the GOP is causing me brain spasms...

 dragged my friend KR down to Oceanview Bluff Park.  okay, i didn't need to drag her, she came willingly.  i believe she was happy she made the trek.  we were gifted with some beautiful scenery...the pups had a great day as well.

 this was how it started.  not bad.  i love when sunshine beams in from the heavens.  of course, there are some folks in DC that i would be thrilled if the beams would fall on them and beam them somewhere far, far away.  a galaxy far, far away even.

 but alas, the political hell fire continues.  those idiots don't even know what they have passed.  I'm sure a few of them do, but the majority of them just knew enough to promise their votes.  I'm sure many are happy that the individual mandate is ended.  of course, that will mean less healthy folks in the pool so increased cost to all that remain and that millions will no longer be covered. 

 they have opted to not continue CHIP which will mean hundreds of thousands of kids, many with special needs and cancer will lose their benefits.  so a few hundred die, i guess that means more money for the rest of us..that is the scrooge way of thinking...also the GOP way of thinking.  we can spend trillions on a wall or bombs but God forbid we help our fellow citizens not go into bankruptcy because their child gets cancer or is born with needs.

 ANWR is now to be opened to drilling.  odd to me as with a Republican house/senate and POTUS why would you need to sneak this into a bill about taxes, why wouldn't you just be able to pass a bill about it. 

 oh and Puerto Rico...they got screwed as well.  they will now be considered foreign?  they will be taxed heavily...many, and i mean many still do not have power and may not have power until well into next summer.  this administration has failed miserably in this.  while they were all gloating of this one success today, the failures are mounting.

 oh and the Rus investigation.  faux news and the GOP are working very hard to discredit Mueller and his team.  why would they need to work so hard to do this? what is it they do not want us to know? what is in those tax returns oh iitoo?  if there is nothing to see there then an investigation will turn up nothing.  now we are finding the GOP folks have opened some sort of secret investigation into Mueller and the FBI.  they are sure acting like they have much to hide.  if there is nothing to see, then let this investigation go forward.  the GOP went on and on and on and on with investigations of Hillary with no outcome...no secret committees were created to destroy those in the FBI doing their jobs?  perhaps they knew it would run it's course and nothing would be found.  McCartheism much?

 if it's a nothing burger it will be found to be a nothing burger, but if they knew it was a nothing burger they would not be fighting so hard to prevent the truth from coming forward.  yes, a couple who were in the FBI exchanged a few text messages and guess what, they were removed from the investigation.  Mueller is a Republican...i would trust him far and beyond the likes of the iitoo and his band of idiots.  let him investigate and if he deems nothing happened then i will move on.

 aren't these puppies cute?

 if the iitoo signs this bill before the New Year then it begins on Jan 1...Chaos will again be the way life is in these United States.  the iitoo own people call him and idiot and a moron.  his own people, and yet, the people who have stuck with him are like glue. 

 had  a few packages here when i got home.  quick turn around and i headed to meet a friend for dinner.  felt bad as at some point i felt like my brain had a little spasm.  i think i zoned out as i assessed myself.  nope, no headache, nope, no weakness, no numbness, no tingling, speech clear.  brain working . it was super short and in the end i figured it was probably the muscles on top of my head spasming.

 when you are in medicine you tend to get paranoid.  always expecting it's the worst thing you have ever seen.  on the flip side of that as a person in medicine you tend to not do anything about it. paranoia without action. 

 lawsuits will ensue and  ANWR won't actually open for years for drilling.  what is comical to me as well...the large oil corporations know global warming is happening. they hired scientists to prove it wasn't to slow the inevitable, but they also are preparing for the warming.  they convinced so many along with Faux news and the GOP but they still know it's happening. there were comments saying there is nothing up there but bogs and bugs.  idiots...as the permafrost melts a great deal of gases are released.  massive stores of carbon dioxide and methane can be released. 

 organic material that thaws is then more easily transported to creeks/rivers and then into the Arctic ocean.  a study over 30 years of the Yukon River up here showed increases in calcium, magnesium and sulfate.  how or if these changes will impact things needs more research.  this current administration and the GOP are anti science. 

 this current administration and the GOP and faux news are anti facts as well.  that seems quite clear.  they just repeat the lies over and over until those following start to say, well maybe that is true.

 apparently there is new crap about Las Vegas shooting.  the GOP conspiracy theorists feel this was some blot to assassinate some Saudi dude, can't recall the convoluted details. it was ridiculous.  one comment was that they didn't believe the idea of one shooter and that this made more sense since he believed there was shooting from above and on the ground.  is this some attempt by the NRA to save bump stocks?  conspiracies need at least a thread of truth to be legit...the GOP voices just make up total crap and sell it...and people are buying it.  that is what scares the hell out of me, they eat it up, but give them facts, science, proof...they just scream fake news. 

 liked this one of KR.

 it was a nice low tide so we were able to walk out quite far.  I'm sure we could have walked further...but it can get a bit dicey as the tides come in super fast here when they do come in.  we went a safe distance and enjoyed hopping around the ice bergs.

 the puppies demonstrate ice berg hopping

 the beach never looks the same...

 here is another cool shot of KR. 

 i was having fun with the ice bergs and the sunset. 

