I am sure that I am not the only Covid-caving person who has been struggling with hauling out art supplies repeatedly, so much so that I am now once again considering a craft/art room, or some area of supply and workspace that has a designed purpose. I have spent so much extra time cooped up in my house or working in the yard that I am just through with doing projects, yet it’s the ONLY think TO DO!
I feel like I am living in limbo, just like so many others I am sure. Covid has us all in a bind right now with no end in sight. And with our country so divided and our president acting like a dictator it has become stifling to live in the USA – we are basically “existing” at this moment, just waiting for the next crisis to be thrown at us. I just keep trying to stay optimistic and hope that we can hold it together long enough to watch Trump crash and burn when Biden takes office. It’s going to get rough my friends, so buckle up!
Today: July 29, 2020….Just a FEW of the things so far this week….
134 Day of Covid-19 Lock down…are ya tired yet? Masking? Social Distancing??
>4 million Covid positive tests
>150,000 Dead Americans due to Covid-19 and Admins. LACK of proper RESPONSE!
Administration insisting children return to school in-person, despite Covid-19 dangers
@7,300 children in Tennessee schools test covid-19 positive after 1 week of in-person school, state goes BACK to on-line learning.
62 straight nights of BLM protesting in the Portland streets…
Trump’s StormTroopers are sent into Portland, Or, and into Seatle, WA….maybe elsewhere as well, Trump promises to unleash 75,000 troops on American citizens exercising their 1st ammendment rights to Freedom of Speech and peaceful public assembly.
AG Barr shows contempt for Congress and a willingness to blatantly LIE to protect Trump
AG Barr squirms under intense quesitoning about him helping Trump to reelection
As the Senate GOP is STILL talking about some technicality in the investigation in 2016…stuck., with no other defense of Trump’s CURRENT offenses or antics.
Covid-19 Rent and Mortgage protections expired.
Cares Act Unemployment benefit, PPP and assistance to citizens and businesses expired.
Senate Republicans cannot pass a package and are bickering over pennies compared to their $2 Trillion dollar aid package for their rich corporate buddies 2 years ago.
AOC smokes Yoho on the House floor. Shamed, Yoho resigns, will not run for reelection.
And it’s only WEDNESDAY….happy Hump Day Folks!
Peace.. ~MB
oh Hey!!! Everyone!! Please Support your protesters! They need bail money, supplies, food, medical supplies and protective equipment in Portland and Seatle. Reach out if you can and give them a hand! Not all of us can BE there, but we can BEWARE and support our fellow warriors sweating it out on the frontlines!
“By fine-tuning your ability to notice detail about people, you can learn to question automatic assumptions, withhold opposing ideas without being judgmental & detach from your own prejudices.” (stolen from Healing with the Masters) (KC Callison FB)
We’re living in our biggest stretch of uncertainty right now and everyday is a “win” because we’re learning more every day and getting closer to a vaccine…in the meantime yes, our country must go into debt either that or face a real depression again. We know the answer to getting things back on track the fastest -wear protective face masks, social distance in pulic and wash your damned hands alot! If EVERYONE would do this consistently until this is over it would go by much faster. Some – obviously people who are either not in my FB feed or that read my blogs – don’t know enough to wear a mask because they think they’re super human or they can’t read!!
