Marthe48
Marthe48's JournalLike everything America is in the process of becoming
I think I'm paraphrasing Socrates. I remember reading that everything is in the process of becoming. A burning fire is becoming extinguished and ashes are becoming relit is the imagery I think of. Even if I'm not remembering exactly what I read, it has helped me to accept that everything changes to something else.
For over 200 years, America has been in the process of envisioning freedom as it was intended. Just as humans across the world continue to evolve toward awareness, so our vision of personal freedom changes, and I hope, expands to include more and more specifics of the individual aspects that make us human. Until the U turn in this century, Americans by and large supported the pursuit of freedom and were expanding it well beyond what people even 300 years ago conceived. So America has been in the process of becoming free. We are becoming the fire. But there are also humans who aren't becoming in the same direction. They are becoming the ashes.
Humans have sought freedom since the concept crystalized in early minds. People becoming the fire see freedom as an ideal. People becoming the ashes see freedom as a curse. I think that right now, Americans have to choose if they will feed the fire, or become the ashes.
GOTV!
Happy to see this, but
It occurred to me a long time ago that there are 2 mandatory costs that people are required to assume: car insurance and house insurance. Responsible people pay for car insurance whether the state mandates coverage or not. Ohio is one of many states that mandates coverage, with a legal penalty if the driver isn't covered. In Ohio, I have to show the clerk at the license bureau proof of insurance to renew my license or tags.
If you don't own your house free and clear, the mortgage company requires insurance that covers the amount of the mortgage, at least. I don't know if Nationwide is hosing me, but the agent tells me that the insurance has to coverage the cost of replacement. With payoff, you can do what you please, but at least it is your choice.
Both of those costs, if they are mandatory, should at least be tax deductible, if not forgiven outright. Just my axe to grind.
Unfortunately the civil war we find ourselves fighting
is neighbor against neighbor, state against state. I have no desire to be friends with people who live in houses near me, because they are living the rwnj dream. One of them told me they traveled almost 2 hours to see traitor, because they wanted to see a real president. Another supported traitor, even though they have daughters who would have attracted unwanted attention from traitor. Another still displays a traitor sign in their yard. I am not on the wrong side, and I hope there are enough Americans who will stand on this side when push comes to shove. I have no respect for what traitor has done and what abbott is attempting. abbott was probably on track to be this awful before the tree crippled him and put him in a wheel chair. That unfortunate incident just sped up his ego trip and delusions of grandeur. But whoever keeps voting rwnj into office have to live with their votes and they need to realize that they are in the wrong, and their actions are destabilizing the only country in the world that would let them get away with their crap.
I imagine if she were in front of a less select audience
she might have said American first, Muslim second? And maybe the rwnj would get a clue and realize it is American first, Christianity second.
I don't see a lot wrong with Rep. Omar reminding that specific audience of her roots. I grew up hearing the adult neighbors reminding people of their roots, mainly in Europe. I know now that it wasn't just that we lived in an all white neighborhood, but at the time, few Black Americans knew what country their ancestors had come from. When I grew up, we America's population was called a melting pot. With a resurgence of national pride, some pundits prefer the term salad bowl. I think the country was more cohesive as a fondue than as crudites.
There are consequences
How many of us have distanced ourselves from maga rwjn that we know? How many of us stopped buying locally if we know a store supports traitor? How many of us boycott national and international entities and organizations we know support traitor? How much money do we give to support Democratic candidates, and organizations that promote personal freedom and advocate for democratic values?
Every single thing we do that is for our democracy is against the traitors. Death by a 1000 cuts.
Sure let the traitor be on the ballot
let the voters decide. Like the voters decided in 2020. Traitor got a resounding smackdown, but refused to admit he lost the election, whipped up his fascist base and here we are.
I see a quotation pretty often, the one about insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Fine, let's put the p.o.s. on the ballot and watch him get trounced, watch him refuse to admit he's a loser, rile up his base, and see more people killed.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach him twice, with cause. Since he was an active elected official, and officer (isn't CiC a title the POTUS holds? Isn't that an officer? ) he got a special government judgement, not the regular judge and jury his henchmen were entitled to and got. That the Senate wouldn't vote to impeach doesn't make the facts and findings go away.
I want to see traitor in court, being judged by a jury of his peers. He deserves every single trial is he entitled to and will be given more than enough protection under the law. In the meantime, he unleashes his evil on any normal person trying to use the actual law as a guide to protect and defend the Constitution of the U.S.A.
Kudos for the people resolving to stop the insanity.
taliban took over Afghanistan
hamas took over Gaza
The brutes who slaughtered the Israelis on Oct. 7th might live on the land called The Gaza Strip, but they are not citizens of that territory. I haven't wanted to comment because I have Jewish friends and I have friends who are Palestinian citizens. I think that the terrorists in Hamas are destroying both Israel and Palestine. The terrorists in Afghanistan destroyed that country. Note that both terrorists groups torture and rape women, and torture and kill other members of the human race. Note that terrorist groups in the U.S. also attack women. They get away with it and they will continue down that path. It doesn't matter where terrorists live, or what they call themselves. They have turned against their own species, and in maiming, torturing and murdering women, they prove time and again that they hate.
