WHAT ARE THE ANSWERS?

     Following years of drought and opportunistic blight, trees on the California coast struggle for life. The battle is set against historically warming trends and other climatic and environmental changes.

      There is symmetry in that and this post election America. A winner has emerged, a loser has conceded and the sitting President offers assistance in transition. The American system proceeds, as it has. This time the campaign ends with a nation wherein more than half of voting Americans lost. That statistic also reveals more people voted for Hillary Clinton than voted for Donald Trump. Add the other candidate's totals and Trump is indeed a minority President. But Trump won the electoral college and so will take the oath of office in January.

       He confronts a divided nation. He promises to govern for all. We will see. 

      Many of those who voted for him did so because they believe, "Washington is broken...Congress does not work...there is a double standard where in elected representatives are part of an elite with special privileges..." I submit the record shows they are correct.

       In exit polls and interviews many of his voters voiced concern about changes in America; immigration changing our complexion and demographic, loss of jobs, trade deals with fall out for working Americans while bankers and investors grow more wealthy, and many believe government did not hear or care about them.

       They found their champion, improbable and unlikely as the Republican party thought and for that matter the majority of voting Americans and they elected him. In this divided and tumultuous time there are truths and questions that will be explored.

questions for history

     Which Trump will emerge? The liberal Democrat power broker or the man who switched to the Republican party in 2012?

       The wild carnival barker style campaigner or the candidate who read a teleprompter and stayed on focus?

       What influence will daughter Ivanka have on his policy formulation and court nominees, especially on justices' attitude about Roe v Wade and other women's health and privacy issues?

       What role will Stephen Bannon the alt-right godfather and Brietbart mogul have? This is important to all America because an ugly truth about the Trump movement is that it was also a place where the worst of America found a home.

The KKK, racists, anti Semites, openly misogynistic and crude men and domestic terrorists are part of his minority base of voters. People of color especially, but all Americans have reason to wonder how this part of the Trump movement will influence the administration.

      How vigorously will the fraud lawsuits and sexual assault cases, allegations and charges be pursued? Will these be his Lewinsky or e-mail server millstones? 

      Will the Democratic leadership serve notice on Trump as Republicans McConnell and Boehner did on Obama, at the start, promising to prevent his re-election and blocking legislation or court nominees?

      What role will the Sanders/Warren wing of the Democratic party play in legislative advances and battle?

      Will we see a major role for Chris Christy and Rudolph Giuliani and what will that do for the idea of "governing for all?"

      How will he "bring jobs" back to America? Let me be flip for a moment and ask, will he start with his own businesses-suits, ties, shirts, etc, now manufactured abroad?

     How will he resolve his considerable debt to Chinese and Russian interests? What role will the Senate or other federal agencies have in monitoring his considerable international business interests. America has never faced this quandary before.

      Will the Fox network pick at the Trump business matters and sexual allegations as they went after Hillary Clinton?

     How will traditional Republicans, including major figures who refused to endorse or vote for him, respond to his ideas?

     Is Donald Trump the new Republican Party?

     How much influence will Mike Pence have? Pence says he is a Christian first and then a conservative and Republican. That attitude had him on the outs in his conservative Indiana. He was on his way to being defeated before Trump plucked him. This is the man who disregarded the advice of college presidents, religious leaders, international corporate ceo's, professional sports franchises and retail executives because his faith came first, though he later back peddled. Will Trump favor reason over Pence's faith?

     Several months ago a conservative Republican friend who emigrated here years ago and established a successful life in America called Donald Trump a "Trojan Horse," not a true conservative, not a real republican. Is he? Who is the real Donald Trump?

     Questions do indeed abound?

   

    I don't often quote Newt Gingrich, but he told someone that to understand Donald Trump you need to look at Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt and PT Barnum.

    Jackson was a founder of the Democratic party, a populist, a controversial figure, he had a notorious temper, he said men needed to "control" their wives, he provoked the "petticoat" affair that dominated much of his early administration, he developed the Indian removal practice, forcing native citizens off their land.

    TR was of course the wealthy Republican and strong individualist who angered his own party when he went after big business and engaged in trust busting that led to business regulations. Roosevelt was a leader in the Progressive movement.

    PT Barnum was of course the politician, showman and hustler who coined the phrase "There is a sucker born every minute."

