What does anger and hatred get us?

I read the following in a Facebook post the other day, and it is just as valid now as when it was originally posted:

Feminist News

The question was posed, "Why do people continue supporting Trump no matter what he does?" A lady named Bev answered it this way:

“You all don't get it. I live in Trump country, in the Ozarks in southern Missouri, one of the last places where the KKK still has a relatively strong established presence. They don't give a shit what he does. He's just something to rally around and hate liberals, that's it, period. He absolutely realizes that and plays it up. They love it. He knows they love it. The fact that people act like it's anything other than that proves to them that liberals are idiots, all the more reason for high fives all around.

If you keep getting caught up in "why do they not realize this problem" and "how can they still back Trump after this scandal," then you do not understand what the underlying motivating factor of his support is. It's fuck liberals, that's pretty much it.

Have you noticed he can do pretty much anything imaginable, and they'll explain some way that rationalizes it that makes zero logical sense? Because they're not even keeping track of any coherent narrative, it's irrelevant. Fuck liberals is the only relevant thing.

Trust me; I know firsthand what I'm talking about.

That's why they just laugh at it all because you all don't even realize they truly don't give a fuck about whatever the conversation is about. It's just a side mission story that doesn't matter anyway. That's all just trivial details - the economy, health care, whatever.

Fuck liberals.

Look at the issue with not wearing the masks. I can tell you what that's about. It's about exposing fear. They're playing chicken with nature, and whoever flinches just moved down their internal pecking order, one step closer to being a liberal.
You've got to understand the one core value that they hold above all others is hatred for what they consider weakness because that's what they believe strength is, hatred of weakness. And I mean passionate, sadistic hatred. And I'm not exaggerating. Believe me. Sadistic, passionate hatred, and that's what proves they're strong, their passionate hatred for weakness. Sometimes they will lump vulnerability in with weakness. They do that because people tend to start humbling themselves when they're in some compromising or overwhelming circumstance, and to them, that's an obvious sign of weakness.

Kindness = weakness. Honesty = weakness. Compromise = weakness.

They consider their very existence to be superior in every way to anyone who doesn't hate weakness as much as they do. They consider liberals to be weak people that are inferior, almost a different species, and the fact that liberals are so weak is why they have to unite in large numbers, which they find disgusting, but it's that disgust that is a true expression of their natural superiority.

Go ahead and try to have a logical, rational conversation with them. Just keep in mind what I said here and be forewarned.”

So, what does this mean for the rest of us?  Do we give in to our hatred and anger and become just like these losers?  Or, do we find ways of disconnecting ourselves from them in all ways and let them stew by themselves in their own anger?  I feel sorry for these cult members, but I won't forgive them.  They have choices they can make, and they keep making bad ones.  The best I can do is to put myself in positions where they can do as little harm to me as possible, for as long as possible.  But what do I suggest for civilized people as a whole?

I suggest total disengagement.  Advocate policies that protect our communities from their hatred, even if it hurts them in the long run.  Let them destroy their states as long as we can protect ourselves from them and their politicians.  Boycott their states, as the Canadians are boycotting America.  If it's easy to avoid doing business with firms such as Hobby Lobby and Chick Fil A, do so.  But this will not always be possible.  Many of the biggest firms are managed by people who benefit from targeting the weakest in our society.  So do business with them as little as possible.  

Right now, I have friends in Texas who I will not visit until their state recovers its sanity.  Since that isn't happening soon, all I can do is meet with them over a Zoom link.  It's not good, but it's better than visiting them as an unauthentic self to avoid persecution in that state.

 

 

Easter Sunday - A look backwards. (A short post)

 

By the time you read this, Easter should be a memory.  Yet, I find important to note that RQS and I both got dressed in our nice dresses and attended church for a change.  What I found interesting is how things have changed since we were children decades ago.  Men and women would put on their Sunday finest, and wear many of the same clothes that they could be decked out in before they were buried.  Today, people are much more informal, and we saw quite a few people wearing jeans in the church.

Is this bad?

Not really.  As much as I like getting dressed up for social functions, I appreciate the informality of the current age. We are much more socially relaxed now than in the 1950's when we were born.  (Politics is just as divisive, save that society is much more polarized today.  Who'd have dreamed that the Orange Snowflake would normalize hatred, anger, and nihilism among members of his cult and hijack one of the two political parties in the USA?  But I digress.)  When I watch videos of old game shows, I often see women in evening gowns and men in "dinner suits" (Tuxedos) as panelists for shows such as "I've got a secret" and What's my line?"  Today, with the exception of summer casual wear, it's uncommon to find women wearing dresses or skirts.  We have become a much more equal society than the one we were born into.

There are many among us who'd return us to the 1950's and the "Red Scare" era.  People would blacklist others, keeping them from gainful employment if they didn't toe the party line and hate communism with a passion.  Any defense of people holding contrary views were to be shunned.  Over time, we saw that the Red Scare was way overblown. Many lives were ruined because of our national fear.  Yet, we overcame that fear and moved forward to our current era where people again have lost faith in our institutions and civil norms.  We have overcome our fears before as a society and will do so again.

