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Election Connection: The Fight Starts Now

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We have 301 days until Election Day.

This seems like a long time but judging by last week’s Meet the Press where Hide-in-Plain-Sight Insurrectionist Barbie from NY’s 21st spouted lies and didn’t answer direct questions, we have a lot of work cut out for us. For one thing, anyone calling the January 6th defendants “hostages” is not a serious person and should be viewed as an accessory after the fact. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson having prayer sessions on the House floor is inappropriate and unacceptable. And these two examples are minor things compared to threats against our representatives and democracy as well as recent swatting terror acts.

Start by speaking out. When your representative does something right, call their office and let them know. If they question how a vote should go, call and email. Offer your opinion on what the right thing to do is.

Know your sources.

I have left Twitter for Threads, but there are bad actors there also. Before reposting misinformation, do some due diligence. There has been so much misinformation about the Israel-Hamas War that by the time the truth comes out, no one remembers. Hamas is a terrorist organization that uses the Palestinian people as shields and cannon fodder while their leaders live like billionaires in other Arab countries. Defeat Hamas; then rebuild. This is a war that Hamas started (during a ceasefire by the way).

We also cannot ignore the onslaught against women’s rights and bodily autonomy. Women are not second-class citizens. We are half the population, and we should be treated with the respect that is due to us. We should not be relegated to incubators who are left to die because men in power don’t understand biology and doctors care more about legal ramification than their oaths to heal.

Women are dying, partly due to misogynistic laws being passed by ignorant men in power, and a religious fascism that thinks their way is the only way. We are a multi-cultural, multi-faith society where everyone’s beliefs should be accepted. Laws should not be made on one religion, especially when it violates others’ freedom of religious expression.

Pay attention to the small things because the small things are not so small.

Check your voter registration and make sure the information is correct.

Sign up for updates from Vote Save America. They need all our help.

Sign up for Democracy Docket. Attorney Marc Elias is on the forefront of litigating election cases and has been for years.

This upcoming election is one that no one can afford to sit out.

Election Connection will appear as needed and when things arise that need to be addressed. Next month, I will provide other recs of people who are fighting for all of us and are reliable with the information they offer.

Do you ever ask yourself why after Republicans spend and offer huge giveaways to the rich it is up to the Democrats to fix things? Then they do, and Republicans come back and destroy it again. Why do we let that continue to cycle? Teachers can’t deduct a pack of crayons, but the wealthy can deduct the gas from a private jet. Where is the justice? Where is the fairness?

One more reminder: Voting third party or not voting is a vote AGAINST democracy. President Biden is the only candidate that can guarantee the continuation of free and fair elections.

The only poll that matters is November 5, 2024.

There is much to be done before that day.

Election Day is November 5, 2024.

Mental Health Monday – Post Holidays

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Many of us have been in Christmas mode since mid-December. And that’s not to leave out any non-Christians and their holidays. Our work week revolves around the Christmas holiday, and while we celebrate Chanukah and a couple of birthdays, we all share the same days off during the holidays. Some have even had one to two weeks off from work, and those two weeks have probably not been relaxing. Family and holiday responsibilities can take it out of us. Even though I work from home, with the kids returning to school and work, and one more Christmas dinner with our family, it is important to be aware of how we’re feeling, now we’re coping, and how we’re getting through the days in reorienting to the sometimes less exciting days that follow the holidays.

Five quick tips to re-enter the world after the holidays.

  1. Give yourself a little extra time in the mornings before work. Whether that means meditation, prayer, reading a book chapter, or having a hot cup of tea, take the time to acclimate to the morning with something refreshing and soothing before you hit the traffic and the workday.
  2. Listen to music on the way to work in your car or through headphones on your commute.
  3. Journal. It doesn’t need to be long or poetic; just jot some thoughts down in a notebook and keep it going for this first week back.
  4. Plan your meals for the week. It can be incredibly de-stressing just knowing what’s for dinner even if you still need to go shopping for the groceries. For the first time in a long time, we planned five days in a row, which is a minor miracle in this house.
  5. Give yourself breaks during the day. This first week back can seem like a month. Take the time you need. Stretch. Drink lots of water. Have a cup of tea or a snack (chocolate chip cookies make a great snack!)

Happy New Year!

Friday Food. Latkes.

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I use a box to make my latkes. I don’t do fancy additives – no basil or chives or any of the other things I’ve seen online. I might consider melba sauce, but I haven’t gone there yet. I always go back to Carmel. I think last night’s were my finest. They were crispy on the outside, none burned. I’m a both kind of person when it comes to latkes: applesauce AND sour cream. My daughter who doesn’t like them grabbed one on her way in the door from work. She still didn’t like them, but I must give her credit – she tried it even without me blackmailing her with gelt.

