culture

The Point of No Return

The point of

no return

is to learn-

not just

yearn-

for something

else.

We don’t 

grow younger

or

have more

innocence

when life

provides us

ongoing

experience.

We tend to 

digress

and at times

regress

making progress

seemingly

less 

likely.

Home isn’t

there

where it 

is no more,

before

we moved

away.

We can’t

really stay

the way

we were,

but we sure

can mature

and play

wiser.

Ironically,

it looks

quite silly,

but seems 

to be 

impactful.

Forget 

being tactful.

We live

in the gutter

now.

It’s how

you utter

the message

that matters

so it splatters

across all

media.

No encyclopedia

needed,

just deep 

seeded

anger,

and a commitment

to mirror

this horror

show.

The point 

of no

return

is to know

(and to show)

that we are

better than

this.

To boldly 

go 

where no

one

has gone

before

has moved 

from Star Trek

to South Park;

our stark

cartoonish

reality.

Finally,

heroically,

momentum

is increasing

as Newsom

is teasing

Trump,

with a 

shocking,

and mocking

style.

Sadly,

this is 

progress,

(and also

hilarious)

if we are 

serious

about 

the point

of no

return.

Plastic Surgery

I’m a hypocrite;

I know it.

I admit it,

though

I think 

the problem

is public

as well as

corporate.

I know

it would be

drastic

to forgo

the use of

plastic,

because it

really is

fantastic,

but it’s 

poisonous.

Poisoning us

like smoking

does,

without noticing

thus.

Leaching into

water sources,

air and soil,

natural resources,

mammals

and all animals,

and the atmosphere

here

on earth,

is deceptively toxic

from so much plastic.

Who knew 

that from

the era of

“The Graduate”

we’d gradually,

inadvertently,

blindly,

slowly

kill everything.

Micro 

and nano

plastics

are found

underground

and inside us.

But the demand

for change

in how we 

arrange

our lives

for health

is rather strange.

We know

the plastic

problem

continues

to grow,

though we

dare not

abstain,

which is 

a stain

on our 

humanity.

Kennedy,

the Secretary

of Health,

and Human

Services,

has an opportunity

to shift away

from mRNA

funding cuts,

to finding 

the guts

to take on

Big Plastic.

It’s so ubiquitous,

this poisonous

stuff 

that’s poisoning

us 

and the environment,

but its

retirement

is not yet

a conversation.

It will 

necessitate

those who 

might hesitate

to boldly

demand policy

private

and public,

that plastic

becomes

less ubiquitous

and poisonous

to us

and every

living thing

around us.

Start here:

https://www.beyondplastics.org/act

https://www.beyondplastics.org/

Love Island

The Epstein isle,

now a classified

file

of those

attached 

to the vile

pedofile,

can even

revile

the most

MAGA.

The saga

has a 

lifespan

that began

years ago

and you 

know who

was a fan.

The Donald

fondled

whoever

he wanted

and taunted

throughout

his life.

But the current 

strife

within his

coalition

is based 

on the position

he put 

himself in 

in order 

to secure

the win.

Is the cover up

worse 

than the crime

this time?

Stay tuned

for the reality

show’s

finale.

Or maybe

there’ll be

a sequel.

Few,

if any,

will equal

Epstein

in all of his

pure evil,

but guilt

by association

in this

constellation

could be

a revelation

of consequence.

In this instance,

the dissonance

as Trump

tries to distance

himself from

evidence

revealed

long ago,

that they

partied

together

(birds of a feather),

at least

somewhat,

from what

we know.

But clearly

there’s more

that would

be revealed

if these

classified

documents

became

unsealed.

He’s concealed

his perversions

of laws and norms

and forms

tales—

ok, lies—

on a whim.

Will Epstein’s

ghost

harm him

the most?

I’m curious

to know

what reality

will show.

This might

be the most

watched episode

yet.

The Late Show

Defund PBS.

Extort CBS

to obey

in advance

and pay

in advance

to dance

with 

the devil.

Making 

a show

of 

The Late Show

just 

to let you

know

that speech

won’t be 

free

even in

comedy.

