A New Contender......

Interesting times these. The field of democratic candidates ready to take on 45 is shrinking a bit and the most recent debate, in South Carolina, was quite "fractious". Funny how things can shift in a matter of days.

45 has all kinds of goofy nicknames for his current opponents. Twitter, Twitter, Twitter.  He boasts that he can take on any one of them and come out on top. At least he said he could.

But a new entity has entered the 2020 Presidential race....one that just might make a huge impact without uttering a word. This one, male or female (?) is altering life as we know it all around the world. It's too soon to know just how much of an impact it will have.....but for now it is making itself known by shaking up the financial markets and making people worry about just what to do, how to avoid it, whether to travel....and who is in charge????

Welcome to the race Mr/Mrs/Ms COVID-19. Pretty isn't it.....in a science fiction sort of way.

Watch out Biggly Brain..... this just may be your undoing. How ironic.

I Feel SO Much Better......

I don't know about you, but I just feel so much more confident about America's preparation for what-may-be a large outbreak of the news making coronavirus now popping up all over the world.

As of February 27th we now have someone "in charge" of the U.S. response. Someone completely qualified to lead teams of physicians and scientists as they work to contain the virus and develop a vaccine that will be effective. Dr. Mike Pence....oops....I mean the Mike Pence with his history and law degrees.  The Mike that doesn't really believe in science.

As our fearless leader stated "Mike is going to be in charge and Mike will report back to me. But he has a certain talent for this." Hmmmmmm.......there are those who suggest that a health care professional would be better positioned to monitor and react to a virus that has already spawned more than 80,000 cases around the world.

Maybe we should ask the citizens of Indiana how Mike did when the AIDS virus was spreading in their state due to people sharing contaminated needles. Apparently, instead of wanting to put state funding into prevention programs that would address that specific problem he suggested starting programs that helped people who wanted to change their sexual orientation.....or pray.

So I do feel a huge sense of relief that Biggliest Brain put Mike in charge......the power of prayer seems to be doing wonders to combat gun violence and mass shootings (as seen in Milwaukee two days ago) so it's bound to stop this virus dead in its tracks.

Phew.....

Haunted......

A few days ago, on my Facebook page, someone posted a video of a Ms. Hutchinson from West Virginia. She was testifying before a Congressional panel charged with changing poverty guidelines in the United States. The basic video was called « This is what being poor in America looks like. » She speaks for less than ten minutes while she « schools » the committee on what life is like for her and many of her friends and neighbors. Keep in mind she has a bachelor degree and works two jobs to raise her family. While talking about how difficult it is to make ends meet on her salary she also reminds the committee members that they are allowed an approved allowance of $40,000 for office furniture and their salaries float around $174,000 per year.

I have listened to her several times....and while I haven’t fact checked each of her statements I was curious enough  to do a little google research on my own....about my part of the USA. Ozaukee County, Wisconsin....just north of Milwaukee on the shore of Lake Michigan. I was thinking about home as I sat in our rental for the month down here in Greenville, SC. We drove down in our nice car, spent several nights in motels coming and will do the same on the way home, spent more than $2000 for the rent and enjoyed our time going to museums, out for meals, to the theater and sipping $5 cups of coffee. I won’t say I feel guilty about any of this knowing how hard we worked to be able to enjoy our retirement years.

But Ms. Hutchinson’s comments, once again, reminded me that luck played a part too. Where I was born, the parents who raised me, the schools I attended, the man I married, the jobs we had. Step by step the American dream rolled out in front of us as we walked along its path. We never worried about paying the mortgage, going to a dentist, affording medication, feeding our kids. Never.

According to a few recent figures I found the median household income for Ozaukee County is $80,526 while the US poverty level puts an income for a family of four at $26,200. $26,200. We certainly wouldn’t be fleeing Wisconsin’s winter for a month if we were anywhere near the poverty level.

It makes me very sad, amidst the divisive noise of the 2020 election cycle that 40.6 million people in America now live in poverty. 40.6 million people who wonder how to feed and house their families, which bills to skip for a month, which medications to drop. 40.6 million people.

The American Dream rolled out in front of Dave and I as we began life as husband and wife. As Ms. Hutchinson stated « Povery rolls off the backs of parents right onto the shoulders of their children no matter how hard they try. »

I don’t know what decisions the committee (Republican) made but at the end of her remarks Ms. Hutchinson was rewarded with a standing ovation. That won’t feed her family....but I hope it fed her soul.

Doing the Math....

The other day I walked Mr. Fenway around the block in our just-for-February neighborhood. Watching him pace off the half mile route, stopping to sniff and then to claim another tree or bush I began to wonder just how many miles our little traveler had gone while exploring with us.

So I came back and asked Dave to do the math. We’ve taken him in our RV to most of the Continental US and quite a bit of the southern edge of Canada. We’ve driven the Prius to Austin and back....and now out to South Carolina. Then there are the numerous trips back and forth in the car to West Bend and Milwaukee suburbs. Can’t even begin to estimate the mileage total for all those.

