If you’re still here, with me, I hope there’s no need to remind you:
VOTE!
~*~
That’s what Woodpecker says!
Tag: Life
THEY WANT YOUR MONEY, DUMMY
There’s a reason the Big Money’s paying for those nasty campaign attack ads – they’re expecting you to repay them through your taxes. Vote FOR the candidate they’re attacking. You’ll nip their greed in the butt.
TALLY THE BODIES, NOT THE NOISE, IN THE END
Contrary to right-wing proclamations, today’s Silent Majority runs independent, in the middle, far to left of the GOP. The rabid right wing, in fact, is anything but silent. Just listen to AM radio, if you must, or the Fox News propaganda machine.
No wonder they decry independent survey results that fail to support their fantasies, even while they continue to bray loudly.
(Remember, Hillary Clinton did win the popular vote for president. The Electoral College, however, is the one that counts.)
I remain concerned that in focusing so much on the surveys, the mass media introduced one more variable to the equation. In a multi-party race, if you’re assuming one candidate will win, is there a chance that entice casting a “conscience” vote elsewhere? And if so, how many would it take to sway the actual outcome?
Or, might it even have an impact if you’re assuming one candidate will lose, and if so, might enough “conscience” votes seal the deal?
In other words, it’s a case where the experiment itself might alter the results. I’d love to hear of cases in the physical sciences where this has happened. Meanwhile, back to the social sciences, I’ve long wondered about this, but the current situation magnifies the impact – and potential devastation.
PREPARING A SHROUD
As I said at the time …
Paradoxically, to meditate on death and dying is to consider life itself in its manifold opportunities. The blessings of teachers and mentors, guides and ancestors, family and friends all spring forth.
~*~
WAY BACK
six blue ridges:
five valleys in between
a procession of black carriages
to white tombstones
in a coal-dust haze
scarlet, purple, and gold
fade into rusty wheat and gray
wind in birches:
water falling on rock
Poem copyright 2017 by Jnana Hodson
For more, click here.
TAKE IT BACK … TAKE IT ALL BACK
We want our money back.
From the super-rich and their lackeys.
PARA MIS AMIGOS
Whatever my reasons for enrolling in Spanish to fulfill my foreign language requirement in high school – rather than, say, Latin, French, or German, the other options – I have only the vaguest notion today, but I did have a fabulous teacher my first year. Profesora Hughes was animated, strict, immersion-oriented – and we quickly achieved a level of proficiency, even playfulness. Unfortunately, my second-year teacher only muddied the waters instead without advancing my skills. So when it came to college, I shifted to French, which had the effect of mixing both tongues in my mind.
Well, the French did give me a clearer sense of the workings of English, which I see as a Germanic language overlaid with French. Forget those who argue for the Latin influence.
For the past quarter-century, though, Quakers in New England have had a relationship with Cuba Yearly Meeting of Friends, and that’s included annual visitors to our Meetings. Finding myself at the mercy of interpreters – when we could find them – has been mildly embarrassing. Once I spent two hours driving one Cuban between connections in New Hampshire and Boston, and our attempts at communicating were a revelation. That is, largely non-verbal communication.
This past summer’s visitors somehow tipped the balance for me. Maybe the fact that Odalys, Candido, and Melissa came to Dover, stayed at our neighbors’, even went to a contradance (“baile folklorico,” rather than “social” dance), made the exchange more personal, even before they became next-suite residents the following week in Vermont, meaning we were always bumping into each other on the campus where our sessions were taking place. The possibility that one of them, staying in the States for a year of schooling, might be our guest over Christmas break gave me the impetus to brush up on that Spanish. I even still had my second-year high school textbook to fall back on.
Now for the update. I quickly discovered my skills were much, much lower than anticipated. Vocabulary, conjugation, irregular verbs, tenses – the whole shebang. Working from the book was going to be a struggle.
From family and friends came the advice to look online for free courses, a suggestion I viewed with suspicion. Still, I decided to take a look, enrolled in DuoLingo, and found I tested out of … nothing. That is, my Spanish was essentially nada. OK, it was time to get serious.
Four months later, after a half-hour or so each day but Sunday, let me say I’m an enthusiastic supporter. I’m impressed with DuoLingo’s system of teaching in a way that saves some of the more technical aspects for later. Much of its early vocabulary, in fact, was never part of my high school learning but would be much more useful in real life. Emparedado, or sandwich, for example. And I’m feeling some of the youthful joy of discovery I felt back with Profesora Hughes. I certainly didn’t expect that!
I do get dinged, though, when I type “elle” instead of “ella” or something similar in my responses. Still gotta watch out for that French, along with those crazy accent marks that rarely make sense to me.
Further down the pike, I’m thinking of a round of Greek. Hey, you wouldn’t believe the language options. And it’s all free.
