decline.

The terms disease and malady are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings and connotations:

1. Disease – A specific pathological condition with identifiable signs, symptoms, and causes, often related to infections, genetic disorders, or environmental factors. It typically implies a medical diagnosis.

   • Example: Diabetes, tuberculosis, and cancer are diseases.

2. Malady – A broader term that can refer to any kind of disorder, affliction, or condition affecting health, including physical, mental, or societal issues. It has a more general and sometimes metaphorical use.

   • Example: Anxiety, corruption, or social unrest can be called maladies.

Key Differences:

• Medical specificity: "Disease" is more medically precise, while "malady" is more general.
• Formality: "Disease" is the preferred term in medical and scientific contexts; "malady" is often used in literature or philosophy.
• Scope: "Malady" can refer to non-medical afflictions (e.g., "the malady of greed"), whereas "disease" does not.

People susceptible to authoritarian or extremist ideologies, including MaGA’s more extreme elements (or perhaps any element), often share specific psychological traits and cognitive tendencies. While not all supporters fit this mold, those who become deeply entrenched in authoritarian thinking or conspiratorial beliefs tend to exhibit some of the following characteristics:

Psychological Traits Susceptible to "Mind Worms" Like Authoritarianism

1. High Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) – Prone to submission to perceived authority, aggression toward outsiders, and conventionalism.
2. Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) – Preference for hierarchy and dominance over perceived lower-status groups.
3. Low Cognitive Reflection – Quick to accept intuitive (but often incorrect) answers instead of engaging in deeper analysis.
4. Need for Cognitive Closure – Discomfort with uncertainty, leading to a preference for black-and-white thinking.
5. Fear-Based Thinking – Higher susceptibility to fear messaging, often linked to personal or societal insecurity.
6. Low Openness to Experience – Resistance to new ideas, cultures, or perspectives, preferring familiar and traditional norms.
7. High Conspiratorial Thinking – Tendency to believe in grand conspiracies that explain complex realities in simple terms.
8. Collectivist vs. Individualist Loyalty – Often prioritizes group identity (e.g., party, nation, race) over independent moral reasoning.

Why "Mind Worms" Work on This Personality Type

• Repetition & Echo Chambers – The more a claim is repeated, the more it feels true (illusory truth effect).
• Identity-Driven Politics – When ideology is tied to personal identity, questioning it feels like an attack on the self.
• Emotional Manipulation – Fear, anger, and grievance are powerful motivators, often overriding logic.
• Us vs. Them Mentality – Encourages tribalism and distrust of "outsiders" or "elites."

This isn’t exclusive to MAGA—historically, all forms of authoritarianism (left or right) thrive on these traits. But MAGA’s blend of nationalism, grievance politics, and anti-institutional rhetoric makes it particularly effective at exploiting these vulnerabilities.

If the U.S. were in full democratic crisis (as it is nnow)—facing an autocrat in power, the erosion of institutions, replacing agency and department heads with sycophants loyal to Pres. Trump and not the US Constitution or the People, in the pardoning of insurrectionists to send the message, "Break the law for ME and you'll be protected"—the emergency path to restoration would require immediate and decisive action. 

Here’s what should happen right now:

1. Mass Mobilization & Public Pressure

• Organize nationwide peaceful protests and strikes to demand accountability.
• Pressure Congress, state legislatures, and courts to act swiftly against authoritarian moves.
• Mobilize civil society groups to coordinate resistance against anti-democratic actions.

2. Legal & Congressional Action

• Invoke the 14th Amendment, Section 3 to bar insurrectionists from holding office.
• Fast-track impeachment or constitutional remedies if abuse of power escalates.
• State attorneys general must challenge unconstitutional actions through lawsuits and injunctions.

3. Protect Elections & Voting Rights

• Secure upcoming elections by fighting voter suppression laws and ensuring election oversight.
• Fund and mobilize voter turnout at unprecedented levels.
• Challenge any fraudulent election interference in courts immediately.

4. Federal & State Resistance

• Governors and state officials must refuse to enforce unlawful federal orders that undermine democracy.
• States can pass emergency laws protecting election officials, judges, and prosecutors from political interference.

5. Whistleblower & Insider Resistance

• Federal and state employees must document and expose illegal or unconstitutional directives.
• The judiciary and military must uphold the Constitution over any authoritarian commands.

6. International Pressure & Sanctions

• Allies must be engaged to condemn anti-democratic moves and threaten economic/political consequences.
• The UN, EU, and other democratic nations must apply diplomatic pressure and sanctions if necessary.

7. General Strike as Last Resort

• If democracy is being actively dismantled, a coordinated nationwide general strike could cripple the economy and force change.

This is not a time for passive hope—it’s a time for organized, legal, and relentless action to defend democracy before it's too late.

Compiled with aid of ChatGPT

Walkabout Thoughts #93

Thoughts in Streams of Consciousness, Rough & Ready, and Lightly Edited from an Award-Winning Filmmaker/Author you’ve never heard of while walking off Reality and hopefully the last half-life vestiges of Long Covid while listening to podcasts.
Walking Day is Friday, June 28, 2024.


Weather for the day… nice day, starting out, 56° no wind, and overcast 60° back at home.

My podcast today is Pod Save America, episode A Brutally Honest Debate Recap

OK, this one is mostly all politics and...the presidential debate. Tomorrow will be more creator/arts-oriented. I thought that was was too much of that, but with this so much not of that...good to go!

This was a great podcast about the debate. I agree with them. We need to be honest and open about how it went. Look at reality and move forward. Biden may pull a positive change, so it's not just about getting someone else to run. But we cannot tell people freaking out that what happened did not actually happen. That's the MAGA mind, authoritarianism, Fascism. That's Trumpism. 

First up today as this is more important than a debate and I assume will be before State Supreme Courts and/or SCOTUS shortly. Not that I trust SCOTUS to make a valid decision much anymore, but...

Oklahoma Schools Are Now Required to Teach the Bible and Ten Commandments
"The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone," said Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters, adding that he expects schools' "strict" adherence to the mandate.

Well, that tanked fast. 

And if that, then this...

As no one religion is above another in America... to guarantee freedom of religion (or none) for all as they see fit for themselves and their family:

Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national membership organization with State Representatives selected by members and a governing Executive Board of Directors selected by the State Representatives.

The debate moderators were dysfunctional, or lazy. On purpose.

NO, not their job to fact-check everything.

But it's their job to disallow delusion & obvious, massive lies told by either side:

Adam Parkhomenko @AdamParkhomenko

Jake Tapper and Dana Bash should watch this.

My university degree is in psychology. My personal studies since high school in considering a life in clandestine arts, were to a degree in international relations/world problems, but more so in espionage focusing on USSR, then as Russia, and their counters in the UK (MI5/MI6), and America (OSS/CIA).

I've been using the term "Mesmerizing" which I learned about at university and in our current national case regarding Trump and his "MAGA mind" of fascism and authoritarianism, for some years now. And for good reason...

"Mesmerizing" a crowd refers to captivating and holding the attention of an audience in such a way that they are fully engrossed and spellbound by the speaker or performer. This term derives from the name of Franz Mesmer, who believed he could induce a trance-like state in people, a concept that later contributed to the development of hypnosis. When someone is said to be mesmerizing a crowd, they are engaging the audience so effectively that people are almost hypnotized by the performance. Here's how this might be achieved:
Charismatic Presence: The speaker or performer exudes confidence and charisma, often through body language, eye contact, and a strong, clear voice.
Compelling Content: The material being presented is interesting, relevant, and emotionally engaging. Stories, anecdotes, and vivid imagery can be particularly powerful.
Dynamic Delivery: The use of varied intonation, pacing, and volume to maintain interest. The speaker might use pauses for dramatic effect and ensure their delivery is not monotonous.
Connection with the Audience: Establishing a personal connection by addressing the audience’s interests, asking rhetorical questions, and responding to their reactions. This might include acknowledging their responses, making them feel seen and heard.
Visual and Physical Engagement: The use of visual aids, gestures, and movements that complement the spoken words and help to illustrate points more vividly.
Emotional Appeal: Tapping into the emotions of the audience, whether through humor, passion, or empathy, to create a memorable and impactful experience.
When all these elements come together, the audience is often so captivated that they lose track of time and are fully absorbed in the moment, which is the essence of being mesmerized.


Moving on...

I watched the convicted felon exPOTUS Trump debating a sitting and real POTUS. What a debacle?

I said this online earlier, but I would vote for Joe Biden‘s dog Commander, or his coffin over Donald Trump. If Trump dies in office, we just get another authoritarian who kissed up to clown show prima donna Donald Trump. If Biden dies in office, we get VP Harris and finally a female president. If we have to sneak one in this way in our overly bigoted and too misogynistic country, then so be it.

 The fact that we haven’t had a female president yet is humiliating. We do not need some toxic binary conservative female as president either. But come on, when did the UK have a female leader (1979)? Kind of a long time ago. We need to catch up to modern times and western democracies. Although granted, some of our Western democracies have gone autocratic, and our Christian nationalist MAGA Republican party is trying to go theocratic.

Weird times.

One thing, Trump bragging about his golf game? WTF? Biden had a good comeback but why, WHY didn't he say the one obvious repeatedly reported thing about Trump? 

"YOU CHEAT! So many who played with you say so. People play golf with you just so they have their own 'Trump cheated" story!"

But you do what you can.

