Archive for the ‘Hillary Clinton’ Category
July 13, 2016
The leaves are being jostled by a light wind that tempers the warmth of the afternoon here at the cottage. The creek is reflecting back the images of the trees overhanging its banks. Occasionally, a trout will slide through the water. The only noise is the distant sound of a small plane heading toward the little airport north of me.
I have been ensconced here for several hours now, earlier sipping tea and now a Diet Coke. It is the perfect day for sitting on my deck, overlooking the creek, reading and thinking. It reminds me of a childhood sweet summer day back in Minnesota, when I was young and the days seemed to last forever. It is a day that is demanding very little from me and I am embracing the lack of demand.
The gentle wind and soft warmth cry out to be savored, embraced, enjoyed and I am opening my arms to them.
As I have sat here this morning, David Cameron has left 10 Downing Street, gone to Buckingham Palace, met the Queen and formerly resigned. Theresa May, who is promising a “bold, new” future for Britain, is the newest Prime Minister to serve Her Majesty, the thirteenth in a line that began with Winston Churchill.
Obama spoke in Dallas yesterday, yet again, after the tragic murders of human beings. He was eloquent and spoke of hope in the darkness and yet I heard tiredness and pain in the clips I have heard. He has had to do this so many times in his two terms; the most heartbreaking was after Newtown.
As I think of dark times, the sky has darkened over me, causing me to wonder if my part of the world will begin to weep?
A social media storm has broken out over former President George W. Bush’s behavior during a rendition of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” at the Dallas Memorial yesterday. Judge for yourself:
http://gawker.com/what-exactly-was-going-on-with-george-w-bush-at-the-me-1783551893
We all have different responses to grief…
I am getting older, as are all of us, and it seems to be weighing heavily on Japan’s Emperor. Akihito is 82 and reports are saying he feels his health is getting in the way of his duty and that he might abdicate soon in favor of the 56 year old Crown Prince Naruhito.
China is saber rattling about the South China Sea after the International Court in The Hague ruled that China had violated the rights of the Philippines there with its harassment of sailors and fishermen. China rejects the ruling. Several countries, including Viet Nam, have territorial claims to the energy rich South China Sea, all of which are rebuffed by the Chinese.
In other cheery international news, Russia and NATO are bumping heads again after NATO announced it is moving 4,000 troops into the Baltic to form a bulwark against the Russians. They form a security threat, says Russia, and both sides are getting more intractable, as the months go on since Russia reclaimed the Crimea.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if people said: we have a problem here. How can we solve it? Days like today bring out my childhood naïveté.
Trump is looking at candidates to be his Vice Presidential nominee and having them meet with his family. They include, Mike Pence, Governor of Indiana, Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and Chris Christie, lame duck Governor of New Jersey.
Last night, three more men were shot, this time in Norfolk, Virginia. Two are improving, one remains critical. All were black.
A year ago, a white teenager named Zachary Hammond was killed by police bullets during a drug investigation. His parents are wondering why no one ever took up the cry about his death. I wonder too…
The Republican platform is devotedly anti-LGBTQ. A few efforts to change that have been beaten back. The GOP is going to be what the GOP has been the last few decades.
The day is swinging toward a close. I have run a few errands, brought in the garbage cans and am looking forward to continuing this place magical day into the evening.
Tags:Akihito, China, Claverack, Claverack Creek, Donald Trump, George W Bush Dance, Hillary Clinton, LGBTQ, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Mike Pence, Naruhito, Newt Gingrich, Obama, Putin, South China Sea, The Donald, Zachary Hammond
Posted in 2016 Election, Brexit, Columbia County, Elections, Entertainment, Gay, Gay Liberation, Hillary Clinton, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Obama, Political, Political Commentary, Politics, Putin, Russia, Social Commentary, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
July 3, 2016
It is not quite the magic hour but it is coming, soon. Jeffrey has just returned from a sail on his boat, Jinji.
We’re all gathered now on the veranda, looking out over the harbor. I’m off to the side, writing, while on the other side of the veranda are gathered Jeffrey and Joyce, her niece Julie and her husband, Mark, and Jim, who keeps his boat at their dock.
Their Bernese Mountain Dogs, are alternatively resting and playing. At the house next door, the owner has rented it to a large group of twenty somethings, who are having a lovely, loud time.
Here I am ensconced with my evening martini, looking over to Chappaquiddick, most famous, of course, for being the place that ended Teddy Kennedy’s hope for the White House and the life of Mary Jo Koepkne. One of the more popular books this year has been a book about that tragedy, claiming there was a third passenger. Sells like hot cakes.
When I arrived, the moorings in the harbor were mostly empty; now they are mostly filled. The sun is bright and the town has been filled with the young and old, mostly well to do or very rich. Cathy, who works at the bookstore, could not come in this evening. She also works for the Baroness de Rothschild, who could not live without her this evening.
