No Kings in America

Let's roll.  Creative non-violent resistance has been proven historically to be a profoundly powerful, effective instrument of social change.  Here are my signs for today's No Kings Protest:

#NoKings

As Bernie Sanders often says: It is better to show up, than to give up.

You're going to throw a Senator to the ground in MY country for trying to ask a question to a sociopathic puppy killer up on stage talking about "liberating LA" "from the socialists" "and the "bad leaders"? You're going to unleash a sociopathic, ketamine-fueled oligarch with a chainsaw to parade around on stage while his team of data-breaching little traitors downloads and uploads all our personal data to RUSSIA, and while they simultaneously dismantle our federal government? You are going to tear up the streets of my hometown with tanks today, so the "dear leader" can have an obscene military "parade"? You are unleashing marines to the streets of LA and having them arrest civilians? Yeah, I'll be at the protest, no matter WHAT. 😠

#DammitJim 
#NoKings 
#CreativeNonViolentResistance

Memorial Day

With my eyes closed, I travel back to my Ocean, back through time, I'm a small child.  Yet I'm not, I'm aware that it is now, and I've had all the experiences, all the losses, all the wisdom gained, all the heartbreaks, all the disillusionment, all the clarity, that I have now.  I travel back, with an ache in my heart, and I run down 21st Street to the Boardwalk.  It's amazing to be able to run again, in this dream, down 21st Street, and then feeling and hearing the sandy wooden boards of the boardwalk beneath my bare feet.  And then through the sand on the beach to my Ocean.  I used to call out to the Ocean, once I reached its edge, but this time I don't, my grief is too heavy.  I just stand there.  But the ocean calls to me, as it always did.

Thank God you are still here, I think silently, but it can hear me, I know.  Everything is gone now, on this Memorial Day.  But you are still here, Ocean.  And with my eyes closed I can travel to you, here in Ocean City.  And you are the same, thank God.  But behind me, everything is gone.  Phillip's Crab House is gone, which I can't bear, and which makes me glad that I'm not really, physically, there, because it would be impossible to bear not having their distinct crab spice mixing with and infusing your salt air.  The Surfrider Motel is gone.  My parents are gone.  And, Ocean, now my country is gone, too.

And the Ocean softly replies with breaking waves, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay.  And, as has always struck me and strikes me again:  the Ocean doesn't care.  It's okay, it's okay, it's okay.  Come in, come in, come in.  Or not, or not, or not. It's always struck me that the Ocean doesn't care, really.  Yet we have this very close relationship, and always have, and it does care, in its non-caring way.  The Ocean is the only thing on this earth that is comforting by not caring.  Because it says, it's okay, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here.  It's okay.  I was here before the Surfider was.  I was here before Phillip's was.  I was here before your parents were born.  I was here before you were born.  I was here long before your country was called your country.  I was here before, before, before.  I'm here now, I'll be here for a long, long, long time.  So, do you see, my child, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay?  It's okay, it's okay, it's okay.    

But, Ocean, how can you say that?  Everything is gone.  Everyone is gone.  And nothing is the same but you. And I start to cry then, as I say that to my Ocean.  I weep, as I continue listening to the Ocean's non-caring yet caring comforting communication, which is the same as it ever was.  Come in, come, come, come in.  Come in, my child.  I walk in until it carries me, and my salty tears mix with the salty sea foam.  The Ocean washes my tears away from my face and accepts them as part of itself.  I'm part of my Ocean, right in this particular, wonderful, awesome spot, where I have become one with it since I was a small child.

Please, let me stay here, Ocean, I can't go back.  I can't go back with no parents, no Phillip's, no Surfrider, and no country.  Let me swim out farther, carry me out.  But my Ocean sends me back, go back, go back.  I am still here and I will be here for you, my grief-stricken, grown-up little one, so come back, come back, come back, whenever you need me.  Leave me your tears and I'll hold them, this Memorial Day and always.

Never Again is Now

At sunset today, 4/23/2025, Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel) begins. The best way I know to honor the 6 million Jewish people (and approximately 11 million human beings in total) murdered in the Holocaust is to live the lessons and warnings that the survivors told us, and those still with us continue to tell us: Never again.

Right now, there are still 59 hostages held in dark tunnels by a genocidal terrorist group that has a written creed of wiping out Jews. Said group invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, massacred over 1,200 human beings--men, women, children, and babies in their cribs and parents' arms. They raped people. They massacred multiple generations of entire families, and decimated entire kibbutzim communities. They shot pets dead as a punctuation mark to show that they could. They massacred young people at a peace-centered music festival. The took 251 innocent people hostage, including men, women, children, Holocaust survivors, and BABIES. And all this they justified in their minds and hearts by "othering" Jewish people, just as the Nazis did.

