My take on the midterm elections in the USA

I wasn't sure what to expect before Election Day, but I know what I was hoping for. And as fate and the divine would have it, the Democrats won most of everything there was to win, bigtime. It's being called the 'blue wave' and the 'blue tsunami'. I was of course very happy with the outcome. My take on the elections is that most average ordinary Americans were fed up with being lied to, gaslighted, and forced to accept a version of reality that didn't align with their actual daily reality. They got tired of bad, crude, rude, aggressive, nasty, and vengeful behavior. They got tired of bigoted, white supremacist, misogynist leaders. Thank God. 

Whatever it's called, I hope it results in real change down the road. I hope it leads to a new president whose goals are to really help the average American and to support the working class. I'm heartened by the number of younger people in politics now. There are simply too many elderly people in politics, hanging on by their thumbs to positions that rightfully should belong to the upcoming generation. Their tenacity is not admirable, it's selfish. I hope that the incoming politicians vote for the following:

• term limits for political positions (no more than eight years)
• age limits for political positions (age limit should be 72)
• money out of politics (make it illegal for wealthy oligarchs to buy candidates)
• universal healthcare for all citizens
• more compassion toward illegal immigrants. Yes, they're in the country illegally, but if and when they're deported, treat them like human beings. Those who have made lives for themselves, who work and pay taxes, should be distinguished from those who do not. They should not all be treated the same way. Remember, the USA is a country defined by immigrants. We are a huge melting pot, for better or for worse. The Statue of Liberty says it best: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
• we do not want oligarchs and kings to rule us
• focus on infrastructure--repair roads, bridges, and tunnels, and appropriate money for schools, 
• rebuild alliances with Europe and with NATO. Support Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor Russia (this does not mean sending American troops to fight)
• end the (undeclared) war in Iran
• undo the nonsense that the current president has foisted on the nation (changing names of bodies of water, messing with the Kennedy Center, etc.)

We need new, younger, fresher leadership. We need leaders who don't slap derogatory labels on people, who don't speak badly of their opponents, who are willing to meet the other side halfway, but who have the strength of their convictions to make the unpopular, morally-based choices. We need more ethical behavior in politics. We need leaders not motivated by greed and vengeance. We need moral visionaries to move the country forward. 

Quotes about cowardice and complicity

I think that cowardice and complicity often go hand in hand. If we accept injustice toward others and bullying of others in silence and do nothing to counter these behaviors, we are complicit in the behaviors via inaction. It's easy to look the other way, to excuse ourselves from taking a stand, out of cowardice and fear. Fear of retaliation, fear of getting involved, fear of having to take a stand, fear of sticking our heads 'above the radar', fear of stepping outside of our comfort zone and giving up a comfortable life generally. Complicity is fueled by moral laziness, as is cowardice. If we don't take a stand against injustice, we are complicit in that injustice and also cowardly for not taking a stand. But it's not easy to stand up for what is right and no one ever said it would be. There is a lot to lose. But living with yourself as the years go by becomes harder and harder, when you are faced with your moral laziness. I often think of the apostles who followed Jesus; they acted cowardly when he needed them to be there for him. We are more often like them than unlike them. 

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 The seven deadly sins should be updated. We should add an eighth sin: Cowardice.

--Gad Saad

Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk.--Margaret Chase Smith

Alas, nothing reveals man the way war does. Nothing so accentuates in him the beauty and ugliness, the intelligence and foolishness, the brutishness and humanity, the courage and cowardice, the enigma. --Oriana Fallaci

Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.--Martin Luther King, Jr.

