Don't Turn Away

How I Feel about Mr. Narcissist

There are many times in my life when I wanted to shut down, tune out and drop onto my couch. The plan of ease--- to envelop myself in novels and magazines. Certainly November 9th was one of those days but guess what, I had helped create and organize a gathering for over 100 people in our small town and that was not an option. I am forever grateful that I showed up, listened, talked and energized myself and others that evening. Groups of like minded, loving people helps the spirit.

I recently read the Smithsonian Magazine from September about the African Americans experience in our country and the rough road to freedom from slavery. [In no way is our current situation similar to what the African Americans suffered after the civil war but we do have to cope now with a grossly uneducated person about to walk into the White House with no experience and overwhelming prejudices. Let me continue.] One of the articles described Sankofa, the non profit organization founded by Harry Belafonte and his daughter Gina. Belafonte recalled that Usher, the singer needed help. He was angry about the people getting murdered by police officers. So in order to bring awareness to the general population they made a video titled "Chains". The video forced viewers to stare into the eyes of unarmed people who were killed by police. If the camera detected a wandering gaze, the words "Don't Look Away" appeared and the video stopped playing. The film centered on images that are painful to look at and worse to address. People being killed for being black, yellow or brown. 

Today I am focused on all of the people who have turned away, looked away from their citizenship, their duty to vote and enabled the T to become, arguably the most powerful person in the world. How when so much was at stake could anyone do that? What made these citizens sit at home, blithely go to work and walk out on their civic responsibility? Baffling to say the least. They decided to turn away.

How can those who were non participants become part of the solution of this terrible problem that has been thrust into our lives?  I urge all of you non participants to do several small things. 

1. Make a phones call to your political representatives. 
No matter how unresponsive you believe them to be, do it anyway, numbers count. Do the call with as much politeness as you can muster and tell them of your concerns. Honestly it takes seconds. Remember what's at stake: they intend to cut off funds for various environmental projects and want to privatize social security and medicare, and disassemble the ACA. It's going to take every last one of us insisting that they listen to the majority. We are the majority. HRC won by 3 million votes.

2. Participate at the local level    The local level being the various boards, community organizations or of course the Democratic party. Consider running for office, precinct committee officer, school board, county commissioner, dog catcher, whatever. It is vastly important that we have generous, kind, intelligent people in our governments large and small. Right now the biggest roles are being filled by ill equipped and unqualified people that have no business being trusted by these high offices and in fact want to disrupt the various cabinets they've been appointed to.

3. Write, speak, march, show up.  It is no longer okay just to grouse at home or with your friends, we need action and plenty of it to make a change. Letters to the editor of papers small and large, attending meetings and discussing issues that are important to you and the community you live in, marching down the street and showing up to be a voice for change. Word of advice, screaming and being obnoxious is unnecessary and may even hurt your cause. Forceful, focus, insistent and persuasive is more accessible. Hence, no screaming at people, even if you're frustrated and angry. Go throw rocks into the water, or write a blog about the stupidity of certain people, it helps especially if you couple the anger with all of the good actions mentioned here. Think about it, do you react well to being screamed at?

4. Give generously to causes you care about. Want to have clean air and water? That is absolutely threatened by T's choice. His choice is a climate change denier and now will be heading the Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental Defense Fund, Sierra Club want our environment safe and protected, help them. Women's rights? Planned Parenthood is a protection for women and deserves our support. Human rights? the ACLU was one of the only organizations who stood up to the government when they incarcerated the Japanese during WWII. Remember no Germans were incarcerated, it was definitely a racist imprisonment. Racism is overt now, don't turn away, don't look away. Stand up for your neighbor, your fellow citizens as you would want them to stand up for you if you were a minority. 

5. Seek goodness and humor, do acts of kindness every day 
One of the things that I endlessly talked to my clients about was be aware and amused every day even if it feels like there is nothing to be amused about. I've taken to re reading Calvin and Hobbes, such good bed companions and a guaranteed laugh per page. The other thing is so simple: kindness doesn't cost a cent and yet it pays such great dividends. Be kind no matter what. Make someone laugh or smile every day. 

6. Help create the kind of world that you want a beloved child to inherit.    It is that important.

 The best reason to fight for clean air and water and human rights

 

 susansmagicfeather copyright 2016 Susan R. Grout all rights reserved

Year in Review with Photos

The mysterious case of the man in the Arbutis

Greetings and happy holidays to all. Here is my annual year in review with photos. Enjoy and love one another.

wonderful walks on an Autumn day

Realization that there can be light at the end of a rain storm

love a young lady with a wicked sense of humor

Thanksgiving always splendid with these girls

Grout family up for a good time at Thanksgiving

Chicago for a wedding with Jim and Colleen Grout

More Chicago with Trisha and Peter

good hike with this crew

San Diego

San Diego with all, a ball

Glorious scenery and the best fun in San Diego in the fall for our birthdays.

