NEW FACES, NEW ETHICS-CAN WE GET A "NEW NORMAL?"

real oversight

   For the first time in two years Congressional oversight, a key to the Constitutional principle of Checks and Balances, appears to be in place.

   The new breed Republican party spent two years being acquiescing lapdogs instead of watchdogs. The power shift in the House means there's a new Sheriff and posse with a new purpose.

"we are better than this"

    The most powerful thing I heard in the Cohen hearing were the words of Committee Chair, Elijah Cummings when he said, "we are better than this."

    Cummings said what most US citizens think, we want to get back to "normal." Cummings called it a "new normal...where democracy stays intact."

     The Washington Post, which has been a running fact check, says the man who is president has lied 8,718 times in his time in office. Republicans, sadly, abandoned their old values, and have failed their party and the nation by letting things get so far out of line.

     seeing the difference

    The peoples interest, all of us, democrat, republican, liberal, conservative, independent, even the disinterested were well represented with Representative Katie Porter raised a question to the Chairman of Equifax. This is a great recent moment in public service. You can watch how it was noted on a news network or you can link directly to the clip in the next line of copy.

    

See a great Congressional moment. Link here

  

or see it in the video from a news channel

          That is the kind of accountability and hard questions this nation needs and deserves. There is no ideological edge, no partisan blather, no b.s. to that kind of oversight. 

      There was a time when the best interests of all were considered above partisan or ideological ground. That is what we need to get back to. 

    public service is more than politics

it is a real skill

      Anyone who knows anything about real politic has warned that the rouge president is doing damage by his ignorant blundering in foreign affairs. But he is such a defective, he is sure he knows better than experts, who have spent their life in diplomacy, negotiation, and real deal making. 

     North Korea has again gotten the upper hand. And while Senate Republicans have enabled a power drunk and traitorous stooge, he has continued to preside over a decimation of the Department of State and the national intelligence community.

    Those days may soon be over. House investigations have only begun. There is the coming blizzard of federal prosecutions, state and local investigations and prosecutions and there will be a field of democrat presidential hopefuls and quite likely a republican challenger who will also hold this very bad man's feet to the fire. The difference of rhetoric and vision will be stunning.

    History will be ruthless. Analysis and logic will be very unkind, not only to the stooge but to those who aided and abetted him and those who continued to support him even after they saw him for the fraud he is. And dear readers, that information is coming in, compounded daily and we've only just begun with real oversight in place. And some of the new crowd are playing by new rules. I refer you to the picture above.

how does your garden grow?

      The winter lettuce crop has been fantastic. 

    Lana has done a great job up in Indiana. That is the flat and tillable soil at the top of our hill.

     We are enjoying a good rain season and the succulents approve. 

     If you reside where winter means snow, ice, cold, gray and a longing for spring, these green shots may bolster your spirits.

      Maybe by then we will be closer to what Chairman Cummings said, "...back to the democracy we want."

     See you down the trail.

     

JUST YOU WAIT AND SEE...

   It's funny how a fragment of memory launches itself and then sends you down a lane of thought, maybe even a rabbit hole.

   I can't tell you why, but one of my great aunts singing Blue Birds Over The White Cliffs of Dover sprang full bloom into the day. My great aunts, Martha, Anna, and Sarah were, like my grandmother Mary, born in England and arrived in the US as young girls and teens. 

    The song was made popular by an English singer, Vera Lynn and it was one of the most popular tunes of WWII.

    I'm a post war boomer, but I remember hearing them sing that tune as I was toddler in their care when my parents were out or on a trip. It was soothing to them, an assurance that regardless of the present problem or crisis, it would all work out. And apparently it did the same for this former little tyke.

I think they sometimes sang it to me when I was having tyke travails. 

   Maybe it's the winter clouds decorating our Santa Lucia mountain range, or the full moon rise during the light of evening.

        Maybe it's my hopes and prayers for a friends who are struggling against serious health challenges. Perhaps my optimism fueled by my trust in our democratic republic's sense of justice and the power of tenacious investigation and judicious outcomes. Perhaps it was reading of the winter storms and seeing snow blanket Arizona like something from North Dakota in photos from my friend Bruce. (His blog link appears in the column to the right.)

    But there it is, Blue Birds Over The White Cliffs of Dover, in my head, evoking memories of assurance, certainly as it must have done for millions as a world war against great evil ensued.

     Funny, how time's jewels come back, often just in time.

