At the time I first became aware that the Roseanne show of old was being brought back, I thought about how sorry our entertainment industry is. With the supposed thousands and thousands of brilliant, creative minds, the best they can do is offer a retread of a program whose time was long ago past. And with many of the cast having moved on with successful careers of their own, I was also surprised how many of them were willing to re-commit.  

When the cancellation first came to light, I did have some sympathetic thoughts for those around her that were harmed by her self-exposure as to what kind of person she truly is. Then I thought back to the original series and the stories I read at that time about what a terrible person she was to work with/around. There was her total disrespect for the National Anthem at a Padre’s game, when she screeched it out along with crotch scratching and spitting. Maybe if Colin Kaepernick would have grabbed a pussy, spit and screeched during the pre-game Mr. Limp would have invited him for dinner at one of his taxpayer-supported facilities. 

Roxane Gay, writing in the “failing” New York Times wrote: “The cast, the writers and the producers knew what Ms. Barr stood for when they agreed to work on the show. Everyone involved made a decision to support the show despite its co-creator’s racism. They decided that their career ambitions, or desire to return to network television, or financial interests would best be served by looking the other way. It was only when Ms. Barr became an immediate liability that everyone involved finally looked at her racism and dealt with it directly.”

These are definitely some strange times we are living through. Hopefully we will live through them. gw now looks not so bad. Obama might have been a progressive. And, Tom Arnold is seen as an somewhat of an intellectual. Scarier by the moment.

Hell, I’m sure we can all agree, is not a desirable place to hang out. It is also not a “spiritual realm” of constant suffering. It is able to exist right here, on the terra firma of planet Earth. I can, without a doubt, state that we have arrived.

While the fictional model is often filled with fire, the bouquet of sulfur and perpetual punishment, the actual hell is populated by hate and suffering, broken promises, and outright lies. And this is where we find ourselves…by choice.

I was beyond surprised when I recently saw the polling results concerning the well documented (and unchallenged) falsehoods being told by Mr. Limp and his surrogates. Over one-third of those interviewed thought the lies were brilliant strategy.

So parents, next time you catch your child telling a little fib about who made the mess in the bathroom, who left their dirty clothes scattered about instead of in the hamper, who released the parking brake on the car that rolled out into traffic and caused a multi-car pile-up, do not bring up the fairy tale that lying will send them to hell. They should be encouraged and rewarded for the wonderful plan of action they have choosen to take them forward in life. If they are a skillful enough deceiver, they could grow up to be President.

Since the election of Mr. Limp, Democrats, Progressives, and political pundits leaning more left than right, have insisted that there must not even be a glimmer of collusion, partisanship, or impropriety emanating from this White House. The Republican faithful, not so much. This is not just a one sided issue. If the 2016 Presidential election had produced a different result, the rhetoric would be reversed. Just think about all all the nasty charges leveled at the Obama administration.
Partisanship is term not reserved to define political differences. It can exist within much smaller subsets of a population. Tommy Smothers always chided his younger brother Dick with the phrase, “Mom always liked you best”. Funny? Certainly was, in the context in which the brothers used it. Biased and partisan? Yes, especially if it was true.
Trying to stay “non-partisan” is a constant struggle with today’s ever widening range ans chasms between ideologies. One would be hard pressed to find a “Berner” that does not believe that the Democratic Party didn’t show partisanship towards Clinton in the 2016 primary contests. The DNC actually endorses bias through their use of the “Superdelegate”, a blatant nod to the policies of the long ago Jim Crow era.
How can the so-called “Democratic” party, and the principles that badge is meant to represent, justify that one person’s vote, just because they are a member of the party’s hiearchy, (or for any reason, for that matter), is worth more than another’s. Another, whose support, through both votes and treasure, they so desperately need. The Democratic Party does not believe in “one person, one vote”. These anointed don’t even have to follow what preferences their “constituents” have displayed. They are on their own. Left alone to follow their own predilection. In 1968, Hubert Humphrey was nominated for the presidency despite not even running in a single primary. D(d)emocratic? No. Partisan? Of course.

