Biddeford

Some people are Just in the wrong place at the wrong time if they live in the USA

This is the kind of safety Americans can and have come to expect from their Trump led government. Masked ICE thugs in Black SUV's are swooping into scattered communities across this nation in what seems to be just a power performance to remind America that no one person, citizen or not, is immune to their brutality. They are beyond the law, beyond any sense of justice. They are nothing but hired thugs who seem to delight in killing people.

There are so many things wrong with what ICE is doing, naming them all would take a 1000 words at the least. The most disgusting aspect of the emergence of ICE as an extra legal army of thugs is they are not only sanctioned by the cowards of the GOP, the spineless Republicans just ensured that ICE is funded through the end of Trump's term.

A 45 minute drive from my house in the quiet small city of Biddeford, Maine, another show of force callously used by ICE thugs resulted in the death of a young man who was not even on ICE's Hit List. The incident happened yesterday, Monday, July 13 around 7:00 AM. 

ICE has invaded Maine before. They arrested 200 people, 19 of whom were the only ones with any kind of criminal record. Up to that point, ICE had not killed anyone in Maine; at least as far as we know. That changed yesterday in the early morning hours in an incident that on film, looked like a carbon copy of the Renee Good murder in Minneapolis on January 7 earlier this year.. Their victim this time in Biddeford, was Joan Sebastian Guerrero, 26 years old Colombian. He was legally here with a green card and a Social Security number. He was heading to work when he was murdered by an ICE agent. His death leaves a 3 year old child without a father and his wife without a husband.

Targeting folks not here legally is just the beginning. Continuing to support the Trump Agenda of fear, hate, and lies by turning a blind eye to the back water sewer Trump  wants to turn our country into, is just asking for the worst to come true in our not too distant futures. Now that Trump has emboldened his fellow slime creatures to emerge, even if Trump is gone, there is now a movement solidly based on the worst attributes of America. The worst and ugliest voices of America now have a huge platform.

We can either embrace the struggle to reclaim our country, or sit back in our barco loungers and allow our country to go down the shitter.

You decide. And just remember, no matter which way it goes, we will have deserved the outcome.

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

_________________

Damn. I am so upset at the uncalled for and ruthless show of violence that unfolded 45 minutes away from my little corner of Maine, well, I am not feeling musical. I am fucking pissed, so pissed in fact, I am having trouble seeing through the anger. Calming down is not even close to being on my radar. Yet, I know finding some calm would be what I shoulld be doing instead of wallowing in my hate and anger as the country I have always loved goes to Hell in a handbasket. .............. Phew. Let's see, music huh? ..... Okay.  Focus Mike, fuckin focus. ..... I know, time to put a playlist on, one of my playlists I built years ago.

Ah, that's better. I punched up a playlist from 12 years ago, "Drunk n Disorderly Mix". The first song was perfect. "Tired" by Sprung Monkey is a great mix of, "play it at WOW" with mellow interludes that let me catch my breath. Enjoy! And seriously, play it at WOW................ I feel better now.

I decided that a more recent tune would be appropriate. This song was released in 2002. The group is The Devil Makes Three, and the song is "Graveyard". Perfect song when one is drowning their sorrows; which I am not, but might be later in the evening.

With this next song I am makin it a three-fer today. Please enjoy Hank Williams crooning hard with, "Hey, Good Lookin". This song definitely lightened my load. Thanks Hank.

250

When The USA celebrated America's 200th birthday in 1976, I will admit I did not pay the attention to it I am paying to its 250th birthday in 2026. 50 years created a different approach from me regarding one over the other.

In the summer of 1976, I was pounding the highways of the Eastern Seaboard moving people's furnishings and lives from one place to another. I worked hard that summer. I had little time to pay attention to any birthday. I was making money I had never made before. Call it my first capital improvement period. I do remember a heightened sense of nationwide excitement from the many flags I passed and the numerous depictions of fireworks that were found in every print ad and TV commercials at the time.

In 2026, I am hard into my decapitilization period. That is, I am not actively chasing the bucks, I am living off my previous efforts at chasing the bucks. They call it retirement. I certainly wish it had come first instead of work, but then I never had a silver spoon in my mouth or even contemplated one. I probably would not have liked that either. 

Back then I could put in 16 hour days, go out and party til 4 in the morning and still make it to work by 8. It seemed I had no problem having fun and working hard at the same time. Today, a night out past midnight ruins me for a couple of days.

Being retired for this year's celebration has allowed me time to investigate different aspects, reasons, and other pertinent shit regarding our country's march into the future. My first burning question was what chunk of time exactly is 250 years in the counting of time. It seems there are several words / terms that are okay when labeling 250 years. The most popular by far is "Semiquincentennial".  

(I just wrote that from memory without looking it up. I will now look it up to see if I got it right. Lots letters in that one......... and more...... DAMN! I nailed it. Picture me now doing a jig, or rather, a sad slow imitation of one.)

At least now, after writng and now reading it, I know how to pronounce it. Other than that, I hate the word because it is entirely too burdensome to write or speak out loud. "250 Year Celebration" works best for me.

