TOXIC-EXPLOITIVE and WELL DONE

shadow dance

    Just that time of day, the golden hour and the trees dance with their shadows.

     Wanted to start with something mellow, because a few graphs down we step into something deep.

America at its best

      The POST is one of those films that makes you wish everyone would take a couple of hours off to go see and then join into a national conversation.

       It is a beautiful and literate script by Josh Singer and Elizabeth Hannah and masterfully directed by the maestro, Steven Spielberg. They make it a great film, and so do Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks,  Matthew Rhys, Bob Odenkirk, Bradley Whitford, Tracy Letts, Carrie Coon, Bruce Greenwood as Robert McNamara, Sarah Paulson and in fact the entire cast. But what makes it important is the history, the constitutional, philosophical and political undercurrent and the decision of the Supreme Court. 

        We would be a worse nation if we did not know of the Pentagon Papers and learn how Presidents and a series of governments lied to us and then tried to hide behind national security. Worse too if the Supreme Court had not decided in favor of a free press and the right to publish.

       These issues, framed between the drama of Katherine Graham trying to manage in a man's world (another important storyline) and the battle between her as publisher and Editor Ben Bradlee, over the right and need to publish without interference, make for material that goes to the very heart and soul of this nation.

      Aside from being a great and entertaining film, it postures important questions for this very time in America. We swamp dive later. More immediately we tip toe along the fence line. 

about men and women

     Readers, please be gentle and think this through. If you don't, it may be  as Ed Murrow once said, "this just might do nobody any good."

       I subscribe to the notion of a "toxic masculinity" a variety of men behaving badly, very badly. It could be sexual aggression, manipulation, an exclusion of women, all of which have no place in civilized and decent social behavior.

       We have seen men fall because they possessed a toxic masculinity and made victims of women and other men. But we should remember not all masculinity is toxic and we must protect that fact. 

       Once a movement to redress grievances begins, pent up anger, injury and a desire to even the score can begin to affect our vision and shade more fine lines of distinction and even reason. There are indeed good men who possess and display a healthy masculinity. In fact they are allies in the #metoo, #timesup, human rights movements, as they should be. 

      It is my belief this needs to be understood- it important for men to begin to take ownership of how boys are taught and trained and how they learn what is proper and what is not. Good men need to teach and mentor boys. 
      It is a sick irony that some women who have been victimized work in an industry that helps explain why men behave badly. Television, Film, and music have profound impact on social mores and the adoption of masculine and feminine identities. 

      Violence that is so prevalent in forms of music, gaming, film and television also has a sexual component. 
       Once parents took it as a major responsibility but something has happened since those days. It's a challenge to find parents who even teach manners. Gone are the days when a majority of families taught their off spring to be ladies or gentlemen, to be courteous and respectful. Media is as dominant as parental guidance. 

       Yes we need to spend a lot of time as a culture figuring out the what and why for toxic masculinity and what can and should we do.

       But we should widen this discussion-and please hear me out. We should also address Explotive femininity as well. 

       Exploitive Femininity? Here's a notion-do you remember how you reacted when you saw Madonna's Like a Virgin video? I saw it in the newsroom on a pre-release. Some full disclosure here--I absolutely believe in artistic freedom, even to the point of making me, or anyone else uncomfortable. I am against any kind of censorship. I am an absolutist on the right to free speech. At the moment I saw the video I thought on the one hand, she was doing a good job of emoting sexuality and on the other, oh my gosh how is this going to shape the behavior of my daughters? That was a long time ago, tame by today's standards, and before dancing, body movement, style, lyrics became as explicit as they are.

        Any woman, for that matter anyone has the right to dress and express themselves as they wish without fear of being assaulted or violated. But- there are also consequences to every behavior.

      When little girls are taught to flaunt, tease, pose, act, pretend in behavior that is sensual or sexual, beyond their age or maturation, they are being trained in sexual exploitation. Four and five year olds being taught to move like  Beyonce, Lil Kim, Miley Cyrus, etc. etc. is twisted, and maybe even worse. How many kids are growing up wanting or pretending to be a singer who continues to visit their own genitalia? There are consequences to every behavior.
       Do you remember when strippers did their thing in bars and when cheer leaders acted more like gymnasts? I happen to think the human body is a beautiful thing, but it seems even professional dress is a lot more explicit and revealing. Who ever heard of side boob revelations? It's even a form of social media reporting. There is a time and place for everything. Again there are consequences.

