Bland Autumn

This is one of the worst years for Autumn colors that I can recall. I don't know where the color went, but it wasn't on the trees.

I caught this as the sun was setting after a rain; it really did turn everything pink. This photo is untouched.

Listen to the Music

I've been thinking a lot about this great divide, these hideous, ugly cracks that have appeared in the landscape and throughout the minds of the citizens of the United States.

First, I wonder if it's really there - because I have always been able to talk to most people about nearly anything, in my work as a news reporter. Perhaps it was because I was listening and not arguing that I was able to do that. I may have disagreed with the person's words or point of view but it was not my job to judge. I reported what was said and let the public decide if a supervisor or county administrator or judge or whoever was a total idiot or one of the greatest minds ever to walk the grounds of Fincastle.

I think it is there, now, and I think the media is keeping at the forefront. Divide and conquer creates great copy, after all, and makes for excitement. Keeping the public stirred up, fearful, questioning, and confused works for those who crave power, whether that is a politician or a TV executive. The politicians do not help, of course. I will be so glad when the election is over tomorrow. Perhaps for a day we will have some time on TV with no political advertisement. Then they'll start for whatever election is next, I suppose.

Then I wondered how long this divide has been around. Unfortunately, I have determined it has been around for as long as I have been alive. I overlooked it. I missed it. It was right in front of me, staring me in the face, but I didn't see it. Maybe I didn't want to see it. Maybe because I was raised with racism around me, with hatred and bitterness simply a part of the landscape while I escaped to better places in my mind with my books and my own somewhat less angry heart. (I have a depressed and sad heart, always have, but at least it is not an angry one.)

How did I figure out it has always been there? I listened. This time I listened to things I'd been hearing all of my life - certain songs and words in music. And in those songs I find the beginnings of the discord, the great divide, the things that at the time seemed innocent but which ultimately are not.

I grew up listening to country music in my early years. I switched over to pop/Top 40 as soon as I was old enough to do that (let's say 11 or 12) and never looked back. I still don't listen to country music.

But it occurred to me that the divide was going on way back when. Two songs come to mind for me when I think about what we'll call "the right."  Those songs are Okie from Muskogee and Sweet Home Alabama.

The first song, by Merle Haggard, celebrates what I would call small town America. Here are the lyrics:

We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee
We don't take no trips on LSD
We don't burn our draft cards down on Main Street
'Cause like livin' right and bein' free

We don't make a party out of lovin'
But we like holdin' hands and pitchin' woo
We don't let our hair grow long and shaggy
Like the hippies out in San Francisco do

And I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee
A place where even squares can have a ball
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse
And white lightnin's still the biggest thrill of all

Leather boots are still in style for manly footwear
Beads and Roman sandals won't be seen
Football's still the roughest thing on campus
And the kids here still respect the college dean

And I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee
A place where even squares can have a ball
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse
And white lightnin's still the biggest thrill of all

We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse
And white lightnin's still the biggest thrill of all
In Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA

I presume everything "they" don't do, then "the left" does. Although I know plenty of folks of all persuasions who've smoked a little marijuana and had long hair, but whatever. This song spells it out about as well as anything. And it dates back to 1969. I was six years old in 1969.

The second song, by Lynard Skynard, is a one I've always liked. It falls more into the Southern Rock category than the first song, which is definitely country.

Big wheels keep on turning
Carry me home to see my kin
Singing songs about the south-land
I miss 'ole' 'bamy once again and I think it's a sin

Well I heard Mister Young sing about her
Well I heard ole Neil put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A southern man don't need him around anyhow

Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you

In Birmingham they love the Gov'nor, boo-hoo-hoo
Now we all did what we could do
Now Watergate does not bother me
Does your conscience bother you, tell the truth

Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you, here I come

Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers
And they've been known to pick a song or two (yes they do)
Lord they get me off so much
They pick me up when I'm feeling blue, now how bout you?

Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you

Sweet home Alabama, oh sweet home
Where the skies are so blue and the governor's true
Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you

I always thought it was a song about a trucker going home to Alabama, and maybe it is. But the lines that really caught my attention recently were the ones about Neil Young (a liberal musician) and "Watergate does not bother me."

That stopped me short. Why wouldn't Watergate bother someone? Shouldn't it have bothered everybody? It was a crime, a violation of trust, a break in the sanctity of government, a breach of truth.