Oh my evaluation on the debate Thursday night? No matter how bad Biden did, and we heard he had a cold, and two European trips during the week… why Trump couldn’t be the one who was under the weather, who was ill, as he’s actually mentally ill, is quite beyond me… but it’s like "only the good die young", kind of thing I suppose.

I would say no matter how bad Biden did he still won because Trump lied all the way through it. Someone should do a re-edit and silence any incorrect statements. Biden made a few gaffs, I'm betting they weren't lies. While Trump knew he was lying most of the time and may have not even known he was full of shit other times. Anyway, it would be a debate with Trump silent nearly the entire duration of the debate.

Therefore, if you take all the correct truth Biden told, and he did slip up a few times, and put those up against the nearly 100% of lies that Trump told, the way this works is the one who told the truth most wins. Which is an old story with Trump. He is seen to "win" debates by some, but lies all though it to get there.

I’m so disappointed in the moderators. Functional, but essentially useless. CNN did a fact check after the fact but that’s useless during the debate when people are watching, since most people won't see the info about Trump yet again lying all the way through something.

I found at least several times the moderators could’ve immediately come back on Trump because he'd lied so obviously they should’ve at least said, "Well. We know that’s an opinion and not a fact, Mr. Trump. Now President Biden...", and then moved on.

I’m sure they didn’t want to seem like they were inflaming Trump but since anything reality-based inflames Trump, well?

Regarding some of the verbal mistakes, Biden made, this is why I don’t like debates. Plenty of people could be excellent administrators and great presidents. But my not be good at debating or open discourse. While I have said I do like how the Brits do it, where their Prime Minister has to address the Commons once a week on Wednesdays for their "Question Time", a Q&A. It would be nice to have people with that level of ability being seen weekly. 

At the same time, we’ve also seen people who can do that job but are horrible administrators. Where they're good at being bullies like Trump, supporting things like Brexit, now seen as a huge fucking mistake in a very autocratic leaning campaign. Along with a lot of anti-democracy stuff that what? ISN'T somehow coming out of Russia?

I’m not generating conspiracy theories here. Russia has been trying to do this kind of thing for decades. So when it starts to happen? You have to wonder if something is going on behind the scenes. We know for a fact, they’re actively trying to do this kind of stuff. So when it happens, how are they involved and how not are they involved?

We also know, and the Russians have admitted it. That one of the things they do in our media and social media is to find our weak points and magnify them. Then sit back and let us hurt ourselves. We’re still lacking media savvy, especially social media. But we're slowly coming to terms. Europe being quite far ahead of us on that.

Partly because they are physically located much closer to the disinformation capital of the world, that being Russia. While the Internet has removed distances and borders, except maybe in China and some in Russia, certainly in North Korea, Europe has physically had to deal with the nonsense from Russia for a long, long time. During and before Nazi Germany. So Britain is far more exercised and knowledgeable about Russia, encountering subversive enemies much more than we've had to.

America needs to come to terms and get a grip to deal with this kind of thing. Bt it’s tough to do when you have an entire Republican Party infected with MAGA and authoritarianism to get anything proper done.

We’re up against the wall. And about a quarter of us are working, if not for the enemy, then along parallel lines. Which has happened before. See Rachel Maddow's podcast Ultra. Very good history lessons that draw some very dark parallels between Nazis from the past to today's MAGA. It's also just plain entertaining.

On the debate regarding Biden, to be honest, it wasn’t my worst nightmare, but it was the worst of my expectations. Apparently, Biden didn’t feel well and especially when you’re older that does take a toll. They should have announced he had been under the weather and beaten down from two European trips. But maybe you don't do that to look weak. Stupid, really. Not his advisors as much us us, as human beings. 

I’m still amazed at how physical things affect me at my age. I’ll be 69 in August. Things that I would’ve never noticed when I was younger can .now slow me down for a few days, or a week.

I’m still pretty fast mentally, certainly when I’m in “the zone “. If I were back in my IT work that I did for much of my life, I might not be as fast. Up against some younger coworkers, but I certainly can be better in seeing more of the history and experience of why some of their solutions would be short-term, or limited in consideration. Problem with that is Republicans are generally short-term thinkers, cheap, fast, now...so often costing the nation vast sums later, after they are in either no longer in office, or life. It's sleazy. It's toxic capitalism. 

The actual real life of a POTUS is not at the speed of a debate, and certainly not against someone who lies like Trump does. You can’t act functionally in an environment of unreality such as Trump spins, and the Republican Party, to be honest, has been spinning for decades to the point of breaking things and ever submerging themselves in lies.

The actual day-to-day of a POTUS is not in-the-second rapid fire. There’s time to think and consider things, 98% of the time during the slow times. The fast times, you have experts around you who either can take up the slack and/or follow your orders. The trouble with Trump is he chooses sycophants, and "yes men" who are not good at that at all. I my book having "yes men" around you is reason alone for you never to be POTUS. It's massively dangerous, to the entire planet in the case of America.

So we see Trump is as bad and in many cases worse than Biden, as far as age. Trump is also living in a fantasy world. He’s trying to force things into existence that shouldn’t exist. According to reports during the pandemic, the reason we heard him say such inane and stupid bullshit and offering dangerous advice was because he was trying to force into reality, the nonexistence of an actual and very scary pandemic.

That is not a national leader, but it is what I warned about in electing Donald Trump in 2016. As I said, if you elect him and something big goes wrong, some disaster, or worse international disaster (like a PANDEMIC!), he is NOT the man to have as president. And then we then had a pandemic and other bad things that he couldn’t handle.

It’s good that at that time he had good minds and people around him. But he was cutting them loose as they saw exactly what and who Trump is and they tried to force reality on him so he would deal with the American people and involve reality in the mix.

Now he’s caught a clue about that, how good people intervened against Trump as POTUS, insane (or just stupid) and he’s eliminated the good and brilliant minds who would turn on him for our protection. Those from his first term are gone and now refusing to endorse him. It’s not a good sign with any leader when they first claim they have good people and they obviously do, but then those people turn on them because they see what a fool he is. While he starts saying they were not good people.

So which is it? He’s either got the worst hiring judgment on people or he did select good people on purpose and then they decided to remain good people and stand with the US Constitution and the American people over a buffoon merely playing something functional on TV and then was trying to play that character for real in the White House. Only to discover when you're POTUS you have to really BE POTUS.

That’s a Plan for disaster. Now they want to elected him to do it all over again only worse.

I was for Bernie Sanders when he ran for president. We wouldn’t be in that situation had he been president. I’ll give you that. But I am impressed with what Biden has done in four years and he’s turned around the disaster America was in and that Trump handed him.

I think to be honest that Bernie would’ve run into problems trying to push too hard.In trying to do what he was elected for Republicans would likely have fought him tooth and nail. then again, Bernie's been in Congress a long time, like Biden, so I'm not counting him out. Apparently, we pushed too hard in having elected a black man into the White House and then doing it again a second time somehow sparking the innate southern slavers in the minds of many MAGA.

The spirit of the slavers in the South reared up inside those conservatives who hate Democrats and love Donald Trump. To be fair, we fell asleep at the wheel protecting democracy in being unable to counter Trump's massive lies and vociferous disinformation, by such a horrible personality and pathological narcissist Donald Trump stumped us.

I’ve dealt with mental health issues with people close to me in my life. My late mother having been one. Add into that her use of painkillers. And a touch of narcissism. That’s much like dealing with someone like Donald Trump (with massive narcissism). It’s dealing with insanity. It’s trying to explain to others that they have a seriously skewed reality...sadly when they talk to them, they can remain normal for a few minutes, and people can come away from them thinking they seem just fine.

When they are absolutely not.

I would go over to see my mother decades ago and listen to her for even 15 minutes, complaining and whining and playing the victim and my trying to be be compassionate empathetic, and trying to support her. But then I would walk out of there, get my car and drive away, and within 10 or 15 minutes realize most of what she said, I knew clearly wasn’t true, wasn't reality, and recognize that nearly all of her pain was based on fantasy and self-imposed. 

I see those same behaviors in Donald Trump. Recognized them almost immediately.

Starting my 2nd mile…

It does appear that the advice Biden is getting from his political experts, is not going well. Having a debate this early was a good idea, maybe, and so far as having a better debate later, then work out into something much better, then any mistakes made now can be forgotten by then. Though as I'll note later on, below, apparently Biden's advisers are giving him good advise, he's just not taking it sometimes.

Unless Trump decides this is the only debate he’s going to do. He's not going to get better than this debate. 

I was at a party once at college at an architect's house, out on his property in the woods. He had been like an Olympic skeet shooter. I went outside with him and a friend of his, and shot some skeet. On the first round the other guy missed, the architect just barely clipped his clay pigeon (we'd had a few beers), and I blasted mine into dust. That was the first time I ever shot a shotgun. I'd shot many handguns and rifles in my life. I'd been on the high school rifle team for three years, a private kid's gun club in junior high.

I handed it back and said, "Thanks!" He asked if I wanted to go again but I said, "No. Consider that I just beat one shorter and the other who is a former Olympic shooter. I can now  for the rest of my life say I outshot an Olympic skeet shooter!" He seemed a bit dismayed, his pride perhaps tinged a bit. I was teasing them both. But then, I didn’t take another shot. And what I said, is still true today. I outshot an Olympic skeet shooter. Funny. Not a big deal though. Obviously. I just find humor in things in life like that.