So, I let the Hoopla and Flag Waving pass me by in 1976. My excuse is I was numb and dumb and way too busy making the first serious cash of my life. My excuse for this birthday, 50 years later, is I am not that enthusiastic about a national birthday that has been hijacked by a slimy clown who is using it for his own self agrandizement. Trump has taken any celebration I may have considerd and shit all over it with his "Everything is about Me, Me,Me.....Me".

So please understand if I refuse to fly a flag this year. Please understnad that until Trump and the movement he created out of his ass is defeated, I will not be celebrating anything that pretends to show America as a great country. I fear we have lost that battle; and if not Lost, we are in serious danger of losing it, should the movemnt he created continues after he is laid to rest in the closest swamp available.

There is still greatness in this country. But it is a greatness that is currently under attack by some of its own citizens. Why? That's the problem. I cannot for the life of me understand why they hate our country so much, that they would want to marginalize everyone outside their narrow-minded  crew's view of the world. Talk about biting off one's nose to spite their face...... Geez.

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

( Post note - The two children in the top picture are my niece and nephew. I had yet to even consider marriage, children, or mortgages. )

___________________________

I sat on this post overnight. Not sure why. Maybe it was because it is so flippin hot. Maine is not supposed to be this hot. If I was a Republican, I would blame Biden or maybe Obama. But I am a card carrying Libtard who votes with Democrats at the moment. I say at the moment because the Democrats are really beginning to piss me off ..... again. I don't know what they are thinking sometimes. They have a president who is self destructing before our eyes and the Democrats are still pushing their often silly Woke policies over the bread and butter issues all of America wants to hear at the moment. Table the overly progressive crap for when you fools might again have the power to institute some of them. 

Regardless, this section of a post for me is to inject a musical moment to hopefully offset any panty bunching commentary I may have inadvertantly used in the main body of said post. ........ Okay.

Small town America used to personify the heart of America. Those small towns, those fields of grain and pastures stuffed with cattle were symbols of America's wide expanses and also the open hearts Americans offered everyone who was here, who came here, who wanted to come here.

Today on the Eve of the 4th of July and the 250th birthday of the country I love, America is not the shiny love is in the air country it used to portray itself. Our citizens are at each other's throats. Our citizens have become two Americas; one group wants an America that is moving forward with all of us. The other group wants to return to a past that never existed then but exists large in their minds now. You know, the America that was controlled by White folks, peckerwoods like me.

I decided that John Mellencamp recorded two songs that encapsulate the mystery that is America. So today, we have a two-fer. Up first is "Small Town", an ode to the rural small town America the World learned to love from afar.

The second song, "Pink Houses", looks behind the "Life is beautiful" America and points to some of the ugly truths America has that also plaque, in varying degrees, every country on the planet.

Bittersweet - The Sounds of Paul Simon

Last night, an 84 year old man stepped out onto the stage at the Bank NH Pavilion on the shores of Lake Winnepesaukee, Gilford, New Hampshire. The capacity crowd of 9000 or so dutifully greeted him with a standing ovation. 

The man began to speak. He outlined what the audience could expect in the way of a show. It would be a two part show. The first part would be his latest music from his latest album, "Seven Psalms".  He was specific, the first act would be 33 minutes long. There would be a short intermission. The second act he promised, would consist of many hits from his earlier years. The crowd roared their approval.

I cannot speak for the audience, but my initial impression of his first set was shock. I am not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this old man who was one of my musical heroes from the time I first heard "Sounds of Silence" in the1960s. He was a frail man. His tired voice sang songs wrapped in religious questions and faith. I was not disappointed. I was reminded that even Heroes grow old; Time makes no concessions for anyone.

I felt sad during that first set; selfishly sad I guess. Paul was onstage singing his heart out and I thought of my own situation. The crowd was polite. It was possibly from shock similar to mine. We offered luke warm claps after each song.

Intermission

The first set had given me a chance to accept that Paul had lost a step or two. I adjusted my expectations after the intermission.

The concert had started right on time at 8:30 PM. With the 20 minute or so intermission, Paul and the excellent 9 or 11 musicians ( Lis and I weren't sure ) who had his back played for a total of 2 1/2 hours I guess. Paul found his stride, his voice grew stronger, and his renditions of older hits created a new appreciation for the greatness of the music this man created over his 60 plus years as a giant in the American music scene during the second half of the 20th Century. 

His songs humbled me, caused some tears, and left me awestruck. Paul is still plying the trade he adopted so long ago. I came away with a one word summation of what I thought of the concert...... Bittersweet. 

I had no problem deciding what  group or artist to highlight for this post. But which rendition do I pick? The period when Paul was part of the duo, Simon and Garfunkel, or the Solo Paul who continued to pump out meaningful and lyrical music for many years after?

There were so many songs I love from both phases of his career. After some thought, I picked a song from his time with Art Garfunkel. If I had to pick a favorite, it could easily be "The Boxer". That he performed it last night cinched it. Enjoy.