By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
Time flies when you’re having fun, yes? Here we are, closing in on Spring of 2014 with a ferocity that makes 2012 seem like gentle and kindly tales from the good old days. The disruptive elections of 2000 and 2008 seem as distant in near-memory as text in a worn history book. Looking back, it seems to me that we hit the new century running, only to meet a wormhole that sent us into a parallel universe ruled by illogic and superstition.
Remember when starting a war without taxing to pay for it was called kicking the can down the road to victimize our grandchildren? Remember when starting a war required dire provocation? When making no attempt to perform one’s duties as lawmaker was considered a near-criminal act of irresponsibility? When scamming the public — even if it took ages to get past legal obstructions as it did with “Kenny Boy” Lay in the Enron scandal — landed someone in jail? And remember when rule of law really meant something, rather than law that had been quietly tinkered with behind our backs to remove public protections and shift power to the elite?
I suspect you’ve discovered, dear reader, why “May you live in interesting times” is considered a Chinese curse. As each day plays out, those of us watching the global screen are both mesmerized and repulsed by the seeming witlessness and chaos we’re witnessing. If we had a magic wand to right a wrong, mend a rip in the fabric of civilization, where might we start? If a genie gave us just three wishes, how could we optimize our ability to turn things around, find our way back to square one and the root of our problems?
I would dearly love to make some headway on the issue of guns, for instance, gone completely out of control thanks to the stubborn refusal of the NRA and its followers to consider sensible gun law. The margin of error in firearms accidents is unforgiving, and since Murphy’s Law seems to apply doubly when faced with lethal outcomes, despite Pub objections to the contrary, it’s reasonable that intelligent people would build in some kind of regulation and legal prohibition to stop the mayhem.
We might insist that all gun owners take a mandatory safety class, for instance, and not just in using their weapons but in securing them. A four-year old in Arizona fatally shot his Dad this month, while a four-year old in Detroit killed her four-year old cousin with a loaded rifle found under the bed. Statistics are perilous for America’s children, but even adults with proper training must be careful with a weapon designed to produce death. This week a gent accidentally killed himself before a horrified audience while demonstrating gun safety. Bet they won’t forget THAT life lesson.
Florida has disappeared completely into alternate reality, of course, giving over control of the asylum to the inmates. A legally blind man in Orlando received Stand Your Ground immunity for killing his buddy after a night of heavy drinking followed by a quick morning trip to the liquor store for another six-pack. The man, named — get this — John Wayne Rogers, perceived his friend as a threat at some point and went for his assault weapon, killing him dead. Rogers has a long record of violence due to a (no pun intended) hair-trigger temper but since his friend was on his property, that was moot.
Under the law, Rogers was exonerated and even received his weapon back, although the judge seemed reluctant to do so, saying, “I have researched and haven’t found case law to say otherwise.” In this alternate state (of universe and reality), even criminals who have been denied weapons can plead Stand Your Ground when they illegally use one. And again, this defense seems unflappable most often if one is white.
I suppose we could make all guns disappear with three wishes, but that’s kind of like taking away scissors so nobody can run with them. At some point in the learning process, maturity, accountability and good sense are supposed to kick in. Planet Terra isn’t a kindergarten class, for goodness sakes, even if it’s currently behaving like one!
Perhaps we could use our three wishes to replace the leadership of various nations, but another regressive personality would likely step up to replace — let’s say — Putin, in his push for return to yesteryear. And if L’il Kim were gone today, China would have to appoint a new Kim to take his place. The North Koreans, bless them, have existed in the hinterland so long it will take a generation or more to heal their wounds, bring them into modernity, and break their dependence on Dear Leader to direct their every move. The Chinese won’t jump in to the rescue, they would argue that they have enough mouths to feed as it is.
Here at home, we’d have to be prudent with our wishes, finding the right place for them. As messy as it seems, civil liberties are actually in a muscular process of change and don’t need our wishes. Gender equality, issues of race and financial inequality, even the so-called war against women, have an established platform for progress, even if it seems painful and slow. What catches the public’s attention is already in “group mind,” gathering energy to advance itself. Those projects need our commitment and activism in order to change a regressive sub-culture that attempts to block progress, but the coming months will find more of us involved as the 2012 energies make these issues more personal.
