July 4th, 2026

On this anniversary of our country's independence, we find the "United" part of our "United States of America" under severe strain. But I am not letting that stop me from celebrating the achievements of and possibilities inherent in our country.

I resent how conservatives invented and have actively promoted the lie that anyone who supports progressive, liberal, optimistic ideas about our country are "haters" of the USA. They hold up this ridiculous idea that they and they alone can feel any sense of pride in their nation--and then turn around and behave and vote like people who are anything but supportive of the nation and its citizens. For this reason, and as a proud Liberal, I am heartily celebrating our Independence Day, our country, and the concept of actual, real Democracy.

When over two and a half centuries ago, a band of patriots gathered in Philadelphia to declare that "all men are created equal," they intended for this country to be different from the others, to be better, to be always striving toward a more perfect union. It is why they made the Constitution a living document, able to be revised, changed, improved upon, thus improving the lives of everyone living in these United States. It is our true purpose, our original ideal to continually improve the quality of life for Americans--all Americans--no matter their race, sex, age, physical ability, religion, ethnicity, and sexual or gender identity.

And July 4th is a celebration of that, a Celebration of Possibility, a celebration of the idea that we can continually improve upon our morals, our laws, our procedures, our attitudes. We continually strive toward those possibilities which include instead of exclude, which right what has been wrong, which bring more people into our national fabric, elevating and enriching life in this country. That is why it is particularly distressing and brings a very specific anguish to see these ideals, this leap toward possibilities of greatness that is part of our Constitution and of Democracy itself eroded, attacked, and mocked by the current government, conservatives, and the right wing ... and more shockingly, by a large section of our own fellow citizens who support the viciousness and hatred. Their support demonstrates that only cruelty with a perverse need to punish, and not the health and future of the United States and the well-being of its citizens is their goal.

Today I am choosing to celebrate the good this country has been and done but also the possibilities of change, of improvement, of an ever-strengthening yearning toward a more perfect union, and the idea that we can protect what this country stands for. Please vote to honor these ideals in the 2026 mid-term elections--we must have a President and not a King or despot--to ensure that we live up to the promise of making life for all citizens--ALL CITIZENS--better. We haven't yet and we need to, finally, fulfill that promise. And taking back at least one of the branches of government will help us in reclaiming our country, our Democracy, and our standing in the world.

I love my country, I was born here, it is my home, and I have no intention of leaving. I am of an age when my American History and Civics classes in high school and college were not sanitized, and I understand the good and the bad in our past as well as present. Did the United States make mistakes? Yes. Is the nation as a whole perfect? Not yet. Are we the best version of ourselves? We are working on it and many of us who believe in the promise of the United States are striving, earnestly, with a clear vision. I like to think I am one of those people and because of that, I have no intention of handing my home over to the current administration and its supporters who are toiling to turn it into an authoritarian, theocratic, fascistic regime.

Here is the sonnet "The New Colossus" by poet Emma Lazarus which serves as the inscription at the base of the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, our valuable ally. The inscription affirms the ideal of inclusiveness and the United States as a beacon of hope, comfort, and stability for anyone who seeks it.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

JUNETEENTH 2026

https://www.juneteenth.com/

Memorial Day 2026

Today is Memorial Day in the United States, a day for remembering the people who died while serving in the country's armed forces. And I want to honor two of my own relatives who fought Fascism...one died in World War I and the other fought valiantly in World War II.

My ancestors fought and died to make sure Fascism did not spread around the world and to the United States. I know both of these men (one of them an Italian immigrant), if they were alive now, would be appalled and outraged that Fascism is being welcomed back not only in countries around the world, but at home here in the United States, where Democracy should vanquish such things. My relatives died so the very thing that is happening now, wouldn't. And it makes me infinitely sad and frustrated that these men seemingly died for nothing...and that segments of the population of this country support the kind of nationalism, totalitarianism, disdain for facts and humanity, and suppression that are the hallmarks of Fascism.

 
I honor my brave relatives and all who fought Fascism. I truly hope that we can fight this frightening global movement to the right and ensure that they all died for the noble, uplifting principle of humanism.

"We are always at war. We spend twice as large a share of our GDP on the military as the world does in general. It’s the longest sustained period of open-ended combat in our nation’s history. And yet the country as a whole is barely affected. We have halftime ceremonies honoring the heroes. We let them get onto commercial airlines earlier, but we don’t think seriously about what they’re doing, the missions we’re asking them to undertake.

And, as a result, in my view, we have embarked on a series of unwinnable wars. We call people heroes and then send them to do things they can’t do....

When I was a kid in the ’50s and ’60s and then older in the ’70s, American pop culture reflected a country familiar enough with its military to make fun of it at times. You had shows like 'Gomer Pyle,' or 'Hogan’s Heroes,' or 'McHale’s Navy.'