Cousins and grands at Groutfest

good sports in SD

The Grout family 

love to travel and eat our presents for Xmas

I Don't Care How You Voted, Remedies for the Future

Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.      MLK

I have a very long uphill battle to face. I am going to do this with as much dignity and love as I can muster for four long years.  My heart is heavy with concern about the new administration and I yearn for a time when kindness and caring for others and this poor earth were with us. 

I don't care if you voted for a 3rd party, I don't care if you didn't vote, I don't care if you voted against Hillary and for Voldemort. I'd like you to read this.

What have we done, America? We have placed this man, T, in a position of power who is not only ill prepared for the job but is also a human being who cares nothing about anything but his own family and, of course, himself. On a daily basis I've been baffled that so many Americans have not only been conned by him and his rhetoric but also apparently found nothing wrong or objectionable about his misogynistic, hate mongering, insulting prevarications on an hourly basis, and that they actually voted for him. Please, I want to understand this. 

Is this truly who we are? It is no wonder that the young adults of this country have taken to the streets. I agree with them. We need to shout out to the world that this man does not represent us or our values. He represents hatred and fear. We are better, finer than that. 

How can we give him, as his supporters all suggest, a chance when he has made himself perfectly clear with his actions and words exactly what he intends to do with this country. Remember his actions: stiffing employees and contractors; not a penny of his own money to charity; bankruptcies; physical and verbal disrespect for women; contempt for many different races and minorities; copious name calling; saying he'll put his children in charge of his money, not a blind trust, as every other president has done...etc.  This is what we have to present to the world as the USA. I say, No! that is a false picture of who we are. I believe we are better than that. 

I also want to understand how putting a prominent "climate denier" in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency helps the environment? This is truly someone who is deaf and blind to science. This demonstrates his stunning ignorance about the condition of the earth. Human induced climate change is accepted by 99% of all competent, qualified scientists working in the field. The 1% who jumped on the denial bandwagon are paid by the oil and gas industry. 

Voldemort has appointed a known racist to be his top advisor, Stephen Bannon. If you don't know about him, here is a sampling:

Here's everything you need to know about Stephen Bannon. President-elect Donald Trump recently named Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist and senior counselor. The move to name Bannon — who has a long history of bigotry — to such an important role makes a mockery of Trump’s pledge to be a president for “all Americans.” Before joining the Trump campaign, Bannon oversaw the rise of the Breitbart News Network, a far-right website that caters to white nationalists. There, a former editor says, he "aggressively pushed stories against immigrants, and supported linking minorities to terrorism and crime.”  Southern Poverty Law Center [SPLC] Features on Bannon   Read SPLC President Richard Cohen’s statement on Stephen Bannon White Nationalists Rejoice at Trump's Appointment of Breitbart's Stephen Bannon Sign our petition and say "No" to Stephen Bannon Bannon in the News Steve 'Turn on the Hate' Bannon, in the White House (The New York Times) Trump draws sharp rebuke, concerns over newly appointed chief White House strategist Stephen Bannon (The Washington Post) Steve Bannon: Appointment of 'white nationalist' must be reversed, critics declare (The Guardian) Here's why it's fair — and necessary — to call Trump's chief strategist a white nationalist champion (Mother Jones) How Donald Trump's New Campaign Chief Created an Online Haven for White Nationalists (Mother Jones) From the SPLC Archives Read the SPLC's extremist file on the Alternative Right View the SPLC's map of hate groups in the United States Read our report, The Year in Hate and Extremism 2016 Trump Campaign Hires Breitbart Exec Stephen Bannon, Cozies Up Closer to the Alt-Right Is Breitbart.com Becoming the Media Arm of the 'Alt-Right'? Whose Alt-Right Is It Anyway?

How can I/we forgive all that he verbalizes, acts and represents and move on to hope and love? 

I don't care if you voted for a 3rd party, I don't care if you didn't vote, I don't care if you voted against Hillary and for Voldemort. I do care passionately that if you say you're not a racist, or a bigot, or a misogynist that you prove it. I believe passionately that if you say you love the earth that you do not aid in it's destruction. 

