hear no evil, see no evil, believe no evil....

 

like it never happened.  so bizarre to me and maddening actually.  i just haven't been able to interact with anyone who insists on making false equivalency's and playing like this is once again the fault of others.  

at some point you just have to pick a side.  at some point there is just a bridge too far, a line in the sand that must not be crossed. the time for excuses is over. the time to continue to believe they are victims of some made up bull is over.  they aren't.  they have mostly led lives of privilege, we all have. we had a step up that others just didn't have.  

this isn't the same as BLM protests...any protest that turns riotous is not acceptable and anyone who engages in violence in conjunction with a protest should be punished to the full extent of the law...this was an attack on our Democracy by people who falsely believe they are protecting the Democracy. 

the crazy onion lady stated "we are here to storm the capital, it's a revolution" . this was an insurrection not just a peaceful protest turned violent. there is much proof out there that this wasn't just a peaceful protest gone bad....this was a planned attack on the Capitol building and its inhabitants with the expressed goal of preventing the peaceful transition of power.  

it just angers me.  it also disgusts me. i don't want to see this side of people who i care about. at some point you do have to put some space out there.  you just can't bear to hear the lies and excuses any more.

the instigator in chief has once again been impeached.  this time there were 10 GOP members who voted for the impeachment and 4 who were non-votes. there have been threats on any of their lives who go against trump...welcome to the club say many on the left who have been getting threats for years now...mostly because of bull conspiracies that make them out to be demons, monsters and criminals....

have to wonder if those in the the holding areas during the riots who refused to wear masks were doing so to protect themselves...would that be a sign to the invaders to salvage them if they did get inside? they really just seemed to jovial in the clips i saw refusing to don masks...like it was just a school fire drill....did they know something in advance?

time will tell.  the Capitol is apparently generally pretty secure and since Covid they have stopped all tours, private and public...yet, there were apparently noted to be several groups being taken through on Jan 5th. this was noted and questions asked....after what happened questions have been asked again with demands for investigations and answers. it seemed from the start that there had to have been help from the inside...i suspect we will know this over the next few weeks/months. 

that is a scary thought.  imagine how scary for those in the house and senate to know that it's possible that some among them are active participants and may be radicalized. 

i suspect Moscow Mitch is no fan of trump and now that he's got no further need for him he'd love to never have to deal with him again...the possibility of making it so trump can never run again must feel tempting. i suspect he knows more damming information will be coming out.  i mean...trump threw his own VP under the bus. those terrorists were screaming for Pence, they wanted to hang him. they demand absolute loyalty to trump.  that, in and of itself, should be enough for those who are rational to step back and examine this situation...but it still seems most of them remain loyal. still are playing victims, still blaming everything on others.

these crazy beautiful sunset shots are from yesterday at the Campbell Creek Estuary. i had first walked the dogs down to the beach at Kincaid and then headed over to the Estuary for the sunset.  

these were on the beach earlier. love the icicles. 

post vaccine....arm a bit sore but not as sore as first shot.  have had low grade fevers, off and on, along with chills and body aches.  felt better yesterday but still feel tired and have had a fuzzy brain, like post concussion. that continues. many have complained of headaches.  i do have a headache today but it doesn't seem worse than my usual baseline headache.

i am actually happy to have some symptoms as it makes be believe that the vaccine is in my body and doing it's thing. the highest temp i had was similar to last time 99.3F. 

it's cloudy out there again today.  probably overdid it with Ivy yesterday though she seems fine today and willing to get back out there.

always cracks me up that liberals are called libtards, commies, socialists and fascists at the same time. i think mostly, many of these people just take these terms and use them interchangeably because at base they do not understand them and just believe they are all bad things out to get them...the boogie man.  they hate antifa, which really stands for anti-fascist..... fascism tends to be far right and authoritarian. so antifa is anti this....but they are a militant group in most cases though there are those who are not. 

antifa is not the organized group that many on the right scream about...though the irony is that they seem to ignore the very established and organized white supremacy groups on their side. again, hear no evil, see no evil, believe no evil. somehow they can keep themselves free and clear of this rather large element of their party and it's values while blaming all on the left for being closely tied to the militant elements of the far smaller antifa and militant BLM groups. truth is they wouldn't have a hope of winning elections without the racists that inhabit their party.  they can't afford to alienate them so they pretend it's a lie so they can feel good about themselves. 

trump and many in his inner circle were more open about the racist followers, which has filled that element with glee and empowered them over these last several years. 