That could be Trump with the debate. It’s just a massive bad social media clip extravaganza for him and against Biden. Biden couldn’t seem to control the looks on his face and he had to know better. I knew what those looks were. Trump would lie and Biden would look at him in shock because it’s hard to tell such blatant lies for most normal, mentally healthy individuals. 

That's been my worry with Biden and Trump. Trump is so far outside of normal it's shocking. But you can't let him or anyone see it affects you. You have to counter it, break the back of his technique of lies and butchering reality.

This is what I have believed for decades is what true evil is. I first noticed it with my mother skewing reality in her need to be a victim. People who skew reality, and twist it to their desires, either out of mental illness or criminality is truly evil to all who experience it.

I had hoped his debate preppers would’ve prepared him for that. Expect everything that Trump said to be an unbelievably ridiculous lie.

What I’ll never understand is why the moderators didn’t counter at least the most blatant lies and just say, "Well that’s not true," and maybe throw something up on the screen to prove it. They let America down because of brand fears and laziness. 

If MAGA supporters claim that the debate is rigged, it doesn’t matter what they say if the debate is firmly based in reality.

You know, this is something that never gets addressed. Considering all the good Joe Biden has done since he took office, for anyone, especially a former president and especially a convicted felon such as Trump, to be disrespectful, to outright lie about Biden's achievements, has nothing at all whatsoever to do with supporting America, the UC Constitution or the office of president. It's presidential. Whiel MAGA salavates over it. It's a new turn in the direction of American citizens, offering themselves as our "ugliest of Americans".

You just don’t do that. The fact that he has started a consortium of breaking decorum in the worst ways possible has done nothing but damage America, tarnished our reputation, and skewed our self-respect to the point of being a truly miserable people and conspiracy theorists of the worst kind, inflated self-respect. When they should just feel guilty, selfish, and criminal.One can't see it as other than mental and social, psychosocial ill health.

Remember the rule we need to enforce. In politics opinion and spin are mostly acceptable. Lies are not. Disinformation absolutely is not, because it has a destructive agenda (for all but the one(s) abusing it) that you can learn about in George Orwell’s book “1984 “.

The problem in the debate Thursday night in Joe Biden's demeanor. He is essentially a very nice guy. Trump’s a bully whose whole life existence is geared toward easily recognizing someone's weak points and then attacking them and attacking the reality of their's and anyone viewing that. To be clear and honest, it’s how Hitler rose to power.

Titillating those who were angry. Satiating their worst desires and impulses. Giving them enemies to hate for their perceived discomforts. Spinning a reality that didn’t exist through lies, disinformation, and propaganda and evoking the worst in people.

The reality of the presidency. The president is fed information. He assimilates, digests, understands, and regurgitates it, then with input from his advisors, develops a plan of action that is carried out by others hopefully with as little mission creep as possible.

Bear with me here...what if POTUS is not up to par for a question asked, VPOTUS is brought in to respond. When Joe stumbled, have VP Harris kick in. Maybe involve the advisors. This would have to be an edited show to show the world later. The problem with that is allowing Trump to do the same thing by bringing in his advisors like Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller and whatever other sorry advisors he’s gotten into his stable of fools now.

The problem with that is, Trump's people aren't even "Spin Doctors" they’re disinformation propagators, and Bannon said his entire agenda going forward is to bring authoritarianism to the world.

My point being that Biden and VP and advisors are based in reality and offering realistic solutions. In that scenario, Biden would come back with competent answers, solutions and responses. 

Trump and advisors (remember he doesn’t have a VP… Yet… And his FVPOTS refuses to endorse him because let’s face it. Trump tried to have Pence killed on January 6 during a Trump insurrection which he's been indicted for. And Trump is a convicted felon who will be sentenced next month), but when you bring in Trump and his people, who are not basing much in reality, just whatever feels good to their base and whatever makes them sound good, but only in that moment (Biden has to say things that will last going forward and be based in history going rearward), it’s the same old thing with criminals v government… criminals have an easier time than the government and going up against each other the government has to follow rules laws and regulations. Criminals like Trump and friends are free to do just about anything they want. Say anything they want. They’re also breaking the law or confusing things enough where in they can’t be held accountable.

We’re in a bad place right now and it’s only gonna get better if we eviscerate Donald Trump and his MAGA mindset and turn his MAGALoons against him.

Just remembering Trump’s comments about Biden's reasons for running for POTUS, in  his claiming they were not for the actual reasons Biden claims were his reasons, that no one could debunk, Trump claimed they had been debunked. No one can debunk the motivations that you felt, internally. 

Trump trying to claim that Biden ran for the presidency out of pure self-interest rather than patriotism is typical of how narcissists think. They project their own motivations onto others, assuming everyone acts out of self-interest because that's what they would do.

Trump then tried to claim he had no self-interest in running for POTUS, rather it was out of pure patriotism. When he’s obviously running to save his ass to be able to eliminate the indictments against him once POTUS again. That’s not even a questionable argument. It’s a fact. And it’s the same thing Putin’s been doing. It’s the same thing that Yeltsin before him was doing and why he handed the presidency to Putin in 1999. To protect Yeltsin and his family so they wouldn’t end up in prison for their crimes.

Yelton was an alcoholic. That may have been to the benefit of the Russian people. As with Trump, who is a pathological, narcissist and a liar and a career criminal. If you put in someone who is like Trump, but weirdly mentally more healthy, what he could do to us then would be terrifying. A clear and stable mind doing evil is more dangerous than an unstable mind doing it for reasons of instability and psychosocial illness.

Put another way, a clear and stable mind committing evil is more dangerous than an unstable mind doing so due to instability and psychosocial illness.

Trump’s dysfunctional and he’s still tearing America apart and pitting Americans against one another. He wants a Civil War. He wants to end the Department of Education because he loves the uneducated who he sees as more easily manipulated.

He wants to tear down the EPA. He stumbled into the Republican Party at a time when it’s very anti-institution and very pro-toxic capitalism. It is professing a form of conservatism that has long been subverted from its origins and is itself quite toxic as well anymore.

Here’s the thing about Biden. Should he step down and someone replace him to run for POTUS? Possibly. But who do we have that could beat Trump because the only thing that matters as they just said on the podcast, the most important thing is, that Biden has to do right now, is to beat Trump. To beat the Republican nominee for POTUS.

The Republican party is doing this to us. 

We have things that should be far more important than our knowledge that if we don’t beat the Republican candidate for POTUS, we'll be into an existential crisis that could bring America down. The world is nervous about America and the world thinks Trump is going to win because you tend to believe the worst things will happen if it’s gonna be bad for you and you have no control over it.

All my life I’ve been warned about a "1984" type world to come about and well? Here we are.

Starting mile three…

You know just struck me funny… it’s quite obvious Trump wants a second term as POTUS and while he cannot have a third term he wants to dissolve the whole issue of terms and end elections so he will be POTUS until he dies. Then he can select the asshole to replace him. This is all so much about wealth and power, legacy and control. But within that control, damage.

So in that fantasy world of his, sadly I don’t know the way things could possibly turn out. There is potential for success in the way Trump’s gone about things and how inept we’ve been in countering him. Here's a fun fantasy...

If we had Barack Obama run for a third term. Yeah, that’s not allowed in the Constitution. But so what? Tthe other side in this double standard is doing all kinds of stuff and they don’t want the Constitution. Oh, they’ll bow and salute it. But you give them the power and the opportunity? They will either end the Constitution or rewrite it so that they are never out of power again.

In case you haven’t noticed, that’s what the hell has been going on with them for decades.

Conservative minority rule.

With people who don’t like history, who want to create a Revisionist American History where they look good and they feel good all the time. The perfect little criminal nationalists who wish everyone to believe one day that either slavery didn’t exist or it was just on-the-job training for slaves who had great lives.

I don’t care how good your life is, if somebody owns you? Your life suck!

And there it is. They wanna own us.

While it might be better to choose someone else than Biden for president, who? Normally, we would put up the VPOTUS, Kamala Harris in this scenario. But too many people don’t like her. It’s the same Hillary thing all over again: "I don’t know, a woman who is knowledgeable and assertive? Well. She has to be a witch, burn her burn her!"

I’m sorry, I don’t care how bad Harris is compared to Trump. She’s a godsend compared to the blotus exPOTUS.

Let me just mention again that Phoenix, AZ focus group of Republicans, who every one of them said very little about Biden, but we’re pissed off about Trump and all his lies he was telling and avoiding answering questions, even after repeated several times, re-offering the same question by the moderator.

That isn’t nothing. Democrats are freaking out over Biden’s performance. While many Republicans are furious with Trump's.

I mean, we may have a chance. I don’t have a problem with Biden being president again. I have a problem with his performance and potential for getting elected. I don’t want the man to die. I don’t want anybody to die. Some people should die. Donald Trump should have died at birth. And there we are back at the reasonable Hitler reference again.

I think possibly the best thing that could happen in this scenario were Biden to die and I mean, and Biden‘s gonna die, we all do... up to now anyway. However, in science, there is a potential that I may never die. But if he dies a year after leaving office, I think I’d prefer his having died in office. Man, it's gotta suck Biden knowing people are so worried about when he'll die. I look forward to this about Trump with this MAGA.

America has needed a female president for decades. I do think we would have less problems with Putin had Hillary become president. I suspect similar issues with Harris becoming POTUS, especially with Hillary as advisor. if not in her administration, just somewhere out in the world as a friend and advisor.