The message of Easter is a message of redemption and of life.  Let's hope we can remember it while we struggle to go about our daily lives.

I've been entering my cruises into The Cruise Globe, and some interesting things show up.

 

Lately, I've been entering information from my prior cruises into The Cruise Globe, and it has been mapping each of my cruises as I enter them.  Not all of my cruises have been entered yet, and I am doing the research to fill the rest of them in.

Why am I mentioning this?

The bulk of my cruises have been out of New York: NCL out of the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, Princess and MSC out of the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.  My other cruises have been out of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Fort Lauderdale, and Southampton, England.  Some of these cruises have been with a travel partner, and others have been as a solo.  Some of these cruises have been as Mario and others as Marian. And on each of these cruises, I learn a little more about myself and the world as a whole.

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Some cruise ships, like NCL's Pride of America, act as floating hotels that take people from port to port for their sightseeing.  Others, like many Royal Caribbean ships, are resorts in themselves.  Most cruise ships are somewhere in the middle.  Yet, cruising is not for everyone.  If one wants to visit a city and get to know it well, cruising is not the way to do this.  But if one wants to sample several places in one vacation trip without having to unpack, then cruising might be the vacation for you.

Entering data into the Cruise Globe triggered memories of how I was treated as a transgender person on some of the trips.  Occasionally, I was addressed by my dreaded masculine name, which put me in an awkward situation at times.  Other times, I was treated properly for a woman of my age.  Sometimes, I was reminded how I slipped into my masculine voice in the early days of traveling as Marian.  Each entry brings up some memory from the associated cruise, some good, some bad, and some embarrassing. What I found most interesting was that I have spent almost 6 months on cruise ships since I lost my wife to cancer.

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Soon, I'll be going on another cruise and reporting on it here.  Hopefully, I will continue to learn more new things while revisiting places I've been to before.

Today, I presented both as Mario and as Marian.

 

I could easily blow a wad on Universal Standard dresses, as there are two on sale that I wouldn't mind buying.  With a 25% off code that will expire at midnight, I can only justify buying one of these dresses (sadly, not the one above in that color).  Instead, it will likely be a linen dress which is perfect for the upcoming summer.

But why do I mention dresses?

Well, today's schedule had me present as Mario when I went to the doctor, and as Marian when I meet with MAR for dinner.  And I'm almost always in a dress when I meet up with her for dinner.

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First, it was a visit to my doctor.  I know that he'll hector me about my weight, but I go there because I know that my health needs to be monitored, so that things don't get worse for me in this area.  My appointment was set for 10:30, and I didn't see the doctor until 11:15 (an intern did check my blood pressure around 11.)  By the time I was done with the doctor, I was hungry and craving a sausage and egg breakfast sandwich.  So, I ate some food, then dropped my suit off at the cleaners before going home for a couple of hours.

I rested at home for a while, and then changed into Marian before meeting MAR for dinner.  Although we agreed to meet at 5:30, she was there around 5.  So, I said to get a table, as I could be there in a few minutes.  Once there, we caught each other up on what has been happening in our lives. Both of us showed each other some of the clothes we were thinking of buying for ourselves.  MAR was a little envious of me and my travels, and suggested that she'd like to join me on one of my cruises.  Well, that won't happen for many reasons, one of them is that I'd have to reveal I am transgender.

After dinner, I dropped my leftovers at my apartment, then drove to Stew Leonard's to buy some breakfast sausage patties.  One problem - they were nowhere to be found, as the store was arranged to supply patrons for their Easter dinner needs.  Yet, I found a lot of things I needed for this weekend's dinners with RQS.

On the whole, it was a busy but not hectic day.  Next week, I expect things to get hectic on the run up to my upcoming cruise.

 

A free day before a lot of activity

 

Tomorrow, I will be dealing with a Doctor's appointment as Mario, and then a Dinner engagement as Marian.  So, it will be one of those "half and half" days where I have to change my presentation in mid day.  This is part of why I did nothing much today other than to pay a bill or two, and to do some more laundry.

But first....

I woke up after a good sleep.  How did I know it was a good sleep?  Well, I rarely dream, and I had a vivid dream during the night that has since faded from memory (like most dreams do).  Once I was fully conscious, I warmed up some frozen quiche from Trader Joe's (Meh!) and sat down to fold some of last night's laundry.  Even though the sock monster ate two of my ankle socks, I have more than enough to spare.

Next on the docket was paying some bills.  Although my car insurance went up, I was glad to get this payment out of the way, as I expect even more bills to come up before the end of the month, as well as a funds transfer to pay for work being done on the family homestead.  AARGH!  Yet, one good thing came of this - I found out why credit card payments to one account weren't being processed.  It seems like the partner bank for one of my cards had changed, along with both account number and lockbox addresses. So I updated this information, and I hope that next month all will be OK.

Finally, I got around to doing my laundry.  Two loads washed and dried, but not yet folded.  I will need to do this before the weekend, as I have to bring a packed suitcase along with me as I drive RQS home after the upcoming weekend.  This way, when I go there by train, I'll have my carry-on, my CPAP machine, and maybe my backpack.

