APPLE PIE ON THE 4TH OF JULY

 

When it comes to movies I’ve never cared much for superhero silliness. However, on this holiday I need noise to blend in with the booms & blasts outside to make it less distracting. And some years it’s difficult to find a war movie I haven’t already seen.

It’s become even worse since our trump-turd governor DeSantis has made holiday fireworks in private (unprofessional) hands legal.

If anyone wants fireworks, there are plenty of places they can watch them for free!!! The 4^th is no longer a holiday to which I look forward. However, I’m determined to make the best of it with tasty victuals.

As to pastry, I’m a cake person. But last Thanksgiving I bought a read-to-bake, Marie Calendar Dutch Apple Pie on sale & it was so delicious I vowed to enjoy another on the 4^th. That aroma of baking is so intoxicating it has me dancing around my kitchen.

And what is more American than apple pie! Apple pie on my table and fascism in the White House! The latter has me crashing to a thud. How could such a thing happen in this country? How was someone as despicable and corrupt as trump even allowed to run for office again! This would-be dictator tried to overthrow our government? And worse, how could someone of such low caliber ever be elected?

But then, I recall a statement from Nobel Prize winning author Sinclair Lewis, “When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.” This is exactly what has happened!

And Sinclair Lewis earned his Nobel Prize! No one gifted it to him!

How can anyone be so dim as not to see we have a con artist & convicted rapist for president! His major skill is lying. And at his side is the first whore, -- No, the other one, J.D. Vance! – Remember when he called trump America’s Hitler? Actually, trump is more like Caligula!

Strangely, here in Florida, trump and his lackeys are popular. And Florida supporters are pictured as rednecks, swamp dwellers, and religious cuckoos. I’ll admit plenty fall into this category! However, the trumpers I know are all educated transplants from the Eastern Seaboard. Of two most fanatical, one couple is from Connecticut and the other New York with their accent & attitude intact. Trump can do no wrong in their eyes.

I guess they must enjoy paying higher prices for everything while turning a blind eye to all the rampant grift in Washington along with a deaf ear to the multitude of lies.

Never did I imagine such a thing as this would ever occur during my lifetime, or that I would be ashamed to be a citizen of the United States.

And to all those trump turds telling me to leave and not let the door hit me on the way out; hear me loud and clear, I’m NOT going anyplace! Trump is the one who must go and soon!!!

GRRR, WHAT'S THIS NOW

 

I’ll admit I’ve become too attached to Facebook. However, living on a fixed income, it’s now too expensive to go anywhere or do anything. Facebook was one of the few pleasures left to me. It’s the place I went to chill and sometimes vent.

Yes, there are those who try to turn it into something else! I’ve had to deal with some seriously ugly trolls & downright disrespectful people! Fortunately, I can block and delete them, and I gladly exercise this power.

I only wish this existed in other areas of my life. In a previous home, I had neighbors I came to hate so much, I could have dynamited their house with them inside it!

Facebook became a recreational activity. All the good stuff is there and I loved sharing it!

Suddenly, I discovered I could no longer share/post anything from Facebook to Facebook. I could only do this from other places such as my ATT Homepage, email, blog, Arcamax comics, etc., but not Facebook! I can wish friends a Happy Birthday and comment on some posts, but I can’t share them.

When I attempted posting an article to a friend’s Timeline, I was informed that I was restricted from doing this until Aug. 18! – And this is June!!!

So, I paid $150 per hour to bring a tech guy over to figure out why. He filed an appeal, plus a complaint. But I was told not to expect miracles since we were probably dealing with a robot.

I see that other Facebook friends (but not all) are having this problem as well.

This happened right around the time Mark Suckerberg fired all those people. He’s in the Trump camp and sucks up to him, I wondered if I was being punished for all my anti-Trump posts.

My tech guy told me he’s heard this complaint from both sides of the political spectrum.

I am still allowed to post my blog containing a number of anti-Trump sentiments, including the last one where I called Trump a lying sack of pig excrement.

I Googled to see if I could gain insight into why this is happening. There is only thing (I could see) that might be causing the problem. Apparently, Meta doesn’t like anyone sharing from a wide variety of places on Facebook, they prefer users stick to posts with friends & family along with their activities. – The exact opposite of what I enjoy!

At my age, most of my family, relatives & friends are dead! My only close family member is my 86-year-old brother. And he lives in a nursing home in another state. He doesn’t care spit for computers and won’t even learn to email despite the staff offering to teach him.