We might use a wish to improve the economy or restore the crumbling infrastructure, but a more mature and less punitive understanding of substance and manifestation would take care of that. Repairing the infrastructure, as Obama wishes to do, could provide some of the jobs we long for and improve the economic situation, but not if they’re just “make work” programs. We need real changes for a 21st century culture, aligned with the technologies that will create a sustainable future. We can’t do that until we come clean about our unsustainable lifestyle.
The obscene use of corporate money and influence, of plutocratic leverage and influence-buying, could use a wave of the wand, but that’s also a matter of consciousness. Pity that evolution is a journey and not a destination, at least in the short term. We desperately need a return to a reasonable universe, we need a leap of consciousness.
Not every billionaire wants to turn the entire world into a machine feeding their coffers, although many do and the Kochs, financiers to righty regressive causes, can’t seem to help themselves. They have the money of Midas and they’re using it to try to buy this year’s election as we speak. It’s something of a moral dilemma, is it not, to insist that a corporation has the rights of a citizen? That a donation is the equivalent of “pay to play?” That a for-profit organization can take a planet hostage? And all legally?
Our Supreme Court is taking a look at this question in a case insiders are calling Citizens United, Part II. In an unprecedented incident, a representative of a group called 99Rise infiltrated the oral arguments in McCutcheon vs. FED this week. The gentleman rose to object to the Citizens United ruling, et al, and even got a clip on camera, verboten in Supreme chambers. Expanding corporate influence through spending is a worrisome prospect, given the explosive amount of money being spent within the political process already.
A billionaire has been in the headlines recently saying that one should be entitled to as many votes as the number of dollars one pays in taxes. When money is interpreted as speech and influences the vote, then what shall we make of the Koch brothers’ contribution of $67,042,064 to groups denying climate change since 1997? To some of us, that could be interpreted as a threat to national security. To all of us, it should be considered the worsening of our global emergency.
Think not? Have you met the winter storm, aptly named Titan, that could be causing you grief as you read this? Al Roker, weatherman to the nation, says it’s a monster. Well off the coast of California today, 30 to 40 foot waves have gathered under driving rain. The Sierra Nevada mountains are receiving significant and welcome snow, while the parched state itself is getting a drenching. Good news for a region in dangerous drought, you say? Something to balance out the dire predictions of abandoned cities and tinder-dry forests and limited food production in the nation’s greenbelt, bringing water levels closer to normal?
Well, good news and bad on that front. Yes, it’s much needed water, but we haven’t invested in technology to take advantage of it. Now it’s flooding and here come the mudslides. And normal? Not even close. In Azusa, homes built in a cul-de-sac below a hilltop found a giant boulder had slipped during the night, rolling down the hill and exposing smoldering embers from a burn that had caused emergency fires over a month ago. Santa Ana winds fanned the spark and now it’s burning again, despite the pounding rain. Homes have been evacuated, and this has been chalked up as one more wildly improbable and bizarre weather event.
As we come to the crux of the gathering 2012 energies, pulling the trigger on another round of Pluto/Uranus transformative power, it seems clear that tyrants du jour — like Putin and the pudgy, despotic North Korean Kim, as well as demagogues like Ted Cruz, amping up his apostolic fear-mongering preacher of a father on a pre-election speaking tour — are just localized enemies of progress and civilization. Climate change, and our brain-dead denial of its harsh reality, is the real fire-breathing dragon endangering our continuance.
There is more hope from the bottom up than the top down, although Obama seems newly willing to risk the advancement of environmental progress. And developing nations seem to be much more willing to work toward environmental stability than the U.S., with 62 of 66 nations making significant progress on climate law last year, according to the Globe. Meanwhile, wind and solar are beginning to make solid inroads into the energy mix, welcomed by a public demanding options to rising energy costs.
Unless we are able to solve this fundamental challenge of energy production at the cost of the environment, we cannot project a vibrant future at all, so this is where our study of wishes ends. This may not be the single existential problem that caused our wonky behavioral shift in these last decades, but it is surely the emergency that rightfully deserves whatever magic and miracles we can bring to recreate nature in some semblance of balance. Until and unless we can get a grip on this situation, we’re simply whistling past the graveyard. And until we can sway this situation on a national and international level, we must put our best foot forward at the local level, identifying and supporting local movements, such as this hydroponic community garden.
