sometimes you have to do more than vote and Bitch....

 so i hit a rally.  usually i seem to be working on the days of these rally's.  today i was off.  also Portugal the Man was playing there. they have AK connections and kindly returned north to show support.  our new Governor/trump Jr put across a bill to totally gut the budget. the fools are upset because their pfd was cut by the last Governor and this guy promised them a make up check...this seemingly will come at a huge cost to programs and home owners.  our taxes are expected to rise precipitously. 

 currently a portion of the state legislature that should be voting to veto the Governors Veto has refused to show up to the meeting. the State University budget would be slashed by over 40%...cuts everywhere...unless you are in oil/gas or mining.  them we pay to stay here.  it's time to cut their profits taken at our citizenry expense. 

 GOP members don't seem to realize that we have money it's just how we choose to allocate it.  they do not wish any to go to their fellow citizens..the same that vote to not help their fellow citizens out are generally more than willing to take from the government...but they deserve it and have earned it, but those other people don't seems to be the attitude.  they are voting against themselves and their families.  they have been taken in by the GOP's line of crap and conspiracy theories...hook, line and sink us all.

 the rally was well attended.  calm, civil..in truth nothing will change until these events turn more large and a bit more on the angry side.  which they will one day when the cult of trump portion of the citizenry wakes up to the fact that the emperor has no clothes and they have been duped.  they have not woken up to that yet. 

 in life we have to choose to be on the right side of history.  the side that is choosing greed and corporations over the protections of land and their fellow citizens is not on the right side of this.  the side that is willing to look the other way as children are taken from their parents arms at the border, or die in their parents arms or die while in our detention centers under less than adequate conditions...you are on the wrong side of history. 

 one member of Portugal the Man wore this kuspuk that had been made for him.  he plans to wear it on tour as well.  the faces are missing or killed women in the native community.  nobody battles for their souls...we should.  wasn't it a preacher long, long ago who encouraged others to take care of the least of those among them.  who insisted that we should be looking out for those who need help the most.  that preacher was Jesus. 

 sometimes voting and bitching really isn't enough.  i can do more, we can all do more.  it really gets pretty depressing out there though.  it all seems pointless, it feels like none of them are listening.  sadly, in many ways the GOP is going to have to die on this hill they have created.  they are going to have to see that they have lost their way by following this corrupt and bankrupt soul to hell.  even more sadly, they seem to be slow learners and they will drag us all down with them. 

 Perot died today, he tried to push for dramatic changes in government by going the third party route and failed...trump figured out he could manipulate the GOP. they were desperate for their agenda.  all the iitoo really cares about is himself.  he's willing to say what they want to hear and do a few things for them if it means he can line his pockets and make the connections he desires to set himself up for after he's no longer in office.

 this was my sign . i was happy to see that i wasn't the only one who used office material for my sign...mine was made from a file folder. 

 the rest are at the hatchery. i really enjoyed watching the sea lions feed.

 they would grab a fish and then just slam it against the surface of the water, breaking it up. then they'd munch on the parts they wanted and the gulls swooped in for what they could get away with.

 it happened over and over.

 i have a line of mosquito bites along my hair line.  not sure when the bugs got me...in my sleep last night or when i was out in the yard attempting to read once it had finally began to cool off. 

 today there was a light breeze. i braved the university lake for a walk with the dogs. i have been in stay up late mode this stretch off, it happens.

 in other news today, Epstein who got a sweet heart behind closed doors, illegal deal with Acosta, now a cabinet member, is back in jail as NY has filed the same charges. 

 the truth is, if he had been doing these same acts with underage boys rather than underage girls he would never have gotten a back room deal.  i suspect some cash exchanged hands.  our system is so corrupt. money is ruining our nation. greed destroys people.....

 he was good friends with the iitoo, he won't condemn the guy really just says he feels badly for Acosta...Epstein, he'll just pretend he doesn't know him at all and his base will just fall in line. 

 it's baffling really. 

 so many fish

 love all the fireweed everywhere.  no pictures from the walk today. i could hear them setting up the stage and doing sound checks.  the lake is really close to where the rally was held.

 slamming fish.

 i took a benedryl to see if it would help with all the bites.  so far it's only made me sleepy.

 we are supposed to cool off a bit and i think i even see possible rain coming soon.  we can hope.

 the birds are at the ready

 the originators of the constitution did not include everyone.  it was written to benefit landowners who were white.  at the time women couldn't own land and neither could blacks.  when people want to make America Great again...what many of them really mean is they want to go back to the old days more.  going back wards....who does going backwards help?

 a resurgence of the battle about possible reparations for those who's relatives were slaves.  slaves did more than their share in creating this nation.  being held back has impacted many generations.  the policies are still being created with the intent of decreasing the power of black and brown folks during elections.  McConnell tried to create some false narrative that he and Obama are the same in that they both have relatives that were slave owners. it's a crazy stretch....but McConnell likes to pretend that history is far behind us.  sadly, it is not.  I'm not sure how reparations would work out, but we did find a way to grant reparations to others.  our nation likes to just brush the nasty history under the rug and pretend we never did anything immoral.  we did. 

 no idea how you balance out the playing field, but i suspect the first start is at least acknowledging that the playing field is not balanced to begin with.  admitting that a whole segment of our population were held back and held down.  as was said about women...they do not ask for more than their share, they only ask to be equal, to have the boot taken off their necks or something like that.  this will never be fully accomplished, for sure not in my lifetime.  you get no where if you do not even try or don't admit that the inequity exists.

 if the white guy is the sea lion in here, the women are the gulls just trying to get what they can. those who came from slavery are the salmon....beaten down.  some will make it through, sure, but many will not. they will struggle all their lives and still they will be grabbed and slammed down.

 lynchings went on well after the slaves were freed.  scare tactics by the kkk were very effective.  laws that ensured many blacks landed in prison, racial profiling. we have done a lot to create the situation. it's brought harm to the entire nation.  admitting and doing what needs to be done to move forward are really our only way to move past the damage done generations ago and currently.

 blood on the water...

 those salmon have a pretty rough life cycle. 

 this is not looking very easy either

 gull gets the last of it.  like bears, it seems that the sea lions take their favorite bits and leave the rest behind.

 there are the other sea lions chilling until they opt to get snag more fish. 

 we had three in the water feeding while we were there.

 wild flowers blooming near the waterfall.

 always so beautiful with the wildflowers this time of year.

 blue bells

 some sort of saxifrage?  and fireweed below as well.

 hopefully i am ready to crash after this.  the meds are kicking in.  figured I'd blog and then crash.  no point sitting in bed tossing and turning.  get something done

 not that this is really productive.  mostly it just clears my head.  there are always things rushing through my head, writing it all out gets it out of my head. 

 pups at the waterfall.

 i shall turn in...sleep well. 

thankful for:  A.  two basically well behaved dogs who are becoming very easy to travel with  B.  that we may get a break in heat soon  C.  the many out there who are willing to stand up...resist kind fellows