Autumn... The Election Season

 

“The Lord is my shepherd. 

I shall not want for nothing.

 He makes me lie down in the green pastures.

 He greases up my head with oil.

 He gives me kung-fu in the face of my enemies. Amen” 

 
~Stephen King,

  The Stand

In case any rabid MAGA nutjob is reading that quote, and the words in this blog post, firstly, FUCK YOU, second, I believe the quote fits the not just the way I am feeling right now, but also the overall theme of this post.

 

 SO DEAL WITH IT!

 

 

We are planning on attending the, "No Kings" rally in Sacramento. We have decided we must take a bigger stand than bitching on social media! So, we are leaving the house early, and with blankets and sodas, and we are off to the event. Hopefully parking won't be a drama, and we can just focus on exercising our constitutional right to make our voices heard. It's called the First Amendment. It's precious, being it's being shattered, raped and degraded. 

 

Soon, Trump will be sending ICE into San Francisco to threaten and intimate. All as an excuse to disparage one of the most beautiful cities America has to offer. It's a big city, so yes there has been crime, but the crime rate has been steadily falling for years now. It's nonsense to invade the city, based of the whims of Elon Musk, and other tech assholes. I live in the San Joaquin Valley, but San Francisco will always be my home. Trump is an unimaginable liar and I hope whatever photos I am able to get will reflect that. 

 

Also, have you heard about this nonsense of putting him on a coin, with his likeness  after he was grazed by a bullet? And about that, why have we been given so little details about that day? It's clear something is being hid from us, shrug, I don't care enough about him to care, and yet at the same time, it's curious, isn't it? I don't deal in conspiracy theories, but with all the money he has made off that incident, it makes one wonder if it was actually all staged, but then it all went terribly wrong. Someone died. Remember that. Someone died.

 

Read The CNN Article

Finally, I am going to be voting YES on Proposition 50! It's time we fought back against Trump's obvious rigging of the upcoming, 2026 midterms, which, of course, could and probably would, lead to the Republicans winning the White House again in 2028, all based on gerrymandering. I can't do much about all the political chicanery, but I can vote, I can attend protests, I can stay informed, and you can bet your ballot, I will do just that!

All Over The World... The Women's March 1/21/17

"A man you can bait with a tweet, 

is not a man you can trust with nuclear weapons."

~Hillary Clinton

Following is an unedited transcript of the tape in which Donald J. Trumprepeatedly made vulgar comments about women. Mr. Trump was filmed talking to the television personality Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood” on the set of “Days of Our Lives,” where Mr. Trump was making a cameo appearance. They are later joined by the actress Arianne Zucker. The transcription is by Penn Bullock of The New York Times.

January 21st, 2017 will be remembered as the day women all over the world stood up, and fought back, because...

Women's Rights Are Human Rights!

Donald J. Trump: You know and ...

Unknown: She used to be great. She’s still very beautiful.

Trump: I moved on her, actually. You know, she was down on Palm Beach. I moved on her, and I failed. I’ll admit it.

Unknown: Whoa.

Trump: I did try and fuck her. She was married.

Unknown: That’s huge news.

Trump: No, no, Nancy. No, this was [unintelligible] — and I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping.

She wanted to get some furniture. I said, “I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture.” I took her out furniture —

I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look.

Billy Bush: Sheesh, your girl’s hot as shit. In the purple.

Trump: Whoa! Whoa!

Bush: Yes! The Donald has scored. Whoa, my man!

[Crosstalk]

Trump: Look at you, you are a pussy.

[Crosstalk]

Trump: All right, you and I will walk out.

[Silence]

Trump: Maybe it’s a different one.

Bush: It better not be the publicist. No, it’s, it’s her, it’s —

Trump: Yeah, that’s her. With the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

Bush: Whatever you want.

Trump: Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.

Bush: Uh, yeah, those legs, all I can see is the legs.

Trump: Oh, it looks good.

Bush: Come on shorty.

Trump: Ooh, nice legs, huh?

Bush: Oof, get out of the way, honey. Oh, that’s good legs. Go ahead.

Trump: It’s always good if you don’t fall out of the bus. Like Ford, Gerald Ford, remember?

Bush: Down below, pull the handle.

Trump: Hello, how are you? Hi!

Arianne Zucker: Hi, Mr. Trump. How are you? Pleasure to meet you.

Trump: Nice seeing you. Terrific, terrific. You know Billy Bush?

Bush: Hello, nice to see you. How you doing, Arianne?

Zucker: Doing very well, thank you. Are you ready to be a soap star?

Trump: We’re ready, let’s go. Make me a soap star.

Bush: How about a little hug for the Donald? He just got off the bus.

Zucker: Would you like a little hug, darling?

Trump: O.K., absolutely. Melania said this was O.K.