I strongly suspect that the same people who weren't bothered by Watergate aren't bothered by the things the 45th president says. I am greatly bothered by them, particularly the lies and the outrageous statements that serve only to create fear, disharmony, and discord.

That song came out in 1974. And from there I really stopped hearing that side of things, because I stopped listening to country music. I began listening to disco and songs that celebrated love. I also started listening to songs like Born in the USA, by Bruce Springsteen, which has a patriotic chorus but is not very flattering to the nation because it's really an indictment of the Vietnam War. And then there were the anti-war songs, in particular War by Edwin Starr (War! Good God, y'all, what is good for? Absolutely nothing.) I also loved White Rabbit byJefferson Airplane (and that has an inappropriate age restricted notice from youtube, I can't even imagine that), Where Have All the Flowers Gone (Peter, Paul, and Mary) and similar songs - mostly anti-war, pro-love, pro-peace, pro-people.

The thing is, had I spent more time listening to different types of music, maybe I would have picked up on the divide. It's rather like the shock I get when I watch something on Fox (which I seldom do but sometimes I feel compelled to check it out). Everything is different about that TV station, even the TV commercials. It's slanted, focused, and pointed at one thing - making sure the viewer knows that change is coming and whatever the change is, it is not good, and the viewer should be afraid.

Change always comes though. Music has evolved since 1969 - we have so many different genres now that it is truly an accurate reflection of the prism of our society, right down from the differences in country music to hip hop to new age to adult contemporary.

I thought I was being open-minded in my music styles, but I wasn't. I listened for a long time to adult contemporary, NPR classical stuff, a little jazz, and oldies music. However, I don't listen to country or hip hop (or reggae or the blues) and in the last two years I have stopped listening to new music for the most part. Mostly now I listen to songs from the 1970s and older albums by Sheryl Crowe and Melissa Etheridge.

I tuned out and turned it off.

I created my own little bubble without realizing that was what I was doing.

Such a fractured, fragile nation, full of bluster and humus and deranged personalities. I don't expect a single day of voting to change the rhetoric or much of anything else.

Only we, the people, can do that. We can come together, or we can continue to tear ourselves apart.

I wonder what we will choose.

Dona Nobis Pacem

I haven't participated in the November 4 Peace Blog in quite a while, but this seems like a good time to get back to it. I can't stand the hatred that seems to be flowing in waves across not only the United States but most of the world. Why must people be mean when it is just as easy to be kind?


To learn more about peace blogging, check out the information here.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What's the coldest temperature you've experienced?

A. The record low for my area is -9 F in 2002, so I guess that.

2. What's for dinner tonight?

A. A salad.

3. Would you consider moving to Australia?

A. Yes.

4. What was your favorite subject in high school?

A. English.

5. How many hours a day is your tv on?

A. If I am home alone, none. If my husband is here, then about 4 hours.

6. Have you ever received an award?

A. Yes. I have received numerous Virginia Press Association Awards for my writing, along with some other awards for my work.

7. What does your mousepad look like?

A. It's solid blue.

8. How many browser tabs do you have open right now?

A. Only one on this brower, 4 on another. Yes, I use multiple browsers at the same time.

9. If you are a parent, have you or did you ever put Vicks VapoRub on your children under the age of 2?

A. I have no children.

10. As an adult, do you like the scent of Vicks VapoRub?

A. Yes.

11. If you had to pick one insect to infest your house for 1 day and after that day they would just suddenly vanish, which insect infestation would you pick?

A. Flies. As far as I know they don't leave visible poop or spit or anything like that. I suppose they might in mass quantities.

12. What color is your underwear that you are wearing right at this moment?

A. White.
__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: It Must Be Him

Saturday 9: It Must Be Him (1967)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song is about a woman waiting impatiently for a phone call. Do you consider yourself patient?

A. Not particularly.

2) Other women (most notably Shirley Bassey and Dottie West) have recorded this song. Harry James and Doc Severinson did instrumental versions. But there's no record of a male singing "Oh dear God! It must be her! Or I shall die!" Do you think that's because waiting for the phone to ring is more "a chick thing," and men simply don't do it?

A. I don't think I have ever sat around and waited for the phone to ring, unless I was expecting a business call at an appointed time. I think it's a human thing but I doubt most men would admit to feeling so lonely and needy.

3) This recording enjoyed a sudden surge of popularity after 20 years when it was included on the soundtrack of Moonstruck, the 1987 film that won Cher an Oscar. Have you seen Moonstruck?

