Sunday, December 24, 2017

People Power

How To Save Our Democracy

 
Inspirational Shasta Dam, Lake and Volcano

Lately I have been receiving an overload of requests for donations, contributions
 and subscriptions for the various political causes and charities I sometimes support. 
What used to be a small voice in my head that felt I was just throwing away the 
small portion of the big American money pie that I sometimes think of as mine. 
That small voice has become a thunderous oratory on the wastefulness of trying to 
defeat billionaires by throwing what little money we have at them while clinging to 
the foolish notion that we can beat them at their own game.

Shasta conjuring up a lenticular cloud

I sat down and explained the fallacy and futility of trying to beat billionaires at 
a game they have rigged in their favor. Here is Part 1…


Musical Interlude
Cave across the road. That’s what I keep gazing at while singing.


Pep Talk...
Mount Shasta making clouds


Merry Christmas and Festivus
Have A Super Saturnalia
Happy New Year

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Ti's The Season

The Season Of Giving?



Was it Macy's or Gimbals stores that created that slogan?

Anyway, I just now imagined time traveling to that famous manger in year zero, (though there were billions of prior years, some Catholic pope named it year zero).



I was trying to think of a great gift for the Son Of God, when it occurred to me that the son of God,(who created everything), already owns the universe and everything in it. 




What do you give to the person who, in perceived Christian reality, has everything?

A song? His dad is God and therefore his son already knows every song I will ever write.



Nope, the kid doesn't need a thing. Everything, everywhere is already His, now and forever.



So in my imaginary time traveling to the land of mangers, I figured I would go sing my song, Brain Draino, to any shepherds who were dumb enough to be grazing sheep in winter.



And to all ... Time traveling isn't for everyone.

Friday, November 24, 2017

Giving Thanks and Observations

What A Week!

Sunset from building A

I shall begin with the beautiful sunset skies of the 18th, heralding a wide array of weather and wonders. 

The atrocity that is befouling our nations capital is about to collapse under the weight of it's own corruption. I am sure most people are anxious to begin rebuilding our democracy, (with exception of the deluded Fox news fans and talk radio listeners).

Tiny wasps at the Arboretum

I guess I need to include the people who think they are getting real news on Facebook who have actually been manipulated by Russian trolls and propaganda computer-bots. They have been led to believe that everything is terrific and in better shape than ever before in history. 

Mark Zukerberg claims that they have identified and removed most of the  Russian Facebook accounts posing as American Patriotic think tanks and grass roots organizations. Better late than never.


Colorful flora at the Arboretum
 
Anyway, enough of that stuff. I too, have been a victim of the troll disruption in my writing and conversations and I don't like it. That is not the path of enlightenment I wish to walk by any stretch of my metaphysical contemplation.

November colors at Whiskeytown Lake
 Some days have been cool and rainy this past week or so, here in Redding. That soggy weather made great themes for song lists that I got to sing and play at the Treehouse Senior Apartments and Connected Living (formerly Golden Umbrella).

An inviting beach at Whiskeytown Lake

I am thankful for the opportunity to play and sing, Here's That Rainy Day, in the same set as, Have You Ever Seen The Rain. Josephine Harris is back to rocking the piano with me at the Treehouse and we really enjoy the musical results of our combined energy. I am thankful that she is feeling better and able to add her special touches to the songs.

Band of sunlight on Mount Lassen

 I was hoping to drag a song file from Monday into this post, but that's not the way Blogger works. It is just as well as the recording isn't my usual high quality work. Now that I am writing from my inner voice again, I will resume using the good equipment to record on Monday so I can embed a tune on this blog. 

Birds fly north up the I-5 corridor at sunset
I think I will take a few photos of how I am recording Josephine and me at the Treehouse this next Monday. That will provide a visual aid for the song embed on that post.

The moon on Thanksgiving evening
I was taking pictures of the Thanksgiving moon in the twilight and didn't notice that a satellite or space station was reflecting sunlight. I must say that the moon was a wonderful photo subject and I took many pics last night.

Clouds add dramatic effects to the Thanksgiving moon
Thank you for visiting this little piece of my life as expressed here at Phil's Place.

