Well, time for another post. Its now November 3, 2016. We have had record rainfall in the past 4  weeks; nearly 11 inches. This is a record amount. Leaves are still green on the trees around here. Most of the garden is still growing. Some wind, but nothing destructive . . .  yet. We had a scare last month, a very deep low pressure system, the remains of a typhoon, approached Washington / Oregon / B.C. / Northern California threatening to be worse than the Columbus Day storm. It missed us, just barely. Thank God.

This is election year. The campaign has been a circus. A mockery of Democracy. One candidate, in particular, is an absolute ass. He's a loose cannon and regardless of his past, he has shown, with his actions now,  to be completely devoid of any skill or wisdom in dealing with public affairs, world class diplomacy, or management of government operations. He is taking advantage of people's anger and fear with regard to our country's problems, which are real (most of which are caused by the uber-wealthy). And to compound the already horrific issue, the media is having fun with it all.

Change is needed NOW: Campaign finance reform (keep corporate money out of politics), education reform; make college free for all, forgive all college loans; our democracy will die unless we are educated, health care reform (make all pharma and health care non-profit), make our military defensive and not offensive, keep church out of politics, re-instate the Glass–Steagall act and enforce it, send corporate crooks to jail after making them pay all of their money back. Eliminate lawsuits unless criminal intent is first proven No more "civil suits". Limit lawyer's income to the national average. Double the salaries of police officers, fireman, and teachers. Make child care affordable. Stop the destruction of our environment caused by the use of petroleum products, and corporate greed. Eliminate the wealth inequality in the U.S. (its really really bad, just google it and don't believe faux news). Force the rich to pay for it all; its time for them to pay the piper. None of this will happen in my lifetime, for sure. If you're a 30 something reading this, probably won't happen in your lifetime either.  The way things are however, will not go on indefinitely. The longer it takes to fix this mess, the worse it will be. Sooooo much needs to be changed.

At 68 years old, the fragile nature of human life is becoming painfully obvious. This is what I want to say:

"My advice to anyone: if there is someone you love; TELL THEM before it is too late.  Look for the glass to be half-full. Look for the good. Look for the truth. 

Hatred, lies, anger, fear, uncertainty and doubt are conditions of the mind that will ruin your life and the lives of those around you; avoid those conditions like the plague."

However the blatantly obvious facts say this: "It is an unprecedented tragedy, that most of us alive now, will die leaving this earth to be trashed in the name of money (greed)." How the heck can people be so darned blind?  Is this really what we want to leave our grand children?