    Gentle reader please recall this comparison by Gingrich was meant to explain who Donald Trump is.

     Who indeed?

    See you down the trail.

     

         

BEING TOUGH

BRAVO TO THE TOUGH GUYS

     It takes special character to evince toughness in 

the face of the winds of adversity.

 Photo by Daniel Ochoa E Olza/AP

   Juan Jose Padilla is tough.  You may disapprove of his sport

 Photo by Elena Munoz/AP

and you may even think of him as a fool, but you can not deny his courage.  The picture above was taken in October as he was being gored by the bull he was fighting.  He was severely injured and disfigured.  That he even survived surprised many.

 Photo by Daniel Ochoa Ed Olza/AP

     This is the 38 year old Spanish bull fighter back at work this week. Five months after narrowly escaping death, Padilla returned to the ring.

 Photo by Daniel Ochoa De Olza/AP

Photo by Daniel Ochoa De Olza/AP

     He did it he said because of the "...need to win, to triumph, to be a better man."

     Too bad Ernest Hemingway wasn't around to see a 

genuine article. 

      Juan Jose Padilla's comeback offers a perfect 

transition to one of my favorite Presidential Quotes.

Teddy Roosevelt

April 23, 1910 at the Sorbonne, Paris.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. 

Hat's Off to another tough guy

     I've posted previously about Bob Foster, my friend and former colleague, who is in the midst of a bone marrow transplant in his recovery from leukemia.  Bob is not only tough, he demonstrates great humor and wit in the midst of battle.  Here's one of his daily postings, from just a couple of days ago.

Healthcare is like an artichoke (Sorry about the vegetable choice for the metaphor. I don’t like onions.) The longer you are treated for a condition, the more you finally learn the “why”.

I am gobbling down 3,200 mg of magnesium per day. Yet, I remain magnesium deficient. At this moment, I am receiving another 2,000 mg by IV. (That’s 5,200 mg for those of you listening in Loma Linda.)  

An anti-rejection drug (Don’t you wish a drug could have prevented rejection when you were dating in high school?)prevents some magnesium absorption. Got it. But that much? No.

This afternoon I learned engrafting cells consume mega amounts of magnesium and potassium to make new blood cells. Holy catfish! Those little buggers are ravenous. They must be grinding out new cells at warp speed. (“Make it so, Number One.” –Jean Luc Picard)  And God is Number One. 

Thank you, Jesus. Rev up that IV pump. Hand me the bloomin' pills. Engraft on, Lord.

I am crying with gratitude. Folks, your prayers are being answered. Was there ever any doubt?  

Here's a toast to all who battle on with courage and 
conviction, be the foe disease, a bull, a bully, an ideologue, a racist, sexist, ageist, corruption, poverty, or ignorance.
DAY BOOK

A TOUGH CHOP

See you down the trail.

WHEN VALIANT EFFORTS MATTER

OF HAVING BEEN IN THE ARENA
PURELY PERSONAL RUMINATIONS
A confluence of events has me seeking strength
from a favorite observation by
Teddy Roosevelt.
I offer it below.


I was saddened to learn from a tennis partner and friend
 he is hanging it up. He also plays a few days
a week and I joined his longstanding foursome for Monday doubles play about a year and half ago. We met him and his wife when we arrived 5 years ago. They are
fine people. He is a talented and crafty competitor 
who has played the game for decades.  He offered
great patience when I picked up the sport about
3 years ago and I've improved from those matches
when he was on the other side of the net.  He
gave no quarter.  He could smash the ball to your feet,
kill you with a cross court or alley shot or one of his feathering drop shots with spin. He seemed to love the game
and the spirit of competition and every match, win or loose was great fun.  He told me today it just hurts too much
now and that after playing he is forced to take
a pill to stop aching.  He said "it is just time. It was bound to
happen."  You hate to see a great competitor leave
the arena.


I also noticed an obit that fed the sense of melancholy.

From San Luis Obispo Tribune

Sunday January 8, 2012

Art Rogers passed away in a nursing home Morro Bay, just down the coast from Cambria. He was 93. In his day
Art was one of the best sports photographers around.
You've probably seen his work in Time, Sports Illustrated,
and the old Look and Life magazines.
He spent his career with the LA Times where he
won the National Headliners Award among others. He was 
part of the team that won a Pulitzer for the coverage of
the 1965 Watts Riot.
He was a U.S. Navy photographer in the south Pacific
during WWII.  He is also enshrined in the Hermosa 
Beach Surfers Hall of Fame.
Like my tennis buddy he is also a Californian.