It feels good to write and share my thoughts and pictures with you.  

"I blog therefore I am"?   Perhaps...

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Best Laid Plans

Foiled Again

What do you do when you are fully committed to ending a habit and in your first day you receive a package containing the very thing you are determined to quit?


I think it was easier when I quit drinking and smoking than it is to quit a product that has made my life easier for the last 10 years, Tramadol.

On the other hand, if someone had handed me a couple of cartons of my favorite brand of cigarettes or a case of St Emilion Bordeaux as I was quitting those self-destructive habits, it might have taken longer before I ultimately quit them. 



So here I am, faced with the choice of do I continue withdrawal and spend my life looking for pain relief, or, now that my prescription has finally been refilled, do I enjoy my relatively normal life for another 28 days?


This is not the first time the Tramadol Rx has been ordered late by my Primary Care Physician. It's the third time this year I have had an unplanned and unpleasant 2 or 3 day partial withdrawal experience before my prescription was approved.


During withdrawal from Tramadol I experience a sensory overload when pain receptors and CNS systems are restored to full power. All kinds of pains, (nerves, muscles, bones, bruises, scars, phantom or not), are turned up to 11. 

The smell of softener in clothing, towels and sheets is intolerable, like a punch in the gut, and that is only one of a barrage of assaults on my senses that I have experienced during previous withdrawals.


The long list of cold turkey opiate withdrawal horrors was exactly what I was prepared to accept for this Halloween weekend, how chillingly appropriate.


I should add that I take 400mgs of Tramadol daily. It has remarkably improved my life since 2006 when it was first prescribed to relieve the constant pain from nerve damage. I take it every day and night. 

Sometimes I may pull or strain muscles. For that kind of pain I take Ibuprofen, (but not regularly as ibuprofen can make pains worse if used more than a few days in a row).


You may have read, or heard that people are dying from Tramadol overdoses. 

I found that hard to believe, so I Googled; Verified Deaths From Tramadol. There are hundreds reported each year, but Tramadol was not the only drug those people who died were taking. 

It was the interaction of other drugs mixed with Tramadol that killed them. 


The physician who originally prescribed Tramadol for my pain from damaged nerves, made it very clear that I should avoid alcohol, sedatives, cold medicines and other drugs that could become a dangerous concoction if taken while using Tramadol.


Back to my current dilemma; The opiod crisis created by Purdue Pharma and their aggressive marketing of OxyContin now includes non-life threatening pain relievers such as Tramadol. 

The wide opioid crisis net has been thrown to obscure the villainous family who are expanding distribution of Oxycontin to other countries even now while people in America are dying daily from having been introduced to OxyContin.


I cant stop a company worth 500 Billion dollars a year who market addictive death, but I am faced with prescription interruptus presumably caused by the misdirected opioid crisis Purdue Pharma caused. 

Here I have put my current situation into words so that I, (and perhaps you, too), can make some sense of my deciding to resume my happy, fairly normal life now that my prescription is once again in my cupboard.


This moon image is from yesterday, Friday, just about and hour and 20 minutes after it was officially 1st quarter. 

Pain doesn't have to dominate my sense of self, thanks to Tramadol.
  

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

What A Mess

What A Mess

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It will take decades to clean up the mess that the republicans have made of our democracy. If we get them out of our capitol in time.

A reply to a reply with a reply in a comment thread discussing the 45th president;

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Monsanto Has Been Writing Its Own Pro-Roundup Academic Research

That should be no surprise to readers of Phil’s Place. I have written several articles about Monsanto authoring pro-pesticide research papers and ‘news stories’ as well as other Monsanto monkey business since 2008.

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Q: Who is profiting by ignoring or publishing disinformation about Climate Change?

A: The same people who are attacking Al Gore in the hopes that it will devalue the message in his latest movie.

Here is a trailer;

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It has been awhile since I have posted household tips, so here is one of those “Huh! That is a good idea.”, tips;


A Good Egg

Saturday, July 1, 2017

Words To Live By

If you haven't read, or heard Langston Hughes, you can hear his message of hope that we will achieve a better future together.



