Saturday Is Kitty Day!

They say music is a universal language. Apparently, loving and rescuing kitties is too. Even those nasty A-rabs do it.

from The Daily Kitten [Click].

Veterans Stand with Standing Rock

Two thousand veterans from all around the world are assembling to stand between unarmed, nonviolent American citizens exercising their constitutional rights of free assembly and speech and heavily armed Morton Co. ND police.

As one veteran wrote on the organization's FB page:

I'll be leaving early Saturday morning for #StandingRock as part of the 2,000 STRONG deployment of veterans from across the GLOBE. And I don't think I will ever stand taller or prouder than when I stand alongside some of the finest men and women to ever don a uniform and swear an oath-- an oath to protect and serve, against ALL enemies, foreign AND domestic.

God bless them!

The National Christmas Tree Has Been Lit

"This is the 94th time Americans have gathered to light our national tree. It’s the eighth and final time for our family. Before we leave tonight, I’d just like to express what an incredible honor it has been for us to serve this nation. And to feel its warmth and to feel its generosity and how our family has been awed by America’s goodness. And most of all, it has been so special to share these eight years with all of you. So on behalf of Michelle, Malia, Sasha, Grandma, Bo and Sunny—Merry Christmas, everybody. Happy holidays."

—President Obama speaking at his final
National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony
December First, 2016

T.G.I.F.

...and December begins

Early December Dawn
- Photo by Ron Cohen

November Ends...

Sunset At Standing Rock
Photo by Kevin Gilbertt

My November Guest

Robert Frost

My sorrow, when she’s here with me,
Thinks these dark days of autumn rain
Are beautiful as days can be;
She loves the bare, the withered tree;
She walks the sodden pasture lane.

Her pleasure will not let me stay.
She talks and I am fain to list:
She’s glad the birds are gone away,
She’s glad her simple worsted gray
Is silver now with clinging mist.

The desolate, deserted trees,
The faded earth, the heavy sky,
The beauties she so truly sees,
She thinks I have no eye for these,
And vexes me for reason why.

Not yesterday I learned to know
The love of bare November days
Before the coming of the snow,
But it were vain to tell her so,
And they are better for her praise.

To Autumn

This poem has been a favorite of mine since childhood.

John Keats

SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twinèd flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barrèd clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Why Anti Trump Protests Matter

From rollingstone.com
By Sarah Jaffe

Since election night, U.S. cities and towns have rung with protest. Hundreds of thousands of people, from New York City to Los Angeles, from Columbia, South Carolina to Salt Lake City, Utah took to the streets en masse to protest the election of a man who promised, among other things, to force Muslims to register [Click] and to repeal a health care bill that helps some 20 million people [Click] get health insurance, and who has been accused of sexual assault by at least 13 women [Click]. Hand-scrawled signs declared "Not My President," "No To Bigotry," "Trump Puts My Life In Danger," and "Protests Are Patriotic."

High school students have walked out of class in protest across the country, including in Montgomery County [Click], Maryland; Minneapolis [Click], Minnesota; Phoenix [Click], Arizona; and Omaha [click], Nebraska.

Teresa Díaz was one of those protesters, marching in New York on Sunday, November 13th, in a "Here to Stay" rally against Trump's proposed deportations. "As an immigrant mother of two beautiful U.S. citizen daughters, I woke up to my worst nightmare on Wednesday morning," Díaz, a member of community organization Make the Road New Jersey, told Rolling Stone. "But I'm marching today to show that I'm not afraid.”

The speed with which these protests came together and the vehemence of their reaction far outpaced the growth of the Tea Party movement in the wake of the election of Barack Obama in 2008, but there has still been a reaction from some quarters that the protesters are behaving like "sore losers."

Such a sentiment is a byproduct of the fact that Americans tend to think that the only way one can participate in politics, the only possible way to take political action, is to vote. And yet in recent years – in particular since the 2008 financial crisis – Americans have been rediscovering the power of protest. They have embraced, in increasing numbers, disruption as a tactic for making their voices heard. As they have lost faith in the elites who run the world – as evidenced by still-dropping voter turnout numbers that saw Donald Trump win the electoral college with fewer votes than Mitt Romney got in losing the 2012 election – more and more of them have turned to civil disobedience to attempt to make change. As one popular sign from the anti-Trump protests read, "Not Usually A Sign Guy, But Geez."[click]