Edgartown is the place where there is no end of pastel. Salmon colored pants could not be more in style. It is heaven for preppies. If one remembers Lisa Birnbach’s “The Preppy Handbook,” you know what I mean.
Of course, while this particularly well ordered world moves on, while the happy voices from next door punctuate the later afternoon, the world keeps moving on its very sad course.
In Dhaka, Bangladesh, IS sent in people to an upscale bakery, taking hostages, twenty of whom died, thirteen of whom were rescued, spreading their terror to more places, not that Bangladesh has been unfree of troubles. Several liberal writers have been hacked to death with machetes in the country in the last six months.
Elie Wiesel, holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate, died today at 87. He was a “messenger to mankind.” He would not, and for which we all should be grateful, let the past be passed.
He said, and may it not be forgotten, “Memory has become a sacred duty of all people of goodwill.” It especially resonates now as right wing movements rise in so many countries. He saw horror and his articulation of that horror made him into a spokesperson many. He took on President Clinton over what was happening in what had been Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
He was the voice against all genocide.
And now we have an Austria that has ordered a new election which will give the right wing another shot at power. Here in America, we have to listen to the xenophobic sputtering of The Donald.
It is frightening. Something like eight European countries have far right movements gaining ground.
It is because we are frightened, terrified of the sweeping changes moving around us, much of it coming from the witnessing of the refugee crisis out the Mideast.
And now I am going to sleep, relatively early for a Saturday night. Tomorrow I will work late at the bookstore, closing every night this week and then I leave, headed home for a week and then to Minneapolis to see my family.
The world is in a wretched place but we still have friends and family that we hold to deeply. In the end, no matter what, that is what will keep us going, wherever we are.
Tags:Bangladesh, Baroness de Rothschild, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Bill Clinton, Chappaquiddick, Claverack, Donald Trump, Elie Wiesel, Hillary Clinton, IS, Lisa Birnbach, Mary JoKoepkne, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Rwanda, Ted kennery, The Donald, The Preppy Handbook
Posted in 2016 Election, Elections, Entertainment, European Refugee Crisis, Hillary Clinton, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Mideast, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
June 29, 2016
The sun has set here on Martha’s Vineyard. Today has been a day that has reminded me I am no longer as young as once I was.
Yesterday someone did not show up for their shift at Edgartown Books and I basically worked from 8:15 in the morning to 10:30 in the evening. I was also joltingly awake as I had an iced latte with an extra shot at 6:00.
All day I have been sadly tired and after lunch came home and rested. Tomorrow is another day.
Another day will not be coming for at least 36 people, plus three suicide bombers, who died at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. IS seems to have claimed responsibility, not that there weren’t immediately suspected as soon as the bombers blew themselves up.
The Benghazi Panel has at last, I think, [though I thought they had wrapped up once before] and found no smoking guns against Hillary Clinton, though putting blame on the Administration.
Reading a report on the findings, I discovered why I thought it had ended once before. This was the eighth Congressional Panel on Benghazi, cumulatively it seems they all have cost more than our investigation of 9/11. This one cost was 7million dollars.
No one comes off well here. No one…
The Republicans have revealed the stage design upon which Trump will give his acceptance speech. And probably several more. It appears The Donald will be speaking all four nights of the Republican Convention. No one else has been racing to share the stage.
The Supreme Court let stand a lower court’s decision to not restrict abortion rights though abortion law is still not crystal clear. The Supreme Court also vacated the conviction of Bob McDonnell, former Governor of Virginia, who had been convicted of taking money for influence.
The chaos in the markets over Brexit has subsided as people’s nerves are calming as the world hasn’t ended but the rocky ride is far from over. The EU wants to separate quickly and cleanly while the Brits are going “we don’t want to leave quite yet.” Brexit regret is surging in the streets as has an uptick in violence against immigrants, the perpetrators feeling emboldened by the move.
Scotland and Northern Ireland are considering what they can do to stay in. Scotland is even throwing out the notion it can veto Brexit. The Northern Irish have accelerated their efforts to get Irish passports.
The EU, which has been making English the default second language is thinking of changing that though I suspect they will not actually make that move.
Nigel Lafarge, who orchestrated the Brexit is a member of the EU Parliament and was booed and had backs turned on him when he walked onto the EU Parliament’s floor today. “Why are you here?”
Mr. Lafarge is the politician who revealed that the claim by Brexit supporters that money that went to the EU from Britain would be turned over to Britain’s National Health Service, will not be happening. It was one of the major reasons older voters voted Brexit.
Through it all, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has remained mum.
I, too, will now turn mum as I head to bed. I will hold the bombing victims from the Istanbul Airport in my heart as well as everyone else that is hurting tonight, in Syria, Nigeria, Turkey, Iraq; there isn’t a country where there is no pain, including right here.