      How many of you who have managed in an environment where there was a woman on staff who plied her wiles to woo, influence or try to manipulate you. I've attended  discussions where management techniques to stop and disarm the exploitation were on the table. I shut down those kind of advances, not so much because I was a paragon of virtue but because that kind of behavior was toxic, dangerous and could lead to serious repercussions for the manager and the company. Still there are people who use their sexuality as a tool. That too is Exploitive Femininity.
      I am not for a moment trying to dampen the reckoning that is underway and long over due, but I think our national conversation must be expansive, holistic and honest. All pieces of the sexual political puzzle need to be on the table.

     The point here is to suggest there is a lot about how boys and girls pick up cues as to how to be men and women, straight or gay, that needs examination and fixing. Now that we live in a world where trans, and in transition are identity groups, the conversation needs to be enlightened, intelligent and non judgmental.  It is complex and multi faceted.

        The work of artist Bryn Forbes symbolizes, for me the intricacies of the debate.

         His recent series A Light Behind Every Window explains the deeply byzantine and abstruse nature of sexual politics.

Frames from A Light Behind Every Window by Bryn Forbes

          It won't be an easy conversation, but it is necessary.

There is a lot to unpack. And, sadly, we have a sick and despicable role model marauding through our culture now and his supporters must come to accept guilt for his revolting and degrading behavior.

not worthy

     Have you seen the video of the idiot in chief blowing the lines of the National Anthem. The National Anthem for heavens sake!! He is supposed to be president and he doesn't know the national anthem?

     His comment-the shit hole statement-confirms his racism. I'm surprised by the reaction(?) of Mike Pence. Oh, you didn't see any either eh? Did he sell his soul to get on the ticket?

     It is bad enough the jerk is fouling the White House, worse that some 30% of American voters still support him. That too is toxic.

      See you down the trail.

       

LAS VEGAS WAS TERRORISM

    A horrified and heart broken nation must endure more needless pain as the NRA whores for more of their gun industry pimps.

    The NRA, more than anything else, has twisted and distorted the constitution. They've done it for money.

     Legislation is now pending that would make suppressors more readily available in the US.

Photo by Niki Chan Wylie for NPR

      They are also called "silencers." What you need to know about silencers is what you've seen in film, television or have read about in fiction.

      The gun industry is now trying to say silencers will protect the hearing of hunters. That is Wayne LaPierre style bull shit at it's million dollar best. There are other ways hunters can protect their ears.

     Suppressors also suppress flash, meaning in a situation like Las Vegas a silencer would have made it more difficult for law enforcement to sight where the shooter was. 

     The only people who "need" silencers are assassins or criminals, or the agents of government trying to combat them.

      The NRA may once have provided an important role in American culture. That ended when they became shills for the gun industry. They lie and they distort and they help kill.

      I hold Wayne LaPierre partially responsible for the Las Vegas slaughter. I add to that those members of the US Congress who defeated gun tightening legislation that followed the Sandy Hook Elementary school massacre in Newtown. The majority of Americans wanted the legislation and it looked as though lawmakers got the message. That is until LaPierre and the NRA began spreading their favors. They enable terror. Their fingerprints are all over Las Vegas.

      See you down the trail. 

     

      

    

A SECRET ABOUT THE MEDIA & THE TRUMPET DEBUT

1969 WIBC Radio Wire Room & Temple of Coffee

     Into the Wayback Machine boys and girls to a time before Redbull or 5 hour energy drinks, laptops or news by flavor.

     Teletype machines, telephone feed lines, balance and coffee were the order of the day.

     Those machines ran 24 hours a day, clacking and clanging the events of the world in a never ending unrolling river of paper. When I hired on to this news shop we had AP, UPI, a weather wire, our own weather gear and the most important item, the coffee maker. 

      Pictured is the "new" coffee maker and it was a sore spot in the newsroom. Someone had cleaned the previous maker, probably for the first time in 15 years and what ever they used "left a taste," no doubt the lack of whatever inhabited the sludge encrusted walls in the old brewer. 
      This nod to modernity came with emphatic instruction to NEVER clean it and to NEVER let it go empty. We had ground beans, favored by some and instant crystals favored by others and it all went together to create the curious, hair on your tongue taste. By the time I left for another job we had evolved a "vintage brew"  that included vestiges of a previous decade. That is how it was, and why it tasted liked it did. Coffee was our lifeblood in a 24 hour operation and our hearts beat to the constant rattle of the news wire.

