RBG

 On election night of 2016, I was sickened by the results.  All of those people I knew that either didn't vote or voted for a 3rd party candidate because they didn't believe their vote mattered.  It mattered all right. 

And for the last 4 years, we've had a leader that openly expresses his hatred.  Hatred for black people, hatred of disabled people, hatred of women, hatred of Democrats.  

Last night RBG died.  And the white men in power immediately pounced, vowing to replace her with someone that wants to keep white men in power indefinitely.  Within two hours, Mitch McConnell vowed to confirm whoever Trump nominates.  

An editor for The Atlantic, when interviewed today, called the Democratic party the "party of inclusion", and the Republicans the "party of restoration".  I started to think about this, and while I believe I know what inclusion is, I wasn't so sure about restoration.  Restoration to what?  Restoration to when?  How far back do we go?  Back to 1776 when our country was declared free of England?  Slavery was legal, women didn't have a vote, and white men held all the cards.  

Or maybe restoration means going back to the 1950's, when slavery was no longer legal, but people of color were still prevented from voting, or eating in a "whites only" restaurant.  When a boy could be lynched and hanged because a white woman said he flirted with her.  

I prefer the party of inclusion; that's no secret.  The country where every vote counts, and every person is equal.  Equal if you're a woman or man, black, brown, or red, rich or poor, gay, transgender, or straight.  The rights that we have had to fight for, claw for.  The rights that Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent her life defending.

Rest with the angels Ruth.  You did good.

Gerbils and the Black Plague

 In the years 535-536, a sudden change in climate occurred throughout the known world.  The sun turned blue, and a haze filtered what little light there was.  Temperatures dropped, crops failed, and people died.  The theory is that a volcano erupted somewhere in the world and caused a temporary change in climate.

In a little corner of Africa, gerbils who hosted the Yersinia bacterium were forced to leave their isolation and venture further and further to survive.  They met rats for the first time, and rats lived near human populations.  

Five years after the event, the plague first arrived.  150 million people died worldwide, and we learned about it from our history books.  The Black Plague that decimated the world started with climate change.  

Now, the climate is changing again, not due to a volcanic eruption or an asteroid hitting the earth, but because of our own actions.  Modern medicine gives us a sense of security we don't deserve, and in my lifetime HIV, Ebola, SARS, H1N1 and now Covid-19 have erupted and for the most part, been dealt with.

Today, wildfires are burning in California, Oregon, Colorado, and other places because of man-made climate change.  Here in Minnesota we've gotten used to hazy skies in the summer when wildfires burn in Canada.  

Bigger and badder hurricanes are hitting the coasts, one after another.  

We are actively working towards our own extinction event.  

Fear and Loathing, Socialism and Fascism

Online, in person, on TV, I hear people throwing around terms like Socialism, Fascism,  and Communism, and half the time I don't think they know what the words mean.  I knew a bit, but had to research the terms myself to be clear.  They're being used to inspire fear and loathing, and it's working.  So let's dive into each one a little.  

Let's start with democracy.  It's a system where every person has a say, where every vote is counted.  The United States is not a democracy, although it is a democratic republic.

A Republic allows every citizen to have a vote, but also has a group of "wise people" called Electors that take input from the state's voters and place the only votes that count.  This system was chosen initially by the founding fathers of the U.S. because so many citizens may never meet the candidates and understand who they're voting for.  No TV, Facebook, or Twitter in those days (and no political ads!).  So the Electoral College back then had the power to override the popular vote in the best interest of the country if they thought it necessary.  Today, they can't override the vote (trust me, they tried in 2016), so the Electoral College is simply a quaint remnant of the past.  Except it can be corrupted by gerrymandering, or re-drawing districts so that a particular party has an easy win.

Socialism is a system where everyone pays into the pot to benefit everyone else.  Think of it like dinner with friends, where we all agree to split the bill equally.  It works well if everyone orders the same thing - we all get what we put in.  But then there's always that one friend that will order the lobster and have 4 glasses of wine when we had hamburgers and soda.  We just paid for their greed.  And then there's the friend who has fallen on hard times and we buy them dinner.  5 friends splitting the cost of one meal isn't so painful, and it's the compassionate thing to do.