“Please read this. Portland is being used as a test site for this administration to take far more control of our freedoms than ever! 🤬 Post from a Portland OR resident, referring to his father-in-law: While I’ve been sort of following the ongoing events in Portland, I was floored by the information I recently received from my father-in-law, Alden Roberts. It is incredibly important that people know what is happening in Portland, because it is very scary and has very real implications for our entire country. By way of context, Alden is a general surgeon, retired as the Chief Medical Officer of a hospital in Vancouver, Washington, and just finished his term as the Chairman of the Washington Medical Commission (the state agency that licenses and oversees all doctors in the state). I share this information to emphasize that he is a community leader, a very smart, educated, and informed person, and is not one to exaggerate or spread misinformation. Here’s what he has observed in Portland over the past few days: “1. The protests are confined to a 2 block radius around the courthouse, and if you’re 4 blocks away, you can’t tell anything has been happening. There is nothing going on outside of that region, and Portland is functioning as normally as the Pandemic will allow. It is not burning, nor is it out of control. 2. The protesters are absolutely peaceful at the Protests that I have been part of, and with the exception of graffiti, are completely within their constitutional rights to protest. The protests involve singing, chanting, and have used “white walls” to block whites who are trying to disrupt or corrupt the protests. Yes, cursing is rather commonplace. More than ½ of the protesters are white. All are protesting for Black Lives Matter, although the entrance of the federal paramilitary force has brought out a lot of people, including myself, who are incensed at the use of unregulated federal force against law abiding citizen and against the will of the state and local governments. 3. ALL of the protesters are wearing masks to minimize transmission of CoV-2. However, as at times there are 1000 or more of us, it is hard (though not impossible) to maintain social distancing. When the federal paramilitary force is deployed, it becomes impossible. 4. The Police responded unprovoked and were brutal, but nothing like the paramilitary force. There is a court order that forbids the police to use teargas. I was not there when it was just the police. 5. At the protests I have attended, I did not witness any unlawfulness on the part of the protesters. Each time, the federal paramilitary personnel launched an apparently unprovoked attack. There have been no “riots.” The federal paramilitary force has had no training in crowd control, has no oversight, was not invited to Portland by local leadership, does not have any form of identification do not wear name badges, and wears military camo. They are heavily armed with flash-bang grenades, less-lethal bullets, pepper bullets, pepper spray and tear gas. They will pull goggles off of protesters and spray pepper spray into their eyes. They used a baton to beat a US Navy vet, broke his hand and sprayed pepper spray in his eyes because he asked why they weren’t honoring their vow to protect the constitution. During the assault, he stood still and did not resist until blinded by the pepper spray, he turned around and walked away. The “line of mothers” on Sunday was gassed and shot with less-lethal bullets for chanting Black Lives Matter. At least one was pregnant. A protester holding a sign up with both hands was shot in the head with a “non-lethal” bullet and will likely have permanent brain damage. While I have not personally seen this, there are videos of people being kidnapped into unmarked vans by the federal paramilitaries as they left the protests, held for a couple of days, interrogated, then released without charges or explanation. At this time, re-read my first two points. The protests are no threat to Portland and only encompass a 2 block area. They have been peaceful, with graffiti as the only illegal activity. They are well controlled and supported by a cross section of Portlanders. There is no reason for the federal government to be involved, and the excessive force being used appears to be nothing more than a political show of force against US Citizens by the Trump administration. 6. About 3000 protesters showed up last night (July 21); all with masks, very well behaved. Certainly no chaos, no violence on the part of the protesters. I left at 10:30, the paramilitary attacked at 12:30. I spent an hour talking to the medics. They say they are being targeted by the paramilitary personnel. They are often the first to be shot at and tear gassed. When they try to help an injured protester, the paramilitary personnel throw flash-bangs and tear gas at them (they carry gas masks). One of them was beaten, dragged away from the injured person they were treating and arrested. They are from OHSU as well as Portland Fire. 7. The Elk statue was taken down by the Police to “protect” it, but the Elk statue was a favorite of the protesters because it was uncontroversial; so they got a blow-up elk and put it where the real statue used to stand. It’s sort of a rallying point.” This should concern, if not terrify, all of us. This is an unidentified and unaccountable federal police presence attacking American citizens who are not violating any federal laws. This is literally how the “secret police” in other authoritarian regimes began. The comparison to the early stages of Nazi Germany is NOT AN EXAGGERATION anymore. Silence is complacency. “
Please share this post. Please spread this information. Please get involved. Do not allow or condone this conduct by our federal government. I don’t care which political party you support, this is an affront to the U.S. Constitution and the founding principals of our nation
The above article came from Facebook, a friend of mine from the west coast. WE need to keep passing this around on EVERY outlet / platform possible, get ready for more cities to be invaded and marshal law to be declared….our dictator is knocking….get ready for your number….
