Lookin' for a Leader...
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Saturday, August 08, 2020
Mark Ruffalo -- his tragic life and how he has overcome severe obstacles without being defeated
Mark is one of my favorite actors -- I love the way he has dedicated himself to bringing truth to the public about religious, governmental and corporate abuse. Just think about how much he has warned and informed us of: His efforts to promote the documentary Gasland about the environmental and toxic dangers of fracking. His performance in Spotlight about the abuses of the Catholic church.
I just watched his performance in the movie Dark Waters, about the poison inflicted on millions of us through extremely toxic Teflon by DuPont, which was making that company tons of profit. Despite knowing that Teflon was poisonous and killing people, DuPont continued promoting and producing all kinds of products with it, including cookware! In the process, in areas near their factories, they were also poisoning the water that people were drinking. I highly recommend this film for viewing by everyone.
And most recently, Mark's remarkable performance in HBO's series "I Know This Much Is True," as twin brothers living through great tragedy, deserves an EMMY best actor award.
Mark has lived a life filled with challenges and hardship that he has had to overcome. I just read this article about him, which helps me to understand the depth of the wise and caring man he has come to be. I admire and respect him even more now, and think of him as one of the great actors -- and humanitarians -- of our time.
Monday, August 03, 2020
Don't be confused -- Trump's virus response has been brilliant. Here's the explanation
Trump's coronavirus response has been brilliant. Here's what you don't understand.
by Rex Huppke, Chicago Tribune
It seems some Americans are confused about President Donald Trump's extremely strong and very powerful national response to the coronavirus pandemic.
That confusion is understandable, as many Americans are not used to having a president who, by his own expert account, has "a very, very large brain" and also has "the best words." It's not President Trump's fault you're confused. It's your fault.
The coronavirus is nothing to worry about, will likely be gone by April (anyone who says April was last month is a FAKE CALENDARIST!) and the virus is also a Democratic hoax, and a plague.
The number of deaths from the virus are being overblown by Trump-hating death counters, and also more than 90,000 people have died, which is a great success. If the president had done nothing, millions would have died from this nothing-to-worry-about virus. Also, the dead are only a small percentage of the population and it was their fault (the dying, I mean) because they were unhealthy, so they don't really count and technically the COVID-19 death toll is zero. But we salute them — the hardly any — for being warriors in the great fight against this horribly overblown hoax-plague that could've killed millions were it not for President Trump's great leadership.
What's important now is that Americans come together and TRANSITION TO GREATNESS by closely adhering to the federal guidelines established by the coronavirus task force. Americans also need to REOPEN OUR COUNTRY immediately and completely disregard the aforementioned federal guidelines.
Everything's fine, life can return to normal, and also President Trump has launched an initiative called Operation Warp Speed that will create a coronavirus vaccine in record time, because everything's fine but a vaccine is crucial, but also not crucial. As the president said while announcing Operation Warp Speed: "We think we are going to have a vaccine in the pretty near future, and if we do, we are going to really be a big step ahead and if we don't, we are going to be like so many other cases where you had a problem come in, it'll go away at some point, it'll go away."
So the vaccine, which we're traveling at warp speed to create, is vitally important and also no big deal because this coronavirus plague — which is nothing to worry about — will simply go away at some point.
Also important and simultaneously not important is testing. While other countries started widespread testing almost immediately, President Trump made the smart choice of not doing that. What's the point of testing when you don't already have thousands of deaths demonstrating the need for testing? Swift, widespread testing would have shown a large number of coronavirus cases in America, which would have made the president look bad, and the last thing Americans want during a pandemic is to have their president look bad.
So he patiently waited, and now America has ramped up its testing and the president has boasted about how amazing his administration has been at testing, while also pointing out how testing is dumb (probably Obama's idea) and causes more people to get the virus: "Don't forget, we have more cases than anybody in the world. But why? Because we do more testing. When you test, you have a case. When you test, you find something is wrong with people. If we didn't do any testing, we would have very few cases."
Make sense? It's understandable if it takes you a minute. It's not easy keeping pace with someone who has a very, very large brain.
What's truly remarkable about President Trump's flawless response is how he has managed it while people tried to blame him for the aforementioned very small number of 90,000 deaths. Only a godless liberal would waste time casting blame in the middle of a national not-a-big-deal crisis.
Also, the Obama administration is to blame and Democratic governors are to blame and the people getting sick are to blame and the so-called infectious disease experts who keep saying the nation needs a coordinated federal response are to blame and the media are to blame and hospitals are to blame and China is to blame, though they must have hacked Trump's Twitter account on Jan. 24 and posted this tweet: "China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!"