Well, so may freak out over that... grow up and learn something. study some history and some world problems. Because most of the people that didn’t like Hillary, so often didn't really know what they were talking about. I've quizzed a few and many times they were talking about Russian disinformation as to why they didn't like her to the point they would eventually just stop and say, "Well I just don't like her." That's not a reason. That's Russian (and let's be honest, Republican) disinformation success!

I’m not saying she’s all wonderful and perfect, but she’s a hard worker by all accounts, and knows her job. especially internationally.

OK, there’s a bunch of pundits and Democrats spewing things about: "Should we go public about Biden?" "Should we get rid of Biden." Etc. etc.

First of all calm the fuck down.

You never make decisions when you’re emotional. You’re thinking of Donald Trump.

And here’s another consideration about Biden‘s poor performance Thursday night (should have seen him Friday, he was fired up and I wonder, did he just get a good night's sleep? If ever you've been exhausted, it's Tough to act energetic). 

If you’ve ever seen a live stageplay, you can be unlucky and show up on a bad performance night. Shit happens. It’s one event, one iteration. Go back and see it on another night and maybe choose a better evening for it. Did you choose the worst night of the week to go see it? One of the lead actors lose a loved one, or something?

That’s why I think it was a mistake to have only two debates. Should have another one in a couple of weeks and then the last one when they’re gonna in September.

The performance is kind of insane.

The trouble is, evil always seems to perform well somehow. It must be easier. I mean, I can get on stage and be a complete asshole no matter how I feel. But if I’m trying to have some decorum, and act presidential, and regurgitate data and policy issues rather than what Trump did in just spewing any bullshit he wants to make up in the moment, yeah evil has an easier time of it.

Well, I don’t like that term never did “axis of evil “which I believe when Bush used it caused us some issues with the people he was referring to that we didn’t need. And much if it was for domestic use, which is always a consideration in transliterating what a national leader is trying to convey and to whom, domestic consumption or international?

Typically, when we’re dealing with people, evil is a concept. It’s a construct. A judgment in hindsight. In countries like Russia and Iran, you have people who wouldn't agree with their leaders but may not (or ever) know it because they’ve been deluded, propagandized and disinformed and in the case of some countries like North Korea, been fed a generationally imbued delusional (dis)understanding of reality and their leadership.

It’s the old saying of hate the sin, not the sinner.

But when you come across somebody like Donald Trump, when you’re dealing with either drug addiction or mental illness, or both, it’s more the evil he does and the evil he fetishizes that is at issue.

There’s no need to hate the man, but there’s an existential necessity to get the man help and never give him power over others.

I’m not quite sure what Republicans', Independents', or especially Democrats' problems are with electing someone they think isn’t quite 100% competent as long as he’s not a criminal like Donald Trump. In this case Biden isn't a criminal (have to state that for the ignorant MAGA among us) and vastly more competent than his detractors wish to beleive.

Consider those who regarded Reagan as the patron saint of conservatism. The Republican party now, many of whom think that's Donald Trump. Those who praised Reagan all through his two terms and for decades after, by many reports he was senile, and Nancy was running a lot of things towards the end of his second term. You know about her astrologers, right? Though they claim they weren't used for officials purposes. 

So if they could get through two terms, I think Joe Biden could do it. And I’m not seeing any signs of dementia. I’m seeing an old guy slowing down, which is fine. There have actually been many governments run by very old people until they died, all throughout human history who did a good job. People tend to focus on the mistakes and the bad ones, and forget that history is written by "the winners".

God help us if Republicans write our history going forward. They’re already trying to eliminate the fact that we had slaves.

As vapid as some people are about their reasons to not want somebody to be president, thinking here about Robert Kennedy Jr. I do not want him as POTUS and have to listen to that voice. I mean nothing bad toward him, other than we need a voice we can listen to and be inspired by. Joe’s voice could’ve been better at the debate or ever, in having s speech problem, but it's workable to listen to. He has been and can be inspirational. 

But I really can’t stand listening to Trump’s petulant little manchild voice. The voice of a narcissist who’s saying something self-serving that's usually pretty easy to see behind in how it’s self-serving.

It’s true according to the podcast that Barack Obama’s first debate against Mitt Romney was horrible. And he didn’t know it until he was told. That’s the way it is with many in that situation. But then he went out and fixed it.

So we need to give Joe time to fix this. He may come up with something. There’s not much time left. The next day he gave a speech at a rally and got everyone really fired up. An entirely different Joe. Maybe the poor man just needed a good night's sleep. I know exhaustion and jat lag can leave you feeling like your dying, which he was doing in that debate.

It may have been a problem in the debate that many tuned out and turned off the TV after the first 15 minutes. Joe did better after he warmed up, but then it was still problematic. I would argue if you’re in for something, stay to the end. It was painful to watch, suer. I really wanted to have a drink, but I don’t do well-having alcohol in the evening anymore. It’s funny how they say don’t be a day drinker or drink alone. But if I’m gonna drink at all anymore, it’s lunchtime. That gives me the rest of the day and evening to hydrate before bedtime and life is good.

Donald Trump is facing 88 felony counts? What a loser. That’s not a president.

The main thing I wanted to have done in the debate was for Donald Trump to be shown to be unacceptable and what I saw was MAGA walked away not having their talking points shattered.

And that was unacceptable.

While Trump was relentlessly on his pathetic message, and the moderators had said they weren’t there to fact check… but excuse me? I don’t have a problem with them not checking every little thing.

But there were three or five things Trump said that were so against reality, they should have put him on the spot because they knew better. It’s things everybody should know.

If he were to say, "the sky is always red", they’d have let that slide? Because it used to be you could let something slide and common sense would win out. But MAGA is not involved in common sense. They’re delusional. At least they believe in Trump’s delusions, and if he says "the sky is always red"? They’re going to figure out how they can accept that or rationalize it as true in some way.

But if the moderator say, "No, I’m sorry it’s a fact the sky is not red', and then just move on to Biden. They're not doing their job as I see it. They really weren’t doing their job regardless what they claimed they were there to do.

OK. On that note, I’ll bid you adieu…and leave you with that. It’s noon and time for lunch.

Cheers! Sláinte!

Walkabout Thoughts #87a

Thoughts & Stream of Consciousness, rough and ready...random but sane thoughts from an insane mind...from an award-winning filmmaker and author you’ve never heard of while walking off the feeble remains of long Covid, and listening to podcasts…walk day, Friday, June 21, 2024.

Weather for the day… nice day, starting out, 68° sun clear sky, 70° back at home. Walk day, Friday, June 21, 2024.

First Podcast Marc Maron WTF? finishing up Episode 1549 - Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath) from yesterday. Possibly my first hero band from when I was in 10th grade in 1970.

This is now the next day. I was craving sweets yesterday and got a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and overdosed on sugar, I guess. I had the worst sleep last night. My heart was beating too fast so I took some Benadryl and half a melatonin. Which I’ve been doing good on avoiding and have been sleeping better without it. The Benadryl didn’t seem to be working well which it almost always does for my blood pressure and heart rate which seems to be issues of histamines. So that didn't work and I realized I was slightly dehydrated so I drank some water and started feeling better.

All I've asked of people, esp., my kids, was to vote.

For the same reason as Heinlein's comment above to take a side.
The least a citizen can do is vote.
If you complain about our government but don't vote, you have no right to complain.
When you vote it should make you want to make an informed decision. 

That forces you to know what you believe, and to take a stand.

On SOMETHING.

That affects you.

It affects others.

It's important and to neutralize that by saying it doesn't work or do anything, is almost a non sequitur. 

The thing about health issues lately, especially with long Covid issues, is you cannot find cause and effect and that’s scary. I can handle just about anything if I can fathom the cause and effect, especially when I figure out how to alleviate the situation. 

I think that has a lot to do with conspiracy theories and in the paranormal, in what freaks people out. When you can’t find cause and effect, it’s pretty scary. I remember when I got those Conan books as a kid. That character in the books made it clear the only thing he was afraid of were ghosts and the paranormal. He was afraid of no man or monster. If it bleeds, you can kill it. If it doesn’t bleed, then what the fuck? And that’s scary even to Conan.

I thought I’d take the day off but here I am, walking my 3 miles and it’s already 68° and supposed to get up to like 86° today. I’m on my 1st mile at 8:35 AM and it’s already getting warm.

Marc says Metallica was a real Sabbath band in the way they thought about music and Geezer said yeah especially their Black album.

I can’t remember if I mentioned I that so far I've gotten to quarterfinalist in the Emerging Screenwriters contest for Suspense screenplays for my, "The Teenage Bodyguard". Cool.

Geezer said he did his solo stuff in the 1990s and he said GZR was the band. He said he just had to get some stuff out of him and he really enjoyed it, but he knew he wasn’t gonna make any money with it. I need to check that out. I think I knew about this but forgot about it. He said it was really heavy stuff and as far as his fans loving it, maybe not so much? And he laughed.

I iced my left knee when I got home yesterday and today it seems to be my right knee causing me grief. Good grief.

I’m very much enjoying the walk today. The sun beating down on me has me a little worried because I want to finish at least my 3 miles today. When I went to Ireland for my 60th birthday, with my youngest back in 2015, I don’t think I had walked that much in recent decades. I used to love backpacking and being out in nature. I loved walking through the oldness of Ireland.

