Night Caps....plus

         I've been "experimenting," playing around, with shots of the night sky, lit by the moon and stars.

      I'm fascinated by the light play. These shots are best seen on larger screens, enabling a "painterly" feel.

      Shooting them is fun. The brace of the Pacific air and the canopy of stars are healthy. It's an antidote to my worry about a nuke plant being the middle of a war.

        

        The Nocturnal Ledger.........

        

        There is no good future without treaties or a strong international alliance to intervene. 

        Critical infrastructure anywhere with impact of a global scale needs protecting.

        This part of the California central coast has been blessed with fog, despite the drought. The heat on the other side of the Santa Lucia mountains draws marine air into the valleys leaving rivers of fog. There are nights with stars overhead while fog shrouds trees, and vegetation, even here on the ridge.

    

        The Nocturnal Ledger....

             The secret documents at Mar-a-Lago should mean strong justice and penalty. Knowing what we do, it's not hard to believe he was using our national secrets for his advantage. Treason is easy to believe. Is there anything at all that dissuades you of the notion? 

            Holding him accountable would be good medicine for America's tarnished image and diminished reputation.

         A phone screen may do this shot no justice, but it was taken by an iPhone. It is not a great astro-photograph, but it captures a layer of a little corner of our neighborhood.

        

        Of more earthly sightings, Lana's Amaryllis has put forth its best face(s).

        

            And a shout out to the bougainvillea I face each time I step out of the door of my study. It glows in the afternoon sun.

        Enjoy the last days of summer, it is on the run.

           See you down the trail.  

           Peace

The Slovik Path for Trump

      Eddie Slovik, a hard luck kid from Detroit was in trouble with the law from the time he was 12. He died 12 years later.
       In those years he was arrested for car theft, breaking and entering, robbery and other offenses. He was in and out prison a few times.
      Because of his criminal record he was morally unfit for the military. But after he married he was reclassified and drafted into the Army.
      It was WWII and he was sent to fight in France with Company G of  the 109th Infantry Regiment of the US 28th Infantry Division. During an artillery attack Slovik said he determined he "wasn't cut out for combat." He went missing and was found 6 weeks later. He then told his commanding officer  he was "too scared" to be in a rifle unit. He then deserted. He was caught and the Army gave him a couple of chances to change his mind and relent. He said he'd take his court marital.
      Slovik was convicted of desertion. He wrote to Allied Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower pleading for clemency. Desertion was a big problem in France as the Germans were advancing through the Ardennes and casualties were high while morale was low. Ike confirmed the execution order.
     During WWII the US military executed 102 soldiers for rape or unprovoked murder of civilians. Only Slovik was executed for desertion.
     12 Soldiers were chosen and detailed to be the firing squad. They were each given an M1 rifle with one bullet apiece, one of them was a blank. The command of "Fire" was given and Slovik was hit by 11 bullets, four of the shots were fatal.

         Donald Trump never served in the military, but was sent to a military school for disciplinary reasons. He too was a punk, but a rich boy. He's stayed out of jail because he's had lawyers and was able to buy politicians and threatened those who he cheated. 

      On July 16th, 2018 Donald Trump committed treason in front of the world. He deserted America. I'm one of those who believe he had already been a traitor, but his appearance with Putin and what he said gave aid and comfort to an enemy.

      People far above my pay grade, people with expertise, diplomats, intelligence officers, his own Director of National Intelligence, Republicans, even those who had been timid or had been advocates of Trump have said his performance was over the line, wrong, an offense to this nation and our officers, the act of a traitor, treason.

      The US has never seen such behavior from a President. 

Still there are some who defend the traitor and attack all of those who assail him. But anyone who will defend what he said, or his "private" meeting with Putin should simply be laughed at and pitied for the brain, conscience and soul sucking vortex in which they find themselves. There is no defense for what happened in Helsinki. It was anti American, dead wrong, pandering to his Russian overlords and financial backers, and simply being Putin's punk.

      The facts are known. Russia interfered with the 2016 election. Only a fool or a blind zealot will deny that. We don't know how deeply they impacted the results, that investigation continues. 

      Putin's Russia is an adversary and they are still attacking our electoral process. Donald Trump met with Russian spies in the White House, and already his top campaign advisers have been indicted or pled guilty. 

      On July 16 he stood before the world and even offered to allow Putin and his intelligence service to meddle in our investigation. Treason! Anti American behavior, aiding and giving comfort to an enemy. It happened on live television.

      It is the inevitable behavior of someone so unfit, unqualified, unprincipled and who thinks he can bluff and bully his way through life.

      It is clear to this writer that life should come to the same path as Eddie Slovik. 

      Trump is the Commander in Chief-a military court martial is an appropriate venue for the process of justice. If convicted, then 12 Riflemen, 11 bullets, 1 blank, and a command of Fire!