I can say that I can't imagine living in a country with terrorists openly walking the streets and imposing their hateful will on innocents who can't escape their own country. But then, I think of the crimes being committed against women in all countries, and human rights being stripped from women and women dying because they are targets, not loved ones. When someone rapes, tortures, murders a woman in such profound attacks against her femininity, they have lost themselves in some underworld inhabited by souless ghouls.
It is hard to find words that don't dehumanize the terrorists, but by their actions, they are doing more to dehumanize themselves than they have dehumanized any one of their victims. I will cry for the victims of terrorism, but I will never cry for the monsters in human shape.
UPDATE Jan. 24, 24 My old cat is winding down
Bunny hasn't died. She got better. it took awhile, but she's had a really good week. I played the calming music for her on days she was really low and I think it helped. I can't expect a whole lot more time with her, but I'm so glad she pulled out of it. I appreciate everyone's comments and advice 
Bunny is either 18 going on 19 or 19 going on 20. We've had her since since was less than a year old. She was a stray. If I saw strays, I'd put some food out, so I put food out for her. The next thing I knew, she had gone into our fenced back yard and my Mom's 15 year old dog had chased her up a tree. My husband figured out a way to get her down. She is a tabby and white Manx, so she was super friendly from the the beginning. I remembered thinking as my husband handed her to me, that if she was too stupid to stay away from a fenced dog, she wouldn't last long outside. We brought her in. We advertised her as lost and found, but no one claimed her.
We had a young neutered tom, and when we brought her in, he was astonished. And from their first meeting, she was his pet. She accepted her spot in the house, and all the years we had the kitties, she was his. We were responsible for food, water and clean-up and he did the rest. We adopted an older girl cat from the shelter in 2014. Bunny and Hiss hated each other. but they both got along with the boy cat. He died at age 17 about 3 years ago. Hiss died a year later, also about 17. Since Bunny has become an only cat, she has become a different cat. She has become my cat.
I expected Bunny to die of a heart attack years ago. She was always overweight and loved to eat. But she has lived on. I changed her food a little, and she adjusted. Since she's been an only cat, and my first cat who lived this long, I started giving her treats that I hadn't given to any of the cats over the years. The only thing is, if she got a treat, she expected that treat at the same time, every day, from then on. I take a pill at 7 pm, and one time, gave her a teaspoon of heavy cream. I have to say, I haven't missed taking the pill at 7 since, because if I don't head for the kitchen, she comes to my chair in the living room and stares at me till I get up. With the time change, she was appearing an hour early. Lately, she stopped wanting cream. I gave her some milk, and she liked that, but the last week, she doesn't want it. In the last few days, she has stopped eating her other treats, and yesterday, turned down her regular food. I offered her some today, pate mixed with water. She got most of the wettest and then went to the basement. She doesn't usually go to the basement, but I let her stay down there for about an hour. I made her another fresh bed in the room she likes. I made sure all of her needs are nearby, in case she rallies. She is comfortable, just seems to be sleeping away. She's been a really good kitty, no matter whose pet she was. I didn't expect to feel this bad, but I always did love her, and now that she's been my cat, she is going to leave a big hold.
I have been planning to take a couple trips while I don't have a pet. The only time in my life I didn't have a pet was for a couple months in 2002. If I get another pet, it'll probably be an older cat or an older bonded pair. All of the other dogs and kitties I had were strays that picked us. Thanks for reading. I feel better sharing the news about Bunny. I'll have to let my kids, grandkids, friends and pet sitters know we are nearing the end of an era. Maybe I can do it without tears.
https://imgur.com/a/wSPSfWh
up to about 18,000 gray wolves in the U.S.
About 72.2 million hogs, 29.4 million cattle, 5.2 million sheep, 2.5 million goats, 1.5 billion chickens.
Wolves won't become vegetarians, and some cattle and other livestock will get killed for food. Otho, several states already allow killing wolves, and the wolves that die won't be eaten by the hunters that shoot them, snare them or use other 'legal' means to kill the wolves. Wolves have been added to and were taken off the endangered list in 2020. They've been removed or returned to the Endangered Species List a number of times over the last 20 years. From what I just read, I think the wolves need protection more than the livestock.
Maybe having wild wolves will help control the wild boar population.
I listen to a couple shows on MSNBC
If I don't shut them off. I won't listen to sounds bites of traitor, or his henchmen and lately, I've shut off the live stream if the host and guests start blathering about rwnj candidates, strategy and other things that are already getting extensive airtime from other hosts on other networks. Mostly, I've even stopped opening o.p. on DU if they look like speculation, or link to a report about what one of the slimeballs said or did.
I think even my piece of crap laptop sees what I look at, and I can wish that it also notes when I close a tab, so I hope I am avoiding adding a click to any of the traitors' comments.
Basically, rwnj are rwnj and even if, like Liz Cheney, they did the right thing when traitor betrayed our country, they remain r's, opposing issues like women and minority rights, gun control, minimum wage, and limiting voting rights. I might have to live in the same country with the opposing party, but I don't have to like it. And tG, I don't have to watch our media cozy up to their abusers.
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Gender: Do not displayHometown: Ohio
Home country: U.S.A.
Member since: 2001
Number of posts: 16,926