Walkabout Thoughts #11

My thoughts, while walking off long Covid and listening to podcasts...a blog designed and meant to be freely associating, on the run, and not perfectly edited:

Weather for the day… When I started out I was hoping I could get my walk in before the rain started. Air quality index was 50, rated "good". During my walk I checked it and it was 33. Last time I checked it was 30. I felt a slight drizzle begin and then immediately stop. Could be a few degrees warmer though and it’s supposed to be 53° today. It was 51 when I left home. Wearing a fleece and shell. I got my jacket shell when I purchased it on the way to the airport in 2015, headed to Ireland. I wore that walking all over Ireland, literally its four corners. It still looks brand new. That day that I left home, where I had a couple acres in the woods and had raised my kids who had  moved out by then... I walked a mile to the park-and-ride, caught the bus to the ferry, and rode the Bainbridge ferry over to Seattle. Then on the way to the underground light rail station to Seattle airport at SeaTac, I stopped at the North Face store on the corner. I looked at a lot of stuff with the salesperson and finally settled on this $99 coat shell. At the time I thought it was expensive and buying a "shell" was weird. She was looking at me like I was crazy there in the store. But I bit the bullet and I bought it. And I grew to love it all the way around Ireland. It was perfect for layering, because the weather there was so much like here in the Pacific Northwest. I was cool when it needed to be and kept me warmer than I'd expected. I felt very at home. And today, almost eight years later well, I went in August so just over seven years... it looks like it’s never been worn! Plus you can roll it up and it fits in its own pocket. I love the hood too, and the inner pockets.

Podcast for the day is from Pod Save America.

Second podcast for the day is John Heilemann's Hell and Highwater. With Michael Dowd and Jennifer Palmieri.

Instagram post for the day is getting a lot of attention...

For those complaining that the MSM lies (for rational people unaware what that indicates, "Mainstream Media", how it's three letters not two is curious), have a fundamental misunderstanding and limited comprehension of how journalism functional (outside of right wing disinfo/propaganda entities). When investigating a report and stumbling on a misperception or incorrect facts, in it getting reported, it will typically later be corrected. But with the right wing MSM )which there is)… they’re reporting lies upfront, not misperceptions, but intended, outright lies...that don’t change. Because... they’re lies. The only time those change is when they find a more effective lie, or their lies are shown to be such obvious lies that even the right questions them. At which point they shift to a better lie and encapsulate the first lie. Or rationalizing or explaining it off to their right wing believers, who will just see it as something they merely had to make more clear in what they were intending to say. Trump was an expert at that. To the point that people still think he’s a great guy and someone to vote for, rather than demand for him, justice, prison and execution.

People have got to stop knocking people who complain about the arising the cost of milk, or gas to get to work, or to transport their kids. These are real issues. While the rich and wealthy in complaining about costs, we are indeed looking at greed, for the most part. But when you can’t afford to take care of your kids, or your loved ones, that’s a whole different paradigm you’re dealing with. People need to realize that Republicans aren't going to save them and that their whole method of operation has nothing to do with helping them. Other than what they say to get votes, to get more power and money. Money by the way, that is greatly coming from those people in dire need, and the rest of us doing at least a little better. Look, I’m not rich. I’m retired and just getting by on a pension I luckily earned, and Social Security that Republicans want to take away. Which would essentially put me out on the street. So thanks for that! After spending years in the Air Force and a lifetime paying taxes and into Social Security, they want to punish me/us? WTF? And so, fuck them! Thank you, very much! Please sir, can I NOT have another?

President Biden this week gave a speech where he said, if Democrats retain and gain power in this election, he will First Thing, sign into law protections for abortion. If you’re against that, well you got to admit then you’re a misogynist and this isn't about pre-birth children at all. Because it sure as hell isn’t about protecting them once they're born, as we’ve seen time and again. The second thing he said was that he’s releasing more gas to lower the cost of gas nationwide. Which has already been going back down. Regardless what Republicans are claiming. And we're still working on Saudi Arabia and that whole nightmare jackasses contingency, related to OPEC.