Never again is a warning that means: never think it can't happen again. Never think it can't happen here. Never LET it happen again. Never LET it happen here. Human beings are capable of great acts of selfless love and altruism, of heroism and moving mountains for each other. But human beings are also capable of staggering cruelty and barbarism, and all it takes is othering. Dehumanizing the "other". This is how our own current POTUS rose to power the first time, talking of bans and walls. And the second time, talking about invasions and about immigrants "eating the dogs", which was a lie, but it is what he does: he others, he capitalizes on fear and hate as fuel. Hate is his fuel.

So the only way I can honor the 6 million of my own people and the 11 million human beings in total who were systematically exterminated by the Nazis while most people in Germany looked the other way since those "others" were dehumanized in their minds and hearts is to SPEAK UP when I see it in my own time.

There are 59 of my people right now who are still being tortured and held captive in dark tunnels by a barbaric, ruthless terrorist organization that has othered and kidnapped them. They've now been there for 564 days, since that terrible, tragic day I described above, October 7, 2023. LET MY PEOPLE GO! And in my own country, the POTUS has kidnapped and disappeared hundreds of people to a concentration camp in a foreign country, and is refusing to follow Supreme Court orders, first to turn planes around in the sky, and now to bring at least one specific person back. The hundreds of people he has kidnapped to date have had NO DUE PROCESS, so anything the POTUS and his followers say to try to justify why he did this is completely irrelevant--none of his "othering" is relevant: those kidnapped and sent to a concentration camp in a foreign country have not had due process! BRING THEM BACK!

The best way to honor the victims and survivors of the Holocaust is to learn the lessons of it, to learn what othering and dehumanizing leads to, and to listen to, and heed, the warnings--the tireless, consistent warnings of the survivors: don't think it can't happen again. Don't think it can't happen here. Silence helps the oppressor, never the oppressed. Silence is complicit. Speak up.

#NeverAgainIsNow

#BringThemHomeNow

#LetMyPeopleGo

Break the Glass

Whew, boy howdy. I saw the fascist's Easter message posted on a friend's Facebook page and I was hoping it was satire, but no, it was all too real.  How can anyone read or listen to anything the man says and not recognize that he's, one, insane, and, two, a clear and present danger to this country?  How can congress just turn a blind eye to the countless ways he has eggregiously violated our constitution in this term alone?  They are not only silent and not doing anything to stop him, they are actively enabling him by doing things like trying to impeach federal judges who attempt to uphold our constitution and rule of law by ruling against this lawless dictator.

Everyone in the majority party (repugs) in Congress who are not acting to stop this man are themselves now treasonous traitors to the United States of America.

It's up to us, you guys, us rag-tag, crazy quilt of humanity known as the American people, us and our courts are all we have left because our wise, awesome, and powerful constitution is mute and powerless words on parchment paper unless WE ensure it is upheld.  Congress is sworn to do so but, as I've already covered, the majority party is a bunch of TREASONOUS TRAITORS and yes, I'm back to all caps again, which I know I've been engaging in far, far, FAR more than usual since the fascist got back into power but in case of emergency BREAK THE GLASS:  use all caps, dammit.  Take to the streets, call Congress, call Congress again, and again, take to the streets again, and again.  Show up at town halls, show up at your representatives' offices, protest at Tesla dealerships and wherever DOGE shows up, fly an American flag upside down (again:  in case of emergency, break the glass--if there was ever a time to fly the American flag upside down, THIS IS IT).

This insane, sociopathic, malignant narcissistic, treasonous traitor, cruel fascist dictator and Russian asset cannot remain in office, he should be impeached, convicted and removed.  Short of that, at LEAST he needs to be reigned in by the courts so that he, for example, stops disappearing people with ZERO DUE PROCESS to concentration camps in a foreign country.  Will the repug Congress ever wake up and smell the overthrow of our constitution, rule of law, separation of powers, democracy and entire government?

Asking for my country.

California should secede from the USA and become its own sovereign country IMMEDIATELY.

