From Afar

I sense

Your sexual energy

Even

From afar

It’s always there

When we talk

And share

Mysterious

And Exciting

Confidently Enticing

I hesitate

To mention it

Should I be so cavalier?

Or

Maybe

I’m just

Wondering

Whether that wondrous power

Might ultimately

Consume me

So this remains

Unspoken

A sensual spell

Unbroken

Distracting me

And Quietly

Beguiling me

Inspiring me

I like

How it makes me feel

The things

It makes me

Want to do

Those sweet

And tender

Dreams with you

A specific fascination

Captures

My imagination

And makes me think

Of Words

That You might want to Hear

And how

And where

You’d love

To be touched

And

In my heart

I start

To  believe

That anything

Is possible

I picture a time

When we’ll spend the day

Chatting and laughing

The hours away

Loving

Every moment

Of our time together

I want to watch you smile

When I tell you

What I’m

Feeling

I want to Breathe

The Air

That floats Around you

And Gaze

Into your eyes

In warm romantic light

Caress the softness

Of your clothing

As a warm electric energy

Fills the room

Flips the switch

And Draws us

Ever closer

Passing Time

Faces fade

Bleached by the sun

Of passing time

Once the race is run

We played a good game

We had our fun

But echoes fade fast

When the dance is done

LGBTQ Advocacy

To my friends in the LGBTQ+ community, I want you to know that I stand with you, and as an ally I will always stand up for you.

I see how dangerous the world has become for you. I won’t let that stand unchallenged.

When I see the demonization of trans children for political expediency, I speak out against it.

When I see teachers and counselors who try to help those children being labeled as “groomers,” I speak out against it.

When I see same sex couples being ridiculed for raising children, I speak out against it.

When I see attempts to ban books that discuss sexual identity, I speak out against it.

When countries enshrine discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community in official policy, I speak out against it.

When people attempted to deflect blame from the right wing extremist who attacked Paul Pelosi by claiming that the attacker was his secret lover, I spoke out against it.

When I hear hateful speech and “dog whistles” aimed at the LGBTQ+ community, I speak out against it.

I speak out because I must. This vile, hateful rubbish is worse than just tasteless and hurtful. It’s dangerous. It is being spewed constantly on powerful platforms, and people are dying as a result.

When people inflame hatred, whether deliberately or by virtue of their ignorance, we must stand up against it. We must challenge malignant words, ideas, gestures, and innuendo. Letting it stand is tantamount to encouraging more. Hatred cannot be tolerated.

If we want to live in a society where everyone’s rights are honored and protected, where every citizen can live safely and peacefully, it is our duty to push back against hatred and division and prejudice and to do so as firmly and as clearly as we can. Staying silent is not an option.

Rhinoceros

The Northern White Rhinoceros

Went extinct

Because weak old men

Half a world away

Believed that its horn

Would restore

Their youthful virility

God curses

The arrogance 

The greed

And brutal ignorance

Of our oft-misguided species

We may not be

The next

To go extinct

But be forewarned

A day of reckoning

Is coming

For all who inhabit

A scorched and barren planet

Friday Fun

Friday

Fun Day

Time for Flowers

And Lingerie

Add some Chocolates

To the mix

And you Might just

Win a Kiss

To Remember

Forever

Radicalization

Ordinary people can be convinced to commit acts of violence if they believe three things:

1. They are in grave danger

2. Violence is the only way to resolve the situation

3. The people who are putting them in danger do not deserve respect or empathy

Statements like the following can encourage such beliefs, especially when the statements are made by trusted sources and repeated frequently.

Group X is going to take your job away.

Group X is going to bring crime to your neighborhood.

Group X is going to take away your way of life.

Group X is going to rape your women.

Group X is going to kill you.

Group X is going to replace you.

Now, let’s do a thought experiment. In the statements above, replace Group X with any of the following:

Immigrants

Elites

Liberals

Democrats

Gay people

Trans people

Black people

Jewish people

Muslims

Public health officials

Do the statements sound familiar? Have you heard some of these things said before?

In recent years, statements like this have been broadcast relentlessly online, over the airwaves, and by politicians who speak to large audiences.

Sometimes the messages are stated directly, which can be jolting to hear. Sometimes, the messages are expressed in code to make them sound softer.