The AQI was 50 today when I left home. It’s overcast. The winds have blown the forest fire smoke away and it’s supposed to rain soon. Rained a little bit yesterday. It’s a nice day for a hike, or a walkabout. Now to be accurate, I do believe a “walkabout“ is a walk about and not a standard closed course like I’m doing, walking up and down the same street. My "walkabout" part of my walkabout is metaphorical, in my taking in new information from podcasts and ruminating on things and sharing those thoughts. That is definitely a walkabout. So maybe my title it should be in quotes, but… it’s not.

From the podcast: “Voting for Republicans will not fix inflation. It’s voting for abortion bans and guaranteeing that inflation will continue.” I would also add it will throw Ukraine to Putin. After all we’ve done. After all NATO and others have done to protect and save them against an illegal and genocidal war by an autocrat (who Trump loves) who hasn’t been fairly elected in 20 years. Guaranteeing that you will be elected, as Putin has (nooo... he’s not afraid of open elections at all...), is not an open and free election.

To be clear when Republicans call liberals “extremist“ what they’re actually saying is they’re leaning too far into progress which makes conservative and those with a more backward orientation to social evolution, uncomfortable. When liberals, Democrats and many independents, say Republicans are extremist, they’re actually being extremist, in having enabled, ignored, supported and acted upon sedition and insurrection. That’s something no one should ignore. I don’t care who you are or what side you're on. 

Replacing the government is not in the US Constitution. Regardless of what the framers, a few of them, may have said. If you’re claiming the Constitution as the foundation of your rights to an insurrection, you’re not reading the American Constitution at all. You’re just listening to Republicans, Trump, conspiracy theories on the Internet, and our enemies across the world who full heartedly are supporting you.

So MAGA types are recording people dropping off ballots at drop boxes, some even following those people after that (i.e., Intimidation). Voters should drop ballots while friends surround them with an opaque curtain. That will drive MAGA nuts. This recording people voting is immature intimidation tactics. What are they, in 2nd grade? This wouldn't intimidate me in the least, though it might some. It's the level of irritating like: "I'm not touching you, I'm not touching you!" Good grief. They're devolving. It's just setting up for later actions and gumming up the entire election process, both now and later.

This is more foolish. Even MAGA know Republican's support business, especially big business. And most of them know corporations are price gouging us right now, when they shouldn’t be. Corporations have been set up to help America, by the American government but right now, all they’re doing is reaping profits. Every time in my life that I’ve heard America was an economic trouble, corporations price gouge. Sometimes maintaining a price, is price gouging. And they’re raising prices. But we need all Americans to connect those two things and realize that Republicans aren’t your friend in this. I don’t care who you are. Because even the corporations and wealthy they’re supporting. are based in this country. Damaging the country is not good for anybody. Except for short term profits. But what Republicans don’t get is there’s more to life than numbers, money, and enrichening oneself with wealth and power. I know, sounds stupid saying it, why wouldn't they ignore ethics and reap rewards, right? That's kind of sick though. Those people, people like that, should never of been allowed in politics. Seeing the left as the same, is just incorrect and factually delusional.

It was the Democrats that went after big Pharma recently, and why many, when it kicks in, will be doing better. Republicans didn’t do that, they have been fighting that kind of thing, all the way. Returning Democrats to power after this election means they will go after big Pharma again, as well as corporations. And no, Republicans don't like that. But you're not, we're not, corporations. Not sure how that is so hard for some to see.

It seems to me with Republicans and MAGA doing all they can to end elections, to curb elections, to make it more difficult to vote, we’re on a path to eliminate in-person poll booth voting and we need to immediately go to mail-in ballots. That eliminates all this nonsense about polling booths MAGA types are trying to pull. To gum things up, question everything, intimidate ...that's not AMERICAN. There may be a few problems for some regarding all mail in ballots, but we'll just have to work that out. It may take a year or two if we start now, but it solves a lot of problems Republicans keep drumming up. We’ve been rapidly moving into remote work in recent years, saving our infrastructure and our roads. Considering pandemics and right wing abuses of our citizens in relation to elections, this seems like a pretty obvious fix.

Have you heard that some counties/states are going to hand counted of election ballots? Even though we know for a fact it’s less accurate because of human error then machines? This whole movement by Republicans in the far right, against machine counting is unbelievably divisive. Anyone that knows anything about people and computers should know that hand counting is a bad idea. It's WHY WE DON'T DO IT!