       We had nails on a wooden header where we "hung" the wire copy, sorting it by topics. It never stopped, and we read it all.

       You can't see it, but in that wire room were the guts of an electronic sign we updated hourly.  You've seen those news tickers that wrap around buildings, giving the latest headlines. It was part of our job when we were on the news desk to write them on a special keyboard and then flip the switches so that news would appear on a major building downtown. Improper grammar or mis-spelling was embarrassment writ large, followed by a lecture from the boss in non broadcast language. 

       Before the digital era and lattes news rooms smelled of coffee and cigarette smoke. They were clamorous with police and fire scanners, reporter and network "feeds" coming in, audio tape being logged and edited, wire machines bells and constant keystroking, typewriters, telephones and usually at least one person yelling. It was a helluva way to earn a living.  A couple of "vintage photos follow below, but first---

introducing a news source

a companion in a post-truth world

the trumpet

you da best, boss !  

     In an outstanding, just outstandingly heroic effort, the President demonstrated how tough a Great America is when he verbally bludgeoned those damned Aussies and cut off the telephone conference.

     "Tough, time to get tough. Don't worry about it!" the fearless leader told us.

     In this age of lone wolf terrorism, radicalized by Isis and Putin's adventurism it's good to know the President is on target. Just think how troublesome those Australians have been! The underpinning of our many woes. 

     Kick their Ass, Donnie, kick their ass. Best ever conversation with an ally!  Outstanding!

#################################################################################

     The President's success in "reality" television gave him a little juice in announcing his nominee to the supremes. For years we've seen the nominee stand along side the chief executive. Donnie does it differently- a little suspense, no shared spot light until.... up pops the judge. The showman in chief couldn't contain his glee "That was good surprise wasn't it."  Keep asking Donnie-you had the best ever, everyone knows that. Largest audience ever for a nominee announcement. The best!

but oh those enemies in the crooked press

      Republicans and Democrats have reacted to reports the Trump White House told the congressional staffers it called on to help with the controversial immigration order they had to sign non-disclosure agreements. Members of both parties say that is a serious breach of separation of powers. Some reports said it is a troubling sign of paranoia in the new administration. 

         Careful there press, do you think you have freedom to question Der fuhrer entertainer in chief? He is the "only person" on earth who can fix our ills! He told us that. Can't you remember anything? Pitiful. Crooked press!

Trump Apologizes to Reporter

          (Special to The Trumpet via The 710 Brother's Network)

          Today Donald Trump invited the physically challenged reporter he mocked during the election cycle to Trump Tower. After a humble apology by the President the two enjoyed lunch and polite conversation. Trump then handed the reporter an envelop that contained a check for $50,000 made out to the charity of his choice. The two shook hands and promised to keep in touch!

the Trumpet riddle

       How will the Democrats respond to the Gorsuch nomination?
       A) Will they be big boys and girls and give the nominee a fair hearing?
       B)  Will they be like Republicans and create a political obstruction?
       C)   Will Charles Schumer act like Mitch McConnell and declare no nominee hearing?
       Our Bonus Question-How does McConnell speak when his head remains so deeply implanted in his lower descending colon? 

       Tune in again some time for another edition of THE TRUMPET.

we called it reporting

   on assignment -Anderson Indiana-reporting for a documentary on the effects of a recession--with furloughed auto workers

       It's clear that Trump was about the only person who "noticed" the pain of millions of under or unemployed workers and they ended up being the edge in a few states

       The Clinton campaign ignored them, so did everybody else-media and pollsters included. Much is to be written and said as historians review the 2016 campaign, but it's been a long time coming. 

       Media has become more about audience size and entertainment than journalism. There are exceptions but are too few and far between. You may recall when David Broder of the Washington Post or David Brinkley of NBC would travel off into the country to listen, "mood of the electorate" pieces they were called. They set the standard and most serious news organizations did something similar. In fact it was the backbone of old fashioned reporting. Get out of the newsroom or studio, get away from the government bubble and go listen to people, citizens. That was what we used to do and how we knew what people thought and felt. 

        Someplace along the line, probably a non journalist decided the world needed a fancy set, with pretty anchors and yakking, squawking, ego's-call them analysts-telling us what they thought. Modern political campaigns are also frequently hapless. (Think how much the 19 Republicans and Hillary Clinton threw down the drain.) 