We all pay taxes to fund things like public schools, roads, Social Security and Medicare.  That's socialism.  It is not democratic socialism, because we, the people have very little say over what our taxes are used for.  Our government has been "borrowing" money from Social Security for years, for example, to fund various projects.  That's our friend with the lobster meal.  The big bank and auto bailouts are another example,  Our money (trillions of it) got banks out of hot water after their greed stole billions from individual citizens.  

Democratic Socialism uses the same concept as socialism, however it gives citizens more of its own money when they're in need, like our friend at dinner who has fallen on hard times.  Our tax money would be used for what it's intended for instead of of paying CEO salaries in bailouts and funding wars.  Both socialism and democratic socialism are squishy; both can be good, both can be bad, depending who is wielding the power.  Both allow for capitalism, but one is more compassionate than the other.  The compassionate sort is illustrated by countries like England, Sweden, and Denmark where taxes are high, but healthcare is paid for, paid leave is generous, and the quality of life can be very good.  The bad sort can be seen in countries like Venezuela.

Finally, Fascism.  This is the one to fear and loathe.  A dictator is in charge, and has the power to control the media.  If someone speaks out against the leader, there are real consequences (death, poisoning, you get the picture).  If the US was a fascist state, individual states would no longer have any power, all power residing instead with the leader of the US.  Italy under Mussolini was the original fascist state, and Nazism is an extreme form of fascism.

Robert Paxton writes, [Fascism is] a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.

So listen to the political banter, but do your homework.  It's really easy to win a contest through inspiring fear and loathing.  Don't fall for it.  Work towards the future you want.  Vote.

History and When History Becomes Real

I took history in school, and memorized dates just like everyone else.  But it wasn't real to me; just facts and figures I begrudgingly read about.  George Washington: first US President, had wooden teeth and a wife named Martha.  Abraham Lincoln: assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, freed the slaves, yada yada yada.

The founding fathers didn't become real for me until I saw Hamilton recently.  They suddenly became people.  I realized that Aaron Burr wasn't just a villain, but a complicated, nuanced character.  Alexander Hamilton wasn't perfect; he cheated on his wife.

Even history that happened during my lifetime didn't sink in to a white girl in a town of 1200 people in North Dakota.  It was images in the newspaper and later on TV, but had nothing to do with me.  I was 3 when JFK was killed in Dallas; too young to remember.  And in March of 1965, I was 4 and light years removed from Selma, Alabama.  So the Celebration of Life activities this past week for John Lewis have made history real for me once again.

Alabama State Troopers attack SNCC leader John Lewis, Edmund Pettus Bridge, Montgomery, Alabama, March 7, 1965

John was inspired by a letter he received from Martin Luther King, Jr., and when he was 17 he met him for the first time.  MLK asked if he was the "boy from Troy", and John said he was.  They remained friends until MLK was assassinated in 1968.

At 25, on a Selma, Alabama bridge named for Confederate General and local KKK leader Edmund Pettis, John led a peaceful march of 600 two by two up one side of the bridge to affirm their right to vote.  The bridge is curved, so the group couldn't see what was waiting for them on the other side.  When they reached the apex and saw the state troopers massed on the other side waiting for them, they asked for a moment.  They didn't get one, but were instead beaten.  50 people were hospitalized, John Lewis himself was almost killed, with a fractured skull.  That day, history became real for millions of citizens, because it was televised. 

John Lewis never stopped fighting for the rights of others.  He became a US Congressman, where he fought for Native American voting rights and LGTBQ citizens.  His was a life well-lived and worth remembering.

The Future

The future belongs not to the strong, fit, or intelligent - it belongs to those that can adapt.

Life throws curve balls at us all the time; some folks duck and cover, some throw their bat and complain to the umpire, and some adjust their stance and hit the ball out of the park.

The pitch wasn't unfair, it wasn't illegal, not a conspiracy...it just was.  The best way to attack it is to adjust, then hit away. 