It’s interesting how much I enjoyed connecting back in the 1970s and how old everything was when I was in Connecticutt. Our oldest cemeteries in the Pacific Northwest go back to like the 1800s. The East Coast obviously goes back much further. While Ireland goes back a hell of a lot further.

I remember talking to somebody from Ireland and hearing this a few times from different people in how they don’t appreciate their culture and history so much because they’re attracted to America and her newness and shininess. They're not so taken with the antiquity of a country like Ireland as they just see it as having grown up with old buildings that suck and they want the new. Well, the new to me is the old. I grew up with the new in America, especially in the PNW. So, I crave history?

Geezer is saying since he stopped "boozing" he finds it more difficult for inspiration since he used to sit in the studio and have wine or beer and that’s just what he’s used to. My thought is microdose mushrooms. I kid you not. You gotta do just enough that you feel it but the changes that make in your brain chemistry are better than what the booze did. And it may help you get off the booze.

Geezer said he had a nervous breakdown in 1999 and someone told him he was depressed. Maybe I was lucky that I think I had my nervous breakdown in 1972. I had a headache one day that was so bad I got taken to the emergency room. The doctors hit me with morphine but it didn’t stop the pain. So they said they would knock me out and gave me Demerol. I woke up in a hospital room much later.

After three days three neurosurgeons suggested I move out of my parent's house at 17, or figure out how to cope living there. Mom had told them what our life was like with my stepfather. They gave me a prescription to Valium and sent me on my way. Actually, that might’ve been in early '73. I stayed at home, having previously run off once from home months earlier. When mom dragged me back with threats of arresting the guy I was staying with who was an adult living in Bremerton, oddly enough.Since I live there now after a lifetime of never waning to live here. But, it's nice.

I remember graduating high school in May or June whenever it was you got out of school and then had graduation a few weeks later. it was at the UPS Fieldhouse in Tacoma. My sister gave me a sword she got in Hawaii as a flight attendant. Then when I graduated from university 11 years later, after the USAF, she gave me a pen and pencil set, and was embarrassed. But I said, "No it’s actually perfect because I’ve graduated to a higher purpose. You gave me a sword for high school graduation. Now consider the adage, "The pen is mightier than the sword." So as usual you gave the perfect gift. She looked at me a bit sideways and said, "Well, I’m glad you see it that way!" She always gave me great gifts growing up. I remember after she got her first job, the family wasn't doing well. It was the first Christmas I remember no toys. I was about 12. Mom said, "You're 12 now, too old for toys." Trying to make the best of a bad situation. I remember getting socks. Socks? Seriously? Then I got several gifts from my sister and they were a bunch of the much desired "Maj. Matt Mason" moon toys. I was beside myself that Christmas, especially after such a massive let down from our parents. 

After I moved out at 17 and rented an apartment in an old house from a really annoying old Jewish woman, my prescription for valium disappeared. Two weeks later it reappeared in my kitchen cupboard. I realized my landlady was going through my apartment when I wasn’t there.

Anyway, good to get your nervous breakdown out-of-the-way in your teens... maybe.

Geezer said his therapy had been writing music and the lyrics for songs and that the Sabbath album Sabotage was all about his depression. In the late 90s when they gave him Prozac, he said it wasn’t working at first and they told him you have to wait about six weeks. He said after those six weeks he started feeling like himself again and it was great. He details that in his book.

Well, sadly, that podcast is over so I switched over to Pod Save America, Trump Loses It Over Fox News Poll

Starting 2nd mile…

I would just like to say regarding this current controversy about Louisiana passing a law about putting the 10 Commandments in every school. How stupid is that?. One person who is pushing that said, "If you don’t like it, don’t look at them." OK? Now take that advice yourself about LGBTQ+ people.

Dumbass.

Switching to 3 miles every day instead of 5 miles every other day has caused me a backup with my blog. The last blog that went out took me all day to read through and finish. I read through it once, editing it, and then published having it go out the next morning at 6AM as normal. I can only do it for a couple of hours until I get bored and need to do something else, then return to it late which can take up much of the day. But it's getting easier as I do it more and is making me want to work on other things I've had on the back burning. Like finishing my film companion book for "Pvt. Ravel's Bolero". It's tough finishing things with no obvious reward but potential prospects.

So on the presidential debate next week...apparently the Biden team wants to win the coin toss for where the podium placement Is. The podcast is wondering if they are looking to get Biden’s good side to the camera? But somebody said, "No it’s probably to get Trump’s bad side toward the camera because that freaks him out."

Yeah, that’s brilliant, attack his weaknesses and what disrupts his mental processes because that’s what he’s been doing to everyone else since he started his ridiculousness about being POTUS. 

Again, Americans don’t elect convicted felons as president. And if you’re gonna be pushing this crap about the 10 Commandments, that’s really screwing up your candidate. Because he’s broken after all and I think he's broken every commandment except murder, and in the next few years, we may start hearing something about That. 

Maybe not that he actually had someone murdered, but that he failed in an attempt and therefore it's at least conspiracy. Actual conspiracy to murder. Remember. No matter how low you think Donald Trump can go? He will succeed to go ever lower.



Donald Trump: "CNN is fake news." That, from the Prophet of Fake News.

With Trump's bullshit that Biden has dementia (maybe Trump does), or his nonsense that Biden’s on drugs? I've said this before. I really think they need to do a drug test on the president and the ex-POTUS as they walk on stage for the debate.

Because I’m sure Biden isn’t doing anything. Other than old age meds like Trump is doing. But if anybody’s doing illegal drugs, it’s Donald Trump. Before he walks on stage, do a blood draw and tell him it’s gonna be tested for drugs, then you can give our the results before the end of the debate. See if Trump doesn’t refuse to go on stage or take the blood draw.

The problem with the absolute nonsense that Trump spews isn’t so much that he spews it and that IS a problem, but that MAGA gobbles it up so readily. This extremist right wing is so sad for America that there are no words for it. Though there are actually. Fascism. Authoritarianism. Theocracy.

Christian nationalism. White supremacism.

Considering the age of the candidates for the presidential debate, 90 seconds isn’t long enough for an answer and they should give them at least another 30 seconds

Starting my 3rd mile…

I started my walks this year wearing a fleece shirt. With the fuzzy stuff inside, insulated. And then to a lighter fleece shirt. Then to a short-sleeved shirt. Silk, one-color Hawaiian shirt type. Then a short-sleeved cotton shirt. Today a T-shirt, my University of Washington T-shirt. While I did not graduate there, I did take classes there and worked there for over seven years in the 80s and early 90s. I have worn my cargo shorts all year on these walks except for a few times on the first couple of walks this year, with jeans.

I do prefer summer and spring over fall or winter. When I was in high school I had a set of skis and a complete SCUBA set with dual 72 tanks. I had been surfing at 16 on the East Coast in Cape May, New Jersey. My younger cousin taught me. Who is conservative, who was an official in the carpenter's union and told me he hated Donald Trump because he’s dealt with him before and he always rips everybody off. He would never vote for him. That was in September of 2015 when I was returning from Ireland and spent a few days with him and his wife... in Florida. I have to say, weather wise (and Cuban sandwich-wise) I kind of loved Florida.

I used to say I was more of a surfer than a skier. I assume that had something to do with Civil Air Patrol search and rescue maneuvers in the sometimes freezing Cascade and Olympic mountains in our PNW because it would be just colder than Hell and I remember learning what it meant to be, "chilled to the bone". I learned about that term mid-junior high.

As a podcast is pointing out, there’s a huge desperate gap between the MAGA understanding of who the candidate Joe Biden is, and who the actual President Joe Biden is. It’s bizarre how such a conservative toxic fantasy is out there and how Republicans who support Trump are so unable to compare reality to their authoritarian paradigm.

Look it up. The authoritarian playbook states that you are a victim. You’re treated unfairly, journalism is dishonest and against you. Government institutions are bad. The country is failing. There is fear everywhere. There is "the other" after you, in our current American case that means immigrants, especially illegal immigrants. It’s a darkly spun fantasy.

All lies and conspiracy theories have a basis in truth the kernel of reality which they can use to spin rapidly away from it into a downward spiral of darkness. 

Conspiracy theories: "A conspiracy theory is a bunch of nonexistent connections between random events." - Criminal Minds

The podcast is referring to that video clip of President Biden in Europe, where there’s a parachutist display and conservative media (not crazed conservatives but actual conservative, professional media, supposed "journalists") clipped it so it looks like he is standing off to the side from the group talking to no one, when he’s actually talking to a parachutist on the ground with his parachute. This kind of stuff is not news. It’s outright disinformation in the greatest Russian style.

I do think we need some kind of organization or institution that monitors disinformation and corrects it. Yes, this is as dangerous as Hell, especially if the Trump administration, as government, did it. We need a truth in news and OpEd law. People need to be held accountable and stop lying to the public merely for purposes of money, power, greed, and politics. 

Sure, spin the hell out of something, but don’t lie, and don’t disinform. IF you misinform then you have to be held accountable and need to correct it to your audience ASAP. And suffer the consequences. Consequences and punishments... that hurt.

IF we're going to fail, let's fail for real, in reality, not because of fantasies.

That’s why I think Trump has earned capital punishment for his insurrection actions as POTUS45. A national leader gets away with this shit and we still have MAGA Republican insurrectionists and seditionists in Congress who need to be dealt with? Seriously?

