Foxtrot, Foxtrot, Foxtrot!!!

"this Court now concludes that independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption. That speakers may have influence over or access to elected officials does not mean that those officials are corrupt. And the appearance of influence or access will not cause the electorate to lose faith in this democracy." U.S. Supreme Court in decision Citizens United, Appellant v. Federal Election Commission reported 01/21/2010 by Fox News.

What The Fuck, Over.

Immigration reform! Ship THEM all back home or give THEM amnesty and let THEM stay. These are the extreme points of view.
If I knew the immigration laws I could write more knowledgeably about this mess.
What's the deal?
People are coming to the US in droves because things are pretty well fucked up in their home countries. You name them.
This place, US of A is so much better even if the illegals who make a hero's journey to get here are caught in the trap of having to carry around cash, when they get get work, which every shitbird knows about and takes the obvious action of robbing them or they wait around to do shit labor.
What to do. Give illegals the opportunity to legalize their existence here and bust the "business people" who take advantage of the precarious position by hiring illegals? Why not WPA like camps of illegals working on government projects while getting their legal shit in order. Have the camps take over the services provided by those that hired the illegals for pennies and make dollars off their labor and put those shits in jail. Job opportunities at correction facilities.
Then the BIG question arises. What's going on in these countries that make the herculean trip to this country worth it? Perhaps the money proposed to build a fence around our borders could be used to encourage our own corporation to set up shop in these countries. The wages would have to be at a life sustainable level for the workers.
California is bankrupt because it is trying to do the right thing for all. Why not act at the root of the influx of immigrants rather than spend all that dough flying or trucking them home?
I do have a selfish reason for proposing these solutions, I have not the ability to learn another language. I know a few Spanish words but cannot seem to grasp the sentence structure or all the words. I do enjoy the music of Spanish, even in anger (like Wagner). I enjoy the music of words, of communication. That's me.
Living in San Francisco again after 26 years elsewhere has been a cultural adaptation. I grew up here as a bit of a socialist, everyone watching out for everyone watching out for everyone else. Hippie shit. We're all in this together, let's help each other out.
The problem with that is the cost. Who wants to pay 29 to 59 % of their income to help their community? I will. Swedish is so hard to learn so I remain an American socialist. Anyway I hear they're having their own immigration problem although I have not researched it and truly, at this point, don't care about it. I am not moving unless a certain person will come with me. This is doubtful and probably will not happen since I like being with my brother and sisters and mother here in the cool gray city of love.
So, the other other comment I have is the seeming need to FIGHT for rights. Fortunately, working for change does the same thing without making pissy enemies. Che Guevara is no longer a viable icon. He killed to make his point and I hope those days are gone. Perhaps only for me.
The dreams of automatic weapons and explosives still occur bit only serve to depress me. I'm hoping the 21st century will evolve beyond such things but I am doubtful. This enforces the valuable effects of whiskey, which makes possible impossible dreams.
Written with unconditional love for a certain person on Queensbury Street.

Sitting In Judgement

The cars slowly roll through the Stop signs like predators searching for weakness. The forecast is for darkness through the night with brightening by morning. Waiting for the bus sitting on a bench built by the COE so the young lovers can make-out in the bus shelter.
Thinking of earlier in the day on 24th St. at Bernie's, a coffee room next to the Whole Foods store. A pleasant place to view the parade from. People walking their pets, mostly dogs and children of various types. Most of the children have vehicles to ride in, although some, as the dogs, are under their own power. The dogs are leashed for the most part.
A sign a Bernie's says, "Unattended children will be given an espresso and a free puppy." This seems to keep their owners attentive and the majority of kinderswine at Bernie's do not deserve that pejorative appellation. I admit a fondness for the word and like to say it whenever possible. It's very much like those who proclaim the US the greatest nation in the world. It may not be completely true but it is fun to say.
It's was a warm day, 84 in the city. This is hot to most San Franciscans although the newbies seem to find it "finally normal". The temperature at San Francisco Airport, which is some miles south in San Bruno, was 90. Snatches of cell phone conversations exclaim, "You need to sit out on your block and get some vitamin D . . .", ". . . and I just got so excited!", "I love you so much!", a father (supposed) says to his toddler son who is pointing and identifying the wonders he sees.
A pleasant parade with few unhappy creatures. Most of the people around here have good, well paying jobs. The stucco homes go for just under a million dollars. Rent in the Victorians is $2700/month. Working Man Victorians go for well over a million and some renovated places for several million.
This points out the whorish nature of San Francisco. 'Twas always thus. Good times, wondrous things to do, and glorious sights but you got to pay buddy. This, perhaps, is why this city is so tolerant. If you can afford it, you can be here. Tolerance and the freedom that it affords is the beauty of San Francisco. There is physical beauty too but it is the freedom to be an idiot, if you desire, that makes this place magical.