The dissolution

of an institution 

of American

culture

shows how

the culture

of cancelling

is now cancelling

culture.

And:

each branch

of government,

and education,

the Kennedy Center,

public radio 

and television,

in addition

to science-

the environment,

weather,

and medicine.

Let’s not forget

women

who have lost

the right 

to legal

abortion.

Everything

is being 

scrapped

and crapped 

on,

as of late,

making a show

of how great

America was.

Miss America

I miss America;

the beautiful

dream

of e pluribus

unum.

Out of plurality,

union/

out of many,

one

nation 

for which 

it stands

in liberty

and justice

for all.

I miss America,

the leader

of the free

world.

I miss America

who self corrected

and connected

the world.

I miss America

whose history,

at many times

ugly,

was acknowledged

and reconsidered,

now withered

if not cancelled,

like rights

once 

won,

now gone.

I miss America

imperfect

yet aspirational,

now confrontational

against

one another.

We’ve been

mired in divisions

and poor decisions

at various

times 

in our history,

but it’s no 

mystery

now

how 

the dictator 

from day one

will shun

anyone

perceived

as a threat

to the agenda

he set

for himself.

The difference

this time

is 

the party’s

over-

whelmingly

behind

him.

I miss America

before

curation,

when dedication

to shared

education,

not disinformation,

was assumed.

I miss America

the beautiful

body

politic,

now very sick,

if not a relic.

I don’t miss

America

the hideous,

whose insidious

hating

there is no

debating,

but seemed

abating

although

too slowly.

The zombies

and trolls

have exacted

their tolls

upon

us.

I won’t miss

this

America.

We must

all help

her heal.

The real

America

is all of this,

and because

of this,

we can’t just

miss 

America,

but we

must be

her promise.

Freedom Fighters?

They are all

terrorists,

claiming

to be

anti colonists

or anti zionists

or whatever

the latest 

version

of subversion

and inversion

may be;

but to me,

yelling

freedom

not while 

holding signs

or hands,

but

while

in the midst

of shooting,

burning,

attacking,

threatening,

beating,

etcetera,

is meeting

the criteria

not for 

legitimacy,

but for

criminality

of the worst

kind.

Yell

all you 

want,

if you

want 

to yell,

but the hell

we see

daily

it seems,

of innocent

lives

made

a prize 

or some

token

for a cause

because

someone

decided

that jews

(or fill

in the blank)

are the problem

and always

have been

and always

will be,

I guarantee

find 

their hate

channeled,

but 

insatiable.

Hate is 

like

that little

shop

of horrors.

It feeds

its needs

unendingly.

The spate

of antisemitic

violence

against

innocents

just 

this year

alone

should

sear

the heart

of anyone

and everyone,

but does it?

Any group

maligned

or assigned

problematic

in the way

antisemitic

hate works,

just like

any (and every)

form of

bigotry,

isn’t some sort

of existential

symmetry.

It does

not affect

the actual

oppressor.

I can be

pro-Palestinian

and pro- Palestine

without being

a philistine.

I have no

interest

in killing

those 

with whom

I disagree.

Sadly,

we forget

that a government

may not represent

its constituents.

The innocents

are everywhere

and have always

been 

the forgotten.

Spare me

the faux

freedom

fight

and claim

of right,

even if

believed.

Ill conceived

when needing

purpose

or cause

for ineffectiveness,

the subjectiveness

subjects

us less

to righteousness

and freedom

than to destructiveness

and endless

heinousness.

It’s ridiculous

that we aren’t

beyond this.

We seem

to use

more tools

to enable

than to 

disable

the weaknesses

of humans.

Or maybe 

they are just

more accessible.

Return Policy

I doesn’t 

match.

It clashes.

It doesn’t

work.

It’s uncomfortable.

It doesn’t fit

right.

It needs to be

bigger.

Or 

it’s too

much.

I thought

it would

be different.

I can only

receive

credit

to get

something

better.

But

it’s mostly

sold out.

Meanwhile,

what’s left

here

is nearly

a mess.