        Well, we have lots of famous and wealthy fools these days don't we?

they were called typewriters

        Found this in the Wayback machine, a contact sheet for an ad campaign when Karen Dillon and I were "working" news anchors at NewsCenter 13. By the way, we did write and report and leave our not so fancy set to go listen to people.
      Then we came back and used an antique called a typewriter. I trust most of you remember those?

 another of those "great haircut" shots to amuse the grand daughter

    They were great for leaning on as we used that other appliance, the one with a tail, a telephone.  Amazing what you can learn by listening. 

    Indeed it was a great way to make a living. 

     See you down the trail.

SO LONG PAL & SUPREME FIGHTS

Phil

    The man behind me poked me in the back and said

"So you're from Indianapolis huh?"

     "Yes"

     "You know Indianapolis is very famous in this town."

     "Is that right?" I said, expecting a comment about the Indianapolis 500.

      "Yea. We've got an oncologist out here who sends his worst patients to Indianapolis, because it'll be the longest year in their life."

       And that is how I met Phil Allen 14 years ago. We were prospecting a post retirement move to Cambria and that chance meeting led a great friendship. In fact Phil and Nan became our California "mentors" helpful in countless ways as we awaited retirement, decided on making the move, purchased a home and then beginning the life changing odyssey. 

       Early on Phil invited Lana and me to join him and Ed Simonsen on Saturday mornings for coffee and crepes at Lilly's. Ed, 90 at the time, ran the Drop In Tennis play. He and Phil convinced this longtime basketball player to take up a new sport. Phil loaned me a racquet and kept after me to take up the game. He invited this rank novice into play in his regularly scheduled foursomes and thus my love affair with the game began.  

        As Phil rounded 80 his game began to slow and a chronic back problem began to take its toll. Before he finally hung it up he'd limp onto the court and if the shot was anywhere within reach he'd slap a backhand or snap a forehand at you, or at your feet, or toward the alley. He loved tennis and years later when hobbled by other health issues he'd remind those of us playing how lucky we were.

        "Even a bad game of tennis is a great day."

        He also loved jokes, cigars and friends. On that first chance meeting he invited us back to his house for coffee. I noticed a cigar in the ashtray on his deck overlooking the Pacific. That led to an invitation to join the "prayer group" a group of his buddies who'd gather on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons for a cup of coffee, tell jokes and enjoy a cigar. Not everyone smoked a cigar, but Phil did so with relish. The "prayer group" was religious about enjoying life, inquiring about the well being of friends and even pausing for a prayerful moment when someone was having trouble. Nan called it "Smoke and Joke," in fact a more appropriate name. There'd be days I couldn't make it and Phil would remind me I needed to get "my priorities straight." For more than 20 years that circle of friends added to the zest for life he enjoyed. And from time to time a few "younger guys" like me, were invited in. We called ourselves the youth movement, but Phil, Reg, John and Paul were young at heart.

         Phil used to say "It doesn't get any better than this" and he'd flash his thumbs up signature. It could be on a deck with the old boys, or having coffee with the tennis crowd or relishing a meal out.

          We used to joke about Phil's endless supply of jokes. He always took pride in saying he "could tell his jokes in any crowd," and for the most part that was true. One night a few years ago he went to an open mic night at the Lodge and between musical acts trotted out some of his best stuff in a short stand up routine.

        Phil was a lot more than a jester. He was a brilliant mind with a great curiosity forever recommending history books or documentaries. He had worked for an engineering company and had a grasp of technology and numbers that was off the chart. Some of his greatest understanding of math was the stock market. He'd begun investing when he was 12 or 13 and a newspaper boy. Phil retired before most people, giving him some 30 years in our village. When Phil spoke, people listened. I guess there was a time when he applied his knowledge to horse racing. In the last years he of spoke about wanting to get back for a day at the track.

        He was a great pie maker and analytical about the taste of the fruit and the need for a lack of need for sugar. He had a penchant for rhubarb saying the Midwest variety was superior to California's. There was a particular kind of apple or a specific type of lemon he needed before making his pies.