What are you going to do? What action are you going to take to combat hatred with love? Loving, folks, is doing not just thinking. If you say you are going to pray for healing and for this country to heal and yet you sit idly by as the hatred is spewed before you and you do nothing, how is this love? If you are repeating racist and sexist remarks as though they are entertaining, how is this love? If you do not give money to the poor but instead force the poor to continue in their cycle of poverty and offer no jobs merely criticism for their lives, how is this love? If you take health care from people because you object to anyone having benefits from the government, how is this love? 

It is not enough to know what is right. Courage also is needed to do what is right.                      Arthur Dobrin

I am working on forgiveness. I have to for my own benefit and for all those I encounter. But, like the Jews who had to forgive the Nazis for their own sake, I will not, as they did not, ever forget. Hatred does not help. I am asking a big favor of all of you to back up your assertions of not agreeing with Voldemort's statements with some positive action. I firmly believe in the goodness of people.

One way to be assertive against racism, hate and misogyny is to give generously to positive organizations that can further a good future for our children and grandchildren based on love not hate. Here is my small list of the charities that deserve your attention and will work for love, goodness and compassion: 
1. Souther Poverty Law Center: as mentioned above they have an excellent program that teaches tolerance. They help any group that is being target by hate.
2.Planned Parenthood: they do support all women with cancer screenings, preventing pregnancy with birth control etc. Abortion is a tiny portion of what they do for women but the only thing the right-wing haters seem to care about.
3. Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund: they work wit a wide variety of land owners and corporations to bring about environmental positives; when all else fails they will sue governments or corporations that are polluting the environment.
4. Sierra Club: a very positive group with a long history that also works in ways that complement the efforts of the NRDC and the EDF to protect our environment.

Ask yourself, how am I loving and what am I doing to help the most vulnerable in our country? Currently hate crimes are on the rise and the KKK is rejoicing in this election. Is this what you want and desire? Please prove otherwise.

As for me, besides donating, I called Paul Ryan to encourage him and his chronies not to cut Social Security and Medicare, which he very much wants to do. How about the corporate welfare? That could be cut. I am also going to stand up for anyone who is abused, interrupt anyone who is targeting the vulnerable and take it to the streets if necessary. 

Join me in being loving and forgiving through action.

susansmagicfeather 2016, copyright Susan R. Grout, all rights reserved

the only pussy I want to see grabbed

When Anxiety Is Running the Kentucky Derby In Your Life

A lot of people are afraid of heights, not me I'm afraid of widths.       Stephen Wright

Some families fight depression and must learn ways to overcome it. Not ours, it's anxiety that races through the family faster than the horses at the Kentucky Derby.   Susan Grout

BEFORE

There are many therapeutic blogs out there giving outstanding advice on how to deal with anxiety. I've found personally that curing yourself of anxiety is entirely personal. Some believe that there's a universal remedy like taking even slow cleansing breaths, and trust me this does help.  However, lately we've all had days of nail biting stress, now it's time to call in the horse trainers to still the racing thoughts.

Since this is entirely personal I will regale you with my own favorite stress/anxiety reducers. 

AFTER

1. I paint. Not portraiture or pastoral scenes but the walls of my house. Nothing calms me more than this activity and the intense satisfaction of seeing a wall that's dull and tired become bright and beautiful. 
2. I play guitar and sing. Mind you, this is not a concert worthy quality performance but the sheer joy of expression is always deeply appreciated by me. I say, "Sing as though no one is listening", and by god no one is...
3. I do yoga, several postures almost every day such as the cat/cow, tree pose, plank and Warriors I, II and III.
4. If I have trouble sleeping and my mind is restless, the three part breath is quite useful. The act of filling up the body with new breath leads to new thoughts and encourages calm thoughts.

   

   Action and charity combined

5. Forest bathing: I do as the Japanese recommend and get out to a forest and drink in the purity of the trees.
6. Become a knit wit: I love to watch movies and knit. My latest project is knitting head bands that I then donate to the Thrift shop or "Nana's House" a little store that allows kids from 2 to 12 to purchase inexpensive items to give to their families at Xmas.
7. Write a check to your favorite charity or send a thank you note to someone who has done a kindness to you. Works for me.
8. Get out of the house. I love to ride my bike when the weather is better than the constant rain we've had, but walking in the rain is pleasant.

A sneaky way I have of ridding myself of anxiety is to give ideas and therapy tips away. So thanks for reading, I appreciate you all. 

Loving is doing so if you are being exceptionally loving to yourself [as I have been today] it really helps to reduce the anxiety load. Gives a new meaning to 'hold your horses' and certainly quiets the internal Kentucky Derby. 

susansmagicfeather  copyright 2016 Susan R. Grout all rights reserved

The Cat is Out of the Bag, Meeeeow!