“There is no merit in ideological rigidity.” Angela Davis
“If your voice held no power, they wouldn’t try to silence you.” unknown
The election season is just about on top of us. As if we haven’t got ENOUGH stuff going on, now we’re going to be inundated with campaign slogans, hateful commercials, boring debates (although those could be good) and we’ll see the faces of every quack running for any office in the nation repeatedly. For someone like ME it’s a fun, free-for-all of political pundits running all over each other trying to come up with the most memorable words to describe what is sure to be a massive Democrat rout in DC. Trump and his mouth have insured that the old Republican party – now the new Trumpist party – will lose their elections in a landslide victory to the Democrats. And progressives will inhabit Washington DC, much to the dismay of rednecks and evangelicals who are just as educated as ole Trumpy himself. Yes, Donald, it’s an elephant. Bwhahaha!
Anyone who knows me understands that I am very interested in politics and follow closely what is going on politically and legislatively in the USA. I also try to keep myself informed about what is happening on the global stage – both visibly and perhaps covertly. To me this stuff is important. It’s the world we LIVE in, how can it not be important? The American Revolution in 1776 wouldn’t have happened if people decided it was too stressful and hid away from it, totally oblivious to the goings on of the British. No, it happened because people watched, educated themselves, made plans, worked on supporting those fighting in the streets, and kept a vigilant eye on everything going on – even though they only got newspapers occasionally. Their internet was men on horses, riding from town to town to make sure the colonists knew what the Brits were up to, sneaky red-coats! haha (I jest)
Anyway, point is that I’m one of the millions watching and waiting in the wings for the time that is coming that we will ALL be called to take on our responsibility to our country, to peace, love and equality and to remove the hateful, corrupt, vile and idiotic people enabling Trump and his band of theives to operate so openly and freely, without any questions, to completely destroy our county, trample our constitution and disregard our traditions and laws. Never have we had a president that was so vain, so completely in love with himself that he’s willing to destroy a whole country and betray all of her inhabitants just because it’s fun for him and his dictator “daddy” figures give him an “..ataboy” – which he cums in his trousers over every damned time.
I believe that it will become very hot and dangerous for all of us in the near future. Watching and just thinking about some of the things that this administration and all those dirty little hands in it right now, are doing around the globe in the name of America on a daily basis SCARES me. We got Pompeo waltzing around Europe trying to change what is considered a “human right” and what is not. Next he will be compling a list, with the help of TeleTracker – which Trump got him in the CDC take over move – and other covert means of who will actually GET these new “human rights”. Now, does anyone else feel weird having a known evangelical, a known racist and a blatant homophobe/anti-trans old white dude deciding what the “new” human “rights” will BE and who gets them…I don’t have a good feeling about whatever he is cooking up with Putin over there. He, Trump and Putin have got SOMETHING going on and I am sure we will be introduced to it before Nov. 3….oh wait…maybe the surprise IS Nov. 3rd…fuck with Putin involved…*facepalm*….we’re in for a very wild ride.
So, we also have Trump somehow producing these bands of 175 or so unmarked, masked storm troopers invading Portland, Oregon and basically kidnapping people off the street, interrgating them and releasing them, no papers, no explanation, no insignia, and don’t tell who they are or who they are working for. #1. WHERE did Trump GET these military-trained dudes?? #2. WHEN and WHO is paying them??? #3 WHO ARE THEY? Our president is NOT supposed to have his own private secret brigade of warriors at his personal direction and disposal. And where are the Republicans??? Yeah, those guys who got this idiot elected and have been bowing to him like he’s an Ayatollah since 2017. WTF Mitch McConnell, have you no shame??? Your party USED to be the party of law and order, now it’s chaos and mayhem by your own boss!
Where is our REAL military leadership while all of this insanity is happening? Why are they not protesting these “military” style attacks on our cities by some unknown band of camoflaged men? Just because it’s a large group of camoflaged people does NOT necessarily mean that they are legally operating and that what they are doing is not illegal – it IS illegal! They are preventing people from their 1st Amendment rights as well as breaking several local, state and federal laws. The mayor and governor have TOLD them to leave, but they obviously ONLY obey Trump, their Maffioso.