Other Facebook friends who share this problem were told they were making Facebook less safe by sharing from too many sources. Well, I’m still blocking romantic scammers, they’re the ones making it unsafe! Why isn’t Facebook going after them instead!

Recently, something else came to light that might explain this. Awhile back, so long ago I’d forgotten, I joined a class action suit against Facebook for violating my privacy. – Perhaps Meta is punishing me for this.

Anyway, they lost and now must pay me! I am eagerly awaiting my check for 25 cents. Or maybe they’ll surprise me and it will be a whopping 2 dollars.

Posting varied pictures of beautiful & interesting artwork, amazing nature scenes, landscapes, & architecture was a major de-stressor and I miss it! Limitations are now forced upon me and I resent it! Now, I have little incentive to be on Facebook at all.

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

 

In my previous post I compared Trump to Hitler. And Hitler emerged as being more human. – Yes, I know Hitler committed far more atrocities. But give Trump a chance, it’s early yet! Anyone who talks about wiping out an entire civilization doesn’t belong anywhere near the White House! This should be a no-brainer plus a neon honking red flag; but disturbingly it isn’t.

History repeats itself because human behavior and emotions don’t change. Plus, among the worst, there are patterns.

As emperor of the Roman Empire, Caligula wasted taxpayer money on elaborate structures dedicated to himself and wallowed in luxury and decadence at the citizen’s expense. He considered himself a living god more powerful than Rome’s supreme deity Jupiter and considered to be worshiped as such. – Now who does this sound like today??? Huh, I’m waiting!

Many considered him mad but were too terrified to remove him. Trump could be removed easily sans violence. Unfortunately, those who have the power to do so are either too cowardly or opportunistic. So, this lying sack of pig excrement remains in office, and the world is suffering as a result.

It feels as if our country is headed toward a new Dark Age, if not already there. Back to when a small circle of royals enjoyed privilege while controlling a vast population referred to as peasants.

The peasantry lived in squalor; huts with dirt floors they shared with their livestock. They could not hunt upon the land they lived because they didn’t own it. And there were severe penalties for poaching. – It seems to me, that those currently in power are trying to reduce the rest of us to a similar level with these outrageous prices for basic needs.

Here’s a fun fact! Guess what ended the Dark Ages and brought about the Renaissance? – The Black Plague, also known as The Black Death.

After the ashes from piles of the diseased settled, society was reshaped and the feudal system collapsed.

Now it would seem the hierarchy would have been at an advantage since they had access to doctors, then called healers. However, there was ignorance combined with superstition and medical quackery which only made things worse. The privileged started dying right along with everyone else.

Later, with a severely decreased population, their control was gone. Now there was a labor shortage. Opportunities emerged; better working conditions and wages could now be negotiated. A major redistribution of economic power came into being. Also, perspective changed. There was a departure from strict religious views. A cultural revolution emerged, and creative output flourished!

The status of craftsmen and artists was elevated as individual expression took root! All spurred due to the catastrophic Black Plague!

Transforming our society should not require a massive die-off; but it does require action and soon!

Must I delve into the French Revolution next? Hey, do your own research and get a clue!!!

COMPARING TRUMP TO HITLER

 

Trump is one of those individuals whom I would feel dirty just to be in his presence.

Clearly, he’s aspiring to become a full-fledged dictator. However, the fool fails to realize current dictators all around the world look down upon him, and probably laugh at him behind his back. Even Hitler would have viewed him with contempt.

Trump frequently has been compared to Hitler, and there are numerous similarities. However, unlike Bone Spurs, Hitler fought bravely in World War I, rose to the rank of corporal and was twice decorated with the Iron Cross for valor. He was temporarily blinded in a mustard-gas attack.

Hitler enlisted despite failing a medical exam that should have disqualified him. Unlike Trump, he was no coward.

Trump has called dogs disgusting, and stated that he fails to understand why people like them. Hitler was a well-known animal lover. He considered hunting cruel and became a vegetarian to save animal lives. And, Hitler loved his dog Blondie so much that his mistress Eva Braun actually became jealous.

Before Eva, Hitler was involved with several teenage admirers and even had an affair with his own niece, but he never raped anyone!

After Eva entered the picture Hitler was faithful to her. Because of this, the notorious womanizer and founder of fascism Bento Mussolini considered him a prude.