You had works of art like 'South Pacific' or novels like 'Catch 22' and even movies like 'MASH,' respected the importance of the military and the important things it did that were heroic in the large scale, like World War II, but it was still made of real people with their real foibles.

But we — now we have started to have this artificially reverent view of the military that’s also distant and disengaged."
--James Fallows

Veteran's Day 2025

"Regardless of feelings on conflicts past or present or military action in general, it is best to understand that the men and women who are or have been in the Armed Forces do not choose their wars, but they do their work no matter what the cost."

"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity."
--Dwight D. Eisenhower, Address before the Canadian Club, Ottawa, Canada, 1/10/46

Today, I want to honor my father who served in the Navy as well as two other relatives, veterans of two world wars, who fought Fascism...one died in World War I and the other fought valiantly in World War II. I am sure my relatives are rolling in their graves, after fighting and dying to make sure that Fascism did not spread around the world and to the United States. That was a time when Republicans thought Fascism was a bad thing.  I know both of my relatives (one of them an Italian immigrant), if they were alive now, would be appalled and outraged that Fascism is being institutionalized by the Republican party, and welcomed and encouraged by its supporters. My relatives died so the very thing that is happening now, wouldn't. And it makes me infinitely sad and frustrated that these men seemingly died for nothing...and that segments of the population of this country support the kind of nationalism, totalitarianism, disdain for facts and humanity, and suppression that are the hallmarks of Fascism. Their lives, struggles, sacrifices, and deaths deserve better and we, the ones they were fighting to protect, deserve better too.

6 Rules For Survival Under An Authoritarian Regime

6 Rules For Survival Under An Authoritarian Regime

Rule 1

Don’t stay indifferent. It WILL concern you eventually. It will concern your family, your friends. Voice your objection IMMEDIATELY. Show them you care. RESIST.

Rule 2

They thrive on FEAR & IGNORANCE. Expose their scaremongering, show flaws in their arguments. Raise awareness, EDUCATE people around you. They will try to distort FACTS, rewrite history. DON’T LET THEM.

Rule 3

Organize protest movements, mobilize civil society. They’re well organized, so should you be. FLOOD THE STREETS. They WILL back off when they see your numbers. They depend on you – the PEOPLE.

Rule 4

Don’t let them DIVIDE you into different classes of citizens, “true Americans”, “patriots” vs “traitors”, “enemies of the state”. You’re ALL citizens, ONE nation, despite different beliefs and ideology. Make your diversity your STRENGTH. Stay TOGETHER for a common goal – survival of your country, of freedom and democracy.

Rule 5

Don’t give up, don’t get tired, and don’t try to wait it out. Don’t hope it will pass. It WON’T. They will manipulate the people, control the media to sway public opinion, fix the electoral system and STAY FOR GOOD.

Rule 6

If you don’t get them to back off or to step down, you better make SURE that when the next elections come, assuming there’s still any democracy left, NO ONE will vote for the same malicious ***hole(s) again!

July 4th, 2025

On this anniversary of our country's independence, we find ourselves in a frightening situation. Our democracy has been hijacked--temporarily--by an administration that has established itself as an authoritarian regime. It aspires to a kind of behavior against which this country has fought, in many wars and in many places. We have all seen the intended chaos, the attacks on the United States Constitution, the abductions of thousands who have committed no crime, the arrogant disregard for laws, the petty scheming and plotting and assaults to silence by any means anyone who tries to maintain a sense of lawfulness and humanity, and the deliberate cruelty inflicted on non-citizens and citizens alike which will result in actual death. The U.S. Flag Code says an inverted flag should only be used "as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property," and we are truly in that very distress with lives on the line. But I say we are hijacked temporarily because I believe we have been a Democracy for far too long for us to turn into some third-world country whose government has always been shaky, suffering coup after coup. It is going to be harder than the current administration thinks.

So it is at this time in particular that we need to celebrate our Independence Day, our country, and the concept of actual, real Democracy. When nearly two and a half centuries ago, a band of patriots gathered in Philadelphia to declare that "all men are created equal," they intended for this country to be different form the others, to be better, to be always striving toward a more perfect union. It is why they made the Constitution a living document, able to be revised, changed, improved upon, thus improving the lives of everyone living in these United States. It is our true purpose, our original ideal to continually improve the quality of life for Americans--all Americans--no matter their race, sex, age, physical ability, religion, and sexual or gender identity. And July 4th is a celebration of that, a Celebration of Possibility, a celebration of the idea that we can continually improve upon our morals, our laws, our procedures, our attitudes. We continually strive toward those possibilities which include instead of exclude, which right what has been wrong, which bring more people into our national fabric, elevating and enriching life in this country. That is why it is particularly distressing and brings a very specific anguish to see these ideals, this leap toward possibilities of greatness that is part of our Constitution and of Democracy itself eroded, attacked, and mocked by the current government, conservatives, and the right wing and more shockingly, by a large section of our own fellow citizens who support the viciousness and hatred, demonstrating that only cruelty with a perverse need to punish and not the health and future of the United States and the well-being of its citizens is their point.

