Don't Cross a Black Cat!

Cats: (Felis silvestris catus or Felis catus) is a small, typically furry, carnivorous mammal.

The domestic cat is believed to have evolved from the Near Eastern wildcat, whose range covers vast portions of the Middle East westward to the Atlantic coast of Africa. Between 70,000 and 100,000 years ago the animal gave rise to the genetic lineage that eventually produced all domesticated cats, having diverged from the Near Eastern wildcat around 8,000 BC in the Middle East.

They are independent. They basically tolerate us. We are fascinated by them. Don't cross a black cat. Bad luck.

Personally. I love cats. And they are attracted to me. There is some kind of kismet there. Of course, I am highly, highly allergic to Felis Silvestris. They are toxic to my being.  So, of course, life dictates that I spend much time trying to coexist with these little mysterious creatures.

An Obsequious Toady!

"Yes the President is a Genius..." - Stephen Miller, Trump Political Advisor

An obsequious toady. Smug. Insufferable. A boot-licker supreme. You almost expected the inevitable moment when Stephen Miller started "goose-stepping" around the CNN set screaming "Mein Furher, Mein Furher!"

And they had to "escort him off the set!" Brilliant!

Patience Grasshopper

I think this an important post from Kevin Drum. He points out that the Republican Party is in "full-on panic mode." And he sort of counsels that the rest of us should not panic.  The tide is against the GOP. Patience Grasshopper. Maybe "The Grab Them By the Pussy President" is gonna bring the apocalypse, but maybe not...

So here’s the situation (emphasis added!):

• The Republican Party is screwed. Both their base and the conservative media-industrial complex are all-in on racial grievance-mongering, but it’s clear that this is a losing strategy nationwide that’s only going to get worse. The demographic argument for the GOP’s demise has been a Chicken Little prediction for years, but it’s pretty clear that the sky really is falling now.
• By a fluke, they won anyway in 2016.
• At the moment, it looks like they’re about to get squashed like bugs in the 2018 midterms.

Deep Throat in the Russian Clusterfuck?!

I had this thought myself yesterday...

Is there a "Deep Throat" in the Russia Investigation? I mean, of course, Deep Throat (Watergate), not Deep Throat (The Film)

Is there at least one deeply-embedded source feeding leads to the Mueller investigative team? Is there one patriot in the whole bloody lot of rotters? 

One can hope. 

And looking at the way the story is unfolding, deep secrets seem to slip out every week, it seems likely that loose lips are flapping.  Funny, just as I thought of it, I came across this article yesterday. "Robert Mueller May Have a Deep Throat Witness on Russia."

Wouldn't that just be the ticket to glory?!

Why is Fatboy So Fat?!

Salacious Gossip: "Implying a certain kind of moral looseness, salacious is often used to describe nasty gossip, obscene reports and steamy tales. Salacious things are usually not fit for general public consumption and probably need some kind of parental guidance warning. Think of the tawdry accounts of some politician's affair with a staffer, or a particularly sex-filled reality show on TV."

Hey, this might not be the most consequential tidbit from Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury, but it might be the funniest. It answers the question, "Why is Fatboy so Fat?"

"According to a new book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, POTUS likes fast food because no one knows he’s going to be there so there’s no chance of anyone tampering with the food."

“He had a longtime fear of being poisoned, one reason why he liked to eat at McDonald’s — nobody knew he was coming and the food was safely premade,” writes author Michael Wolff, revealed in an excerpt of the book published by New York Magazine."

Yes, "fear of being poisoned." Maybe not so crazy. I mean, it's clear that anyone who gets to know this guy, loathes this guy! Karma! So as a remedy the Orange-Headed Idiot is not so slowly poisoning himself with fast-food... perfect!

And the people that do get close to "The Grab Them By the Pussy" President, what do they say about him? Let's play a little game...

"Ever Get the Feeling You've Been Cheated?"

Yesterday a "Neutron Bomb" went off in Washington D.C. An excerpt from Michael Wolff's book "Fire and Fury" was published by New York Magazine. OMG! Must-Read!

How do I sum it up? What a Shit-Show. Think "Spring-Time for Hitler from Hell." Whatever you thought about our current "Grab Them By The Pussy President" and his gruesome band of boot-licking lackeys, never mind, it's way worse than you ever imagined.

It all made me think of Johnny Rotten and his infamous words from the last U.S. show, on the Sex Pistols first U.S. tour - Winterland Theater, San Francisco, CA January 14, 1978...

"Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?"

That is the question I'd like to ask the 62,979,636 Dolts that voted for Trump. What a con-job! Trump didn't want the job! It was all a failed brand-building bid. Instead of #MAGA, we got #ShitShow! Hah!

Years from now, it will be hard to find anyone who will admit that they voted for the Orange-Headed Idiot. Just like no one voted for Nixon. But at moment the Dolts are still in deep denial. Shite!

"A Crime in Progress."

You think this must be a parody account. No such luck. Sorry, I mean, Happy New Year, right? But, I must say, "WTF!" We have a very unwell person in the White House. Very, very unwell. Unsound of mind, of heart, of soul. 

Two megalomanical madmen. Let's hope neither button works. Can we unconnect those things?! And put those guys in rubber rooms?  Please?!

Of course, not only is he unwell, but he is a Russian Asset...

This morning, Glenn Simpson & Peter Fritsch, the founders of Fusion GPS, have an "opinion piece" in the NYT about "The Steele Dossier" and Republicans Fake Investigations.

More blockbuster stuff: 

"Yes, we hired Mr. Steele, a highly respected Russia expert. But we did so without informing him whom we were working for and gave him no specific marching orders beyond this basic question: Why did Mr. Trump repeatedly seek to do deals in a notoriously corrupt police state that most serious investors shun?

What came back shocked us. Mr. Steele’s sources in Russia (who were not paid) reported on an extensive — and now confirmed — effort by the Kremlin to help elect Mr. Trump president. Mr. Steele saw this as a crime in progress and decided he needed to report it to the F.B.I."

Trump vs. the Deep State!

This is probably the most important article you could read this morning. Enlighten yourself this 2nd day of 2018: Benjamin Wittes' "Why Trump's War on the Deep State is Failing - So Far."

Clear-headed. Well-reasoned. Backed up with facts. Yes, Trump has disfigured, disgraced, disrupted our Country. He has attacked the Rule of Law, the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA, all that he derides as the "Deep State."

But, thankfully, the Deep State is pushing back. And they do have the facts and the law on their side. We should all be rallying to embrace the Rule of Law, the Constitution, a free and fair Justice Department.  This is a fight for the soul of the country... stay tuned...

Blue 2018!

I am starting 2018 at the bottom. Rock bottom. I mean, I suppose there is farther to fall, but I can't imagine it, or okay, that's not correct, I can imagine it, but it is frankly unimaginable. There is pain, suffering and misery, there is death, there is deep, dark, blackness, those are the things I contemplate not contemplating.

I am a hopeful soul. It's just built into my DNA. Not sure where that comes from, but it's my go-to mode. Still this first day of 2018 seems pretty damn bleak. Sub-zero. Insanely cold. And if I am to be honest with my self, prospects for the New Year don't seem all that great.

I mean that all-around. Lots of fears, worries, concerns... prospective failures. So how do I turn this darkness into gold? I imagine that I am at the bottom, and can't fall through the cracks to a certain Hell, so maybe I touch bottom, and spring back up to the surface, renewed. Like a birth experience.

I am listening to Elvis Presley's "Sun Sessions" this morning. The birth of r&r. The touchstone. The lodestar. The music is basic, simple - guitars, acoustic bass, a stark combo, fronted by a supremely weird, unconventional, spooky-strange voice. This morning even these Sun Sessions seem a bit dark. Out of time. Sort of Hermetic. Otherworldly. Lost. 

"Blue Moon"

(R. Rodgers - L. Hart)

Blue moon,

You saw me standing alone,

Without a dream in my heart,

Without a love of my own.

Blue moon,

You knew just what I was there for.

You heard me saying a pray for

Someone I really could care for.

Blue moon,

You saw me standing alone,

Without a dream in my heart,

Without a love of my own.

Blue moon...

Without a love of my own.

Always Be Wary of the Coffee Boy!

If you read this blog, you know that I do HATE the current President. I know hate is a strong word. I don't use it lightly. I know I'm not supposed to hate, I try my best not to sully my spirit with hatred, but, unfortunately, in this case, it is the overriding emotion when it comes to 45. Let's say I am working on a joyous, forgiving, playful hatred of this man. Everything he represents, everything he embodies, everything he does, everything, evokes a deep in the bone loathing, dislike, disgust, and aversion...

Definition of hate
1a : intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury
b : extreme dislike or disgust : antipathy, loathing
had a great hate of hard work
2: an object of hatred

I am happy to report that 2018's Movie of the Year will be "Stupid Watergate." We can also expect a quick, followup sequel, Part II, entitled "Stupid Treason."

Looks like the Coffee Boy, George Poppa Doppa may emerge as the "John Dean" of "Stupid Watergate." Intriguing story. A drunken conversation in a bar tips off Australian Intelligence that 45's campaign is "colluding" over stolen emails with the Russians! Hah! You must always be wary of the "Coffee Boy," you never know, he may be the key boy who unravels a Presidency! Empowering for "Coffee Boys" all over the Globe!

"Don't fall down!"

A man slips and falls. Hilarity ensues. That's how it works in comedies and in the movies. 

In "real life" a man slips on the icy porch, his frozen-solid boots lose their grip, slide forward, his weight shifts, his coffee cup flies from his gloved hand into the bush on the side of the stairway, and he crashes down with a sickening thud, finds himself laid out on the stairs. 

There is a moment of stunned silence. "What happened?" A simple fall. Then there is the damage assessment. "Did I break anything?" Guess not. A sore lower back. A sore wrist. What is that word? Contusion - "injury to tissue usually without laceration : bruise."

Dodged a bullet. Amazing. No broken bones. No broken spirit. Just cold, damn cold, and sore and really, come on how stupid, how silly, how ridiculous. How cliche.

A reminder of something. What exactly? Every step counts. Danger any moment. You must always "watch yourself," be on guard. Hilarity and "tragedy" always trailing us. 

Must always remember - "Don't fall down!"

It's Like a Life-Raft.

Hope. It's like a life-raft. A way out. A way to float out of harm's way. Sometimes it's real, tangible, easy to board. Sometimes it's invisible, out of reach, unseen, unseeable. And still despite the fog, the blurriness, the invisibility, you hope. You carry a spark. A flame. Inside. Even if everything else falls away. You are naked. Alone. There is still that glimmer. That's the last thing that goes. 

Our "Grab Them By the Pussy President," is our Slobodan Milosevic!

This seems like essential reading from John Schindler, former National Security Agency Analyst and Counter-Intelligence Officer. Question: What Authoritarian Dictator is our Current President Most Like? Answer: Slobodan Milosevic!

"By the time Serbs figured out they had been conned, it was too late; the country was already wrecked, and Milošević managed to hold on until the fall of 2000, thanks to his control of the media and the police, enriching his family and his hangers-on every step of the way. That he was eventually extradited to The Hague to face justice seems inadequate compared to the devastation which Slobodan Milošević left in his wake.

You can understand the remarkable rise of Donald Trump in 2015-16 by simply exchanging “Serbian nationalism” for “white nationalism”: the parallels are eerie and disturbing. Trump, who never had shown the slightest interest in the plight of the white working class while he built his flimflam empire of gauche condos and casinos, suddenly reinvented himself as their champion. By telling angry and alienated people just what they wanted to hear, Trump created a political movement overnight and mysteriously rode it right to the White House.

Now that’s he’s there, President Trump has failed to deliver on his grandiose promises to his base. Chants of “Build the Wall” to preserve America’s current demographics have gone silent, while Trumpian populism turns out in practice to mean a cabinet packed with Goldman Sachs alumni and tax cuts for the rich. At this point, Trump’s manipulation of white nationalism seems every bit as cynically dishonest as Milošević’s Serbian patriot act.

So far, of course, America has avoided the fate of Yugoslavia. We’re a much bigger and richer country, and our economy, for all its structural problems, is a lot less troubled than Yugoslavia’s was in the 1980s. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Donald Trump has opened the same can of ethno-nationalist worms that Slobodan Milošević did, and if he keeps stoking those fires while doing nothing for his angry and alienated base, America could yet wind up resembling Yugoslavia a lot more than anybody sane should want." - John Schindler, The Observer

Still in One Piece...

Super-cold here in the Midwest. It's a challenge just to navigate the day. Everything is frozen, raw, harsh, hard, brittle. You think: It's easy to break. There is something about surviving. Something about making it to another morning. I mean, you don't deserve a medal or anything. Survival is it's own reward. But, of course, it does have it's limits. You push forward, and hope that you don't reach the outer limits of your exsistence for a bit longer. Maybe make it to a sunnier, warmer reality. In the depths of Winter, there are thoughts of Spring. But, you know, what's to be learned now? Right now? Warm is good. Staying in with loved ones, binge watching Netflix ("The Crown" and "The Get Down" are highly recommended), or reading a good book - for instance, Moby's memoir, listening to excellent music (Bowie's "Blackstar," Peter Gabriel's "So," King Crimson's "Red,") are good survival strategies. Recharging. Restoring. Re-vitalizing. Building up your energy. Counting all your fingers and toes. Being thankful you are still in one piece.

Be Here Now - Why Not?!

I guess it was Ram Dass who said it, or at least popularized it: Be Here Now.  "Be Here Now is one of the first guides for those not born Hindu to becoming a yogi, by a person himself not born a Hindu."

Right. Not born a Hindu. Put that on your resume. Anyway, this is one of those ideas that just resonates. Seems useful in all times and in all situations. I suppose that would be a good definition of wisdom.

If you find yourself on the road - drive. If you find yourself at a Steak House in the far suburbs - eat (If you are a vegetarian, make it Eggplant Parmesan). If you find yourself with people - talk and listen. 

We spend so much time thinking of the Past, or planning for the Future. But it is the ever-vanishing Present where we make a mark. Do we want to make a mark? Do we really want to leave a footprint in the sand? 

Maybe best to live lightly, try not to make a mess, or call too much attention to yourself, leave a clean room, pick up after yourself. Be. Here. Now. That's it.

A New Dream!

I do think this is the era of "resistance."   This is our time. Can we resist with gusto? With joy? With a full embrace? Resist affirmatively? That is the trick. So much going down that I am against. I stand in opposition to the general trend. Looking for an alternative vision. A new dream. Yes.

I Try to Simplify!

We lead complicated lives. The world, an interconnected globe, is vast and complex. So many people. So many viewpoints. So many opinions. So many competing interests. You want to be aware. Connected. Open source.

How to not be overwhelmed? How to navigate day to day? I try to simplify. To find hope in one excellent cup of coffee at a time. I often tune into my own little frequencies. I fill my life with music, books, great conversation.

I find hope in the new, in the tried and true. Take one step at a time. Stop and smell the coffee, and the roses.

I always try to create something. Something new. A song, a monologue, a morning post. I believe. In believing. In hope. A better day. Even in the darkness, the bleakness, in the midst of turmoil and pain, I think of the light. Just out of sight. Right around the corner. Something new, unexpected. A surprise.

That can't be squeezed out of me.

Life Is...

Life is...

a gift
a miracle
a mistake
a chore
a job
a journey
a mission
a lark
a mystery
a mind-fuck
a chance
a test
a kick
a shot in the dark

Maybe Not So Smart

Your next existential crisis is just around the corner. A smile, a gesture, a friendly little bulldog can be the trigger. Sends you reeling. A fall into the void. A void with no bottom. You question everything.

Is this the life we really want? Where are we going? Who are we? What the hell is going on? 

You realize something is very, very wrong. Humans. So disappointing. We like to think we are the "smart monkeys," maybe not so smart.

Wreak Some Cosmic Justice!

If I knew a few Voodoo rituals I would know what to do. I would put a curse on the GOP. The party. In total. Each and every member. They are a danger to our government, to our country. Led by the "Grab Them By The Pussy" President, they are working on looting the public coffers to the benefit of their rich donors.

Disgusting! 

You want to be fair-minded. Clear seeing. And I think I am. When a political party reveals itself to be a shameless vehicle for corruption, incompetence, greed, selfishness and bad actions, there is nothing to do but call them out, and call on all forces beyond the human, to come down and wreak some cosmic justice.

Of course, we need to vote these scoundrels out of office. But we also need some extra-human help. I curse you GOP. I curse you! From the bottom of my heart, I curse you!

Note: So yes, this morning, I turn out the lights, light a candle, place it in the center of the living room and chant up a spell. I put a spell on all those who harm children, who take money and support from the poor, who try to shout down the voiceless, who mock women, children, immigrants, those struggling to make it day to day. Those who feed their own greedy selves, who cut deals for the wealthy, who rob from the poor to give to the rich. I put a spell on all those folks. I demand justice. I demand that the cosmic powers come down on them with the heavy hand of karma.

They will get what they deserve... here's the soundtrack for this morning's Voodoo spell...