       By the way, I think the drag net is tightening around the great fraud and stooge. His poison will come to an end, "just you wait and see"

       "...I remember well as the shadows fell

           the light of hope in their eyes..."

        "...there'll be love and laughter

          And peace ever after

          Tomorrow when the world is free..."

    

    

    Be as young of heart as you can.

    See you down the trail.

CONTOURS OF BLACK FACE & PAYING DUES ON THE ROCK ROAD

     ocean rock off fiscalini ranch preserve  cambria

      A place of sanity and civility is a tough spot to find these days. The most recent black face blow up might offer a ledge, precarious though. 
     And ahead in this double post is a photo essay on paying dues on the music highway.

the rutted road of black face

       spanish moss tunnel on jack creek road templeton 

       Black face had its origins in Europe. It was used in theatre to permit white actors to play dark skinned characters, including Othello. It did not begin as an act of racial denigration.
       The "racism" of black face began in the early 1800's in  theater when characters with demeaned qualities were played by actors in black face. British theatre of the 1800's also used black face to portray Black people in stereotyped and derogatory ways. They were portrayed as stupid, lazy, slow talking, sexually aggressive, easily frightened, and worse. That same hurtful poison was poured by American theatre. By the mid 1800's actors in black face did music and comedy skits feeding the stereotypes. Minstrel shows toured and carried the racist stereotypes far and wide. 

even disney

     In the 20th century film, animation and even Disney cartoons perpetuated the stereotypes.
     This occurred in an age when racism was rampant, but ignored. White government and majority white society functioned as though it was blind to, insensitive of or ignorant about the damage and hurt caused by the perpetuation of the stereo types much less the under girding de Jure and de Facto segregation and racism. Such behavior is inevitable in a nation where many of the founders owned slaves.
    These are undeniable truths. It is also true that not all people who have put on black face are racists. They may be stupid, but not necessarily racist. 

stupid

    If this nation did a better job of teaching real history, and respecting the truth of our heritage, contemporary Americans would know how hurtful it is. 
    I wrote here earlier that Megyn Kelly was not automatically a racist when she raised the issue of black face, stupid probably, ill advised and her network bosses succumbed to perceived outrage and she was released. 
    Now that black leaders and community leaders have come to the defense of the Virginia Governor, it may offer that ledge to have a conversation about a couple of things.

in the national dna

     First, the US must acknowledge its racist and genocidal heritage and then teach it. Our government, our system of life, perpetuated, enabled and encouraged racism and ethnic genocide. 

not fully human

    People of color were not recognized as full human beings, that was in our charter. Before that we did not recognize the sovereignty of the first citizens of this continent. As terrible as it has been for African Americans, it has been worse for native Americans. This nation slaughtered millions of native inhabitants. When the murder stopped, we then lied to and cheated them. That is who we are, and what we did. Thank God men and women of conscience and increasing intelligence have reshaped, refined and corrected our national establishment, but it has been a long battle and it continues.

reason, don't screech

    Second, and this needs saying. Stupid things done by a student 35 years ago should not be the automatic disqualifier for a person who otherwise has demonstrated good judgment, citizenship and character. Who did not make poor judgments in their youth?
     There are limits here. Dressing up like Michael Jackson, or Al Jolson may have been stupid but it is not like doing a crime of violence. Being overtly racist, abusive, discriminatory or committing sexual assault are more serious than dressing up. We need to acknowledge that.
     There is a screeching factor in American politics today that borders on hysteria. It is loud and it drowns out common sense, civility and due process. It makes victims of the system and can injure people more grievously than some of the so called alleged offenses.  To those who are calling for the Virginia governor's dismissal, I urge you to point some of that venom toward the American mass culture and educational system that has failed to teach just what black face is, the whole story. 
      It is offensive and dangerous when a society fails to know and learn from history. We have much to learn, and a lot of making amends to do. 

 the music road

   the pour house  paso robles

    Davy and the Midnights do a sound check at a tap room in Paso Robles. Their tour of the California coast takes them from LA to San Francisco and north.

   Haven't heard of them? You may someday. They play country, blues, rock and the sort of fare that keeps you alive playing bars. Their own music is good and they are refining it in an LA studio. 
   They are young, on the road and paying their dues.
   Lead singer Davey Allen is also the keyboard player for Eric Burdon and the Animals and has played with other big name rockers. He's got a great band.