In the meantime, while ALL of this is happening AND we are dealing with the worst pandemic of our lifetimes, we have Kushner, Miller (him and her), Barr and a few other choice names behind the scenes doing GOD KNOWS WHAT! I am SURE everyone of them has a particular assignment given by the great orange buffoon, dealing with which part of our society they are supposed to sabotage, blow up or destroy in some fashion with flare and bravado, trying to stay just 1 step ahead of charges being brought on them…and THIS close to the next presidential election – which they KNOW he’s going to lose already, they are going FULL BORE to gang rape the economy of this country for every flat dime they can steal. They’re ALL CROOKS. Trump has made millions – perhaps over a Billion – by defrauding the American people continuously while he’s been in office. He uses his own facilities to go play goft at thus we pay for everything he does while he’s there – like he doesn’t really own the place – and even inflated prices at that! I hope every idiot out there that REALLY thought this guy would be less of a criminal than meek Hillary is happy with this blooming moron they put in our White House! He will most likely BURN it down on his way out as a final “fuck you” to all of us, Americans and immigrants alike! He has truly left a trail of bloody American bodies in his wake…from soldiers he sold to Putin via Taliban fighters in Iran, to his telling police not to “go easy” on people, but to give them what they “deserve” And how many have died not being able to afford medications to live while Trump gives the top 1% of Americans a $2Trillion tax break? Money that should have been paying for much needed help with things from decaying infrastructure to the lack of community services across the country. No, he wanted his buddies to “love” him and praise him for giving them money…what an imbecile.
While all of the above craziness is taking place within our government – federal, state, county and city/town – we have this nasty Covid-19 ravaging our country and half the world too. We’re in the WORST position we could possibly have made for ourselves all due to a severe lack of direction and leadership at the highest levels. It’s becoming an “every man for himself” scenario I am afraid. Doctors and nurses are exhausted – everywhere – and some places are so full that there are patients in ambulances parked outside the hospital waiting for a bed to become available inside.
SSSSCCCCRRRRREEEEEAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!! It’s just so ludicrous, the world is on fire! And we’re so stunned that we are still in the “deer in the headlghts” mode….
Lighter Fare…I gotta stop on the serious stuff, it’s over for today – I hope.
Been doing great. My mouth is healing weird, thankfully I am seeing my dentist, who did the work 10 days ago, so he’ll deal with it I am sure. He’s supposed to pop another broken one out, just the root left in there, but it’s an incisor…ouch. I give this guy a gold star though, he’s done good by me as a client. I really like and appreciate this guy tremendously. We need more like him in this world.
Nola and Lu are doing great as well. They’re big couch potatoes in this heat. They want to stay inside under the air conditioner until after 6 at night. Usually it’s cooler by then and we can open the windows and shut down the AC units. Friggin Maine. Don’t like the weather? Wait a minute, it’ll change!
I have been taking some college courses online thru the University of Illinois and Pennsylvania State. The courses are super good! I’m really enjoying them and learning so much. A friend of mine told me I should try taking some online courses, said she could tell that I am hungry to learn…which I agree with, I am – always have been a curious one. The courses I am taking are on social justice and racism in history and culture. I’m looking forward to doing something I believe will bring a lot of satisfaction to my life. And I am going to soak it up and have fun getting there!
Corvid-Caving has given me plenty of time for the courses, of course…haha…sorry, pun….bad…
I just picked up another driving job. Long haul this time. Maine to Florida or California, or anywhere in between. I can’t wait for my first transport!!! I do need to run to Kennebunk and get my licence updated – the town changed the name of my street, so it LOOKS like I have moved, but I have NOT moved ! Anyway, gotta get that updated. Slowly I have been updating various places, gas company, Xfinty, CMP and doctors. Oh! I also just changed my phone number!!! IF you’re someone who had the old one drop me a note to my email and I will send off the new number to you.
That’s all I got for now, my hands are tired from typing and I’m starting to get distracted because I am tired as F*ck. Hope you all had a great laugh and learned some cool stuff from that squirrel video!!!
It’s another Monday morning, July 13th, 2020 and many – no ALL – of us, large and small, old and young, are freaking DONE with this Covid-19 pandemic! In the beginning of this – which our government tells us was mid-March – we had fun exchanging photos of our stocked up snack supply and mountains of toilet paper. Now we are all stressed to the 9th degree and ready to explode. It’s difficult to figure out who is hearing what from which source, the federal government says one thing (which is very rarely EVER true!) and our state governments are telling us all to protect ourselves and continue to be vigilante while we all get through this horror show called Covid. We don’t trust or have any confidence in our President or federal leadership and it seems that governors are far more concerned and smarter than the feds.