A. I don't think so.

4) This week's featured artist, Vikki Carr, was born in El Paso, TX. El Paso can proudly proclaim itself one of America's safest cities. What can your hometown be proud of?

A. My closest city is known as the Star City of the South because it has a huge neon star on Mill Mountain, which is within the city's borders. The star was built in 1949 as a gimmick to bring in shoppers. The star is made of neon. It changes color from red, white, and blue, depending on time period and whims of city council.

I think it is the largest manmade neon structure in the world, but I wouldn't swear to that.

You can see what the City of Roanoke looks like from the star on the StarCam.

Here are photos I took in 2014.

 

 

 

5) She was a staple on Jerry Lewis' Labor Day Telethon, raising funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association by performing this song. Is your TV on right now? If so, what are you watching?

A. My TV is not on.

6) In 1971, Vikki fulfilled a dream of hers by establishing the Vikki Carr Scholarship Foundation. Every year the foundation awards Hispanic American students money to use toward higher education. She says it's her way of returning "the support and encouragement she received from others" early in her career. If you could establish a charitable foundation, what cause would you like it to benefit?

A. I would establish a charitable foundation that assisted with illiteracy.

7) In 1967, when this song was popular, Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the first heart transplant. Today, one of the most common surgeries performed in the United States is the coronary artery bypass surgery. Have you had any surgeries?

A. I've had multiple surgeries. From 1987 to 1993 I had a surgery a year for endometriosis which ultimately ended in a hysterectomy when I was 29 years old. I had my tonsils out in 1994 as an adult (and it hurt, don't let anyone ever tell you you'll get over that in two days). My gallbladder surgery in 2013 turned out to be a major trial as it set off a debilitating endless pain loop of scar tissue that has built up in my abdominal muscles.

8) Also in 1967, the RMS Queen Mary was retired after 31 years of service. Have you ever traveled by cruise ship?

A. No.

9) Random question: Who is your oldest living relative?

A. My mother-in-law, though she is not really my blood relative. She's 85. My oldest living blood relative would be my father, who is 77.
___________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Eagle

Saw this eagle on Friday off Etzler Road:

Photos shot with iPhone SE.

Thursday 13

Things that are just irritating the crap out of me right now:

1. People who are supposed to do work for you but have excuses.

2. People who schedule times and then change them at their whim.

3. People who lie to you about the things they can do just to get your money.

4. People who are inconsiderate.

5. People who don't know how to drive but are behind the wheel anyway.

6. People who are racists, bigots, biased, extremists, etc.

7. People who don't know how to count out change when they work in retail.

8. People who text you with a question and then leave you hanging when you respond.

9. People who make those "I'm with the credit card company" scam calls.

10. People who send spam in my email.

11. People who make promises and don't keep them.

12. People who say they will call you and then don't.

13. People who don't read.

Ok. Apparently I'm just irritated with people in general. Hopefully dogs are reading my blog today.

----------------------------
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 576th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

The Unfinished Work

I don't like to write posts like this. I don't like to be critical of companies or their workers. I do expect, though, for people to work and do their job when I am paying for products and labor.

I don't expect them to show up at 11 a.m. and then work for an hour and take a 2-hour lunch. I expect at least a 6-hour work day out of them. I realize putting down tile is not easy but if you only work 3 hours a day, it sure takes a long time.

To remind you, we had an incident with the dishwasher which resulted in the loss of my 30-year-old parquet flooring. We choose to replace it with tile.

We chose our flooring company, a place in Roanoke that I politely will not name - yet. While we were at it, we decided to replace the carpeting in the living room, hallway, and bedroom with hardwood flooring, something we had intended to do in the next five years anyway. So I chose the tile to go with the hardwood flooring. So this was not a little job. It was a half-house renovation.

The tile was installed in mid-October. On its face it looks ok, but it is not the best tile job I've ever seen. The more I walk on it, the more I find uneven places. Plus, the job is not finished.

The salesperson had cut the job into two parts: one for the tile, one for the hardwood. We had terrible issues with the tile and the installer was not welcome to return. Now we've issues with the hardwood - we wanted a simple change of direction in one room for the wood and some way to make that change in an open area without a transition strip (because that was something else to trip over), and for some reason this was a big problem -  and yesterday we cancelled that job out of sheer frustration. However, we are now left with an unfinished mess.




