THIS & THAT #8

What Is Democracy In America?

Both the Republican National Committee and its counterpart, the Democratic National Committee, appear to be acting against the precepts of a democracy.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “democracy” is defined as “a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting.”

The RNC Does Not Believe

Apparently the RNC’s leader Reince Priebus and his committee as well as the DNC’s leader Debbie Wasserman Schultz and her committee, are unaware of the latter part of that definition — “in which people choose leaders by voting.”

The RNC is furiously trying to come up with a campaign to deny Donald Trump the chance of being their nominee for President of the United States. This is despite the fact that he has the most delegates to date based on people’s votes, and they will try to deny him, even if he has the 1,237 delegates needed for the nomination.

Neither Does the DNC

The Democrats seem to be even more adamant in trying to eliminate any pretense that their race for the nomination is anything more than a giant sham, with the odds stacked against anyone not named Clinton.

The Democrat nominee has to garner 2,383 delegate votes, and as of today, Hillary has 1,243 pledged delegates, and Bernie Sanders has 980. But the Democratic Party also has made sure that Clinton has 469 “superdelegates,” while Sanders has only 31.

This gives Clinton a total of 1,712 delegates, while Sanders has 1,011. Even with the conniving DNC working overtime to make her the nominee, there are still  2.042 delegates available.

Why “conniving,” you may ask. The DNC knew that both Billary and Hillary had worked the Black scene during the years, so they were quite pleased that many early primaries took place in Southern states, or states with heavily Black populations.  Hillary took an early lead when she won more delegates in South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. 

It is estimated that the 712 “superdelegates” represent 15 percent of the total. They include President Obama, Joe Biden, 239 Democratic members of the House and Senate, 21 sitting governors,  437 DNC members, and a questionable category known as “distinguished party leaders.”

The voters in primaries or caucuses do not choose these delegates, but “superdelegates” have an opportunity to elect the party’s nominee only because they are members of the elite upper echelon of Democrats.

The RNC and DNC Together

Finally, with all of the acrimony shown now and will be shown during the general election campaign, there is a movement that both parties are working on in obtuse harmony. Sadly, that is to obliterate Webster’s definition of “democracy.”

The Voices of the People

One woman said that although she doesn’t like Trump’s attitude towards women and minorities, she will vote for him because he was a good businessman.

Another voter told a television reporter that she’s voting for Hillary because Bill called her, not understanding that it was a Robocall. Another woman echoed her choice of Hillary, because she remembers what good Bill did while in office.

A Site To Make Eyes Sore

Picture President Hillary sleeping with Bill as he whispers policy in her ears, but only on nights when he isn’t sleeping with a female or male intern.

THIS & THAT #7

Super Sunday

At 5:30 AM, the San Jose Mercury News landed on our doorstep. Since every section had stories devoted to an activity taking place fifty miles away in Santa Clara, we devoted a minimal amount of tine to the newspaper.

As usual, the only worthwhile stories I read summarized the basketball game I saw the night before. They described how our Golden State Warriors beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, bringing their record to 46-4. They had knocked off another NBA pretender to the Golden State throne. It’s a blessing to live in Santa Cruz, and view all of the home and away games on television.

Early On

 I went to the hot tub outside our kitchen door, and was greeted by the thundering sounds of the ocean, and then by the chirping of the early birds, who regularly visit our feeders and us. I left the hot tub, as dawn was delightfully breaking.

After breakfast, while Carmen tended her garden, I continued to trim our eight-foot tall pine tree, creatively shaping it to resemble a miniature bonsai.

The temperature in Santa Cruz slowly rose beneath a warm sun, and settled comfortably at seventy-three degrees, while the temperature in Miami rese to a comfortable high of sixty-six degrees.

Ador-Ab-Lay

After lunch, we drove downtown and saw a most interesting movie “Lady in the Van,” about an eighty-year-old homeless woman in London As usual, Carmen and I walked hand in hand toward our car. At the first crosswalk, a car stopped and waved us across. All of the car’s windows were opened, and we could see the smiling faces of the four twenty-five year-old men inside. The driver, whose arms were bedecked with tattoos, warmly shouted, “You are fucking adorable,” and I replied, “So are you.” Carmen beamed, since no one had ever said that to her, except for me. But when I say it, I interject a Spanish pronunciation and say, “Carmen, you are ador-ab-lay.”

While strolling to our car, we stopped at Logo’s huge used and new bookstore, and after I found the paperback Ukulele Heroes for a mere $7.98. I prevailed with Carmen that insisted that we have to get a book for her, and she selected the hardcover book, European Cookies for Every Occasion, for the same price.

We did a bit of window-shopping at the Santa Cruz Warrior’s downtown store on Pacific Avenue, for it was closed, and continued walking to our car.

Sand and See

We drove down to the Boardwalk, and it and the nearby beach was crowded with people far from Santa Clara. It was the same story at other beaches in the area. Who would want to be anywhere else?

We did, and so we went to a nearby park, and walked through the woods and fields on un-crowded trails. Then we stopped at a health club near our house, for our new insurance plan provided us with a free Silver Sneakers membership. Less than ten people occupied the two-story, three-building structure. Perhaps the others were still enjoying the marvelous weather elsewhere.  

