Out of the Box Monday Musings

We got it a few years ago, but the rules looked so complicated that we just passed, and left it moistly wrapped up.  But with my middle son, Doug, here this weekend, we decided to give it a try.  Benjamin and Doug tried to make sense of the rules, but we finally watched some videos on YouTube to get the hang of it.

Because that's the way it's done now.  There are videos on YouTube now that explain how to do most anything you can think of.  No more instant customizing of games as you try to figure out the rules and wind up redesigning the game to fit your own understanding.

Even playing a commonly played board game like Monopoly can be fraught with peril, as every one you bring in who has not played with you before inevitably says something like "That's not the rules! That's not how you play the game!"

Firefly: Out of the Box was okay.  It is a kind of game where you win or lose as a team, rather than try to fight each other.  I'm still not sure we got the rules completely right, because it was fairly easy for us to win.  Or maybe we are just an unusually cooperative bunch.

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We didn't go to  the movie theater, which is usually the case when Doug visits.  The movies playing lacked any "must-see" pictures, so instead we brought in Rancheros (a local Mexican fast food choice similar to Moe's and Chipolte's) and watched the classic Galaxy Quest, a movie Benjamin and Alison had not seen before.  The movie is great fun, a wonderful balance between comedy and action.

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There is a lot I haven't gone into about Doug and his marriage to Ramya.  There is a lot there, and much of it is personal to them, and I don't feel like it is my place to write about it.  Suffice to say it didn't work out, pretty much from the beginning, and they never really lived together as a married couple.  It was a very hard thing to work through, but it is finally resolved.  Had they been Catholic, it probably could have become annulled in the first week.

Suffice to say, it has been final several months now, and Doug is finally stepping back into the dating world.  Alison and I are thrilled to see this. It is great to see Doug happy again.

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Doug left Sunday.  I was not feeling well, but we managed to get through church.  I got home with a slight fever, and my fake gout was beginning to flare up again.  It rears its head every couple of years (the last time was June 2014), and I was due.  I tried to take it easy, but it did mean I missed a performance by my favorite young thespian (well, my favorite next to Benjamin), Emily Beck, who was performing in some skits at Flying dragon, including Sandy in Grease.  My sincere apologies to Emily and her mother, my good friend Kimberly.

This morning my fever is gone, but my fake gout is not.  My foot may be in pain several weeks, if past incidents are prologue.

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So using Strait rules, without a fever - I go to work.

That's okay, though.  After completing a strenuous audit that runs several weeks, I am going to use some of my over-accumulated vacation time, and be off work this Wednesday all the way through Labor Day.  Am I going anywhere?  No, just to the world of imagination.  I hope to move forward on My Europa and other writing projects as much as I can.

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Doug has helped us catch soccer fever (different than my actual fever Sunday), and we watched our "adopted" team, the Portland Timbers, beat the Seattle Sounders 4 to 2.  We both agree right now that pro soccer is better than pro football.  Of course, that is probably colored by the fact that we are Lions and Falcons fans.

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Trump continues his miserable, foul performance.  I still run across people who suggest that Hilary is equally as bad,  Uhhh, no, no she is not.  And to even suggest that represents a profound misunderstanding of the incredibly nasty and dangerous depths Trump is sinking this country to.  He needs to be dismantled and humiliated if this country even has the most remote chance of moving forward.


Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Falling Into the Con: Saturday Political Soap Box 140

Although not labeled as such, this is a Speculatron.

What will be the outcome of the 2016 elections?

I'm sure everyone is just a'waitin' for T. M. Strait's insightful verdict.

Well, it depends.

I would love to see Hillary Clinton win 45 plus states, 400 plus electoral college votes, and 65% or more of the vote.  It's not impossible but it would require everything to break right.

Why?

Because some of you keep falling for the Con.  As Drumpf re-spins his webs,  some of you will be caught up in his madness.  Some of you may vaguely notice that what he is spinning is completely different than the one he did the day before, but others will see it and say, "You see?  He's coming round.  He's not as crazy as y'all thought he was."

WRONG

It's all a con, from top to bottom.  But I have hope.  Most of you don't get fooled by the same carny twice.  If you get fleeced once by an unscrupulous car dealership, you're not likely to go back again, no matter what they promise you.

BUT

You never know.  I won't be happy until Trump and his racist alt-right buddies are far distant in the rear view mirror.

What does Clinton's margin of victory depend on?

There is always the potential with a Clinton that one of their many sandals (pseudo or otherwise) catches fire.  But it won't matter what Trump or Breitbart say - most thinking people understand how they lie and weave fantasies.  What will matter is if a scandal has enough credibility to be investigated and verified by the mainstream media  (and no, they are not all in the tank for Clinton). If that's the case, it could cut into her margin, depending on how egregious it is.

There is a possibility that a major terrorist incident, domestic or otherwise, could shake up the election. Although it's hard to say what effect that may have.  If Trump is extremist and irrational in his reaction (as he has been in the past), it could actually benefit Hillary more than Drumpf.  Domestic mas shootings, to me, led some to really weird conclusions, as if the were Christopher Walken on SNL going, "I know what this song needs!  More cowbells!" So they answer, "I know what this country with so many gun incidents needs!  More guns!"

Clinton has so far concentrated on a strategy of pursuing alienated Republican voters.  This strategy scares the bejeezus out of me, as I'm afraid if Drumpf behaves for a few days, they'll wander back into the Con Man's fold. I know a number of Republican friends who despise Trump, but also will never vote for Clinton no matter what,so what they will really do is anybody's guess.  Her margin of victory is only going to be based in part on the number of alienated Republicans she wins.  And that a very small part of it.

Her margin of victory is going to be more dependent on rallying millennials, minorities, single women, the working poor and progressives to her side.  And so far, in my opinion, she has done a piss-poor job of it.  Her Vice Presidential selection, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, a corporate Democrat, seems like a nice enough fellow but he's not a compelling campaigner, and he has little appeal to millennials or progressives.  It's great that she's already forming a transition team, but it is chock-a-block full of corporatists, including ones that support the TPP, fracking and other causes close to corporate hearts.

Since many of these groups are not being addressed, they may not turn out in large enough numbers to make this election a landslide.  And it needs to be, not just for the presidency, but for the Democrats to retake the Senate and make major gains in the House of Representatives.