IS THERE A REAL CONSERVATIVE IN THE HOUSE?
When I first started working at what was widely labeled an archconservative newspaper, a reality hit me: I was the most conservative person in the newsroom. Not in what’s considered political conservatism today, but as someone who values and preserves a stream of the Old Ways. For me that’s meant radical Christianity of a Quaker-Mennonite-Dunker vein and practice, frugality and simplicity, acting respectfully and with manners, upholding honesty and learning, an appreciation of high culture, a distrust of the military-industrial-financial complex, a preference for small-is-beautiful economics, environmental and ecological sustainability …
So what do we call those who have purloined the conservative label, at least since the days of Barry Goldwater? The gas-guzzling, loud-mouthed and obnoxious know-nothings? The ones, especially, who act and sound like anarchists or Huns?
MOMENT OF TRUTH AND DELIGHT
So there we were, in the kitchen, kissing. My hands wandered and I said, “Gee, I feel just like Donald Trump.”
She laughed before saying, “It doesn’t count if you’re married.”
I didn’t have to add, “It’s so much better.”
SAP BIG MONEY IN THE BUD
There’s one way to stop those nasty campaign attack ads. Vote FOR the candidate they’re attacking. Remember, there’s a reason the Big Money’s paying for the commercials – and they’re expecting you to repay them. Nip their greed in the bud.
~*~
The operative word here, by the way, is nasty. Watch for smear labels that tell you nothing in factual detail.
And be aware, a candidate intent on attacking the rival without upholding his or her own record and thought-out position should be held in great suspicion.
We’re watching a race here in New Hampshire where one candidate is accusing her opponent of failing to achieve changes that she herself stands against. The implication, of course, is that the negative candidate sides with issues that she, in fact, would thwart. I prefer to play straight, rather than twisted like this. You can guess who I’m voting for.
Any examples along these lines in your own districts and states?
CRUSHED IN THE MADDING CROWD
Look, when Woodpecker started reporting here at the Red Barn, this election was projected to be an updated round of the Bush machine countered by the Clintons’ – and all of the unfinished business on both sides. Well, that’s not quite what’s happened, even if the underlying dynamics haven’t evaporated, nor have my concerns about the Republican party finally ripping apart. What no one anticipated the underlying grassroots anger that both Trump and Bernie Sanders tapped into, from quite divergent sides.
Sanders, let there be no mistake, was accurate in his assessment of its causes, unlike Trump and his delusional rants and endless whining.
So here we are in the thick of it, wondering and asking:
When it comes to Trump, why aren’t the crowds chanting: “Lock him up! Lock him up!” Just listen to the violence he’s urging in his speeches and look to his history. What more do you need?
Oh, Melania, how can anyone smear Donald? He does it just opening his mouth.
And now Rudy Giuliani’s saying big city elections are rigged? I’ll take that as a confession about his winning the mayor’s race in New York City – both times. Why not?
While we’re at it, just look at Trump’s other showcase political ally, Chris Christie, whose popularity as governor of New Jersey is totally tanking in the flood of testimony in the Bridgegate scandal. As if we’re surprised.
I’m still puzzled by all of the focus on Hillary’s emails, especially after all the empty witch hunts she’s endured. Anyone who knows anything about negotiating a deal is aware that you can’t put all of your cards on the table from the git-go. You have to have room to maneuver, to test the other side’s intentions and willingness to pay or play. But from what we’ve seen of Trump’s abilities there, we’d have to say they’re nil. He thinks an ultimatum is the only way to go. Take it or leave it? More and more, folks are leaving it.
Wait! Ecuador cut off Julian Assage’s Internet connection?
Ecuador?
How many folks had to look it up on a map?
Speaking of which … Maine Gov. Paul LePage has no room to complain about rigged elections. He owes his own wins to dead bears. Seriously, the rabid end of the electorate was baited. Oh, that was a sordid one based on cruelty to animals.
These things just aren’t letting up.
What about the false witness of so-called Christians who endorse untruth and those whose blatantly un-Christian actions? I’m waiting to see some real repentance there. Please!
Speaking of repentance … how dare John McCain promise that Republicans will oppose any Supreme Court nominee Clinton would present – in effect, abdicating Senate responsibility. We’re facing a Constitutional crisis if they do.
Here in New Hampshire, we’re seeing Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Maggie Hassan accused of failing to accomplish things as governor, with the implication that her Republican rival, incumbent Kelly Ayotte, would advocate them. The reality is that Ayotte’s Republicans opposed the measures in the first place. Rather than take credit for their actions, the GOP politicians blame their victim. Oh, shame! By the way, many of the expensive mailings we’re getting attacking Hassan bear the disclaimer, “not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.” Seems to me rather cowardly, especially coming from out-of-state.
Jnana's Red Barn 