You can say "she sure doesn't know a lot about baseball", and that would be correct!  But I do believe that adaptability is the key to our future.  This year, it might mean getting used to wearing a mask when leaving home. 

Adapting doesn't mean that there isn't a problem.  It just means that we choose to address the problem head-on instead of making it so much worse by inaction, disbelief, or anger.

Take climate change for example.  It is a fact that it exists, and it is a fact that humans are a big part of the problem.  For years some people have refused to listen for various reasons.  Their mind may not accept the horrible truth and it shuts down in protest.  Some believe that they are superior and have a right to use the earth's resources as they see fit.  They're the ones that refuse to leave their home after the water has risen to their door, claiming that the government just wants their land.  

2020 threw a lot at us in a short time frame; everything from a pandemic to protests.  Some are adapting, and some are not.  I see some masks in the grocery store, and I see others that insist that a virus is an infringement upon their rights.  I see people use the term "rioters" instead of protesters on social media to justify their thoughts on racial disparities.  And others are organizing to figure out how to fix a problem that's been around since the 1600's. 

Adaptability isn't giving up - it's acceptance that there is a problem, and a willingness to focus on the problem rather than how it impacts ME.  It's disengaging from the emotional part of the brain when given information, rather than immediately thinking about ways to discredit a fact you don't like. 

It's also a life with a lot less anger. 

A Better Normal

I hear all the time, "I just want things to go back to being normal".

What is normal?  Yes, it's a world where you can hug and shake hands and visit without worrying about infecting someone.  You drive to work every day and feel accomplished by what you've done.  It feels safe.  It's normal.

It's also stagnant.  It is easy to dismiss issues like climate change, civil rights, and economic divides, because we have our own lives to manage; a job, perhaps children...responsibilities.

And now we're sitting at home, furloughed or laid off.  Or we're considered essential and having crazy anxiety wondering if we'll get sick, or shot, or shoved into a lake for doing our job.

What if this is the "new" normal? 

There are religions and spiritualists all over the world that forecast a great awakening in the year 2000.  What if this prediction is true, and this painful process we're going through leads to something spectacular?  Many more people working from home.  High speed internet free and available everywhere.  Fewer cars on the road, leading to less need for the oil and gas industry.  A re-evaluation of our priorities. 

The fossil fuel industry has been subsidized for years, with the argument that if it were not, consumer costs would skyrocket.  And yet, those companies are reporting record profits - and those profits aren't paid back to the taxpayers.  Fossil Fuel Subsidies and the Implications is an interesting read on the subject.

This crisis has taught us that health insurance isn't enough to keep us healthy.  It's highlighted the income disparity between the 1% and the rest of us.  By being furloughed, I've doubled my income being on unemployment.  And before you say that's the problem, and I'm being paid not to work, ask yourself WHY it's doubled my income.  Why was I paid so little to begin with? 

A five day workweek and eight hour day was inconceivable until 1926 when Henry Ford implemented the practice in his factories.  In 1900, 18% of all American workers were under the age of 16. 

Child Oyster Shuckers 1911

When I started working at American Airlines in 1989, smoking was still allowed at workstations, and pantyhose was a requirement when traveling.  Computers were new, and I found myself explaining what a 'mouse' was.  E-mail was revolutionary.

Here's a fascinating overview of work life from the 1950's until now.  We can't conceive going back to the work of the past, and the changes have been positive for the most part.  Check out the predictions from each decade!

I'm looking forward to what people can do given the incentive.  What if our future revolved around our home lives; our family and friends.  The United States could leapfrog into the future that's already going to happen.  Telehealth was starting to be a thing, and now it's growing leaps and bounds.  Self check-outs were already in use, and are rising exponentially.  Amazon already has introduced stores fully stocked and no employees.

Not everyone will be happy about the changes of course.  Change is uncomfortable and sometimes painful.  Families didn't know how they would pay the rent in 1900 without their children over the age of 4 working for a wage.  Corporate leaders don't trust their employees to work remotely.  The CEOs of Exxon/Mobile and Chevron have gotten used to making millions off of our tax subsidies. 