I don’t know if there’s a reason or requirement, but I always fry my latkes in vegetable oil.
(c)2023
Latkes.
With applesauce and sour cream (not pictured but trust me, it’s there).
First Night of Chanukah.
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My favorite brand, although Streit’s and Manischewitz are also good!
(c)2023

As I mentioned in yesterday’s Inspire, I went all out this year. Antisemitism will have that effect on a person. I am halfway between don’t do anything public and do all the things. Over the next week, I’ll share some photos and thoughts each day. Lights, door hangings, multiple menorahs, dreidls, gelt, I even found some Chanukah cookies and a book: I Saw an Old Lady who Swallowed a Dreidel by Caryn Yacowitz, illustrated by David Slonim, and of course, I bought a dreidl stuffy for my new great-niece.

Inspire. December. Chanukah.

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I’ve been searching for the write inspiration for December, and this first night of Chanukah brought things into perspective. A little bit of perspective. While the internet and the news are filled with antisemitism and protests from people intent on gaslighting the Jewish experience and deny Jewish people the indigeneity of their homeland, I have been on a quest to celebrate Chanukah publicly. I’m a little wary about it. I live in a nice neighborhood, but I don’t put my head in the sand and think that it couldn’t happen here. I know it can.

Still….

I went out and bought blue and white lights for outside, something I’ve never done. I have an interactive menorah hanging on my front door, again, something I’ve never done. In fact, since I’ve been on my own (and with my own family) I have not put Chanukah lights in the window. That unfortunately will continue because I know that if I put candles on my windowsill, my mother would come back from the grave and blow them out with a raucous, and loud message of fire safety.

Most people don’t know the story of Chanukah; perhaps some teachers wanting to bring multiculturalism to their classrooms, and now the story of the Maccabees is being co-opted to match the narrative, anything to turn the words of Jews and their history against them. The Festival of Lights isn’t about war. It isn’t about victory. It is about faith. The miracle isn’t that the Maccabees won against their most recent oppressor. The miracle is the lights themselves. When we retook the temple, amid the destruction, they went to light the candelabra to rededicate the temple, the menorah – not the nine-branch one that most are familiar with, but the regular, ordinary menorah that is always lit in the temple. There was only enough oil to keep it lit for one night. There was no other oil. So, what did they do? They lit it anyway.

And it remained lit, not one night, not two, not three or four, not even five or six or seven, but it remained lit for eight days. One day’s oil lasted for eight days. That is the miracle. And that is why we light eight candles on a new type of menorah used just for this holiday: a hanukkiah.

Tonight, I will say the prayers (that I don’t normally say). I will fry the latkes in oil. I will fry the chicken in oil. I will light the first candle on the same menorah that I lit as a child; the one that I grew up watching the candles burn down on the dining room table that was my grandmother’s. It will be placed on that same dining room table in my own house. My kids will see the lights on the same menorah, the same table, and they will be able to see through my eyes, even amidst the clutter that seems to grow multi-generationally on this dining room table.

This year, however, this old menorah has a special, additional meaning. I saw this menorah in Toronto at the Royal Ontario Museum in their Judaica exhibit, in the Chanukah window. A copy/replica of MY Chanukah menorah sits in the largest museum in Canada. The exhibit label states that it is from Gdansk, Poland, brass, from the early 1900s.

Happy Chanukah.

My family menorah.
(c)2023
Royal Ontario Museum Judaica Exhibit.
Hanukkah menorah, “Danzig” type,
Gdansk, Poland, early 1900s.
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Ready for sundown.
You can view it lit later tonight on Instagram (link in sidebar).
(c)2023

עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי

Friday Food. Experimenting.

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Experimenting in the kitchen can be very freeing as well as inspiring. I sometimes feel very creative in other areas after making a great meal from scratch. For me, “from scratch” doesn’t necessarily mean a two-to-three-hour production. In the third photo below, the rice I used was Minute Rice. Both dishes can be made with leftover chicken. I used baby potatoes, but you could easily take the larger russets or reds and cut them into the smaller pieces, and again it’s a great way to finish your bag of potatoes.

Both meals used one pan and one metal bowl, and the second meal used a pot to make the Minute Rice. As I finished cooking something on its own, I moved it to the metal bowl until the next item was cooked and then everything was combined and simmered for a short time.

Continue reading

Inspire. November.

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These are a few of the things that have inspired me in the last several months and that keep inspiring me.

The duality of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Bright and flashy by night; beautiful and awe-inspiring by day (and by night also).
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This is the Louis Roy Press, the oldest wooden printing press, and one of two remaining in working order; the second of which is in the US at the Smithsonian Institution.
This press was used to print the 1793 Act to Prevent the further introduction of Slaves and to limit the Term of Contracts for Servitude within this Province [Ontario].
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A good motto to follow. Begin the day with thanks, and the rest of the day will follow.
(c)2023

Election Connection – Republicans will Never Change their Spots

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I don’t even know where to begin with this bullshit.