Geez Us 1

Sitting in a coffee shop. Minimalistic, very zen. A stainless steel fountain consisting of a rectangular pedestal, pinched in the middle making a 3 dimensional X, topped with a sphere out of whose top slowly flows water. The faintest of sound. Thoughtful music by some Icelander band plays mournfully cheerful music.
I sip my coffee from the ceramic mug, fearless of possible lead contamination, more concerned with the taste of a paper cup ruining the flavor of the coffee.
Watching the Bottlebrush Tree out front waving in the breeze, I am in the zone. Content.
I am against the back wall in a low late 50's style vinyl and steel chair, the fountain to my right in the corner. In front of me sit two young men at a 4 top, babbling on about vectors and virtual reality. They wear T-shirts with a gaming company logo, jeans with wallet chains and leather shoes. Nice shoes. These guys are doing alright for themselves. Technicians discussing their triumph over a seemingly insoluble problem now nicely done. The pleasure of technical expertise. Only sex is better, good loving sex, or a really good dump, really good, the result of a balance of fiber and oils, no toilet paper necessary. Life can be exquisite.
Technicians, like Wernher Von Braun who mastered the first rocket missile for Hitler or his associate and enabler, Albert Speer, who keep the Nazi war industry purring despite devastating bombing raids. Insoluble problems solved.
Robert Oppenheimer, another technician, assembled a boat load of technicians like Bohr, Szilard, Fermi, and Teller to name a few. Together they solved the problem of creating one of those now famous WMDs, the atomic bomb.
Baby Boomers grew up learning how they would be vaporized if they didn't go to the basement and, sitting with backs against the wall, put their heads between their legs. Psychoanalysis thrived.

HOT?

San Francisco's summers are marked by fog and temperatures in the high 60's (on a good day). Mark Twain famously wrote that the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.
In my youth, my friends and I would get a good chuckle from the tourists shivering on the Cable Cars. They thought they were going to California. Silly monkeys.
Yesterday and the day before brought temperatures above 80, 88 at the airport (but that's in California). It was very warm, single layer weather if layers were worn at all.
I was unfortunate enough to catch the local news whose lead story was, of course, how hot it was. The stories were written and reported by persons who obviously have not spent much time in the city because they were all agog over the sudden shift from fog to clear warm skies. Anyone who has paid attention over a year or two will have noticed that San Francisco experiences typically California weather in September and October before descending into a prolonged Fall until Spring.
I remember the first days of school after Summer Vacation being beautiful days of balmy weather. This is normal for San Francisco.
Yes, normal. Perhaps an odd word to describe this infamous city of tolerance but even oddities attain normalcy.
I've been back here a month, riding the buses and street cars, walking about and yesterday, the second day of plus 80 degrees fahrenheit, I saw more cranky and belligerent people than during the previous month. Normal. Some shops closed early, "because of the heat", others, without air conditioning, had borderline surly clerks.
Today is 79 with a nice breeze. All is well again. Normal.

Clouds

Wispy streams of white and gray flowing slowly, softly on the cool breeze. So unlike the dynamic shapes of the clouds in Boston and Chicago, these are more subtle, requiring more imagination to fit into definitive mythical shapes.
Wraiths and ghosts are not too tough but not as whimsical as a penis devouring a dragon. Perhaps when the weather warms in September the clouds will get more defined.
The fog rolls in overnight to cover the whole city, sometimes the whole area. Above the fog, from Mount Tamalpais, the low down cloud of fog is revealed. The sun shines on Tamalpais but not on Golden Gate Park or Twin Peaks or The Mission. The East Bay clears first, then east of Twin Peaks is bathed in sunlight. Golden Gate Park must wait, but today the fog recedes out to the ocean and seems to wait for it's chance to return.

ConAgra In Turners Falls

While eating on the go, I picked up a bar of Flax Tempeh. Imagine my surprise to notice it was made in Turners Falls, MA by Lightlife Foods. Happy scarfing followed.

Unable to leave well enough alone, I Googled Lightlife to find it has merged with ConAgra Foods to join Slim Jims, Chef Boyardee, Hebrew National, Parkay, and a pile of other brands.

Did the workers in Turners Falls get a raise or a pay cut? How does this bode?

I know I'm over reacting but I see the images from an old World War II propaganda flick showing the spread of the Nazis into Europe and the Mediterranean.