There is no quarter round along the baseboard, so you can see how badly that looks.



The carpet is not tacked down where it meets the tile. It's actually simply laying over top of the tile.

 

This is how it is sitting on the tile. I consider it a real trip hazard.

I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but this particular tile is raised
up enough at this end that you can stub your toe on it. If it were under the
table it would be one thing, but it's right in the main walk area.

I am greatly distressed by this and don't quite know where to go from here. I did not hear from the company today. I think if I knew I had a customer as upset as we are, I'd be calling and bending over backwards to try to fix the problems, but apparently we're not "big" enough players to warrant attention.

Looks like it might be time to drag out my poison pen and send off a letter to the company's manager and president.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What is on your mind right now?

A. I have an ache in the left side of my jaw and I can't decide if it's a tooth, my ear, or my TMJ. The gland is a little swollen on that side, too.
 
2. Do you know anyone who has attended Harvard University?

A. Probably, but no name comes to mind.
  
3. How many books are in the room you’re in?

A. I have no idea. I've never counted them. Several hundred. A rough estimate would be about 650, just counting out a couple of shelves and multiplying.
    
4. Do you save at least 15 percent of your income?

A. I don't really care to answer this question.
    
5. When was the last time you had a rainy day spent at home?

A. Friday. We went out that morning for breakfast and a pneumonia shot for me, but then spent the rest of the day at home. My husband slept and watched TV.
  
6. When was the last time you stayed home from school/work?

A. I work from home when I work.
   
7. Do you write “yes” or “no” answers to surveys or do you explain more?

A. It depends on my mood. Apparently today I am not in the mood to write long answers.
   
8. Is there any type of medicine you can’t take? For what reason?

A. I break out in hives from morphine.
   
9. Do you have a favorite pair of pajamas? What do they look like?

A. I do not have a favorite pair of pajamas.
    
10. Would you rather have potato or chicken noodle soup if you had to?

A. Chicken noodle soup.
   
11. Do you believe that when a person appears in your dreams, that person wants to see you?

A. I think not, since frequently I dream of people who are no longer alive.
   
12. When was the last time you saw your mom?

A. My mother died in 2000.
    
13. What is one food you could eat for a month, straight, and not get sick of?

A. Oh I don't know. Can't I just drink a Boost or Ensure or something and be done with it? I've grown tired of trying to come up with multiple meals, and it is too hard to think of one single thing.
   
14. Have you ever spray painted something about your love somewhere?

A. No.
    
15. Do you live in a town where basically everyone knows everyone else?

A. Yes.
__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them. (#255)

Saturdy 9: Alfred Hitchcock

Saturday 9: "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" Theme

This week's song was chosen because this is the last Saturday 9 before Halloween. Are you unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) The Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, was born in England. Name another pop culture contribution England has made.

A. Elton John.

2) This week's song is recognized as the theme to Hitchcock's long-running TV show, but "Funeral March for a Marionnette" is a classic piece written for piano in the late 1870s by Charles Gounod. Do you often listen to classical music?

A. Sometimes at night I do before I go to sleep.

3) Janet Leigh's shower scene in  Hitchcock's Psycho is considered one of the scariest sequences ever filmed. What's the most frightening movie you've ever seen?

A. When I was young I saw Amityville Horror (the 1979 version) and that scarred me for life, I think. I also saw The Shining, Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist and similar movies. I stopped watching horror when I was about 17. Life is scary enough.

4) Hitchcock admitted that he "never trusted birds," and he took that fear and turned it into the movie, The Birds. Is there a member of the animal kingdom that just gives you "the creeps?"

A. Spiders and snakes.

5) Halloween will soon be upon us. Will you carve a jack o'lantern this year?

A. No.

6) What candy will trick or treaters get at your house?

A. I never have trick or treaters, but I usually purchase a bag of Smarties because they're not chocolate, they're (relatively) low in calories, and I will eat them.

7)  When you went trick or treating, did you prefer fantasy costumes (like a storybook character) or scary ones (like a monster)?

A. I think I usually went as a tramp.

8) Which candy was your favorite? Which one were you disappointed to find in your trick or treat bag?

A. I'm not a fan of candy corn.

9) Which do you find scarier -- cemeteries or haunted houses?

A. Haunted houses.

_____________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Thursday Thirteen #575

On my Facebook feed, someone close to me posted a video of some protestors who couldn't say why they were protesting, exactly, and the person asked the question how has the current president inteferred with human rights.