Early Georgia election numbers are in and voting is up 85% from the last midterm election there. Doesn’t mean anybody’s winning, it just means it’s good that we have more people getting involved in voting. Because I really believe if everybody in America voted there would be no MAGA, and there would be no Republican party such as we have. There wouldn't have been an insurrection. Or fear now that Republicans will end democracy here.

Democrats need to be focused on working class people without a college degree and Latinos. Because that seems to be where the leaking votes are going away. That’s from Democratic candidate Tim Ryan. I added the part about Latinos though. Ryan’s opponent is JD Vance who has two mega donors. That, is never good for any candidate's voters.

I need to call Comcast and ask them if there’s a way I can save money while keeping what I’ve got in my current package. This is something you should do every so often for phone and cable and maybe some other things. At least half the time I've called about that, they’ve had some way I can save at least some money and sometimes, a lot.

I have to say, people like Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, JD Vance, after having Trump slam them really hard, especially if I was about to get up on stage after Trump said how much I kiss his ass… I would definitely have a come back, You've got to punch back. Those like Trump and Putin, either appreciate that or respond appropriately and not how you might think. I would definitely punch back at Trump when I got to the mic, in a way (if I were MAGA like JD Vance and Trump), where I would get in a comment where the audience would go, "oh I don’t believe he said that" followed by some laughter and applause. Otherwise, why am I up there? Something that would resonate. But I would never let anyone racially slur my wife like McConnell allowed from Trump. Or to attack me like that and I don’t give a damn who they are, I’m coming back at them. And frankly, there’s some integrity involved. Because if you lose your candidacy over something like that, you deserve it. Find another career. That’s the problem with these MAGA Republicans. They have no boundaries. Their ethics are in the Trump cesspool/swamp he created. Their ambition has completely eviscerated their ethics. Do anything to win? The only place that makes sense is in war and it often doesn’t even make sense then. Which is why we have the military governed by civilian authority. When war gets to a point like Putin is in where Russia has been consistently defeated, someone hast to take the reins and say, "OK STOP! ENOUGH ALREADY!" But that's the problem with autocracies. Single point of failure.

JD Vance has invested in companies with foreign workers. Deflating his self promoted image of himself. Looking at his stance on China, there's no there, there.

Tim Ryan had a good point about paying off college tuition loans in that we should at least let some of these people, with high interest-rates, be able to get lower interest rates as that alone would help a lot. And, we need to fix the problem that is the high cost of college tuition. I stand by what I've said, that we get a K-12 for free since over 100 years ago, because we knew that would raise the entire country up. And it did. It was massively cost effective. But everything has advance so far that we need to make that now, K-14. So people can get out of that in a level where there are more jobs open to them. When I graduated high school in 1973 I knew at the time I wasn’t prepared for any decent job. It made me angry. Which was why after three years of trying (to get a really good job, I did have one), I went in the Air Force. I got out, then got a couple of degrees which the VA paid for. But, tuition wasn’t ridiculous. I got a high tech job eventually and made a decent amount of money. Which allowed me an mostly reasonable retirement. I didn't get to a job with a retirement plan until late, or I’d be even better off.

I worked at University of Washington for 7 1/2 years and when I talked to them years later about being vested for retirement, they said I was a few months short. I had thought for years I was vested when I left. I asked them a few years ago about that and they said, "Yep, you're a few months short." But after I left the UDub where I worked at University bookstore, the University of Washington Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center and the UW Personnel office, I was asked to come back and work for Harborview Medical Center again. I wasn’t salaried, though. But I’m just curious if that added that few months on, that I needed? Maybe I was invested there for retirement. But you know how things go right? Probably not.

I mentioned in previous walkabout blogs about tightening your core as you walk and counting your steps. So I’ve been doing that since I first... actually before I first mentioned it, and today I’m doing 100 steps counts. What’s interesting is that it’s gotten easier I can do it for longer now and noticed today that when I tightened up my stomach muscles, sucking in my belly button toward my spine, it also tightens up the muscles above it in my chest, I’ve to my shoulders. Which was not my conscious intention. But that’s where the muscle tone has moved up to. Cool. This, after two years of Covid and long Covid, which kept me extremely sedentary all through 2021, and then again from March 2022, until not that long ago.

