INCREDIBLE WEEK'S EVENTS

I’ve evolved into somewhat of a somber mood this week following my initial enthusiasm and encouragement with the overall outcome of the 2018 U.S. Midterm Elections.  Hope you’re pleased with most of the results where you live.

Initially ....

The early part of the week began with those elections encouragingly drawing a higher percentage of voters than usual.   Some results are still not tallied as the number of mail-in and provisional ballots has increased, too.   Outcomes between some candidates are so close a winner cannot be declared until the days or weeks needed to tally those ballots are completed. This is true even in our local City Council contest.   Even then, it’s possible the results could be so close that some candidates may require a ballot recount.   

The previous political dominating party has become the minority party in our U.S. House of Representatives.  Hopefully, to most Americans this will mean some sort of check on our current president’s relentless dictatorial actions that many believe weaken our democracy. 

They see his efforts deliberately creating chaos and divisiveness directed toward destroying citizens trust in our government.   Surreptitiously, he’s also attempting to require personal loyalty to himself, rather than to our constitution, from leaders he appoints and in all branches of government.  

Given his attempt to alter our form of government this comes as no surprise – except to some who naively don’t realize this is occurring, and those still in denial who think this is just political party differences – not a matter of preserving our freedoms and democracy as our nation’s founders established in our constitution.

Insidious now, too, is our President’s relentless assault to muffle, consistently denigrate, a Fourth Estate Press that reports factual information.   He condemns them for questioning or refuting his mendacious statements and presenting other issue views as though he had no ethical or moral responsibility for stating facts to the American people.  Instead, he fluently prevaricates insultingly, in the belief the people are either too dumb to know the difference or don’t care and has previously said as much.   He leads me to wonder if he is correct. 

Most of those in the President’s political party have acquiesced to him despite to what many of them once objected, as they have either changed or compromised their moral and ethical values in exchange for power – and money?   Some of those who won’t bend are simply leaving or retiring from their positions, since many of their constituents fail to recognize preserving our democratic republic is at stake. 

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Our President continues to favor one specific television network news organization reflecting that owner’s agenda, documented by many as a group that warps news content accounts.  It is no coincidence that corporation’s owner, Rupert Murdoch, has had news content control ambitions of his own, or that our President met with him in Scotland shortly after the 2016 election.

Mr. Murdoch’s organizations have often been characterized as promoting tabloid journalism.

His efforts to gain monopolistic control over all media forms to influence news content, distribution, government influence, created havoc in Great Britain years ago when he came there from Australia. Subsequently he gained U.S. citizenship to pursue his power-seeking of news control here to influence our populace -- followers would be wise to consider that family corporation’s agenda.   

Murdoch has been known for interfering in editorial processes contrary to what he has vowed he wouldn’t do.  This gave concern following his Wall Street Journal purchase a few years ago. 

This year Murdoch’s long-term consolidation efforts in Great Britain to obtain satellite Sky News was thwarted The Guardian reported earlier HERE.

“The Competition and Markets Authority said 21st Century Fox’s bid to take control of the 61% of Sky it does not already own was not in the public interest due to concerns about media plurality.”

“The CMA’s investigation into the deal found it would give the Murdoch family trust, which controls Fox and News Corp, the publisher of the Sun and the Times, “too much control over news providers in the UK across all media platforms and therefore too much influence over public opinion and the political agenda”.

Our Fourth Estate News Media seeking factual information from our President these next two years until our 2020 elections to report to us will likely be subjected to his increased attacks and false accusations as he has been doing.  

Considering what we know about the modus operendi of this President and the news sources he favors, we need to thoughtfully exercise analysis, critical thinking and our best judgment determining the news media sources we can trust for most closely providing unadulterated content truth.  Incidentally, social media may not be the most viable source for truth, either. 

