Light/Breezes

Light/Breezes
SUNRISE AT DEATH VALLEY-Photo by Tom Cochrun

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

A Stake in the heart of Trump's America?

    Ever have a time when innocence and wonder seem more desirable than our dramas?
     the story of the old goats
high on caffeine 
     What these times have done to us-as told by some old old goats who drink coffee!
      For a decade they've gathered on the deck of a unique coffee shop and have seen a few of their number pass on or move away but they persist in an earnest endeavor to solve world problems. What have they achieved? They amuse or annoy tourists and regulars though sometimes visitors just can't help but jump in.
      In the last couple of years I've wondered if proprietors Michelle and Mike have added a blend of zeal and volume to their brew-because the conversations have amped up. It might also be the idiot stooge in the oval office. Frequent readers know my disposition, but there are other points of view and our coffee dialectic exercises and exorcises them every Monday and Friday.
     The core of this hardcore "cafe democracy" debating society is a former navy flyer and scion of a California family of wealth and cabinet level influence who is a lovable and loquacious pot stirrer. There is a former history teacher, football coach and athletic director of midwestern origin. He roots us in the narrative of historic fact. There is an inventor, patent holder, self made man of dignity and style who fled a Soviet take over of his eastern European home. He came to the US as a young lad with the shirt on his back, no English but a brilliant mind and the willingness to work and serve his new nation. He earned success. There is an entrepreneur, music industry veteran, raconteur with a passion for life and a  sense of humor. Recently moved away but occasionally returning for the verbal jousting is an author and retired editor of the Wall Street Journal. There is the beautiful tennis queen and artist who while she mostly listens, moderates our volume. And there is your's truly. 
      There are a couple of others who saunter in or out, but they are more like observers, except our Semper Fi, Sicilian pal by way of Brooklyn who's primary objective is to tout the Mets and poke Dodger fans in the eye. There is also the concert violinist, gourmet and gourmand with the rapier wit of Jackie Mason on steroids.
       While there have been jokes that we need to put these dialectics on Youtube, I'm sure the scene is played out across the country by people of a particular generation with a capacity to yack.
      So it breaks down that despite no one needs to reveal whom they voted for, there is a clear divide over this regime. A very spirited divide! Some of us think trump is not only unfit and unqualified but have come to suspect he may also be the face of evil.
      Some who announced they voted for his orangeness, believe he is being misunderstood, treated unfairly, but is doing a good job especially of shaking up Washington. They think the Mueller investigation is ill begotten and simply politics by the old guard trying to get rid of trump. They were Hilary haters though one voted for Obama. So, there you have the genesis of what can be two hour performances that surely compete with any high octane French cafe dialogue.
     We probably resemble most of America, our minds are made up, though we try to challenge each other with facts, history and truth-the kind that is real and the kind of "truth" that is tweeted by king liar or oozed by a Kelly Ann. 
      Hopefully we are still listening and willing to learn. While we argue across a divide, like the 60-40 split in America, we always reaffirm our fondness and friendship. That is important. I'm not so sure those last two elements are reflected in the larger debate beyond the bounds of our open air dialectic. The old goats and the tennis queen are divided, but we remain civil. Wish it were such for congress and the US electorate.


a threat to the democracy
      In a  word, Sinclair Broadcasting. They were a laughable, cheapskate and slimy operator of local stations back when I reported or worked as a news executive. But they've continued to buy stations and are now the largest local ownership group with some 190 stations that they hope to fashion into a network to "out fox, Fox news"-translated that is to go even further right and be more biased. 
     Outdoing the sinister designs of the late sexual predator and bloviator Roger Ailes is one sick idea. By now you've heard how "Commissar Sinclair" is forcing local news operations to carry propaganda and pro trump bilge. They made a lot of news by forcing local anchors to "sincerely" deliver a propaganda tome that even Pravda would be proud of. 
     It is stupid, makes a journalist's blood boil, violates good conscience and is truly dangerous. You can see how ludicrous and un American it is, by watching this less than two minute piece, that is a warning to America--"a threat to the democracy..."