Speaking of which, it’s been a few days since my last walk because of the smoke and poor air quality from forest fires. It was over a week before that walk, since my previous one. I wasn’t sure if I’d make it today, but it looks like I am gonna make my standard 5 miles. Took a lot out of me, but it feels good.

Also, I had been complaining about my left ankle which was really painful and problematic since I began walking months ago. I can say now that I believe it’s been healed, at least since my last walk. Though I continue to wear an ankle brace sleeve.

The other day I tried drinking a glass of wine with lunch. Because of my long Covid, it would make my blood pressure go crazy when I did that. So being able to drink any alcohol is a sign of healing. And it went great! I had bought a little four pack of individual, inexpensive wine bottles. Tasted pretty good. I decided yesterday that today would be a good day for a steak. It’s been a couple weeks or so since I had a steak. I'll take the frozen steak out of my freezer, toss it in my air fryer and a little bit later, not very long, I'll be eating steak and win. I can even throw some shrimp on there I keep in the freezer. A class act lunch as a reward for getting my 5 miles down. And for dessert, I have a very tasty (and not very big) sugarless ice cream bar on a stick. Very creamy. Doesn’t taste sugar-free like what I grew up with that tasted nasty and bitter. And it doesn’t affect my blood sugar level at all. Which is good for long covid. Which seems to be fading.

I mentioned this before, but when I walk I use speech to text for my transcription. Especially when you get tired walking, you don’t always enunciate clearly when you get into thought and talking. So I will get back home and remember I had some really insightful things to say but I don’t have a clue what I was saying for a sentence or so in a paragraph because it makes no sense. It’s both comical and frustrating. Sometimes a bit angrifying. But, I’ve learned it’s better than nothing. So I do my best. I get home, I transfer the file to my laptop, put it into my blog, read through it once, cleaning it up as best I can and post it. It’s a bit rough and my thoughts sometimes are a bit jumbled. But I’m not trying to write the great American blog here. Just sharing some ideas. And besides, I want to finish up my book on long Covid. Which is done and the cover graphics are now with my cover artist. I made up the cover but he’s going to take the concept and make it look better than I’ll ever be able to make it look.

Back to this nonsense... it’s truly odd how Republicans don’t give a wit about them being our threat to democracy and only being focused mostly right now on inflation. Because that’s the best selling point they’ve got. Whatever you do, don’t look at who they are, or what they’ve done. Certainly not as judged by any neutral observers.

This is a progressive country and always has been or we would never have been founded. We just have an infatuation every so many years with fascism, autocracy, and conservatism. When you take a group like that, who is a frustrated minority and are consistently out of power...when they get back in power (and then fail so often) it frustrates them to the degree that they become toxic unto themselves. That’s why in part, we had a January 6 insurrection.

My next walk may be Sunday, but if not, probably Monday, in two days. All depending on weather and air quality (that I think may be good at least for a bit).  I'll be able to listen to the next "Ultra" podcast episode! So looking forward to the rest of its' entire season!

Have a great weekend.

Deep State 2.0

All this talk by conservatives about the "Deep State" got me thinking.

First, it was patently funny. There are career government employees who go on administration after administration. They run the government. Thank God for that too. Especially with this new amateur administration who is stumbling along at breakneck speeds.

They have lied. They have cheated. They may have broken the laws and they may have committed treason. Time will tell.

They have done bad things and then pointed fingers claiming the other side did it. That is important. Remember it.

Now we hear talk about a so called "deep state". Nothing like a moniker, a bad guy, an enemy. Otherwise, the Republican party might go poof into a puff of smoke and vanish.

But here's the thing.

"They" actually are the deep state. They are Deep State 2.0.

They are not conservative, or republican and surely they are not democrat or progressive. Best I can figure out is they are simply, capitalists. But even that doesn't explain all their actions. Whenever that happens one has to look beyond money, to power. To the long game. But we're not seeing a long game being played. By the Russians, yes, to e sure.

But "They" now are, as best it can be explained, the Trump administration. Now you are seeing just who they are and how easily they can pull the blinds over their supporter's eyes. But people are beginning to wise up. Still they, are smart. They will find a new crises to distract as they have time and again, even with the help of Russians.

At some point we will have to wake up and ask ourselves, just who IS running America now?

It's not the people. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. It's not the electoral college. Even though they decided the new president. As the democratic president candidate lost in 2000, so too, with a bigger and better strategy, the wrong guy won yet again.