My prediction is that things close a bit, but Hillary still wins, with 50 to 55% of the vote, and 350 to 375 electoral college votes.  Trump is clearly defeated, but not as completely humiliated as he needs to be.  Libertarians get 3 to 5% of the vote, and the Green party between 1 to 2%.

The Democrats take back control of the Senate, but not by the numbers they need to stop filibusters.  I see a split in the neighborhood of 53 to 47.  Progressives will be stronger, but not strong enough to stop Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York from becoming the Senate Majority Leader.

The Democrats will not retake the Senate, but will gain about 20 seats, leaving the Republicans in control roughly 227 to 208.  In the House, close don't mean squat, so Ryan and his minions will run roughshod over the whole process.  Between that and the Senate veto, we'll have another four years where little gets done.

And so it goes.

Well, at least the Trump forces will be vanquished.  Surely people will stop falling for the Con,

This I pray.

Christie's Best Coming to Waycross!

Let this be your early warning, to book your seat onto Soldier Island, for one of Agatha Christie's best, the suspenseful murder mystery And Then There Were None.

Who is the killer?

Will anyone survive?

Does anyone even deserve to survive?

This play is ably directed by the extraordinary team of Mamie Jackson, one of WACT's best both behind the scene and on the stage, and Kayla Dixon, this year's winner of the WACT award!

The cast is stocked from top to bottom with some of the most talented thespians in the area.  Even in these early rehearsals, I see everyone  becoming their character, all reacting to each other in one of the finest ensemble casts I have had the pleasure of participating with.

I will have more on this great play in the coming weeks, so note those weekends now!  Visit a macabre island where no one may get out alive!

The Limits of Wednesday Wanderings

I can wander today.  Wander all I want.  But by Friday morning I need to come up with a theme.  Why?  Because I send out a newspaper column every Friday morning, to all the papers that may rum it.

It's amazing that is happening, It's not quite the direction I would have predicted that my writing would go into.  But it is there, and my name is getting known throughout the state (for better or worse, depending how people react to what I write).

So more and more of my limited writing time and what I focus on is being devoted to that column. The only trouble with that is that there is no remuneration in connection with it.  That in itself is okay - I have a platform that many would envy.  But as I move closer to the time when I could retire or substantially cut back from accounting, I need to figure out substitute courses of income.

I have an unusual knack for doing things that I enjoy and am good at, and doing them in such a way that garners no additional income.  I suppose there is a way to syndicate the newspaper column and make money off of it, but I have failed to grasp that, and remain insecure that any would want it if they have to pay for it.

I'm a very good actor, and have been in innumerable successful productions,but I have been completely incapable of converting that to anything that could earn even transportation costs.  I haven't tried, nor do I know how to try, to be an extra or minor actor in the burgeoning film industry that has come to Georgia.  The fear is that I'm good, but I'm not that good.


I have an almost meta-human talent to read aloud, and I can give a written speech or presentation like nobody's business.  I read  as a lector at church, and that's about it.  I have a feeling if I was in a different denomination, more evangelical, I could do quite well, somewhere between your successful local Baptist preacher and Joel Osteen. But my theology is not inclined that way.

I have seen opportunities to help record books on tape, that the audio versions of stuff do quite well, and I think I could be quite good at doing that.  But I have not followed up on it, partly due to time, and partly due to the nagging fear that, although I might be good, that I am not good enough.

My book and eshorts are doing okay, but I have noticed so far that they only do about as well as the amount of money that I am willing to put into promotion of them.  That's a very risky thing.  I probably should have tried harder to find a literary agent , but there again is that nagging fear - I'm not really good enough for an agent.


I'll continue to work on the edge, doing whatever I can to solve this problem, within the limits of time and my personality.

It's a puzzle, but one I hope I can solve.

Debating One Liners: Saturday Political soap Box 139

She'll clean his clock!  She'll run circles around him!  She'll beat him like a drum!

Everyone believes that Hillary Clinton would demolish Donald Trump in a debate.  And why wouldn't she?  She is smarter, has in-depth knowledge of virtually all the political issues, and possesses well thought out, articulate positions.  Despite her reputation for not being truthful, she actually is rated by most fact-checkers as being more accurate than any other candidate that has run this year. She is potentially getting one liner advice from the likes of Michael Moore, Bill Maher and Al Franken.

Donald Trump is the most supremely ignorant and arrogant candidate for President in our history.  He is prone to the most brutal of gaffes.  He routinely offends one group or another with his extreme and ill-thought rhetoric.  He lies constantly.

So this should be a slam dunk for Clinton, right?

Wrong.

Oh, how I wish debates were scored simply like a high school or college debate.  But the fact is, even those debates are often not scored as they should be.

I took debate in college and lost a debate to two college football players.  And no, these were not that kind of college athlete who is also an academic overachiever - these were two who were trying to skate by with a minimum of effort.

I coached a debate team as a high school teacher, and our team placed third in the state - the highest placement the school had ever had.  How?  I was a first year coach with a school that had little in the way of resources compared to other schools (this was in the days before the internet).  How did they win against superior, more well-trained schools?  The affirmative team had one well prepared case, and they gave their presentation with blinding confidence and pizzazz.  They had such utter certainty that judges were blinded by its intensity.  Our  negative team was arrogant and disdainful, and had brief cases built against all major cases affirmative teams could present, with devastating one liners that diverted attention from the paucity of evidence.

So, yeah.  I played even a system that was supposed to be built simply on spitting out the most facts at the fastest rate, and got the team farther than they ever had before.  And if we could win in a system based on judges and not an audience, what do you think someone could do with one judged by tens of millions of potential voters?

In 1960, Nixon lost the first televised debate because he had five o'clock shadow and was poorly made up.  Those who listened on the radio though Nixon had won.

In 1976, Gerald Ford made one gaffe about Poland and how there was no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and he was sunk.  Nothing else about the debates mattered.

In 1979, an early Republican debate began with a clash of debate rules, with Reagan getting upset and declaring, "I paid for this microphone!" and somehow, inexplicably to my way of thinking and how I view the world, it launched him to the front of the Republican contest, a position he would never leave.

In 1980 Jimmy Carter gave accurate, carefully crafted, substantive answers to questions and all that is remembered is that after Carter gave his brilliant answers, Reagan would begin by saying, "There you go again!"