Dave came up with the fact that we three have traveled well over 80,000 miles together! That’s a lot of in-the-vehicle time for a little-ish dog. I wonder what he thinks about as we whiz down the roads from state to state. Dave and I can talk, read, listen to music, look at scenery.....Fenway can glance out and then settle down for another nap. Must be boring until we take him out for another little walk before moving on.

80,000+......no wonder he’s pooped!

?

Driving down the street in Greenville to get to the grocery store I saw a sign on the side of a building that made me do a bit of a double take. I read it quickly but somehow couldn’t get the two parts to “go together”. And, frankly, I wondered why the add on sign was even there?

My brain was thinking that martial arts were somehow in conflict with Christian principles as I understood them from my Sunday school days. To me martial arts are controlled “violence” but the Bible usually preaches peace and caring for your neighbor. (Again very simplified and probably incorrect.)

Curious I came home and googled a bit and began to understand a little more. Apparently Christian faith based families don’t like that martial arts may include exposing themselves or their children to eastern philosophy and/or religions. Hmmmm.....so one is only secure in their faith if they are never invited to explore any other religions?

I was raised attending a Lutheran church. I went because that’s where my parents went. (Or rather my mom attended and loved her church....my dad went on Christmas Eve and I remember he walked out one year when the sermon got too long.) I don’t think children pick a faith...they follow their family. I did....until I began to question things during confirmation classes in junior high school. And taking a history of religion class in college really opened my eyes to accepting other faith traditions.

So maybe the Christian based community around here is “right” to be worried....expose yourself to the “other” and you may open your mind to worldly ideas. You might also begin to understand just how many faith-based stories and traditions are similar whether from the Bible, the Quran or the Torah....or Hindu or Buddhist or Sikhism or....or....or.....

Oh well.....I am not enrolling in the school....I don’t have any kids involved. I’m sure there are other martial arts studios that do not emphasize this bias. Choice is good.....usually.....

146 Hours.....

We are enjoying a few weeks in Greenville, South Carolina. It’s not the warmest place to go to escape Wisconsin winter....but 50’s and 60’s are just fine with us. And what made the last week even more fun was the fact that our friends, Tom and Denise came down from Maryland to stay with us.

They arrived on Sunday the 9th and we spent the next week doing lots of exploring, eating out at a few nice restaurants, talking and laughing. And playing games....guys against girls. We went to the botanical gardens at Clemson University, we browsed through area art galleries and did a little shopping. Denise and I went to a performance of Disney’s Aladdin at a beautiful performing center right in the city. Tom and Dave took a tour of the nearby BMW plant and museum. We did the kinds of things we like to do!

We’ve traveled with these friends before....a river cruise in Germany, a Holland America cruise from Boston to Montreal. We’ve sailed together on the  Chesapeake Bay. I think it works so well because we agree that we don’t all have to do the same thing at the same time.

One activity we did happily share was to park our butts on the couch and watch hours of HDTV house shows...people who hit the lottery and were looking for a dream home, people looking for a get-away place on an island somewhere, couples who wanted to re-do their home with a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar budget. We would shrug as young people said they had to have at least five bedrooms and four baths.

Our shared space included two bedrooms (comfortable), a single small bathroom and a one-person-at-a-time kitchen. A small shared space for 146 hours.....it worked for us!

Once Again....Stunned....

It’s the evening of Thursday, February 6th.....a few days after the United States Senate gave 45 a « pass »....oh well, after all it was a perfect phone call. I am so disgusted and disheartened by every senator who did not have  the balls to stand and say « This was wrong! » I sincerely hope that, in November, voters remember and surge to the polls to flip the Senate.

But I digress. I did not watch 45’s SOTU address because I knew it would be a pep rally for his base and, frankly, I can’t stand to listen to him or watch him behind the podium. Still...it was impossible to  miss the recaps on Wednesday. A few random thoughts....about how he must LOVE to hear himself introduced as POTUS. How interesting to see him refuse to shake Nancy Pelosi’s hand....fourth grade behavior. And then I saw Melania trying to fasten the Medal of Honor around Rush Limbaugh’s neck.

What?!

So I googled a bit....to find that the medal is « the highest civilian award of the United States » and is awarded by the President for one of three reasons especially meritorious contributions to (1) the security or national interests of the United States or (2) world peace or (3) cultural or other significant or private endeavors.

Hmmmmm. Well it couldn’t be one or two.....so the medal must have been awarded because Rush made especially meritorious contributions to cultural or other significant or private endeavors. Really?  Rush Limbaugh? During is SOTU speech 45 said of Rush « the medal recognizes his decades of tireless devotion to our country » and « the millions of people a day you speak to and inspire. » Hmmmmm.

I won’t re-quote all of the questionable, hateful and disgusting Limbaugh diatribes that have been showing up all over the internet. It’s easy for you to find them if you are interested. Suffice to say one source stated Rush has been called « the most dangerous man in America. » That may be a little harsh.... but then again maybe that’s why, watching Melania, the First Lady seemed to really have trouble fastening the ribbon.

I wonder if she was thinking « Be Best! »