Diversions from the bitter....

    As the administration's clowns and marionettes speak their superlatives, we see affirmed an absence of character, allergy to honor and a stunted ignorance. 

    But, we divert to a collection of moments captured around here. I hope they are sweet and relaxing.

Hemingway at 14

Solstice moment

breakfast geometry

Happy cactus

"Sunny" blending the shadows and light

Sunny is Hemingway's apprentice.

Lana's workbench

Henry taking beach time

Bluff trail late spring

sit a while

Sun salute

old pauses for new

ready for tea

Hemingway splitting the shadow

Eleanor's rose finds a home.

 

    A story question of this existential quiz is who will turn out the largest vote and most qualified candidates in next years mid-term elections.

    

    The chaos, amateur governance, inept grasp of consequence and the malignant personality cult is providing a stumbling, bumbling hulk of ruin that appears to be arranging it's own failure. They don't want people to see the inner secrets of the "big beautiful bill," as it further harms and undermines his very own base. 

    But even some of the idiot king's supporters are starting to notice nothing about their lives has gotten better. People are still waiting for federal help that may never come. Some who voted for the "macho" doughboy are now watching family be jerked off the street by unidentified agents and then sent away. The economy is worst than it was when this gang took control. The world is unstable. He remains a moron. He has been easily played by foreign leaders. People are tiring of hearing his winy inarticulate self adulation. All of this is building a rumbling, tumbling upheaval of failure, moral malfeasance, international embarrassment that certainly must motivate. It should bring an ice age style shearing to the present political topography when US citizens can "avalanche" MAGA out of Washington and then get back to the business of being the United States, "One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all."  Or not. 

    Who's going to come with the pragmatism and solutions? Who's going to show up?

     See you down the trail. 

hints of what is on the way....

         A friend to the east in Arizona posted snow pictures. Friends back east in the midwest and on the east coast are through with winter. Our Mediterranean climate gives you a look at what is coming your way in a month or so. Unless you are like our friends in upper lower Michigan. For you we are glad you enjoyed your daily vitamin D during your visit.

     Here's a look at what's happening on the California central coast.

As I make a weekly hill climb and hike I've been paying attention to the soil. Most of the trails on the incline are almost normal dry. There are a couple of crossings and a few low spots that are still boggy. If we get ample sun and warmth, all of that rain from those massive storms have probably prepped us for a great wildflower bloom.  Stay tuned.  The Fungi are happy already.

    See you down the trail. 

Witches Paddle

         In the nine years since the first Witches Paddle in Morro Bay, the idea has spread up and down the California coast.

        Against the wind and tide some 300 witches and a few friends and family paddled again, for charity.

        Witches hats have a tough time in the wind. 

        There are likely a few muscle tired witches ready for a witches brew, or a California vintage.

See you down the trail.
 

OVER OUR HEADS AND LOOKING FOR A LIFELINE

3x3x3

Mother and child and mother to be and their reflections and their shadows

   In the impossible task of absorbing the shock of another mass shooting, many of us default to a worry about our kids and grandkids.

    Though we cannot grasp the agony of the survivors the mere thought escalates our concern about the world next generations will inherit.

    

       A lifetime as a journalist leaves me looking for something
beyond the loss. This time we hear coverage that draws the connection between spousal abuse and domestic violence and the shooter. In fact it is a damning link in most mass shootings.
       Will we-the collective we-the people and those we elect-finally do something?

california central coast rain season begins

    Heavy skies, morning banks of fog in valleys, cats who detest wet paws and lack of sunshine, signal a season change.

   It is a time when green begins to return.

hiding the green

    More than 90 media organizations around the planet cooperated in the latest iteration of the "Paradise Papers" and have discovered how $Trillions have been sheltered in off shore havens, mostly illegally at worst and sneakily, at best.

    Plenty of embarrassing stories and links have surfaced. We should expect some of the mighty to fall out of favor and perhaps into legal nets. We wonder how long Wilbur Ross and his top adviser will remain out of the fire since both have ties and have been profiting from a company with direct ties to the Kremlin. Ross, who was a king of predatory default practises should never have been appointed Commerce Secretary. This latest revelation is an offense to honest government.

     We wonder if the Mueller probe is looking at the business arrangements of the man child tweeter in chief. Do you think he has seen the orange lout's taxes?

speaking of the kremlin

and non-fake (that would be real) news

    We continue to learn how pervasive was and is the kremlin involvement in Facebook and Twitter. The scale of misinformation and disinformation is massive, and without precedent in modern history.

     Millions of social media users received, read, and perhaps believed lies. It has been part of the effort of Vladimir Putin to undermine US citizens' belief in American institutions and leaders. This is fact, regardless of whether or not the trump organization knew about it and/or willingly participated.

     And, the Russians continue to gnaw away.

and it happens as we euthanize traditional media

    The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University notes that between 45% to 85% of all original reporting is done by newspapers then picked up by other media. Now, factor in this fact-since 2000 20 thousand news jobs have been eliminated and revenues have dropped by some $20 Billion.

     When I retired as a news executive 10 years ago the trend had begun. The good old days are gone. Some of the problem is self inflicted. News by flavor, a horrible contribution of the sexual predator Roger Ailes, has helped to undermine believability. Deregulation of the industry turning news operations into "profit centers" did plenty of long lasting damage. The change in US lifestyle and new technology antiquated some delivery systems-afternoon newspapers-even some morning papers-the tired and frequently silly format of television news and the nature of the content itself. 

     As we look at the new information landscape and understand how many people take their information from social media and learn how contrived that is, it all points to the continuing dumbing down of the population. Poorly informed, mis-informed, and manipulated consumers make terrible choices. Our present political reality is the proof of all of that. 

      Artificial reality, altered reality, are coming in on the heels of this age of "reality" politics and we are wading into deeper trouble.

something wonderful

    Playing at an art theater near you is the extraordinary and brilliant film Loving Vincent.  It is billed as the first fully painted film and it is a marvel to see, a masterpiece in its own right.

    Take a look at the trailer here. Many artists spent thousands of hours creating something unlike anything you've seen. It is a fascinating mystery story as well.

    See you down the trail.