Today I am choosing to celebrate the possibilities of change, of improvement, of an ever-strengthening yearning toward a more perfect union, and the idea that we can protect what this country stands for. Please vote to honor these ideals in the 2026 mid-term elections--we must have a President and not a King or despot--and to ensure that we live up to the promise of making life for all citizens--ALL CITIZENS--better. We haven't yet and we need to, finally, fulfill that promise. And taking back at least one of the branches of government will help us in reclaiming our country, our Democracy, and our standing in the world. I love my country, I was born here, it is my home, and I have no intention of leaving or handing it over to the current administration and its supporters who want to turn it into an authoritarian fascist hell.

Here is the sonnet "The New Colossus" by poet Emma Lazarus which serves as the inscription at the base of the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, our valuable ally. The inscription affirms the ideal of inclusiveness and the United States as a beacon of hope, comfort, and stability for anyone who seeks it.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Wait For 2026 When We The People Have The Last Word

JUNETEENTH 2025

https://www.juneteenth.com/

Democracy at a Crossroads

I am proud of my governor for his fearless speech and actions. And he is right, the theatrical overreaction from the Empire of Darkness was for show, to intimidate, sow fear, and escalate the tension; the situation in L.A. was not dangerous. 98% of protests were peaceful. The L.A. Times published an article, here, refuting the idea that the city was on the verge of collapse and calling out the grotesque distortion of reality.

"California may be first but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next, democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we feared has arrived."

https://campaignfordemocracy.com/
https://www.gov.ca.gov/

Memorial Day 2025

Today is Memorial Day in the United States, a day for remembering the people who died while serving in the country's armed forces. And I want to honor two of my own relatives who fought Fascism...one died in World War I and the other fought valiantly in World War II.

My ancestors fought and died to make sure Fascism did not spread around the world and to the United States. I know both of these men (one of them an Italian immigrant), if they were alive now, would be appalled and outraged that Fascism is being welcomed back in so many parts of the world. My relatives died so the very thing that is happening now, wouldn't. And it makes me infinitely sad and frustrated that these men seemingly died for nothing...and that segments of the population of this country support the kind of nationalism, totalitarianism, disdain for facts and humanity, and suppression that are the hallmarks of Fascism.

 
I honor my brave relatives and all who fought Fascism. I truly hope that we can fight this frightening global movement to the right and ensure that they all died for the noble, uplifting principle of humanism.

"We are always at war. We spend twice as large a share of our GDP on the military as the world does in general. It’s the longest sustained period of open-ended combat in our nation’s history. And yet the country as a whole is barely affected. We have halftime ceremonies honoring the heroes. We let them get onto commercial airlines earlier, but we don’t think seriously about what they’re doing, the missions we’re asking them to undertake.

And, as a result, in my view, we have embarked on a series of unwinnable wars. We call people heroes and then send them to do things they can’t do....

When I was a kid in the ’50s and ’60s and then older in the ’70s, American pop culture reflected a country familiar enough with its military to make fun of it at times. You had shows like 'Gomer Pyle,' or 'Hogan’s Heroes,' or 'McHale’s Navy.'

You had works of art like 'South Pacific' or novels like 'Catch 22' and even movies like 'MASH,' respected the importance of the military and the important things it did that were heroic in the large scale, like World War II, but it was still made of real people with their real foibles.

But we — now we have started to have this artificially reverent view of the military that’s also distant and disengaged."
--James Fallows

Once Again...Here Is How Tariffs Work

For anyone who *still* doesn't get it...

Link to original article:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/13/politics/donald-trump-tariffs/index.html

The Ten Happiest Cities in the United States 2025

WalletHub, a personal finance company, has unveiled its latest rankings of the happiest cities in the United States. These rankings were derived from an analysis of 29 distinct happiness metrics, ranging from depression rates to income growth and the average amount of leisure time enjoyed daily. Each of these metrics was evaluated on a scale of 100 points, with a perfect score of 100 indicating the highest level of happiness. I find it fascinating that a full FIVE cities on this list are in California, three of them specifically in Northern California!