    Guitarist Greg Cahill is a superb player. Full disclosure-His dad is a life long friend. We've watched Greg from when he first sat at a piano as a tyke.  He's true LA pro. 
    But that doesn't make life on the road easy.

      cayucos saloon and card room  the"tav"  cayucos

     After the Paso gig it was on to a place to sleep, briefly. An early morning wake up put them on the road to Carmel Valley for a three hour acoustic performance at a winery. The long drive back slammed into showing up in Cayucos to set up for the Saturday night show at the old Saloon.

    These guys are not in the music royalty, yet. They are their own roadies, engineers and set up men.

     On the road, you never know what kind of set up and acoustics you'll find.

     It takes a little psychology and musical alchemy to get a sense of the crowd, what they want to hear, and then feed them.

     There's no time to perfect the "room" for sound or staging. Just get up there and do it.

      After the second set at the Saturday night show, I told him it takes someone a lot younger than me to keep up the pace.                        

      In the next 8 days they'll be in San Rafael, Sacramento, San Francisco, Fairfax, Blue Lake, Arcata, Brookings Or., and Crescent City.

    Rock on!

     See you down the trail.

LOOKING UP

    Another good sunrise here in the land of the "painted sky."

    It ushered a day to pay attention to sky works.

      The symmetry of the pelican formation amused me. Natural precision.

       A good day to take to the breeze.

for adults only

a place of reason

    I was pleased to hear from a friend that his stress level has dropped, his information level is up and he has a wider view of the world's ways and events. He's made the switch to the PBS News Hour.

    If there is anything about which I think I know a thing or two, it is broadcast journalism and television news. 42 years in the trenches and you learn. As cable news devolved to opinion, forced controversy, yacking heads and a mania for breaking news and assorted hype it lost my respect. 

   The old line networks still provide some traditional balance but they too have been swept up in the post social media din of shallow, short and not very nutritional. They and the cable channels, right and left, are about audience and specifically audience size. How far we have tumbled from the days of CBS, NBC and ABC before news divisions needed to be "money makers!" Back when the mission was information and news, instead of audience, we were better served and better informed.

     It is still that way with PBS. The news is reported without hype and contrived controversy. Complex political and policy issues are dealt with in-depth, with intelligence, balance and significance. In addition the axis of interest, the topics covered, are much wider, more global, more diverse, and informative. Science, business, the arts, and medicine are given time and space. As a viewer you leave the experience fully informed and frankly, wiser. You are not being "spun," nor worn out by needless or excessive graphics, teases, or shallow reporting. They don't tilt right or left, they provide news and information, not rhetoric and hype. It is full service, intelligent and dignified broadcast journalism for adults.

the ground game

     A couple of afternoon friends on a recent stroll.

     So as the probes go deeper, and the number of indicted  grows, and the noose grows tighter and as crazy as it has been, think how this time will look in the history books. Don't you think some descendants will be embarrassed, even mortified by how their ancestors voted and stood in these days of our lives?

      See you down the trail

What is Human?

    A recent hike poses here as metaphor as we humans trek further into the unknown. 

     Reputable science tells us children born today could easily live into their 100's.
     Please allow a brief scenario. Were I to experience cognitive issues and if a chip or device was available to correct the malfunction, I'd be in for it. Artificial or transplanted organs are real and medical science is thresholding new realities. Immunotherapy is getting more precise, our manipulation of DNA offers both hopeful and fearful potential. Our influence on life, longevity and denial of death is surging exponentially. 
     Imagine it is 2040 and for any number of reasons air quality has degraded so as to threaten lung function, so medical science responds with perhaps adapter kits or even newly engineered lungs to accommodate rotten air. 
      Despite that this current era of the human epic has a sizable percentage of foodies and others who love to eat, what if bio engineering finds a way to produce our "food" without all of the resource drain. We might waste less water and energy by producing a new kind of nutrition product. We learn that our digestive system is less important than it used to be. Our hip and knee replacement become even more amazing with outcomes that turn us into unbreakable people. Hearts, livers, kidneys, vascular systems all morph and change as we humans trend toward what science fiction identified as cyborgs.
      On an assignment years ago I sat on cybex machine next to NBA star Len Elmore. He joked that someday athletes would be mechanically enhanced and not have to nurse knee injuries. 
      Efficiency, durability, algorithmic actuarial analysis, expanded life ranges, medical discovery, scientific adaptability, and a quest for immortality collude and we find ourselves "evolving" in ways the human animal never danced to the Darwinian waltz.