The change will happen, with or without your permission.  And I believe that the world of 2030 will be better, cleaner, and healthier. 

It's an Accomplishment

As Chicken Little was heard to say, "the sky is falling, the sky is falling!".  Worst jobless rate since the Great Depression.  Conspiracy theories taking over social media.  People with assault weapons attempting to block streets near major hospitals.  And real people, human beings, sons, daughters, fathers and mothers dying alone in hospital beds hooked up to ventilators.

I'm not immune - I was the first person in a small walk-in clinic to greet you when you came in complaining of high fever and cough.  When we figured out what was happening, I was the one who called you to confirm the place and time for your Covid-19 test, asking for the make and model of your car so that our nurse could test you without you ever getting out of the car.  And I was furloughed last month when the clinic closed its doors, hopefully temporarily.

Staying home isn't a major hardship for me, I admit.  You see my picture in the dictionary when you look up the term introvert.  A week before being furloughed I took delivery of 8 day-old chicks, who are still living in totes in my living room.  I've been able to watch them mature day by day, hour by hour, and they make me laugh.  Here's Antonio, week one and week 5 so you can see how FAST they grow!




Anxiety, depression, fear, and boredom have become familiar, just as they have for billions.  Instead of making "to do" lists, I started a spreadsheet called "Accomplishments".  Because at the end of every day I was feeling like I had done nothing.  My house was still a mess, the garden hadn't been weeded, etc.  Some days just getting out of bed is an accomplishment.  My list is mundane, like drinking water, digging up thistles in the yard, or unclogging the laundry room drain.  I find myself looking around for things to do, just so I can add an accomplishment.  Doing a sink full of dishes counts, as do scooping litter boxes.

One day I sewed a pillowcase and learned how to make a french seam.


Yesterday I saved myself a couple hundred bucks by unclogging the laundry room drain myself, with this nifty gadget you hook up to a hose.  It took a couple of tries, but my laundry room, furnace room and garage aren't flooding anymore. 

Today the only item on the list may be picking up groceries at Walmart.  And that's okay.  I've been out of the house a couple of times today just to walk outside a bit.  Both of my lilacs look like they're going to bloom this year.  I've transplanted one of them twice trying to find the right amount of sun, so that's an accomplishment!  I can see tiny leaves coming up on my radishes, and onions I forgot about last fall are popping up now.  Soon snap peas and various kinds of lettuce will adorn my plate, and I'll gorge myself on strawberries, June berries, and wild raspberries. 

It's almost time go pickup my Walmart order.  Better throw another load in the washing machine - it's an accomplishment!

Original Thoughts Anyone?

What if Facebook disabled the Share button for a week?  What if you couldn't copy and paste, but could only write your own original content?

Would you have the courage to do it? 

Isn't it easier to re-post that meme that incites anger/disgust against a segment of the population, whether they be Democrats, Republicans, Christians, Muslims, Chinese, Mexicans, gay, straight?   So what if a Russian troll farm created it?  So what if it's untrue, unkind, or hate speech? 

You can hide behind your posts.  You can claim that you don't really believe it when pressed.  But you do, you really do.  You just lack the courage to say it in your own words. 

I see the helpers out there trying to get us through this crisis.  I see you too. 

Influenza A

I did everything right...I got my flu shot, washed my hands, disinfected, you name it.  Working the front-line in a walk clinic makes it hard to stay healthy.  Two weeks ago I had "haemophilus influenzae", which is caused by a bacteria unlike the flu we think of, so a round of antibiotics fixed me up.  And eye drops for the pink eye that came along with it.

Friday afternoon I asked our nurse to take my temp - I wasn't feeling right.  It was a low-grade fever, but I started taking Tylenol immediately.  The loud barking cough that went with it was starting to indicate Influenza (the viral kind), so I promised I'd come in the next morning to get looked at.