I've always been a bit envious of California guys. After all
this is the state that we chose to move across
country to after reaching a maturity in our own lives.
I confess that coming here in someway was
motivated by a spark of an idea that in California
you can play forever.
Well, to be sure Californians do play a long time
and with a gusto and joy.
Thus the touch of sadness when the game is over


Another sportsman offers a bolstering thought:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Teddy Roosevelt issued those great remarks

in a speech "Citizenship in a Republic"

delivered at the Sorbonne in Paris in April of 1910.

Today they make me feel better.

DAY BOOK

The Sun Always Rises Again

See you down the trail

NAW-SHOULDN'T HAPPEN

CAN WE TALK?

   Now do you really think AT&T wants T-Mobile so they 

make customers happy and do a better job?  

   This time the government intervention is a good thing for all of us. T-Mobile forces more competition, meaning better pricing. AT&T's swallowing of T-Mobile would do one thing for certain with fewer options-drive up service costs? 

    Maybe there is a little Teddy Roosevelt DNA still pulsing through the federal government. 

OH YEA?

SAYS WHO?

      I heard a former intelligence chief, who served in the George W. Bush administration say it well. According to the criminal pictured above, the only person who was right was him.  Exploding heads he said.  Well he tried that before didn't he?  Powell, Tenet, and even the challenged W himself had it wrong.  Only uncle grumpy here was right, according to the charming war criminal himself.  

      Military officers and intelligence operatives have said

this man's actions put American personnel at greater risk.

That he lied only adds ignominy to his pathetic attempt at 

image control with his book.

      A friend did work on the audit that found at least 

$60 Billion in war dollars were wasted on fraud.  He told me a couple of years ago that though he didn't want to believe it, the more he saw, the more it became apparent that 

this Vice President was a kind of "air boss for corruption" employing tactics of no bid contracts to old cronies and business partners.  And then looking the other way when price gouging and over billing, under stocking and other larceny took place. I hope this man lives long enough to be

charged with either war crimes or just old fashioned 

corruption.   

     Hey Dr. Evil, maybe we should re-cycle the idea of one of your long ago enemies-Abbie Hoffman.  Remember his 

admonition "STEAL THIS BOOK?"

DAY BOOK

 "Naw. Forget about it. We've got company.

We'll talk later."

See you down the trail.

FLYING ROCK(s) & ROLL BY THE VOLCANO

EXPLOSIVE POWER

       The explosive history of Mt. Lassen has changed the earth.  Now the center of Lassen Volcanic National Park, the volcano, one of the Pacific Ring of Fire in the Cascade Range,

has left a legacy that displays the power of a still cooking earth.

       Areas of the national park are testament to what happens when a volcano begins

reshaping the contour of the land.

       400 to 600 thousand years ago, ancestral Brokeoff Volcano erupted. It changed the mountain range profile.  In May of 1914 one of the vent mountains near Brokeoff, Lassen Peak, began three years of sporadic eruptions.  President Teddy Roosevelt and the US Congress made the area a national monument and then National Park in 1916.  

       This is Hot Rock-a 300 ton rock that was part of a 110 mile per hour avalanche that followed the May 1915 eruption.  This rock rolled 5 miles after the explosion. 

      This is in an area called Chaos Jumbles.  These rocks and stones were also blown or scattered by avalanche.  The peak is a plugged dome volcano.  As magma pressure welled up, the crater was plugged, so pent up gas shattered the lava cap and sent mountain, rock and debris flying in an extraordinary explosion.  Ash and debris reach 30,000 feet into the California sky.

       After almost 100 years, you can see that here in Chaos Jumbles, some life is returning.

     Pictured below is an area on the mountain side at a lower elevation called The Devastated Area, miles of devastation. In some of the lower areas also life is coming back.

     But much of the peak is still barren.

     Elsewhere you see other large boulders that were moved by force.

       The BF Loomis Museum and Visitors Center is a beautiful construction of local

rock.

     The stones and rocks are just one more resource and bit of wonderment available

at Lassen Volcanic National Park.

See you down the trail.