Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine - All Ukraine, all the time.

Depending on the news channel you watch, it is either politics or the Ukraine war that is being discussed. Over time, people start getting tired of hearing about wars - especially when the side you want to win can only force the other side to a stalemate.  Too bad that wars are not like Chess, where a proven stalemate ends the game.  The current Eastern European struggle looks like it can go on for years with a lot of needless deaths in the process.

Russia wants for people in the Western nations to tune out to this war, so that they can continue to commit war crimes to wear down Ukraine's will to fight.  They count on our collective unwillingness to keep thinking about a war for years on end.  As for me, we should escalate things quicker than we have, so that Russia feels pain more quickly.  I'll admit that I'd give the Ukrainians weapons which could take out priceless world heritage sites such as the the Cathedrals near Red Square, Hermitage and the reconstructed Amber Room.  Russia does not consider human lives worth much, why should Ukraine consider priceless art held by Russia in any higher regard.  Make Russians painfully aware of what they could lose if the war drags on, and they may just get pissed off enough at their leadership to throw them out by force.  It has happened before....

Sadly, this almost makes me nostalgic for the days that the news was "All Trump, All the Time."  Just almost....

It's the end of the week, and I hope things keep going well.

 

I find the news more interesting than most of the "entertainment" that is on TV these days.  But I'm not talking about politics, which can get quite boring after a while.  Instead, it's when the news outlet covers something other than politics - such as when a city shuts down its commuter mass transit overnight to save money.

This week, politics was the lead item for every newscast.  No, it was not because the Federal government was doing something new to screw us.  Instead, it was because the government was gradually undoing some of the messes that were made over the past 4 years.  I was pleasantly surprised that on the first day of Biden's presidency, that his administration rolled back some of the executive orders (XOs) which hurt the LGBTIQ community.   

Given that I ingest media which tends to have a center-left bias,  I can't help but feel good about what is happening.  However, if I were ingesting media with a center-right / hard-right bias, I might feel as if the world has collapsed around me.  The reality is somewhere in the middle - the operating bias of our Federal government has shifted towards the center, but with input from the left. A quick look at our president's nominees show that most of the candidates are well qualified for their positions.  However, if one looks from the perspective of our hard-right media, one would see candidates chosen because they meet a quota checklist.  Again, reality is somewhere in the middle.  When one has a surplus of qualified candidates, why not choose people that please key elements of the party's base?

Well, since this week has been pleasantly eventful, let's hope that next week is even better!

 

I did plenty of nothing, and nothing's plenty for me!

Today was a day that didn't lend itself to going outside.  The forecast called for a wintry mix, with about 3/8" of ice being deposited on everything.  This was not weather to drive in, and this made it a good day to stay inside - which I did.

Although I could have done a load of laundry, that would have meant getting dressed.  That's something which was not in the cards for today.  So the hamper continued to hold a load of clothes which could get done at anytime this week.  Given the choice between getting out of a warm bed on a cold day or staying comfortable, you can guess what my choice would be.

Later in the afternoon, I got an email asking me whether an 11:45 start time for speech therapy would be good for me, and I responded with a "Yes."  When I checked my schedule, I noticed a meetup I had scheduled for a Saturday afternoon in January - I had a timing conflict.  Sadly, I will miss this foodie meetup.  But I will continue on my path to developing a more feminine voice - and that's the more important thing to do in my opinion.

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Watching the news today, I become more and more afraid that we are heading down the path to a not so civil war.  Most of us would admit that we are in the middle of a cultural war.  America is polarized as it has been in only one other period in history, and that ended with the Civil War.  Whether or not one is a Republican or Democrat, this is not a good sign for us transgender folk.

The more I find out about what's going on in Washington, the more I worry.  In the past, I'd merely get upset at the "opposition party".  But now it gets my blood boiling.  I have to change the channel as soon as I turn it on.  And that's not good.  We are in the cross hairs of part of the GOP's base, and many of their proposed laws are aimed directly at us.

How do I deal with it?  More and more, I seek the entertainment that I grew familiar with when I was younger - shows like the original Perry Mason still make me feel that there is some form of justice in the world.  Old Westerns also serve the same function for me - the difference between right and wrong was easy to see, and one knew that good would triumph over evil.  Even though John Wayne in real life was not a man I could easily respect, I loved what his "cowboy" characters stood for - especially when John Ford was the director of the film.

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Like many people whose views I disagree with, I also yearn for the simplicity of the 1950's.  Unlike these people, I support the ideals which America stood for back then, and not the reality of what America was.  When I look at the old TV shows, I see part of what America could be, as well as by omission, things we need to fix for our future.

Right now, I enjoy the idea of relaxing and doing nothing.  Reality has a habit of catching up with us way too quickly for comfort....


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And if you've gotten this far....

Merry Christmas to you and your families!

I woke up late today and decided to take it easy

Normally, I would get up and out of the bed by 10 am on a typical day.  This was not the case with today.  By the time I realized the sun was out, I was not in the mood to do much of anything but watch TV.

As I noted in yesterday's posting, GFJ didn't come down last night.  After I wrote the entry, we chatted, and she said she'd be going on her nearby hike, go out for dinner with the group, and finally come to my place.  I may have had the freedom to go out as Marian, but I didn't have the emotional energy to do so. There are things I need to take care of at the apartment before GFJ arrives, and I plan to take care of some of them.  Doing some laundry is a must, as well as straightening up the bedroom.  And this will not take up much energy - it will take up time.

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Watching TV shouldn't use any emotional energy.  But if one watches the news, it's hard not to spend any energy if one is concerned about national affairs.  We live in stressful times. Our nation is polarized.  One faction is concerned about law and order, and the other is concerned about the feeling of law and order.  These are two different things, easy to see when watching news coverage on the networks.

I don't want to make this a political posting, so I won't go into the differences between the networks and how they use their "dog whistles" to manipulate their viewers.  But I feel sad that we don't agree on any objective criteria that can be used to have honest discussions.  So a simple discussion of politics becomes unnecessarily charged and will often become an energy suck.  No wonder why many people (including my former cruise partner) simply tune out.  They have only so much emotional energy to use in a day, and they don't want to waste that energy on things over which they have no control or influence.

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It is very important to save one's energy for the people and things we care about most. I figure that it is important for me to have some energy left when GFJ comes over tonight. This relationship is important to me, and I want her to always feel glad to see me when she comes to visit.