In 1984 Reagan once again crushed his opposition by  answering when asked about his age (he was 73 in 1984), "I won't hold my opponent's age and inexperience against him".

In 2000, Al Gore lost serious momentum by audibly sighing in one of the early debates.  Oh, wait - Gore actually won that election.  He just didn't win it by a decisive enough margin that he could prevent the state the candidate's brother led, and the Supreme Court largely put in place by Reagan and the candidate's father, from stealing it for Bushy, Jr.

So again and again, the debates have turned not on facts, but A MOMENT.  Who can tell what that moment will be?

Yes, it's true Hillary is a good (notice I say good, not great) debater. And it's true she's more accurate and truthful than most politicians.  But she is truthful in a way that looks over-cautious and calculating.  It's true she's getting one liner instruction.  But the odds are just as likely that she mis-delivers, or comes across as cold, arrogant or uncaring.

Drumpf is being coached by the best media manipulator in the business, Roger Ailes, the former head of Fox News.  He also now has at the head of his campaign, Steve Bannon, the head of Breitbart News, the nastiest scandal rag in politics.

It's true that Drumpf lies pathologocally, that literally if his mouth is open he's lying.  But he does it with such panache and supreme confidence that most low-information voters don't catch it.  He has mastered the art of Goebbell's Big Lie concept used by the Nazis. Whereas Hillary tells the truth in such a parsed and cautious way, that her non-verbals sends the wrong signals to those same low- information voters.

So that is the true terror of these debates.  Yes, on paper Hillary should trounce the naked emperor and leave him gasping without hope.  But that may not be what happens.

Trump could be a single one-liner from getting back into the Presidential race.

So, Hillary supporter, and all thinking people everywhere, you need to be a little cautious in your optimism.

This whole thing could turn on one "There you go again!"

My Europa: Part 4

4

There was music, but it wasn’t so loud you couldn’t hear.  There was a cover band, The DC Insiders, doing a stripped down version of Miley’s Wrecking Crew’s big hit from 2023, Bad Waters Rising.  Hard to believe the bad girl from the ‘teens became such a folk ballad sensation in the twenties.  And the music was further muted by the fact that their little gathering was taking place in a side room, one especially designed for Congressional representatives and staffers to have more private conversations.

The waitress, a young Latino woman with a bright smile and just as bright red hair, dipped in to their room.  “More drinks, anyone?”  Gerald Jefferson ordered a fresh The Citizen, and everyone else held steady.  “I’ll getcha some fresh Kale Chippers, and ya just lemme know when you’re ready for some food.  Gotta a fresh shipment of Chesapeake Bay Oysters, if any of ya want to take advantage of that.”

That was rare.  They were coming back but had almost become extinct.  “Oh, my stars!” gushed Louise Pinkyard.  “It’s been a coon’s age since I could slide those down my throat!  How much are they?”  Gerald winced a little when she said that, but he knew in her head she was thinking of a raccoon, and was probably completely ignorant of the phrases more archaic meaning.

The waitress gleefully answered, “Just $50 for six, only $90 for a dozen!”

Louise blanched.  “I’ll pass.”  That was steep, even on a Congressional salary.  The pay had gone up little in the last decade, since the Congressional Pay Act of 2025 had reset wages to no more than five times the minimum wage. They did have a housing allowance, that varied slightly depending how far away your district was, but it didn’t leave you swimming in it.  Top that off with strict limits on post-career lobbying opportunities, and a pension that was only 5% of base pay per term (with term limits of 5 terms, that left a maximum pension of 25% of your last congressional salary).  The days of getting rich by being a Congressman were definitely over, at least fir it coming from the public till, or by influence peddling.  Maybe when her Congressional terms were over she could go back to being a college basketball coach – now there was a job that still paid!

The Congressional Pay Act was needed in part to control the costs of the increased size of Congress.  The ratio of representatives to population had skyrocketed to 900,000, and was well on its way to a million or more.  The 29^th Amendment, first proposed in 2023, was finally fully ratified in 2025.  It restored a fixed ratio of Congressional representatives, as was the intent of many of the founding fathers.  The ratio of 50,000 was not acceptable by many, as the idea of a House of representatives with almost eight thousand members was a bit too much for even the most democratically inclined to accept.  A compromise was made at a ratio of 250,000, which created a Congress that was currently 1,592 members. 

When the waitress left, the five Congresspersons felt confident enough to quietly talk in the security of their private booth.  “Look,” began Congressperson Louise Pinkyard, the New Conservative from Alabama.  “I just gotta state, y’all convinced this is on the up and up?  We ain’t being played or punked, you think?  This ain’t some ginned up nonsense just to get us to increase the NASA budget, is it?”

Congressperson Gerald Jefferson, Progressive representative from Pennsylvania, laughed heartily.  “Oh, my lawd, Louise!  You is indeed my special friend!”  Louise frowned, but mostly in fun.  The two political opposites talked to each other this way all the time. Alfredo Barista wondered if sometimes they just didn’t find their own private booth.  “You been hanging out with Buddy Dixon far too much!”  Buddy was on the far edge of even the New Conservative Party, and was hard for even Louise to take.

Congressperson Barbara Winstead, one of Barista’s closest Progressive colleagues, guffawed.  “If any of you think this is going to be a slam dunk, you’re mistaken.  Buddy Dixon’s attitude is only part of the problem we’re going to have to work through.  This is going to be expensive as all get out, especially if we make it a manned mission.  That means the Republicans, the Libertarians and the New Conservatives will all have cost objections. Even the Democrats will want to make sure the right wheels are greased to make it work.”

“Now hold on a fine minute, Barbara,” oozed Congressperson Kenny Roberts, the chubby Democratic representative from Illinois, and a close ally of Subcommittee Chairman, Dabney Reynold. “You think the Democrats are gonna be a problem?  You might want to take a look at your own party as well.  You got a lot of members who think space exploration is a major distraction from what’s really important, like welfare spending and handing out goodies to those who don’t earn it.”

Barbara just shook her head.  “Good Lord!  What happened to the Democratic Party I grew up with?  You have moved so far away from FDR.  I mean, let’s get real.  You’ve even moved away from Obama and Clinton.”  The Democrats and Republican were mostly aligned with different configurations of wealthy elites and large corporations.  They didn’t dominate Congress anymore, but it was hard to get something done without one or both of them.