One has to ask oneself, why does this keep happening? True, President Barack Obama was an outlier THEY didn't foresee. But they woke up from that, just as they began to put to sleep most of America. And the Russians helped. Both with, and without the conscious knowledge of those now holding the White House hostage.

How else could a charlatan like Donald J Trump become the President of the United States of America? Seriously. How is that even possible?

Well, in reality? It's not. But it did happen. It's a conundrum to be sure. One that surprised even Donald J Trump.

Yet again now with this deep state nonsense, they are once more distracting. They are the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. But they are not the kind old loser. Not by a long shot.

Why is it taking government so long to out these guys? Why indeed. Government is designed to move slow. That protects the people. But the people are not the concern anymore. They are only the smoke by which the mirrors are put into place in order to fill out the agenda of those in the public eye, those who are acting right in front of us and we can't even see it.

What are they doing? That is really the question. And it is one we will uncover very soon. Hopefully, before they can lock things down so we can never writggle out from beneath he heavy weight of so much money and power. And stupidity.

Because above all other things, our one saving grace is exactly that. That they are...stupid.

Stupid because the truth always wins out. However, the "winners" also write the history. Still, we are not a one world government...yet. We have different languages, a saving grace. Because with different languages we have different concepts, different points of view. Through those views, some can obviously see what is going on.

Stupid because people are what really matters. Honesty, clarity, productivity for all and not just for some few special ones, are what matter over corporate and wealthy individual needs.

There is a lot going on in the world right now. For two decades we've been told by those in the intelligence community that there are more spies on the ground world wide right now than there ever were during the "cold war" years.

Our intelligence analysts in America have grown exponentially. But they are actually on our side.

What about this, deep state, then? Who's side are they on? An article by Al Jezeera says progressives now see the deep state as being on their side. They too indicate something awry. They too seem confused. Why is that?

It's obvious, if you just stop to think, back up and take a look at the entire picture.

The deep state is what is actually now running things. And they are pointing fingers claiming anyone else is them. They are out in the open. Exposed. Many have fallen already. More are to come. Russia and Vlad Putin have put their fingers on things which further complicated and confused things.

Obfuscation and obstruction are the rules of the day. Ask yourself. Who has been doing that the most? Who benefits the most? Who claimed they would do one thing if elected and have since done exactly the opposite. Supporters still try to rationalize ridiculous actions by their hero. Still claiming hope is solid, even in the face of massive evidence that does not support that and in fact, supports just the opposite.

So no. The deep state is not out savior. But it is also not those who the actual deep state are pointing fingers at, with the help of conservatives and conspiracy nuts, who started all this nonsense and fairy tales. Which they are really so very bad at, and think they are oh so very good at.

And so I give you, the real deep state: Money. Money, and those who control it. We see our government bow down to it, again and again and again. Within confines so it doesn't look obvious just who controls what. And yet, there they are again, and again. Making excuses, using ridiculous ideologies, abusing the system to save money, or make money, or to buy power.

And there we are, caught in the middle, wondering just what in the hell is going on. For some of us, we grab whatever reason we can find, so we feel we have some control, any control and we will believe nearly anything from what we're seeing.

Delusion, upon delusion, upon delusion.

And there is plenty more to come....stay tuned.

Like you can do anything else, right?