Monsters.
Lastly, as President Trump has demonstrated by not wearing a mask, you should always wear a mask while around others. It's just the right thing to do. Or not do.
Now get out there! Everything makes sense. Everything's perfect. And anything that's not perfect you're wrong about.
Enjoy your transition to greatness! (Unless you die, in which case it's your fault for transitioning to greatness wrong.)
Friday, July 31, 2020
New Lincoln Proj. ad - Trump voter in coma for 3 1/2 years wakes up in hospital
and his still-Trump-supporting family tells him about all he's missed. A must-see.
Saturday, July 25, 2020
Must-see video: Trump & Company sing as they line their pockets: "WE ARE THE WORST"
You'll have to skip through a couple of youtube ads to see this, but
it's worth that small annoyance.
This video link should be sent to every Trump supporter so they can hear
their MAGA "heroes" sing out the truth about themselves:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1lailGN1xg
it's worth that small annoyance.
This video link should be sent to every Trump supporter so they can hear
their MAGA "heroes" sing out the truth about themselves:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1lailGN1xg
Thursday, July 23, 2020
Ex-Republican, ex-Christian evangelist Frank Schaeffer speaks truth to power
Fiery, Frustrated and Horrified, just like the rest of us, former dedicated Republican Frank Schaeffer is speaking out with flaming rhetoric against what Trump is doing to our country. This video ought to be viewed by everyone, including Trump-supporting evangelists (but we know their "Christian" "values" don't match with Schaeffer's). If you watch this short video, you can make up your own mind as to whose vision you agree with:
Donald Trump: A Threat to American Democracy
https://frankschaefferblog.com/2020/07/donald-trump-wants-civil-war/
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
a better Randy Rainbow link for his newest song
If you're not on Facebook, you won't be able to access it on the link I just sent you. Here's a youtube one that will work:
Randy Rainbow's Newest and Best: Gee, Anthony Fauci
Randy's back with a new one! (~.~) His parody on West Side Story's Officer Krupke is Done to Perfection! A bunch of the White House villains are given their just due in it -- with Dr. Fauci being honored. Randy speaks/sings for all of us in our desperation at what is happening in our country!
Sunday, July 19, 2020
A cartoon strip dedicated to all Trump voters
If only they can recognize themselves. The tragedy is they and the Trump party have taken ALL of us over the cliff with them. It will take the Democrats years to clear the wreckage. As for the Republican party, it died in the crash.
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Window Swap - site dedicated to seeing views from other peoples' windows
Great idea -- good way to take quick vacations around the world, seeing wonderful views while pretending you live in other peoples' homes (~.~) No money needed, because it's priceless. :-)
Read about it: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/window-swap-quarantine-trnd/index.html
Go into it: https://window-swap.com/
ENJOY the VIEWS!
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
A song of calmness -- Be Still
Although it has undertones of religion, the message of this song is also deeply spiritual (touching the spirit within). It can apply to all, no matter whether "religious" or not. "Be Still" is a powerful message, pointing us to our own inner guidance. In chaotic, cacophonous times like we are now experiencing in our world, the messages we seek from within, with a sincere heart, are our best guidance. Whether or not you believe in a personal God or a particular spiritual leader, if you believe there is an energy, a power that is the source of everything, then this song can also be for you. Each person who hears it can put their own interpretation on it -- but the important thing is the inner calmness and clarity it points us to in these troubled times. :-)
Monday, June 22, 2020
Inspiring TED talk by brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor
In this time of Trump madness, in order to lift my spirit and remind me of what is really true and good, I returned to a TED talk that inspired me a few years ago when I first saw it. This neuro-scientist, JIll Bolte Taylor, through experiencing a stroke, discovered the oneness that permeates existence, showing we are not separate beings apart and divided. We are one magnificent energy of pure consciousness, lighting up the world. As she said, the beauty and wonderment of that is something she thought is worth sharing. I can't think of a better time to share JIll's story/discovery once again. Her story has the power to change the world by changing our understanding of who we really are. 😊
Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and ...