We live in a great country, possibly the best in the world. No matter how others denigrate our good name, America is always there to help especially when there is a grave injustice.

I have been troubled and puzzled by the nominee of the highest office in the USA who stands for nothing but himself and has used people viciously: women he has assaulted; workers and professionals who he has stiffed; entire races he has insulted; and the uneducated who he has encouraged to break the law and assault people that don't agree with them.

Perhaps twice as troubling is the people who were elected to office who have either passively or aggressively supported this man. What possible justification is there for supporting a person who is in communication with KKK? I ask you because I can't figure it out. Is this because these people also support the KKK? Remember the KKK is a hate group whose mission is all about hatred of others: especially African American, Native Americans and Jews. Heil! These are hate filled people and if in fact one doesn't denounce them, then the obvious conclusion is that they are for them.


As for any woman who would choose to vote for a man who is a sexual predator, just exactly what are you thinking? I'm not kidding, I want to know. Knowing that we women have had to fight for the right to vote, fight for the right to privacy with our Doctor, fight for justice for the victims of domestic violence and sexual assault; fight for health care for all; fight for the poor, the mentally and physically disabled; fight with our letters and our door to door campaigns to win all these rights and more. These rights were never handed to us. And now you want to be in the camp with a man who threatens these rights and is all about himself and hatred? I truly don't get it.

Young, uneducated white males, I can kind of see the appeal for this man. What they see is a man who can get away with not paying his taxes and laughs about stiffing his workers and has a free hand with any woman he desires [including a 13 year old]. Many of these young men are closet misogynists and racists themselves and what their candidate says is what they've been thinking and possibly enacting for years but afraid to verbalize. The, ahem, cat is out of the bag and she's mad as hell for all the abuse. For some young men all these crimes do seem to hold a fascination especially if their candidate then lied and said that you, young man are going to get a job out of the deal. Ha! He'd stiff you too. Look at his history. Manufacturing in 15 different countries, steel from China anyone?

Being a nasty woman has benefits

Looking at someone's history portends what you can expect of them in the future. From my last post, if you need a refresher course on what we can expect of a Presidency from our first woman POTUS.
http://susansmagicfeather.blogspot.com/2016/10/comparisons-though-odious-are-sometimes.html

Let the howling commence that she is not likable. As Oprah said, "hey, she's not coming over to your house for dinner." Hey, HRC, in all her competency and experience and willingness to fight for women and children, will be running the most successful country in the world. Let the criticism begin. She is not perfect, please find me a politician who is. If you suggest Bernie, who I also happen to find likable, remember he was a socialist and oh man, would that have raised an overwhelming howling from the Republicans.

My hope is that after this election there is a peaceful transition. It would be a grave injustice if it is not an a honorable transition. USA is all about helping others and justice. Why would anyone wish chaos on this great country of ours? Join with me in the fight for compassion, love, hope and respect. Simple kindness will do in a pinch. Join me vote Hillary.

susansmagicfeather 2016 copyright Susan R. Grout all rights reserved.

COMPARISONS THOUGH ODIOUS ARE SOMETIMES NECESSARY

Love to hear what my mother would have said about this election, Bet I can guess**...

I have lots of frustration in this campaign and one of the biggest one is the obfuscation, the disingenuousness of the press. They go out of their way, to the point of ridiculousness, to be equal to both of the candidates. When the truth is: there really is only one qualified candidate running for office. The other "candidate" is a showman, a narcissist who is only out for himself. The classic definition of that personality disorder is LACK OF EMPATHY, the inability to restrain themselves from thinking only about themselves. Proof, his unwillingness to pay taxes, to be charitable, his every moment Tweeting about himself and giving himself high scores for being right, [about what?] ad nausea. Hatred created this man as a "candidate" and hopefully all of his narcissistic nonsense is going to defeat him.   

The other night at the VP debate Pence complained that HRC/ KAINE were being insulting of the big T. How is it insulting to quote all of the Donald's own statements back to him? That's called facts. Not insults. I won't bother to enumerate all the bigoted, racist, anti female, stupid comments but just pause for a moment to revel in the man shooting himself in the foot at every opportunity. There is nothing to defend, the man is indefensible. 