That night was a nightmare of unproductive coughing and fever delirium.  My FitBit says I got 52 minutes of sleep.  I was coughing so hard I would sometime retch with dry heaves, causing my face to break out in red spots.  My throat felt like it had been flayed open with razors, and I felt like I couldn't keep my eyes open.  I got in the car and went to the clinic, which was a scary drive in itself.  I found myself weaving a bit, but made it there.  The provider and nurse both took a look at me and said "you have influenza based on how sick you are", but I wanted proof, since I had always relied on the flu shot to keep me safe.

Sure enough, the test showed Influenza A.  It made me think back to a day about 5 days before, where a family of 6, all anti-vaxxers, came in, all obviously very ill.  And they all had Influenza A too.  If they had their vaccines, would they have avoided the trip to the clinic? 

I went home with my Tamiflu and cough medicine, and went straight to bed.  I still couldn't sleep, but I had no energy to be anywhere else.  The TV was blinding, and when I tried to eat 2 sugar snap peas, I threw them up. 

Today, 3 days later, I still have a fever, my throat is raw, but my cough has subsided just enough to snatch a couple minutes sleep.  And just the effort of writing this is proving too much.  I need to head back to bed.

Life Lessons on MLK Day

I once had a best friend that really got me.  She and I worked together.  She was the cool girl - artistic, funny, and loved by all.

Our circle expanded to include a guy, who had a wicked wit and who was the life of the party.  All three of us were friends for a time, until the guy's wit turned on me.  When I told him his words hurt, he only increased the verbal assault, and left me in tears several times. 

I asked my best friend why she didn't support me; why she continued to hang out with him when he was so vicious to me.  She didn't like the abuse, she told me, but he was still nice to her, so she wasn't going to drop him as a friend.

I learned a really hard lesson that day.  And although it took months to break away, I did.  And unfortunately, I've had to repeat that lesson many times in my life.

Today, on Martin Luther King day, I honor the man who stood up for his friends when others persecuted them.  Life would have been so much easier for him if he ignored the injustices forced upon his friends.

Many years after that first lesson, I worked in Berlin, and on a rare weekend off, took the train to the concentration camp Sachsenhausen, where a Lutheran minister, Martin Niemöller,once a supporter of Hitler, was imprisoned.  After the war, he expressed his sentiments with prose that rings true even today.

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

My Views on Religious Freedom

I read a lot, and watch a lot of news and information programs.  Lately I hear a conservative view that says Christian evangelicals ignore the sins of the president because they are working to promote religious freedom, and it's the price they are willing to pay.

I always wrinkle my brow when I hear that, because I know that the very first amendment to the Constitution gives them that very right.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

So what do the evangelists mean exactly?  Based on what I see, I can only come to this conclusion: they want Christians to have freedom.  Freedom to make the government their own and formalize what so many already state: we're a Christian nation.  So that Christian beliefs can be taught in schools and posted on the walls of Congress.

What can possibly go wrong with that?  First of all, which Christian religion should rule?  Baptists?  Lutherans?  The snake charming one?  Or how about the one that protests at all the military funerals holding signs like "God Hates Gays"?  Should we start treating the Christian bible like our constitution and begin stoning adulterers to death?

You think we're divided now - just imagine if we really were a "Christian nation".  Catholics would be fighting Lutherans, Baptists would be fighting the Methodists, and mass chaos would ensue.  And snakes.  There would be snakes.

Here's what the first amendment means to me.  Our country was founded on the principle that our government stays out of religion.  Period.  It's the only way we avoid being a Theocracy, which is defined as:

"a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god."

Iran is a theocracy.  So is Saudi Arabia, and yes, Vatican City.  Where the rulers get to decide what you wear.  And what you think.  And who you love.

This great experiment we've got going here in the US has a strong foundation BECAUSE it was built on secular principles, allowing ALL people the freedom to live their lives in the way they choose.

Pray on, if you choose to.  Pray to God, Allah, Ishtar, Vishnu, or the Universe.  Or take a walk in the woods and give thanks for the everyday miracles surrounding us.  Or go worship the shiny new car at the dealer.  You have the religious freedom to do any or all of the above.  But please, no snakes, okay?

Goddess Ishtar