Even Hitler was respectful enough never to verbally attack the Pope!

Granted, Hitler was still evil, but I can see a human side to him that’s totally missing in Trump.

Trump has the potential to become worse than Hitler if allowed to proceed on his current course. You have been warned!

He must be removed from office and soon!

THAT PUTRID ORANGE FLESH

 

I posted plenty about that orange piece of human excrement and his equally vile family & colleagues of grifters the previous time he was in office. And after the attempted overthrow of our government on January 6, I thought it was the end of them. I thought prison sentences would be forthcoming.

I was horrified and saddened when this blathering pile of human filth was allowed to run again and sickened when he returned to office, but I wasn’t surprised. Hillary & Kamala were terrible choices against such high stakes. I had to hold my nose to vote for one and hold my breath to vote for the other.

When Kamala was announced, I knew it was all over but hoped I was wrong. If they were going to run a woman, they should have persuaded Michele Obama. She is whip smart and would have gone down in history as a great president. She is the whole package and more. I’ve seen photos of her where she looked like a super model, better than Melania. And unlike Melania, Michele is a class act.

I also liked Elisabeth Warren. She is my age, which is a valid reason she wasn’t chosen. -- I must strain my brain just to remember what I cooked for dinner the night before. Too many friends and relatives went loopy with Alzheimer's around this time. And it’s scary!

What is scarier is that now we are stuck with Dementia Don! – All the signs are there! And worse, he is a psychopath, plus a convicted a felon, a rapist, and a career con man! All one must do is look at his history and hear him speak; to realize he is unfit for office. This should be obvious to anyone with a functioning brain!

 Yet, I know people better educated than I am, and kinder than I ever was, who think he is wonderful. The savor of our country! – I am in disbelief! Here is a cruel, vindictive man who may as well be using our constitution as toilet paper! To call him scum, would be a compliment!

And I have been a registered Republican since 1972. This is the party of Lincoln and the greatest president of my lifetime, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Both would be revolted by Trump! They would probably have put him up against a wall and shot for treason right along with his deluded sycophants who stormed the Capitol.

I consider myself a conservative. But Trump is nothing of the kind! He’s a tyrant, and a brain-addled one to boot! But at least he was smart enough to surround himself with cowardly toadies & greedy opportunists who are willing to do anything to protect him.

Protesting is not enough! They are getting us where it hurts, now we must do likewise to them! I have plenty of ideas, but they would probably get me arrested, use your imagination and come up with something better. Or else, be prepared to live with this madness. – You know they are planning to steal our vote in the midterms! If they can’t win, they will cheat!

There is no king occupying the white house, just a public servant. And someone who was never qualified in the first place. He and his cherry-picked congress must fear us, not the other way around! It’s long past time!

MAVERICK VS THE WIZARD & BEYOND

 

You can have Harry Potter! THE WIZARD of OZ will always be my favorite! I recall sitting enraptured in second grade while our teacher read a chapter or two every day following lunch.

When the story came to an end, I was both sad and disappointed. I was hoping Dorothy would remain in Oz, despite knowing how badly she wanted to go home. -- Why couldn’t Oz be her new home?

Here was a fantastic magical land where she was fortunate to be. Yet this fool was longing to return to a Kansas farm and a humdrum life.

I realized Dorothy had family back home, but now she had another ready-made one in Oz! I know which one I’d choose! I wished to be Dorothy, more as my school years dragged on. I still revisit high school in my nightmares.

I imagined the next best thing; I longed for a spaceship to pick me up and carry me away to a universe with technology so advanced it would feel like magic! There I would dwell in a gloriously wonderous place akin to Oz! Light years away from those mean kids at school and their snottery, indifferent teachers, & my parents with their impossible expectations I could never achieve.

But if my fantasy miraculously had materialized the outcome might have been quite different. Perhaps I’d be the subject of excruciating medical experiments so horrific they’d end up killing me, only to be resurrected repeatedly as the torture continued. A literal hell in space!

I do not believe as does our vice president with his pusillanimous ignorance and arrogance that space aliens are demons. However, not all are benevolent. Some view us the way we do lab rats.

Or if taken to an alien planet, I’d end up caged and on display like a zoo animal just like that astronaut in the TWILIGHT ZONE episode. – Or I may end up caged on this planet for criticizing the orange buffoon currently occupying the white house.

