It's been a good while since I've let loose the dogs of a good rant, so allow me to expand the parenthesis of my mind into what is hopefully a cogent stream of whatever.

Both political parties aren't worth the time or effort to flush them down the toilet.

They do not represent We the People.

We just celebrated the 250th anniversary of this country that fought a war because of a repressive governance and a lack of representation, and here we are 250 years later, facing the same unflushable situation.

We have no voice, we aren't being heard above the din of propaganda. And, oh man, is that propaganda thick. Like Custer at Greasy Grass (Little Bighorn) we are surrounded by it. And it's all leading in one direction, total sheepish acquiescence to the iron fist.

I spent 10 months, this past year, undergoing chemo and radiation therapy in my battle against cancer. It was the lowest point of my life. But I didn't let it break my spirit.

I made the decision early on that I would concentrate on the task at hand and avoid the depression that can so very easily set in under those conditions. The struggle ahead was as much of a battle with the disease that was attacking my body as it was a battle with the gloom and doom that could attack my mind if I allowed it. I couldn't control the disease but I could control my spirit. And it was that spirit that drove my will to not lose hope in that fight for my life.

To beat the depression within, I had to beat the depression without. I did this mostly by limiting my time on that great instrument of despair, the internet. I'd wake up in the morning, take a quick look at the news headlines and then find other ways to occupy my time. I diligently researched everything I could find about the malady I was facing. I talked with old friends and family on the phone. I forced myself to eat as much as I could. I spent a lot of time watching the birds at the birdfeeder. I did a lot of looking out the window in general, and contemplating. I practiced my dobro to keep my fingers nimble, stiffness being a side affect from the chemo. I slept, oh boy, did I sleep. But most of all I would stretch out on the recliner and watch my rather large collection of old documentaries, TV shows and old movies, mostly old westerns, one after another. It was cathartic watching the good guys beat the bad guys, and emblematic of my struggle to beat the cancer within.

War is nothing new, humans have used violent conflict to settle differences since the advent of bludgeons made from rocks and sticks. War, it's what we are, it's what we do. How much more evidence needs to be provided to prove that point? Stating mankind as civilized has been proven, time and time again, to be empty rhetoric. Are we really that far removed from the animal kingdom? Evidently not.

Has there ever been peace without first fighting a war? The concept of peace would be an abstract without the concept of war.

Peace works until cooperation breaks down and a tribe covets something that a neighboring tribe possesses. For early man it was arable land, now it's mostly for resources. That is the essence of empire and conquest.

It's a sad testament to our species, but there it is.

Democracy in the West is withering on the vine. European political parties are jailing their opponents and banning opposition parties from elections. How soon will that happen here in the US?

Democrats put up candidates that no one voted for. Republicans fight to restrict voting rights. Does that even matter when we essentially have a uni-party anyway?

Both sides champion restricting free speech.

Government corruption is rampant and ubiquitous.

The law is used as a weapon. Does anyone really think that the Republicans wont use the same lawfare tactics to stall the function of government against the Democrats when they regain power? If so, then what good is democracy?

If democracy is on life support, what comes after?

Definition

Short selling is a trading strategy in which a trader aims to profit from a decline in a security's price by borrowing shares and selling them, hoping the stock price will then fall, enabling them to purchase the shares back for less money.

Source

In the simple form shorting the stock market is tantamount to betting against it.

I'm going to try to be as unbiased as possible in this opinion piece.

Can you believe this shit? What a show.

The West has lost its Enlightened minds. Most of Europe is turning away from free speech, freedom of the press, and individual rights and is goose stepping towards totalitarianism. Their blood lust is palpable, their leaders insane, as they turn their backs on opposition parties and free elections, all in the name of holy democracy.

The US is headed in the same direction, albeit a bit slower in pace. I had thought that we had seen peak craziness in the last administration, but we've only got one foot on the step of the crazy train and still haven't boarded yet. The divisions so carefully crafted have become yet wider and deeper. We the People, compartmentalized and fenced into smaller and smaller factions, grow further apart with each division, are much easier controlled that way.

Free speech and freedom of the press are under assault and the Constitution is hanging on by a thread, one tragic event away from obsolescence. The balance of powers are being tested in a power struggle that is rushing headlong towards a constitutional crisis.

The constitutional principles of separation of powers and a co-equal tripartite government are out of balance. The president has become too powerful. Congress has abrogated too much of its power to the executive branch. The president can unilaterally declare war and essentially allocate funding by edict (executive orders). Presidents can now ignore Supreme Court decisions with no consequence. It seems like each subsequent president grabs more power and then flaunts that power in the face of the people along with blatant in-your-face corruption, which now seems the norm.

As I was sitting at my desktop last night, wondering what I'd write about, I slipped into a daydream of memories. Memories of my youth.

I was swept back to my early childhood in the mid to late fifties, and I soon noticed I was viewing my memories in black and white. That seemed odd, but not really, having grown up in the era of black and white TV. What an idyllic world that was. Time was slow. There was less chaos, well, less chaos in my young mischievous mind anyway. Things were so much simpler. I'm sure many here can relate.

I probably spent a good five minutes in memory land.

It's strange the way a person can drift back in time, like a lucid dream, like a movie.