The weakest Speaker of the House in US history has been ousted and the Speaker’s position is vacant for the first time in the House of Representative’s 243 years of existence.

Good riddance.

Kevin McCarthy is nothing more than a sycophantic, lying, piece of garbage scraped off the bottom of my shoe. Partisan hack and chaos agent doesn’t begin to cover the contempt I have for this phony.

I haven’t even gotten into his smarmy, self-satisfied, failing up brand, and contemptuous face.

But you may say, tell me how you really feel.

And judging by his recent tantrum, Interim Speaker, Patrick McHenry isn’t much better.

Let me actually begin by answering the media’s pressing question: Why are Democrats to blame for this debacle?

Well…they’re not.

At all.

The Democrats have a speaker. The Minority Leader. His name is Hakeem Jeffries. They voted for him at the same time Republicans voted for Kevin McCarthy. For the Democrats, nothing has changed. They support their speaker 100%.

It is not their job to bail out his weak ass.

It is not their job to create a safe space for the Republicans to continue their attack on the American people by their reverse Robin Hood of taking from the least of us and giving to the wealthiest. This isn’t politics as usual.

Except that for the Republicans, it is.

I am currently reading Wounded Knee: Party Politics and the Road to an American Massacre by historian, Heather Cox Richardson. It is more than the journey taken by the United States government that led directly to the Wounded Knee massacre, but it is the politics of the day that led to.

The greed.

The corruption.

Basically, the Republican way of life.

I don’t say this lightly.

Prior to this book, I finished reading Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow: The Epic Story of the Transcontinental Railroads by Dee Brown about the building of the transcontinental railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and it is full of the double-dealing, cheating, corrupt railroad tycoons who did everything in their power to steal the land from the Native Americans while committing genocide along the way. (As an aside, Dee Brown also wrote the seminal work, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West – I highly recommend it.)

The railroad tycoons did not manage to do this alone. They had help, a lot of help from the US government and the military, all Republican run.

But I diverge from the focus of this writing which for our purposes only touches on the railroads and the Native Americans tangentially to the Republicans’ lying and cheating to win any election.

As I read Cox Richardson’s detailed descriptions of how things went down in the 1890s and beyond, the Republican representatives did everything in their power during the Harrison Administration to retain control of the Congress and the Presidency. They bought off election workers. They kept the Black vote suppressed. They refused to consider Native American citizenship because for some reason, having been born here wasn’t enough to be a voting citizen. Not to mention they weren’t land-owning, a prerequisite for the ability to vote.

They CREATED four new states, and only Montana surprised them by electing a Democratic governor, but other than that, they, as well as Wyoming, North and South Dakota were Republican in every other way. These four NEW REPUBLICAN states received at least four Congressmen and EIGHT senators. This heavily weighted the Electoral College to almost guarantee a Republican victory in 1892.

Which was exactly the point.

Our biggest mistake as a country is letting land vote.

And this was the least duplicitous thing they did to gain votes and money for their personal coffers.

They continually suggested that the land on the Great Plains was great for farming. It wasn’t. And it still isn’t without irrigation which hadn’t been discovered yet as a viable alternative to natural rain. They falsified weather reports, giving the opposite information than the Farmer’s Almanac predicted.

Reading this history, I was becoming incensed. I needed to stop often after I read a paragraph and then highlighted some other Republican misdeed. I was having flash-forwards to modern times and seeing this exact scenario playing out today.

Just look at the last few days of the Speaker vote. One Republican motioned for the speaker to vacate. Eight Republicans voted against Kevin McCarthy. REPUBLICANS. When the interim speaker took over, a small man who thinks smaller, slammed his temporary gavel so hard, he missed the block he’s supposed to hit. His first act as Interim Speaker wasn’t to speak to Democrats, to try to unite the parties or even to unite his own split, petty party, he used that first act to evict Speaker Emerita Pelosi and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer out of their Capitol offices. Speaker Pelosi wasn’t even in Washington, D.C. She was attending her friend Dianne Feinstein’s funeral in California. Fortunately, her staff had help from Leader Jeffries’ staff to move her office. That’s all you need to know about the parties.

You may not agree with Democratic party policies, but most of the country does. And regardless of even that, when the Democrats are in power, they spend their time trying to make things better for ALL Americans. They’re not out there sabotaging each other and the rest of the country. They’re not holding the debt ceiling and the paychecks of the military hostage. They are working for the people. Always.

What have the Republicans gotten done for the American people?

Nothing.