Love of reading starts early

So why, in almost every article by the press, do the newspapers go out of their way to point out that Hillary is unpopular? How is it possible for a candidate to gather many, many millions of supporters and still be labeled by this term manufactured by the Republican establishment for over 30 years? SMH. [As my pal Mary pointed out this means shake my head.] Are they just not bothering to interview those of us who respect, appreciate and admire Hillary? Have they lost all confidence in themselves as writers that they are actually afraid to go against the twisted lie of 30 years and proclaim, she is not only likable, she is also ADMIRABLE? [See my article http://susansmagicfeather.blogspot.com/2016/06/dancing-backwards-in-high-heels.html 
Are they so afraid of the T supporters? Well don't be! Sadly, that part of the American public has ceased to read. They watch TV news and call it good. Is it good? In the olden days, the 1940's through the 1990's the TV news was actually using professional reporters, reporting facts with live coverage of important events, not trivia. Then news became a source of "entertainment".  As a matter of fact Fox news is actually listed in their contract as entertainment. Yet some people believe they speak the truth. 

books can be thrilling

Which brings me to the only real candidate for POTUS. By way of contrast and comparison, Hillary Clinton is generous, loving, tough, hard fought, supremely intelligent, caring, effective and so  strong. She is a feminist and has fought for women and children's rights her entire career. Those of us who do support her need to not mince around. Say it loud and say it proud, she will make an excellent President and one we can trust. Let me say that again, Hillary is someone we can trust to run this great country of ours. 

Is she perfect? OMG no. Gee, find me a politician in this country who is. Is Bernie? OMG no. However, everyone who has ever worked closely with her is fiercely loyal to her. That says something. It is not an accident that she has unwavering support from the vast majority of her colleagues. Say it loud and say it proud. HRC for POTUS.

Below is a small list of her accomplishments and further proof of her competence.

• First ever student commencement speaker at Wellesley College.
• Distinguished graduate of Yale Law School.
• Editorial board of the Yale Review of Law and Social Action.
• Co-founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.
• Former civil litigation attorney.
• Staff attorney for Children’s Defense Fund.
• Faculty member in the School of Law at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
• Former Director of the Arkansas Legal Aid Clinic.
• First female chair of the Legal Services Corporation.
• First female partner at Rose Law Firm, the oldest and one of the largest law firms in Arkansas.
• Twice named by The National Law Journal as one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America.
• Former First Lady of Arkansas.
• Arkansas Woman of the Year in 1983.
• Chair of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession.
• Created Arkansas’s Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth.
• Instrumental in passage of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
• First Lady of the United States.
• Promoted nationwide immunization against childhood illnesses.
• Successfully sought to increase research funding for prostate cancer and childhood asthma at the National Institutes of Health.
• Worked to investigate reports of an illness that affected veterans of the Gulf War (now recognized as Gulf War Syndrome).
• Helped create the Office on Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice.
• Initiated and shepherded the Adoption and Safe Families Act.
• First FLOTUS in US History to hold a postgraduate degree.
• Helped create Vital Voices, an international initiative to promote the participation of women in the political processes of their countries.
• Two-term New York Senator and the first ex-FLOTUS in US History to be elected to the United States Senate.
• Served on five Senate committees: Budget (2001–2002), Armed Services (2003–2009), Environment and Public Works (2001–2009), Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (2001–2009) and the Special Committee on Aging.
• Member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
• Leading role in investigating the health issues faced by 9/11 first responders.
• Worked with Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York on securing $21.4 billion in funding for the World Trade Center redevelopment.
• Former United States Secretary of State.
• Brokered a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in 2012.sS

  

  **My Mother, RIP would be thrilled to vote for Hillary
  
  
  susansmagicfeather copyright 2016 Susan R. Grout   all rights reserved
  
  
  

Dancing Backwards in High Heels

After all, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.

 Ann Richards 

It is well known that the Republican Conservatives believe that Hillary Rodham Clinton is a "left wing insurgent"*. It is also know from the end of this Democratic primary run that the Left Wing Progressives believe that Hillary is a Republican fox in Democratic sheep's clothing "who is a shill for Wall Street".* How can this be describing the same person? Easy y'all, it's called successful vilification. 

The Republicans are frankly thrilled that some of the progressives believe the Donald when he describes Hillary Clinton as "Crooked Hillary." I have never heard a worse case of projection in my life and I was a psychotherapist for over thirty years. [Projection is when you ascribe to another person what you really believe about yourself.] This description is from the man who created "Trump University" and bilked people out of thousands of dollars for nothing, who claimed bankruptcy four times leaving many people and businesses in the financial lurch and who brags about not paying his taxes. Who exactly is crooked? Welcome to Crooked Donald.

Another accusation by the right and far left is that Hillary is dishonest. But check if you will with Politifact. Hillary has gotten better ratings on truth telling than any other candidate and is in fact more honest than most politicians. Jill Abramson who followed Hillary as a reporter for thirty years said, "Hillary is fundamentally honest and trustworthy."