       are there dangers on this path

     I think we are on that inevitable journey, because if we can, we will. If science and medicine can fix us and slake our fears, we will take that path. 
    We are slowly ebbing into a new kind of human, already. High Tech billionaires just up the California highway from my quiet village are investing millions in medical research labs to find ways of beating death. Steve Job's illness and death sent a message to the creators of the communications technologies that have changed human behavior, that despite all the wonders of their creations, and all the money they amass, humans still die. Even the rich and famous. 
    I don't run wildly into the future screaming for death's embrace and I don't know anyone who does. If you were a billionaire with every human comfort you can imagine it is understandable why you would want to hang on to it for as long as possible, maybe even forever. And with a billion or a few, you can spend on targeted research to help you find the new fountain of youth. All of us reap the sewing of those seeds of desire for a more perfect human and longer existence.

choosing the path

    So perhaps more scientifically wise than we have ever been and now augmented by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the golden age of medical research we humans  are capable of making decisions that we once described as "playing God."  Though I think that was ever so, we have  tools now that are more powerful and change inducing than ever. 

    We are at an interesting juncture in the path of human evolution. And when some of our brightest and most influential set goals of expanding life to new horizons and seriously aspire to immortality, and when we point our technology and inventions to those outcomes, there is something else to put on the agenda.
    It's my two cents worth that now is a time to consider what does it mean to be a human? What makes us human? What are the intrinsic characteristics of a human being? 
     I know of no place where that is registered, certified nor even understood. There has been no reason to do so. 
     Now, as we can see a future where technology and science can extend and change our lives in historic metrics, should we not consider what that means? How synthetic, or artificial or chipped do we become before we cease to be the creature we have been when flesh and blood were the arbiters of life and humanity. How "human made" do we become before we cease to be human?
    If death were to be eliminated or at least deferred for ranges previously unimaginable, and if we did not need our biological bodies, or significant portions of them, how do we change? And how do we know we are changed or changing?
      Interesting questions I think. Implications I believe. Millions of we bipeds also owe a measure of our humanity to an understanding that human life also frames a spiritual dimension. How would that be affected?

      See you down the trail

Reaction Time and The Dream

      It's subjective and no one knows, but I think if Martin Luther King Jr were alive, his primary focus would be economic disparity. He raised the issue of poverty and since his death the gap has widened. The rich have gotten richer and the middle class is crumbling. Like prophets he spoke truth to power. As Aristotle noted, inequality leads to instability. Instability looms and the rich are deaf.

curiosity

      For the record, I was never appointed a special consultant to the UN. I found this telegram as I sorted through old files. I had forgotten about it. I remember it showing up at my residence when I was at college. I chuckled about it but never learned its source. For almost 50 years I thought it was the prank of my fraternity brother known as "Cool Breeze." John Schleeter was a true political junkie and a jokester. As recently as this fall John denies he sent it, or produced it . The Mystery remains.

in a time of social media that means....

       The recent skirmishes over a Buzz Feed report that Robert Mueller broke his stone silence to refute and the flap over a viral video from the weekend are testament to how we should miss "the good old days," those would be the good old days when the news media was in the hands of men and women who were experienced and were professional.

       Back in the day before social media and smart phones, adults attended to the aggregation, editing and distribution of "news."  Yes mistakes were made, but they were rare and they were always corrected. Now with millions of phones and media feeds and instant comment and reaction there is a lot of garbage in the flow. And we don't seem to be very smart about what to believe and why. 

      What about the source? What about the intent? Is it real? How many sources do you have? In the pre digital world those kind of issues were important. Now, I can post a video or tweet something and it's out there and being reacted to without any qualifications, validations or certifications. It's not just individuals, it is also organizations who act so carelessly.

       When I saw the video of the so called confrontation in Washington I thought it was dubious, but I was amazed at the conflagration that surrounded it. Over reaction prompted more overreaction and the decibel level of America escalated again.

       It's bad enough we have partisan so called "news" networks operating, now we have a multitude of other voices adding to the hysteria. My advice-trust no one. Make them prove they are right before you buy in. Don't react to the first thing you see or hear, think about it. Look for other sources, weight what others think or say or interpret. As unlikely as it is, I paraphrase former President Reagan-watch it, read it but "Verify."  

      And as for news sources--if the bulk of their content, broadcast, print or on line, is commentary and analysis and personality-be very, very skeptical.  For example, compare Fox News and MSNBC to the BBC. 