      It's enough to make you want to scream---or go play like a kid and a cat.





       Here's to sweeter and simpler times, with plenty of room to play, and maybe just yell! But in a friendly way!

       See you down the trail.


      

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Refresh

       The 9 to almost 10 inches of rain in the "March Miracle" has saved the central California coast from drought and has prompted bud break at some of our wineries.
      We first heard about Miracle March or March Miracles when we arrived 11 years ago and this is the second time a good March dosing of rain came when needed. The green season is a spirit lifter.





the refreshing generation
     It is almost universal amongst conscientious, caring and intelligent people-they find inspiration and hope in generation Z, the generation of mass slaughter. Kids 18 and under have lived their life in an age with yearly mass slaughter and the need for school shooter drills.
      They are different from their elder millennials, and Gen Xers. Some have compared them to early boomers, but there are significant differences. 
     Boomers came of age at a time of hope and a growing middle class. Boomer politics were widely focused; civil rights, anti war, but the largest rumble was in cultural change. Music, fashion, personal appearance, leisure, recreational drug use, values, self expression, and sexual behavior were all part of the "counter cultural" ethos. Some were in deep, some were merely being fashionable and others were mere posers. That's not like the Z's.
       Their single focus is staying alive in school, by forcing an errant government to do something about assault weapons, better gun licensing practices, better mental health services and hemming in the evil influence of the gun maker's sales arm, the NRA. They are laser focused, articulate, skilled organizers and determined. Some of them will vote soon.
Many of them will vote in 2020. Times are changing and that offers hope.
unless you are one of them
        Evidence of how divided this nation is sometimes shows up in ways that make you want to laugh, except for the pitiful and dreadful nature of it.
        Rick Santorum maybe the poster boy for the ignoramus culture. He criticized the student march movement saying they should spend that time and money learning CPR so they could save lives after the next shooting.
        Yes, there really are people who took exception to the March for our Lives movement. There is a rip in our social fabric and those believe in the deep state, or who find something sinister about students organizing to save their lives are, take your choice: dunces, boneheads, dimwits, nitwits, dumbbells, kooks, nincompoops or fools. 
         These are people who embody the idea their opinion is more valuable than fact. They are not inclined to work toward a common center or an acceptable compromise because they are fools, but you know they have a right to vote as well.
         Even after everything we have seen of this administration there are still some 40% of US voters who approve. This is a nation divided in many ways, but largely between those who believe in a better future or those who cling to the past, those willing to learn or those who already know all they need to know, those with knowledge or those with attitudes. 
         But when the kids who have grown up in a time of mass slaughter become voters, watch a seismic change occur. Talk about refreshing...

the national fund raiser
      I think we saw a glimpse of an idea that could make tons of money for the US treasury or an appropriate relief effort, maybe Puerto Rico. 
       Former Vice President Biden and the trump cretin did a little trash talking at each other. Joe said if he had known bully boy donnie the predator back in the day he would have taken him out back. Well, don't you imagine people would pay to see Joe and the liar go a couple of rounds in a boxing ring. Actually I doubt if trump could last even one round, the lard bucket coward that he is. I know it's off the boards weird but these are weird times and trump has big time wrestling experience. 
       Now that would be must see, TV.

     See you down the trail.  


Saturday, March 24, 2018

THEY WILL BE A FORCE

   From California to Washington DC a generational force spoke with a clear, concise and powerful voice. People under 18, who have lived their lives in an age of mass slaughter and school shooter drills say enough! No more BS. They have their own targets, the NRA and Congressman who are on the NRA payroll.


     I have been blown away by the articulate and reasoned voice of this generation, who we have seen and heard since Parkland. 
     Local media said some 7,000 people were expected at the march and rally in San Luis Obispo, a city of 49 thousand. 
     
        The signs say it all.








































    The local students were stunning in their candor, power, eloquence and force.






     I've covered protests and rallies since the 1960's and I've rarely been as impressed as I was today.  These kids give us hope.

    See you down the trail.