antifa movements started in 1946 in response to German Nazism. clearly it's had a jump in interest since trump came on the scene celebrating a more racist agenda. again, i am not for violence on either side.  i do not support antifa but i do understand that many have felt the need to combat a heavily armed white supremacy presence in our nation.  this became more clear on Jan 6 as many of those in attendance were clearly in the white supremacy camp.  

they are seemingly able to recruit otherwise non-violent far right folks through sites like qanon and parler.  many are incensed that limits have been put on their "freedom of speech".  freedom of speech in our nation is not absolute....our education system has failed to teach even the most basic of our governments beliefs.  time for loads of cute commercials about how our government runs for those who would rather be spoon fed things off the internet than read themselves...the truth is that this is how Christianity is working in many cases these days as well. 

i'd suggest that many get off the internet and actual read the bible and the constitution...they may be shocked. 

many on the right only want freedoms restricted on those who have different values than them.  they seem to want the rules applied to those who have different morals and values than them as well. clearly, if a black guy or a libtard was beating an officer with an american flag there would be a different response than silence and excuses.  i mean if a black guy kneels during the national anthem he gets death threats, but a white guy beats an officer with a flag...that's cool, it's all part of the bigger goal of taking back their country and stealing an election....that was legal and fair. this has been proven over and over.  trump failed in i think at least 60 court cases, including the supreme court. 

for those screaming for unity and that the impeachment will just cause further harm...really? unity may be helped if those on the right would A. stand up and accept the election results rather than storm the capitol and/or voting to not accept the electoral votes B. taking responsibility for the violence and the violent mob C. stop the constant conspiracy theories that have caused so much hatred and anger...that is a start anyway.

as one member stated, he refuses to be lectured on unity by members of congress who can't be bothered to certify the free and fair election results...i'm paraphrasing. 

love that they have a call about how rushed the impeachment was...it was actually being prepared as members lay in hiding during the attack, which seems like the perfect historical moment to be writing such a paper. these the same folks who rushed through a supreme court candidate just days after the death of RBG. 

older gentleman walking on the beach.  our beach is much different than the one i grew up in, but still it's always relaxing and filling to walk on the beach. 

Ivy does a lot more of this sitting on the trails now. she's a trooper and i suspect she will be very open to physical therapy post op.  very motivated!!  Tusker is a bit more wimpy when it comes to medical stuff. 

love the beach ice.  so fun, especially on a sunny day.

i also love how the sunsets reflect off the beach ice.

folks on the other side of the estuary...you have to park in a different place. i did find it once, but i like this side better. 

you don't get the same reflections on that side. you can bring the dogs though.  

i'd already walked mine yesterday though. 

feeling like taking the day off today.  brain is still feeling pretty foggy today. the dogs had a full day yesterday i think. 

can't believe it's already nearly 3.  i crashed last night. 

as more information comes out i think those who voted against the impeachment will pay the price, both politically and personally.  i just refuse to believe that there will never be the point where it doesn't become so obvious to everyone...but i have hoped for that for several years now.  hope is eternal they say.  

you have to decide which side of history you want to be on.  i do appreciate that the Dems have made sure and put these things in records...forced those on the right to make a public record of which side of history they chose. many of these same forced an impeachment of a lie about a blow job and now they can't bring themselve to see either of these impeachments as valid.  

once out of office, Putin may have little use for trump.  i do hope he does lose his post presidency perks like salary and secret service. he's already losing corporations and the trump brand is losing traction...they golfing community is abandoning him.  he's more pissed about these things than the insurrection and the calls to hang his VP. that is trump.  that is who he showed himself to be and those who refused to believe it will have to have their day of reckoning at some point. 

i'm a unicorn. 

the many views from the beach here...stunning really.

almost time for some tennis ball tossing and i'm getting hungry. 

couldn't eat much this morning.  i'm not a morning eater really.

attempting under ice berg icicle shots. 

hard to capture but fun to try.

the dogs are scheduled for pool time before Ivy's surgery.  will be great to get them all clean. need to get some stuff prepped for post op care. i think i ordered a little sling to help her walk right after...though as i said i suspect she will rise to the occasion.  

may need to buy another gate or two so i can limit movement in and out of house.

how long until i can open up a section of the yard for dog door use.  well, i guess i should eat and toss the tennis ball. 

thankful for A.  a seemingly healthy immune system.  B. potential for snow...the pee in the backyard needs a fresh coat.  looking bad out there.  C. the beach and the beautiful sunset.  nature keeps us grounded and fills our souls

dead frozen whales still stink...

 seemed a fitting headline for the post.  it's a truism. thinks that you do not always know living a day to day life...but something i am now experienced in and can share with you.  the dead whale remains down on the kincaid beach and it does indeed still contain a potent odor.  seems odd that it could still. it's entombed in ice bergs but some parts are still sticking out. 