The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.--Rollo May

Fear has its use but cowardice has none.--Mahatma Gandhi

To be silent is to be complicit.--Richard Edelman

If you're governor of a state, and you have nothing to say when the president attacks the people that you represent, you are complicit.--J. B. Pritzker

I learned about injustice young. That I had a duty to not be complicit, to not turn the other way.--Ashley Biden

While admiring the pleasing evidence of wealth, we become complicit in - or, at the very least, recognize the extent to which we, too, are beneficiaries of - an economic system we routinely deplore.--Geoff Dyer

Reminders that the world around us is not just chaos, aggression, and meanness

 

Complainers

I can relate to Goat in Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis. I so dislike that people complain and have no solutions to the problems they're complaining about. The reality is that some people just like to complain, to hear themselves talk. The worst thing about it is that they often manage to rile up everyone around them about the problem at hand, while they go on their merry way, as though they had never complained at all. 

Taking a break from the world's insanity and inanity

The current world situation is often unbearable to witness and to listen to. One gets tired of listening to the same hot-air clowns lecture the rest of us each day on some topic of little to no importance except to them. And they are clowns, make no mistake about it, except that their stupidity is a danger to us all. 

How to deal with the malignant stupidity around us? Sometimes we need to take a break from it all. The insanity and the inanity of the world will be there when we get back from our break. But we need to prioritize our physical and mental health. 

Kitbull--a little pearl of a film

I discovered this short animated film from 2019 only recently, and I fell in love with it. Kitbull. Sad story but with a happy ending, just the kind of stories I like, especially in these times. These are the kinds of films children (and adults who need a crash course in how to behave) should watch, because they go a long way toward creating empathy. Thank you to the creators at Pixar who made this little film. 

https://youtu.be/-hOYcTfEbGs?si=eGFwPLOpGX8iIxfC

Curiosity

The word 'curiosity' makes me curious about the actual word. What is its derivation and what does it mean? Curiosity derives from the Latin cūriōsitās, from cūriōsus "careful, diligent, curious", akin to cura "care") (Wikipedia). 

When we say that someone is curious, we usually mean that he or she is eager to know something about, to learn about, an object, person, or happening in his or her life. When we say that people have curiosity, we mean that they are interested in and invested in the life around them. They are eager to learn, to know, to explore, to experience. They want to know the whys and the hows involved in certain processes. They want to know why people behave in certain ways. They want to understand the meaning of this life, even though they know that this is the most difficult challenge of all. They don't shy away from the unknown; they investigate it and make it a part of themselves. They expand their inner lives, their spiritual lives, in order to do so. 

Curiosity is held up as a positive thing as one gets older. There is a lot of talk about retaining one's  enthusiasm for learning and for waking up each day wanting to experience all that the day has to offer. Curiosity provides a meaning and a purpose for a well-lived life, whether it means picking up a new book, finding a good film or tv series, going to a concert, discovering a new hobby (like gardening), trying a new recipe, finding a new travel destination, finding out how to be of service to others. The list is long. 

I think curiosity is whatever 'sparks' you. It's what keeps you motivated and what gives you the desire to keep going. Because each day is different, unlike the one before, even though people who say they are bored say that all the days are alike. They aren't. Bored people are missing the opportunities that each day has to offer. There are a myriad of possibilities for things to do and experience in the course of a day. I think I learned this as a scientist; a scientist's job is to explore and to test the unknown. Rarely does a scientist start an experiment knowing what the outcome will be. Curiosity is part of being a scientist, and when I look back on my career, I am very glad that I chose to be a scientist. I may no longer work as one, but scientific curiosity is a huge part of who I am and is likely to remain so. 

I can truthfully say that I am rarely, if ever, bored. There is simply too much to do and experience in this life, and I know that I will never experience all of the things I want to experience. I have a list of books that I want to read that is a mile long. Ditto for films. There are travel destinations I will never get to. I don't live my life anxious about any of this. I look forward to exploring a new city or country. I know that each day is something to look forward to, and I plan ahead in a realistic way. My brain enjoys multitasking; it can savor each new day and plan for a trip or a social event or meet-up with friends at the same time that I am making breakfast. I look forward to the planning and the trying-out of new experiences, and they can be as simple as making a new type of bread. I am grateful for life in all of the ways it presents itself. 