      

a playwright in the field

    Actor, producer, director and playwright Tom Alvarez is a long time friend. He and his creative partner have written and staged Calder, The Musical. It seemed only appropriate that he pay respect to the nearest Calder, here on the central coast.

     Halter Ranch Winery in the Paso Robles appellation provided Tom a close up visit.

       Tom also got a close up look at the sun dropping at a western chunk of the US, in this case a little spot in Cambria known fondly as Griffin Park, because it is 110 steps from the Griffin's front door. 

       See you down the trail

A Good Night in America

winners

      The hometown kids prevail and Jon Batiste wails. Good nights in the US.

  

    High tides, driving rain, breaks of sun play. Victories too.

 game night

  Game night, school night is a good night in America.

   It is the rhythm and soul of our collective dream, the sweat and the lessons of life. It is sweetness, pure and simple from large urban field houses to small village gyms.

    That is especially so in a school like Coast Union in Cambria with an enrollment under 250 kids.
    I am almost religious about basketball. It's in my DNA and has been a constant dream since I learned to dribble in grade school. I love the game and I love to see kids also love the game. That is especially so here, for sure.

   I'm watching a classic basketball scenario run before my eyes here on the California Central coach.  It seems only a couple of years ago Coach Gehrig Kniffen was the floor captain of his scrappy Broncos team. He played with heart and a court sense. Now he's teaching the love of the game to his team.

   They're not big. One of the kid's mom tells me only 3 or 4 of the boys were basketball players. The rest of the kids grew up on soccer.
   Coach Kniffen has done well. The team plays smart, they spread the floor, they move the ball, work for a shot and show a tenacity and drive. 

    In this gym on this night the game was see saw, tight with heart and soul pushing up and down the court. Parents and friends were enthralled and entertained. On this night the hometown Broncos gained a well deserved victory. And on this night in America winners and losers met as good sports.

Orcutt would have a ride home, considering those few plays, those missed opportunities that could have made the difference. The Coast Union Broncos would give the new coach another first season win. It is the way of the game, an American way.

    It is a game that is immensely personal to a boomer from Indiana. My life is measured in chapters of basketball.

    I got the love of the game from my dad who was a skilled and accomplished player who, were it not for WWII, probably  would have continued on in semi pro and eventually professional hoops.

    I'd practice ball handing and dribbling in the basement of our little Muncie house and clip newspaper articles of my beloved 1950's era Muncie Central Bearcats.

    In Indiana a kid plays basketball wherever and much as he can. I remember Jon Hilkene's old barn with a hard packed uneven dirt floor on half the court and uneven old planks around the hoop and free throw line. We used to shovel snow or chip ice from Tom Johnson's extra wide driveway that was bathed in a street light and well pointed night spots on the house. In the winter we had to wear gloves, which affected our shooting and in the summer, sweat soaked we'd swat at mosquitoes and gnats. Summer basketball camps where the smell of the gym was especially sweet from the wax. Playing between the Hackbee's and Lowen's on an uneven, sloping alley with hoops hanging on the backs of garages, stopping when trash trucks or cars drove by. 

    An Indiana kid dreams of wearing the school colors, but life and moves and broken bones and size can conspire against that "glory." But in Indiana a kid can play in community centers in the inner city with dazzling players and shake and bake moves, or in a legendary old hotel in industrial or AAU leagues with true one time stars, or in church leagues campaigning around the city in great old gyms, at the Y, in pick up games on hallowed field house floors.  

     Even in middle age and beyond an Indiana kid can play in the elbows for lunch bunch at the Y, or in "celebrity games" barnstorming around the state in hallowed old field houses and gyms, playing local all stars or faculty teams to raise money for schools, bands, charities and the like. 

     Game night in America is a good night. It is stepping into a slip stream of good nights that reach back to the beginning and flow forward with that sweet, sweet sound and smell and swish of a net.

   New Orleans virtuoso Jon Batiste, leader of the Stay Human band that is Steven Colbert's house band on CBS is a hoopster. He is also a dynamic and charismatic performer.

   After his recent piano concert in San Luis Obispo he lead

a "love march" out of the auditorium. Was he great? Look at the smile on that little guys face. If you ever get a chance to see him, don't miss it.  It is pure joy, love and energy.

    He said his concert is like sitting in his living room while he just plays around. That's a great thought.  So is spending some time in a gym with him, playing the great American game.

     See you down the trail.