It has been a very interesting week historically speaking. The Speaker of the U S House of Representatives was eighty sixed by eight of his Republican members. The Democrats were no help as they all voted to oust him. No Speaker has ever been removed in the history of our country. The term means, ‘to throw out, to get rid of, or to refuse service.” The phrase is 1930’s soda counter slang meaning an item was sold out. You can find several explanations, but the most common theory is that 86 is rhyming word for nix. So, McCarthy got dumped by less than 4 percent of his caucus. He only has himself to blame but it is not good news for our country. Please let your Representative know that we need them to pull it together and do the people’s work.
Speaking of squirrels. We have a busy bunch of the rodents living in our yard. You can see one of the very healthy creatures sunning itself. I only mention them because as I was engaged in a bit of reading, I came across an article about a non-brown, grey or black squirrel. Malabar is the giant rodent that lives in the forests in India, and they are called Rainbow squirrels. The animal is multicolored, shades of purple, orange and red make them distinctive. Size is also unique, up to 2kg (each kg is 2.2042 lbs) and up to a meter (3.28 feet) head to tail. Malabar never goes to the ground, and they are prodigious jumpers. It is thought the colors may provide camouflage from predators in the dappled shade of the forest canopy.
Our country has gone haywire erratic, out of control. The world is also short circuited. ‘
A New York Times Opinion column by Thomas Friedman, gave me some insight. He acknowledges there are other factors but lays the trend on four key world leaders.
“They each believe that their leadership is indispensable and are ready to go to extreme lengths to hold on to power…”. I will not make you guess- the list includes Putin, Xi Jinping, Trump, and Netanyahu. He argues convincingly that Trump is the most dangerous. “America is the tent pole that holds up the world” without our leadership the world goes wobbly. Friedman believes it would lead to the “The Age of Disorder.”
Hope is not a strategy. The solution will take action, Gandhi said, “you must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Aristotle believed, “it is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” Martin Luther King lives on with his wisdom, “darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that.” It is up to each of us to turn this tide. Mike
Malabar