I've seen that video (or a similar one) before and I think it resurfaces on each side to prove that a president hasn't impacted the day-to-day life of citizens.

However, the current administration has indeed impacted the life of day-to-day citizens, and while some of the impacts do not necessarily rise to the level of a loss of a "human right" (which one can define in innumerable ways - I personally prefer the U.N. version to the U.S. Constitutional Bill of Rights, for example), they are more egregious than efforts of previous administrations.

The fact that I can come up with 13 things is appalling and scary. The fact that there are more than 13 is mind boggling. But here you go. Just a few.

1. Calling the press "the enemy of the people." This is such a violation of the 1st Amendment of the Constitution that I shouldn't even have to spell it out, but as a member of that press I find this phrase absolutely horrifying. To have a newsperson called the "enemy of the people" invites hate and discord and lo, we have bombs at CNN. Imagine that. Even if the POTUS is not sending armies to news offices, this type of rhetoric has a chilling effect on a journalist, who may subconsciously not follow a story through to its conclusion for fear of retribution, or who may choose not to write a story for a similar reason. I have been threatened for things I have written in the past and it does have an affect on you and how you think about your work and what you're doing.

2. Reversing environmental policies via changes in the Environmental Protection Agency that impact clean water regulations. For example, the stream protection rule, which prevented mining companies from dumping waste water into streams, was axed in February 2017. I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of drinking lead or other harmful chemicals.

3. Reversing environmental policies in the same manner that impact air pollution and smog. I remember the times when you could walk outside and say, "I smell Covington," and everyone knew you were referring to the papermill, an hour's drive away. That has disappeared thanks to regulations that are now being demolished at policy level. For example, the "revised" clean power plan initially was forecast to prevent 3,600 premature deaths and 90,000 asthma attacks nationally. But the current administration did away with that clean power plan. So now you can expect 3,600 premature deaths and 90,000 more asthma attacks. I like to breathe and I have asthma. Odds are good I could be one of those premature deaths and/or one of those asthma attacks. I expect these policy changes to significantly shorten my life span.

4. Undermining science. The governmental websites have been scrubbed of scientific evidence with regards to many things, most especially climate change. I don't care whether you believe humans influence climate change or not, frankly, because I think it is imperative that we take care of the planet in the best ways possible, whether the climate is changing or not. This lack of information leads to a dumbing down of the citizenry, who already are lemmings following one another off a cliff anyway.

5. Changes in vehicle fuel efficiency standards (March 2017). The standards were supposed to keep down pollutants and greenhouse gases. So more smog, more choking in the parking lot, more need to carry around my asthma inhaler.

6. Allowing the use of chlorpyrifos, a widely used pesticide (March 2017). The chemical has been linked to damage to the nervous system and prior to the Trump administration, EPA scientists said a ban was warranted. Household use of the chemical was phased out a decade ago but it is still used in farms across the US. I'm very sensitive to chemicals and have no doubt that many of my health issues stem from things like this.

7. Revocation of a rule that expanded the number of people who could earn overtime pay. This doesn't affect me directly but it does affect first responders, many of whom earned overtime pay under previous administration rules. The Obama-backed rule would have guaranteed overtime for full-time salaried workers who earn up to $47,476 a year (it doubled the previous threshold of $23,660 a year). Not sure how making sure you keep working hard for nothing helps makes America great again.

8. Stopped a rule that would require large companies to report worker incomes by race and gender. The rule was aimed at reducing pay disparity. This particularly impacts women, who already make less then a man in the same job doing the same work. In 2017, female full-time, year-round workers made only 80.5 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 20 percent.

9. Reversed an interpretation of the Civil Rights Act that provided protection to transgender workers. This doesn't affect me but it does affect a friend of mine. Everyone, regardless of how you self-identify with regards to gender, should have the right to work.

10. Ended a rule that barred employers from taking some or all of the tips given to service employees. I don't know about you, but when I give a tip to the waitress, I expect her to get it, not the company she works for. I mean, she already only makes just a little over $2 an hour thanks to our stupid laws for restaurant workers. How is this helping these hard-working people make ends meet? It isn't. It's just helping the restaurant owner, who likely drives a Mercedes and lives in a nice house while the waitress drives a 1989 Taurus and lives in a mobile home.