* * *

Next, with the election still fresh in my mind, my attention was shocked in morning wee hours as I watched the ending of an old movie -- a news bulletin interrupted.   Tragedy struck in one of Southern California’s designated safest cities, Thousand Oaks, with a mass shooter murdering young people and a police officer.   The shooter took his own life, is thought to have been a troubled young man, possibly suffering from PTSD following overseas war experience in the military service. 

Once again, many citizens voice outrage as to why laws are not enacted in an effort to control the availability of certain types of weapons, curtail how readily they can be purchased and limit those permitted to possess them.   

***

Still reeling from this surreal as yet unexplained shooting event .....

devastating fires in Southern California, coincidentally, struck that same city of tragedy, the next day -- devouring homes -- additional houses continuing to be threatened. 

The fire raced toward the ocean requiring the whole city of Malibu to be evacuated with the flames ravaging, then leaving some once homeowners, homeless.  

Other residents in those cities still awaiting the fires becoming controlled, the area safe, so they can learn if their house has survived intact, though likely smoke-damaged.  Family members of a friend of mine are in the latter group, having had to evacuate, but fortunate to be able to stay with others in their family. 

Many residents have had to seek shelter at special evacuation centers setup for accommodations with such available even for a large menagerie of pets reportedly not limited to just dogs and cats.  

Incredibly, even more fires were reported .....

an entire community of 27,000 in Northern California, ironically named Paradise, was forced to evacuate.  Every structure burned to the ground.   Now, loss of life has been discovered as an increasing number of residents have been found in their vehicles -- presumed to have been stranded, trying to escape the flames. 

 ***

As I publish this .....

The strong Santa Ana winds blowing off shore have given temporary way to slight on-shore breezes lessening these out of control fires intensity for a day, but only temporarily.  Humidity from the Pacific Ocean increased only slightly from the previously high of only 5%.

Predictions are that the Santa Ana high winds are returning with more dry off-shore blowing to whip these fires today, Sunday, before on shore winds resume, possibly by Tuesday evening to slightly lessen fire forces.  The fires will likely rage on as exhausted firefighters fight for containment.   We will see what the coming week brings us.

***

I do feel compelled to clarify the truth and express my outrage at one more outright falsehood perpetrated by our President.    He threatens to withhold federal funding for the California wildfires due to gross mismanagement.  California Professional Firefighters President stated:

“It is the federal government that has chosen to divert resources away from forest management, not California.”

This irresponsible U.S. President later modifies his comments to offer some support for Americans affected by these disasters.   

This is such classic contradicting rhetorical behavior exhibited by our President -- designed to deliberately keep him in the news daily.  He believes all publicity, positive or negative, benefits him as his discredited attorney mentor taught him.   Most distressing to him is to be ignored which gives reason to avoid gratifying his need to have his name mentioned.   Would that all the media and every other source would cease saying anything about him for even a day, but ideally several, a week, a month – but to what antics would he resort to get our attention?    

BLOGGER'S SAGA - AGING, AILMENT, VOLCANO PART I

Well....if anyone is still reading here,  I didn't intend to cause alarm when I stopped writing.   As if that wasn't enough,  a few days ago I accidentally hit the wrong key -- geeze,  just such a mistake is how I started this blog years ago -- with the result I published a draft prematurely, so thought I better keep writing then.   A few bloggers noticed the current draft post — only this time I knew how to easily retract this one.   

My lackadaisical attitude toward blogging here has prevailed since the first of the year when once again the idea of taking a writing break, as I've periodically experienced, became very appealing.  Doing so morphed into a much longer period of time than I anticipated as unexpected developments and events ensued.   

Certainly, I continue, as ever, following the U.S. government and political situation as well -- all the shenanigans and worse, including my concern for the potential threats to our freedoms and democracy.   I'm challenged to keep up with it all, as well as what's going on in the rest of the world,  even space travel efforts to get us off this planet -- literally "to the moon" as a TV character some of you will remember, used to say -- or are we going to Mars now?