Mar 10, 2014
Wednesday, June 03, 2020
A very different kind of instrument: The Chapman Stick
I think you might like the sound of this musical instrument. Maybe you already know about it, but it's new to me. The Chapman Stick, first developed in the 1970s, is a stringed instrument, shaped like a long wide stick, looking something like a guitar, but you don't pluck it like a guitar. Instead, it's more percussive. Your fingers tap down on the strings and under them, to the fret, to create the unusual sounds that can be made on it. It's kind of a combination of a guitar, piano and drum. Very interesting! I think Holland would have loved it. Just think of the practice it would take to learn to play it! Here is a musical genius playing "While my guitar gently weeps" on the Chapman Stick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYKB6Lag-wg
We humans are amazing beings, aren't we? With all of our talents that can create art and devise beautiful music and instruments like this, it's a puzzlement why we don't just spend all our time creating beauty together and ignoring tiny differences like skin color, religions and the like. IF only....:-)
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
I think you'll like this column about teachers Yay! (and Trump Ugh!)
Trump: If You Want to Know Him, Just Listen
by Jaime O'Neill | May 26, 2020 - 6:36am
When I was in college, I was often really impressed with some of my profs. Some of them seemed to have read just about everything. They were erudite, ready to share an insightful anecdote, a scrap of history, or a spot-on quote in response to most anything that might come up in class, any question raised. Any time a point needed clarifying they seemed to have an illustration or a helpful enlargement to contribute to the discussion or lecture at hand.
I remember one very unimposing little professor of English history, a man who dressed in tailored suits from Saville Row, dapper, but bookish, rather stuffy, and never histrionic. Still, his love of his subject, as dull as It could sometimes be, was contagious. I hung on his every word. Still, it surprised me when he finished the last lecture of the semester and the class broke into spontaneous applause. I hadn't known everyone in that room had been as transfixed as I had been, too focused to notice that they were transfixed, too.
I've lost his name to memory, and don't really remember much about the 18th century parliamentary disputes studied that semester. But I can still draw his image to mind, along with the sure knowledge that I learned a lot that semester, though most of it has been lost.
As I sat in that handful of classes presided over by exceptional teachers, I could only hope to someday be as good as they were. Like most every profession, the percentage of truly gifted people is about equal to the truly bad ones. By my completely unscientific reckoning, I figure 10% of people in most any line of work are truly great at what they do. On the other end of the spectrum, about 10% really suck. Everyone else is somewhere along the scale of acceptable, from not too bad to very, very good. Without undue or false modesty, I'd place myself somewhere closer to the better end of that spectrum. Surely some students wouldn't place me there.
How we respond to teachers varies, just as there are ways to respond to most anyone else we encounter. Much is subjective. But I've given a lot of thought to this, as old people do as they look back at their lives, and I know I never allowed myself to cheat students, to skimp on the effort, to phone it in, though there were surely days when I wasn't able to bring my best, or to get the best out of them.
But, like so many of those profs I studied to see what kind of teacher I wanted to be, I gradually acquired a storehouse of anecdotes, scraps of info I could make pertinent and apply to discussions, and a whole bunch of quotes--snatches of poetry and profundity I always loved to share, partly because it made me look smarter than I am, but also because that stuff had taught me lessons or ways of seeing I thought might be useful to students, too.
One quote I never completed a semester without repeating is this one by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote: "With his will, or against his will, a man reveals himself with every word." I think I first encountered that notion when I was trying to learn how to write dialogue in ways that would reveal character, realizing that people often don't say what they really mean, but will show who they are, nonetheless, if we only listen carefully.
That quote came to mind, as it often does, when I read some of Trump's daily tweets sent by the POTUS on Memorial Day or in the days before we were doomed to hit the sorry milestone of 100,000 dead, all lost to the coronavirus, many of them who might not have died but for the criminal negligence of the Tweeter-in-Chief.
Here's a few of the recent bird-brained sentiments he chirped to tout his many personal virtues, aptitudes, or accomplishments, to lie, or to launch yet more puerile insults toward any lesser human beings who have annoyed him. Following a holiday observance for those who died in service to this country, at a time when thousands are dying daily of a very scary virus, I'd suggest you read these tweets in the context of that Emerson quote, then add to Emerson this well-known quote from Maya Angelou: "When people tell you who they are, believe them the first time." How much grief might we have been spared if we'd really listened hard to damn near every utterance Trump has offered with those two cautions in mind.
"Great reviews on our handling of Covid 19," Trump tweeted last weekend. "sometimes referred to as the China Virus. Ventilators, Testing, Medical Supply Distribution, we made a lot of Governors look very good - And got no credit for so doing. Most importantly, we helped a lot of great people!"
He chose the word "reviews," as though it was all a reality show performance. And only 100,000 died. How great is that? We're Number 1. Again.