 Monday walk.  just LS and i.  we booked it.  finished earlier than usual.  joined speedy at the coffee house.  i still got a chill though it was really actually nice out..in the teens.  attempted to chill on the couch for a few but still felt cold and Ivy and Tusker were not making relaxing easy so in the end i headed upstairs and got under the heated throw.  i crashed...guess i needed the sleep.

 below you can see the difficulty of chilling on the couch with Ivy.  it is funny.   she helps me limit my screen time.  she recognizes that those little screens divert attention from her and she will find a way to gain back that attention.  i must say it's really quite effective.  if you have kids with screen issues you may attempt this.  climb on top of them and then begin a play fight with another family member..in this case Tusker.

 clearly, we did not come close to wearing her out today...  i average 4 miles on my days off which means they do much, much more as they run all over the place.  still not enough.  the pool day was the last day i felt i really wore them out...that was 2 separate walks and 1 hour of swimming in the pool. 

 day looked a bit gloomy to start but it cleared out.  i had debated heading out somewhere to watch the sunset...but then the nap happened.  good bye sunset. 

 lots of news this weekend.  our government is really pretty insane at this time.  always amazing how one side thinks this administration is doing great and then the other thinks they totally bite.  I'm on the totally bite side, obviously.  I've never been good at  hiding my viewpoints on things.  it will get me killed if there is a civil war.  that mouth of mine...but still, I'd rather die saying my peace than hide as a coward.

 in this world you live in fear or you live in truth. your choice.  so far it's worked out pretty well for me.  conventional is not my way and I'm OK with that.  i see the negative impacts of living in fear.  it's not pretty and it's actually pretty sad to see folks who never get out of situations that bring them misery because they live in fear.

 the dead whale can be seen in these two pictures. it's a humpback.  i suspect the spring bears will make a feast of this when the thaw happens or a big spring storm will carry it away.

 those are ribs.

 the rest are out at the Campbell Creek Estuary. 

 did make it for that sunset. every day i have such high ambitions and then...well, i walk and nap.  i did read some too so i guess that is an acceptable way to waste time. 

 watched a good documentary last night. "unrest" i think that was it.  it was about severe cases of Chronic Fatigue.  i would have to say i have often been of the mind as well that perhaps some of this is in their head.  clearly, i have been wrong.  there are some really suffering. i have a niece that got this in her teens. my apologies, i never really gave it much thought. i think that is easy to do because these are not people who end up in the ER's over this. 

 this a disease of spectrum.  some will resolve themselves over time.  seems they all start with a flu like event.  some just never recover from it.  they have good days or bad days.  they often have sensitivities to light or sounds.  i suspect because you tend to see them on their good days it's easy to think that it's not a big deal.  research money does not come to them.  our system is terrible as far as this goes.  if there is not possibility of great monetary return there is no incentive for  companies to research meds.  at this time i suspect research for diseased through the government will be slashed.

 the GOP of current does not show much interest in helping their fellow man.

 the government shut down did end today and that ended with the CHiP being refunded for another 6 years i guess.  sadly, the GOP has held this hostage...should have been taken care of long ago but they opted to use it as a bartering chip.  the Dems opted to take this one on this shutdown and work on immigration issues over the next 3 weeks...before the next shutdown showdown.

 i was told i was misinformed...i can take it.  i wasn't.  i am aware of the actual vote tally for the shutdown and I'm aware the potus doesn't actually vote...these things are not as simple as a numbers game...much more involved.  even the GOP were frustratingly mentioning that they really can't tell what the iitoo wants....it changes.  i know at least one felt that miller was playing some cards..of course, they are all learning to use media to get to iitoo. he watches a lot of TV and if it sounds like any of those around him are getting the air time above him or if it appears they are running the show...well lets just say it gets easier to manipulate the idiot.

 clearly, his moods and desires change moment to moment and day to day.  his surrogates just do their best to cover their tracks.  they pretend the iitoo is competent and put on the big show for him on the media as well.  the truth is the emperor has no clothes and nobody wants to tell him.

 the GOP couldn't get enough votes to keep the government open..they couldn't even get their own votes...with some negotiation they may have done the deal since there were moderate Dems who did cross over, but with out the help of their commander in chief they do their best i guess.  he wanted to be off in Fl celebrating his one year.  instead he stayed in DC tweeting.