Tags:Benghazi, Donald Trump, EU, Hillary Clinton, Istanbul bombings, Martha's Vineyard, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Nigel LaFarge, Northern Ireland, Queen Elizabeth II, Scotland, The Donald
Posted in 2016 Election, Brexit, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Nigeria, Political, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
June 4, 2016
The sun is laughing down Main Street in Edgartown, with cars slowly moving down the street, toward the water but without the congestion that is coming toward the end of the month when “the season” really gets going. Across the street, Sundog, selling clothes, is as empty as we are.
A few people have wandered into the store and have wandered out, rarely with a book in hand. A lovely mother and daughter came in, the mother buying her daughter a copy of “A Man Named Ove,” by Fredrik Backman, a book she insisted her daughter read before they left the island next week.
It’s been interesting, watching people come and go, looking at books, some are wildly enthusiastic, some are just looking as they look languidly at titles, hoping something will spark their interest.
As I said to someone yesterday, I have a whole new respect for those who work in retail.
The morning was foggy, the afternoon sun blessed. Music from the 1960’s plays gently in the background, the soundtrack of my youth. It is easy here to put away the woes of the world and believe in the loveliness of life.
Unfortunately, the reality is quite different in the off island world.
Muhammed Ali is being mourned everywhere. A figure in my youth, I watched with fascination, not quite understanding his moves but also not being bothered by them. If he no longer wanted to Cassius Clay, then why not? There were days then I didn’t want to be Mathew Tombers.
Many of his moves outraged the world and shook people up. All for the ultimate good… Rest in peace, Muhammed Ali, rest in peace and may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
Bernie Sanders has announced he will contest the Democratic Convention, fighting down to the last moment.
In France, floods are beginning to recede but not until after claiming three more lives. My friends, Chuck and Lois, who have an apartment in Paris, are somewhere else with friends, waiting to get back to their place when the waters do recede. Guards are standing watch at Louvre and artwork has been moved to higher ground as a precaution. It has been nearly 34 years since this kind of flooding has been seen in the City of Lights.
It has been determined that Prince died from an accidental, self-administered dose of fentanyl, a pain killer 100 times more powerful than morphine and 50 times more powerful than heroin. One doctor described self-administration of fentanyl as playing with death; it is not to be used outside of hospitals.
The opiate crisis is enormous. Even here on bucolic Martha’s Vineyard, meetings are being held to combat the island’s heroin problem. Everywhere you turn right now, opiates are a critical problem. It may be that Prince’s death will be a catalyst for change.
It is the 27th Anniversary of the massacre in Tiananmen Square and tens of thousands have gathered in Hong Kong to commemorate the event, shunning the official memorial because it has become too “Chinese” oriented.
In the Mediterranean, with the beginning of warm weather, more migrants/refugees are risking the sea to reach Europe and what they hope will be a better life. It is believed a thousand have drowned in the past week alone. It will only grow worse.
Many are fleeing IS, which now finds itself fighting on four fronts in Syria and Iraq. The unofficial capital of IS is Raqqa and Syrian forces, under the cover of Russian airstrikes and with help from Hezbollah have reached the border of Raqqa province.
Attempting to follow who is fighting whom in that part of the world is not easy. IS is struggling for control of a town called Marea, which is controlled by the anti-Assad Nursa Front, which is associated with Al Qaeda. There is also heavy fighting around Aleppo, once Syria’s largest city and commercial center.
The sun is beginning to set in Edgartown. The streets are still quiet. Anita, who works in the shop, has gone home as we are completely quiet. Last night, after everyone had left and I was closing down, I had the most remarkable moment of peace, surrounded by books with the walls resonating with the laughter and voices of the people who had passed through yesterday, just looking for a good read.
Tags:A Man Called Ove, Al Qaeda, Aleppo, Bernie Sanders, Chuck and Lois Bachrach, Donald Trump, Edgartown, Fentanyl, Fredrik Backman, IS, Louvre, Martha's Vineyard, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Muhammed Ali, opiates, Paris Flooding, Prince, Tiananmen Square
Posted in 2016 Election, Airstrikes, Daesh, Elections, Entertainment, European Refugee Crisis, Hillary Clinton, IS, Life, Literature, Martha's Vineyard, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Music, Political Commentary, Russia, Social Comentary, Syria, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
June 2, 2016
It is Wednesday evening, the 1st of June and it has been a lovely day on the Vineyard. I woke to a brilliant sun, skiffing off the water in the harbor, glinting up into my room.
It was a quiet day at Edgartown Books. I came home relatively early and am sitting down to write a letter while the sun slips away, beneath clouds that are rolling in from the ocean, promising a cooler and less brilliant day tomorrow.
Before his death, my father was the Minneapolis Manager for Taystee Bread and all of his children were taught to straighten up the loaves of our bread in any market we went into. I am feeling that way about the books in the shop. If I see something out of alignment, I get itchy to go fix it, make it neat.
Before leaving the house today, I checked the news online.
Documents from Trump University and statements from its former employees made the “university” sound more a scam than an educational opportunity. One manager called it a “fraudulent scheme.” Ouch. The principle seemed to be sell, not educate.