The 2012 energies are gathering to slap us up-side the head, to get our attention in a big way. Where those energies flow will give us a good look at what’s important in the coming years, where change must take us. The Russians are sucking up the available air at the moment but that’s not the crux of our global dilemma. Our politics are ridiculous and toxic, our economics depressing, the job market less than robust, but none of that trumps the importance of our ability to deal with climate change.
The national mythologies of a bygone era have begun to fade, without much of a whimper. The proposed whittling down of the military has been met with hysteria on the right but a sure sense of pragmatic purpose by the rest of the nation. American superiority is no longer the thing we’re most anxious about. Economic issues preoccupy us, and it’s clear that food, heating and cooling costs, energy and travel issues, are directly impacted by climate concerns. As long as this radical weather keeps blowing up our skirts, a potent reminder of all we cannot control, our focus will continue to narrow until it comes down to the essential truth of a new era, flipping us out of that wormhole to face reality.
I remain hopeful that the severity of our challenges will strip back the layers of self-protection and malaise that we’ve wrapped around ourselves, and bring us to a renewal of common cause as we gather to meet local needs. If I had three wishes, they would all be that we cared so much about one another that we would no longer allow these inequities to stand, that we would do all that needs doing to ensure our global future. That we would stop letting children kill children, that we would stop allowing deniers to kill our planet with their ignorance and murder our chances for a sustainable future.
As ever, politics is personal. The cup of tea we offer our neighbor is a kind of political interaction, the combining of energies to become a larger communal entity, able to influence for good. As we link, one to another, to make our way through such a global challenge as weather emergency and turn back to the natural order, let’s remember that it’s our job to bring healing and sanity back to this little universe we share. There is nothing so personal as our communal well being and very little so important as meeting that challenge with willing hands and an open, loving heart. And the first step is facing the truth.
Judith,
The three wishes triggered thoughts of those surveys that assign values to personal questions and then categorize you with point values. Faced by our numerous worlwide conundrums it looks like this:
#1 Which will happen first:
A) The Pubs retake the House and Senate in 2014.
B) The Supreme court rules against corporations as a person and political contributions.
C) The Fukushima fallout destroys the entire Pacific Ocean,Japan and the West coast of America. Hurricanes wipe out the entire East coast and Keystone pipeline destroys the Midwest.
D) Aliens show up and expose all plutocrats for what they are.
#2 Who will win Presidency/VP in 2016.
A) Sarah and Bristol Palin
B) Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan redux.
C) Hillary and Bill Clinton (If Hil dies in office we will work that one out)
D) Cruz/Rand
E) Christie and his bestie cell mate
F) Pubs give up 2016 hoping for 2020 when Cruz/Rand can win third party. Appoint Christie Secretary of State when he is pardoned.
#3 What will be state of the world in 2020 (just 6 years away by the way!!!)
A) Hil and Bill run for second term with Dem House and Senate. Pub party is permanently splintered and third party of Independents run a Warren/Sanders ticket and Win!!!
B)The US leads the way with massive green power and infrastructure projects that revolutionize the world,clean up the water, air and earth.
C) Nuclear power is declared a massive mistake and all plants are closed down and cleaned up.
D)Putin becomes president of the world.
E) Koch brothers win 2020 election and become co-rulers of the world with Putin.
F) Aliens intervene.
G) The age of Aquarius kicks in full force and “its one for all and all for one” and the Piscean age ends abruptly. All pedophile priests are incarcerated and all Churches give ALL their money and help to the meek.
Values: A) 6 B) 5 C) 4 D)3 E) 2 F)1 G)0
Calculate your score and you are the following:
18+ — You are a rabid Pub which is a breed that is designated for declassification by the Westchester Kennel Club.
14-17 — You read right wingnut articles only and have only one channel –FAUX News.
10-13– You are hopeful for the dying embers of a hopeful dying old Dem party.
5-9– You are evloving into the Aquarian Age and have much to add to a very bright future in a revolutionized world with sustainability as the focus and mutual admiration for the trip we are all on.
0-4 — You are on a trip and that new medical marijuana dispensary is conveniently one block away. Now get off the couch and clean the peanut and chocolate off the fabric. Did you here that… must be the ALIENS……
PS Judith:
I remember kindergarten -I was finger painting a Monet when a classmate came in and destroyed my art. I pummeled him with a pile of those old blocks with colored letters. First week and detention already! First of three!!! Must be a sign.
And if you make it out to Temecula please do let me know be happy to catch you in the area.