 right after the vote to shut down the Dems got up 3 x.  once to stop the shutdown for another 24 hours, another got up to stop the shutdown until Monday and a third got up to request assurance that the military would be paid and that military death payments would not be held up due to the government shutdown.  the turtle objected to all three.  funny that the second idiot in command was speaking to military abroad trying to blame the dems and stating they would not bend on their immigration because of this...

 the really odd thing was that all around him the military was very multi-colored. i suspect many of them were first or second generation immigrants, perhaps even a dreamer or two.  you do not have to be a citizen to serve. best to really look at your audience before giving the rally speech.  this was not a group of citizens from a iitoo rally.  looked pretty uncomfortable to me for many in the group.

 loved all the bantering about who was winning with the shut down...i agree no party wins in a shutdown.  i don't see the dems have many other choices but to drag it out would tend to make it worse for everyone.  those clips of Mitch saying "i object" will no doubt be played repeatedly in campaigns across the state...him objecting to continuing the payments for military during the shutdown, no matter how short it turned out to be. they kind of boxed him in on that one.  sucker!

 i know how they feel though.  i am not overly competitive but i do love getting a good shot in even if i never win a game. 

 this administration continues with it's petty, childish ways...they changed the phone message for the white house. it goes on about how they are shut down because of Dems.  so stupid.  they all play a role in every shut down and the iitoo was quoted repeatedly during the 2013 shut down as saying it always is the fault of the POTUS as they are the leader and he would be there as a leader making sure it didn't happen if he was potus...right...of course, his followers simply say, well that was a different situation.  he gets a pass on absolutely everything..it's amazing, but that is what happens when you lead a cult.  everyone agrees with you and all the women have sex with you.

 one woman that apparently had sex with the iitoo got a pay off to keep quiet right before election i think it was.  a porn star.  the affair was right after his last child was born while married to his third wife...i always find men who would screw around at this time to be a special kind of disgusting.  yes, i realize that he probably screwed around with Melania on his second wife. i know she had to have known what she was getting into, but still to screw around when a woman is carrying your child or just had your child seems even more gross and contemptible.   she chooses to stay with him.  people make those choices for themselves.  everyone screamed about hrc staying with bill.  I'd like to think i would book but love and all that is never predictable.  i don't care if you are smart, dumb, rich, poor, pretty or not...these cases are never predictable.  tough to judge what anyone does in the face of it all. feel bad for anyone in this position...especially if you are in a high profile position like hrc, melania, jackie kennedy...you have a role to play that can be tough to just step away from.

 still this will be yet another query into this iitoo financial issues.  talking to my sister and she mentioned the media can't say anything nice about this iitoo...well he brings so much of it on himself. the truth is he lives for it. any attention good or bad.  he bitches but he needs it all.  all those crazy tweets just bring him attention.  he is driven to it to his own detriment.  he may have passed his simple cognition exam (believe me that is not tough) but that just means he probably has a psychological issue rather than a biologic one.  so his fix it lawyer paid her off and perhaps others, but where did fix it guy get the money and could it be construed as a campaign pay off.

 tonight it has also become known that Sessions was trying to get the director of the FBI to fire McCabe.  not only did he refuse he threatened to quit. more obstructive behavior from the GOP.

 the pawn Nunes had a secret group trying to trash the FBI...now they have a secret memo...which they wrote themselves that supposedly will take down Mueller...of course, there is no reason for them to not release it other than they really just want to muddy the waters and have nothing in the memo's of consequence.  the FBI has of course, demanded to see this and they have refused.  smoke screen....or should we say nothing burger.  it's embarrassing. 

 Neil Diamond has Parkinson's.  he will retire from touring.  always a tough disease.  my father had it and one of my brothers does.  thankfully, my Dad never lost his ability to reason, a blessing nor did he lose his independence which would have been really tough on him.  my brother battles bravely onward.  he just doesn't complain.  he is always an inspiration to me.

 everyone has their battles in life and I'm proud of so many i know and love that do fight bravely on no matter what hits them..be it Cancer, other illnesses or natural disasters.  we are strong stock as they say.  we are all stronger than we realize though. life sometimes just comes at you and you have to deal with it.  did a look back at a poem i had written when my brothers son Bryce passed last year. the anniversary of that is coming up and i just was thinking about them and how wonderful they were with that young man who shared their life all those years. some people take a challenge and turn it into an opportunity while others get pulled under...I'm proud to see so many in my family rise to the challenges of their lives and ride the waves rather than be pulled under...maybe it's all those days in Laguna.  we all did some time in those waves, rolling and rolling.  we learned how to get our heads back to the surface.