Words such as “border”, “crime”, and “bathroom” will make people think if particular segments of the population. Words like “rights”, “mandate”, and “election integrity” suggest nefarious actions by a political party. The code does not dilute the impacts of the message.

The result is the demonization and dehumanization. If people can be convinced that Group X is not only threatening but also unworthy, it becomes easier to commit acts of violence against Group X.

Combine a sense of imminent danger with the sense that the people who want to harm you are unworthy, and you can convince people to do just about anything: storm the Capitol, plot to kidnap a sitting governor, assault the spouse of a high ranking official, run into a pizza restaurant with an assault rifle.

This is not theoretical. This is happening NOW. These messages are being transmitted constantly on radio, podcasts, social media, and cable TV. The violence will continue as long as the messages are being sent, and over time it’s going to get worse and worse.

Republican Crime

In 1968, Richard Nixon ran for president with a promise to “get tough on crime.” Since then, six Republican presidents have occupied the White House for 32 years, and four Democratic presidents have held the office for 22 years.

Republicans held the presidency for an entire decade more than Democrats. Here’s question: If Republicans are so good at stopping crime, why is there still crime? Republicans had a ten-year advantage in running the country. They should have fixed the problem.

What did Republicans do about crime? They built more prisons. They put more people in jail. The United States incarcerates more people than ANY OTHER COUNTRY. So, Republicans, why is there still crime?

Could it be that locking people up does not fix the underlying problems that encourage crime in the first place?

Could it be that taxing working families in order to reward billionaires creates financial imbalance and hardship?

Could it be that a lack of a fair and comprehensive healthcare system has led many families into financial ruin and has failed to address a growing mental health crisis?

Could it be that flooding the streets with semi-automatic weapons has led to more shootings rather than fewer?

Could it be that the lack of comprehensive immigration reform has led to chaos on the southern border?

Could it be that Republicans really don’t want to solve the crime problem at all? Think about it. It crime decreased dramatically, what would Republicans talk about during election cycles? How are they going to pound the table and whip up support if there’s no crime to speak of?

The Republican approach to crime has been a colossal failure for decades. Their policies don’t reduce crime; they encourage it at every level, from street gangs to school shootings, from corruption to tax cheats, from homelessness to domestic abuse, from political violence to the insurrection, Republican policies - or the lack thereof - and right-wing rhetoric have fanned the flames of instability and violence, and they have offered no effective solutions. None.

Political Violence

The lies.

The anger.

The vitriol.

The accusations.

The threats.

The intimidation.

The repugnant conspiracy theories.

What has this country come to?

The January 6th rioters chanted Speaker Pelosi’s name. They announced their desire to seek her out and do her harm. They invaded her office while her staff hid in closets.

Sadly, today, someone of like mind, a man who was radicalized by sinister messages that he absorbed from multiple sources and by the conspiracies that he heard and repeated online, attacked Speaker Pelosi’s eighty-two year old husband in his home in the darkness of the early morning hours.

What has this country come to?

Armed extremists show up at school board meetings.

Armed extremists walked into the Michigan state capitol while legislators were in session.

Activists, some of them armed, are watching and filming voters as they drop ballots off at official locations.

A third of all election workers have resigned in the last two years. The threats and intimidation that they faced was more than they could tolerate.

WHAT has this country come to, and more importantly, where is it going?

The United States has entered an unprecedented era of political violence. If it is not reversed immediately, if this trend is not denounced by ALL members of ALL political parties and ALL political pundits, regardless of their views, our democracy will crumble.

Republican Economic Résumé

Republicans claim that they will fix the economy. Let’s review their record.

1929 - The Great Depression

1973 - The Oil Embargo

1987 - Black Friday Stock Market Crash

1989 - Junk bond crash

1991 - Recession

1989 - Savings and Loan Crisis

2001 - Stock market crash

2008 - Housing market crash

I don’t trust these people. Do you?

A Great Week Of Football!

It’s hard to imagine a better week of football:

The Steelers beat Brady and the Bucs.

The Jets won.

The Giants advanced to 5-1 after knocking off the Ravens

The Eagles are 6-0 after defeating the Cowboys.

The Browns lost.

The Raiders are 1-4.

The AFC North is still wide open with no team over .500.

Chase Claypool is THE MAN!

It’s a shame that Kenny Pickett got hurt, but he threw his first NFL TD pass, and hopefully he’ll bounce back quickly from the injury.