Otherwise, we’re staged to do this all over again and if not with Trump then with someone who worked it out better and the next time, it succeeds.

But if the state executes Donald Trump for his actions, the next authoritarian dictator wannabe will think twice and just maybe, not do it.

Otherwise, we’re screwed.

I know you shouldn’t binge alcohol or sugar, both dealing with insulin levels, but I learned a long time ago if you’re craving a food, try to satisfy it and then move on to ignore it. Rather than just ignore it and keep craving it. I’ve been craving sweets lately. Which can be a lack of protein in your diet. But then you don’t want too much protein and start putting on fat. So I had my pint of Ben & Jerry’s yesterday and some whipped cream and... overdid it and didn’t sleep well. Had disturbing blood pressure & heart rate issues in trying to sleep last night, but today? I really don’t feel like eating any sugar for a while. So, I don’t know...mission accomplished?

Kids. My adult kids don’t always live up to my standards. But they’re adults. I give them their autonomy. I raised them the best I could, often at odds with their moms. Both of whom had problems. Yes, I know the central point of failure seems to be me here. And I surely had something to do with the issues. But sometimes you're just not really well matched up to your spouse. Why? You didn’t pay enough attention ahead of time. And I surely had other issues going on. Don't we all?

Anyway, my kids didn’t have that kind of structure I did growing up. I refused to, for one thing, whip them with a belt. They didn’t start Karate at the age when I did and fight in tournaments. Or get military training in junior high or a lot of other things. Or have the freedom I did in the '60s that I did. Though I was not a helicopter parent. I mean, I was, but I did it at a distance to where they couldn’t see me and thought they were on their own. Invisible helicopter parenting.

So it’s a little frustrating now when they don’t do something that I would do in the way I would do it. But I give them their freedom from parental harassment which does nothing but push your kids away further anyway.

They know I’m here for them, always. They know I love them. I know they love me. I know my youngest has said had I not existed in their life, they would’ve killed themselves in high school. Let’s just say their mom is a control freak. My oldest son’s mom was quite the opposite in not really wanting to be a mom. It must be weird to love your kid, but not really want to be a parent. When we split up, I believe her parents pushed her into taking our son and threatening me with money and lawyers. Which they had and my family never really did. So I took all the bills and would see him every other weekend. 

For those people who denigrate parents who only see their kids every other weekend, I know for me it was painful and wasn’t my choice. Especially when she moved with him to Portland. Yet I would drive halfway and to her benefit, she would meet me to drop him off and pick him back up. 

Honestly, I don’t think she did it so much to be a good mom, as to get the freedom to get drunk. Because as my son told me as an adult, which I hadn't learned till years later, she became an alcoholic after we split up. She was trying hard to be when we were married but I was there, our son was there and we were broke. When we separated I asked her friend about her behavior. One fo them kindly said, "Look, we all partied like her at college. But then we grew up after we graduated. She...can’t."

That affected our kid. But she only had him for 18 months, when she gave him back because she admitted she couldn’t handle it. Anyway, as a parent, it’s scary. You do the best you can. As someone told me back then, and I'm so very grateful for this advice: "As long as you love them and they know it, they’ll forgive you for a lot of your mistakes."

On that note, I’ll bid you adieu…

And leave you with that. It’s noon and time for lunch.

Cheers! Sláinte!

Walkabout Thoughts #76

Thoughts & Stream of Consciousness, rough and ready, from an award-winning filmmaker and author you’ve never heard of, while walking off long Covid, and listening to podcasts…walk day 5/17/2024 [After a covid shot this morning, the next day was rough, so it took a few days to get this up online, apologies...]

Weather for the day… starting out, 58° nice sunny day starting out, 63° when I got home

Podcast Hacks Ep. 5: “One Day” with Adam Bricker

and then, Pod Save America Trump Trial: "Jail Is on the Table" (here's hoping)

Damn, I just got my spell checker working again here. I hadn't noticed it was broken. Cheers!

Update from 5/19/2024:

BREAKING NEWS: This has now been confirmed. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (AKA "Butcher of Tehran") and others have been found dead at the site of the helicopter crash on the border of Iran on Sunday. This is sad but some are celebrating Pres. Raisi's demise and could lead to progress if only someone like Hassan Rouhani could replace both him and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, moving Iran into their future, rather than remaining toxically tied to theocratic ridiculousness. There's hope Rouhani could move into the future.

Moving on and back to our regularly schedule program...

I've never seen such a time
when so many
think they know so much
about so little & yet
are utterly clueless
about just how wrong they are
about so very much.

- from Quotes Along the Murdock VII

America was based upon a concept of a free people who can govern themselves guided by common sense & belief in a Greater Good. Sadly, Republicans today decided to forego common sense AND that greater good for their minor one, through which they will force govern all by, their few. This is not liberal democracy, or a republic. It is autocracy enforced by self-desire.

- from Quotes Along the Murdock VII

Democracy is good for everyone, if you keep capitalism under control from becoming toxic. While fascism is good only for the Fascists, until they finally get around to eating their own.

- from Quotes Along the Murdock VII

Any "Great Stupid" remains dangerous until it stops moving.

Just listening to them talk on Hacks podcast about the shows protagonist losing parents too young. I was four years old when we had moved to Spain from 1958 Tacoma and suddenly one day... my dad was gone, kicked out of the country by my grandfather who had gotten him the job over there in the first place in Franco Spain. We were in Roda, Spain. 

I was just thinking about this yesterday, writing it up for my autobiography. I thought I might write the section backwards, starting with my step-dad after moving back to Tacoma in 1960. Backing up to Philadelphia the year previous and asking my mom where dad was and when is he coming home? How she progressed from the first time I asked that before we had moved back from Spain. Where's dad? "He went home ahead of us." Upon arriving back in the States, where's dad. "He'll be here soon." Then, where's dad? "He's not coming home again." I was four. Then five, when I realized Dad was somehow gone? Could Mom be gone? Then the step-dad arrived and I did not like him. It was a downgrade. What if dad can be gone, then mom can be gone. Will I be stuck with this guy, then? Fear.

It might not have been so bad, as it goes, if the new stepdad we’re "better than", or if I had liked him more than my dad. I remember little about my dad before he left. I remember mostly, after. After we had moved back to Tacoma and he took me out a few times. I remember very clearly when I was like five or six. I remember he took me in his brother's boat and let me, ME, drive it, at five years old. We left the dock at Point Defiance Park, and went over to Vashon Island.
 

I remember playing in the shallow water on that beach. I remember on my sixth birthday, dad taking me out to the "B&I Circus Store" on South Tacoma Way. Took me to the toy section and said get whatever you want. And I went for it. A store famous for "Ivan" the gorilla. A movie, "The One And Only", was made about it, with Bryan Cranston.

I had my arms full of toys that day at the B&I. Finally, Dad squatted down and looked at all the stuff I had, likely thinking there wasn’t enough in his wallet. He was a construction electrician. But divorce can be costly. So he picked one of those toys and said, “OK. You can have this one, or you can have all of those you’re holding.“

That was a miserable choice. But I chose the one. A plastic replica of a Winchester rifle with a speaker in the side butt. When you pulled the trigger, it made a weird "shooting sound". A "Sound of Power". I thought even then it was a corny sound, but in 1960 you made due. And that was my birthday present. My second gun. My first gun having been t wooden army rifle, which they mass-produced after World War II.

There’s a big story about that one. I was wearing a navy sailor suit when we traveled to Spain. Mom had my older brother and later my younger brother and our sister all in cute little Navy suits for photo portraits that hung on our family home wall all the years of our growing up. Guess she had a thing for Navy guys. Though my dad was Coast Guard, saw action and had a Purple Heart medal.

We had taken the train from Tacoma, to either New York for the flight, or more likely to Philadelphia where our larger family lived. When we took the TWA plane from Idlewild Airport to Madrid, there were all these lockers where you could lock your stuff up until your flight. I thought it would be cool to stick my rifle in there. So when they called our flight over the public address system, Mom said, "OK, let’s go." I told her I couldn't. I had to find my gun! I was in a panic.

She looked at the hundreds of lockers and realizing we could miss our plane, probably wanted to kill me. All of my life since, I remembered crying and her dragging me to the plane, I’d lost that rifle and regretted and resented it ever since. Until a few years ago when I was looking at photos and our photo of us exiting that plane in Madrid, Spain back when still walked down portable stairs, brought up to the airplane on the tarmac plane parking...and there in the photo, as I was walking down those stairs with my mom and sister, is my rifle. That really blew my mind.

About that Navy suit and Army rifle. There’s a notorious photo of me on the tarmac at Idlewild Airport taken by TWA professional photographer, Ken Fletcher, Public Relations. He asked if he could take the picture. My mom just kind of looked at him. He said, "Mam, you got a cute little boy wearing a sailor suit, carrying an Army rifle. This is priceless. I have to take this picture. And I promise I will send you a copy of it. So she said, OK. And so he did send us a copy and I have it. 

On back of  the 8"x10", it says:

"For Worldwide immediate release: Idlewild Airport, N.Y., Sept. 17 (1958): Mixed-up sailor, 3, carrying an army rifle stands guard before boarding his TWA Jestrream flight to Madrid, Spain. The Tacoma, Washington, youngster will be joining his dad, a construction engineer, for an approximate three year stay. Photo by Aviation News Pictures, New York International Airport. Ken Fletcher, Public Relations, 380 Madison Ave., New York City, Oxford 5-4525 Ext. 701"

So I don’t know… but I like to think that 1958 my photo did go around the world for advertising for TWA Airlines. And we loved, Trans World Airlines.

