October 2022
UK & Globe to Tories: Lose Truss!
As predicted by TheQuake: The UK's former prime minister was indeed replaced by someone actually worse. So bad in fact that loony Liz UnTrussworthy and her sorry-assed sidekick Kwakpot Kwasi swooped in to destroy what was left of the UK economy, losing any confidence or credibility she may have ever had with anyone.

"Surely in a nation of 60 million plus they could have come up with someone better than this hopeless woman and the kwasi buffoon? Sad to see how far the UK is falling." -- Fighto, 'Japan Today' reader.

Do you recognize a face?

CNN link

Now she's likely to get booted out [the world fervently hopes so, we've already got way too many problems without this idiocy] and the merry go round continues as the British pound threatens to fall to parity with (or even lower than) the US dollar - unthinkable and unimaginable until now. Leaving the European Union, and then Truss' decision to lower taxes on wealthy people and corporations leading to a staggering debt commitment, both combine to bring the UK economy and social fabric to its knees.

And reneging on it's agreement with the EU on how to handle the NI/NorthSea border backstop situation leaves the UK as a pariah state to its neighbors [no wonder any rational "Norn Irelander" wants out of the UK and to flourish with Eire & Europe]. All this needs to be sorted, and soon. And it ain't gonna be done with loony Liz anywhere near the decision making process.

September 2022
US Legal: Trump is above the law
"TheTrump Special master ruling violates the principle that no one is above the law" -- Guardian. To make matters worse: "FBI found document on foreign nuclear defenses at Mar-a-Lago", the same media outlet reports.

AccountNumberEight (poster on "Democracy at work" YT channel): "It's an American character flaw: instead of lifting everyone up, the sheeple want everyone to suffer. Maybe it's based on that 'protestant work ethic'."

Criminal charges imminent?
"Trump in increasing legal peril one month on from Mar-a-Lago search" says the Guardian.

Hear what ex-FBI special agent noticed in evidence (CNN) photo taken inside Trump's home.

Meanwhile, "the choice is clear. If you want a government that cares about all Americans, vote Democratic. If you want a white christian nationalist autocracy and are willing to kill fellow Americans to get it, vote Republican." -- Rob Reiner, twitter

August 2022
Rightwing terrorist plot foiled
Rightwing terrorists invariably fail to look like amenable individuals, nevertheless justice was done as "a jury on Tuesday convicted two men of conspiring to kidnap Michigan state governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, delivering swift verdicts in a plot that was broken up by the FBI." Reaction on Meidas touch YT podcast channel.

Interviews on "Real and present danger" from On Point, a US national public radio program/podcast, discusses how Trump and right wing politicians' rhetoric impacts the FBI.

The top 400 American families own over 25% of total U.S. wealth.

Justice Dept. kicks into gear

Criminal swoop into Trump
"Trump under investigation for potential violations of Espionage Act" reads the banner headline of Politico, Fri PM Aug 12.

Previously: looks like the blustering sociopathic boss of anti-democracy Donald J. "Twitler" is going to be subject to a criminal investigation [allelujah it's time honeybuns] as a judge authorized a search warrant on one of Trump's trophy homes that look down and mock the working people of America whose money has gone to these altars of corruption and grift.

It's "big news that a grand jury has reportedly been impaneled to find out how and why national secrets were packed up in Washington and parked in Palm Beach" says MSNBC.

We are witnessing possible justice unlike ever seen before, going to the very top, and it seems it may be true, thank goodness, that .... even a president or an ex-president is not above the law. Continues MSNBC: " it's unlikely the Justice Department would convene a grand jury if officials there didn't think they had some evidence that could overcome Trump's likeliest defenses."

Blackpool intoxicating

English Football is baack!
The English football league season is with us again, with the actual official "English Football League" itself having already started, while the top tier, a separate yet connected entity called the Premier League, is geared up to kick-off this Friday with an all London affair between Crystal Palace and Arsenal.

We are informed that the lowest life expectancy in England is for residents of Blackpool [the highest being Westminster in central London]. So howzabout looking to see how their football club is doing, eh? Well, at the time of writing, they're by no means bottom of the entire football league system. In fact they are in the top level of the Football League which is the second to top tier of the overall pyramid.

They actually won their first match of this brand new season, defeating visitors Reading 1:0. An unhappy Reading supporter royalboy reacted: "New season optimism crushed after 10 minutes. Another long season lies ahead I'm afraid. On the plus side my girlfriend and I had a lovely evening in (Black)pool, the smell of chips, vomit and sea air is truly intoxicating. I just hope we get to go back next season."

So don't commit suicide just yet, Blackpool or Reading fans, and deny yourselves the future guilty pleasure that is, indeed, the truly intoxicating smell of chips, vomit and sea air. May I add: the alcohol could also be a contributing factor. To the intoxication that is. Or the lifespan. Or, frankly, both. At any rate, this result indicates a lot to live for, even in Blackpool, where the team plays in tangerine - surely a color to die for.

July 2022

England scoring in the semifinal

England women win Euro final
The final between England and Germany lived up to the glaring spotlight of over 87,000 spectators and millions more via remote watching (TV, online, outdoor gatherings etc). What a way to finish the tournament topped off with three remarkable goals and some quality play by both sides.

The first goal, lobbed over the keeper by Ella Toone from a pinpoint Keira Walsh assist that released the scorer's amazing run, has already become the signature clip or here for the match. The way Germany rapidly rallied to get even, and then the dramatic match winner late into extra time, could not have been scripted better.