But, it must be noted, the program did have its supporters.
If elected, Trump could become the first President elect to have to testify in a fraud trial against himself.
Hillary Clinton seized the day and the news, using the Trump University documents as a reason to call Trump a fraud. I am sure he will call her a loser; he thinks everyone but him is a loser.
Later in the day, my phoned pinged with a news update: there was an apparent murder/suicide on the campus of UCLA. The reasons are yet unknown; it appears a student shot a professor and then himself.
A French ship has detected another sort of ping, from one of the Black Box recorders from the Egypt Air Airbus which crashed into the sea.
Saudi Arabia, which is attempting to diversify its oil economy, has invested $3.25 billion in Uber, which also looks at the Mideast as a great place to grow its business. And since Saudi Arabia doesn’t allow women to drive, having the service may give its women more freedom.
In Mogadishu, capital of tattered Somalia, a car bomb went off and killed at least 15.
While watching the news with Jeffrey, I discovered that today would have been Marilyn Monroe’s 90th birthday, had she not died in 1962. From the time of her discovery until her death, she lived 17 tumultuous, star crossed years and remains one of Hollywood’s most potent icons.
Once upon a time, in my early days in Hollywood, I did research for some Hollywood writers, among them Richard Lamparski who wrote all the “Whatever Became Of…?” books. He called her death “a good career move.”
Tragically, he was right. In death she has earned far more than in life. While Elizabeth Taylor was earning a million a film, she was being paid a hundred thousand. Monroe’s estate has carefully managed her assets and through licensing has made millions every year.
I remember as a little boy bringing in the morning paper with huge headlines: MARILYN MONROE DEAD. I couldn’t believe it. But it was true. And she is wound together in the Kennedy mythology because she reportedly slept both with John F. and Robert Kennedy.
It is even said she called Jackie to tell her that she was having an affair with Jack Kennedy. Reportedly, Jackie responded: go ahead, marry him. Then you have all the problems.
My god, but what figures played on the world stage then. The Kennedys, all of them… Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Martin Luther King, Lyndon Johnson, great figures who dwarf what we offer today.
Obama and Hillary Clinton will go down in history. He the first black President, she, win or lose, the first woman to credibly march toward the Presidency.
But my childhood was filled with giants and there are few of them left. Jack Kennedy may have been one of the most flawed men to sit in the Oval Office yet we cannot not seem to love him and his era.
That Trump is a serious contender for the Presidency points to the paucity of spirit in this time. Really, Trump? A bombastic, narcissistic loon who seems more related to Mussolini than to Lincoln is going to be the Republican nominee for President?
As someone who is, I think, a thinking American, I am APPALLED.
However, as a commentator said the other day: hey, it’s 2016, anything can happen.
The light has faded over Edgartown harbor and as my battery grows low on my laptop, I must cease.
Really, Trump? This is the best the Republicans can do? Where is Everett Dirksen when we need him?
Tags:Donald Trump, Edgartown Books, Egypt Air, Elizabeth Taylor, Hillary Clinton, Jack Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Lyndon Johnson, Marilyn Monroe, Martin Luther King, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Mogadishu, Obama, Robert Kennedy, Saudi Arabia, Somalia bombing, Taystee Bread, The Donald, Trump University, Uber, UCLA shootings
Posted in 2016 Election, Entertainment, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood, Martha's Vineyard, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Obama, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
May 31, 2016
A dense fog is beginning to settle on Edgartown harbor after a wet, chill day; rain pummeled down in sheets for a time and then there was the damp aftermath. I was delighted that I had thought to bring a sweater with me to the bookstore.
There was a steady stream of customers through the store and while it didn’t seem busy, when we closed out we had had a rather good day, he said, sounding like a shopkeeper.
I have a whole new respect for people who work in retail. I have always attempted to be nice to them. I will work even harder.
One elderly lady was in the store, with her daughter I think. My colleague, Stav, took care of them. Her credit card said her name was Gimbel and he asked if she was any relation to the department store Gimbels? And they nodded and said yes, they were.
It was Gimbel’s Department Store in New York that started the Thanksgiving Day Parade, watched by millions every year, now the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. But back when they made the original “Miracle on 34th Street” it was Gimbel’s that was making the parade.
Gimbel’s and Macy’s were both sold to Federated at some point and they phased out the Gimbel’s name in the 1980’s. The daughter said that no one young remembers them but Stav is younger than me by far and he remembered them.
Macy’s was the child of Isidor Strauss, who went down on Titanic with his wife, Ada. She would not be parted from her husband as the ship was sinking.
There are several memorials to their love in New York, most famous is the small park near 106 and Broadway, by which I have often walked.
It is Memorial Day and I don’t want that to go unnoticed. I thought about it when I was swinging, at last, out of bed today. I went to bed early last night, incredibly tired and slept long, having wild murder mystery dreams. [One of the things Joyce asked me to do was make suggestions for new mysteries to order…]
It is Memorial Day and I was thinking of all the men and women who have served the US in all its wars.