When we came home, while I waited for salmon being cooked on our grill at the end of our Super Sunday, I remember that there was some activity taking place that day in Santa Clara. When I turned on my computer, I discovered that a team from Denver had beaten a team from North Carolina.

Why Fly Away?

Today, on this marvelous Monday, the temperature in Miami climbed to sixty-six degrees. At 3:30 PM, it’s now eighty degrees in Santa Cruz.

THIS & THAT # 6

What’s In A Name?

 ¿Cómo se llama? 

The media’s coverage of Spanish-surnamed individuals is, at times, appalling, churlish and demeaning.

In today’s San Jose Mercury News, it was reported that three such individuals were involved in a string of home-invasion robberies. Julio Garcia, Martina Loya-Mendoza, and Jesus Ayala were arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of burglary tools. Ah ha, “suspicion,” would they have had their names printed in the paper if they were identified as Seamus O’Reilly, Margaret McDougall, and Fred Bartlett, III?

Finally, the lead story in the local news section, depicted a poor twenty-two-year-old in an unflattering photograph, and said that he was arraigned on charges that he raped, beat, and suffocated another human being. His Spanish-surname was announced as Manuel Anthony Lopez, and some individuals were probably incensed that he was so identified. Wonder of the victim’s mother knew what was happening as she slept in another room, while Manny murdered her two-year-old son. At least the media used discretion by not revealing the boy’s name.

Leave Those Poor Cubans Alone

They’re Real Americans Today

When the print and broadcast media aren’t devoting the majority of their inept efforts covering Donald J. Trump, a candidate with no political experience whatsoever, they continue to cover two GOP Presidential candidates with Spanish-surnames.

One is Canadian-born Rafael Edward Cruz, whose father was born in Cuba, and the other is Marco Antonio Rubio, whose father and mother left their home in Cuba in 1956, before Castro came into power. Earlier, Rubio had incorrectly stated that the family left Cuba as “political refugees from a communist regime,” rather than when they actually left, at the tail end of Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship.

Kill the Messenger,

Or At Least Maim It

It is appalling that the media covers these two neophytes so thoroughly as if they had any real, worthwhile, pre-presidential, governing experience as first-term Senators. Do we want a duplication of the ineptness and indecision-making of another first-term Senator, who is still leading, or sometimes misleading, our country?

There is a possibility that whether a Democrat or Republican is elected President, they will do their best to make Americans grate.

THIS & THAT #5

Didn’t Plan to Write

Anything of Value

We just returned from the US National Table tennis Tournament in Las Vegas, and the highlight of the four-day stay, was standing among other like-minded individuals while the next president of the United States, roused his audience. More about the Trump rally later.

This leads me to the conclusions that I don’t think that I will write anything truly creative and world shattering, there’s too much of that in the daily news.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Learned in the December 6^th newspaper, that the local Grey Bears senior group will be holding its special after-hours Holiday Thrift Store Sale.  There will be refreshments, music and everything is half off, but only on Thursday, December 3 from 4pm to 7pm.

PLAN AHEAD WITH LOVE

An advertisement appeared in the same newspaper with the engrossing headline, “Holidays Are About Family.” To show this to be so, there’s a lovely photograph of five, smiling family

members ranging in age from a toddler to two elderly people.

The body copy reads, “Learn how you can give them an unexpected and meaningful gift. Attend our free lunch and learn.”

The free lunch and advice comes from two Bay Area funeral homes.

I find it interesting that the first three letters in the word “funeral” spell “fun.” I first noticed that fifty years ago when I was driving around the city of Detroit one night. Because some light bulbs weren’t working, the sign in front of a funeral home read, “BRADY’S FUN       HOME."         

ZIPPITY DOO DOUGH

If you wanted to become really wealthy, you should have moved to ZIP code 94027 years ago. That Atherton, California ZIP has had the most expensive homes for the past three years, and the median price was $10.6 million last summer.

Not to be outdone by too much, a friend put her home on the market a year ago in ZIP 94028, and the winning bid was $500,000 more than the listed price, and offered by several bidders.

THE US POSTAL SERVICE WILL NOT SURVIVE

When we went away to Las Vegas, we neatly filled out an “Authorization to Hold Mail” card, and checked off Box B which reads “I will pick up all accumulated mail when I return.” That sounds easy enough, and when we returned on December 19^th found for pieces of mail in our box, mail that was supposed to be held. We then drove to our nearby Post Office, just five minutes from our home. We were at the end of a long line, as  dozens of others were waiting, not to pick up their mail, but to send holiday gift packages out.

We patiently waited and when we got to the counter, we were given a phone number on a piece of paper and told to call the Scotts Valley Post Office for our mail. It seems that in their infinite wisdom, the USPS decided that it was easier for them to hold all mail in the county at one location. That location is ten miles away from our home, down a congested highway, even more so during the holidays.

We did call Scotts Valley, and they promised to deliver the accumulated mail on Monday. When we turned in the hold card, it would have been nice to learn of their new, convoluted non-delivery plans.

The USPS had a net loss of $5.1 billion for the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2015.

WHAT WAS JUST SAID IS SAD

After a closer look at what words have filled this post, I believe that I have followed my intuitive, initial writing projection that was defined in the second paragraph, almost to perfection.