        The last few years have been tough but in many ways illuminating. Phil's back required extensive surgery and rehabilitation. A stroke robbed the strength of his right leg. He still harbored a hope he could get back to tennis, but that was not to be. He still got to coffee, the prayer group, though he had to forgo his beloved cigar. He enjoyed dinner with friends. He hated the idea of using a walker and undertook a regime of practice so he could walk with just a cane.  

       Many of us marveled at his determination and he was rightfully proud. It scared the heck out of us, but he'd park the walker or the cane and walk around to show us his improvement and seemed to be moving that right leg and foot by the force of will power. Then a few months ago when we were enjoying one of our early rains, Phil, with walker snuck out on to his sloped driveway to wash his car. A mid 80's man, with a walker on a steep angle, washing his car in a cold rain.

       "I saved 10 dollars" he said a couple of weeks later after recovering. Guys used to kid him about changing his own oil, something he gave up only a few years ago.   

        Phil was a philanthropist and many groups have benefited. He was a straight spoken guy. You knew in a moment where you stood with him and he pulled no punches.  He went to the leader of a group he thought was ruining the organization. He told him he was "racing a bus down hill with no breaks and he needed to go." He even offered to help the guy leave.

        He had a zest for life and an enthusiasm that was exemplary. Despite the recent medical adversities he enjoyed the gusto of being alive.

        Phil departed this world on Valentine's Day. Lana and I were fortunate to spend time with him the evening before and he reacted with delight when Lana mentioned she was baking him a loaf of bread.

        We were more fortunate to have been befriended by Phil all those years ago. The "Prayer Group," Lilly's and Cambria will seem emptier. We will miss him.

        As those of us of the boomer generation continue coming into our senior years, a rascal like Phil is a great example of living fully to the last breath and always appreciating the blessings of family, friends and a good laugh.

         Phil, we saw this coming. Guess we should have gotten you a ticket to Indianapolis.

     

     

THE SUPRME FIGHT

    True to the unpredictability of political outcomes, the battle over the Supreme Court nomination is likely to have surprising impact.

     The President should put forth a nomination and the Senate should consider it.  

      How all of that plays out will begin to wash into the Presidential campaign. If the GOP in the Senate under the obstructionist McConnell hold fast on their opposition it could begin to erode their majority and wouldn't that be interesting.

       Who the President puts forward will put all candidates into a position of reacting.  Not even Aaron Sorkin can write scripts like this.

     See you down the trail.

NOW WHAT-THE DANGEROUS RIGHT

SIGNALS OF SUMMER

    While summer visitors jam our coastal village, we can all find emotionally nourishing scenes, sounds and peace.

BITTER AND SWEET

   The affairs of life can sometimes smack you in the jaw in one moment and in the next excite your most joyful imagination.  So it was a couple of days ago.

    He was wedged between his octogenarian mom and his wife, waiting for the concert to begin. One of the most popular guys in the village, a long time resident and respected craftsmen, there were a couple of people in front of me chatting with him. 

    "Hi Tom how are you. I saw Lana earlier," he said smiling sitting, his hand resting on a walking stick.

     "Last time we chatted you were waiting on a diagnosis," I prompted.

      "It's bad. I have ALS. Do you know what that is?"

       "Yes," I winced, "Lou Gehrig's disease."

      "It's awful. It's just a horrible disease, but right now I'm happy and enjoy everything. Plus I'm too busy to be depressed."

      "Yea, he's working too hard not to be happy" his mother said smiling.

     This is a man who's family has experienced trauma, tragedy and death in larger portion than seems fair.  Through it all he and his irrepressible wife continue to beam a joy at living and devotion to work and cause.

     Hearing his diagnosis seemed horrible, even crushing. 

     As I turned after finishing our conversation with an obligatory though sincere but still impotent "you'll be in our thoughts and prayers" I spotted another friend.

     This fellow is probably the most energetic, fit specimen of manhood I know. Not a nano bit of body fat, buffed, muscular and as smart as he is in great shape, though he is fighting a deadly disease and has been for at least a couple of decades-but he's unlike anyone else.

     In all truth he is an experiment and cannot discuss nor publish specifics. It is an almost miraculous story and includes treatment protocols that are every bit as fascinating as science fiction.

     He has helped advance medical science by being a human test subject and the recent advances could have been written by Issac Asimov or Philip K. Dick. 

     He is without a doubt an incredible human being and I have found him to be one of the most inspirational people I've know.