And always, on Memorial Day, I think about Greg Harrison, with whom I went to high school. Older than me, he enlisted in the Army after high school and died in some rice patty in Viet Nam.
He was a gentle soul. He once teased me about something and when he realized he had touched a chord that hurt, became protective of me. And I remember him every Memorial Day. I went to his funeral in Minneapolis and could not comprehend he was not with us anymore.
I still cannot quite comprehend that he is not with us anymore. I still remember the moment when he realized the tease hurt me. He had not meant to and after that, he was very good to me.
When this day comes, I mourn him. And will, until I die.
I am not in Minnesota and so cannot bring flowers to my parent’s graves; my brother does that, thankfully, as he does to our Uncle Joe, who was the most important father figure in our lives. Our father was a reticent man, not much given to social interchanges. Uncle Joe, however, was, and living next door to us, embraced us all.
When I was twelve, my father died and Uncle Joe did his best to be the best uncle he could be to me. He loved all his nieces and nephews and did his best to be fair and generous to us all.
He is remembered, too, this Memorial Day.
In the meantime, politics plunges on toward whatever end. I am weary and wary, fearful and fretful and it will be what it will be. And when I return from my summer sojourns, I must do what I can to see Trump is not the next President.
Ah, fog envelops the harbor. At this moment, no boats at anchor can be seen. Time for dinner, a little time and then to sleep, perchance to dream…
Tags:Donald Trump, Edgartown, Edgartown Books, Gimbel's, Greg Harrison, Hillary Clinton, Isidor & Ida Strauss, Macy's, Martha's Vineyard, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Memorial Day, Obama
Posted in 2016 Election, Columbia County, Elections, Entertainment, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood, Literature, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
May 27, 2016
It is blissfully quiet this moment, except for the drone of the Harbor Patrol boat in Edgartown Harbor. I am sitting, at this minute, on the veranda of my friends’ home overlooking that harbor.
Yesterday, I arrived on Martha’s Vineyard. I am here for awhile, that while yet undetermined. My friends, Jeffrey and Joyce, own the Edgartown Bookstore. About six weeks ago, reading “All The Light We Cannot See,” a book I purchased last year at their bookstore, it occurred to me they might need some help at the beginning of the season. So I volunteered. And here I am.
Yesterday, I left the cottage and had a giddy thought. If I should decide not to teach in the fall, after the Vineyard, there is no place I have to be for the rest of my life. It was both liberating and frightening. I felt like my head was filled with helium. I have acknowledged, at last, I am adrift in the world and that the boundaries I am now setting are the ones of my own choosing and no one else’s.
I took a picture of the rhododendron as I left the house.
I
As I also took a picture of the creek before I left.
As I was sitting in my car on the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard, Jeffrey texted me: don’t eat! They also own “Behind the Bookstore,” a restaurant that has a great reputation on the island. We were treated to a tasting course of everything on the dinner menu and dinner service begins tonight. It was all extraordinary, with the exception of the sweet pea gnocchi, which is still a work in progress.
The young chef is fresh out of Chez Panisse in Berkley, Alice Waters’ signature restaurant.
Tonight, after my first day in the bookstore, where I did my best to earn my keep, I am sipping a martini and looking at Edgartown harbor and thinking how fortunate I am to have this experience.
I am enjoying the moment.
Unbelievably but not perhaps unpredictably, Donald Trump has cinched the number of delegates he needs to be nominated. I am appalled and don’t want to think about it. So I am enjoying my view.
Let’s admit it. I am scared to death if he wins the election. Scarred to death. He has no credible credentials to be President of the United States. And I must decide if I will engage in this fall’s election to defeat him or stay on the sidelines and pray to all the gods in all the universes. I suspect I will do my best to defeat him.
But Hillary! As we were driving to “Behind The Bookstore” last night, Jeffrey said, and rightly, that there was no problem that the Clintons couldn’t make worse.
And it is so effing true. They stumble into things and don’t claim responsibility and just manage to make things worse and worse and worse. And the polls are showing that Hillary could lose to The Donald.
Oh my! Lions and tigers and bears… Oh my!
I am going to focus on the moment right now. I have to. I am sitting on a veranda on Martha’s Vineyard, looking out on Edgartown Harbor, calm and peaceful. The storm may be about to erupt on our heads but not tonight. I will savor tonight because not to do so would be foolish.
Tags:9/11, All the Light We Cannot See, Behind the Bookstore, Bernie Sanders, Claverack, Donald Trump, Edgartown, Edgartown Bookstore, Hillary Clinton, Hudson, Martha's Vineyard, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, New York, Obama, The Donald
Posted in 2016 Election, Columbia County, Columbia Greene Community College, Elections, Entertainment, Greene County New York, Hillary Clinton, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political Commentary, Sanders, Social Commentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
May 23, 2016
It is Monday morning and I am riding an overcrowded train from Baltimore to New York after spending the weekend there visiting friends. At one point I thought I might end up sitting on the floor but found a seat at the very front of the train.