The anti-Trump protesters have offered up many different reasons for joining the rallies, vigils, marches and walk-outs. Some, like Díaz and Zuleima Dominguez, a member of Make the Road New York and a recipient of Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, would directly be affected by Trump proposals. "Trump's pledge to revoke DACA in his first 100 days as President would affect me because I would lose my work permit and be forced to live in fear of being separated from my family," Dominguez says. "I would be afraid to leave my home, and it would be hard for me to continue with my education, given that I could no longer apply for scholarships that require a social security number." Others decided to show up to offer solidarity to those frightened of what a Trump presidency might mean. Amy Vandenberg, a University of Southern California student, told the [Click], "There are a lot of marginalized people in this country who are scared, are hurting. If I can protest as a white person to say, 'I see you, I'm with you and I love you,' that's what I'm going to do."

The protests offer people like Vandenberg a way to show support and people like Dominguez a place to find new allies; they create connections in a public space [Click] at a time when more and more people are isolated. For the high school students and undocumented immigrants, in particular, who were prohibited from taking part in this or any election despite being deeply affected by its results, these protests have created a space for them to take part in the democratic process, to have their voices – and their objections – heard.

In particular, civil disobedience allows protesters to "generalize the crisis," as Tobita Chow of Chicago's People's Lobby [Click] told me in 2015 as I was reporting my book, Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt [Click]. As people around the country continue to struggle with the wake of the financial crisis and the austerity budgets imposed by state and local politicians, the powerful rarely feel the pain they're inflicting. "The politicians and these rich people who are funding them, they're imposing this crisis on a vast majority of people, but as far as they're concerned there is no crisis, it's not part of their life," Chow said. He also noted that taking part in a protest can have a transformative effect on the people who get involved. "It expands your sense of freedom about what you're willing to do and what you're capable of doing," he said. "It has a really liberating effect on people."

Beyond the participants and the targets, protests also have an effect on those who witness them. Seeing large crowds can on the one hand inspire more people to come out for the first time – as many have done in the wake of this election. On the other hand, the protests will certainly turn off some of the people who see them. Yet in this moment, when many people may have rationalized a vote for Trump by telling themselves that he wouldn't really go through with his promised deportations and registries, street protests force them to confront these people and the lives with which they've gambled. If Trump voters simply shrugged off the harm that his proposals would cause because they don't know any Muslims, any immigrants, any queer or transgender people, street protests in supposedly "red" states like Nebraska and Texas make them look in the eyes of those people and realize that they are human, they are part of the community, that they hurt and fear.

The protests also pressure elected officials on both sides of the aisle to stand up to Trump. As Democrats attempt to regroup and Republicans lick their chops in anticipation of power, the rapid response serves up notice to the GOP that their actions will not go unnoticed, and to Democrats that they are expected to resist or face anger from their own constituents.

The movements of the past few years, as Minnesota organizer Cat Salonek told me, have been like dandelions blown on the wind. They scatter and take root and grow, and each new movement is another dandelion that sprouts. This is true of this week's protests as well: The participants were part of Occupy and they were teachers who struck in Chicago against austerity; they came from Black Lives Matter and from Bernie Sanders's support network and Moral Mondays; and many of them were new to taking action.

The question going forward will be whether they can sustain the energy for the long, ugly fights ahead. As new networks are built in the streets and online, new protests planned for the inauguration and beyond, and terms like "general strike" [Click]are bandied about, experienced organizers and newly-activated people can draw from the lessons of the movements of the past several years – from the Tea Party to the Fight for $15 and beyond – to turn disruption into concrete victories.

Sarah Jaffe is a reporting fellow at The Nation Institute and the author of Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt.

First Sunday of Advent

In medieval England, November First marked the beginning of the Christmas (or at least Christmas preparation) season. Who knew the contemporary U.S. took a leaf from the Middle Age's book in any way? Traditionally, though, the western Christian churches mark the four weeks leading up to December Twenty-fifth as Advent, a time of special reflection and preparation for the coming of the Christ Child

This Advent, we have more than usual reason to search our hearts and do our best to be the good we want to see in the world. Whether we are Christian or not, let's take the coming weeks to reflect and gather our strength to embrace the Light and be ready to spread it, standing in solidarity and love with those all around the world who are fighting evil and darkness with peace and nonviolence.

Link

First Sunday of Advent (The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales)

Bruce The Cat: A Heartwarming Story

Visit The Daily Kitten [Click] to read Bruce's story. Hankie recommended.