 a few folks on a snowmachine up north ran into a moose.  it did not end well for any of them.  alcohol was involved it said at the end of the story.  so sad...

 a bunch of dogs were airlifted out of Puerto Rico and delivered to the mainland to find new homes.  life is still very difficult in may parts of the islands after the hurricane.  we have not done the best we could have there. there have been so many failures this year but at this point there is so much and the right just alters it all to make iitoo look like the hero he wants to be shown to be.

 another group of refugees from the Australia group have been flown here.  he's refused them but so far 2 groups have made their way here now with more to follow. 

 hopefully both parties learn to just work around this iitoo and finally get stuff done..it may be the best thing that comes out of this insanity..the two will have to work together in spite of him and the nuts he puts in positions of power.

 my photo's will probably be highlighted on the Tustumena 200 programs and such.  this is a dog mushing race on the Kenai.  no money.  not worth it really.  i just sent them a group to use.  always fun.  the professional stuff is a big bother with minimal return so easier to just share pictures on most of this stuff..see if as a charity donation really.  people have given me money before so if it's easy I'm not opposed to getting money but i see many who spend a lot to attempt to live off of it and they just don't make it.  I've only gotten payment twice i think.  the local paper and the Samantha Bee show. 

 so I'm never gonna survive on that. haha.   i tend to just look at photography as  something i was given to share.  it seems to make people happy and brightens the day for others and i think that should be enough. i really enjoy snapping pictures so i think part of me fears that if i do it for money it will suck the fun out of it. make something that relieves my stress, stressful. 

 Sam's are closing in AK.  i never went there.  try to avoid Walmart as i hear they are not the best company to their employees.  they made some big announcement that they would use their big tax break to trickle down to their employees...only there were a lot of stipulations on these bonus checks.  much was dependent on people working full time or for so many years.  the vast percentage of Walmart employees do not work full time because the company has zero interest in giving their workers any benefits if they don't have to.  then they turned around the same day and announced they were closing 63 stores...nice trickle down techniques...take the money and run i guess.  big surprise.  thankfully, Costco will take over the Fairbanks building.  Costco has a good reputation with their workers so i say good riddance Sam's and hello Costco.

 Anchorage vacant office space has doubled over the past year...loving all this winning!! 

 working on a date for another talk at REI.  spoke to my contact at Fish and Game. would love to get one of the rangers to speak. will plan to live stream it again.  hopefully, my skills improve with the livestream.  so i wrote to my contact at REI to see about a date in April...when the Ranger is back in town and before they head out.  EW says they already have 20 applications for visitors to the island. not sure if those are day trips or campers. hope the boat guy has an improved attitude and is less flaky but flaky can be normal in the bush.

 oh another story to watch on the investigation side...the NRA may have funneled money from Rus to the iitoo campaign. a Rus deputy governor of the Rus bank...so close ties to Put also has close ties to the NRA.  the NRA gave a crazy amount of money to fund GOP races$55 million...$30 million went to support the iitoo....this is triple what they invested the last potus election.  crazy amounts of cash...i personally believe these insane amounts of donations should be stopped on both sides.  it's insane what we spend on these elections.  it's a business and a pay off on all sides. it needs to stop.  all they do is take actions in DC based on the next election and the next election and who will give them money.  Ryan got some crazy amount donated to him within days of the big tax scam being passed from the Koch arses. 

 attempting to freeze some hearts in preparation for Skelly's Valentines display.  he will be dressed as cupid of course.

 loved the stark simplicity of this scene above. 

 9/13 members of the National Park Service advisory board have resigned.  no meetings, Zinke can't be bothered to convene one.  this administration and those who have been appointed are seemingly happily going about dismantling.  they have the full support of the more radical leaning right. 

 the sunsets on yet another day.  i have tomorrow and then i head back to work again for three.

 do need to plan a trek out of town...always good to start hitting the road with the pups as the light lengthens. 

 still a bit shy of the full day...but if i actually wake up earlier and get moving i can make it!!

 i suspect i have bitched as much as you can all take...i suspect most of you just look at the pictures anyway..which is fine.  i write to clear my head...to feel I'm heard even if nobody listens.  when you live alone there are only the dogs to speak to.  i need to feel humans hear me...even if it's only a mirage in my brain.

 the day ends....

 one can always hope that tomorrow begins again.  you never know.  life is fleeting and we are not often told when our time is up.  bless us all with another day!!

grateful for:  A.  each day of life  B. breathing fresh clean air  C.  puppies that make me laugh and laugh and laugh.