Outside ruined building pass; we are somewhere just north of Philadelphia. Exotic graffiti adorns them while the sun blasts down. Beyond the ruins lie bedraggled row houses that probably will someday be gentrified. What contrasts we have in this country.
Baltimore is in a resurgence, at least near the water, where my friends live. We dined on Saturday night at Peter’s Inn, a wonderfully, quirky little row house restaurant, rough around the edges with handwritten menus, food arriving in the order that the chef has prepared it which is not necessarily the way you ordered it. Good chill martinis and a nice little wine list, friendly people and that wonderful thing called “atmosphere” that has not been scrupulously concocted but which emerges from the quirkiness of the place and people.
It was a time of sitting around and visiting with Lionel and Pierre and my friend Allen Skarsgard, with whom I had some long philosophical conversations over the weekend. We had known each other in the long ago and faraway, reconnecting just enough that we can mark the present without dwelling in our past.
There was, of course, talk of the brutal politics of this election cycle. I don’t remember a question that was asked on MSNBC on Sunday morning but recall the response: it’s 2016, ANYTHING can happen.
So it seems.
As it seems all over the world. A far right candidate is deadlocked with his rival in Austria. If Herbert Norber of the right wins, it will be the first time a far right candidate will have won a European election since the end of Fascism, a warning shot across the bow of the world.
Troubling for Hillary are national polls, of which we have several a day it seems, that have her potentially losing to Trump. They have Bernie beating Trump by 10.8 points.
Predictions are that a “Brexit” from the European Union will spark a year long recession. The drive for a British exit from the European Union is, at least partially, being driven by anti-immigration and nationalistic feelings in the country.
Is this a bit like what the 1930’s felt like?
In the meantime, Emma Watson of “Harry Potter” fame and fortune is playing Belle in a live action version of “Beauty and the Beast.” Somehow that seems comforting to me this morning.
In Syria, IS has claimed the responsibility for killing scores in that poor, broken country in areas considered Assad strongholds. A suicide bomber killed many Army recruits in Aden, Yemen.
And a drone strike killed the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mansour, who opposed peace talks. His death was confirmed by Obama, who will be the first sitting President to visit Hiroshima, struck by the US with an atomic bomb in !945, a move which forced the Japanese to move to surrender. He has been in Viet Nam, where he lifted a fifty year old arms embargo, a move to help counter the rise of China in the South China Sea.
Moves and counter moves, the world is in play. It always has been. It just took longer in other times for the moves to be made and to feel their repercussions. Now it’s almost instantaneous.
Tags:Allen Skarsgard, Austrian Election, Baltimore, Bernie Sanders, Brexit, China, Donald Trump, Herbert Norber, Hillary Clinton, Hiroshima, Lionel White, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Mullah Mansour, Obama, Peter's Inn, Pierre Font, Russia, Syria, The Donald, Viet Nam, Yemen
Posted in 2016 Election, Afghanistan, Elections, Entertainment, European Refugee Crisis, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Nazis, Political Commentary, Politics, Sanders, Social Commentary, Syria, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
May 20, 2016
It is a bit hazy as I rumble south, down the river, toward the city. I am having dinner tonight with my good friends Annette and David Fox. About once a quarter, we get together, order Indian from Indus Valley near their West End Avenue apartment and visit, over wine and an Indian dinner.
All day my mind has wandered back to the Egypt Air flight that crashed on its way from Paris to Cairo, in the Mediterranean off Crete. My phone screen was clustered with updates when I awoke this morning.
It is appearing that the plane’s crash is likely the result of terrorism though nothing can be known until the plane’s debris is studied. Why did it make wild turns just before it disappeared? What must have the passengers been experiencing? I shudder to think. It’s one thing to be there one moment and another not but what must have been in their minds as the plane made a 360 degree rotation?
Chaos erupted on the floor of the House today over a bill that would have denied contracts to Federal contractors if they discriminated against LGBT individuals. It was lost by one vote and reporters heard jeers and shouts from the House floor. Championed by Representative Sean Maloney, Democrat of New York in a district just south of me. Moments before the vote, the measure had 217 votes and House Leader McCarthy twisted Republican arms to change their vote as the presiding officer kept the vote open longer than is normal.
Ah, politics… All the remaining candidates, Trump, Sanders and Clinton hurled invectives and innuendoes today, as they do every day.
To put it kindly, Megyn Kelly and Donald Trump have been “at odds.” They had a sit down at Trump Tower and then another on Megyn Kelly’s premiere of her new interview show as she pursues becoming the next Barbara Walters. It was roundly panned and accusations flew that she played easy with her former adversary.
A week ago the legendary CBS reporter, Morley Safer, retired. A long planned special tribute to him aired on “Sixty Minutes” this past Sunday. Today, he died. He covered the world, from war to art, with panache and precision, exuding a style that is hard to find, particularly now.