Two really cool recent dreams

Two of my recent dreams have fascinated me, if only because I have never dreamed like this before. Of course I was interested in their interpretations. I have been interested in dream interpretations since the early 2000s, when my friend Gisele introduced me to the writings of Edgar Cayce, a clairvoyant who examined the hidden meanings in dreams. Normally I dismiss such things since I am a born sceptic. But there was something about Cayce that intrigued me enough to not dismiss him as a quack. 

My first dream took me back to college days and to a large party with many unknown people. My husband and I were there. As always in dreams, you are suddenly someplace else, and I ended up in a long hallway in one of the college buildings. I was in a seated (yoga-like) position, but not sitting on the ground. I was rather floating/gliding along the hallway. I remember looking at my hands, and there was light flashing from my fingers. The sense of amazement that I felt was tangible. I had no idea where I was headed, but the experience was very relaxing and not at all frightening. I searched online for an interpretation of this dream, and this is what was returned from the AI overview, which in and of itself is just as cool as the dream: 

AI Overview

Dreams about gliding down a hallway while light flashes from your fingers are rich with symbolism, often pointing to a surge in personal power, transition, and spiritual or creative awakening.

Here is what these powerful dream symbols typically mean:

🌟 1. Light Flashing from Your Fingers (Manifestation and Power)

In dream psychology, hands and fingers represent your ability to manipulate your reality, create, and take action.

• Creative Energy: Flashing light suggests you have a powerful spark of inspiration or a breakthrough idea waiting to be expressed.

• Personal Power: You are realizing your own agency. It symbolizes a feeling of being "electrified" or capable of directing energy, solving problems, or bringing clarity to a situation.

• Spiritual Awakening: Light emanating from the body often represents heightened intuition, consciousness, or a deep alignment with your higher self.

2. Gliding Along a Hallway (Transition and Flow)

Hallways are classic symbols of transition, moving from one phase of life, mindset, or project to another.

• Effortless Progress: Walking suggests labor, but gliding implies that you are moving through a transitional period with grace, ease, and a sense of detachment from standard limitations.

• Lack of Grounding: Sometimes, gliding or floating indicates you are relying heavily on your intellect, spirit, or imagination, and might need to bring your focus back down to earth.

• Exploration of the Subconscious: Passing doors in a hallway can represent exploring hidden memories, untapped talents, or future opportunities.

🔄 Putting It Together

Your dream suggests that you are navigating a period of transition with immense creative energy and confidence. You aren't just walking through this phase of life; you are moving through it smoothly, carrying a powerful force of insight or creation right at your fingertips. You have the tools and the clarity within you to light your own path forward.

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The second dream was equally fascinating. I was standing in a large open field and there was an atom with orbitals (shells) floating near my head, Using my index finger, I was able to touch the orbitals, thereby distorting the circles. They were fluid-like, so that touching them with my finger induced waviness. I remember the amazement at being able to do that. I studied physics and quantum chemistry for one semester each in college. This picture of an atom with orbitals is about what I remember from both courses. It's safe to say that I do not understand either field. 

The AI overview of this dream was quite intriguing. This was the answer I got:. 

That is a fascinating and deeply visual dream! Dreaming about using your finger to distort atomic orbitals blends the subatomic world of quantum mechanics with a powerful sense of personal touch and manipulation.

In physics, atomic orbitals—like the sphere of an \(s\) orbital or the figure-eight of a \(p\) orbital—are not solid objects. They are mathematical probability clouds showing where an electron is likely to be.

Here is what your subconscious might be playing with in a dream like this:

🔬 The Symbolism of the Dream

• Bending Reality: Orbitals represent the fundamental building blocks of matter. Distorting them with a single finger suggests a subconscious desire for extreme control, influence, or creativity over your environment or a complex situation in your waking life.