Allegory of the Myopus and Leeries

Happy Presidents' Day! I hope you had the day off and a great week! Speaking of which, there is a White House petition about voting no confidence on Congressional Republicans and their obstructionist actions. They are paid to work for what they were elected for and they take our money and yet, they do not do their job. Whichever side you are on, we should all still expect they do their job and not do anything-but-their-job, as we have seen them do time and time again. Moving along.... I've said this before but... part of the problems we're seeing is no that one notices. Let me put it this way.... Substitution, Assimilation, Habituation. Substitution: We are lied to, changes are put into place. The further we get from the original lie the more ingrained and believable the lie becomes. Assimilation: Lies are told professing that things are getting better for the reasons and lies given previously but then as things degenerate further, other reasons are given and distractions are caused or dwelled upon when they happen ("Can't be having them think what we did caused it after all"), making it all much worse. Habituation: People become used to the status quo which is worse than it was before and now people believe the lies because of what they were told and sometimes in very little time it becomes hard to see what the truth once was and currently is. Then the people are told the fix is more of the same. Things continue to get worse, all while pointing the finger at those trying to now fix it but few can believe them or understand any longer. In fact it seems so far out of reality that the popular vote is for more of what is causing the issue. More, more, more, fix it, fix it, fix it, desperation, follow those who act like they know what they are doing because they act so self assured and oh I hope they are not lying to us. But that occurs less and less to even occur to many. Consider the story of the ridiculous thought. Or this short tale for clarification: "The Allegory of the Myopus and the Leeries". In a magical and far off land it becomes reported that people were beginning to DIE left and RIGHT. This frightened the people as their leaders told them to run for safety, that horrible things were approaching. "Run to the cliff! There is SAFETY there! No one will go over the edge. The edge is good! Trust us! We won't allow bad things! There is more freedom there. Pay no attention to how far from the cliff edge we all are over here on our Hillock!" The people running were the Myopus. Others screamed warnings as those running to "safety" fell off the cliff. Those few others who had stopped running and instead looked around, could see what was happening. Those few were the Leeries. They tried their best to tell the others to stop their advance to destruction. But those blindly running called the Leeries "brainwashed" and weak, socialists, communists, or even worse. They said they were people who wanted everything for free instead of running to the edge with everyone else. The edge which only seemed scary to the Leeries so they yell for people to stop. Or maybe the Leeries wanted the Myopus to die? Everyone knows the edge is where safety truly lies. Those on the Hillock continued shouting, "Run faster, get to the cliff!" All while they sucked down fine wines and grinned. Some of their underlings remained among the crowds doing their bidding and preaching the message. Those lesser types were protected by those on the Hillock. Others beneath them preached what is being preached to them by those between them and those upon the Hillock. Those in the middle were protected. But those below them reaped no benefits. 

Then even they too went over the edge with the masses of Myopus. No one heard any more from them. They were gone and simply no longer relevant. A few were very strong or simply lucky, and they survived. They didn't go over the cliff. They looked with disdain among the others, berating them all as weak and thus elevating themselves. They began to feel as important as those on the Hillock. Those who will only ever see them as they do all the rest. As those to be used and discarded. Traded and abused as mere capital. Still the masses continued to the edge of the cliff and many fell. Finally one day enough began to see that something wasn't adding up. Because this kind of thing cannot go on forever. Even those on the Hillock once knew that. Yet they too have been deluded and continued to believe themselves invincible. Eventually enough voices were raised and some began to take notice. That was when the crackdown on them really began. Through false laws, by removing them from society in various and obvious ways, they took their votes and their voices, and the dissent slowed to a trickle. The voices quieted. After a while though more voices are raised. Eventually a tipping point is hit until finally a couple of lone voices find themselves in position to take the lead. To convince others they can actually make change possible. They say: "You do not have to go over the cliff! You can simply throw those on the Hillock over the cliff instead. Once again the people can be happy!" Eventually through changes even those old and new up on the Hillock could be happy. But they could not see it. They fought even against their own best interests and that of all others. They could not see that they are not the only ones who were important. It was to be a long journey. They may have to build a fence to stop the people from continuing to go over the cliff. Some louder voices were raised. They pointed beyond the shores and said:
"Yes, yes! Build a wall but to keep those out because they are the problem, not us!" 
Many screamed out in joy because the answer was easy and an easy answer, even when it is wrong, is preferable to a real and more difficult answer that seems to them, to be impossible. A new thing becomes available. Many people begin to learn of possible alternate Truths and within those reside the old, the hidden and actual Truth. How does this all end? Well, it's never very pretty. Whenever you have someone in control and try to remove them, most especially if it's a monster or a vast and incorporated machine, they will fight more than ever as the removal begins and realization dawns that the end is near. Once they know there are only moments left, that is when the fighting will be the most horrible, the most damaging. When all stops are pulled out and attempts are made to try to damage anyone attempting to remove them from their perch upon their cherished Hillock. Possibly a scorched earth policy is adopted and then the real damage begins. All or nothing. Either they will have it all or no one will have anything. And yet, even though half of the people continue to believe their imposed and self imposed mass delusions, a light begins to shine out of the shadows. People previously unrealized are seen and more and more come to terms with what has been happening. With a great and mighty effort the now wiser people begin to push through the foolish and the ignorant, and against their best efforts they try to save them too. In the end they try to save the entire land and all who are living there. Because that is how it is done. That is how it should be. Finally even the foolish people come to realize they had made a great mistake. 