As we grow more and more tired of the walls closing in on us we yearn to be outside, walking, camping, kayaking, fishing, shopping and just living normal life – like it was before pandemic panic – once again. I want to go to a concert without a mask. I’d like to take a trip on a plane without worrying about catching cooties sitting so close to someone I don’t even know. I’d like to get physically involved with someone without – again – worrying about covid-19.
History will not reflect well on the Trump administrations lame, disgusting and low-level response to the virus invading our country. We – our goverment – knew about this virus LONG before it appeared here and they brushed the information off thinking it wouldn’t affect the USA. And they were oh-so-wrong once again. We have a republcan party that allows the president to get away with literal murder without speaking a word of criticism. Now he’s trying to discredit Anthony Fauci, who has been in the CDC for 40 years and has FAR MORE common sense, formal education and scientific knowledge about viruses such as CoronaVirus-19. Dr. Fauci is a DOCTOR and knows what he’s talking about. Everything he’s told us will happen has happened. Sure, he’s had to modify as new scientific revelations about covid come to light. Trump has never even opened a science book, let alone human anatomy and biology. He knows NOTHING about how to deal with even the common flu, let alone a world wide pandemic. He’s got 3.5 yrs as president, with NO prior professional experience in anything, and Dr. Fauci has over 40 years…who should we believe so that we have the right info? I am sticking with Dr. Anthony Fauci.
So, Friday night the great Orange criminal did his buddy Roger Stone a big ass favor and commuted his sentence. Why didn’t he pardon Stone? Because if he had “pardoned” him then Stone has to admit guilt and then he loses his right to plead the 5th and can be interrogated about all of the charges in-depth. But with the “commutation” that is not the case. He maintains his 5th amendment right. The whole lot of them are deeply flawed men; criminals to the core and used to buying their ways out of anything they want to do that is illegal – even raping 13 year old little girls as Trump was charged and indicted on, then he bought his way to having the charges dropped…several times. He’s a sick man and I cannot wait until he’s NOT our president and he IS charged with some of the atrocious crimes he has committed over the last 4 years. Includiing selling us out to Russia, selling American lives to Putin and destroying our country as we knew it.
You know I could go on and on about this idiot, but I am going to stop there. It’s no use to complain about him, we just need to focus on voting him OUT on November 3rd!!! I hope Biden chooses Val Demmings as his VP!! She’s got what it takes and will get the job done with honor and dignity.
I’m up this morning because I didn’t sleep AT ALL last night. Yesterday I woke up with a swollen jaw on the right side and in excruciating pain. I called my dentist’s pager and he called me back and had me meet him at his office, where we decided to dig out the impacted root and the two adjacent teeth, one molar and one incisor on ether side of the impacted root that was left from the tooth broken off during my last unsuccessful visit to get the tooth out. Today I am still in pain, but I am handling it just fine. Trying to keep my mind off of it and stay on top of it with Tylenol and Advil. Mouth pain sucks because there’s literally nothing that can be done about it without involving the dentist or oral surgeon.
My teeth have taken a helluva beating because of the variety of HIV meds I have taken over the last 27 years. I had beautiful teeth and slowly the meds wrecked them from the inside out. Hey, at least I am still healthy as can be and have high T-cells and no detectable virus in my blood…undetectable is uninfectable! I still recommend precautions and PreP for anyone sexually involved with anyone who has HIV. You can get home test kits sent to you from your local NGO that assists people with reproductive and sexual health. Often they are free if you cannot afford the $25 charge. You can take the test in the privacy of your own home and have results immediately. Get tested. Don’t believe the con artists who will tell you anything necessary to get into your pants – protect yourself.
I’ve been cleaning out the house since I have all this time stuck at home due to covid restrictions. Even though Maine is super low in cases, has only had 110 deaths and is now finding only 12-20 new cases a day, we are still being very careful. We KNOW the virus will return, the second wave will come. And the southern states that are in SERIOUS peril right now didn’t believe when NYC was going through hell, that the virus would ever affect them…SURPRISE!!! Have some Covid-19!