White House Christmas Tree

The White House Christmas tree was delivered yesterday. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Link

FLOTUS welcomes the White House Christmas tree

Note: There will be a new post at noon EST

What You Can Do: Twenty Lessons From Twentieth Century History

From Yale History professor Timothy Snyder's Facebook page:

Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so. Here are twenty lessons from the twentieth century, adapted to the circumstances of today.

• 1. Do not obey in advance. Much of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then start to do it without being asked. You've already done this, haven't you? Stop. Anticipatory obedience teaches authorities what is possible and accelerates unfreedom.
• 2. Defend an institution. Follow the courts or the media, or a court or a newspaper. Do not speak of "our institutions" unless you are making them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions don't protect themselves. They go down like dominoes unless each is defended from the beginning.
• 3. Recall professional ethics. When the leaders of state set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become much more important. It is hard to break a rule-of-law state without lawyers, and it is hard to have show trials without judges.
• 4. When listening to politicians, distinguish certain words. Look out for the expansive use of "terrorism" and "extremism." Be alive to the fatal notions of "exception" and "emergency." Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.
• 5. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that all authoritarians at all times either await or plan such events in order to consolidate power. Think of the Reichstag fire. The sudden disaster that requires the end of the balance of power, the end of opposition parties, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Don't fall for it.
• 6. Be kind to our language. Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. (Don't use the internet before bed. Charge your gadgets away from your bedroom, and read.) What to read? Perhaps "The Power of the Powerless" by Václav Havel, 1984 by George Orwell, The Captive Mind by Czesław Milosz, The Rebel by Albert Camus, The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt, or Nothing is True and Everything is Possible by Peter Pomerantsev.
• 7. Stand out. Someone has to. It is easy, in words and deeds, to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. And the moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.
• 8. Believe in truth. To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.
• 9. Investigate. Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media. Realize that some of what is on your screen is there to harm you. Bookmark PropOrNot or other sites that investigate foreign propaganda pushes.
• 10. Practice corporeal politics. Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them.
• 11. Make eye contact and small talk. This is not just polite. It is a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down unnecessary social barriers, and come to understand whom you should and should not trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.
• 12. Take responsibility for the face of the world. Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so.
• 13. Hinder the one-party state. The parties that took over states were once something else. They exploited a historical moment to make political life impossible for their rivals. Vote in local and state elections while you can.
• 14. Give regularly to good causes, if you can. Pick a charity and set up autopay. Then you will know that you have made a free choice that is supporting civil society helping others doing something good.
• 15. Establish a private life. Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Authoritarianism works as a blackmail state, looking for the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have too many hooks.
• 16. Learn from others in other countries. Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends abroad. The present difficulties here are an element of a general trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.
• 17. Watch out for the paramilitaries. When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching around with torches and pictures of a Leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-Leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the game is over.
• 18. Be reflective if you must be armed. If you carry a weapon in public service, God bless you and keep you. But know that evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Be ready to say no. (If you do not know what this means, contact the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and ask about training in professional ethics.)
• 19. Be as courageous as you can. If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die in unfreedom.
• 20. Be a patriot. The incoming president is not. Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it.

T.G.I.F.

How you can help Standing Rock

A. HELP WATER PROTECTORS WINTERIZE
https://www.crowdrise.com/helping-us-survive-winter-at-oceti-sakowin-at-standing-rock/fundraiser/kevingilbertt [Click] Send funds or send wool blankets, visa gift cards, non-cotton thermal underwear, indoor propane heaters, sub-zero sleeping bags, extreme weather overalls and gloves, extreme weather coats, feminine hygiene products, incontinence pads, horse supplies, nuts, dried fruit to Kevin C/O Lindsey Norton, PO Box 1281 Cannonball, ND, 58528.

B. FOLLOW Kevin Gilbertt FOR COVERAGE
https://www.facebook.com/kevin.happychappy [Click] Local coverage via Facebook Live from a water protector on the front lines.

C. HELP COVER SOPHIA’S MEDICAL COSTS
https://www.gofundme.com/30aezxs [Click] Sophia Wilansky was giving out bottles of water to protectors holding down the space when she was shot with a concussion grenade.

D. HELP PRODUCE DOCUMENTARY FILM
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/end-of-the-line-the-women-of-standing-rock-environment/#/ [Click] The women of Standing Rock are the backbone of the stand and with your support, their voices will be heard in film ‘End Of The Line’.