Okay, so I'm over my brief febrile thought re "Why doesn't California become part of Canada?!", as it was subsequently pointed out to me that Canada would never go for that, since California has a bigger population than the ENTIRE COUNTRY OF CANADA, so if they accepted California as a province, it (California) would immediately have more power/influence on decision-making than the whole rest of the country combined.  So I'm over that brief but beautiful impossible dream.  But now I'm really, really, really not only back to California becoming its OWN country, but I'm back with a bullet, so to speak, because I strongly, strongly, strongly and passionately believe that the #CalExit initiative will take waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long, and we don't have that kind of time.  It won't even be on the CA ballot until 2028 (and meanwhile America is going full fascist as we speak), and even then, the ballot initiative is just about forming a commission to study the idea.  While I get that NORMALLY one shouldn't just RUSH willy-nilly to secede from one's country, and that rather it should be carefully and thoughtfully planned, let me shout incredibly loudly that:  THIS IS NOT A NORMAL TIME, AND WE DO NOT HAVE TIME, AND CALIFORNIA NEEDS TO DIVORCE THE THE USA NOW!

Traitortot, Putin, Muskrat and their merry band of fascist oligarchs, fascist oligarch-wannabees, and fascist oligarch-complicit bleeps, are in the process of dismantling our government in a COUP.  We do not have until 2028!  California needs to secede now and, before anyone says, "but the constitution says states cannot secede", I say, one, that's highly debatable and, more relevant at this moment is number TWO:  the treasonous traitor in the White House has already overthrown the constitution of the United States of America, I don't know if you all have noticed.  In fact, I do know that many Americans have NOT noticed.  Yet.  But everyone will understand soon enough.  Anyway, so if the constitution and rule of law no longer apply, and a treasonous traitor puppet of Putin is in the White House, WHY oh WHY WHY WHY on this earth would California (or any other US state that feels like it) not simply DECLARE:  "We're seceding, as in NOW, we're gone, goodbye, na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!"?

Answer Key:  there is NO reason not to do that NOW, and every reason TO do it now.  AND, furthermore, I think that the Orange Foolius would welcome it, as CALIFORNIA WEILDS HUGE ELECTORAL POWER AND CALIFORNIA IS DEEP BLUE.  Granted, the Orange Foolius doesn't really even have to concern himself with that anymore, what with he is DEFINITELY not going to allow any future presidential elections, but even without CA participating in non-existent future elections, why would the Orange One want CA in the mix at all, because Californians are NOT going to put up with the whole treasonous traitor, fascist oligarchy, dismantling the US for parts and then giving the keys to Putin THING.  If civil war breaks out, guess which side most Californians would fight on?  It wouldn't be on the side of Clockwork Orange, I can tell you that.  So I think he would just say okay, go.  You want to go?  Go.  He'd be thrilled.  He hates California.

Seriously--I've never been more serious about anything in my entire life--California needs to declare, simply DECLARE:  we're out.  I know we had (past tense) a union and all, but that was before the US Executive Branch went full fascist and before the Supreme Court said the Executive Branch doesn't have to follow the rule of law when doing an "official act"!  47 can just say EVERYTHING he does is an "official act".

California, breathtakingly beautiful (physically and culturally) state of my birth, somehow hear my plea:  SAVE YOURSELF, save your citizens, save your awesome environment, save your progressive, beautiful values and culture and, last but not least, save ME because I think I'd have birthright citizenship!  Get OUT of this crazy country and become your own California Republic.  NOW.  Not forming a commission to study it in 2028, there is not time for that.  Long before 2028 the US will be part of Russia.  As soon as Traitortot gets Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal, then he is going to hand the ENTIRE KIT AND CABOODLE, including the US of A proper, over to PUTIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

California: secede now! It really won't be hard, the secession itself: just say "we hereby secede from the United States of America". DONE! The hard part will be forging a new country, but we're (and I say "we're" because I'm moving there the nanosecond you secede) going to have to do that AFTER we secede. Right now, it's like fleeing an abusive relationship: first, GET OUT.

DO IT, I beg of you!

Clarity

 To all those silent since October 7, 2023:

If you think I will ever forget, you are wrong.

I may walk past you on the street 10 years from now and the first thing I will think is "You were SILENT."

I may walk past the doors of a place/community that at one point I loved and was central to my core and my life, 10 years from now, and think "You were SILENT and/or worse."

You may approach me in a crowd 10 years from now and wonder, "What's her problem?"

But you need never, ever wonder, 10 years from now, if you are SILENT now, and/or worse, and have been since October 7, 2023.

Because if you approach me 10 years from now--or now--and I am silent or worse, it's because you were silent or worse after October 7th.

And I'm clear on who you are and where we stand.