The last weeks of this decade

Had a lovely brunch today. It was a very belated birthday brunch with a dear friend. I hadn't seen her in a while, and it was a joy to reconnect. We exchanged perspectives and wisdom, and I came away as ever with her, feeling refreshed and uplifted. Those people are important in life.

Then it was time to see another friend, an older lady of much joy and I suspect even more wisdom. We had a little heart to heart today, and the effect was such that I feel blessed to have two such women in my life. A good gal pack is hard to gather, but I feel the start of one beginning to form.

On the outside of life (In my head)

I was always on the outside of the family. Told that people would hate me and/or would never care about me. So this is how I feel about people in general. Unless they show an obscene amount of interest, I will periodically convince myself that they don’t care about me and I don’t matter to anyone. 

Even though I know it’s not true.

I'm with her. Here's why we still need the electoral college

Hilary won the popular vote. That's a small relief to me. I'm still horrified. Like many others I initially jumped to the conclusion of racism and bigotry, jingoism and self interest. But I came across and article that helped me understand their mindset better. It also helped me think better of the people who voted for a candidate that I despise. It gave me some hope that maybe it was in spite of his moral deficiencies, not because of them. How Half Of America Lost Its F**king Mind
Please read it. It does not justify the moral atrocities of Trump, but it does help understand why, to many people, that morality comes second.

However justified they are in being frustrated with the status Quo (I am too, but for different reasons), they cannot defend the moral standing of Donald Trump, their chosen leader. By the standards of reasonable people, it cannot be done. They instead try argue that Donald Trump hasn't said many horrifying things, and threatened the well being of enormous portions of our population. So instead they try to bend facts. It's not that bad, liberal over-sensitivity etc(He didn't say that), (it's normal, all guys do that), (and discredit accusers) etc etc. It's infuriating to argue with people who won't acknowledge when their point has been lost, or who claim that there's no evidence, despite the fact that the whole world has seen and been shocked by the evidence.


To myself and many others it seems blindingly obvious that more votes should equal a win. Or so I thought so for quite some time.
Then I read this 
However, I do think the process needs reform. Republicans have control over district lines and as such have the advantage of manipulating electoral district lines. 

(full article)

There's no point in documenting here all of groups he has degraded and vilified. It's well covered. You know it, I know it. There's no point denying it.
I might post relevant articles if I come across them.

Some of his supporters and unquestionably racists, mysogenists, and the rest of the "basket of deplorables". But most of them are simply people with other priorities. The terrifying this is how much of the soul of this nation they are willing to sacrifice to get their No.1 priority.

So both camps have very valid points. Perhaps now's a good time to come together and try to make the system more fair. What do you think?

It's time we sorted out electorial issues once and for all. Give the power to set and maintain fairness to a non elected entity that is (somehow? suggestions?) non partisan.

The Shock of 2016

I was woken at 2.30 am this morning. "He won" my fiance told me. I couldn't believe it. I felt sick.
This isn't the country I thought it was. This is a country of xenophobia and sexism. Where the most qualified candidate in history lost to a man with no experience, who has openly admitted to sexual assault among other offenses.
I don't feel comfortable calling America home anymore. I want out. But while I have a back-up country, my fiance is stuck here. So for now, I am too.

The Doomsday Election

Up until this cycle I never really paid attention to politics. I was of the opinion that they’re all untrustworthy, slimy, corrupt degenerates.

This time round, like many other people from my generation, the depths that the election has sunk to has forced me to sit up and pay attention. I tried to ignore it. But I can no longer excuse my inattention with the line that they’re all the same. They clearly aren’t.

Like probably everyone else in existence, I’m sick of hearing about it. Sick of the one-sided way the news stories are written.

Half the facts does no-one any good. So I’m not going to argue for one or the other. If you haven’t made up your mind by now, you don’t possess the decisiveness necessary to vote.

But if you do have a leaning, get out and vote. This election will be a major turning point in what sort of country the United States will be in the future.

Have your say.