The wonderful Hubble Telescope, hovering in space for twenty-five years now, has sent home spectacular views of Mars which is swinging in and will be as close as it gets to earth on Sunday, May 22nd. From these photos we have learned there were mega-tsunamis on Mars in the long ago. With luck, it will continue working at least until 2020 or, perhaps, a little longer.
This week, a Chibok girl, kidnapped two years ago by Boko Haram in Nigeria was freed. Today, another girl has been rescued, two out of two hundred. The first one has met with the Nigerian President but it may be hard for any rescued girls to be reintegrated. The first girl has a Boko Haram “husband” apparently.
In Venezuela, Maduro is cracking down as his regime seems to be cracking up. Tear gas was fired on a crowd of thousands who were demanding his recall. Chants of “food, food, food” are being heard in the streets of many cities. Hospitals are often without power or medicine. Patients are reported to lie in pools of blood.
Even his fellow leftists are beginning to think him crazy. One called Maduro “crazy like a goat.” But maybe that’s a compliment?
The train arrived in New York and then I was off to dinner and sleep. Now it is a beautiful Friday morning in the city, sunlight streaming through the blinds and shortly I’m off to Baltimore to visit friends.
Yesterday’s drumbeat continues today. Debris has been found from the Egypt Air flight. Accepting the inevitable, the Republicans are rallying behind Trump and it will make an interesting fall campaign as Trump and Clinton seemed to be disliked in comparable numbers, meaning no one likes either of them much.
Oklahoma has passed a bill making it a felony to perform an abortion thereby making it virtually impossible to get an abortion in the state.
Israel’s Defense Minister has resigned, accusing Netanyahu of “extremism.” And if he continues on the current path, Netanyahu’s government will become the most right wing in Israel’s history.
Now, as it is nearing noon, I need to prepare to leave, with another coffee in my future and some work for WGXC.
Tags:Annette and David Fox, Bernie Sanders, Boko Haram, Claverack, Donald Trump, Egypt Air Crash, Hillary Clinton, Hubble Telescope, Hudson, Maduro, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Megyn Kelly, Morley Safer, Netanyahu, Oklahoma Felony for abortion, Sean Maloney, The Donald, Venezuela
Posted in 2016 Election, Boko Haram, Civil Rights, Claverack, Columbia County, Gay, Gay Liberation, Hillary Clinton, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
May 16, 2016
This is one of the most enjoyable moments I have in a week, sitting at the dining room table, jazz playing in the background, the sun setting, looking across the deck to the wild woods across the creek, pulling together my thoughts as the sun slowly sets.
This morning I re-read my last online post [www.mathewtombers.com]. In the last part I wrote about Islam and the West having to come to terms with each other and as I read it I thought: whoa, Islam must come to peace with itself. IS is mostly killing other Muslims. Those numbers dwarf the numbers they have killed in Paris and Brussels and New York and London. They die by the hundreds and thousands in Iraq and Syria alone. Not to mention Yemen, which seems to be to Sunni and Shia what Spain was to Fascists and Republicans in the 1930’s.
We note with great care and deep exegesis the murders in the West and the daily drumbeat of death in Baghdad, Aleppo and Yemen is a footnote. Muslims are mostly slaughtering other Muslims.
Not unlike the way Christians slaughtered other Christians in the 15th, 16th and 17th Centuries. We had the Thirty Year War, which started as a religious war and became so much more. The Muslims seem to be having their Thirty Year War and it is much scarier because technology is so much more advanced.
And while they fight amongst themselves, some of them rage against the West, those who are Fundamentalist Muslims. They see us as abominations.
One late night here at the cottage I wondered if I was living a bit like a Roman in the 2nd or 3rd Century CE, knowing the darkness was coming and unable to prevent it so enjoying the present as much as possible.
That’s a bit melodramatic I suppose. Events are still playing out. Outcomes can be changed.
The forces at work in our lives are terrifying. We have a saber rattling Putin, who denies everything negative, and a major religion that is going through an existential crisis, manyßåå of them thinking nothing of killing as a policy.
In college, I took an Honors course on Medieval Islamic Civilization and they were civilized. Something has gone very wrong there and, hopefully, for all of us, they will sort it out.
In the meantime, the rest of the world keeps moving.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
Not being mentally healthy is a debilitating stigma many carry. As someone who has been in therapy since he was sixteen, I empathize. It is not, in many places, åstill, now, acceptable to talk about.
And it saved my life. And in the years between then and now, many members of my family have taken me aside to thank me for having broken the dam. I was the first and I was pretty loud about it too. Everyone knew. Everyone rolled their eyes at me, then they began quietly to look for their own therapists.
We are still dealing with racial issues and we are still dealing with mental stigmas. So good there is a Mental Health Awareness Month. We need all the mental health we can get.