So I’m retired, on a fixed income. Though I’m still trying to produce things to make money. I won’t go into that here, now. I’m living off of retirement from the company I retired from and my Social Security. So, fixed income. But I’m doing OK. I'd hoped to be doing better but then considering how I started out in life, I couldn't be more pleased how well I've done.

Like many, I too go through this round-robin of streaming services and cable TV that a lot of people do. I pay way too much for my Comcast cable and Internet and I also have my cell phone through them. After many years of Verizon since I first got a cell phone, I got tired of paying almost 80 bucks a month, when it went to free with Comcast. So I switched. I get their cable package plus some streamers. I get Max for free. I get Peacock for free. But it's pricey. I go around with Hulu, Apple+ (which I’ve been keeping steadily for some reason). I do like Paramount+. But like for this month, I got Netflix. I watched everything I could & was interested in. Saw some good stuff. Then I let it expire at the end of 1 month. Then I start up another one, this time probably Paramount+ for a month. Or I'll skip a month or so trying to keep the already staggering overall price down.

I had Hulu and actually kept it for a couple of months longer, maybe three even. The last thing I watched was "Shogun". I have the original on DVD with Richard Chamberlain. But my end of Hulu month hit too soon and I didn’t get to see the last episode of Shogun. Bummer. So how can I watch it for free? Or do I just buy another month? I could. I have the money. But try to keep costs down, or they can get out of control after a while, especially if you don't keep an eye on it. 

I go through that with Amazon Prime on buying movies. I watch what I can for free but allow myself a movie purchase on holidays. Otherwise, you realize you've spent $100 or $200 with no idea how you got so out of control. I told that to producer Robert Mitas whom I was working with a few years ago. He's a producer with Michael Douglas. We were working on my true crime screenplay, "The Teenage Bodyguard". 

He'd said something about watching some film he thought I should see, and I offhandedly explained how I try to keep costs down by not purchasing movies without attempting to keep the numbers I watch low. He chuckled, obviously unaware of not having a lot of money. It was a bit uncomfortable because we both realized that from opposite ends of the financial spectrum. He might have been talking about his produced film, "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" (2018). I highly recommend it. I ended up watching it and it was a fun film. It's from a Shirley Jackson story (she wrote, "The Lottery"). Michale Douglas was also a producer on that film.

Shogun...I see they renewed it for two more seasons, or as they say in the UK, two more "series". So I think maybe I’ll just wait for the next season two and watch the last episode of season one that I missed when Hulu month ended too soon. In the past, I have watched the last episode of a new season arriving, just to get back up to where I should be for that season. So maybe I stumbled upon something that will be kind of useful and most cost-effective.

Well, I got in an art podcast today with the Hacks podcast, but it was short. So I switched over to "Pod Save America" now. I already listened to the last WTF? With Marc Maron. Have to wait till next week maybe for a new one of those. I feel like I did when I discovered Jon Stewart on The Daily Show after years of him being on. "Why didn't I find him sooner?"! I liked Jon when he was a VJ on MTV in the 80s.

So it looks like Biden and Trump will have two debates with no audience. Thank God, so it’s not just another Trump circus. Hopefully, they’ll turn off the other’s mic when one is talking. Trump has had his circus long enough on debates. Time to get back to adults debating and following debate rules, not Trump bullshit disinformation and distraction (lack of) rules.

I’ll just say this: fuck Trump and any who still support or follow him, who are too lazy to go out and double check how DIS-directed they are. They would throw that back in my face no doubt to say YOU check YOUR information because WE are right. Sorry, but I did that years ago. The first thing you ever do is go out trying to prove your beliefs or information are wrong and if you can't, maybe you're correct. THATS professional researching. I’d been a professional researcher as a senior tech writer for years. You cannot turn in a white paper on something there to management and be found out it's all nonsense. I would’ve been out of work ASAP. And yet I survived in that career for some time. The respect I received in that career was beyond any other career I've had. I wonder sometimes if it was a mistake leaving it to delve deeper into computer mechanics, systems, and processes?

So MAGA...on your information. If you were right about the insane things you believe in then I would be agreeing with you And since I’m not, sorry. You're wrong. Sounds like I'm full of myself, but when you've done the work, the research, the vetting, you earned it. Unlike those who faultily "do their own research" and come away unduly full of themselves and thus, disinform ever more easily distractable and delusional people. Something our enemies, and Trump, and the GOP depend on anymore. Sad, but true. Proven to be true, over and over and over again.

Fox News is losing their shit over this debate thing saying that Biden is slinking away from the debate by sending it to liberal news networks. Apparently, they never watched a debate with Trump in it. It’s a fiasco. It’s not a debate at all. It’s a little bitch whiny... little bitch, interrupting adults. And trying to make it look like it's all a joke. And his people love that because he's their failed TV entertainer. It's not a joke. It's our lives, our country, our democracy, that they're trying so hard to end. Literally. 

When you hear conservatives talk about "we're not a democracy, we're a republic," that's a whistle call for what is now called MAGA Speak. Anti-democracy, for the purpose as we've now see, of minority rule because conservatives know better what is best for America and Americans. It's just authoritarianism, pure and simple Simplistic binary thinking. Black & white, nothing is grey. You're good or bad. You're with them or an enemy. "IN God We Trust"! Division, separation, partisanship. Friend or foe. 

Which is all bullshit. We're a very blended citizenry, unlike most nations. We support immigration. Not divisively pick it apart and make trouble over non issues, inflating issues, acting like bigots, etc. The immigration system was purposely broken for purposes of division NOT what they profess today.

E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, ONE. THAT is America and THAT is what we need to get back to. This has been a decades-long slow moving coup. And it's finally, here. Republicans are not our enemies but have put themselves in that slot. Some are trying to get that party back finally seeing the dangers they have wrought in trying to regain control. Neither party NEEDS control. We need to work together. Compromise. Taking the other's side, when they are correct. Not refusing to work together because you're not winning. THAT is either idiocy or working for our enemies, saving them money, time and effort.

I guess there will be a vice-presidential debate and that ought to be delicious. I have an odd feeling that VP Harris will shred any MAGALoon Trump picks for his ridiculous VP.

According to Hannity on Fox News, Biden challenging Trump to debate is him avoiding a debate. Good to know? I tell you, these people are fully in some other universe where nothing functions.

The rule I would like to see for the Biden-Trump debate would be both of them in glass cages, and when the other one's talking, no matter what the one does, the one who’s screaming and disrupting would be Donald Trump… You would see his mouth moving and that’s it. I would even suggest CGI to block out his mouth so you can’t see what he saying to lip-read. All we should be asking for is to give each guy a chance to speak and only then let the other one talk and without interruption. It’s always been that way. And if people don’t like it, don’t watch the debate. Because if you’re looking for entertainment, you're just into Trump. If you’re looking for a clown show, that’s where it is.

One has to remember a couple of things about Trump and his GOP and the whole maggot mindset. No, no... I said MAGA mindset and voice-to-text translated that as "maggot". You may know I don’t play that game. Those are American citizens. I do think they are loony, so I do call them. "MAGALoons" because they are NOT based in reality. But that's a joke. It’s satire… You’ve heard of "Looney bin"? An ugly term from the past referring to people with mental issues. However, after a university degree in psychology, I learned that we don’t call the people you take care of in that field “Patients" but “clients “. Because "patient" indicates they're ill and you want their mindset to be that they are either healthy and healing from something, or they are becoming healthier in being your client.

Yes, you could argue under that paradigm that I shouldn’t even call them what I do. But I’m going from a lot of people who are trying to dehumanize American citizens as insects which has led other countries into genocide or a Civil War. Which the right keeps pushing for. And the left keeps seeing may be needed, but we don’t want to go there. So for now, "MAGALoon" it is. 

It’s actually meant in a softer satirical tone. Somebody acting Looney we can help. Somebody that’s a maggot needs to be excised from humanity. Let’s not go there in a country of diverse cultures. And again, let’s get rid of that stupid fucking theistic motto “In God we trust “because it’s led us to far too much of this crap and this devicive and this dividing us and looking down on others and Christian nationalism which the FBI is worried about regarding domestic terrorism. Which is just enhanced religious bigotry. 

Back to "E pluribus unum" or “out of many, one.“ Back to a cohesive country, or at least trying to be one.

We need to all come together to try to stand in the same basic reality and see where we’re all going wrong, together. Enough standing apart, hating.

I constantly try to see the other side and can modify my view closer towards them, IF I see they have a valid point. A point-based in reality, obviously. Where so often now it is simply not based in reality.

But I don’t see that on the other side. I see their religious based beliefs and dogma. This is what they wish to force reality to fit with and: "I will kill you if you get in the way of that."

Yeah. Let’s not do that.

So I caught Covid for the third time last month. Feeling pretty good now after they put me on Paxlovid on the second day. Which I think helped me with my long Covid. About two weeks after I caught Covid the last time, the VA sent out an email telling everyone they should get a Covid booster now. Damn, weeks too late, guys.