 Track Palin....second arrest in a few years for domestic assault.  i think it was his girlfriend this time it was his father.  his dad armed himself and waited for his drunk and drugged son...nice...such an upstanding family with strong family values.  sounds like they got into a scuffle that ended with the dad bleeding and then the cops arrived as two cars were leaving the house, ready for a chase. 

 the people of Alaska fought hard to prevent the pebble mine from coming into Bristol Bay.  fears are for the fishing industry there.  of course, the iitoo appointed someone to the EPA who doesn't give a crap about what they pollute and so now despite all the protesting for years against the mine, they have new lease to go for it.  corporations over the people.  that is how it is with this administration.  pollute and poison.  i won't support this, nobody should support this.  we need clean waters.  we all need clean water. 

 the UN wants to have some sort of emergency meeting with all members, something to do with iitoo announcement to accept Jerusalem as the capital.  everything he touches is a mess because he and those around him appear clueless about the history of these decisions and the possible implications of the things they say

 lets get to another iitoo mess.  judges who have absolutely zero experience of any kind related to being judges.  one who defended the KKK and another who referred to transgender children of proof of Satan?  the GOP is really aligning itself with some nuts...and still nobody speaks up, nobody seems to have the ability to stand up to the administration.  a pack of cowards!!

 cool ice formations...

 we just kept bouncing from ice berg to ice berg.

 oh...and the emails from the iitoo transition team...when you have an email that has .gov at the end, there is no privacy...they are totally legal to obtain. 

 the cod fisheries outside of Kodiak are dropping by great numbers...this is blamed on warmer waters.

 the sunlight is always cool on the dogs coats.

 they happily chased the tennis ball around. 

 got a few more local gifts delivered.  still a few more, but really, the business end of Christmas is behind me...I've settled in and have been enjoying the carols and lights. 

 i usually get a big popcorn tub for my neighbors, but that store closed down.  so that meant i got no popcorn either.  the Great Harvest bread store was nearby so that worked out.  i probably should take a few dog treats at least over to the newer neighbor on the other side of me.  good to keep in good with the neighbors. 

 when the crap happens, or a big quake, it will be neighbors and friends who are there to help out each other.

 one thing i have always liked about winter is how everyone is just a bit more dependent on each other.  we are all a bit more willing to help out each other, lives can depend on it. 

 apparently Mount Cleveland in the Aleutians erupted the other day. ash went up 20,000 feet.

 every day it seems, there are reports of warming.  Greenland's melting glaciers add 270 billion tons of ice and water to the ocean every year....270 billion tons...that is a lot of ice and water!!

 the Gwich'in Nation and the Inupiat cultures of Northern Alaska, many of whom reside in ANWR are not keen on these decisions being made in Washington...may be yet another battle with the Natives of our nation.  of course, this administration and the GOP would not be bothered to ask them how they felt about slipping the opening of ANWR into this rushed and haphazardly drawn up tax scam.   it was also noted by this resident of Kaktovik that our rep freak young has stated that 90% of revenues go back to state and Murkowski made a deal for 50% revenues going to feds to offset the trillion or so deficit the fiscally conservative, haha, GOP will add with this tax scam.

 aren't you happy I'm reading the papers again.  had to take a break.  look at all this cool light on my cool pups.

 I'll be back to work for 3 more nights. i have to do the RQI check off. hope that doesn't set my shoulder back. it's been doing well. last time i attempted CPR on those stiff dummies it really did hurt. I'll write it up if it hurts again.  that was right after i was injured.

 most of the ice on the beach gets churned up with the mud with all the huge tides.  so it was fun to find this pretty clear ice on the beach.  it was pretty high up in the grass.  must have been a fairly high tide recently.

 these grasses do get covered in water. can't go here at all in the summer. i suppose you could with waders or something at low tide. the bugs would probably eat at ya though.

 we headed back as the sun continued to set.  we were out at the peak of the low tide.  it can come in fast so once it changes it seems wise to make your way back to more solid ground. 

 when the sun starts dropping it drops super fast this time of year

 Happy Solstice, it is officially solstice....the shortest day.  we will have a lag time for a week then we will begin to gain back light.

 it is nice to walk and watch the sunset in the afternoon though i must admit.

 there were a few folks that we passed as we headed back. they looked cool in the sun

 going, going

 gone...well, rant is over.  brain has had no further spasms.  i will turn out the Christmas tree lights and head to bed i guess. 

grateful for:  A.  this blog so i can rant and vent and get stuff out of my head.  stress is best left on paper as it were.  B.  beautiful sunsets and ice packed beaches  C.  brainless TV..always soothing.  that and a little solitaire.