Many apologize, many give thanks to those who deserve it, but most cannot apologize. It is hard to admit that everything you have believed in has led you to your own demise. Even when others tried to warn you. It is hard to admit you did wrong, because you think that may destroy you in the future. And you may be right. Those who had saved everyone are much happier now. Of those who were on the Hillock, many were deposed. Then new ones from below took their places. Some have been replaced by their own children who now see the way things can be and who begin to appreciate that you do not need massive amounts more than you can ever use. Even though they will still have so much more than they can ever use. But that is capitalism. That is freedom. Freedom can be a great thing. It can also be a terrible thing in the wrong hands. Just like capitalism. Just like any pure thought, it can be abused when the wrong filters are put into place. Or the wrong people gain control or too much power. In a closed economy such as the world is, unlimited wealth has to be limited. It cannot be allowed to run rampant. That is not communism or socialism. That is reality. Finally people could see how vast wealth can lead to vast abuse. How that needs to be controlled for the benefit of those on the Hillock, as well as those far beneath them and any and all others. In order for those on the Hillock to be protected, they must protect those below them. All people must be protected but those who control the people. Therefore, the people must control the people. As their new life settled in, everyone was much happier. Some grumbled, but even they came to realize they were much safer now. After all, in everyone being safe, everyone is safe. In the meantime on yet another Hillock, one at which no one is looking, new people arise looking to bring back the old regime. It is an ancient story. A few of the secretly powerful are still around because no one ever knew about them; only those well known among the people. Many others are there still in place. Just as when a congress changes through term limitations, there are always those who remain from term, to term, to term. Running things behind the scenes. Those who are like the people, the Myopus and the Leeries and this is a good thing. Knowledge needs to be retained and to be passed on. When you have those who are upon the Hillock, or on a far bigger Hillock, one that no one is even aware of, who are supporting those who are wealthy and powerful and elected by no one other than their privilege, then there is no control, only desire, only their plans, only their actions for their purposes. What is that purpose one has to ask? But who can ask "what purpose" when few even know that purpose exists, or that those people exist, other than through the symptomatology of how things are running, and being run? It takes constant vigilance. It takes always fighting for the people to live well, over that of merely existing, or in supporting wealth, power, and control over the people. It takes living in and maintaining a country built to sustain the people... and not just the powerful.

Bernie, Hillary, and the Republican Party - in brief

It's an election year here in America. So I'm going to have a special bulletin like they do on TV. Here, you can even have an interesting and relevant video from Robert Reich on it. So this is an extra Saturday blog this week. And here we go.... There was some talk on cable last night about how Obama has done quite well manipulating within the Washington system. Even against the opposition. Hillary in her view of healthcare coverage is and will too, working her best possible effort on it, as she knows it and from within the system. Within the government AND the political system. That pisses republicans off, but it keeps them sane. Bernie knows how to play both government and political roles too. But in the healthcare situation and others, he's looking at the government and not the political roles in a solution. We have always (certainly in the last 20-30 years) had to work within the system to work the government. While actual government work gets diluted or at times, forgotten. Bernie is so desirable because he's not playing the old crony game. He's playing the old government game. Forget about the office manipulators keeping you from real work, just push the product, complete the tasks, get the job done. That's what I see going on between liking Hilary and Bernie...and between them and our government. I think a lot of what Hillary will do looks different to Bernie people than it is and I think a lot of what she does looks to republicans different even more than that from what it is. But they understand her, know how she will work and she knows how to play them. But Bernie has got to be scaring them. In a way Trump is too, but he's on their team (sort of, well, maybe, or, maybe not). Although Bernie will play the game too, as we've also seen with Obama lately, possibly in more ways we have yet to see by either of them, republicans may find they're not all playing the same game. And it will really piss them off. As it already has. Hey, who likes feeling powerless?). They are so out of step with reality though that this is going to happen to them with Hillary, too. In the end, it's all going to be about how Hillary and Bernie go about it all. How weil each method will work...and for whom.