GB
William Rivers Pitt has a comprehensive article at truthout.org that covers many of our current challenges. He sums up one of our major problems with this:
“I believe President Obama, who talks about the environment while pushing the Keystone pipeline, who talks about economic inequality while demanding fast-track authority for the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, is a Hall-of-Fame worthy bullshit artist. I believe the sooner people see this truth for what it is, the better. He is not your friend. He is selling you out.”
Go Putin! It is time America ended it’s imperialism. It’s past time, in fact. Currently living in Canada, I see things from a broader perspective and encourage people to consider there is no difference between the two sides of our political system. The media is controlled and we are misinformed in countless ways. Our education system fosters ignorance. Pity our children for unless we act now their future is set. A new form of slavery.
The potential for a bright future exists but NOT unless people make it so.
Dutchman’s apologies; “giving service” should read “getting service” (from) others. (sigh)
I bet you did have a hissy fit over that coloring book violation Jude. Not that I blame you one bit. Cousin didn’t even get permission probably.
My daddy used to say “you must judge a Dutchman by what he means, not what he says (writes, types)”, so by way of correcting my error when saying earlier that the Fukushima disaster had Saturn at 15 Capricorn, when in reality he was at 15 Libra then, I’m only channeling some poor confused Dutchman. Or maybe it was my Gemini dad. The meaning doesn’t changed much from it’s original intent though.
March 2011’s Fukushima Saturn at 15 Libra squares today’s Osiris and Itokawa and 2015’s Pluto at 15 Capricorn rather than conjuncts it like I said previously. Today’s Narcissus and Sisyphus (say THAT fast 3 times!) at 15 Aries and likewise March 2015’s Uranus at 15 Aries are/will be opposed by the 2011 Fukushima’s Saturn rather than being squared by him.
The point is that Itokawa (conjunct Osiris) today wants us to be aware there is a connection with Japan’s tragic event in 2011 to what Pluto could mean in 2015, and Osiris is telling us today that what has been rendered asunder could (later) be resurrected (Pluto).
Instead of today’s Narcissus (conjunct Sisyphus) being squared by 2011’s Saturn he (they) is (are) opposed him. It a “full moon”, reflective aspect more so than a challenging one. Today’s fully pre-occupied with self Narcissus has Time (Saturn) to reflect (but not much) because today it is only Osiris and Itokawa who challenge him to stop repeating the same mistake (he IS conjunct Sisyphus). Next year it will be Pluto challenging Uranus, and it won’t be just thunder, lightening snowdrifts and sinkholes vying for our attention. We still have time to clean up our act.
Thank you for the link reminding me of the 2 day (not 3 day like the Dutchman said last month) event following today’s New Moon. Juno’s arrival in Aries at the Aries Point and the south node’s arrival at the last degree in Aries seem to be driving home something about the rugged individual image we hold dear in the U.S. Something about values regarding home and “family” (Moon also in Aries) breaks through (conjunct Uranus) to us that will force us (square) to understand (Jupiter) that so much (Jupiter) of our needs (in Cancer) include being of service and/or giving service (Jupiter in Cancer is in the 6th house Washington DC chart for Juno ingress) to others.
Fortunately, transiting Saturn (stationed and retro by then) at 23+ Scorpio is at the MH of the ingress chart and will trine the U.S. Sibly Mercury (communications) at 23+ Cancer rx. In this chart he rules the 12th house of isolation, so any of us who get trapped by the snow/ice on Monday can just call dad, but it will cost you one way or another (Scorpio Saturn!)
be
A few days ago, I had a conversation with a colleague who told me about the challenges women had to deal with in the workplace several decades ago. So I am thankful about the strides achieved today, but these advances need to be maintained and increased so that everyone can benefit.
I am glad I am in a position where I don’t have to worry about my gender, just my professionalism and my competence.
Regarding gun violence, I wonder how many people have the mental discipline to handle a gun. It already takes effort and focus to handle fists, feet, sticks, swords…guns have a lot of power packed into them, but can be easily misused, or can malfunction all too often (malfunctions can happen especially during Mercury retrograde, and/or possibly Mars retrograde)…
Even mentally healthy people have days when they’re not feeling great. So it’s important to have a high degree of self-mastery, accuracy and luck before handling a gun…
Even the police can make mistakes when using guns. In Brazil, the police are turning to Brazilian jiu-jitsu to handle riots associated with the 2014 World Cup preparations (martial arts does inflict damage and pain, but it’s less deadly than guns, tasers etc.).