Most of the time I use these therapy sessions to express my thoughts and findings about Philosophies and Feelings. Today though I find myself in the position of pontificating about a product that I have never used. It really isn’t all that uncommon. People do it everyday. Unlike Mr. Limp and many others, I actually research and read about what I rant on about before engaging. Usually. 

There are over Two Billion monthly users of Facebook, with around Two Hundred Fourteen Million of those being the U. S. Three Quarters of users engage on a daily bases. More women use the site than men, by around Ten Percentage Points. Growth was reported to be about Fourteen Percent at the end of 2017. According to one Digital Marketing Expert, “A huge and vastly growing number of Facebook users are active and consistent in their visits to the site, making them a promising audience for your marketing efforts.” Anyone with one half one brain knows that elections are marketing.

I am not a legal scholar, (although I often play one in life), so the questions surrounding Facebook, Cambridge Analyitica, misuse of scraped data, and the law, will be left for another time, another place, and maybe another person. Here, I am more interested in moral and ethical responsibilities and consequences of the entities that we voluntarily use and let control our lives.

From its inception, I have never been able to see the appeal of these social networking sites. Maybe it is because I would much rather meet with someone over a Starburger with cheese and a schooner, followed by an after-dinner doobie out in the parking lot. To me, that is “Socializing”. The only advertising you were subjected to was through the numerous lights and clocks provided by the beer and liquor distributors.

People who use Facebook tell me that they ignore the constant assault on their senses by advertisements, announcements and graffiti. Anyone, even those of us who even slept through Psychology 101, know that to be impossible. Even Darrin Stephens, of McMann and Tate fame, knew how to manipulate people’s thought processes and buying selections.

When most people think of subliminal advertising, (stimuli), often they recall the first documented application of it in 1957 when James Vicary inserted the words “Eat Popcorn” and “Drink Coca-Cola” into a movie. While it has been claimed that Vicary’s results were a hoax, a later study done at Harvard seems to show that such methods do work. While Facebook may not utilze subliminal stimuli using the classic method, the messaging in one’s peripheral vision surely has an effect on behavior.

Mark Zuckerberg’s claim that Facebook had little to no influence on the Presidential election of 2016 is disingenuous at best, a bare-faced lie at the worst. I’m betting on the later. After all, Facebook’s marketing people take claims containing remarkable statistics to their customers when selling them the product. If advertising with them did not work, how would they be a multi-billion dollar company, expanding at increasingly envious levels? One can not have it both ways. Add that to his refusal to testify in the UK, and I can’t help but believe he has much to hide. He has announced that he will testify before the much friendlier U. S. Congress. Whether he actually says anything might be a different story.

Cambridge Analytica was allowed to run wild using Facebook user’s data with no recourse until just recently, even though they had been made aware of Cambridge’s “hacking” years before. Zuckerberg finally did the absolute least he could do, he banned them from Facebook. Oh the shame! 

Cambridge Analytica’s story will take many years to decipher. The pitches, when selling their product, claim unheard of success rates, in re-shaping public opinion. Through “information operations” they worked for the re-election of Goodluck Jonathan in Nigeria. To be more exacting, they massaged the politics of fear.  While the CA’s staff on the ground in Nigeria was being lead to believe that what they were being given was legitimate information provided by Israeli Intelligence or Mossad, in actuality, it was hacked emails, medical and financial records, all designed to discredit and slander the opposition’s Buhari. When they discovered the truth, the fled the country in panic.

Cambridge Analytics has also been involved in elections in Argentina, the Czech Republic, Kenya, India, the Brexit campaign in the U.K. and of course, the 2016 Presidential election in the U.S. To say that their tactics lean towards the sleazy and criminal, is a huge understatement. The fact that the key people in the organization consist(ed) of the father and daughter team of Robert and Rebekah Mercer, Steve Bannon, and the suspended CEO Alexander Nix, should be enough to prove that case.