So much

spent

that went

toward

the return

policy.

A Classless Society

A decade ago, 

when Trump

made a go

at politics,

the heretics

rose

to close

the deal

to reveal

the fault 

lines

beneath us.

It’s been

everyone

else’s fault

since then;

never

a mia

culpa.

A witch hunt,

political stunt,

or cries

of lies

no matter

how it defies,

now

no surprise;

Nonetheless appalling.

The most 

galling

is no longer

name 

calling.

It’s to be

expected.

Protected 

speech,

unless you 

teach

or learn

about

oppression,

is a matter

of opinion.

The dominion

over everything

that power

and money

can possibly

bring

is ushering

in

autocracy

in a now

crass

and classless

society.

I don’t

mean

the kind

that Bernie

and A.O.C.

have 

in mind,

but the 

cheap 

and tasteless,

undignified,

rapacious,

Trump

brand

that his

command

has forced

us to

withstand.

Checking

privilege 

and elitism

is unfolding

into quite

a schism

suggesting

that the

evolution

of civilization

has been

a hoax,

folks.

Proof

that money

can’t by

class,

the ass

in chief,

like a thief,

takes

whatever

he wants.

His taunts,

now dangerous,

and increasingly

outrageous,

threatening

to deport

citizens

after the precedents

of sending

legal residents

to Salvadoran

and Libyan

prisons.

The callousness

of this classlessness

as with everything

else he says 

and does

does

harm 

to all of us.

Our classless

society

with faux

piety,

now run

as an

oligarchy

with remnants

of democracy,

can’t wait

for half

to discover

decency.

This is an

emergency.

This class

is pass/

fail. 

Getting Credit Where Credit is Do

I kind of 

love

that

Trump

is hocking

Teslas

to his 

base.

Hardly 

shocking

as the 

mocking

of libs

now taking

dibs

on the  EV

car

that has

so far

transformed

the American 

auto

industry,

forcing

the history

of fossil

fuel

combustible

engines

to reinvent

if not

the wheel,

then the 

real

possibility

of environmentally

cleaner

driving.

Once

the province

of mostly

progressives,

now the

MAGA

obsessives

are trying

to help

the  other 

aggressive

billionaire —

the richest

man on 

the planet,

the unelected

co-president,

who still

wants to

be a 

bazillionaire.

It’s fair

and sensible

to protest

the indefensible,

much less

the incomprehensible,

but I’m kind

of glad

that the ones

who once

saw the 

Tesla

as a liberal

symbol

are nimble

enough

to huff 

and puff

about 

now choosing

an electric

(well,

a specific)

vehicle.

Let’s not

forget

the climate

crisis

is environmental;

our natural

world

needs all

the help

it can get. 

Tell your

reps

to vote 

for EV

and clean

energy
tax credits.

The Enemy of The Good

Forget

perfect.

The enemy

of the good

stood

in front

of the world

and hurled

lies

whopper

size.

The prize

denies

safety and

security

and the maturity

of institutions

for the immaturity

of the delusions

of grandeur.

To be sure,

the loyal

opposition

is in no

position

to continue

the sad

display

of cosplay-

so yesterday.

The enemy

of the good

has withstood

nearly

everything,

and the best

we can bring

are pink

and mini signs

and yelling?

We could

learn 

a thing

or two

from those

who

craft

creatively.

The artistry

is in the policy,

not the display

of crazy

on the floor.

We may be

our own 

worst enemy

unless

you forget

the enemy

of the good.

When people

forget

to bet on

the good,

for the sake

of the image

of strength,

the length

he’ll go

could forgo

what we know

and depend

upon.

For one

whose

encouragement

rests upon

punishment,

we can imagine

the torment.

But mere

lament

is losing

our way.

Who’s to

say what

will work?

But I know

what doesn’t.

It’s not a good

look

to use

the old

playbook,

when the guy

who reads

the room

better than

you assume,

suggests

the good guys

are the enemies.

Much 

has been said

about what

has lead

to now. 

How 

could

we maintain

the good

when the enemy

of the good

is the status quo?