“Oh chill out, Barbara!” huffed Kenny.  “I’m not the problem, and you know it.  I saw the video.  I’m on board.  Just get the right contracts to the right people, and I can help line up Democrats.  And, Louise, I know General Davidson.  He’s a good buddy of mine.  He’s a straight shooter.  If he brought that to us, he is one hundred percent convinced that it is real and urgent.”

Alfredo Barista had remained silent, nursing his rum ‘n’ cola, taking in the conversation swirling around him. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but what I saw changed my life.  We are not alone, people, and now that we know that, we can’t go back to the way things were. We have an obligation to science and humanity to find out what is on Europa.  And the five of us, we represent three of the six major parties that are in Congress.  My question to all of you is - can we get this done?  Can we set aside our differences and create a fully funded, first class mission to Europa?”

Barbara started.  “Well, I can’t say what the Progressive Party will do as a whole, but I’m on board.  If they could see what we saw,” tears forming in her eyes, “I don’t see how anyone could stand in its way.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised, darling, cooed Kenny.  “But don’t worry.  I’ll do everything I can to bring the Democrats along.  Get the contracts in line for the tech companies, and I’ll see what I can do to persuade the Republicans with some military hardware suppliers, and we could be cooking with atomic gas!”

“I don’t know,” mused Louise.  “It’s gonna be a hard sell to my party.  They’re gonna be members who resist the money aspect.  They’re gonna be those who call it a hoax and affront to God. And we may even have some who’ll think we should just vaporize the planet.”  Even though the New Conservative Party was only the third largest party, with 296 representatives, they were an odd conglomeration of interests.  They included many of the remnants of the Christian Right, sitting sometimes uncomfortably with what is often described as the “Trump Rump” – those Tea Party diehards who stuck with him even after his crushing defeat in 2016.  The charters that allowed for competing parties expressly forbid parties coalescing around racism or pure regionalism.  There was no New South Party, or neo-Nazis style parties.  So most of the Trump Rump gravitated to the New Conservative Party, although there was a smattering of them in all of the other parties as well.  Racism was a hard impulse to keep out of American politics, but great progress had been made.

“But what do you think, Louise?  What do you think we should do?” asked Barista.

Louise thought for a second.  “Well, what I saw chilled me to the bone.  As much as I’d like to think not, I guess down deep I believe what I saw was real.  I just don’t know about the expense and risk of a manned mission.  Maybe we could send another probe.”

“I hate to say it, Alfredo, but I kind of agree with Louise,” echoed Gerald. “I am committed to further exploration.  It just terrifies me the chance we’re taking with our astronauts’ lives.”

“I know it’s a risk,” pleaded Barista.  “But this is huge and cannot be ignored.  We need intelligent men and women up there, able to make on the ground, or, er, in the ocean evaluations.  Decisions that even our most advanced computers cannot make.  So I don’t want any of you to have any doubts.  That’s what I’ll be pushing for.” 

“Well,” said Kenny, then pausing to guzzle a pint of The Public.  “We may not all be on the same page, but at least all agree on one thing.”

“What’s that?” asked Barbara.

Kenny slammed his empty pint glass down.  “At least none of us want to blow the damn thing up.”  

The Unsung Heroes in our Midst

It is a harsh, never ending battle.  It is often brutal and heart-breaking, and even when things turn out well, it seems there is another deluge just around the corner.

Yes, the odds are against them.  But they don't stop trying.  Every dog, every cat, every pet they can save and help place in a good and loving home, makes the struggle worthwhile.

These are the unsung heroes.  The ones who give up their time and energy, as volunteers or for very little pay, the ones who keep hope alive for the pets that have been abandoned, for the animals that have been abused, for the companions that have been neglected.

They post pictures on Facebook.  They clean the shelters.  They provide food and supplies.  They man weekend events where pets can be adopted.  They raise money to pay the bills.  They open their homes to foster animals.

Most of all, they love.  They open their hearts and souls to the lost, the broken, the unwanted.

Every time they succeed in making room in the shelter by adopting out and moving pets into loving homes, they are flooded with more animals that take their place.  Every day relieves one heart break only to be replaced by another.

I have seen volunteers burn out.  I have seen them throw themselves heat and soul into the battle, only to reach a breaking point where they can't absorb anymore.  They have to move themselves away from the effort, either temporarily or permanently, because they just can't handle it anymore.

No matter what they do, it just doesn't seem to get better.  Because not every one has the same attitude about animals as they do.  For every person who seems to get it and care, there seems to be ten more who just don't.

They are fighting against people who don't care, who don't view those in our charge as worthy of extra attention.  People who casually abandon their pets, who let them roam loose and if they stick around, that's fine, and if they don't, well, they just don't.  People who don't see animal abuse as a problem because, well, they really don't feel the same way humans do and besides, they're just property, to do with what you want.  Who's to tell you how you treat your property.

People who don't take pet ownership seriously, and willingly abandon their pets when they don't feel like things are working out.  Fido not working out?  Just leave him on the steps of the shelter - they'll take care of him.  People who don't think neutering/spaying is vital to controlling the animal population, and let their roaming pet fuel the overpopulation problem.

No matter what these unsung heroes do, they are drowned in a tide of indifference and cruelty.  It will take education to turn things around.  It will take a greater sense of empathy and caring than many currently possess.  It will take pastors persuading those who think pets are of lesser value.  They should be teaching love and understanding and caring from the pulpit, not the idea that God put animals on the planet for us to do with as we will, even if that includes abuse, neglect and abandonment.

Find those who are doing everything they can to reverse this unfeeling horror, and thank them for all that they do.

And then join them.

Twirl, Tuesday Tidbits, Twirl

And now for a phantasmagoric ride on the twisting, turning, twirling Tuesday Tidbit machine!

1)

I confess!  I've watched more of the Summer Olympics than I thought I would, but not nearly enough as I could, were I home and had a live feed!  I think I could have gotten one (not sure if it would have cost money, though), but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have had time to watch it much.

2)

Not being home during the day, I haven't seen much team handball.  Yes, it's a strange addiction, but I only get to see it once every four years,  Ah, America!  Ye don't know what yer missing!

3)

I love the Winter Olympics much more than the Summer Olympics, but it comes during tax season. But maybe by the time of the 2018 Olympics, I'll be retired enough, with enough control over my schedule, that I can get me that there live feed!

4)

By the 2018 winter Olympics, Benjamin will be a Junior in high school!  Oy!

5)

And 2018 should be the year that the progressive movement takes control of the Democratic Party!  Woohoo!  Unless....the American people decide to backlash against President Clinton 2 by once again turning to the spoiled children in the room, like they did to President Obama in 2010.  What are the odds of that?  Actually pretty high, until PROGRESSIVES LEARN TO VOTE IN EVERY ELECTION!!!  Ya hear that, millennials?  I"M TALKING TO YOU!!!

6)

Drumpf should release his tax returns.  Who the heck is not in favor of that?  We could find out information vital to a voting decision (those still trying to decide), like a) he's nowhere near as rich as he says he is, b) he gives squat to charity, c) he's tied to the Russians and d) he pays close to an effective rate of zero.

7)

Trump take a naturalization test?  Yes, please!  Can we exile him if he fails?  Let him run for President of the Ukraine, or build casinos in Moscow.

8)

Who will Governor Pence pick for his running mate?  If he had his druthers, probably Ted Cruz.  But the party may impose on him Marco Rubio.  Unless no one wants to board the Titanic,  Then you might get Giuliani or Gingrich.


9)

Bingeing Stranger Things!  It is awesome!  It is so 80s!  Not just set in the period, but it feels like a movie from that era.  It's as if the 80s Stephen Spielberg and John  Carpenter came together and birthed a TV baby!

10)

Don't forget to check out the Writer's Guild 3rd Annual Writing Contest  - rules and submission form found elsewhere on this blog!


Speaking of checking out - I still work in accounting, so off I go!

Why I'm Voting for Hillary Clinton: Saturday Political Soap Box 138

This will make few happy.

For my friends that are die hard Bernie fans, you may be disappointed at how decisively I've turned around.  I know for some of you, your dislike of Clinton is still so intense, that you have entertained the possibility of voting for 3rd parties or, God forbid, Donald J. Trump.

For my friends who were for Hillary from the beginning, you'll be disappointed that my endorsement is not full throated enough.  Sorry.  She is a flawed candidate, who is far too embedded in the current political system and its corporatist connections.  I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Clintonista. She represents politics as it has been, not where politics needs to go in the future.

For my Republican friends who despise Trump (and there are a good number of those) but can't bring themselves to vote for Clinton, you'll be disappointed that I have crossed that line, and that I am urging you to do something you clearly do not want to do.

For my friends who support the narcissistic racist misogynist authoritarian lying thin-skinned con man, Donald Drumpf, you'll be disappointed.  Period.  But I don't want to give up even on you. Anything I can get you to do to wake up and smell the con, I am going to keep trying to do.  I don't want you to have to carry the burden of having supported him for the rest of your life.

Here are a some of the most important reasons I'm voting for Hillary Clinton:

Climate Change/Global Warming/Environment

Yeah, whatever frazology you want to attach to it, it's real and it's happening and it has to be mitigated.  Yes, I say mitigated, because we're already too late to entirely stop it.  To have done that we would have needed to listen to Al Gore in 2000.  And whether we listened or not, the Supreme Court made their own choice, and we have to live with the consequences.

Donald Trump doesn't believe it is real.  He thinks it is a hoax perpetuated by the Chinese.  Hillary Clinton may not do everything needed (her record on fracking is atrocious), but she at least believes it is real.  She can be persuaded to do many of the right things.

Universal Healthcare

Donald Trump would repeal Obamacare and leave us with nothing.  You think Obamacare is horrible?  Fine.  Go back to a system where millions more have no coverage, where many will go bankrupt trying to save family members, where insurance companies raise rates without restraint and not cover pre-existing conditions, where your child turns 18 and you can no longer cover him/her on your family policy, where healthcare is not based on need but on how much money you have or whether you're fortunate to have one of the dwindling number of jobs that offer decent health insurance,

Hillary Clinton will not move fast enough to a true universal healthcare system, such as Medicare For All,  but she will at least  preserve the Affordable Health Care Act, and will be more open to improving and expanding it.  She can be pushed to introduce a public option.


Income Inequality

Think Donald Trump cares about the average middle class working person?  HA!  He doesn't have a tax program other than the one Paul Ryan is imposing on him, which just further cuts taxes to the wealthy and large corporations.  He thinks wages are already too high.  Yes, our trade needs to be more balanced, but he would start trade wars that will leave us weaker, not stronger.  Think he's a good negotiator?  Having his Dad prop him up in his early career is not a good sign.  Going bankrupt multiple times is not a good sign.  And constantly ducking out of paying everyday contractors and workers who do business with him should be the final straw for you.

Hillary Clinton supports some of the more central ideas to at least start closing the gap at least a fraction.  She supports raises to the minimum wage.  She at least tries to tie her new proposed programs to ways to pay for them.  She may not go far enough with bank reform, but it is at least on her agenda.

Foreign Policy

Someone who asks why we can't use our nukes versus someone who has had extensive diplomatic experience.  Yes, Hillary is too militaristic for me, and out of all she brings to the table, that scares me the most.  BUT we are comparing her to a belligerent, erratic cartoon.  No.  A thousand times no. Drumpf should never be near a nuclear trigger.

Promoting the Progressive Takeover of the Democratic Party

Oh, Lord, this has to happen.  Oh, Lord, I do pray for this.  But it won't happen overnight.  It will take hard work and never giving up.  And the truth is that Hillary can be worked with and influenced IF THE MOVEMENT remains strong.  Let's concentrate on continuing to build the grassroots.  Be like the Tea Party and challenge every corporate Democrat in the primaries.  Press her on issues we care about with powerful ground-up movements.  Even run against her in 2020.

But this is what we can't do - hand the country over to Donald Trump.  Even if Progressives eventually take power, the harm and pain he will have caused will not have been worth it.

I LOVE third parties.  I CRAVE for America to have a strong, multiple party system.  But we're not there yet.  And this is not the year to start it.


There are a multitude of other reasons why this is the year to vote for Hillary Clinton, whether it's with enthusiasm or swallowing hard.  But here is the most important reason -

Because I Love this Country!

 And I will not hand it over to a 

Narcissistic
   Racist
      Bullying
         Authoritarian Fascist
             Misogynist
                 Hate Spewing
                      Fear Mongering
                          Con Man!

Please.

I'm begging you.

Join me in stopping this gravest threat to democracy and what it means to be an American that we have ever experienced.  Join me in helping defeat this man and the hate-filled forces that surround him, so that he and his movement are crushed and embarrassed, so much that they never darken our democracy again.  He must lose, and he must lose YUUGE.

I don't care whether you love her or hate her or anything in-between.  You must join me in voting for Hillary Clinton.

This election, it's our only real choice.

My Europa Part 3

Close observers of my blog will realize I have not posted Part 2 of My Europa.  Part 2 is a bit more R-rated than the other parts, and mature readers will need to buy the full story when it is ready.  I will tell you that Part 2 introduces one of the central characters, Congressperson Geraldo Barista, who finds his "activities" interrupted when he is called to a committee meeting of the Congressional Science and Space Committee.  He serves as Vice Chair.

3

"Hear ye!  Hear ye!  This all hearing is now in order!" said Congressperson Dabney Reynolds, pounding his gavel with the force and spirit of Thor.  "Well, look at the stragglers!  Congresspersons Jefferson and Pinkyard, nice of y'all to show up!  Outside conferring with th' flowers, I suppose?"

Congressperson Gerald Jefferson of Pennsylvania, a Progressive and a member of the Black Caucus, took his seat at the left end of the dais, while Congressperson Louise Pinkyard, the freshman from Alabama, replacing her deceased husband in the most recent election took her seat on the right, one of only three committee representatives from the New Conservative Party.  Even though about as far apart politically as you could get, the two had struck up a close friendship, bonding over the congressional basketball league.  Both had played in college, Louise being part of a national championship team from Auburn.

Reynolds turned to the committee legal Counsel, Thaddeus Wright, and complained, "We need to get this underway!  Where the hell is that little Vice Chairman of mine?  Am I gonna have to start this without him?"  As Thaddeus shrugged, Congressperson Barista flew in and plopped into his seat next to the chairman.

"I'm not too late, am I?  I beat the buzzer, didn't I?"  he said to Reynolds with a sly smirk.  "Let's get the party started, Chairman Reynolds!  I can't wait to find out what's going on!"  Barista noticed that there was a huge TV screen that had been brought in against the right wall, but he didn't have time to ask anyone what that meant.

"What's going on is we are in order," and Reynolds gaveled again to emphasize his point.  "We're still three short, but we're not waiting for anyone else.  Gentle people, let me introduce you to our esteemed guests, sitting in the front row.  They are going to tell us about some important events in connection with the Nautilus IV.  If the representatives from NASA and the Pentagon could please stand up, and briefly state who you are, that would be most helpful."

About a dozen people stood up and introduced themselves.  They included General Davidson from the Joint Chief of Staffs, Roy Teller the lanky head of NASA, Dr. Arjun Chopra., and Dr. Foster Nobles, one of the foremost biologists in the world.

"I cannot stress enough the confidentiality of what you are about to hear.  We are a big, messy committee, with representatives from six different political parties, but we all share a common commitment to the best interests of our great nation.  That is why, other than our legal counsel, there will be no aides present.  Until we understand what we're dealing with, and have established a general course of action, these hearings will be secret.  That means you can't talk about this to anyone outside this committee room. Not your aides, not your fellow congresspeople or party officials, not even your family or spouse.  That goes double for you, George!"  The dais tittered with laughter.  Republican Congressperson George Bush of Florida was married to Fox Newscaster Ellen Reeves Bush.

Then the speakers began, and the story they laid out for the committee was fantastic.  Apparently, the Nautilus IV had cracked the ice, and had descended into the ocean underneath.  The first wave of excitement started when it was quickly confirmed that the ocean was teeming with micro biotic life.

But it didn't stop there.  Dr. Arjun Chopra stood up and turned to the video footage that had come in from the Nautilus IV.

"As you can see, the Nautilus is easily traveling in the dark blue waters of the Europaian Ocean.  You see the light emanating from the front of the vehicle.  The dandelion-like seeds that the light is capturing are some of the suspected spores that the analysis from the Nautilus quickly discovered.  At first we though they were just free floating, but you can see that some of them are definitely moving."  Barista noted one spore, stark white with multiple spokes coming from its center darting to and fro, as if it was trying to get the best view it could of the Nautilus IV.

The import of this stuck everyone immediately.  The existence of life outside of Planet Earth was a reality now.  It would be even difficult for the theocratic New Conservative Party to deny, although Barista thought they still might try.  Heck, some of them were still denying global warming.  Even the great Miami flood of '29 meant nothing to them.  Much had been done since the early 20s to check the effects of climate change, but some of the damage was too late to reverse.

Different committee members broke decorum to discuss amongst themselves.  Congressperson Barbara Winstead, a Progressive from Oregon who sat to the right of Barista, muttered to him, “Well, that’s gonna throw a monkey wrench into the New Conservative’s exclusivity theory, isn’t it?”  Barbara was short, thin and fragile looking, but that belied the powerhouse she could be when she got her dander up, and that happened quite often.

Barista shrugged.  “Who knows?  You’d be surprised what those theocrats can pull out of their ass to explain things away.”

As if to answer him, from the other end of the dais came the booming voice of Congressperson Buddy J. Dixon of Georgia, a New Conservative member who looked as if he were a redneck sheriff ordered from central casting.  “This is re-donk-u-less!  Those little squigglies could be anything!  Probably jes’ dust brought in by the Nautilus itself!”

The room was brought to attention by the only voice with more authoritative boom than Congresspersons Reynolds and Dixon combined – General Davidson.  “Gentlemen, please!  What you have seen is only the beginning!  If you would just refocus and see what’s next, you will realize the true magnitude of what we’re facing.  Dr. Chopra, if you could please resume the video?”

The entire room snapped to attention and turned to Dr. Chopra and the video screen.  “I’m going to resume the footage now and let it speak for itself.  After it is shown, I and Dr. Nobles will do our best to explain what it may be we’re seeing, and try to answer your questions.”

At first, all they saw were the dancing spores, although they were increasing in number.  Suddenly, the cloud of spores split apart, as if making way for something else.  The Nautilus cameras picked up in the distance a green, glowing shape.  As it got closer it became more defined.  It was long, at least as long as the three-foot-tall window of the Nautilus.  It was thin, not quite as thin as a snake, and it had appendages, two near the top of its body.  The appendages reached out to the window, and a strange three fingered hand attached itself to the window, little suctions at the ends of its fingers. It came closer to the window and the room gasped as it clearly had a face! An alien face, yes, but a face nonetheless.  Strange compound eyes, with a slightly red cast, two slits for a nose, something that could have been a mouth, even a small protruding of what could have been a chin.  Below that, there were multiple slitted openings that could have been gills.  It looked more curious than angry, but that may have been just trying to humanize it, and imply emotions to something completely alien.  Barista thought it looked like somebody anthropomorphized  a green salamander.

The creature turned its head away, as if it heard something coming.  Suddenly, it was knocked away by something big and black and huge.  Then whatever it was knocked heavily into the Nautilus.  The footage was shaky, as if the craft was experiencing an earthquake.  It was engulfed in darkness, as if whatever it was had completely enveloped it, or maybe even swallowed it.  The video hissed, turned white, and then stopped.  The screen went black.

“Oh, my god!’ whispered Barbara, terror in her voice.  “What the hell was that?”

Congressperson Geraldo Barista just nodded, his eyes wide open, the color drained from his face.

What the hell was that, indeed?

---

Into the Forest Grand

Walk with me
Away from the burning sand
Walk with me
Into the forest grand

Hold my hand
Let the sweat seal it there
Hold my hand
Into our eyes we stare

This moment we share
Surrounded by the chlorophyll
This moment we share
Can we not hold it still?

Whether it will
Last or not
Whether it will
Tie us knot

This is the spot
Where our spirits rake
This is the spot
We will not forsake

Turning towards the lake
The water beckons
Turning towards the lake
Our clothes we're sheddon'

Off of the deck-on
We leap to the deep
Off of the deck-on
Our bodies together seep

Awake from my sleep
I escape from a drown
Awake from my sleep
You're gone and I frown

I am so down
You were only a dream
I am so down
I'm left to just scream

Eating Better in the Neighborhood

Everything old is new again!

For years, as we moved from agriculture to industry, from being servants to be service workers, our diets have moved away from our roots and gone to the quick and the processed.

It was a change, adjusting to a different pace of life, with more and more people need to do something besides spend their entire day growing and raising their own food, and trying to have enough excess to sell to others.  As our economy diversified, more and more of our agriculture was handled by fewer and fewer people.  We were letting large agribusinesses do what the family farmer used to.

Oh, it was fun!  Buckets of fried chicken, hamburgers galore, TV dinners  -everything was done on the go and in a rush.  Of course, the foods had to be more highly processed - preservatives to keep the food lasting longer, more salt and sugar to keep us craving more, fields sprayed with chemicals to protect against pests and increase the yield, antibiotics and growth hormones to  maximize meat production, with animals living in crowded, inhumane conditions.  Many foods, in an attempt to improve and standardize them, are becoming genetically modified.

The less money you had, the cheaper foods were often filled with starches and fats - the dollar menu at fast food places became your best friend.  Many economically depressed urban areas had no grocery stores that sold fresh produce.

Consequently, our health worsened.  Obesity became more common, as did diabetes.  Cancer, heart attacks, strokes - all had links to our diets.

The good news is that we have begun to recognize this and are starting to fight back.  There are more and more local markets selling fresh, locally grown produce - fruits, vegetables, sprouts and grains, grass fed beef, free range chicken.  Organics are becoming more common in the grocery stores (yes, there are bureaucratic hassles as to what "organic" means, but at least the fight is engaged).  Many school nutrition programs are making greater efforts to help students eat better and use more and more local sources.

 Urban gardens are becoming more popular, and are helping transform some blighted areas.  There is a greater movement now then there has been in decades towards home gardening.

The idea of labeling foods as GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) or non-GMO is gaining traction.  The major stumbling block, as it is with much of what we do in this country, is the vast political power possessed by large corporations and wealthy individuals.  You can agree or disagree about the effect of GMOs in our food supply, but I find it hard to believe that you can disagree that it is a bad thing for people to know what it is they're getting.  It is not over-regulation to insist on the detailed labeling of what we eat.  It is essential information that every consumer should have.

This weekend we are going to celebrate Alison's  birthday by going to one of her favorite farm-to-table restaurants, another part of the new and needed trend to improving our food sources.

Little Debbie Snack Cakes can be a lot of fun, but sometimes it can be just as tasty and fun to return to our food roots.

Yes, everything old is new again.  And really, has there been a better, more nourishing trend?  Enjoys the fruits of the local harvest.  Oh, yes, and some fruit, grains, honey and meats as well.

Bon appetit!

August Wednesday Wanderings

I really don't have time to write anything this week.

My work schedule is very demanding, at least this week.  I think next week will be better, as the payroll deadlines will have passed.

So why try at all?

Like the compulsive runner who's missed a few days, or the aspiring Olympian who's been unable to take their 40 zillion morning laps around the pool, I get jittery when I don't write in the morning.  It has become too ingrained into who I am.

So here it is.  Missing a couple of days has left me low.  I didn't even prepare a story for our Writer's Guild meeting last night.  I feel compelled to write something, even it is short, or a darting quota of in-coherency.

---------------------

What's up with the way NBC is presenting the Olympics?  They do two of the gymnastic rotations early on and then wait until 11 or later to wrap up the other two?  You know there's not that big of a gap between rotations.  They are trying to suck you along so that you'll stay tuned to the whole program.  Fifteen years ago, that might have been a good strategy, but it no longer works.  People will DVR the event, or live stream it if they can.  Most people don't sit through stuff they don't have to anymore.

----------------------------

My favorite Summer Olympic event is team handball.  Why not?  Americans don't ever get to see it anytime else.  A team handball game is one of the events I got to see when the Olympics came to Atlanta in 1996, and it was the only one that featured the American team  And what a team they were!  They were horrible, and they looked out of shape, like a bunch of frat boys who decided to take on n Olympic event that no one else wanted to do, just to say they'd made the Olympics.  The USA goalie looked like a cross between John Belushi and John Candy, and it was almost as if I could picture him playing smoking a cigarette and holding a beer in his hand.

Great times, and now I look at each game with that wave of nostalgic feeling.  Viva la team handball!

-----------------------------

Summer TV is dimming as far as network scripted shows go, so it is time to explore the streaming world.  Finally finished 11/22/63, and I have to say, it's not my favorite Stephen Kkng book.  But at least we had the charm and rhythm of King's writing, whereas the TV series just had the stiff acting of James Franco, and a lesson about time travel that The Twilight Zone could have wrapped up in an half hour episode.

So on to hopes for the next time travel story on TV, which will be NBC's series, Timeless, scheduled to start this Fall.  The promos look excellent, but we'll see.  My expectations for this genre are always too high, and I'm always left feeling disappointed.

I guess if I want good time travel stories, I'll have to write them myself.

That sounds arrogant, but what the heck!  Live on the edge.


------------------------------------

If you are still a Trumpeteer after the last two weeks, if you still can convolute a case in your mind that is A-okay to put this narcissistic con-man in control of the nuclear arsenal, then I almost feel sorry for you.  Please.  Get out of the clown car before it implodes.

------------------------------

Crapamundo.  I'm already out of writing time again.


Wanderingly yours.

T. M. Strait

New Computer Monday Musings

We got a new computer!

That's great, in that I have more memory and storage, the whine of the fan and the computer straining to keep up so I can now hear videos better is now gone, and it is faster with the latest version of windows (which will probably be out of date any second now).

It's also a challenge as I adjust to the learning curve it takes to manage the new system, restore old connections, try to divine old passwords, and get my ancient fingers used to a new keyboard.

---------------------------------

Now that I have a new computer, I find my time available to do anything on it reduced.  I will have to increase my work time and concentration as this is the month for an outside audit, plus all the usual time for regular clients; not to mention the tax returns that continue to stagger (differing deadlines and extensions make tax returns a year round thing).

----------------------------------

I'm also in a play again, this time an Agatha Christie murder mystery play,And Then There Were None. My part is small,but at least I was cast, unlike what happened to me in Beverly Hillbillies, where I got nothing, not getting cast for the first time in close to three decades.  Maybe I'm getting too old.  Or maybe I'm losing it.  Either way, I might oughta make community theater a smaller part of the mix.

--------------------------------

What does this mean to you, my faithful Strait Liner?  It may make August a lighter month than usual, as I may be needing to get to work earlier than normal, and coming home later than normal due to play practice.

------------------------

I had resumed a stricter diet regimen, but last week was not good, and I gained anyways.  Part of it was getting home later for supper.  I'll have to learn to make further adjustments, and hopefully won't have as many weeks as bad as last one.

----------------

It's also been more difficult to exercise.  It's not just the time, it's also the heat and gnats.  It's hard to want to go out and walk in the face of that.  Maybe I should start chasing Pokemon.

--------------------------

There was another WayGreen Saturday.  The crowd was down and the heat was up.  I didn't sell any writings, but I did here from some people who had read History of the Trap, and they all said pretty much the same thing- when's the next one in the series coming out?  That was good news!  If they wanted to read more, I must be doing something right!  They may not realize I may be George RR Martin-ing it, as I really need to be able to cut back my accounting job in order to put out a sequel in a few months instead of a few years.

----------------------

And of course, I can only do that if I sell more books.  I tried running a "boost post" ad on Facebook. It cost me $4.54 for a boost running three days.  Out of that, I sold one paperback and one ebook, bringing in a total of  $6.61.  That results in a profit of $2.07.  I'm glad I wasn't in the red, but it's not necessarily numbers that will allow more writing time.

Oh, well.  Rome wasn't built in a day!


Until next time,

T. M. Strait

OHC 2016 Writer's Contest Submission Form

OHC Writer's Contest 2016 Submission Form

Okefenokee Heritage Center

Third Annual Writer's Contest

Submission Form

This form must be attached to all story and poetry submissions.

Name:  ___________________________________

Address: __________________________________

               __________________________________

               __________________________________

Contact:  __________________________________

    contact can be phone number, e-mail, or school

Please check which contest your entry is submitted for:

           

          Secondary:   Story _________        No Entry Fee

            (6th - 12th)             

                               Poetry ________         No Entry Fee

             

           Adult:          Story _________        Include $10 Entry Fee

                               Poetry ________        Include $10 Entry Fee    

Submission Deadline: October 14th

Winners Announced: November 6th

Please submit this form return attached with your story/poem.  Please be sure you do not put your name on your story - only on the submission form.  Please deliver or send to:

Attention: OHC Writer's Contest

Okefenokee Heritage Center

1460 N Augusta Ave

Waycross, GA  31503

Enter the Third Annual Okefenokee Heritage Writing Contest

Enter

Third Annual Okefenokee Heritage Writing Contest

Submission Deadline:  October 14th, 2016

Winners Announced:  November 6th, 2016

Four  Different Contests

Mid/High School:  Story:    max 1,000 words

                              Poem:  max 250  words

typewritten, double-spaced only

Adult:  Story:  max 2,000 words

           poem:  max 400 words

typewritten, double-spaced only

Submission Guidelines

Submit story with submission form, answering the personal information question.  Please DO NOT put your name on the story itself.

Submission forms can be obtained at the Okefenokee Heritage Center or at other locations to be announced as the contest progresses.

Submission Limits

The limit per author on Mid/High School will be three total, story and poetry entries combined.  There is no limit to adult entries, but they will need to pay the $10 entry fee for each entry.

Submission Locations

Please send submissions to the Okefenokee Heritage Center.  Some schools may have submissions gathered at a school location, and then sent at one time.  If you are in school, please check with your teacher or with school administration.

Submission Fees

There are no fees for elementary and secondary submissions.  There is a $10 per entry for adults, and it should be included with they story and submission form.

Prizes

There will be cash prizes for all contests. :

First prize:  Story $50  Poetry $25  (Schoo)

                   Story $100  Poetry $50 (Adult) 

Second Prize:  Story $30  Poetry $15 (School)

                        Story $50  Poetry $25 (adult)

Third Prize:  Story $20  Poetry $10  (School)

                    Story $25   Poetry $10  (Adult)

Judging

There will be at least two judges at each level.  Each entry will be judged on a blind basis, only being identified by number and not by name.

Tallying and scoring should be completed by November 3rd with winners to be presented November  6th.

Please send entries to:

Okefenokee Heritage Center

1460 N Augusta Ave

Waycross, GA  31503