As far as Facebook, they made is easier for CA to manipulate the American voter, and despite Zuckerberg’s previous claims, knew it was happening. They had been told about the scraping and aside from a “pretty please” letter to Cambridge Analytica and it’s parent SCL Group, they did nothing.

When some of the Fifty Million Plus people affected started downloading the files of information that Facebook had on them, they were shocked to the extensiveness of the data. It includes phone call information, personal calendar information, including appointments and trips, contacts, etc. Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook was sorry and will need to re-earn their customer’s trust. To me, what has and is happening is reprehensible. You need to check what information Google has on you. It is even worse.

After you get your “social media” accounts deleted, cleaned-up and quit using Google, including your email account, get hold of me. Perhaps we can meet up at the Star Bar. We’ll have a cheeseburger and a schooner. Wrap it all up with a left-hander out back. 

That’s Socializing.

Doing the right thing is hardly ever easy. Our lives, from the moment of waking to navigate the day, to the last moments of consciousness before falling asleep, is comprised of but one decision after another. For those of us who truly believe in equality and fairness, the choices we make become more difficult by the minute, even affecting what was once a very routine and automatic undertaking.

The very first thing I do when I wake, like hundreds of millions of others, is to brew coffee. And like most, I have a favorite brand that I have used for decades. As an addict, I make it a point to never run out of my favorite fix. This had not been a problem until just recently.

I have found out that the grocery store I have also used for decades, has set as a goal, the elimination of human jobs. They have taken the first step in this process by doubling the number of self service checkout stations during a recent extensive remodeling. I have also read that this same grocery chain has plans to totally eliminate the use of people in the checkout process in around thirty-five of its Colorado stores before the end of the year. This will mean the installation of surveillance equipment capable of recording every person’s every move in and around the store.

If that doesn’t creep you out, also consider that those people you have interacted with on a regular basis, even becoming “friends” with some, will now be out of a job. Not to worry though, with any luck, they will end up with a waitstaff position, minimun wage set at $2.35/hour, with management and the Limp administration trying to steal their tips.  Do you think that any of the savings from job elimination will go to the surviving employees? Do you believe in Unicorns and Fairies? How about Leprechauns?

So,what does this have to do with my morning cup of Joe? Like I said, even waking up is harder.

My new grocer does not carry my brand so I had to start looking for another dealer. Wasn’t much of a problem…at first. I found it at the site of a major retailer and happily ordered a month’s supply. The service was good. The price was good. Life was good. My supply dwindled and it was nearing replenishment time.

Then came the Parkland murders. I know which side I am on in these situations. I don’t understand how anyone can not be on the same side. And I always go full-on. Letter writing, phone calls, pickets, and, of course, boycotts.

I first found that my last supplier would not guarantee me that FedEx would not be used to ship my purchases. I then went to the manufacturer’s web page to see if I could order directly from them. While I was able to, I also found them boasting that they “Exclusively” used FedEx for shipping. Now, unless they become woke, my decades of dependance will profit someone else.

While this may seem like such a minor problem, it is meant to exemplify that for a dedicated activist, every decision must be researched and weighed. In today’s World, a seemingly minor decision, when made ethically, can take days. In the end, I will sleep better.

Hope there is a good cup of coffee waiting when I awake.

The Republican Party was not always what we see it as today. Any of their moral  underpinnings they could have claimed were unfortunately abandoned when Mr. Limp took control of that party two years ago. While they have always been the Party of the wealthy, it has been decades since the the self-proclaimed “Party of Lincoln” has tried to live up to what they so often cite as their virtuous roots.

It is true that the early Democratic Party would be considered racist by any standards, voting nearly unanimously against the 14th and 15th Amendment. The Ku Klux Klan was their partner in arms. The shift in the policies of our two major political parties, began almost imperceptibly with President Truman’s Committee on Civil Rights that ordered the end to discrimination in the military in 1948. Republicans like to credit Eisenhower with ending segregation in the military while failing to recognized that it was at Truman’s direction. 

