With Joe, There's Hope

An old Internet bud asked me to opine on who I thought would win the upcoming Presidential election next November. Would it be Trump or would it be Biden?

I have made a concerted effort of late to keep anything related to or about Trump to a minimum. He's on the tube 24/7. He's in our faces 24/7. We cannot escape the orange asshole. 

But I will try to answer.

My friend is serious. I know this because he is a serious man from what I can tell. He deserves some thought on my part about next November and how it might turn out.

I have tried to fight through my doubts and hesitations to come up with an answer I am comfortable with.

All I can come up with, all I can root out, all that I feel at this moment ........... 

If Trump wins, we're in for some serious fuckery, that's for sure. The only thing standing in the Orange Fruitcake's way is a clear headed and sane semi-octogenarian with a stutter, our current Prez, Joe Biden.

The way I see it is, if we do not get behind the older and smarter Not so Sleepy Joe Biden, we will have fucked ourselves. The choice is black and white, hard edged, definite, no doubt about it; we're fucked if we vote Donald back in. If we rehire Sleepy Joe, we have an even shot of pulling out of the national funk we seem trapped in.. 

It turns out, I cannot say who I think will win next November. I can only say who I know needs to win, the man who is in charge now, Sleepy Joe Biden.

More than any other issues burning at the moment, none are as important as saving us from our worst selves. We need more time to focus on addressing the Trump dilemma more than any other thing we may want to do. We need to relocate some sanity as a nation and stop pissing so hard on each other's feet.

A first step is to show the Donald the door ........ for the second time.

Keep it 'tween the ditches ..............................................................

__________________

I picked "Proudest Monkey", a song from Dave Mathews. Not sure what connection it might have to the post, but well, we are all monkeys after all, and that includes Sleepy Joe and sadly, Trump too. Enjoy!

Stay Tuned

I guess I did not know what to expect. What I found at the outset was a far cry from anything I had envisioned.

I joined Tik Tok this morning and after only 20 minutes or so of complete cluelessness, I am thinking that my participation on Tik Tok is a no go. I can find nothing but selfie style videos, most of which I have decided are not worth even mentioning them here.

I do not make videos. I write words. Words are my favored form of reaching out and touching folks. Written words don't fail me like my spoken words can. I am able to think about how I want to relay my thoughts more clearly by putting pen to paper, fingers to keyboard. I can edit as I go. Fuck up a video and it most likely means a re-take.

No, I don't do videos. ......................................... 

Back in the day I joined Twitter before I joined Facebook. Took me a New York minute to decide Twitter was where small minded mean people coagulated. Facebook was better at the get-go, but not much better. That was 13, 14 years ago and even though I gave Twitter a second chance, I haven't changed my mind. Assholes way outnumber regular folk on Twitter. I hear it is even worse now that Elon got his grubby little fingers on it.

So, I won't bail on Tik Tok, at least not right away. 

Stay Tuned ....................................

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For no reason at all, I picked "Moondance", by Van Morrison as the musical finish to this post. This song has definitely stood the test of time. I think I like more than I ever did when I was 18. 

Simplifying Things

Ran across these two images this morning. After considering both, I realized that they nicely represent my current attitude about Religion, Trump, and the stupid things we humans get ourselves into.

The ascension of Trump to God like status for some should scare the shit out of the rest of us. The comment, "He is is to be feared above all gods", is absolutely correct. 

We think a god has an affect on our lives without tangible proof. But Trump and his policies have killed people and ruined the lives of others. His life of sleaze and evil is proof of that. He most assuredly has more real power over us than any god one might care to name.

Idolatry has never ended well. And it will continue to disappoint as long as we use it as a crutch with which to live our lives.

Frivolity, on the other hand, may hurt a feeling or two for a few moments or two, but it damn sure is a much better, safer, and fun waste of our time than mindless idol worshiping.

Be Frivolous  .........  Not Religious. 

Later Gators .......................................

________________________

Musical choice this morning is another Two-Fer.: "Why Look at the Moon", a cover of a Victoria Williams song by the Waterboys to cover the frivolous and a classic from  John Mellencamp, "Authority Song" that somewhat covers my life long mistrust of authority of any kind; .... especially organized religion.

No Longer MIA

Over a week ago, my computer was hacked and hacked hard. Locked up. No go. Not even a teasing icon that would blink should I punch it. 

To be fair, I have been living on the edge using an old Windows 7 system with no power back up or as it turns out, no hired protecting software like WebRoot, Malwarebytes, etc., protecting me from all the slimy, evil, pervasive heebie jeebies that are always looking for a rube like me to take advantage of. 

This time it was the ransomware assholes who snagged me. A lack of attention combined with a knee jerk panic punch of absolutely the wrong icon and they had me hooked and in the net. I contacted the number at the top of the screen and it turns out my computer was useless if I didn't ante up serious jingle to have them unlock the gates.

I performed the hard shut down before I pulled out a credit card. I called my computer guy and he fixed me up. Problem was he had a back log of work. I would have to wait my turn. Call me next week.

Day before yesterday I picked it up and let it sit unconnected while I did the best I could to ignore it. Finally the itch to write and yeah, reconnect on Facebook, overwhelmed my current lethargy and I spent most of today getting to the point you see in the picture. It is never just reconnecting. I had 10 years of dust bunnies built up behind the old computer. I cleaned all surfaces, relocated outlet strips and reorganized a couple of drawers in the desk. 

The typical and predicted failure to stick to a plan very well, an hour job turned into a six hour endurance event. .......... 

My life has been a series of chores that appeared to be simple , but more often than not, seldom were.