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One item of mote: Today, I read a report where US Customs detained a US Citizen and his wife at the Canadian border, and made him surrender his cell phone - even after he noted that he was an attorney, and had sensitive information on it.  Even bright red congressional districts have had enough of this crap and are complaining.  The US Citizen and his wife were eventually released, but what does this say about the heavy handed treatment that ICE is showing people of all nationalities, including our own?

Given that I will be out of the US at least 3 times in the next 6 months, I wonder what will happen to me, as I am openly against this administration's actions.  Will they subject me to the same headaches as this citizen experienced?  Yes, I'll be traveling as a cisgender white male, and not the transgender woman I am.  But how long will it be possible for me to deal with being in stealth mode, and when will they start hunting us down, like the Nazis did in the 1930's?

 

 

I could've taken care of some paperwork, but I decided on just lunch.

 

As you already know, I've been in the process of getting my paperwork ready to be filed, so that I can have a second passport.  Given what's been going on in this country lately, I will eventually finish the application process and get this task completed.  However, I don't want to deal with complications imposed by our electronic security state when I travel overseas and use this passport.  With this being said, I want to make sure that I know how and when to use (and refer to) the second passport when traveling to the destination country from the USA.

Things are starting to get bad in the USA, as this administration is notoriously sloppy in the way it does things.  It has deported legal aliens without notice, sending some to Salvadoran prisons on the claim that they are part of a criminal gang.  In one case, a judge banned the deportation, but the person was deported anyway - an attempt by this administration to take power away from both the legislative and judicial branches of the government.  As a result, I feel that I must soon make the effort to get this second passport while I can, and keep it in reserve for when I may need to use it.  (As I've said before, it's time to get those "Letters of Transit" ready.)

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I drove to Cold Spring and met Maria there.  Buying her lunch today was my way of saying thanks for all the times we got together, so that she could notarize something for me. We talked about current events, even though she is a Republican (aargh!) who hasn't written the Orange Snowflake off yet.  Yet, she didn't push back when I described the fellow in Maryland who was deported in error, and is being illegally kept in an El Salvadoran prison.  (I think more of her attitude has been influenced by the media she has consumed, combined with the problems caused by the left with them not living in the real world.  But I digress.  We then talked about trans issues, her not realizing what the snowflake's attacks on Trans medical treatment (puberty blockers and psychiatric therapy) for minors could cause, as well as issues regarding legal identification documents such as birth certificate, drivers license, and passport not reflecting the trans person's identified gender.  Finally, we got to talk about family issues, and she told me about what's going on with her daughter and grandchildren.  (I'm glad I'm not living her life.) I didn't know that her father passed away, and her siblings didn't even have the courtesy of telling her. (Shades of a story which happened to one trans person I know.)

Once done with lunch, I drove up to Poughkeepsie to browse the wares at Lane Bryant.  Sadly, I couldn't find what I wanted in stock, and will need to order it online sometime in the near future.  On the way home, RQS called to tell me about problems with the tax lady.  It seems like the tax lady didn't e-file the return like she was supposed to do.  Hopefully, after a couple of blistering phone calls that this problem has been resolved.  If RQS owes any fines, I said that the tax lady should pay them for her lack of attention to her work.  I'm glad that my taxes are over and done with for the year....

 

Lots of little things, but nohing big for me.

 

Soon, I'll be going on a Bermuda cruise.  And things are backing up in the queue of last minute items to check on my to-do list.  Although I have set up my Hold Mail request, I still need to pack, take care of my medications, and get all needed bills paid before I go away for a few days.

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Today, I took RQS's lead and donated some books to the local library for resale.  I wasn't going to tell RQS this, but I was using this batch of books as an excuse to visit the store and chat with one woman I meet at a recent meetup.  Since I have more than enough books to donate, I can always make another visit in the future.

I have another visit to make to the family homestead to deal with contractors entering the building.  This time, I have to be there while a chimney liner is installed, and possibly be there to let the plumbers in the following day for gas pipe replacement.  The chimney liner replacement has been scheduled, but telephone tag has prevented me from scheduling the gas pipe replacement.  But with expenses like these coming down the pike, both my brother and I will need to put more money into the house than we'd want to do right now.

Hopefully, the second co-op board meeting of the month will go well.  Our finances are still up in the air, and we have issued a new assessment to cover our shortage for the forced insurance coverage contracted for by the bank last year. Although the notice hasn't gone out at the time I'm writing this entry, I know people will be upset as soon as they receive notice of the assessment.

Before I go on my cruise, I have to pack my bags for the trip.  Given that I have 4 bags of laundry to do, I expect that I will spend the better part of one day washing, drying, and folding laundry.  I've been very lazy about this task lately, but I will do it before the coming weekend.  At least I have more than enough clothes to get by until my laundry is done.

Bill paying is a task I do several times each month.  I need to make sure that all of my important bills are paid off, including this year's car insurance bill, which has gone up by $75 for this 6-month period.  This makes me glad that I took a distribution from my 401-K last year. 

As I said, lots of little things, but nothing that big....