Another result of Truman’s Committee was a split within the Party. Strom Thurmond, at the time a Democrat, ran for President in 1948 as a Dixiecrat, winning the States of Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama. This Party lasted for one election cycle.

In the 1960’s, the transformation was in full swing, culminating with the passage of the Civil Rights act in 1964, the Voting Rights act of 1965, and the birth of the Republican Party’s Southern Strategy. This strategy, outlined by one of Richard Nixon’s campaign operatives in the New York Times was simply, “The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans.” In 1968, George Wallace, an opponent of integregation, ran for President on the American Independent ticket, adding Arkansas to the list of States won by Thurmond in 1948. Jesse Helms joined the Republican Party in 1970. Three of the periods most vociferous racists had left the Democratic Party, two of which were welcomed into the GOP with open arms.

In 1989, David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the KKK ran as a Republican in Louisiana’s 81st District, and won. Twenty seven years later, citing Limp’s stance on not just illegal immigration, but legal immigration as well, Duke endorsed him during the Primaries calling him “the best of the lot”. In an Interview with Bloomberg, Limp half-heartedly rejected the former Wizard’s endorsement saying “A lot of people like me, Republicans like me, liberals like me, Everybody likes me.” Asked if he would repudiate the endorsement, he answered “Sure, I would if that would make you feel better.” 

In 2010, the RNC, was still claiming complete ownership of the 14th Amendment on it’s web site. At the same time, Mitch McConnell and Jon Kyle were calling for hearings into whether it should be modified. It seems as though they did not like that it was being used to grant citizenship to children born in this Country. Lindsey Graham introduced the idea as an amendment to end “birthright citizenship”. Is there any doubt as to who this is meant to impact?

In November of 1969, Nixon called on the “silent majority” for support. Although that specific term had been used throughout history, this time it was focused on those who had not demonstrated against the Vietnam War, those who had not joined the counterculture and those who did not participate in public discourse. Mostly made up of blue collar workers who were not active in politics, World War II and Vietnam veterans, and middle class voters who may have not necessarily been conservative but resented what they saw as disrespect for American Institutions. America, Love It Or Leave It. They were comfortable but wanted more and held a definite disdain for those who had less. Nixon’s use of the phrase was part of his strategy to polarize the American people. To divide and conquer, so to speak. 

This division has been exploited and advanced with nearly every Republican politician since. Ronald Reagan had his trickle down (voodoo) economics, which included huge tax cuts for the wealthy. His war on drugs, aimed directly at the less than privileged,  the imaginary “welfare queens”, and of course, Labor Unions. Unions whose members were sinking the economy with high wages and unreasonable demands upon their employers. If we could just get rid of welfare, drug users and unions, replace it with compassionate conservatism, we will all thrive by sharing the wealth they have been stealing from us.

The “autopsy” performed by the Republicans after their losses in the Presidential elections of 2008 and 2012 singled out the need to appeal to the growing minorities in Our Nation. These findings were endorsed by almost every single one of their 2016 candidates, lacking one, Donald Trump. He chose a different strategy, one aimed solely at the white, insecure and dwindling majority. 

Mr. Limp’s choice of “Make America Great Again” as the major theme of his campaign managed to re-energize the racism that many had hoped was long dead and buried in a modern and more inclusive United States. After all, hadn’t we just elected a Black Person to be President. Weren’t we living in a “post-racist” America?

When Ronald Reagan used a similar message in his 1980 campaign, he portrayed Our Country as shining city on a hill, one which all peoples and Countries should aspire to and what the U.S. could do for the rest of the World. A Country that “is not turned inward, but outward-towards others”. Limp, on the other hand, had promised to put America First. A clear departure from every other administration that wanted to be part of an ever changing Planet, not one that wants its own little rock. Nationalism at its most extreme.