Peace and Love create a better world. Hate and Fear destroy.

I choose Peace and Love.

Saturday, June 24, 2017

June Warms Up


June Roundup Of Hot Topics




Have you seen this gorilla splash dance?


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Friday at Shasta Lake it was a cool 104 degrees

We are having a hot spell here in Redding, but the temps have mostly been under 110, so it isn’t as bad as some places. One of the reasons I live here is for summer days that are over 100 degrees. When I was in Carmel Valley, summers meant I could take off my jacket for most of the day, sometimes. I would see the temperature for Redding on the weather report and feel envious.

Heat and this osmosis water system planter that contains a tomato plant and a red bell pepper plant pictured in these accompanying three images on the left, presented a bit of a mystery.

If the water in the tank gets below a gallon or more from the top, the pepper wilts in the heat.

I thought the pepper was a goner when I first noticed leaves browning and the plant wilting, but I discovered the water level effect on the liveliness and vigor of the pepper plant and remedied the dire situation.

Cutting off dead leaves and keeping the water level up in the tank solved the pep-less pepper dilemma.





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At the dam Friday

The republican senate secret health care plan was revealed today. It takes health care away from millions of Americans and gives the very rich a very nice tax cut.

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Lassen Volcanic park a couple of days ago

The mainstream media are spinning this thing in every possible fantastical way they can to please their rightwing republican masters. Sometimes people think the New York Times is “liberal media”. They are wrong. It is right wing and centrist conservative leaning. The Washington Post is solid right wing in all stories and reports. Fox news is extreme right along with InfoWars and Breitbart.

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Bee in clover

There are a handful of open minded shows that address current events on Cable and internet.  They are generally relaxed, funny, clever and material is well researched.

Some hosts of late night shows play videos of notorious right wingers exposing their own fallacious nature and inconsistencies. The results are both funny and frightening.

Here is a good example of pleasant reality based reporting;



Peace

Thursday, June 8, 2017

They Have No Shame

They Have No Shame

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I am so glad that Pink Slime is available for the poor. God knows the rich aren’t about to eat that crap.

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Flowers are blooming enthusiastically here in Redding this June. Maybe the cooler temperatures like we had today will slow the process.

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Cactus flowers are among the colorful displays being used to attract pollinators to participate in plant proliferation. With long hot summer days the cacti and succulents have been especially active, here at the Treehouse.

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Some of us in Redding are particularly happy that we got to wear long sleeve shirts and light jackets today. The temps were in the mid 50’s. (That is normal for some Bay Area cities like Richmond.) A cool summer day is a pleasant novelty.

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I am glad to see that Jeremy Corbyn is making a good showing in the British election results. He is one of the few leaders that understands the relationship between recent terrorist attacks in England and Britain's involvement in America’s mid-east wars;

“If you continuously bomb people’s homes and country, the survivors will eventually retaliate in some way.”

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Part of Jeremy Corbyn’s appeal is his plan to discontinue British participation in America’s endless wars.

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In America, we could eliminate poverty, hunger and homelessness with just a fraction of the money we waste blowing up people and places around the world.

But don’t just take my word for it.

Watch today’s video:


Embrace the beatitudes to achieve parity

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Producing this Blogpost with Blogger

Okay. I know it seems like a long excruciating process to collect evidence and round up the appropriate witnesses to arrest the whole lot of improper appointees along with the fraudulent, failed and traitorous person and family occupying the White House.

I feel the same way. It is important that there be no loopholes for the slugs to slip through. You can bet there are teams of twisted lawyers who are more than willing to be in the limelight as Trumps defense team.
 
So we read the ever growing list of offenses committed by various greedy crooks that have taken over our government and the collection of domestic and foreign entities that are making this coup possible. 

We read the names of people, corporations and criminal organizations that are connected to the Trumps and Robert Mercers administration choices and wonder when will the justice department, FBI, CIA, NSA and Homeland Security round these traitors up, seize their assets and put them in prison until their trials?

The sooner that happens the less damage we will have to repair.

In the meantime, lets continue doing the constructive and entertaining things like preview this new comedy special;