Bush: How about a little hug for the Bushy? I just got off the bus.

Zucker: Bushy, Bushy.

Bush: Here we go. Excellent. Well, you’ve got a nice co-star here.

Zucker: Yes, absolutely.

Trump: Good. After you.

[Break in video]

Trump: Come on, Billy, don’t be shy.

Bush: Soon as a beautiful woman shows up, he just, he takes off. This always happens.

Trump: Get over here, Billy.

Zucker: I’m sorry, come here.

Bush: Let the little guy in here, come on.

Zucker: Yeah, let the little guy in. How you feel now? Better? I should actually be in the middle.

Bush: It’s hard to walk next to a guy like this.

Zucker: Here, wait, hold on.

Bush: Yeah, you get in the middle, there we go.

Trump: Good, that’s better.

Zucker: This is much better. This is —

Trump: That’s better.

Zucker: [Sighs]

Bush: Now, if you had to choose honestly between one of us. Me or the Donald?

Trump: I don’t know, that’s tough competition.

Zucker: That’s some pressure right there.

Bush: Seriously, if you had — if you had to take one of us as a date.

Zucker: I have to take the Fifth on that one.

Bush: Really?

Zucker: Yup — I’ll take both.

Trump: Which way?

Zucker: Make a right. Here we go. [inaudible]

Bush: Here he goes. I’m gonna leave you here.

Trump: O.K.

Bush: Give me my microphone.

Trump: O.K. Oh, you’re finished?

Bush: You’re my man, yeah.

Trump: Oh, good.

Bush: I’m gonna go do our show.

Zucker: Oh, you wanna reset? O.K.

    NO RESET FOR YOU MR. TRUMP!

 

 

Mood: Happy/Inspired/Encouraged

~Me :)

1,000 Words

"When you have police officers who abuse citizens, you erode public confidence in law enforcement. That makes the job of good police officers unsafe."

~Mary Frances Berry

I photographed this young police officer, last month, on Black Friday, in San Francisco's Union Square. As you might expect, it was very busy there that day, there were shoppers, tourists, homeless folks, maintenance workers, the usual protesters of different causes, and there was the need for added security because of expected unrest due to the grand jury's decision in the Michael Brown case. Alan and I didn't stay that day, he simply circled the block so I could take a few random photos to post here on Ellipsis. It was just too crowded to stop as we usually do, so I did my photos and we decided to go down to the Embarcadero instead. After all, there is the Embarcadero Center for shopping, as well as a great ice skating rink, similar to the one at Union Square. And an added plus, there is a really nice underground garage which always seems to be warm! What more could a girl as for? And we had a pretty nice time that day, but there was plenty going on back at Union Square.

After we got home, came the live photos and news reports of the violence which had broken out at Union Square shortly after we left. As darkness fell, and the holiday shoppers waited for the Square's annual Christmas tree lighting, along came some protesters making their voices heard about the Michael Brown case, unfortunately their were accompanied by some bitter hearts and opportunists who were out to assault police officers and vandalize buildings that night. As it was, several San Francisco Police officers were injured, as they tried to protect innocent folks just there to shop and have fun with their families.  As I heard these reports, I couldn't help but wonder if the cop, whose photo I snapped that day, was among the injured for doing nothing more that doing his job? He was there to make people like me feel safe. The day after Thanksgiving has become something quite different than when I was a child... or even a young adult. While I understand the need for protest, and even applaud it, I don't understand the use of violence to protest violence.

While this police officer didn't look especially happy that I was photographing him, he never once told me to put the camera away. He never once demanded that I erase the photo of him doing his job, if anything he just went about what he was asked to do... his job! It wasn't an easy thought. It wasn't easy to decided when, if ever, to show this photo. In the weeks to come, after Black Friday, the violence and protests have gotten bigger and more intense. In fact now we have two dead NYPD officers, executed in their patrol car in Brooklyn. Two men with families. Two men who had nothing to do with the killing of Eric Garner, a man killed for doing nothing, but refusing to be arrested for... doing nothing. He wasn't committing a crime when one particular NYPD officer used deadly force on him. The New York city Coroner declared Eric Garner's death a homicide, but the grand jury in that case also chose to not charge a white police officer in the death of an unarmed black man.

Where will 2015 lead us?
  As the year ends I find myself with more questions than answers about the year that is about to end. 

1.Why did Phillip Seymour Hoffman not simply enjoy what he had, why did he have to lean on drugs to fulfill him? 

