Day: May 22, 2020

First Line Friday — The Nightmare

Fandango11 Comments

E0009EAF-8755-4349-8439-B0FCBE761D72“Someday, this will be over — only remembered like some half-felt and fading nightmare,” Kevin said to his older brother, Randy.

“If you believe that, Kevin,” Randy said, “you are, at best, naive, and at worst, ignorant.”

“I really believe he’ll lose in November and that normalcy in our country will be restored,” Kevin said.

“You’re assuming that there will be an election in November,” Randy said.

“Of course there will be an election,” Kevin countered. “It’s required by the Constitution.”

“Do you think Trump gives two shits about the Constitution?” Randy said. “And who would stop him from canceling the election? Not his Republican sycophants, that’s for sure. The only way there will be an election is if he knows he’ll win. And if he somehow loses, he’ll say it was rigged and declare it null and void.”

“You’re such a drama queen, Randy,” Kevin said. “Our democratic institutions won’t allow that to happen.”

“You’re a fool to believe that, Kevin,” Randy said. “He’s a dictator who controls the executive branch, the courts, and the Senate. No one is going to stop him. Between him, his sons, and Ivanka, this nightmare will not be over any time soon. And as Trump’s ass-kissing attorney general Bill Barr said, ‘History is written by the winners, so it largely depends on who is writing the history.’ I’m afraid this nightmare ain’t gonna simply fade away, brother.”

Written for Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie First Line Friday, where the first line is, “Someday, this will be over — only remembered like some half-felt and fading nightmare.” Image credit: Simanion.com.

Let Us Pray

Fandango45 Comments

2A15CB05-3680-4A29-8FF3-FB0B083B395E Donald Trump said today that his administration will deem churches and other places of worship “essential” during the coronavirus pandemic. He said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will issue guidance that deems houses of worship essential places that provide essential services, and he is urging state governors to allow churches to reopen. “The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now,” he said. “If they don’t do it, I will override the governors.”

Trump added, “In America we need more prayer, not less.” And so he is calling on houses of faith, including churches, synagogues, and mosques, to reopen “right now.”

I’m not a religious man. I’m not a churchgoer. But I have been under the impression that faith comes from within and that you can pray at any time from anywhere. Do you really need to go to a crowded church, synagogue, or mosque to practice your faith and to pray to whatever god you pray to?

This is not a rhetorical question. It’s not a trick question. I really want to know. Do you need to risk the health and life of others and your own health and life in order to practice your religion?

Thursday Inspiration — Sunset

Fandango19 Comments

738CE984-D8EA-4D99-916B-4078A8BDEE6FFor this week’s Thursday Inspiration, Paula Light has given us the picture above and the theme “sunset.”

When we lived in the city, our house faced due west and was located just three miles east of the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, we were at a low-lying section of the city, so when looking west, you couldn’t really get much of a sunset view. And the view from the back of our house — the view to the east — faced the side of a mid-rise apartment building. So no decent sunrise views, either.

When we moved to the East Bay in February, we moved into a house in suburbia that is situated on top of a small hill. It has some spectacular sunset views that I thought I’d share with you.EEBF3E53-39ED-435B-8ECA-BF83CE28F8A6ECE4E092-CBAB-46E1-B339-C548D66C7699FC86C049-CE42-48BA-BCE2-3A93D02FB947And speaking about sunsets, here, for your listening pleasure is the cover of Wes Montgomery’s “Bumpin’ on Sunset” recorded by Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express. Take ten, sit back, and enjoy.

Fandango’s Friday Flashback — May 22

Fandango42 Comments

Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of you earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Friday Flashback post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (the 22nd) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally published on May 22, 2018. Do you remember the big brouhaha when San Francisco Giants’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the playing of the national anthem at an NFL game to protest inequitable treatment of backs by police? Oh, for the good old days when something like this what the biggest news of the day.

Changing the Rules

E6885681-5EB7-47E9-9BC4-964FD657D828NFL owners met in Atlanta to discuss how to handle the national anthem protests going forward. The owners are reportedly contemplating hitting teams with a 15-yard penalty if any of their players or coaches kneel during the playing of the anthem.

It is also considering allowing the home team to decide whether players and coaches come out for the national anthem or stay in the locker room. But if the team decides to have players and coaches come on the field for the opening ceremonies, and a coach or player decides to kneel, the team would be penalized 15 yards. This penalty would be assessed against the team in violation of this new rule on the first play of the game.

If the NFL owners ultimately decide to change the rules and to impose such a 15-yard penalty for players (and/or coaches) who kneel during the anthem, I will never go to or watch on TV another NFL game until such a rule, if enacted, is rescinded.

FOWC with Fandango — Block

Fandango31 Comments

FOWCWelcome to May 22, 2020 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “block.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments.

The issue with pingbacks not showing up seems to have been resolved, but you might check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.