11. Canceled a rule mandating that financial advisers act in the best interests of their clients. Apparently it is better that the financial advisers work in the best interest of themselves, and steer investors towards the things that give the financial advisors the biggest cut. Not. Helps no one but the financial advisors, and certainly doesn't help the average person.

12. Reversed a ban on civil forfeiture. Law enforcement officials are now once again able to seize assets from suspects who haven’t been convicted of any crime. This means that if you get pulled over and sass the cop a little, they can take your car and everything in it, and you won't get it back. I see this as a violation of the US Constitution myself, under the search and seizure law (Bill of Rights, Article IV).

13. Blocked implementation of a rule that would have made it easier for farmers to sue big agricultural companies. This one does affect us, because it means that if we receive, say, bad seed from a big ag company (maybe we think we're getting alfalfa and turnips come up), we have no way to go back and recover our loss. If you think this is nothing, go pay for seed and fertilizer for 200 acres of land. Write a check for thousands of dollars and see if you wouldn't be pissed that you no longer have any right of redress for this or any other grievance where farming is concerned.

And then there is this:

"In the days immediately following Mr Trump’s election, the Southern Poverty Law Centre recorded more than 1000 hate crimes. The group said that they would normally expect to see this kind of figure over a six month period.

This dramatic increase has now levelled off, but the rate of hate crimes is still above pre-election levels, the group has said. Since Mr Trump’s election, there have been at least 16 attacks on synagogues and other Jewish centres, and swastika graffiti has appeared in public places across the country.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly aligned himself with the pro-life movement, and has said he would like to see Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court ruling which legalised abortion in the US, overturned.

The Century Foundation found that US legislators introduced more than 400 measures aimed at limiting abortion access in 2016. Mr. Trump has also threatened to defund Planned Parenthood, the country’s largest abortion provider, and is expected to reinstate the global gag rule, a Reagan-era policy which prevents foreign NGOs from receiving any US aid if they offer terminations. "

And this:

"Women’s health advocates warn that the Trump administration is set to try tightening access to birth control by broadening religious exemptions for companies providing health insurance.

A new rule on contraceptives was sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget last week, which reviews regulations before release. If it moves forward, this would be the government’s second attempt to expand religious exemptions for providing birth control in health plans."

My nephew is getting married soon. If he and his new wife don't want children right away, they should be able to get birth control. I took birth control for health reasons - I had severe endometriosis and took the pills to try to control it SO I COULD HAVE A BABY. The effort failed but I can't think of any medicine that is denied to men. Can you?

The level of anger and hatred in this country has risen considerably. It's mean out there. I feel it every time I go into the grocery store. No wonder I have ulcers. I blame that on the rhetoric coming out of the Whitehouse. I blame the bombs on the doorsteps of Democrats and media on the rhetoric coming out of the Whitehouse.

Unfortunately I could go on and on. Net neutrality. A mean immigration policy. This new proposal to apply gender to children at birth (scientists and doctors know that there really are babies born with both sets of genitals. It's not as abnormal as you might think.) Small things? Not really. Not small to me when it concerns my health, my ability to obtain medication, my ability to see my niece do what she wants to with her own body and not have her life dictated by some old white guys in suits. No, it's not small.

Some of these things I am sure some people think are just wonderful. I do not think any of them are wonderful. I find them cruel, evil, unjust, tainted, slanted, and willfully negligent and a total disregard of the basic rule of law and the rights of citizens to live in a peaceful society.

But that's just me and how I feel about it.


Here are some of the sources if you want to read more. Because there is much, much more. All of it is worth protesting.

http://www.fogcityjournal.com/wordpress/6383/trump-voters-is-this-really-what-you-wanted/
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/07/a-jaw-dropping-list-of-all-the-terrible-things-trump-has-done-to-mother-earth/
https://iwpr.org/issue/employment-education-economic-change/pay-equity-discrimination/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/08/24/what-trump-has-undone/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.174b94f16237
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/what-trump-is-actually-accomplishing/535458/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-election-win-us-president-inauguration-climate-change-hate-crime-dollar-value-a7537616.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/03/08/fcc-ajit-pai-net-neutrality-cable-box/98894350/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/21/trump-administration-define-transgender-out-of-existence-new-york-times
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/18/trump-administration-trying-to-expand-religious-exemptions-for-birth-control-coverage
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-news-advocates-trump-citizenship-immigrants-20180807-story.html

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 575th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.