In 2011, Limp was pondering a Presidential campaign and began questioning Barack Obama’s place of birth announcing that he had sent private investigators to Hawaii to see what they could find. Nothing was ever found, of course, and there are questions as to whether anybody was ever even sent. Was this just a scam to get a head count of the racists in Our Country? Obviously. As no one else will even partake in such unabashed racism, he has managed to put a number on those people who will solidly support him. Those who would not admit to such a bias in any polling. This is one of the first steps in building his base. To win both the Primaries and the General, he was going to build to that base.

So what other group would give him the most “bang for the buck”? People who should be diametrically opposite of racists. Good, “love thy neighbor” Christians. Jerry Falwell had proven them to be easily organized to exert  their political influence when he had founded the so-called “Moral Majority”.     They had worshipped Reagan (“Let’s Make America Great Again”) and hated the Clintons. What remained of them was not just your run-of-the-mill Christian, but the Evangelical Christian. Those who would put religion at the forefront of their existence. One who would not or could not be a racist and still consider themselves true to their faith. Historically though, they would be anti-Muslim. To even further cement their support, he would start espousing an anti-abortion view. A position that goes totally against his well established “Playboy” persona.

The fact that Limp never overtly exhibited any religious tendencies or attended any religious services regularly was never brought up. The Democrats, perhaps fearing that any questioning in that area would only steel the religious right’s attachment to the Republican nominee, chose to tiptoe around the issue. Or maybe it is because their long held view that religion has no place in politics. It never had until Falwell, otherwise a non-Christian like John F. Kennedy would have never been elected President.

Then you have the Republicans. Comprised of the established GOP adherents. Those who believe in less government, less regulation, lower taxes, and a laissez-faire attitude towards trade. Free-market capitalism, poor, disadvantaged and planet be damned. The “anything for a buck” group. These were the true “image” devotees. They believed that they had seen this faux billionaire rise to the top. He had his high-rise buildings with name garishly emblazoned on the top, his Taj-Mahal gambling palace, and now a top-rated network television show. This was a person they could worship and dream of being. All along, either ignorant of or refusing to believe, that Limp’s dad (a certified racist) had not only set him up in business, but bailed him out on several occasions, and at least once it was through a loan of questionable legality. There are also multiple bankruptcies where he walked away with boatloads of cash while leaving his investors holding the bag. This at least partially explains why most of his current debt is held by banks not of this Country. While he may have money, very little of it was earned in what many would consider an upstanding, moral way. If there is a god, and he employs an auditor, Limp will be setting in the outer office for eternity.

The amalgamation of these many diverse groups, along with a hatred of Hilary Clinton, both real and cultivated by Bannon and associates, gave us what we have today. While there was some misogamy involved in the 2016 election, I don’t believe it was that much of a factor when it came to casting the ballot. While it may have helped put Limp “over the top”, it was the racists, the rabid “Christians”, the bigots, and the GOP faithful that made the election a “race”. Without the care and feeding of these “deplorables”, Hillary would have won in the originally predicted landslide.

What we have today is the Party of Limp. Racists are the most significant, of which the Fearless Leader himself (along with his father) has a long and proven history of being. But White Supremacists are not the sole property of any particular political party. At times they even run on their own ticket. This cycle they just hitched their wagon to one of there own. After all, he was highly visible, may actually have a chance of winning, and he would certainly carry their “values” forward. And, best of all, he would be indebted to them. Bigly. The Evangelical Christians, Moral Majority, the Holier than Thou, Anti-Muslim really had no choice. Not if they wanted to stay politically relevant. Falwell let them taste power, and they liked it.  While the Democrats may welcome their support, both in money and soul-saving, their stance on Women’s rights, abortion, freedom of religion would little to satiate their recently acquired lust. If you have spent any time at all around the Democratic faithful, it won’t take long to hear complaints, or better yet, the envy expressed of their right wing antagonists’ solidarity in almost all things political. It was that cohesion that allowed them to thwart most every piece of legislation that the Obama Administration tried to get through Congress. So despite some of their early proclamations against Limp, when he did secure the nomination, the GOP establishment quickly fell in line.