     Within five minutes the roller coaster of life left me a bit drained.  Despair in learning of a terrible diagnosis and then another update from the future, dazzling with prospects of "Star Trek" style treatment and healing. But each "scenario" is a personal face and real story. Two good men, two bad diseases, two futures. And selfishly I thought of my younger brothers, both struck down in young manhood and the lives they did not get. I can make no sense of such narratives, but to seek shelter in the bromide that health is everything and that we should indeed be grateful for each moment. And we should celebrate life. 

RUMINATION

      Life is so precious as to not spoil and to protect. Life itself and the resources of our life on this blue planet need vigilant protection. As Californians the four years of drought are teaching us. We can still be smarter in how we use water, how we conserve, save and harvest. Even as diligent as the state has been, there are technologies, applications and enforcements that are needed to help us live more wisely.

       Freedom is also precious as to not spoil and to protect.

The Supreme Court's decision that all people are entitled to the dignity to marry the person they love is an affirmation of what some Christians have been approving in their denominations, though not without decades of opposition. 

   And now the evangelical Christian right, personified by people like Ted Cruz, must face a new reality. It seems  they are stuck on the idea that an LGBT person is someone or something less than they themselves. Some of these evangelicals say LGBT people are "sinners," because of who they are or who they love. I heard a right wing Dallas preacher talking about his "Almighty God!"  It was as shrill as a radical proponent of sharia law. 

       All through this gender and sexual identity debate  those who were denied full freedom and protection of law sought just to have the rights due all people. Those in opposition seem stuck on the act of making judgements. It is as though to impose a morality on everyone and doing so as the only true interpreters of religion. Reminds me of Isis, or Wahhabists, or when Catholics and Protestants were at war, or Sunni and Shia, or how the Christian church banned or persecuted Copernicus and Galileo, or how Massachusetts  Christians conducted witch hunts and executed 20 people and on and on. 

       Civil law, as imperfect as the process may be, is for the good of society. Spiritual law on the other hand is for the good of the individual heart, as imperfect as we may be. We do not want or need a theocracy in the US, but that is route the Ted Cruz mind set seeks to chart.

     As noted before, the eminent theologian Walter Brueggemann  says "When you think you know the mind of God, you are on a slippery slope."  Now the court has ruled how do we protect ourselves from those who would put us on the slope? 

     Religion has been too frequently weaponized. History is a litany of how religious people have done horrible things, imposing their view, stirring up movements and mob mentality and making judgements--- like those who executed a rabbi named Jesus.

    

     See you down the trail.

TRICK SHOTS AND TRICKY CALLS & HOPE

TRICK SHOT

   If you care to, comment as to how this shot is a bit of a trick.

THE WORST KIND OF TRICK SHOT

       Iranian television's altering of Michelle Obama provides a frightening visual of what happens when religious zealots or right wing fundamentalists, in this case Islamists, have power.  

    Certainly they, or anyone else, are entitled to hold their view of what is proper, even if others regard that view as being archaic or repressive. However, it is the dishonesty and distortion of reality I find repugnant and evil. It would have been more honest to simply insert a large black spot over her exposed skin than to fabricate a gown.  Both are stupid, but at least the one measure is honest, as if to say, as your moral guardians and police we have determined that to protect, we will not permit you to see reality.

    American networks use a beep tone when they bleep what someone considers to be offensive language. That action and motivation is another discussion sometime, but for today it is enough to know the heavy handedness is at least played out in an honest fashion. It is a modest nod to  notions of honesty, though censorship of any sort is the work of tyrants. 

A CASE FOR THE COURT

     Are you watching the Supreme Court's action on whether  police can take DNA samples?

     Justice Alito says it is the "most important procedural case in decades."  

     While noting its efficacy in solving cases Justice Scalia compares it to "unreasonable search."

     Justice Ginsberg worries about the 4th Amendment which prevents unreasonable searches and seizures and requires judicial warrants and basis of probable cause.

     The preliminaries on the DNA case strikes me as an irony, coming at a time when the court ruled 5-4 to not permit challenges to the Federal Government's expanding  power to monitor your international phone calls and emails.

      It is part of the expansion of tools to fight terrorism and comes with less candor on government policies and powers, less access to those records and no challenge to the underpinning laws. 

FEBRUARY GREEN 

     Hope these images bolster those of you caught in winter's icy or snowy grip.  Spring has begun on the west coast.  She'll head your way soon.

WAITING TO BLOOM

     See you down the trail.