How to use force with a noble conscience is often missing from weapons training…I have Mars retrograde in Aries in the 1st house, and as a martial artist, I realize how important it is for an individual to have a decent goal in mind before learning how to fight. That is the difference between a hero and a brute.
Concerning the general situation of the US and the world, we do need an economy based on meeting people’s basic needs while respecting nature’s resources. Transitions are easier said than done though, the current system is problematic, but a viable alternative needs to be thought through carefully, while minimizing the pitfalls of an alternative system.
Some things still work in the current economic system, but the downsides are too big to disregard, which is why a change is needed, albeit caution is required.
I think reducing the military budget is a good idea, but then career alternatives need to be developed in the ecological and social realms (including infrastructure). For decades, people have relied on the military (including defense contracting) as a livelihood. While I think people should have military service experience in order to increase their ability to deal with adversity, and have the ability to assert for what is right in the face of bullies, there won’t always be wars that need to be fought. Rescues during natural disasters, or boating safety are some of the duties the military can have during peacetime.
Another reason why reforming the economy is important is because at this point in time, wars are fought over mineral and other resources, especially when political conditions make it hard for multinational companies to do whatever they want abroad. The foundation of prosperity needs to change, and the need to share resources with countries with different politics and different modes of governance is necessary.
I am not sure what to think of the situation in Ukraine (regarding political factions), but the idea of Russia treating Ukraine as a fossil fuel pawn without free will is a problem…
America needs to redefine its foundation, so that the nation can take care of itself, know when to intervene and when to step back abroad, and what to be concerned about.
I’ll have to think about the three wishes. Yes, I do have Jupiter in Gemini in the 3rd house, but I’ll have to think about that. With Saturn in Scorpio in my 9th house and Neptune in Pisces squaring my Jupiter, I am more prudent in what I wish for, and how I may want to go about it.
Early last month you had predictions of the goddess-sort for this potent Pisces moon, be, and I marked my calendar as I said I would (corresponding with my son’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Christopher Robin!) For an added layer of insight, everyone can review that info here, in the comment section.
Perhaps the kindergarten analogy works here, kiddo, but those of us working on long division are pretty tired of the half-day’ers marking up our papers with their stubby little crayons. Not that long ago we actually turned to the kids at the HEAD OF THE CLASS for answers. Now it seems we all acquiesce to the wisdom of the lowest common denominator and that’s NOT an art project I’m cozy with. (When I was wee, I had a rare tantrum when a younger cousin marked up my Cinderella coloring book without staying within the lines. NOBODY puts Baby in a corner and NOBODY scribbles in my coloring book. Just sayin’ … wink, wink, grin.)
I see you’re in the path for ice and snow, Miss Be, catching what doesn’t land on us, your neighbor to the west. Be warm, be well, be safe and thanks for adding your wisdom here today.
Hi Alison. I’m so glad to hear Santa Barbara is drinking in the moisture and that you are — knock on wood — good to go, although CNN is reporting that SB County is taking some hard hits. I’m waiting to hear from my kids in Temecula; they have a steep back bank with towering, shallow-rooted eucalyptus I fret about.
Thank you for the link and the heads up on Elizabeth Kolbert, I read an interview with her at Grist.
For some of us, it appears to be too late to stop our extinction, but if we thought there was essentially no hope to recover, here on Terra, all conversation would be filler, wouldn’t it? The non-sense about unlimited growth that led us to unfettered capitalism/consumerism drives our annihilation of everything in the way of getting and having, so that kindergarten-behavior has to stop before anything else rights itself.
Me, I’m not ready to throw in the towel. Seems to me that if we have the capacity to map the human genome, we should be able to figure out how to stop fouling our own nest. The thing I rely on is that, once we’re ready to face up to this, we have real experts to help us all, along with duplicatable projects and age old wisdom to quickly bring us up to speed, as well as a lot of passionate practitioners of green, sustainable living. [And, if god/dess is good, Space Brothers patiently waiting to step up and give us a hand.]
It doesn’t seem like a lot to ask — that some of us stop rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic and join the rest in rowing — but perhaps it’s the human heart that needs mapping, if we are to all get on the same page. Thanks for your thoughts, Alison. Please come back again.