• Making the Invisible Visible: Quantum mechanics is famously abstract and impossible to see with the naked eye. Your dream brought the microscopic world into the macroscopic realm, meaning you might be trying to grasp, visualize, or solve a highly abstract problem right now.

• The "Observer Effect" Made Literal: In quantum physics, the act of observing or interacting with a system changes its state. Your dream took this concept literally—your physical touch directly warped the quantum state of the atom.

🌌 Visualizing the Distortion

If you were to actually warp an orbital, you would be changing the energy states of the electrons. In a macro-world visualization, it might look like pulling and stretching a glowing, fluid-like cloud of neon light, forcing the electron probabilities to bunch up where your finger pushes, creating beautiful, irregular geometric ripples.

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So there you have it--two equally fascinating dreams with symbolism that is entirely new to me. Neither dream was unpleasant, rather, both intrigued me and made me curious about what they could mean. Of course, they could just reflect the abstractness of the workings of the mind, but in any case, I'd love to dream more about being able to glide along a hallway, to fly of my own accord (I've had dreams that I could fly since I was a child), and to change the course of direction with a single touch. Almost like magic. 

Well-said

I couldn't have said this better myself.......

 

Self-absorbed people

Apropos my last post, I got to thinking about people who are very wrapped up in themselves, totally self-absorbed (narcissistic), oblivious really to the goings-on in others' lives. These are the kinds of people who rarely ask you how your day went, how your trip abroad was, what you think about this or that. They listen only superficially to what you have to say. And they are rarely able to show any sort of gratitude for a gift, advice, or moral support. They react casually to most things, dismissive almost. When you are together with them, you feel unimportant and excluded at the end of an evening together. Obviously these are not good friends or family members and it would be a mistake to think of them in that way. Mostly you can choose not to deal with them or to avoid them. But not always, for example, work situations where such people are your leaders and/or colleagues. 

These people don't understand the meaning of generosity of spirit, of warmth, of kindness, or of civility. They don't understand themselves and their own needs, because if they did, they'd be warmer and kinder because they would want to be treated with warmth and kindness. Some of these kinds of people are just plain stupid; they lack the self-introspection that would allow them to see their own shortcomings. They're not interested in changing or acquiring an introspective spirit. These are people one can choose to avoid in personal and social situations; it's more difficult in work-related situations. 

Choose wisely

The FB page Buddhism has suddenly appeared in my feed. Normally I don't pay much attention to extraneous sites, but this one caught my eye because it feels 'real'. Or at least it presents truthful content to which I can relate. I especially like any content that advises you to walk away from toxic situations and/or people. Always a good reminder. There's no changing them and it's best to care about yourself in the sense of keeping your sanity and moral clarity. Someone asked me recently if you always choose to walk away from such situations or people, if that will lead to not caring about them at all. I answer no. You can always make the decision to care about toxic people, but you do not need to subject yourself to their toxicity. You can wish them well and go on about your own life, unencumbered by their negativity. And by negativity, I mean extreme negativity, the kind that demoralizes and immobilizes you. That type of negativity is soul-crushing and ultimately life-crushing. 

 

The top 1% and wealth

Another good one from my favorite cartoonist. 

Food for thought.......

Why is it this way, and how did it get this way?

Visiting the Ramme Fjordhotel

Our autumn trip this year took us to the Ramme Fjordhotel in Hvitsen, about a forty-minute drive from Oslo (Ramme Kulturdestinasjon og Fjordhotell | Unike Hoteller Hvitsten). Hvitsten is a small coastal village located on the Oslo fjord. We arrived mid-afternoon on a Friday and left around noontime on Sunday, so we had ample time to explore the grounds, which include a beautiful Baroque-style garden (Havlystparken), cafe and giftshop/farm shop that sells eggs and seasonal vegetables, restaurant/bar, and Edvard Munch's villa down by the water. The latter is a short walk from the hotel. As luck would have it, we had lovely weather the weekend we were there, conducive to walking around and exploring. 