I’ve gotten rid of boxes of stuff, being ruthless with removing inanimate objects that make no sense continuing to be part of my environment now. I’m also being careful not to bring anything INTO the house that I don’t need. I like this purging, it’s good and healthy for me. It’s also been a time of doing some real inner searching – and purging of emotional attachments – and reflection on choices I have made that were not so smart in actuality. I’m not sure what will happen in the future, but I know there are new rules, new ideas and new desires inside of me. I am working on being more cautious about who I allow into my personal life and who stays outside the line. Yes, there is a line. There has to be or I could find myself disappointed again because people aren’t always truthful or sincere. I have found that you are never too old to make stupid choices, but hey, you learn something new every day that you are lucky enough to open your eyes in the morning. Yesterday is dead. Tomorrow is not a given. Only right now is real. Live the day doing your best, loving your best and remembering that it’s all a gift that will be gone one day. The only thing that will matter is if you lived a good life.
I’m just a simple Butch. Not young or flashy, I don’t need to be. Age has taught me much and just made me better and better. I like truth, no fluff, no drama. It’s taken me a long time to become comfortable with just who I am, and I’m not giving that up for anything. It seems that there are now so many weird definitions of Butch, it’s comical sometimes. I am a Butch that in only attracted to femme women and am searching for one that will love me for who I am and to whom I am enough. I’m bored with the lack of commitment that seems to be so prevalent in today’s world. I don’t have a lot of money, I am not a high-powered professional anything, but I have a lot of dedication and love to give one woman, I’m just not sure that I’ll ever find that again. I had it with my ex-wife many years ago. Maybe that’s all I get, just that one dedicated love. If so, that’s okay because it was exactly where I wanted to be during those years and I loved her deeply and completely. I don’t regret the relationship, yet I don’t regret ending it. Some think I was nuts for leaving due to how well I was living in that situation. But money is nothing without real love. Money only buys a high-priced hooker and maybe a fun a series of one-nighters – or it did before HIV arrived on the scene! I don’t need money to love someone deeply. And I wouldn’t stay with anyone just because of comfort due to money. That’s not who I am. I could live in a cardboard box with the right woman, and I’d work like a MFer to get out of the box and build a relationship based on love and mutual respect. Those are things money can never ever buy.
I’ve been talking to a very sweet lawyer from away. She’s caught my interest and I would like to see her to see if that same interest is there in person, I believe she feels the same right now. We talk every day and it’s been cool getting to know her. Personally I’ve got to have the right chemistry with a woman. Chemistry is so vitally important, without chemistry it’s just a physical task of going through the motions. Problem is that I am very guarded right now, plus I can’t meet this woman because our idiot president has the borders closed. We are trapped inside the borders of our country at the present moment. I also need to get a land travel card to cross the border in Niagra. Maybe it will happen, maybe it won’t. Everything seems to be a gamble nowadays. So eventually I’ll have to decide if I place my bet or not.
Today is day 120 of covid caving. Four freaking months of this and it’s very frustrating for all of us. One day in the future covid-19 will be a thing of the past and most likely something we all will have to get vaccinated for along with our flu, chicken pox and tetnus shots. I am sure we will all remember and be scarred from some things that we’ve been through, or will go through, during this pandemic. I just hope that those that I care about are being super careful and protecting themselves and their loved ones until we get through the dark tunnel of Covid.
The song “End of the World” keeps playing over and over in my head. Yes, it IS the end of the world as we knew it…how well we adapt, how much effort we put into helping bring our country back to healthy and restore it’s dignity, and how good we are at not going nuts before it ends will all be factors in the world as we, will rebuild it to be in the future…but it starts today, right now, so if we don’t see tomorrow we will die knowing we did what we could do to make things right.
I hope you are all taking good care of yourselves!
To my Canadian friends – No, you’re not living above a big meth lab…although I do understand that it feels that way. Please know that many, many of us are trying to change the country, trying to fight the racism and we will survive once we can right out leadership issues. I know you all think we are pitiful and should be fighting harder against our oppressive government right now, but with covid and everything else coming at us we are tired and trying to pull ourselves together so that in November we can all do what we know must be done – vote out the Orange Pinhead.
I’m going to work on my shed today. I’ve been getting rid of all the junk built up in there. I know I’ll have to be careful because of my lack of sleep and my pain level, I may have to rest periodically, but I’m determined to get it done!
Hope you all have a decent Monday and a good week! Wear your masks!!!
Peace. ~ MB
*Make sure you listening and not just waiting to talk.
MainelyButch: Private Label 
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