Our politics continue to look like a sideshow. Friends who live in Japan, Australia, Europe ask me what is going on? I don’t know. Does anyone? There has been nothing like this in my lifetime and it is a bit scary.
I have been reading articles about the raucous Nevada Democratic Convention and I haven’t parsed the events quite but there was a showdown between the Bernie supporters and the Hillary supporters. Hillary won but her supporters are worried about a similar scene playing out at the national convention.
It has grown dark now. The sun has set. While it is mid-May, the temperature is going down to 34 tonight so we are not actually in real Spring yet. I had to turn up the heat tonight. I might yet light a fire.
The jazz lures me to a quiet place of introspection.
Tags:Bernie Sanders, Claverack, Donald Trump, Fundamentalist Muslims, Hillary Clinton, Hudson, IS, Isis, Jazz, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Mental Health Awareness Month, New York, Obama, Putin, Red Dot, Russia, Syria, The Donald, Thirty Years War
Posted in 2016 Election, Brussels terror attack, Civil Rights, Claverack, Columbia County, Daesh, Elections, Entertainment, Greene County New York, Hillary Clinton, Hudson New York, Iran, IS, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Nazis, Paris Attacks, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary, Taliban, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Letter from the Vineyard 
Letter From New York 07 13 2016 Picture Perfect Summer Day
July 13, 2016The leaves are being jostled by a light wind that tempers the warmth of the afternoon here at the cottage. The creek is reflecting back the images of the trees overhanging its banks. Occasionally, a trout will slide through the water. The only noise is the distant sound of a small plane heading toward the little airport north of me.
I have been ensconced here for several hours now, earlier sipping tea and now a Diet Coke. It is the perfect day for sitting on my deck, overlooking the creek, reading and thinking. It reminds me of a childhood sweet summer day back in Minnesota, when I was young and the days seemed to last forever. It is a day that is demanding very little from me and I am embracing the lack of demand.
The gentle wind and soft warmth cry out to be savored, embraced, enjoyed and I am opening my arms to them.
As I have sat here this morning, David Cameron has left 10 Downing Street, gone to Buckingham Palace, met the Queen and formerly resigned. Theresa May, who is promising a “bold, new” future for Britain, is the newest Prime Minister to serve Her Majesty, the thirteenth in a line that began with Winston Churchill.
Obama spoke in Dallas yesterday, yet again, after the tragic murders of human beings. He was eloquent and spoke of hope in the darkness and yet I heard tiredness and pain in the clips I have heard. He has had to do this so many times in his two terms; the most heartbreaking was after Newtown.
As I think of dark times, the sky has darkened over me, causing me to wonder if my part of the world will begin to weep?
A social media storm has broken out over former President George W. Bush’s behavior during a rendition of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” at the Dallas Memorial yesterday. Judge for yourself:
http://gawker.com/what-exactly-was-going-on-with-george-w-bush-at-the-me-1783551893
We all have different responses to grief…
I am getting older, as are all of us, and it seems to be weighing heavily on Japan’s Emperor. Akihito is 82 and reports are saying he feels his health is getting in the way of his duty and that he might abdicate soon in favor of the 56 year old Crown Prince Naruhito.
China is saber rattling about the South China Sea after the International Court in The Hague ruled that China had violated the rights of the Philippines there with its harassment of sailors and fishermen. China rejects the ruling. Several countries, including Viet Nam, have territorial claims to the energy rich South China Sea, all of which are rebuffed by the Chinese.
In other cheery international news, Russia and NATO are bumping heads again after NATO announced it is moving 4,000 troops into the Baltic to form a bulwark against the Russians. They form a security threat, says Russia, and both sides are getting more intractable, as the months go on since Russia reclaimed the Crimea.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if people said: we have a problem here. How can we solve it? Days like today bring out my childhood naïveté.
Trump is looking at candidates to be his Vice Presidential nominee and having them meet with his family. They include, Mike Pence, Governor of Indiana, Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and Chris Christie, lame duck Governor of New Jersey.
Last night, three more men were shot, this time in Norfolk, Virginia. Two are improving, one remains critical. All were black.
A year ago, a white teenager named Zachary Hammond was killed by police bullets during a drug investigation. His parents are wondering why no one ever took up the cry about his death. I wonder too…
The Republican platform is devotedly anti-LGBTQ. A few efforts to change that have been beaten back. The GOP is going to be what the GOP has been the last few decades.
The day is swinging toward a close. I have run a few errands, brought in the garbage cans and am looking forward to continuing this place magical day into the evening.
Tags:Akihito, China, Claverack, Claverack Creek, Donald Trump, George W Bush Dance, Hillary Clinton, LGBTQ, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Mike Pence, Naruhito, Newt Gingrich, Obama, Putin, South China Sea, The Donald, Zachary Hammond
Posted in 2016 Election, Brexit, Columbia County, Elections, Entertainment, Gay, Gay Liberation, Hillary Clinton, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Obama, Political, Political Commentary, Politics, Putin, Russia, Social Commentary, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »