2016 Year End Speculatron- Entering A New Dimension: Saturday Political Soap Box 151

We are about to enter into a dimension as terrifying as any we have known, a vast and timeless horror that rival's Dante's 9th level of Hell.  It is not the middle ground but the end game, choosing shadow over light, favoring superstition over science, and it lies in the pit of man's fears and the summit of his ignorance.  This is the dimension of hatred and bigotry, controlled by the narcissistic whims  of a spoiled 70 year old toddler.  It is a nightmare dimension which we call....The Drumpf Zone.

The above is based on the opening lines of that great TV show, The Twilight Zone.  Even that show never contemplated something as horrible as what we are facing.


So, anyone who regularly reads my speculatron columns knows I was wrong about the big one. Hillary Clinton did not win with electoral college vote in the mid-300s.

Yeah, Tom.  If you're so smart, why did you get that so wrong?

First and most important. in spite of everything, I had more faith in the American people that that.  I could not conceive that enough people would fall for the con man act that he could cobble together enough electoral votes to be competitive.  I underestimated the American people's anger and their willingness to be sold a bill of goods. They elected a circus clown, a carnival barker, a man devoid of morals and ideology, someone who clearly only cared about himself.  I have read hundreds of explanations as to why someone might have voted for Trump, and I dismiss them all.  It was an act of political insanity. Period.

Secondly, we're talking about a race where one candidate won the popular vote by almost 3 million, and the other won the electoral college by winning three Rust Belt states by a combined margin of under 80,000 votes.  No, it shouldn't have been a close election.  Clinton should have walked away with it.  But it also shouldn't have ended in such a wide chasm of difference either.  It was the widest discrepancy and the biggest failure of our electoral system in American history.  I have made a practical, non-partisan solution to this problem in another political post, and even though it is non-partisan, my conservative friends still scoff and sneer at it.  What an ugly divide we live in.

Thirdly, I was right about an important component of the election, and that it would be all about the Rust Belt states.  The South would go Republican, many of the coastal states would vote Democratic, and so on, regardless of who the candidate was.  The Rust Belt, as can be clearly seen by the close votes in those states, is where the battle needed to take place.  And that is where the campaigns needed to focus.  Trump's team recognized this more than Hillary did.  They picked a Midwest governor as the Vice Presidential candidate, and they campaigned relentlessly in that region.  Meanwhile, Clinton picked the bland and milquetoast Virginian political insider, Tim Kaine.  Not only did Kaine not help in the Midwest, he really didn't help anywhere (some could make a case for Virginia, but I even doubt that), as he quickly disappeared into the media ether.  She should have chosen a populist firebrand, like Bernie Sanders, or Elizabeth Warren, or even Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown.  And she should have camped them in the Midwest. They could have easily made up the 80,000 vote margin.

Fourthly, I was right that it was a stupid, short-sighted strategy for Clinton to focus her campaign on the idea that disaffected Republicans were going to come over to her.  I felt it in my bones that, despite what many of them were saying, they would come home to roost among the Trumpian base. Comey was hurtful, but it was just an excuse to do what they wanted to do, anyways.  The conservative media had spent DECADES reviling and demonizing Hillary, and in the end, it was just too much to overcome.  There may come a time when many of these common sense Republicans will wake up and admit that Trump is worse than Clinton, but it will come far too late to help her, and way too late to help the country.

So what happens now?

I don't know.  Nothing good, other than the hope that a Progressive Majority  may galvanize in the near future.

The Donald is a temperamental brat, a inappropriate tweeting machine, one whose bravado and defensiveness will endanger us all, particularly as this childish dope will soon have access to the nuclear codes.

If we can escape nuclear annihilation, we'll still be stuck with the most corrupt regime since Warren Harding.  This is not speculation.  It's baked in to how he wants to manage and profit form his businesses, and in the type of cabinet he chose.  I think one of the reasons he admires Putin so much is that Putin has used his leadership role to amass a fortune that is, by some estimates, as large as 85 billion dollars, making him the richest man in the world.  You don't think Donald "Surrounded by Gold Fixtures" Trump is not envious of that?  This comes as close as any explanation I have read to understanding why Trump may be doing what he's doing.

Global warming, instead of being checked, will be accelerated.  It won't be just your children's children that are effected by this.  It's won't even start with your children.  Now, it will also be YOU.

The safety net programs will be under constant siege, with the basic programs that the working poor and middle class have paid into and relied on, subject to weakening and destruction.  Some may be privatized so that the wealthy can exploit them and take advantage of those who need them.

Our foreign policy will become more chaotic and unstable.  We may withdraw from some places and engage in others.  We will always be one tweet away from a third world war.

At best, some manufacturing jobs may be kept, but they will be lower paid, with no union representation and fewer benefits.

Voting right will return to the Jim Crow era.  White privilege will be set in stone.  It will become dangerous again to be "different".  The press and the internet will be under constant threat and assault.  I will continue to speak out as long as I am able.  There are no guarantees.  Yes, it;s going to get that bad.  I already can sense the change of tone in this Trump dominated area I live in.

DC Comics, and other entertainment ventures, use the alternate world concept, and even number their alternate realities, ones where Superman never existed, or turned out to be villain, just as examples. DC refers to them as Earth One through Earth 52.  Marvel Comics has more complicated designations, like 616abc (made up example, but you get the idea).

Rod Serling, we are drifting off into The Twilight Zone, to a dimension more frightening than we have ever known.

Buckle up, everyone.

We are bout to enter into.....


Alternate Earth #666wtf.

God help us all.

Mother and Daughter Reunion

My family traveled a good bit when I was young, a lot of it in connection with National Science/Math Teacher Scholarships that my father would get to study over the summer at different universities. Often, the thing that would hold most firmly in my memory, as was true of many trips, was the movies I got to see.  The summer my father attended computer classes at Stanford University in California, I remember going to Palo Alto and seeing movies with my mother.

One movie towered above the others.  One movie stuck in my mind as a movie marvel.  It was seeing Debbie Reynolds in The Unsinkable Molly Brown.  She played a strong and feisty woman, determined not to be held down by class or sexism.  She was funny and bright and strong, and not even the sinking of the Titanic could get her down.

Years later, another movie would have me waiting in line for hours, wanting to be one of the first ones to see a phenomena that had slowly rolled out from other cities, something that had finally come to Saginaw.

In a packed theater, I saw the greatest movie magic of my life.  I saw the movie I had waited my whole life to see.  By the time they got to the Cantina scene, I was almost weeping form happiness. Yes, there was the Jedi knight and the evil Darth Vader.  There was the scruffy nerf-herder, the adventurous scoundrel.  But most importantly there was the sassy, defiant, courageous Princess, whose intelligence, drive, and maturity made her the leader of the two "boys" she was with.  Like many young fellas of my generation, I fell a bit in love with Princess Leia of Star Wars.

But she was not the first strong female I had seen at the movies.  That honor went to her mother. They taught this romantic fool that women were not damsels in distress, waiting for rescue.  They were intelligent, dynamic partners, and shining lights of their own right.

Debbie and Carrie, mother and daughter, both had incredible careers beyond the two roles that captured my heart, mind and soul.  They were varied and talented entertainers.  Debbie was an incredible dancer and bright spirit.  Carries was a brilliant writer, witty and poignant, and willing to bare her soul.

And now they are both on a different plane, reunited in their primary roles, mother and daughter.

I will miss them.

I will not forget them.

Whittled Work Week Wednesday Wanderings

All in all, I'd rather be writing.

Today begins a return to work.  It's a short week, but it's difficult to face nonetheless.  I was quickly spoiled by my time off, both the trip to see Doug in Atlanta, and just being home with the family.  It's hard to gear back up and get in accounting mode.  The break just makes me realize how much I'd rather not go back.  

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One of the reasons is going to prison on Friday.  I'd rather not do that.  It's not an assignment I enjoy. And it's on a Friday, a day I normally don't work.  At year end, we get the assignment to audit the inventory of a prison commissary.  I sometimes pretend I'm really going to prison, but that stage of my social media career is done.  I just want to get it over with this year,

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Another reason is the impending tax season looms.  It starts early and hard for me, due to the preparation of W-2s and 1099s.  As I gradually move towards reducing my accounting career and spending more times at other  things, I really haven't figured out how to reduce the burden of this season.  At the same time, the idea of returning to the submarine and not resurfacing until April 17th is completely unappealing.  I have to fantasize that I can achieve a better balance, even if I fall short of accomplishing it. 

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Benjamin and I will not be involved in the musical at WACT this year.  Benjamin ultimately decided against participation, and I had no desire to do it without him.  He has a musical at his school he will be doing.

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I may be participating in God's Trombones, a series of sermons delivered by African-American preachers,  and to include original music by local composer Willie Character.  My role, if any, would be limited, as the sermons are best delivered by African-American speakers.  It is a noble endeavor, and will be a highlight of Black History month in February.  Bravo to Purlie Productions for sponsoring it.

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We saw Star Wars: Rogue One on Friday afternoon.  It was great movie, more in spirit with the original than most of the subsequent sequels.  The great shock was, coming out of the theater and checking the news, to see that Carrie Fisher had had a heart attack.  I hoped that she would recover, but sadly, she did not.

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There are two more college football games, and then, as far as I'm concerned, the season is done.  I'll see the Georgia and Michigan bowl games, and then I'll wash my hand of the college season.  I have no interest in the college playoff.  

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Professional football may be a little longer.  The Atlanta Falcons seem to be getting stronger as the playoffs approach, while the Detroit Lions are suddenly losing steam.  I am really tired of hearing fans of other teams talk about how long its been since their team has been in the Super Bowl, hen the Lions have NEVER BEEN.  Get in line.

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Wanderingly yours,

T. M. Strait

2016 and Its Less Than Stellar Reputation

Not every year is considered a gem.  2016 has been considered more of a nasty lump of coal than a shiny diamond in the temporal sky.

This was not completely without justification. There seemed to be an unusually large number of deaths of celebrity icons.  Global warming accelerated at an alarming rate.  The military and economic security of the world seemed shakier. And we had an election that, no matter what side you took, was nastier and fouler than any in recent memory, pitting two highly disliked people against each other, and leaving many voters feeling like that had no choice but to hold their nose and vote for whoever they perceived as the least of the worst.

From the tone of what I read, many suffered personal losses during the year, of both friends and family.  Our small church was particularly hard hit, with both death and illness.  It was a steady beat of news that was very depressing.  I feel like I attended more funerals in 2016 than the total I had in the prior ten years combined.

But were there more celebrity deaths in 2016?  I don't know.  I haven't seen any statistics.  I think what we had were more deaths of iconic figures to baby boomers and Gen-Xers.  Whether it was music, with beloved figures like Prince, David Bowie, and George Michael, sports with the most famous athlete in the world Muhammad Ali, or movies and TV with characters and actors we grew up with, including Alan Rickman and Gene Wilder, Florence "Mrs. Brady" Henderson and Alan "Dr. Jason Seaver of Growing Pains" Thicke, they were names familiar to many. For baby boomers in particular, it was a shock considering many were in their age range.

At the same time, they are many older celebrities that survive and thrive, and are still making contributions today.  Betty White, Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke and Mel Brooks are just some in their 90s still making their voice heard.  And it was also the year we celebrated Kirk Douglas's 100th birthday.

Global warming remains a serious issue.  It is troubling that so many in this country dismissed it as an issue to care about.  But there is a growing recognition in other countries, and there are solutions, if we ever have the will to grasp them.  There is no question that the electoral college election of Trump made our climate future more perilous, but there is still hope that we can still do what we can, including entrepreneurial solutions brought about by  far-sighted private interests, and other countries more willing to lead us into a better future.

The electoral election of Trump has put a real damper on the year for me, no question about it.  The team he is placing behind him represents the destruction of America's economic progress, the end and reversal of improvements in civil rights, and rampant corruption, including the privatization of public functions for personal gain. His connection to Russia is troubling at best, and criminal at worst.

But our politics are cyclical.  There is a good chance that the extreme nature of this administration will be a wake-up call to a new kind of politics.  When polled on individual issues, the public almost always sides with the progressive solution.  Once we get beyond identity politics and fear ginned by candidates and the media, we are a good and generous nation that cares deeply about the condition of themselves and their fellow man.  I believe, with all my heart and soul, that there will be a new progressive majority in this country by 2020, and that it will combine the best of conservative and liberal solutions.  To not believe otherwise would be to give in to despair.

If we examine our personal lives, I think many of us will find that, outside of tragedy, there were also good things that occurred, positive things that assured you of hope and the spirit of life.  Weddings, births, small and large victories and awards achieved by yourself, your children, or other you care about.

Hang onto your faith and your loved ones.  Embrace what is best about this world.  Progress towards a better world is not always straight and true.  There are many challenges and blocked roads, and sometimes you have to zig-zag, and adjust your path.

2016 was rough, but so are many years.  Future years will also have their ups and downs.  If we let each other go, and charge blindly down the path thinking only of ourselves, then the future looks very dark indeed.  But if we hold onto each other, if we embrace each other in good times and bad times, if we support each other in adversity and prosperity, than I think the future is very promising indeed.

The Drone You Are Looking For: Monday Musings

Is this the drone you are looking for!  Benjamin Strait please with his big present form his brother Greg.

Merry Christmas, ye all!

Took a brief break from posting for our short trip to Atlanta, and to spend some quality family time.But I'm back now, and will be trying to re-establish my old routines.

We had a loverly good time with Doug, and met his girlfriend, Paige. She was very pleasant and fun to be around, and Benjamin told us, "Doug picked good".  I would have more pictures but I have fallen out of the habit of using my phone to take pictures.  I will try to do better.

We saw the movie Star Wars: Rogue One, and was impressed.  It held the spirit of the original as well as any of the other movies I had seen.  It was darker in tone, but still an adventure worth seeing, on that ultimately raised a new hope.

Seeing a movie based on important information that gets to Princess Leia, it was a bit of a shock to step out of the theatre and find out, virtually at or near the time we were seeing the movie, Carrie Fisher (the actress that plays Princess Leia) had a heart attack while on a plane.  At posting this, she is recovering, although word on her condition has been somewhat limited.

And then came the news on Christmas Day that pop singer George Michael had died at just 53.  He was a favorite of Alison, and another tough loss in a very tough year.  I'll reserve my comments about 2016 until my end of the year column.  But yes, it's been a tough year.

Speaking of that, Electoral Elect Trump continues to careen from idiotic statement to the next.  His threats to explode another senseless nuclear arms race were both stupid and frightening, and in such keeping with the Christmas spirit.  As was his godawful Christmas Tweetcard picture of him alone walking in front of a Christmas tree, not smiling and with a ting fist salute.

I am going to change the setting for my political postings to friends instead of public.  Too many friend of friend crazies leap on.  I would love to refute them all, but I simply don't have the time, and some of them are getting personally insulting to other individuals that comment.  I would've hoped that social media would have helped us find common ground, where in reality it only seems to be further dividing us.  I will continue to post The Strait Line (even political post), the Song of the Day, and other non-political posts as public.  Unless I forget.  It's hard for me to go back and forth.

I hope you and yours had a great Christmas Day, and continue to enjoy this blessed Christmas season!

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Caroling With the Gnats

Benjamin Strait and the Holland girls, Lilly and Carli, getting ready for Grace Episcopal's great caroling expedition/

Oh, the joy of caroling in South Georgia!

All decked out in our Christmasy garb, ready to spread warmth and cheer to those church members whose health does not permit them to come regularly to Mass.  

In 80 degree weather.

With gnats and mosquitoes.

O what joy it is to spread insect born viruses to thee!

And then when we're done, to warm up with delicious, specially prepared hot chocolate and Brunswick Stew!

Ah, Christmas in South Georgia!

Well, we occasionally have forays into temperatures below 60, but it has a hard time staying there.  And once the high 70s and up hit...welcome back to the world of flying insects!

With all of that, it was still a joyous and satisfying celebration.  It was great to see friends, and to see their faces light up.

At the Baptist Village Assisted Living Center, I was able to get Ms. Grace Lee, our OHC Writer's Guild superstar writer, out of her room to see our singing.  She came out and joined us, and, with the help of her walker, joined us in spreading Christmas cheer throughout the whole center.

Our final stop was to see Ms. Kathy Kontos and her sister.  Ms. Kathy has attended Grace all her life, and her family is an important part of our history.  She was very grateful to see us.  I hugged her twice, and left her a collection of some of the writings I do that she likes so much.

Gnats be darned!

Joy to the world!  A child is born!

Merry Christmas!

Where Do You Go To Hear The Silence? by Alexis Derr :2016 OHC Writer's Contest First Place Student Poetry

Alexis Derr, our first place student poetry winner, reading her prize winning poem at our 3rd Annual Writer's Award Ceremony.

Alexis Derr is our first place winner in poetry winner.  She is a student in Wayne County, and was a judge's award winner last year.  This year she received our highest total score!  Congratulations, Alexis!

Where Do You Go To Hear The Silence?

by Alexis Derr

I know a place so quiet, you can hear the silence.

A place you can almost touch the silkiness of the void.

Oh how I long to be there.

Away from the crowd, away from the world.

Where serenity flows like a sweet, soft river

And the land around gazes on with a gleaming eye.

It is there, that I find myself.

Where I truly find myself.

I get lost in the tranquility of that place.

The solitude offers as a release.

Gently, ever so gently, lulling me to peace.

The faint scent of rain and earth,

Pull me to those grounds.

Only to face that I must leave and return to normal life.

I wish I could be there,

Perched upon that great rock,

Sitting in a dewy meadow of utter quiet

And deafening silence.

This place, is where I go...

In order to hear the silence.

The Optimist's Manifesto: Saturday Political Soap Box 150

This week. The MSNBC show All In with Chris Hayes did a special program, where he talked to a group of mostly Trump voters in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  The only political guest he had was Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

What happened was pretty amazing.  No, they didn't follow Bernie out of the building in a pied piper line.  But they did listen to him.  And they applauded many of the things he said.  You could tell he was reaching them, some just a little and others significantly.

It convinced me that had the Democrats nominated Bernie Sanders, they would have won.  I know. Nothing is certain.  I'm sure Republicans would have done their best to demonize him.  An old Jewish Socialist seems ripe for the picking.  But who knows?  Trump voters didn't have any trouble with their narcissistic con-man being a puppet of a communist dictator.

Most importantly, it told me that the Trump voters were not as monolithic and as racist as portrayed. Some of them, particularly in the rust belt, could have been influenced by other things.

Some who voted for Trump dismissed some of Trump's more outlandish and undemocratic ideas as mere rhetoric and something they believed was completely undo-able.  A Muslim ban?  That wasn't going to happen, not in this country.  They seemed to be confused by his cabinet choices, but in the end thought it was still outsiders that would shake things up.

Trump voters in Kentucky, one of the few Southern states to fully embrace Obamacare, seemed to be oblivious to the fact that their vote may take away the care they've become dependent on. Kynect, the state name for OBAMACARE, is extremely popular.  They weren't completely ignorant of the connection,  they just don't believe that Trump and his Republican allies  would really take it away.

Others voted for Trump because they were tired of military intervention and wanted us to focus more on home.  I don't believe that is what's going to happen.  I actually don't know what's going to happen.  What we do may depend on who the last one in the room talking to him has to say, or whether he's offended by what a leader of another country had to say, or how they've effected his business enterprise.  The only sure thing is that we will operate in the best interest of Russia.  Some of his people want a war with Iran.  His relationship with China will be dangerously belligerent.  If a Trumpeteer voted for isolationism, they may be sorely disappointed.

So everything depends on Trump voters slowly waking up, gradually realizing, for one reason or another, that they've been conned.  Most people who fall for the carny wake up sooner or later.  And when they do wake up, their wrath is powerful to behold.

Optimistically, this wake up call will deliver anywhere form three to six Republican Senators who will defy the party and align themselves with Democrats for different causes.  Lindsey Graham and John McCain may help stop Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson from becoming Secretary of State. Susan Collins and Jeff Flake or others may stop the total demolition of Obamacare.  There may be enough Republicans with common sense to stop the elimination of Medicaid and the privatization/cutting of Medicare and Social Security.

Politics in America has been cyclical.  The extremity of Trump and those surrounding him should cause conversion of enough Trumpeteers that our elections may become competitive again.  To do this. Democrats MUST abandon that corporatist attachments.  They MUST once again become the party of the middle class and working poor.

My most optimistic point of view is that this will lead to what I believed for a number of years now - that we will have a true Progressive Majority in 2020, a majority that will last at least a generation. We will have true universal health care.  We will fight global warming.  We will have a livable minimum wage.  We will be able to have free public college.

A significant plurality  of the popular vote went to Hillary Clinton. As I write this she has a lead of 2,864,974 voted.  That's a larger margin than many winners have received.  It takes adding to that coalition a larger percentage of white working families, and it's a done deal, particularly if they're added in the rust belt.  We are the majority, if we show up to vote EVERY YEAR EVERY ELECTION.  We have to fight voter suppression.  We have to start dismissing fake news. We have to focus on what's truly important to us and our loved ones and our communities and our country and our planet.

The path to get there will not be easy, and it is by no means a certain thing.  My faith tells me that love will triumph, that the more of us who follow the way the more likely we are to bring the kingdom of heaven to Earth.

I am scared to the perilous, uncertain path we tread.  But I have always been a short term pessimist and a long term optimist.  I weep at how dark things may get.  But I have to have faith that, in the long run, we will come out better.

In the face of madness, what else can you do?

Scrooge McLights

Outdoor Christmas displays?

Bah, humbug!

I don't know what's wrong with me.  I'm never been that impressed with outdoor Christmas displays.  Usually when my family goes out at night to view the colorfully decorated homes in our area, I beg off.

Usually I prefer stories to displays.  The displays don't seem to have much of a plot-line.  Yep, there's a bunch a pretty lights.  And a jumbled display of mixed messages.  Lights, sometimes all white, sometimes mixed with red and green, and sometimes a kaleidoscope of discordant colors.  Some of the themes are religious, including full nativity scenes, angels, crosses and stars.  Some are of Santa and the North Pole, sometimes including a sleigh and a full set of reindeer, elves, presents, and maybe even a narwhal.  And others could have anything, ranging from jingled bells, decorated trees, even Star Wars characters or Pokemon (gotta display 'em all!).

The extreme nature and gaudiness of some displays here in Georgia seems to be a way of showing a change of seasons in a place that doesn't often show those changes.  I grew up in Michigan, and it was easy to tell that it was Christmas season.  Several feet of snow usually gave it away.  Not that we didn't have some outdoor displays.  They just weren't necessary to know what time of year it was.

The Scrooge in me also wonders about the tremendous consumption of power these displays must take.  I can't imagine what their utility bills must be.  It must be very important to them to make such a costly display.

It's not that I don't want things to be decorated for Christmas.  I love indoor displays, decorated for the season.  Our trees are artificial, but we have about a half a dozen throughout the house, all decorated with lights and ornaments.  We have nativity scene, advent calendars, Santas and reindeer of all kinds, decorations from different eras, as Alison is a collector of antiques.  I think of indoor displays as something for family and friends, and the outdoor displays as a statement of prestige and competition with others.

And yet....do they really not tell stories?  Maybe it is a failure of imagination that I don't see the complex and rich story each decorated yard is telling me about Christmas, and the owner of the display.  Isn't the idea of Santa at the nativity scene an intriguing one?  Or Luke Skywalker, Obi-Won Kenobi and Hans Solo as the Wise Men?  Is not the birth of Christ the start of the greatest story ever told?

And yet....what is wrong with freedom of expression?  Doesn't that they say a lot about the variety and creativity of this country?  What's wrong with sharing what you feel?  And if you're willing to bear the cost of your display, what's it to anyone else how you want to spend your hard-earned money?

And yet...I find that now that we are settled into the home and neighborhood that we want to stay in for years to come, that we are slowly building up our own outdoor display.  We are adding about one outdoor item each year.  We have a burlap snowman and  a burlap fox, a Victorian lamp post, and an elaborate Christmas wreath.  Not much yet, but if we keep adding one thing each year, in twenty years or so, we may be the gaudiest on our block!

So maybe Scrooge McLights is slowly evolving.  Maybe I just need a visit from the Ghosts of Outdoor Displays to come around in my attitude.  Maybe that visit will come this Christmas Eve!


Merry Christmas!

And no matter what display you like, outdoor or indoor, or even just a soul lit up with the love and miracle of  Christ and this loving season, as Tiny Tim would say - God Bless Us!  God Bless Us, Everyone!

When Tragedy Strikes by Daniela Trejos: - 2nd Place Student Poetry Winner 2016 OHC Writer's contest

I am proud to publish on The Strait Line our 2nd place student poem, When Tragedy Strikes by Daniela Trejos.  Daniela is a student in Wayne County.

When Tragedy Strikes

by Daniela Trejos

When tragedy strikes

What do we do?

Do we let an ocean of fear engulf us?

Or do we wake from the horrid dream of reality

In order to cope and survive.

Sometimes tragedy will do us good

It will light up the way for something better

It will bring out the courage and will in us

It will spark a flame of determination to survive in our hearts

At first it will hurt - the pain of losing someone you love

Loneliness, Desperation, Guilt

All of those emotions will overwhelm your thoughts and soul

"WHY ME?"

You say day after day as a sea of sorrow gently carries you away.

But we must accept it - in order to live

We must learn to move on

And cope with tragedy

That will slowly heal as the seasons change

Though the pain is never forgotten, and the wound never healed

In the end, overcoming tragedy is the strongest a human will potentially ever be

Should Haves Monday Musings

I should have taken Benjamin to the Jekyll Island Comic con, but I did not.

I should have gone to A Suessified Christmas Carol again, but I did not.

I should have watched some college football, but I did not.

I should have gone out to a movie, but I did not.

I should have given a speech about the budget, but I did not.

I should have gotten over the fact that the highly unqualified and dangerous Trump is on track to be our next President, but I have not.

I should have done more writing this weekend, but I did not.

Instead, I enjoyed the home I have here with Alison, Benjamin and the pets.  Sometimes it's good just to catch up with the simpler things.

The Comic con trip got derailed because the weekend snuck up on me, and Benjamin had friends over Friday and Saturday, to help him celebrate his birthday.  By the time we were able to go, it seemed late to start a day where the entry fees to get in would be $50 for both of us.  Additionally, there would be gas, food, and how could one go all that way without purchasing something(s)?  The costs just seem to be weighed out by instead just spending the day at home with my son.

I have less an excuse to not have gone back to A Suessified Christmas Carol,  I just did not spend enough time trying to organize a trip that included Alison, Benjamin and MeeMaw.  It was a very good show and worth seeing again.  This was an organizational flaw on my part.

College football, for me, is done.  The Michigan-OSU game broke my heart, and my desire to watch more games.  I'll see the Orange Bowl where Michigan takes on Florida State, but that's about it.  I do feel it's wrong for Ohio State to be in the four teams playing for the championship.  I think it should be Penn State.  Winning conference championships should mean something.

I love going to movies, but there was nothing compelling to see.  I like to see movies that need to be seen on the big screen.  We do hope to get out to Star Wars:Rogue One.

I was prepared to give a speech about the budget at the annual church meeting, but I think they decided to go into a different direction than I was proposing.  That may be just as well, because I was planning on being very tough.

I didn't write, but I did do a lot of organizational work that should help my writing in the future.  I did receive word that Rose, Alison;s mother, has finished her edit of Crowley Stories.  As soon as I get that, I can start the final finalization of that book.

For a portion of my readers, the next four years are going to be very difficult.  Every day I wake up angry at the election, those who voted for him, and the horrible direction our country is headed in. The transition has been not as bad as I thought it would be.  It has been much, much worse, and given how bad I thought it was going to be, that is pretty darn bad.  Cabinet heads who came from the lower rungs of Dante's Hell, an unprecedented level of conflicts of interest, Clinton's clear popular vote win, and the Russians manipulating and hacking our system to directly benefit one candidate.

Remember the debate where Clinton accused Trump of being a puppet of Putin, and Donald Trump shouted back, repeatedly, "No, you're the puppet!"?

I bet you thought he was shouting at Clinton.

Surprise.

He was shouting at his voters.*

Cut the strings, Trumpeteers.  Cut them now.  This nonsense has gone far enough.

God help us all.




*ok, not really.  But it sure fits.

The Pessimist's Manifesto: Saturday Political Soap Box 149

I am encouraged by my readers to try to balance my negative with some positive.  I will try to do that in the near future with an Optimist's Manifesto.  Honestly, that one will be very hard to do.

This one, tragically, is all too easy.  In fact, I am going to strive to hit the highlights, because to go into any depth on this, to follow all the trails of doom and gloom and nastiness, would likely be a volume as long as my first two books, if not longer.

On December 19th, the Electoral College will be putting into place the most unqualified and dangerous President in the history of the United States.  They will ignore the 2.7 million vote margin Clinton has over him.  They will ignore his constitutional violation of multiple conflicts of interest.  They will ignore the cabinet of deplorables he is assembling whose major interest is to mute or dismantle the agencies they work for and ready them for private plunder (America's For Sale!).  And worst of all, they will ignore the treasonous level interference of Russia in our elections, all to install that man as their puppet.

Yes, the Electoral College will ignore all this.  It no longer fulfills any real constitutional function, and will act as a rubber stamp to something they know will end the Republic.  And if anyone is hoping it will change, you can forget it.  The abolition of the Electoral college has now become a partisan issue, and support for it's change has fallen to a new low as Republicans rally around it.

Electoral 

Our election system now lies in ruin.  It has been hijacked by a man who shows us you can win by constantly lying, by never showing your tax returns, by intimidation and bullying, and by appealing to our very worst instincts.  And I don't see how that can be patched back up.  Once you demonstrate that demagoguery works, how do you restore decency?  Future candidates will behave in the same way, if not worse.

It has also been demonstrated that voter suppression works.  With the court-mandated repeal of the teeth of the Voting Rights Act, with Republican dominated governments throughout the country, with an Attorney General in Jeff Sessions committed  to the destruction of civil rights, and a conservative majority Supreme Court, voting will become more and more restricted.  The true election rigging takes place here, more so than voter fraud or hacked machines.  And it's been handed carte blanche  to overrun our electoral system.

Citizens Untied will not be repealed, and the purchase of our elections by the wealthy and corporations will accelerate.  You think he was an independent agent?  Look at his cabinet picks and you tell me.

Domestic

Every cabinet pick has been someone dedicated to the destruction of their agency.  Jeff Sessions will roll back civil rights rather than enforce them.  Betty DeVos will eliminate public education and allow a publicly funded Christian Right to control our children's minds.  Ben Carson doesn't believe in the Fair Housing Act, or that the government should be involved in that process.  Andy Pudzer, suggested as the Department of Labor Secretary, will act more as the Secretary of the Department of Management, a man selected to enforce the very labor laws he has chronically violated as CEO of Hardee's.  It is rife with Wall Street big shots, the very people he complained that Hillary Clinton would select.

So we will see all our laws and protections, all our regulations both good and bad, destroyed.  Is this a libertarian takeover?  Not really.  The government will be transformed into one by the wealthy and for the wealthy, a true oligarchy.  Yes, I know we've been tilting that way for quite while, but now the tilt is over.  We are officially there.  And we are likely to never go back.

The selection of Reince Priebus as Chief of Staff indicates the agenda of Paul Ryan and the most conservative Republicans will get full play in his administration.  All the government programs that the middle class has relied on will be under serious attack.  This includes Medicaid (almost certainly gone), Medicare (will be fought, challenged, benefits reduced or privatized), and Social Security (I know changes to this will be fought tooth and nail, but the important thing to realize is that as long as extremist right Republicans are in charge, it will be under constant siege).

There may be an infrastructure package at some point, but indications are that it will mostly be tax credits and boons to contractors and the wealthy, and not primarily a jobs program.  I guess the hope is that some benefits will "trickle" down.  Yeah.  Because that kind of thing has worked so well before.

Predicting future economies are  difficult things, but I don't see this working out for very long.  The recession of '08 could happen again, this time earlier in the administration, and without the ready remedies to fix it.  Tariffs in the teeth of recession?  Ask Herbert Hoover how well that worked out.

The manufacturing sector will never come back.  What we keep will be at greatly reduced wages. And the way he talks, I thin he'd be A-okay with that.  It's not just globalization, it's also automazation. West World, here we come.

Environmental

Global warming is real.  It's a scientific fact, and it doesn't matter whether you "believe" it or not, it's really happening.  It's already too late to completely stop it's damaging effects.  Now we can only mitigate it, or we can ignore it, or the very worst is that we can do things to accelerate it.  Guess which one he's doing?

And this is damage that even when we wake up, it may be too late to reverse.  The cost to the planet and our environment is immeasurable.  It will be the last legacy of his administration, even if everything else is reversed.

I can't emphasize this enough.  The planet is in jeopardy, and the election of him has almost certainly sealed it's fate.  This is one of the reasons I find it so hard to be polite to those who voted for him. You ignored it and destroyed the planet for our children.  How do I forgive that?

For those who were worried about the cancer cluster in Waycross, or the coal ash pollution in Wayne County - good luck with that.  You voted in people who couldn't give two squats.  Best wishes as you deal with an EPA that will just laugh in your face.


Foreign

Velcome to Amerika, the newest member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics!  Da, Comrade!

What will our foreign policy be?  In some ways that seems hard to determine,  He has spoken at times as an isolationist, and at other times with great aggression.  Maybe the one rule to go by is...how does it benefit our new mother country, Russia?

We may step back from Syria and let Russia take the lead.  I don't know.

What it does sound like is that we will torture again.  We will bomb indiscriminately (if you think Obama and the drones were bad - you ain't see nothing yet!).  We will pursue and kill members of the families of suspected terrorists.  Muslims in America may be forced to register, just because of their religion. In other words, we will be the bad guys.  Sorry to break it to the American exceptionalists out there, but we have abandoned our position as a force for good.

There will be no more pretense of aiding democracy and humanitarianism.  There will only be the self interests of our oligarchs, in both our country and in Russia.

War with Iran seems very likely.  That is a particular interest of our potential Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis.

He has shown total disregard for diplomatic protocol, blundering his way into crisis after crisis, primarily interested in promoting the health of his own businesses.

The most frightening of all is his belligerence towards China.  In the sixties and seventies, I would read science fiction stories where the USSR and the USA would unite to defeat the People's Republic of China, often in bloody nuclear wars.  I thought they were speculative fantasies, impossible exaggerations.  Now?

Now, I'm not so sure.

Why not?  If the worst could happen in our electoral system, that our nation has installed a failed reality star, an authoritarian who admires dictators, a narcissistic racist sexual predator with the emotional stability of a seven-year-old, then that opens the door to a Pandora's Box of infinite nightmares.

I don't know how to cast a light on that darkening window.

But next week, or as soon as I can, I will try.

God help us all.

The Ocean Sea by Myra Relyea - 3rd Place Student Poetry Winner 2016 OHC Writer's Contest

Our poetry winner, Myra Relyea.

I am proud to publish on The Strait Line our 3rd place student poem, The Ocean Sea by Myra Relyea. Myra is an active middle schooler who, in addition to writing, enjoys swimming and chorus.  This talented young person has albinism and visual impairment, but that just encourages her to enjoy life's challenges and adventures.  Her mother, Cristina, is also a writing award winner, and a very active and valued participant in our OHC Writer's Guild.

The Ocean Sea

  by Myra Relyea

I enter the water suddenly noticing the silence peaceful

Calm warm water

Then suddenly a swarm of fish surround me

A quiet beautiful setting to see

In the deep blue sea.

My hair flowing through the water

Sand between my toes

Who knows where I'll go

Prancing around as the fish follow me, I feel so free!

I try to say I need oxygen

I pray and pray to get up there fast enough

I reach the surface

I try to breath but I notice there are gills on my skin

I go underwater once again.

The Whitehorse Curse

This is a story I did for Writer's Guild.  It was for the topic of Victorian horror story.  At the time I wrote it, it seemed like a fantasy.  Now...not so much.  WARNING: The writing is a bit more mature than what I usually have on my blog.

The Whitehorse Curse

By T. M. Strait

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, February 1901

The blood-curdling scream was loud enough that it disturbed the gamblers in The Arctic’s casino, those playing the games of chance, rigged just enough to give encouragement to the hard-working roughnecks that frequented his establishment, just enough to keep them coming back for more, as they drank his watered-down booze, and visited his ladies of the night.  Despite his best efforts, sounds coming from his “Rooms for Ladies” still occasionally came through, but he prefers they be sounds of pleasure and ecstasy, something to fire up the base instincts of his patrons, when they had spent their fill on booze and gambling.  His goal was for every man who came into The Arctic to leave with empty pockets.  Where most of the men were still hoping to find gold in the dying gasps of the Yukon gold rush, Friedrich knew better.  He knew true gold lay in the hands of fools, and that he was expert at conning them out of it.

“No need to interrupt your fun, gentleman,” urged Friedrich, “Ernest and I will go and make sure everything is all right.” He motioned Ernest to follow.

Opening the door to the room where the scream had come from, Friedrich saw a sight that would curdle most men’s blood, but not Friedrich. No, not him.  Inside he saw a man, a tall thin man, almost skeletal, hunched over his best Inuit whore, slurping sounds coming from him as this vile creature, this vampire, sucked the blood out of the woman’s neck.

Damn!  The Far North had its benefits, but also its drawbacks, not the least of which was how the months long winter’s night drew out the vampires. “I thought we had an agreement,” said Friedrich coldly. “Hands off my best whores.  If you want that sort of thing, I can bring you some natives who aren’t fit for anything else.”

The vampire broke off his feeding and looked up at Friedrich, a deep-throated cackle coming from his lips.  “You are a fool, innkeeper.  You know nothing of what goes on here.”

The Inuit woman propped herself up.  “Friedrich, he’s right!  You don’t understand!  I love him!  His feeding on me was an act of love.”

“Love?” scoffed Friedrich. “What do you know of love?  You’re a whore!  You’re not supposed to love anybody!  You’re just supposed to screw them and take their money. And look at this monstrosity!  He’s nothing but a bottom feeder on the blood of humanity!’

The vampire laughed heartily.  “And what do you think you are, innkeeper? I suck blood and you suck money.  I leave my victims alive and ecstatic, tingling with renewed vitality.  You drain them of all hope and soul.  And when I find the right one, like Ahnah, I can bring them eternal life and youth.  You offer nothing in return.”

“If this was such a mutual love fest, why was there such a terrible scream?” asked Friedrich.

“That wasn’t me,” answered Ahnah, covering her exposed body with a bed sheet, “that was Chena. She came in on us and screamed before I could explain.”

“Where is she now?” asked Friedrich.

“S-she’s gone.  She’s not here.”  But Friedrich could tell by her tone and eyes that she was lying.  “Check the closet, Ernest.”

Ernest obediently opened the closet door, and there was Chena, a heavy-set cleaning girl whom Friedrich considered of inferior looks. She cowered in the closet, trying to hide behind some hung clothing.  Ernest pulled her out and held her harshly by the arm.

“Why not her?  I would have let you have her.  You could have drunk from her until the point of death for all I care,” said Friedrich.

“She is Hannah’s friend.  I would not do that to her,” replied the vampire.

“You wouldn’t?  Well, I would.  You both need a lesson taught here, of who’s really in charge.”  He tilted his head to Ernest.  “Kill her.”

The vampire roared and moved like lightning to stop Ernest.  Ernest just managed to get his pistol out when the vampire was almost on top of him.  But Friedrich was not standing still.  He had unsheathed a sharpened stake from his cane, and before the vampire could turn to stop him, he had plunged it through the vampire’s heart.  The vampire could only hiss at him, turn to his love, and say one last time, “Ahnah, my love!” and then disintegrated to dust.

“Are you all right, Ernest?” Friedrich asked.

Ernest felt his neck and nodded that he was okay.

Friedrich took the pistol and shot Chena, right through the head, causing her death instantaneously.

Ahnah screamed and rushed at Friedrich, her bed sheet falling, her naked body lunging towards him.  “NOOOOO!” she cried.

His wooden stick plunged deep into her, missing her heart by inches.  She looked at him with a withering hatred capable of melting a universe.  She reached out and touched Ernest and said one word, “Drink!”

She grabbed Friedrich’s arm, the one that held the wooden impaler, and for some reason Friedrich couldn’t free himself of her.  She spoke hauntingly, directly to his soul.  “You will pay.  You will pay unto generations.  Your first born’s first born will be an instrument of destruction, not just for your family, but for your entire country.  All your land will suffer.  Your name will be known forever as the bringer of destruction.  I curse you, Friedrich Trump, I curse you and your family for eternity.”

And then she died.  What an insane woman.  He was glad to be rid of her.

Ernest would remain his partner for only a short while longer.  He became increasingly irresponsible, intoxicated virtually all the time.

As for the Inuit woman’s silly curses, what did he care?  He was a self-centered con man, satisfied with taking from others and exploiting their weaknesses.  What did he care what his fist born’s first born did?  It wasn’t his problem.

That was a price for other generations to pay.

This was loosely based on Trump's Grandfather.  He really ran establishments like this, including one in Whitehorse, Yukon territories.  He did have a partner named Ernest, whom soon after the time of this story, Friedrich abandoned because of Ernest's drinking problem.  Shortly after I wrote this, the "grabbing" incident took place and I thought, well, this story is a fantasy and we'll never have to worry about the American people electing someone that scummy.  I was wrong.

The curse was stronger than I thought.

God help us all.

Is it Christmas Time Already?

It's unbelievable! I was out at some stores the other day, and do you know what?  They're already decorated for Christmas!  All the Christmas gifts are on display, and the seasonal music is playing, and yet there's still plenty of time until Christmas.  I mean, my goodness!  As I write this on December 9th, it's more than two weeks away!

How could stores be pushing the season so far ahead?  Doesn't it really start on Christmas Eve?  I don't know how many movies I've seen where the lead characters are barnstorming the stores looking for Christmas gifts as darkness begins to fall on the night before Christmas.  Isn't that the way you do it?

Have you traveled around your neighborhood?  Many houses already have outdoor displays.  Some are minimalistic and pleasant, some are gaudy and loud, but almost all put a smile on your face, People already have begun to greet each other with "Merry Christmas!"

Officially, for many Catholics and Anglicans, the Christmas season doesn't start until Christmas and then runs through Epiphany(roughly January 6th).  Technically, you're not supposed to put a tree until Christmas Eve, and some may not say Merry Christmas until the period.  They have a time of reflection, prayer and preparation, a time period beginning in late November.

Of course, we are not just a religious nation, we are a nation dependent on an active and vibrant economy.  The major season for many retailers is this Christmas season, and therefore, for commercial reasons, it is important to start Christmas earlier and earlier.  It is not astonishing that many store are Christmasy right now, but many of them have been that way since the day after Halloween.

There is nothing wrong with launching the celebration of Christmas early on.  It is especially nice if it puts you in a giving and friendly mood.  It is not nice if it just makes you tense and worried about whether you have completed all your tasks, including decorating, checking off all the gifts you have to buy, racing from one party or Christmas obligation to another.  It's not helpful if it gets you irritated at people whom you believe are not sufficiently enthusiastic about the season, or are not using the right words to express it.  Whether it's Happy Holidays or Happy Hanukkah or Blessed Ramadan or Pagan's Joy to You or Season's greetings - all deserve a smile and a warm greeting in return.  We are all children of God, and we all deserve love.

The true reason for the season becomes clearer as we get closer to the blessed date.  And with reflection, we know the best ways to express this.  Love your fellow man, reach out in peace, show generosity and support for the poor and disadvantaged, sing out with joy that a savior is born.

When does Christmas begin?  It begins the moment you open up your heart to his love, and show kindness to all.  May the Christmas season grow to encompass the entire year!