And he tweeted, defensively, about the criticism he got for golfing on a weekend meant to honor fallen heroes. "Some stories about the fact that in order to get outside and perhaps, even a little exercise," he tweeted, "I played golf over the weekend. The Fake & Totally Corrupt News makes it sound like a mortal sin - I knew this would happen! What they don't say is that it was my first golf in almost…"
He also tweeted this: "Those who died for our great country would be very happy and proud at how well our country is doing today. Best economy in decades, lowest unemployment numbers for Blacks and Hispanics EVER (& women in 18 years), rebuilding our military and so much more: Nice!"
Oh, those happy dead.
And he just had to get in a few jabs at a woman who stood against him on the subject of mail-in ballots, and who chastised him for not wearing a face mask when he visited a Detroit auto factory. "Do nothing A.G. of the Great State of Michigan, Dana Nessel, should not be taking her anger and stupidity out on Ford Motor - they might get upset with you and leave the state, like so many other companies have - until I came along and brought business back to Michigan. JOBS!"
Then, unsatisfied and still pissed, he tweeted again:
"The Wacky Do Nothing Attorney General of Michigan, Dana Nessel, is viciously threatening Ford Motor Company for the fact that I inspected a Ventilator plant without a mask. Not their fault, & I did put on a mask. No wonder many auto companies left Michigan, until I came along!"
So, I repeat Emerson's words: "With his will, or against his will, a man reveals himself with every word." Sometimes so much is revealed that we have to look away in disgust.
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Russian/Chinese bots trying to create division in U.S.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/carnegie-mellon-covid-19-twitter-bots-research_n_5ec9e47bc5b64085c39ba7d0
I've read warnings like this before, saying that we are going to be bombarded with bots with all kinds of graphic distortions, meant to confuse, mislead and divide our country's population. Now that graphic programs have become improved/advanced and available to anyone, changes can easily be made in photos and even in videos (changing the faces of the people, like was done in a recent video purporting to be Bill Gates), we are at the mercy of the purveyors of all kinds of online disinformation. Most of them favor right-wing beliefs.
Looks like it's time to hone our discrimination skills. I am questioning everything that comes my way and trying it on for size with questions: Does this, at first glance, sound like nonsense? Does it go against common sense? Could it possibly be from Russia? Is it divisive? racist? anti-government? does it have the flavor of right-wing madness about it? You can almost taste the poison of right-wing nuttiness -- the kind of thing you hear and see on Fox News every day. If any conspiracy theory comes my way that has that flavor, I will delete it.
Regarding Covid-19: We've got enough trouble in our country with the right-wing nutcase in our White House who doesn't believe the virus is dangerous. Regardless of what he and/or the bots say, I'm going to stay sheltered as much as possible -- and wear a mask whenever I'm out in public. This virus is showing itself to be pervasive and deadly. Common sense tells us a second or even third wave is predictable, when not all of the population has had it. Anyone urging us to go out without protective masks, as if nothing is happening, is suspicious to me as being either a right winger or a victim of right-wing propaganda ginned up in our country or in foreign countries that want to sow more confusion and division here--especially in this election year.
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Beautiful to share: Purest voice -- sung as she was dying
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPAGH0AT-os
What a Wonderful World. Eva Cassidy's last performance before she died one month later of melanoma. She was very weak and had to be carried on stage to perform this -- but listen to that strong, pure voice -- an angel here on earth, getting ready to depart for her true home. O:-)❤️️
Sunday, April 26, 2020
Fwd: they stand behind the president
very interesting expressions on the faces behind the president tell the full story
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/phil-rosenthal-they-stand-behind-president/610735/
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Newest Randy Rainbow: A Spoonful of Clorox
Hilarious. Incredible that we have a President who actually makes this nonsense an absolute necessity. Thankfully, we have Randy to warn against Trump's ridiculousness in a superbly clever/humorous song. We need to balance our tears and fears with laughter, and Randy fills the bill.
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Magical healing mantra -- dedicated with love to the Earth and al its inhabitants on Earth Day today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU8wzllYdz4
Happy Earth Day! If you take a few minutes out of your day today to hear this divinely-inspired mantra/song of love and healing, you will be glad you did. You and our beautiful Earth deserve it. ❤️
Because we NEED to LAUGH: new version of The Lion (Lyin') King -- best ad ever against Trump
Thank goodness for those clever hero humorists who can keep us laughing through it all...
Yes, the Lyin' King tweets tonight....🎶
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