E. VOLUNTEER WITH ON-SITE MEDICS
https://medichealercouncil.com/volunteer/ [Click] Need qualified medics, EMTs, nurses, physicians, herbalists, midwives, massage therapists through the winter – and individuals who can help in supportive and logistical roles to process, sort and distribute supply donations!

F. DONATE MEDICAL SUPPLIES
https://medichealercouncil.com/donate/ [Click] Donated items can be mailed to Standing Rock Medic & Healer Council, PO Box 1251, Bismarck, ND, 58502 or if shipping via UPS or FedEx, use 220 E Rosser Ave #1251, Bismarck ND 58502 with shipping phone 701-409-0199.

E. FURTHER READING
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. On Obama's "No Brainer" DAPL Choice - Click (FB only video)

Largest bank in Norway pulls its assets in Dakota Access pipeline - Click

Pipeline Protesters Say Police Nearly Blew Off Woman's Arm - Click

F. CONTACT OUR LEADERS
424-353-2016 Text NBC with your opinion
701-333-2006 National Guard Public Affairs
701-328-2200 ND Governor
701-328-4726 ND Attorney General
701-667-3330 Local Sheriff Office
202-456-1111 White House
202-456-9431 White House Situation Room
202-353-1555 DOJ comment line (no illegal sale of farms)

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for loving family and friends. What are you thankful for today?

Rise, Love, Resist

Code Pink Women For Peace has been working for many years to counter the culture and economy of war/violence. Since the election of Donald Trump, they have taken to heart the admonition attributed to Joe Hill, "Don't mourn, organize." To this end, they have launched a new campaign, Rise, Love, Resist. Read about it at the link below and sign the pledge. The only way to counter Trump's miasma of hatred is to stand together in love and strength.

Remember, "love" and "peace" are not synonyms of "weakness." Quite the opposite! Hatred is born of weakness, insecurity and fear. Those whose livelihoods and neighborhoods are at risk, who believe their religious and cultural values are under attack, these are among the vulnerable Trumps demagoguery has inflamed with fear of people different than themselves and with hate. It is only by creating solidarity, making real, tangible and lasting repairs to the fabric of American life, material and spiritual, that decades of divisive, supply side, trickle down, rich get richer and poor get poorer policies have bred that the fear can be allayed and the hatred disarmed. Fighting hate with hate can only produce more hate. It can only be overcome with the constructive power of love.

So, don't think this initiative, or Code Pink in general, is for sissies. It is, on the contrary, not for the faint of heart! Their work, as always with work for the Good, is difficult and arduous and sometimes dangerous, yet essential...and never more so than now.

Link

Rise, Love, Resist

In Memoriam C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley

It is often overlooked that three great and influential men died on November Twenty-second, 1963. Pres. Kennedy's tragic and senseless death by assassination traumatized our nation and the world, eclipsing much other news. But on that day the literary world and in particular Fantasy and Science Fiction lost two of its finest and most eloquent members.

Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) and Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) both died on this day fifty-three years ago.

Links

The Official C.S. Lewis Page

Aldous Huxley Biography

Do you know a blind child who'd like a letter from Santa?

For several years now Santa has enlisted the help of the good folks at the NFB's Jernigan Institute to help him send letter to blind American children. If you know a little boy or girl up to ten years of age who would enjoy receiving a braille letter from Santa, follow the link below and fill out the form.

Link

NFB Jernigan Institute Helps Santa Sends Letters to Boys and Girls

They start early in Las Vegas

A festive evening lighting the Christmas tree at The Linq Las Vegas.

Donny Osmond posted this photo to his Facebook page on Saturday. And I thought Sis and I were jumping the gun, beginning to watch Hallmark Christmas movies the middle of last week! Sheesh!

King of the Universe

We know from Scripture that the First Person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Creator, made all things through the Second Person, the Redeemer, by the power of the Third Person, the Holy Spirit, the Breath of Love, who is the Paraclete or Helper. Today the Church recognizes that the Redeemer is also King of the Universe. Naturally, as a Science Fiction enthusiast, I find this notion intriguing. It affirms the notion promulgated in so much SF that all things, from the mightiest star to the tiniest microbe, from the beginning of the universe to its end, are akin. If there are life forms on other planets and in distant galaxies, or if there aren't, still all creation is united in serving one Monarch, whose decree is "Love one another." This is a comforting thought, especially as we face such dark days.

Links

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (November 20, 2016) Photo Caption: Spiral Galaxy ESO 137-001 (ACS/WFC3) (March 4, 2014)