The F Team

 The one thing that can be said for Trump's cabinet picks is that at least they are hilarious and give us the benefit of a robust belly laugh, albeit a bitter one, rather after the fashion of the Joker. They are completely, supremely unqualified, having no experience whatsoever in the posts to which they are being assigned. A Russian sympathizer/agent for the Department of Intelligence? A vax denier for the Department of Health, a man with a "worm" in his brain? Matt Gaetz, for God's sake, as the head of the Department of Justice? Lol. Bend over, Republican voters. Thy king cometh.

All is not Well

 I read an article this morning wherein the writer, whose name I have already forgotten, expressed her dissatisfaction with the illusion being painted by democratic politicians, including the president and the vice president, that this is  a normal transfer of power from one administration to the next. We have been told endlessly that Trump is a fascist and should never hold the power of the presidency again, and yet they seem to have forgotten their own words. This is no normal transition. This is a transition from traditional democracy to outright autocracy. I suppose that some people are buying this hypocrisy, especially Trump voters who still do not see what is coming, but I certainly do not buy it. It seems that people who have put their reputations on the line and spoken out against Trump and his anti-democratic plans have done so in vain. This makes the situation all the more sad and depressing. Convictions so strongly expressed and then so blithely forgotten cannot, as it seems to me, have been true convictions in the first place. All is not well. This is no common transition. This is surrender. This is politics as usual in a time that demanded much, much more. We should have dished up what the Republicans served us for the last 4 years. Instead, many of our leaders of integrity have simply folded and curled up on the ground like beaten curs. I do not believe that America, as we have known it, will survive the next four years. We will carry with us, if we proceed as a country at all, an irremovable stain of cruelty and hatred as well as incompetency and irresponsibility globally. I mourn for the land of my birth.

Wrong

 Well, I was wrong. Very sadly wrong. It turns out that Americans prefer a criminal as their president. A felon, convicted on 34 counts, twice impeached, four times indicted, and a sexual predator to boot. It turns out that this is who we are. 

After election day, I simply turned off the news. I will not watch it. I cannot bear to continually see and hear this man's name for the next 4 years. I cannot bear the constant reminder of America's moral turpitude. Instead, I will take a break from America and all things American and hope, albeit dimly and as absent-mindedly as possible, for some sort of miraculous redemption in the future.

I leave the subject for now with the words of George Conway, which express my own feelings rather succinctly:

"My own hope and belief about what would transpire last night was sadly and profoundly wrong—like many, I have the emotional and intellectual flaw, if that’s what it is, of assuming that people are wiser and more decent than they actually turn out to be. I feel chastened—distraught—about my apparently naive view of human nature."

Predictions

 Every Monday here, which is Sunday back in the old country, I watch highlights on YouTube from all the NFL games, and I've gotten into the habit of predicting the winner in each game based on the performance of the teams through the season as well as just my own gut feeling about which team will prevail. And I've gotten pretty good at it, if I don't say so myself. 

So I thought that I would expand the habit, just this once, to matters outside of football contests and offer my prediction for who will win the upcoming presidential election. 

It is my belief that Kamala Harris will win rather handily; but I must add as well that this will not stop the Trump train on its time worn track of protest and perfidy. Despite a decisive loss, Trump will screech foul and fraud, and yes there will be trouble, the likes of which we must wait to see.

Eventually, in God's time, we will indeed turn the page on Trump and trumpism, but it is a heavy and ponderous page and must await the reading of the last foul word before being done.

Ringing

 I've been having a fairly rough time over the past couple weeks with a loud ringing/buzzing in my head. I provide the word choice because the word ringing (berdering) doesn't make sense to Indonesians, in that it brings to mind the ringing of a phone. Berdengung, which is translated to English as buzzing, strikes them as more suitable. In any case, day by day I have a worsening case of ringing/buzzing in my head which generally ends up giving me a splitting headache as well. I can sleep at night so far, but first thing in the morning the sound returns. Some years ago I had this same irritating problem. I went to a ENT doctor at that time and was told that there was nothing wrong with my ears. It must be a neurologic problem. Duh. So what does one do about that? So far, the only effective treatment, albeit a temporary one, has been to listen to very loud music through my earphones. I prefer either loud Eurhythmics or loud Evanescence. Last night the ringing was accompanied by this sensation of having an electrical storm in my brain. I don't know how else to describe it. I see on the internet that the phenomenon has been called brain zap. In this version of the problem, the consistent ringing is interrupted by sudden pulsations of sound. Very unpleasant. I read as well today that barometric pressure changes can bring on or worsen tinnitus, and we have certainly had extreme heat here recently accompanied by sudden clouds in the evening and night time. So is it neurologic or barometric or sinuses ... Who knows? Pregabalin is also supposed to help this problem, assuming that it is a neurologic problem, but I already take 150 mg of pregabalin in the morning and now have added 75 mg in the evening, and it ain't working. My girlfriend send a YouTube video about tinnitus this morning which instructs that one should place a tablespoon on the back of his head and then tap on the tablespoon with a second tablespoon in a rhythmic manner--and sure, I can try that at home, but I doubt whether it would be considered quite kosher in a restaurant or cafe, and I wouldn't want to have to carry along my own silverware wherever I go. So yeah, if anyone has any additional ideas about tinnitus, give me a ring or buzz me with a message.

IPad

Trying out an old new iPad, complements of my ex-wife who has bought a new new one for herself and handed this one down. This is proving to be a bit difficult, as I am not familiar with the peculiarities of the Apple system. It seems that I will need practice and familiarization. One thing I want to do is to buy one of those attachable keyboards so that I can type like a normal typist instead of pecking at the keypad with my two index fingers. Well this does seem more and more clunky the more I type. If you want to go to the middle of the document and add a missing word, for instance, the damn cursor keeps jumping back to the end of the document as you type. Quite irritating.

Lunacy

 You know, I saw President Biden give a speech today in Pennsylvania and he was perfectly sharp and comprehensive, not showing any signs at all of being cognitively impaired or confused. On the flip side, I saw a town hall (so-called) conducted by candidate Trump which after a few unanswered questions devolved into 39 minutes of swaying stiffly to random pieces of music while the nonplussed audience looked on. Now I ask you, which is the impaired individual in these two examples? Hint: it's a rhetorical question. What I really want to ask is this: what the hell is going on here? How have we gotten things so backward and upside down at the same time? While Trump stumbles through his lunatic, meaningless campaign events, Harris addresses her listeners at campaign events and multiple interviews with intelligence and thorough outlines of her actual plans for the country. No windmills, no bird cemeteries, no electrified sharks, no Hannibal Lecter. And yet the election at this point is statistically tied in the polls? How can it be? Is that the Twilight Zone music I hear playing in the background?