Judith –
Out here in Santa Barbara, CA it’s a perfect day to be inside, mulling over your column. I look forward to it every week. In our area, the rain has been steady. No flooding so far. And walking around yesterday, I could feel how happy all of our trees, plants, creeks, and critters are. Thank goodness for this storm.
There’s another piece of gun legislation being debated this week in the Idaho legislature that has me scratching my head. Guns on college campuses. Here’s the link to an article penned by a professor at Boise State University. Funny and sobering, all at the same time.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/02/28/opinion/when-may-i-shoot-a-student.html?_r=0&referrer=
On the topic of climate change, Elizabeth Kolbert recently came through our area. She’s the author of “Sixth Extinction.” She’s thoughtful, articulate, and dedicated to educating people about climate change. Her interview with Terry Gross on FreshAir is worth a listen.
Lots of love and light,
Alison
Facing truth? Ouch! Yes Jude, truth be told it is a mad, mad world and I’m not totally convinced that our planet ISN’T the kindergarten of the Universe! Our planet doesn’t have to be just the first step in consciousness, that’s for sure, but there must be a group effort to advance so that even those truth-deniers can be given a chance to see the light. They do try the patience of the gods as well as we mere mortals though.
If there WERE a genie who could grant us 3 wishes I betcha he would probably be a Gemini; fond of multiples. 🙂 Wishing on stars is another long-held tradition, especially shooting stars. In an effort to promote gun control though, I would suggest just studying the stars, and planets, instead. There is often hope found among their various messages and today’s Pisces New Moon is no exception. Neptune conjuncts the Sun and Moon and they all trine Jupiter, so even though illogic and superstition does thrive in this kind of atmosphere, so too can the power of love.
There is magic hidden (from most of us) in the heavens at all times, but can be detected by the curious mind, especially at lunations and equinoxes and such. At those times the magic has lasting influence; years in earth-time. Today’s new moon in Pisces has influence for only a month – unless – it is tied to some other notable event, past or future, by aspect and maybe even other ways we have yet to detect.
For example, today’s new moon chart has an extraordinary set of double squares; Narcissus (focus exclusive on self) conjuncts Sisyphus (repeated failure), both at 15 Capricorn and they square Osiris (torn to pieces) and Itokawa (Japan, rocket science) at 15 Aries. This is remarkable because these degrees are where the last (7th) square between Pluto and Uranus will take place in March 2015.
We could look at this minor planet message in a negative way (the Fukushima explosion’s Saturn was at 15 Capricorn) or we could see the promise it holds by learning from the past. By raising our sites beyond our own success and well-being, and getting involved in ways to support our communities would be one way. If repeated failure is due to never changing your pattern, find a new pattern. Learn from our mistakes. If a society or your life has been torn to pieces, consider Isis who found almost all the pieces of her beloved Osiris, used her creativity to forge the missing parts, then put him back together again.
Today’s New Moon in Pisces finds Isis (gets it together) at 13 Taurus sextile Chiron (heal) at 13 Pisces and trine Pluto (regenerate) at 13 Capricorn. By looking back at our failures such as the March 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan, and then looking forward to the March 2015 final square (lesson) of Uranus to Pluto, we can face the truth here and now in March 2014 and change our pattern in time for the finals and hopefully get promoted to the 1st grade. This isn’t rocket science, it’s common sense. It’s not punishment for failure, it’s opportunity to advance. Many thanks for your wit, wisdom and perseverance Jude.
be
Here we go again! HOW I wish America still had the moral high-ground to point a finger at Putin, demand he give up the pretense of “democracy” and come clean about his ambitions. But — out, damned spot! — we all remember tanks rolling through Baghdad, reminding us that just because leaders of a country thump their chest and vote for aggression, that doesn’t make it right. The mirrors are flashing today, citizen! {{{sigh}}}
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/01/putin-russian-troops-crimea_n_4880076.html
Aw, Jere — I’ll use a wish to ensure your health and wellbeing. And I think I’m closing in on the wand, too, at least philosophically, but — as they say here in the Patch — any day above ground is a good one. Considering the American flirtation with death and violence, that plays! Thanks for dropping by.
The weather channel tells us that California has gotten more rain in the last three days than in the last 13 months, combined. There’s lots more moisture coming through, floods and winds and even warning for isolated tornados. There’s also avalanche warning from the Cascade mountains in WA to the Rockies. Be safe, everyone!
..only need one wish, to be well myself.. (still tryin’ to fashion that wand).
Love
Jere