Semifinal
They're on their way to the Women's Euro Cup final in Wembley stadium as England's national football side thrilled the nation, the continent, indeed the world! with a comprehensively professional 4:0 demolition of Sweden in the semifinal held at Sheffield United's sold-out ground. Some amazing action and some memorable goals. Big audiences live and on TV, along with a watch-along in downtown London. Catch the highlights if you missed the game. Second semifinal is between Germany and France Wed July 27.

USL & Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay FC still on a roll with a string of unbeaten league games after a shaky start to the season. Potential coming through, it's beginning to click. Both brilliant goals.

Stadiums of all the USL Championship clubs, at least, as of the previous season.

Ray of hope for US democracy
Us democracy is in deep trouble and it's going to take a lot more than throwing batshit Bannon into the cooler for a few days. But it's a critical baseline marker which, had our nation sunk below it, might have precluded any coming back.

As Norman Eisen and Dennis Aftergut reacted on CNN: "Subpoena defiance and the insurrection are birds of a feather. The American system of government requires that there be both a peaceful transition of power and a successful investigation of those who seek to interfere with it. Deterrence by punishment for such interference is the only way to stabilize American democracy."

Meanwhile, in Tik Tok land USA, his daughter thinks the waiter is cute.

Also, let us not forget, in Tik Tok land USA, you are kidding my azz.

"Why We Did It": former RNC spokesman on GOP's descent into Trumpism.

Props to Jake Broe for a you-tube channel that keeps many of us coming back for his content, especially the Russian war on Ukraine.

Curtains for Boris
it's all over for batshit Boris who's resigned and no longer leads the disunited Kingdom. The toxic Tories will now further destabilize the UK by coming up with another dysfunctional dotard to lead a nation, still reeling after its diabolical disassociation from the European Union, in meltdown. But which worrisome weasel will they elect to replace jaundiced Johnson? Sir Robert Buckland: "we are in unchartered waters". Time to beg the EU to fly over some psychedelic snorkels.

What finally sank the blustering buffoon?

June 2022
Curtains for humans
As suspected, we're on the final leg of the human journey. We've lost the ability to solve our problems. Andrew Potter on Decline, speaking to CBC Radio [Canada] of "a slow, grinding descent into less prosperity, lower quality of life, and diminished prospects for a better world."

Justice? Depp-ends...
While US democracy gets whittled away by the far right, so far we see a gaping absence of justice served up to the corrupt politicians and hangers-on of the Trump era who made huge personal fortunes at the expense of the ordinary working American stiffs, the masses are kept docile with the likes of "the Johnny Depp trial". Nevertheless, who could not fail to be charmed by his lawyers who certainly got their 15 minute of fame along with some serious $$$ in this case. Now where's the justice for everyone who's not a multi-millionaire?

USA's interminable internal terror
by Rob Francis: It baffles the rest of the modern world why America seems incapable of stopping the mass shootings. This Guardian article discusses the problem, which has existed in the many decades I've lived here and has only gotten worse. It's the completely out of control gun violence and mass shootings.

Australia and New Zealand did it - they fixed their mass shooting problems, and for all my criticism of many aspects of UK politics this problem has never been an issue there in my entire lifetime. By contrast, in the United States, with mass shootings occurring now at catastrophic rates. I discovered that in 2021 it was just under 1.9 mass shooting events PER DAY according to the criteria of the "Mass Shooting Tracker", far outstripping those that ever make national news, and 27 school shootings have taken place just this year so far, at the time of writing in late May.

The solution is further away than ever before, and because of the political reality in this nation it now seems beyond the ability of the executive, legislative, and judicial systems to ever be solved, no matter how many citizens are killed or experiencing lifelong trauma or other injury.

There's so much to like, and indeed to still love, about this amazing country overall [and California in particular] but the murder and mayhem of uncontrolled gun accessibility is a huge problem with no mechanism in sight to ever change it - and that's killing us, literally and psychically.

May 2022
Trumpism toppled abroad
Not only is disgraced groping TV star and former failed president Donald Trump struggling to maintain interest in his now tedious presence at home [though strong inside the otherwise rudderless Repugli-Q party] his influence aboard is taking signifcant hits. His minions abroad are falling like dominoes, now with Slovenia's people souring on authoritarian Trump mooch Janez Jansa in favor of the brand new Liberal party's Robert Golob, while of course France rejected their extremist rightwing ultra racist choice for [unpopular but far lesser of two evils in their view] Emmanuel Macron.

Slovenia is recognized as the wealthiest Slavic nation in Europe but the people have set their sights even beyond that - seeking an improved health care system and a yearning to stem the dangerous rightwing efforts to erode democracy - remarkably like the US in many ways.

Meanwhile, a blueprint for America's future: Just Security's "Good governance papers". Where are we now, where are we succeeding, where are we moving in the right direction but need to do better, and where are we failing?

Mallory M of Michigan
Michigan senator Mallory McMorrow's speech that went viral tells it like it is. A breath of fresh air to see someone speak out strongly on behalf of the views of the greater and more grounded of the American people.

Buddhism in Spanish
Buddhism in Spanish is growing around the world and just two examples are in the Canary Islands and Los Angeles. In California, and probably elsewhere in the USA and Canada, it is noticeable to those who visit Buddhist temples or communities the extent to which, for example, Spanish speaking monks are entering the Buddhist picture where before only [or overwhelmingly] English and/or Japanese, Sri Lankan, Thai, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Tibetan, Korean or other Buddhist tongues would have been spoken.