2. What happened to Malaysian Airlines 370?

3. Why did all those poor folks have to die when their plane was shot down over the Ukraine?

4. Why did Robin Williams kill himself?

5. Why didn't Joan River's doctor just do her job and take good care of her?

6. Why did an entire nation of voters, vote against their own interests and put so many Republicans in office?

7. Why won't Obama stop looking for respect and admiration from Republicans?

8. Why did North Korea take a ridiculous little movie so damn hard?

9. Why aren't big corporations taking cyber security seriously?

10. Hell, why doesn't the United States take it more serious?

11. Why are there so many holes in the Secret Service protection of our president?

12. Why did our friend have to kill himself one dark night?
13. Why can't I seem to lose these 10... no 12... pounds I want to lose?
14. Will my stupid HTC Vivid phone, that takes amazing photos, just hang on for one more month?
15. Where the HELL did my brand new pink Nikon CoolPix S3600 go? I got it in August, and it's been missing since October!
16. Why did an unarmed man in Brooklyn, not committing a crime, have to die in a choke-hold?
17. Why did an unarmed man die at the hands of the police, in a Walmart, for holding an air rifle, an item sold in that store?
18. Why did the police use deadly force on a 12 year old African American boy, for holding a toy gun?
19. Why did so many young black men and boys die this year?
20. Are we done fretting over Ebola yet?
21. Will the Hague ever come get the torturers? DICK CHENEY AND COMPANY?
22. Are we over the Kardashians yet? No? Why?
23. Why is Teresa Giudice going to prison, but not DICK CHENEY AND COMPANY?
24. Was the young policeman in this photo okay when the day ended on Black Friday?
25. As I type this, yet another plane filled with people has disappeared. Why? What happened?
26. Is the California drought finally over?
27. Why can we find enough budget for war, but not body cameras for all police officers. It makes everyone safer!
28. Did that young police officer mind me taking his photo that day?
30. Isn't that photo worth a thousand words?

Has Black Friday taken on a new meaning?

. Why... why... why... why... why... why... why... why... why... ?

2014 was just all about the WHY?

I am ready for 2015 to be here already.

Mood: Quiet

~Me 

PS... This post contains exactly 1051 words, not including this post script.

Hands Up Don't Shoot

"Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world would do this, it would change the world."

~William Faulkner

If you enjoy ice cream as much as I do, and want to also support a small business, I highly recommend Cream on Telegraph in Berkeley. And especially now, more than ever, I think I am feeling like picking up some of the delicious ice cream and fabulous warm cookies they sell. You see, they had their windows broke out on Sunday night, by some trouble making opportunists using the tragic decisions made by two different grand juries in New York and Missouri in the deaths of two unarmed men, Michael Brown and Eric Garner to not march for justice, but rather to serve their own selfish interests, and cause the act of peaceful civil disobedience to become an almost hopeless action.

How exactly breaking the windows of businesses and looting helps the cause, is beyond me, but that is the point of this post. I love Berkeley, I love the shops, I love the people. I love the energy the college students bring to the town. I love the Cal Bears. I love the trees. I love Tilden Park like  like it was a member of my family... because in a way... it is! I love the view of San Francisco from Grizzly Peak Boulevard and I love Berkeley for it's ability to take a stand against injustice. I not only love Berkeley for that last one, I admire it for that! We, as Americans, MUST stand up against the oppression of others! As Americans we MUST not look away when any group of people is at risk or have lost their civil rights, let alone any one man. WE MUST LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD... but not with our fists, not with clubs, and not by destroying the very home we live in!

I am doubting that it was the the protesters with the actual messages of "Hands Up Don't Shoot"  and "Justice For Mike Brown and Eric Garner" that took it upon themselves to break the windows of a small ice cream shop or a Trader Joe's, no, that insanity wanted to distract from the message of change, and the message of honor of those two fallen men. That, my friends, is selfishness at it's most devastating. It's devastating for the one inflicting the damage as much as it is for the community at large! Selfishness usually turns to regret with time. A harshness and pain that is difficult to repair. I feel bad for the business hit the other night, but I feel worse for the ones inflicting the damage because I believe at some point in their lives they must have felt helpless, or bullied, and had now way of healing from it. 

But that's just my two cents on the subject.

Monday night saw more of the same marching against injustice, but with a lot less vandalism. So far two Amtrak commuter trains have been held up on the tracks since early evening, and there are reports of HWY 80 in Emeryville being shut down by peaceful protestors. As much as I feel for the commuters, I appreciate the protest being handled correctly. Voices are being heard. That makes me want to go an join them in their stand. If only I could, but alas I am not able. But I do hold them in my heart and I applaud their courage! Enough is ENOUGH! There should not be one more death at the hands of a racist, incompetent or derelict police officer! 

NOT ONE MORE!

But there should also not be not ONE MORE ACT OF VIOLENCE!

NOT ONE MORE!

When will the healing come? It comes when you get involved for POSITIVE change!

It's the Christmas season. A season of hope. Let's hope that positive change happens.

Now more than ever!

Leaf Of The Day

Mood: Quiet/Reflective

~Me :)