So I went and got a shot yesterday at Safeway. They said the VA would pay for it, but so would Medicare, so they went through that (or Aetna, I’m not sure). It was a Moderna shot. I’ve only had one of those and my arm hurt the next day and I didn’t feel good for a couple days. But maybe because I still have some Covid immunity from actually having caught this version, my arms a little sore today, but I’m out walking and I feel pretty good. So far.

Long Covid has this nasty habit of triggering dormant viruses in victims. I’ve been suffering that since March 2022. The end of last December, as I detailed before I went through a nightmare involving that, has gone on now for months. I’ve had a bunch of tests since December and I’ve been sent to a new doctor to get things checked out. A specialist because my primary care physician isn't sure what the hell is going on at this point. But now all of a sudden, it’s like I’m healing from that, too. And I don’t know if that was part of the Paxlovid but seems like it.

I know last year I read that a study gave an infusion of Paxlovid in one shot to help with long Covid suffers and their long Covid went away for somewhere around six weeks. If you’re a long Covid sufferer, especially if you have it bad, that’s a Godsend, even with only a few weeks off. Which might even help you in the long run with the condition.

I just realized I’ve been previously saying lately it was two weeks for long Covid alleviation, after a Paxlovid infusion treatment, but it was six weeks. Because I just noticed my calendar says next week my six weeks are up. Which means my long Covid could return. Here’s hoping not!

Starting mile three.

I just thought of another debate format Biden could pull against Trump. Things go the way Trump does it. You know it’s like an adult debating with a child who doesn’t have answers and just throws a little tiffs and fits. So when Trump interrupts, just lean back at your podium and let him go and at some point ask something like, "Are you done with your little tantrum? Can I talk now?" 

And just keep it that way, exhibiting what a fool and immature brat Trump is. Fllod the news, esp., where MAGA would see it, to prep them for what Trump will pull. His anti-debate tactics have to be neutralized. The thing is, MAGA needs to really see who he is. They praise and worship and support and follow that clown and Biden needs to have stored up like 30 or 40 little debate-deflating knife piercings for Trump who can throw Trump’s bullshit back in his face during the debate. Things that would either shut Trump up, or down, to show HIS audience that they really should be embarrassed.

That would allow the old concept of free speech, where we allow bad and evil speech out there and those people who support it, TO talk. But we need people smart enough to counter them, to debunk and deflate their premises. I do believe Biden is a lot smarter than Trump. But the problem is that kind of debating idiots and disruptors,  takes a very kind of special debating skill. Trump doesn’t have good debating skills. Trump has pontificating and obfuscating and distraction skills. 

Trump is basically a five-year-old, who at that age, most kids also have those skills. Apparently, Trump locked into those emotionally, but never matured into an adult. Something you get from alcoholics, drug abusers, and the pathological narcissistic sociopath in a career criminal such as Donald Trump. The image above is one that I shared online the other day of a brain scan of a person with Trump's pathological condition. 

"Pod Save America" has a good point here about those debates. If Biden makes the mistake again of saying another country for some country he’s referring to, huge five-alarm sirens go off with the conservatives and maybe everybody. But if Trump says "gravity isn’t real" people just laugh and say "Ha ha there goes Trump again". There’s a sad double standard that’s dangerous to this country. And to democracy at large. Because people around the world, watch America closely.

Damn, I think I just walked by JD Vance’s parent's house…

Trump went to Wildwood, New Jersey the other day and said some weird shit. I got roughed up by a cop there when I was 16, on the boardwalk, and for absolutely nothing. Anyway, people need to see these debates because they need to see what a fool Donald Trump really is. But for that to work, they need to be primed and ready. As I mentioned above.

They need to put our promos detailing what to watch for from Trump in the debate. Use a viral orientation with humor or something. In such a way that makes it obvious when you see Trump actually do it on stage in the debate, that it takes you aback. A shock a little bit so that you go, "Oh fuck I’m supporting THIS guy? I used to think this guy was funny. Maybe this isn’t funny. Maybe it’s not funny anymore as Nikki Haley said she believed he was the right guy for POTUS45. Though she was 100% wrong. Where now she says he’s not that guy anymore at all. And he’s not." 

Sitting through this criminal trial is ripping up Trump's personality and ego from the inside out. He may go forward-looking the same to some, but he’ll never be the same again after this. When he’s convicted, well… there it is.

I hear the podcast, that Biden isn’t making a mistake in attending the debate because it’s a "high variance maneuver". It may be time for high risk action. I learned this when I was a child… when there’s something you’re fighting off, or fearful of, or in a situation that is existentially dangerous, you need to hit it head on. Hit it as hard and as fast as you can. DEAL with it. And you know what? That has worked for me really, really well. It takes your opponent off their equilibrium and disorients. That's what Trump is so good at. Disrupting, and disabling people's decency, and their expectation of normal behavior. 

I think honesty and openness are healthy for humanity. So I’ll admit this. I can count on one hand the times I let fear overtake my better judgment. Not my better angels. When I was at risk, I may have shied away. It didn't happen often, as I was trained for that very young. But when others were at risk, I didn’t shy away. I don’t know. I go to stupid protection mode, maybe because of my childhood nuclear family dynamic. But I’ll say about those times... I can count them on one hand… those failings when I wish I had acted better. We are all weak or strong at times. IF the wrong situation hits in those moments, we can find we have exceeded or failed, for those moments. 

So "heroes" can be seen as cowards, and vice versa. That is part and parcel of being human. Some act correctly, heroically, always. But they are honestly few and far between. Most people react out of self presevation. Training increases the odds of acting above the norm in extraordinary situations. 

Had my orientation been different? I probably wouldn’t be able to count all those sad moments, as being limited only to one hand, out of my 68 years at this point. Personally, I think that’s a pretty damn good record.

This was fun. I had a salesman call from Armed Forces Vacation Club yesterday. He asked me some questions and I answered and he thought it was odd. I could tell. I told him I’m 68. I could tell it wasn’t a salesman tactic, but he was taken aback by that. He said, "Wow you don’t sound 68 to me." I thought he meant the texture of my voice. But I shared that with my son later and he laughed and said, "Well, look at the conversations we have about physics and different things. You don’t have an addled brain at all." I had to laugh at that. But, good to know.

As for mentioning my condition and health status at times, this is a blog about walking off long Covid. I mention my condition, symptoms, and issues from time to time for the same reason I wrote a book on long covid. So if anyone reads this who has long Covid and reads some of the things I’m going through, it may aid them in some way, or emotionally give them some kind of benefit. Or relief. Or warning. Forewarning, hopefully.

And on that note, I’ll say that because it was winter and I wasn’t getting exercise I wasn’t feeling well. I’ve had to use melatonin to get to sleep and stay asleep. I use 5 mg tablets and break them in half. I don’t think I got enough exercise and sun, which is important for the production of the melatonin hormone. But I try to take it as little as I can. You have to understand that anytime you take something into your system it alters it. The view that eating is medicinal isn’t a bad way of looking at things. So if you take in melatonin regularly and then stop, your body isn’t going to immediately produce enough.

As far as Trump claiming Biden took drugs whenever he seems animated or at every debate that he’s on something? Fine. Give both them a blood test before the debate. Both of them! Better, as I'd said before, surprise them. See if Trump doesn't mumble as he runs from the studio.

Well, I was gonna try for 5 miles today as I shot for the last time, but only made 4 miles. But I hadn't gotten a Covid shot then and now I’m a little concerned. I might be overdoing it. That’s what the consideration was in walking at all today, as it might be overdoing it. So long Covid and vaccinations and such, it's best to err on the side of caution as much as you may want to push on through. It's normal for me to push on through, but with Covid and long covid, it could kill you. Though I think I may be beyond that point now, it can lead to being unnecessarily uncomfortable for a day or two.

So today it’s 3 miles.

I know my mom was pretty emotional when I was growing up and I know she had some interesting emotional or mental issues. Though I know she was smart as a whip, but also only made it to to ninth grade. I always said that I’ve followed my heart guided by my mind. Though I have come to wonder, although my life wasn’t that bad, that maybe I should’ve reversed that. I know those who did that but I wouldn’t want to have lived their life.

It could just be that they tended to push things too far on top of it. Maybe I wouldn’t have. I don’t know. I do know I was a little sociopath when I was a kid as most children are. I think most of us grow into our higher emotional levels. Or EQ. Something that Trump is very low in. My mother had some pretty strict rules within an environment that was rather loose, even for those times. I think that helps to get you into your teens and 20s to a time when you evolve more and lose that sociopathy. Hopefully. Although some of us never do. 

Once again...Donald Trump.

I will add about that "little sociopath" thing. I jest some. But it's also true. I didn't have a deep emotional base as a kid, but then I did. Mostly about animals. I think I had the basis for emotions. I was emotional about some things. Very protective of my family. I was teased about it as a teen. I wasn't emotional about movies, even when a nearby female typically was crying from a film. So I used films in my mid to late 20s to grow emotions. Once in college studying psychology, I worked to grow emotions and I used films to aid that. As a touchstone. Until finally I did feel things without trying when watching a film. 

It's well known we become more emotional as we age. In old age, we can become quite emotional. It's why we do not send older people to war, but the youngest available. They lend themselves more so to the blood lust of battle. I'm now at a point where it's almost too much. An advert can even get me emotional now. As my younger self laughs... 

And on that note, I’ll bid you adieu…

And leave you with that. And it’s noon now and time for lunch.

As always, I wish you all, all the greatest success and good health!

Just put in the time and effort for those successes.  
Until next time!

Cheers! Sláinte!