        This may earn me enmity. Though my readership is limited and in no way influential, this could create problems but it has to be said. In 42 years of journalism I learned always is a good time to speak the truth. Donald Trump is a poison. It is time for him to go where traitors go. This nation should purge itself of Trump. For now and for our future.

 See you down the trail.

Did the Hunt Find a Witch? and Dramas in Twilight

     A few moments of gloaming evoked a sort of pensive tranquility. In looking at these frames I thought of impressionism as the quality of light and color seemed in motion, changing rapidly.
      Speaking of which, do you think we are entering the twilight of the trump regime?  Thoughts on colluding and conspiracy follow this visual therapy.  

 the light of the foreground trailing off into the distance-with the hot spot of a moon rise

the lace and feather like quality of forest against a painted sky 

very soft shadows decorate a mission, white and calm

the moon and the tapering shapes have an almost Flemish oil feel

the battle of portraits

   Reading artist/writer Stephen Hayes recent Chubby Chatterbox blog post about the fate of a portrait of Winston Churchill reminded me of an amusing juxtaposition in the halls of the State Capitol in Sacramento.

 

   

     The Reagan portrait, like those of the other Governors is traditional and stately. Governor Jerry Brown's is modern and creative but apparently controversial at the time it was hung in 1984. 

     Brown, who served his first two terms from 1975-1983 reportedly said the painting looked "unfinished" and that it reflected his "unfinished work" as Governor.

     Artist Don Bachardy said Brown was a tough subject, uneasy at being painted, not content to sit as the artist worked. 
     Unkind things were written and said of Bachardy's work in the early '80's. Frankly I think it has become a classic in it's own right. Modern, perhaps even a little pop, out of the mainstream which very much bespeaks the remarkable political career and service of Jerry Brown.  

     Does a repeat Governor get a second portrait opportunity? Brown looks different than he did in the 1980's, don't we all?

the conviction of colluding "junior"

    Shall we dispatch with the judicial process now that televisions comics and pundits have convicted Donald Trump Jr. of collusion and conspiracy. Man have they ever! Almost expect to seem him marched to the guillotine as the old man celebrates the French Revolution and the storming of the Bastille, the beginning of what became the "reign of terror " that included cutting off the heads of the likes of the "one percenters." The trump clan more than likely would have felt the "the national razor." But we get ahead of ourselves.

     Has the so called fake news and "witch hunt" found a witch? The news is no longer fake.  From the beginning I was not sure there would be provable "collusion" with the Russian attack. The Don Jr. e-mails may change that . There in fact may be a "there" there in the probe of the Russian meddling in our election. 

     We trust the Mueller team will plumb how deep and how extensive was the Russian attack. 

     Juniors acknowledgment and "love" of the information being supplied by Russian sources, likely Russian agents, raised an historic question--

what did the president know and when did he know it?

    Doesn't it strain credibility to think that when his son and his son in law, plus others, knew about the Russian attack and met with (colluded?) foreign nationals to screw with the American election, he-king trump of the tower, didn't know about it? One of the meetings happened in his gold and glass tribute to poor taste. 

      We remember the function in this is to let investigators, prosecutors and the judicial system "prove" or not, and render a decision. What you and I think, and what the TV says doesn't really matter, except to us. However when the word treason is being used, it seems appropriate. 

a republican response would be nice, 
about now!

      Republican Joe Scarborough said it well. It is disgusting how republicans are selling out the party's core values. He asks what many Americans have-why haven't party leaders spoken out against trump's racist remarks, boorish behavior, his turning the white house into an extension of his family business? I wonder why they haven't demanded a cogent and consistent foreign policy? Why haven't they filled critical positions in the government? Scarborough asks "what are they willing to do, how far are they willing to go" in backing trump for their own means?

the big question

      Why would the party, known for its strong national security, defense support and hawkish policies, not be "ballistic," at least "operational," in response to the Russian attack? Imagine what President Eisenhower, Reagan, HW Bush and even W would say and do?

      At best Republicans have been tepid in their response! 

Now the president's son and his trusted ace advisor/son-in- law are caught with their hands in living Matryoshka dolls, why isn't there a loud condemnation? Or at least an admonishment that to cooperate with a foreign national to undermine our government is treason?

      Instead Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are trying to revive a dead skunk so they can give the trumps and the other richest of the rich a tax break while breaking our already fragile health care network and jeopardizing the well being of millions of not so rich citizens. 

      For the sake of the party and its self respect, and for the sake of the future, those Republicans with a sense of honor and patriotism need to drive a wedge between the trump regime and the party. Time to say enough is enough. If not then the Republican party will be owned by trump. He is probably already gold gilding the elephant and replacing GOP and Republican with another trump sign.  
      If we are lucky we'll see some of the trumps wearing orange jump suits and doing a perp walk. 

       See you down the trail.