Human beings rank high among monsters!

A year after second grade, the movie version of The Wizard of Oz was now being shown on TV every spring for years to come, right around Easter. And for the majority of these I was able only to watch half! The latter was at the same time as MAVERICK. My father’s favorite program.

I love westerns, but I found most episodes of Maverick uninteresting no matter which brother was featured that week.

Of course, I knew exactly how the movie ended! But it would have been nice to see it acted out on screen. Eventually, Maverick was cancelled and I was thrilled!

But I must admit I thought Judy Garland was all wrong for the role. Dorothy was a little girl, and Judy looked like an adult dressed up as one. Who did they think they were kidding?

I read the first choice was Shirley Temple, even worse! I couldn’t stand that little ham actress. In that role it would have been Shirley Temple in Oz and NOT Dorothy. Fortunately, she signed with a rival studio that didn’t want to share.

Why were these two the only option? Hollywood must have had a plethora of child actresses who could sing & dance, all looking for their big break. Probably it had to do with name recognition the studio thought would attract a large audience and bring in big bucks.

The Dorothy I’ve always envisioned is different. She’s a delicate-boned, but a plucky kid of around 10 years old, with short nut-brown pigtails that fell just below her chin. Her face is freckled with a cute pug nose. A small girl, but with the confidence and daring a hoyden. This is the character planted permanently in my brain.

Over the years, I’ve seen several versions of the story. An updated one, including a violent & gruesome fantasy made for TV, & two recent movie versions with the wicked witch as the hero. I enjoyed all of them. And I enjoyed the Judy Garland one, and I’d have liked the movie even if it had starred Shirley Temple. The story is just too imaginative and extraordinary not to grip me.

But my favorite, the only version I truly love is the Frank Baum one in the book!

THE IRISH, TEA, & ME

 

March is here and St. Paddy’s Day will soon be upon us. And if you’re one of the few who follow my blog, you know that my first trip overseas was to Ireland when I was 25. I am now 75.

Growing up, many times I’d heard the song Galway Bay. Now there I was in a hotel directly across from it! I was on a group tour consisting entirely of Floridians like me. Our guide Paddy Hartnet, didn’t know where Florida was on a U.S. map until we described its distinctive shape.

This was only one leg of the journey. Our days began early, we traveled past wide haunting moors, quaint little villages, ruins of castles, and others stalwartly intact.

Climbing the narrow twisting stairs beside the steep drop at Blarney Castle was scarier than being dipped backward and held below the knees while kissing the Blarney Stone, below was a dizzying drop.

Another highlight of the journey was the feast inside an old castle with waiters in medieval attire. They were also performers who sang, danced, & played medieval instruments.

Recently, I watched a YouTube video detailing everything that offends the Irish. One of these, I can relate to and I’m sharing today.

If you are inviting an Irish person to tea, you must have a vast selection for them to choose. I’ve got this covered, but most Americans would not. The Irish are equally fussy about their tea as am I.

I prefer black tea from Ceylon, or any black one from India. I can enjoy green tea but only if it’s flavored and mixed with black. I love flavored teas. Jasmine flowers are OK, but there’s no way I can tolerate Hibiscus! And I absolutely hate Chai! --It tastes as gaggy and awful to me as cilantro in my food!

On this trip during the 1970’s, every hotel room had a plug-in kettle with an assortment of teas with all the fixings. – I discovered this was common throughout the British Isles and on my Thailand trip as well.

I found this quite lovely. After an active day (and they always began before dawn) it felt pleasant to retire to my hotel room and enjoy a cup, often with a scenic Irish view.

And when given a free afternoon to explore, I could usually find a bakery or sweet shop with treats to take back and enjoy with my tea. I was surprised that even in Dublin, milk was still being delivered by donkey cart

The most scenic place I visited was Killarney with its breathtaking landscape & combination of towering & rolling green hills. Connemara was second with its wild rustic beauty.

Also, I traveled into County Tipperary where my fraternal grandmother was born. She was the grandmother I never knew. My father barely knew her! She died when he was seven years old. And my grandfather never remarried.

I recall the exhilarating feeling of standing atop the rugged majestic Cliffs of Moher and gazing out over the vast Atlantic Ocean. These same waters I’d swam in Florida!

Nowadays while relishing a cup at home, my Irish tea always evokes these and many more wonderful memories for me to savor. It’s a cup of pure enjoyment!