It will be women who'll save the world.                          Jane M. Ricketts [on a discussion of the world's condition]

However something else is at play here with the vilification. Hillary happens to be a successful, powerful woman. The Seattle City Council recently turned down vacating a section of a Sodo street in Seattle for the purpose of building an arena near a maritime industrial center. The proponent wants to build a professional sports arena.  But the street vacation would adversely affect Seattle’s maritime industrial area and a lot of well paying jobs.  The vote to deny was 5 to 4.  Because the five who voted against the arena were all women, and the four in favor were all men, what ensued was a Twitter firestorm of vituperative, misogynistic, threatening comments, largely from young white males who want a professional basketball team in Seattle.  The female council members got no respect for their thoughtful reasons for voting no. They were given no credit for the hard work that they do.  Happily, there was a swift reply from the Seattle Times and scores of citizens.  They condemned the blatant sexism.


Doesn't this sound familiar? It should if you've been paying attention even minimaly to politics. Sure, Donald Trump is nasty and misogynistic and we all have come to expect it. But surprise, so were the Bernie Bros. in reference to Hillary Clinton and threatening the life of Barbara Boxer. Where is the outrage, the apologies, the defense of these women after all the vitriol? Bernie himself has been, and to my knowledge still is silent.

Many Democrats, me included, are grateful to Bernie Sanders for pushing the Democratic Party and Hillary in a more progressive direction.  However, as it became increasingly clear that Bernie would not win the elected delegates (forget the super delegates) his supporters became increasingly angry.  Many of them now say they will vote for the Green Party or they will not vote rather than vote for a capable, hard working woman who has adopted many of Bernie's positions.  What does that mean?  Apparently it means that they’re willing to risk a Trump presidency.  Yet, their candidate stands for everything that Trump is not.

Imagine if Bernie was Bernice. Bernice is a 74 year old with wild white hair, and she's a socialist to boot. Do you believe for one minute that Bernice would get a pass? Would she even be listened to? 

"American loves women like Hillary---as long as they are not asking for a promotion." Sady Dillon

A sad note in our society and many other nations is that women who insist on fair, equal treatment are called 'pushy' at best or _________________________ fill in the sexist comment yourself.

Interestingly Hillary has always been cleared of wrong doing even though there is a "permanent multimillion dollar cottage industry devoted to attacking her," said Hanna Rosin in an article called "Among the Hillary Haters."

Supposedly Hillary is in bed with Wall Street because of the speaking fees of $200,000. This, by the way is the minimum fee for in demand speakers. Rudi Guilani and Bloomberg regularly make $270,000 a speech and Jeb Bush made millions in speaking fees, why oh why is no body howling about that? "Hillary made 100 paid speeches and eight of those were to Wall Street. She also spoke to Canada 2020, so do they own her too?"

Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily this is not that difficult.   Charlotte Whitton 

This woman, Hillary Clinton is a generous, complicated, intelligent, gracious, loving mother and grandmother. She has been Secretary of State for our country and improved our reputation after the Bush/Cheney administration nearly ruined it. She has a long history of fighting for women, children and minorities. She helped save many hospitals in New York by working with them to specialize and cooperate with other nearby hospitals. She championed Universal Health care as early as 1992. Jonathan Bernstein of the New York Times said  Hillary "is probably the best qualified presidential candidate ever."

Here's what is at stake: The Supreme Court Appointment; the rights of women; the rights of LGBTQ Americans; the rights of minorities; the attention to the children of this country. She is a good Democrat. The Democratic party is inclusive and supportive, loving and interested in the rights of all citizens. Hillary is tempermentally suited to hold the office of the Presidency and she will continue to maintain good global relationships. 

Added to all that she is not a narcissistic nut case who is a business failure, a hypocritical money grubber and a sexistist blowhard.

Hillary will be a good President and make us all proud to be Americans.

*Any quotes with no acknowledgement are taken from an article by Michael Arnovitz published in Daily Kos in May 2016

susansmagicfeather copyright 2016 Susan R. Grout all rights reserved

So What If There Are Unkind or Greedy People

A lot of people are afraid of heights, not me, I'm afraid of widths.                                                   Stephen Wright 

Unto whomsoever much is given, of them shall much be required.                                              Luke 12:48

Right now I'm reading Timothy Eagan's book  The Immortal Irishman which deals in part with the sad unnecessary potato famine. It is well known that the failure of the potato crop by a blight caused a famine which killed millions of Irish citizens. What is less well known was at that time in this gruesome history the nasty British government did next to nothing to help the starving Irish people. Indeed the British politicians in particular were treating the entire island of Ireland as their slaves and as if they were subhuman. Worse they wanted all of the starving people to pay for the food that was being grown by them for the wealthy British who "owned" the land. In essence the Irish were serfs. 