So I am now stroking a beefed up Dell computer with Windows 10. Its like a couple of 4 barrel carbs, more horse power and a bigger fuel tank have been added to it. Damn, is this thing fast. Now I have the excruciating chore of adjusting to a new computer. Already some hiccups with the images file and downloading new images from the Internet. ......... I'll figure it out.

 Just a "you might be interested".........

I picked up the malevolent scourge while on Facebook. Not blaming them: I was an idiot and deserved what happened. Reminded me to not get complacent, no matter where I travel on the Internet.

Keep it 'tween the ditches ..............................

_____________________

I found a group I had not heard of. Don't know any of their history. But their covers are excellent. Here is Broken Peach and their rendition of "Tainted Love", PLUS, their fine cover of "Personal Jesus". You're welcome.

Volume up to WOW is advised.  Enjoy.

The Fertile Crescent

Not long ago I posted my absolute disgust with Israel and Hamas in Gaza over their inability to live with each other. The blame I think falls directly at the feet of of Israeli PM Netanyahu and his hard line Conservative policies and also at the feet of the Iranian proxy fighters, the terrorists of Hamas. I pointed out the obvious that the real victims were the innocent civilians of both sides. 

All of this was apparent right at the outset on October 7th when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, killing around 1200 innocent people and taking many hostages, many of whom were tortured and raped. What followed was the over the top military response by Israel.

Now, the shock of that attack from Gazan terrorists has been replaced with the dread of another regional conflict that might last for years. It will gather more momentum and possibly drag other countries into the fighting. ........ All because the leaders of both sides are stupidly stubborn and willing to kill innocent people to make their points. 

Contrary to the advice of the USA and other countries who have been in this same position because of knee jerk military responses in their past, Israel seems determined to make similar mistakes. The IDF's overwhelming firepower that has resulted in over 15,000 Palestinian deaths in less than two months proves they have no more regard for human life than Hamas does.

I was told by someone I respect that I had an overly simplistic view of the many conflicts in the Mid -East.  They claimed I was not considering all the blatant reasons that were intertwined with age old regional complaints and policies. Quick and simple solutions were not feasible they said.

Fuck that.

This kind of stupidity is simple. The endless blabbering of reasons, of shifting blame, are what make conflicts like this complicated and make them last far longer than they should. The simple solution is and always has been right in front of the combatants.  ..... Stop fighting and talk to each other. 

....... Don't hold your breath.

I have sat on this post and been avoiding any comment on the recent horror show that is unfolding in Gaza. No matter what I say, I will be the asshole as I feel the two of them deserve each other. But I cannot just sit back and watch the assholes on either side of this madness continue their murderous bullshit without calling both of them out. It took two brutal leaderships to create this absolute Hell on Earth. Neither side can claim the moral high ground, no matter what weak excuse either comes up with.

I have nothing but the deepest contempt for the current Right Wing Authoritarian leaning Israeli government under the thumb of Benjamin Netanyahu and total, unequivocal hatred for Hamas as they act as proxies for others intent on Israel's destruction. This conflict is a no win situation that once again puts innocent people in the cross hairs of both sides.

The real goals for either side in this war are political in nature. Throughout history though, Humanity learned early on that to ease their conscience's for acting horrifically against others and to secure support for their heinous actions, they had to come up with excuses that they could hide behind. Religion and defending it from infidels and heathens became perfect go to excuses upon which battles and invasions were planned. It is an old and honored tradition in warfare to blame the other side's lack of faith in the real god and by god, we will make you pray to our god so we can save what's left of you when we are done raping and pillaging. 

No other area of the world is a better example of this than the Fertile Crescent. Thousands of armies have swept back and forth through the Mid-East over the last 10,000 years at least. Most of the conflicts, if not all, had religion at their core. This conflict is no different. Both are playing the religion card when it suits them. Differences in religion should never have been used to justify blowing up the neighborhood unless that religion was founded, at least in part, to support acting like assholes to others.

And people wonder why I hate organized religion of any kind.

Later ................................................

______________________________

It was a struggle to find a tune that fit my mood after writing this post. I walked away from the computer, did some menial chores, brewed another pot of coffee, and sparked up a doob. When I came back and sat down to find a tune that fit my mood, I quickly zeroed in on Alicia Keys', "Holy War" .

The lyrics:

If war is holy and sex is obscene
We've got it twisted in this lucid dream
Baptized in boundaries, schooled in sin
Divided by difference, sexuality and skin

Oh, so we can hate each other and fear each other
We can build these walls between each other
Baby, blow by blow and brick by brick
Keep yourself locked in, yourself locked in
Yeah, we can hate each other and fear each other
We can build these walls between each other
Baby, blow by blow and brick by brick
Keep yourself locked in, yourself locked

Oh, maybe we should love somebody
Oh, maybe we could care a little more
So maybe we should love somebody
Instead of polishing the bombs of holy war

What if sex was holy and war was obscene
And it wasn't twisted, what a wonderful dream
Living for love, unafraid of the end
Forgiveness is the only real revenge

Oh, so we can heal each other and fill each other
We can break these walls between each other
Baby, blow by blow and brick by brick
Keep yourself open, yourself open
Yeah, we can heal each other and fill each other
We can break these walls between each other
Baby, blow by blow and brick by brick
Keep yourself open, you're open

So maybe we should love somebody
Maybe we could care a little more
So maybe we should love somebody
Instead of polishing the bombs of holy war

What if love is holy and hate obscene
We should give life to this beautiful dream
'Cause peace and love ain't so far
If we nurse our wounds before they scar
Nurse our wounds before they scar