10 HAPPIEST CITIES

1. Fremont, Calif.
2. San Jose, Calif.
3. Irvine, Calif.
4. Sioux Falls, S.D.
5. Overland Park, Kans.
6. Lincoln, Neb.
7. Madison, Wis.
8. Scottsdale, Ariz.
9. San Francisco, Calif.
10. Huntington Beach, Calif.

To figure out how each city compared, WalletHub drew upon their own research and data from the U.S. government, as well as several studies on happiness. They then used the following metrics to score the cities:

Emotional and physical well-being

• Life-satisfaction index
• Depression rate
• Suicide rate
• Adequate sleep rate
• Physical health index, which measures the percentage of adults reporting good or better health.
• Sports participation rate
• Share of people aged 12 or older who used marijuana in the past month
• Retail opioid prescriptions dispensed per 100 persons
• Share of adults with mental health not good, which measures the percentage of adults with 14 or more mentally unhealthy days reported in the past month.
• Life expectancy
• Food insecurity rate

Income and employment

• Income-growth rate
• Share of households with annual incomes above $75,000
• Poverty rate
• Job satisfaction
• 4+ star job opportunities per total people in the labor force, which measures the number of job opportunities at 4+ star rated companies on Glasssdoor.com per the total people in the labor force
• Job security, measuring the probability of unemployment
• Unemployment rate
• Underemployment rate
• Bankruptcy rate
• Weekly work hours
• Commute time

Community and environment

• WalletHub’s “Most Caring Cities” Ranking
• Separation and divorce rate
• Hate-crime incidents per capita
• Ideal weather, using data from WalletHub’s “Cities with the Best & Worst Weather” ranking.
• Acres of parkland per 1,000 residents
• Average leisure time spent per day
• Well-being “community” index score (Note: This metric refers to the “Community” section of the Sharecare Well-Being Index, which refers to “liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community.”)

Link to original article in Fortune magazine:
https://fortune.com/well/article/happiest-cities-in-america-2025/

This Moment Might Be Dark, But It Is Not Our First

Author and organizer Garrett Bucks had this to say after Tuesday night's "speech" to the nation by the convicted felon:

"Last night’s address wasn’t technically a state of the union, but it was one more chance for Trump to lay out a story of a country whose hearts are small and shriveled.

But if he gets to tell his stories, than so do we.

You know damn well that the state of the union isn’t strong.

The state of the union is cruel, which means that we must be more caring than ever.

The state of the union is teetering, which means that we must both block and build at the same time.

The state of the union breaks our hearts, which means that we must love each other even harder.

The state of the union has us questioning our own mettle, which is why we must remember that we are not the first who’ve been asked to be brave.

The state of the union is, as it has always been, unwritten.

The state of the union is, as always, what we make it."

https://thewhitepages.net/p/the-state-of-the-union-is

Warning Signs Of Fascism

Time to repost this...

Winter World 2024

Vienna, Austria

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Rome, Italy | Photo by fabio_insta88

Gdańsk, Poland | Photo by Martyna Damska

Athens, Greece | Photo by Romanos Hiliarhopoulos

Chinatown, New York, New York | Photo by Christophe Jacrot

Kinkaku-ji Pavilion, Kyoto, Japan

Word Of The Day

https://www.instagram.com/susiedent

Here We Are Again

Hello, readers. I have started to write this post several times already, approaching it from different angles each time: talking about resisting, talking about disappoinment, using humorous images to address looming dystopia, posting a list of rules on How To Survive An Authoritarian Regime, but none of it seemed right. None of it captured the entirety of the swirl of conflicting thoughts and emotions I am sure all of us are feeling. So I just want to say two things:

I still believe in everything I did before last night, with even more conviction. For whatever the next administration has in store for us, I intend to be a grain of sand in the eye of heaven, which will manifest itself against them in many ways.

Just like the last time we did this, living well is the best revenge. I re-dedicate myself to beauty in all its forms. The arts are a healing balm and they come to our aid in distressing times. I pledge to continue to live my life, and turn the volume up a bit. They don't get my liberal tears...they get my liberal self.

We are not going away.

VOTE HARRIS 2024!

http://kamalaharris.com

VOTER PROTECTION HOTLINE NUMBERS!

Do not tolerate anyone intimidating or harassing you or anyone you know at a voting location. Phone one of these numbers immediately.

VOTE 2024!

"American history is a record of small groups of people who keep remaking this country over and over, and who reveal to us all that the perpetual remaking is the greatest statement of fidelity to our creed and our national purpose, which is not to be like Russia, white and stagnant and oligarchic, or like China, monoethnic and authoritarian and centralized, but to be more like America, hybrid and dynamic and democratic and free to be remade."
--Author and activist Eric Liu

And please, for the love of democracy and our country itself,
VOTE DEMOCRAT!