Throughout history there has been devastating examples of "man's inhumanity to man": the holocaust, the African genocides, the Bosnian war that wiped out 100,000 Muslims, the British purposefully ignoring the starving Irish during the potato famine that cost the Irish millions of lives, forced marriages of children, the sexual slaves, the corruption in the fishing industry in Thailand, enslaving men for profits, corporations using children to work in factories in foreign lands...I could go on and on. [You probably have your own list.]

As we look on this today with horror I realize much of these absurd attitudes toward humanity are still going on in parts of our globe. This is cruelty and should be called out and fought against by all caring individuals. Where is the PETA for the down trodden despairing humans?

One answer could be from some of the noble people of the past. A couple of years ago I wrote about How the Irish [monks] Saved Civilization after reading Thomas Cahill's marvelous book. To sum up: the wee monks laboriously copied all of the books they could gather knowing the barbarian hordes were threatening to destroy every last one. These hordes came from the parts of Europe that were illiterate, Germany, Sweden, etc. So the barbarians burned all of the books they could get their hand on. Since they couldn't read they were threatened by the people who could. I am getting to a point: Barbarians didn't want the people they were conquering to be more educated and intelligent than they were. 

Hence thank God for the monks who risked their lives for education.  In a sad similarity today, ISIS, the Boko Haram, the Taliban are busily doing the exact same thing. As Malala said, "the scariest thing to the Taliban is a woman with a book." To bullies and thugs, it's too dangerous to have an educated population and most abhorrent, an educated female population.

I might add that this is the hallmark of insanity--- to be fearful and destroy something or someone you don't understand or can't empathize with. To understand an issue or a person you need to research, examine and learn. This requires effort and today my grave concern is people are unwilling to do the work required to stay educated. Sadly they accept what's on the Internet or what the TV tells them without forethought or examination. One of the unfortunate costs of our internet is the obliteration of journalists and newspapers regularly laying off and losing these qualified people. This was brought home so well in the excellent movie "Spotlight". In the movie you followed an team of reporters who researched the reported cases of child abuse by priests in the Boston area. It was gripping. Ultimately another sad note I came away with after watching this movie is how far down our society has fallen in that we no longer have these teams of journalists to count on. The truth suffers a daily fate to the ones who claim to have credentials and have none. It didn't help that the media has been repeatedly sneared at as being "liberally" biased. 

Knowing that journalism has suffered I believe it is important to be a bit skeptical of some of the more absurd "facts" that are dished out so casually on the Internet. One of the example is the climate change deniers.  Fully 99% of the world's scientist know that not only is this happening but it's becoming a crisis. Yet there are a teeny percentage of scientists [and many ignorant politicians] that deny that the world's climate is changing. Interestingly these few scientists and the politicians are accepting money from the chemical industries. Duh. 

President Obama gave an excellent example about accepting facts and the truth when he said, "suppose you have diabetes and you went to 99 doctors and they said, 'yes, you have a life threatening condition and you must follow a careful diet eliminating fried foods and sugar'. Would you really believe the one doctor who said, "don't pay any attention to that you can eat anything you want and continue on with your slovenly ways." Then after that conversation from this doctor you find out he is being paid a stipend from the fast food industry....Hmmm, would you really risk your life on that one doctor's advice? 

When it comes to paying he is the first to put his hand in his pocket. And leave it there.                                  Anonymous

Another thing I find fascinating is the recent release of the information that $11 billion has been stuffed away in Panama by tax cheaters. Did I mention that it was $11 Billion, and supposedly that is an underestimate. Knowing that many in government claim there is no money to prop up our infrastructure, feed the poor, fund the schools, support government agencies that help the wounded Vets, I find it down right hypocritical and cowardly that they do not demanded right now that these taxes get paid. Pronto. Yet who do these tax cheaters routinely want to call cheaters? Single Moms on welfare. 

What is really ironic is that there seems to be a war on women and particularly the poor women. That is really amusing in a twisted sense. Amusing because there this portion of our population, many who say they are devoutly religious, who have decided that generosity and kindness to the less fortunate is not a worthy value. They blame the poor for their circumstances. Worse the focus is turned to the few welfare cheaters which seems egregious when you contrast that with the ones who contributed to the $11 billion tax cheating. Yet who do these tax cheaters routinely want to point a finger at as cheaters? Single Moms on welfare. Go figure. 