My salvation is a sense of humor in even the most bizarre, sometimes ridiculous situations that are enough to shake a sane person's sensibility toward what constitutes truth and reality.   I'm pretty confident I'm still capable of differentiating between deliberate lies and the actual facts.  I do lack respect for those intentionally trying to mix the two and am amazed at the number of people who don't bother to check for truth and even seem not to care.    Comfort for me to endure this situation comes in love and caring from friends, family and all that gives me laughs and pleasure including my blogger buddies.  

Coincidentally, just as I thought I would resume writing here, and I had assured bloggers inquiring about my prolonged absence that I was not unwell, a simple ordinary (if there is such a thing) bacterial infection, as I've had before, became identified in my body.  Aha, I thought!  That’s what has been gradually causing me to experience interrupted sleep at night, feel tired, weakness, fatigue later in the day, and decreased motivation.   I had tended to attribute my gradual physically wearing down feelings to effects of aging.  But, wait, aren't I too young for that to be true -- aren't we all? 

Beginning my antibiotic treatment I suddenly inexplicably began experiencing all sorts of other symptoms including possible medication side effects, others indicative of possible viral infection elsewhere in my body, too.   So, interspersed between good days and nights and not-so-good days and nights, a couple occasions of wondering if I should call 911 for a ER trip, (but I didn't call), I began my odyssey with doctor visits, referrals to urgent care when my doctor was unexpectedly unavailable, both frustrating and a bit complicating, but also with some positive results. 

There have been the various routine tests, another round of antibiotics, another prescription, eventually addition of other over-the-counter meds., and a share of more "wait and see" that I had already been doing.   Admonishing my doctor that I did not want pain medication, he convinced me I should take those additional pills because they were to reduce inflammation.   Then there were the accounts from others of medical friends telling them that some mysterious illness was making the rounds causing local doctors some diagnostic frustration.  This didn't apply to my symptoms, I quickly concluded, but made for a lot of speculation by others passing along the latest medical gossip.  

I was reminded when years ago, before my brother's death, I was conversing with him on Hawaii's Big Island -- yes, his home in a small village was and is still about three miles from the currently spewing Pele' -- the glass said to be the Deity's hair, that red hot lava, rock and ash, emitting Kilauea volcano causing poisonous gasses, vog and more.  He assured me then, and it's still true as family staying there now tells me, they're generally not affected where they are, due to the trade winds.  

They do feel the shaking and his house did experience some effects from the earthquakes, but nothing serious.   Another family member's residence a short distance away has had no problems.  I still can't help wondering every time I become aware of more volcanic changes if their situation has altered. They are not in the housing development or other residential communities in the area being overrun by lava flow as pictured below.

Here's the link to a Sky News video report from within the past week as the volcano keeps erupting:  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax_gEvD05xw&t=17s

Latest news reports when this is being written is that lava continues to flow threatening to overrun the remaining highway in the expanding videoed housing development area leaving no exit route for any residents who have not evacuated.

But my brother's and my discussion those years ago turned to our personal health matters.  Suddenly, he said, "Have we come to this, that we're talking about our health problems?"  I recall, also, my now-deceased mother once responded to my scolding as to why she hadn't told me about some symptom she was experiencing, "If I always told you about every little ache and pain I'm having you would soon tire of coming to talk with me."  I think about that now in reference to my own communication and yet, here I am writing about it.

In my current saga, essentially, once medical issues entered the picture, I began just plain trying to take care of survival basics.  These can be especially challenging to those of us choosing to spend our older years “living in place”, especially if we're on our own.   There has been little wrong with me except for what ails me that has had doctors and me unraveling that puzzle — not a life-threatening issue as we think of them, but more than a bit annoying and activity limiting. 

I expect many of you have been down this same path, probably involved with even more challenging issues than my own experience, but everything is relative, and we all know only too well it could be worse.  I'm on the home stretch now, I think.  

Have you been perturbed trying to figure out if something was wrong with you or erroneously thought you were just getting old, even prematurely so when you were younger?   

Part II next time.