They’re too busy whining, creating havoc, name-calling, lying, suppressing the vote and everything possible to stay in power.

But when they’re in power, what do they do?

Nothing.

Look back on the last few Republican Administrations. They screw us up so badly and put us deeper into debt, we elect a Democrat who fixes the mess, and then we get collective amnesia.

Remember this on Election Day.

Remember this on every Election Day.

Remember.

Mental Health Monday – Onward

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Today is the first Monday in October, and that means that Suicide Prevention Awareness month has come to its conclusion. Now that you won’t be inundated with reminders every few tweets or threads to check on your friends, to drink your water, to breathe, it may seem as though you’ve been abandoned at the seashore with friends and neighbors waving you off.

This is not what it is, though.

Without the constant social media buzz, it is still important to remain aware of your mental health. Continue seeing your mental health professionals. Notice if the things you like to do become less fun or you dread starting projects. If you journal, continue writing. If you doodle, continue drawing. If you pray and/or meditate, keep up that practice.

Randomly mark a day on your calendar to see how you’re doing; is your coping toolbox ready for your needs?

Take a mental health inventory on yourself once a week or more if it helps you feel centered.

Check yourself, and check your friends.

The awareness month may have ended, but the awareness doesn’t.

You are not alone.

We are all in this together.

Mental Health Monday – Quietude

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Today is the observance of Yom Kippur. It is the Jewish day of atonement, a time to think back on the bad we’ve done and ask forgiveness, and to look forward on how we can be better stewards of ourselves and our time.

When I was a child, we were not allowed into the temple. I don’t know if that was because the tickets were too costly or if we children made too much noise and fidgeted too much. I have strong and fond memories of playing in the parking lot (which was devoid of cars) and playing with other children. We were dressed relatively nicely, but still playing outside until one of our parents came out to the door at the back, and from the top of the stairs shushed us. If I were being honest, this happened more than the one time.

Growing up, I had difficulty on this day. As a teenager, I would sleep until one in the afternoon, hoping to shorten the fasting we were required to do. I was annoyed that I couldn’t participate in my favorite pastime – writing – because writing was work. (Not to me, but my parents would not hear of it.) We didn’t have computers then, so that wasn’t an issue for me.

As I grew up, I never had a temple near me to attend services (except once) and so I spent my Yom Kippur fasting, reading one or two books, and speaking to G-d.

After I had my kids, I would take them on walks, read to them, and watch PBS.

On these Yom Kippurs that fall during my Catholic years I find myself seeking quiet. Reading. Praying. Fasting. (I try to only take my medicine with a little bit of water.) Thinking back on the last year and looking forward.

For those of you who are not Jewish, who do not observe the fast, this is a reminder that we all need that quietude; that time to take for ourselves where we’re not making shopping or to-do lists, where our brains are not turning over a mile a minute. Take the day if you are able, or an hour, or even a block of fifteen to twenty minutes, and just be. It can be contemplation, meditation, prayer, or just simply resting your mind. That time is your refuge, and it is needed just as much as water is for life.

(c)2023

Mental Health Monday – Time

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I’ve mentioned before my writing planner – the calendar where I schedule topics to write about. Some just happen, and others reflect items on the calendar. For instance, I’m working on something for All Saints Day as well as my two writing classes (with prompts), although I’m not sure that those will be going off this year. We’ll know soon enough.

Friday was the birthday of children’s writer and illustrator, Tomie dePaola and I had planned a reflection on his work as well as a personal connection.

Friday was also the first night of Rosh Hashanah.

As I was getting ready for Rosh Hashanah, Tomie dePaola was still on my radar. After each mundane task, I would think to myself (or even say aloud) that I needed to write and post the Tomie dePaola piece. I shouldn’t say “need;” I wanted to.

I took my son to work, I got groceries, I picked my daughter up from school, I started dinner, I picked my son up from work, I continued with dinner: roast chicken with sweet potatoes if anyone was wondering.

And as it drifted towards sundown, I knew that I was going to miss Tomie dePaola’s birthday.

I just couldn’t make the time stop. Dinner was nearly ready, my oldest was coming over for dinner, and I still had to clean off the table and vase the flowers.

I could have gotten frustrated.

I could have gotten angry (at a whole host of things).

I could have assigned more tasks to my family, who had also worked all day, stepped aside, and wrote what I wanted to, shared the photos that I wanted to, and it would have been done.

However, it wouldn’t have been done right.

It wouldn’t have been done with the reverence that Mr. dePaola deserves.

I let the time pass, and I decided to be okay with that.

I spent the holiday with my family, reading, sitting prayerfully with G-d, and knew that tomorrow is another day, and I can celebrate Tomie dePaola tomorrow.

Which is my plan.

Stay tuned.