What impressed me most was the garden; it was one of the reasons I wanted to visit Ramme Fjordhotell. It was dotted here and there with intriguing sculptures, ponds and fountains, and lovely arrangements of flowers and trees. There was also a vegetable garden that had an entire patch devoted to the cultivation of asparagus. I finally got to see what full-grown asparagus plants look like (I've planted three in my own garden). They grow quite tall and feathery, and they spread out. I can't wait until mine look like the ones I saw in the Havlystparken. We've decided to visit the garden again in the spring when the many rhododendrons are blooming. 

Some photos from the Havlystparken:

asparagus patch

   

Photos from my September NY trip

 

Display in front of DeCicco and Sons in Tarrytown NY

Tarrytown lighthouse

harbor in Kingston NY

Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge

Esopus Meadows lighthouse 

the Culinary Institute of America (CIA)

Burrito

Manhattan skyline at night

Statue of Liberty

statue near the Warwick Hotel 

another statue near the Warwick Hotel

Hertz rental and PlatePass--not a good experience

I normally rent a car via Hertz when I am in New York. For one thing, it's easy to pick up and drop off the rental car at the rental office in North White Plains. The office is located right across the street from the Harlem Line train station. I've been renting a car at this office for many years now, after I decided to stop picking up and dropping off the car at Newark airport. It became too stressful to drive from and to the airport and stressful to find the drop-off location at the airport. 

My rental experience this time around was not completely problem-free as you'll soon see. A few days before I was to travel, I was informed in an email to pick up the car at the Westchester County Airport rather than the North White Plains office due to Labor Day (September 7), which meant that the North White Plains office would be closed for the holiday. This was fine except that I had to first take a train to White Plains and then take a cab to the Westchester County airport instead of just getting off a train at North White Plains and walking across the street to the rental office. This was an extra incurred cost of approximately $30. The service agent at the airport was friendly enough. I picked up the car in the parking lot and drove out, only to notice that the gas tank was 3/4 full, not full. I was already on the road by then, so I pulled over and took a photo of the gas tank indicator on the dashboard. I had already paid $67.46 for the Fuel Purchase option. When I returned the car on September 21 and talked to the agent at the North White Plains office about this, she told me to take it up with Billing. She was not very helpful. My definition of good service would have been that she could have deducted the price of ¼ of a tank of gas right then and there. But no.

The rental price for the car for two weeks, booked through Booking.com, was very reasonable. But lo and behold if I didn’t get a bill via an September 25th email for $475.86. This was the charge for using ‘Plate Pass’. This was the email message I received: 

Hertz utilizes a service called PlatePass which allows its customers to use cashless lanes or all- electronic tollways without using a personal transponder or paying the toll authority directly. Our records indicate you declined the PlatePass All-Inclusive tolling option at the start of your rental, but during your rental you activated the transponder device affixed to the car windshield and incurred tolls. As a result, you owe the PlatePass All-Inclusive rate as applicable to your rental period. With PlatePass All-Inclusive, you will not be charged tolls and no additional charges will apply if new tolls are received from toll authorities relating to this rental agreement. 

As far as I can remember, the Plate Pass was pulled out once during my two-week rental to pay for the toll going over the Tappan Zee Bridge, by a passenger in my car. Do you mean to tell me that I am to pay $475.86 for using the transponder once? Is this company insane? This is highway robbery and I am planning to report Hertz to the Better Business Bureau. Of course I will gladly pay all the tolls incurred during my two-week rental, but I am hoping that Booking.com will take this up with Hertz to get this charge dismissed. This is the craziest and greediest behavior I have ever experienced--pure unadulterated ripoff. The sad thing is that I have been renting via Hertz for many years. This is the first time that I have had problems with them or experienced poor customer service. It’s very unfortunate and does not bode well for future rentals with this company.