We could easily feed every child, the homeless, the old and infirm in this country. Many people who right now live with "food insecurity" do not have to do so. We are the wealthiest nation in the world and yet we have people who go hungry. There are those who turn away from suffering and blame the poor and the unfortunate for the state they are in [the "makers and the takers" in Paul Ryan's vernacular]. How can this seeming contradiction exist? Is it purely ignorance and lack of education? 

They asked Jack Benny if he would do something for  the Actor's Orphanage---so he shot both his parents and moved in.                                                                  Bob Hope

No. Sadly this is based on lack of empathy and an unwillingness to investigate how to better these people's desperate situations. Who, I ask you, is the king of lack of empathy? I won't name names but that's because I'm stumped that anyone with half a brain would fall for a man who is verbally abusive, sexist, racist, had four bankruptcies and three wives who are aliens. Oh and orange hair.

susansmagicfeather copyright 2016 Susan R. Grout all rights reserved

I Know A Young Lady Who Swallowed a Lie

I know a young lady who swallowed a lie,
I don't know why she swallowed that lie,
I guess she'll cry.
I twisted the folk song "I know an old lady who swallowed a fly" by Rose Bonne and Alan Mills

Tina knows she is breathtakingly beautiful. She doesn't have long to live.  She is radiant in her brevity
.

There is an old saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I would like all women to look at themselves differently, through their own eyes, to behold their own beauty even if society tells us we can't be beautiful because--- we're too old, too fat, too skinny, too dark, too loud, too much, too________________. Sadly, society can be a cruel dictator and the constant images thrown at our young women are of anorexic teens posing as grown ups and then air brushed for the glossy page. That is a lousy way to influence young girls. If I were queen I would definitely put a stop to that. Truth in advertising ha!

Above all, don't lie to yourself. The woman [or man] who lies to herself and listens to her own lie comes to a point where she cannot distinguish the truth within her or around her and so loses respect for herself. And having no respect, she ceases to love [herself].                                                                      I monkied with the quote by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Pow! Grace and beauty combined

Delighting in friendship

The glory of  little girls in our culture, and perhaps globally, is that they are joyfully fearless in their appreciation of themselves and delight in what they can create and do. This gets knocked out of them by the constant bombardment of the advertisers, misogyny and peer pressure to be, look, think a certain way. And with the haters in our and other societies it is necessary to put the female of the species down, down, down.

There is some hope on the horizon: women are fighting the good fight to be heard and understood. Consciousness has been raised and we are inching toward equality in pay, positions of power and respect as human beings. Even Barbie is being remade, she is a bit heftier. This isn't a joke although it is funny. Barbie can now be a firefighter, a hero, a space explorer, a doctor, you get my drift. So much better than Barbie who just can go to the prom in her 5" high heels with her 14" waist. Silly example but it is a step forward. Perhaps Barbies sales were falling off...which would then suggest a marketing tool...but still.

The inevitable outcome---for everyone---is you're going to get older; so don't slide through life. Savor it. Slow down, be kind, pay attention.                      Carrie Fisher

I agree with most of the above from the interview with Carrie Fisher. We are all ageing and wouldn't it be nice to be embracing each era rather than looking askance at the expected decline? My own dear mother told me when I turned 55 "go look in the mirror". I did and came back to the phone, she said, "it's all downhill from here." I tell that story often and it always gets a laugh. Had she been a different kind of mom she might have said, "quit criticizing yourself, you look great and should appreciate it today because you'll look back on pictures and really appreciate your younger self." That was so not her personality but I did get the message. 

The lie says there is no decline, no getting older. You can/should be as youthful looking and perky as a 30 year old even if you are double or triple that age. I must admit I'm not sure I completely agree about the slow down part of the quote. I do know that "slow motion gets you there faster" [Hoagy Carmichael]. This is especially true when it comes to learning something new. At this point in my illustrious life I am attempting to refine my guitar and music writing skills and it ain't easy. The lie would say, "why bother Susan, you're in an enjoyable period of retirement, there's no need to strive". I'm not about to go on tour, or even get one of my songs widely disseminated. So why bother? Because it's important for me to strive, to learn something challenging. Most of all I want to keep that incredibly energetic 10-year-old-tom-boy part of me vital until I die. So there.

To me the best part of life is laughing, talking, singing, playing, romping, hiking, loving, experiencing, rejoicing and being in a calm serene state as long as I am able. In order to do all of the above I have to keep learning, and be quite disciplined especially in paying attention to what brings me energy and joy and focus on that. What helps? Staying aware and amused all the time about life.

SISTERS ARE THE BEST


susansmagicfeather copyright 2016 Susan R. Grout all rights reserved