That brings us to the Party of One. It is Limp’s Party. Not one of their other Presidential candidates in 2016 could have put this coalition together. They may have been able to bring the “regulars” together, and also pick up many of the racists along the way, not one of them could have achieved it with such solidarity. Perhaps a Ted Cruz/David Duke ticket???

Whenever and wherever men get together to socialize, the conversation will  at some point almost certainly turn braggadocious. I can not say whether the same happens with women. I am not part of that subset. The subject can be anything. Who has the most, the least, the better, the smaller, the bigger, the faster. Who can eat/drink/smoke the most. The topics up for discussion are  innumerable and as wide ranging as the cosmos. The facts, what there are of them, are very often, shall we say embellished, inaccurate, deceptive and sometimes even outright lies. Politely, it might be referred to as one-upmanship. Sooner or later “bull shit” is called. Someone recommends that everyone best roll up their pant cuffs. Put on your hip boots or waders because “it is getting mighty deep in here”.

The People of the good old U S of A have chosen to put a prime example of this behavior on display for the rest of the Planet to gaze upon in wonderment and horror. November 8, 2016, what was arguably the most powerful and influential Country on our little rock, elected one of those braggarts. One who believes that facts and reasonable behavior have no place in discourse and actions, especially if they detract from the perception of his total awesomeness. This “Stable Genius”, after all, has the biggest, the best, the most beautiful of everything there is, or ever was, in existence.

Even if one were to discount the boisterous, misleading, and false rhetoric leading up to the elections as “what all candidates do”, the very first official statement by the White House press secretary on the first full day of the Trump Administration was an ominous sign of what was yet to come. When Sean Spicer stepped up to the podium and declared, despite every piece of evidence proving what he was about to say a lie, that “This was the largest audience to ever witness and inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe”, it was just the beginning of what will reveal itself to be a long and torturous road. This fabrication was defended the very next day by Kellyanne Conway’s “Alternative Facts” argument with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press. This, on the Second complete day of the new administration. Using any internet search engine, (I prefer duckduckgo), one will find page after page after page of unfounded statements, half-truths and outright lies told by the current inhabitants of the Executive Branch of Our Government. Trump can certainly claim bragging rights to this milestone. Even Glenn Beck noted his penchant for stretching the truth during the campaign.

So, I’m going to get at least a couple, and if this administration manages to survive its first term and maybe “win” a second, I predict a shortage.

Maybe there is an investment opportunity here. 

shithole |ˈSHitˌhōl| noun vulgar                                                                               slang an extremely dirty, shabby, or otherwise unpleasant place.

I awoke this morning to the very sad news that Ray Thomas, a founding member of The Moody Blues, had passed.                                                     Thomas, along with Mike Pinder, Denny Lane, Graeme Edge and Clint Warwick released their first album in 1965, The Magnificent Moodies. That effort yielded the first number one hit in the UK, “Go Now” (# 10 in the US). Clint Warwick and Denny Lane left shortly and were replaced with John Lodge, a earlier band mate of Pinder’s, and Justin Hayward. Ray didn’t start contributing on the writing until the Days of Future Passed album. He assisted with “Another Morning” and “Twilight Time”. One of his first solo writing attempts delivered “Legend of a Mind”, an ode to LSD guru Timothy Leary. On that same album, In Search of the Lost Chord, also featured his “Dr. Livingstone, I Presume”.

Ray Thomas and his bandmates escorted many of us on cosmic tours, traveling billions of miles, returning us to the physical plane where we started. Returning, we may have occupied the same space, but with a totally different spatial awareness. We were changed forever, in ways difficult to express, but easily felt, both in a tactile and spiritual way. Always for the better. Back where we began, but then again, not. Ready to embrace our somehow new surroundings.

The Moody Blues are to inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 14, 2018. An honor that is well overdue.

A true “Veteran Cosmic Rocker”, he will be greatly missed.