Posts Tagged ‘Donald Trump’
August 19, 2015
In the room where I am staying on the Vineyard, there are floor to ceiling windows that look, across the balcony, onto Edgartown Harbor. The water is a dark blue, the sky is lighter but both are crisp and clean. The sky is cloudless and pristine.
I have spent the morning on the porch, reading a book and doing some emails. After a late breakfast, all the batteries on my devices were running low, so I came up to my room to plug them back in. My kindle is charging, as are my phone and laptop. My poor laptop, three years old, is beginning to feel its age and I am afraid it will soon be time for a replacement.
This evening will be The Grand Illumination, a lighting of the old cottages in the Campgrounds with antique Japanese lanterns and more. I’m looking forward to it and will do my best to give you a good description tomorrow. That’s why I am writing early today. I’ll be out in the evening, taking in the Grand Illumination.
Grand are also the ambitions of Donald Trump, who is now, unbelievably and, to me, horrifyingly, being treated more and more as a viable candidate. In some polls he is within striking distance of Hillary. As I sit here looking out at the placid waters of the harbor, I am stunned.
Trump has declared that, sadly, Heidi Klum is no longer a ten. She wonders what that has to do with the election while, at the same time, mocking him back on social media. One often wonders what Trump has to say has to do with anything.
In another pre-election year kink, Al Gore is said to be thinking about a run in 2016.
IS today beheaded an 82 year old archeologist, Khaled Assad, in Palmyra. Author of many books and articles, sire of 11 children, he was one of the world’s, if not the world’s expert, on Palmyra. He refused to divulge to IS things they wanted to know. His headless body is hanging from a lamppost in town.
Turkey is restless. Following the failure of Erdogan’s government to win a majority for the first time since 2002, the country has been unable to form a government and new elections are expected soon. Two terrorists attacked the Dolmabahce Palace today, popular with tourists and home to the Prime Minister’s Istanbul offices. Kurds killed eight soldiers in the southeast.
Zimbabwe has arrested the man who owned the farm where Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist, killed Cecil the Lion. That brings to three who have been arrested. Not charged so far is Walter Palmer, whose Minnesota dental practice reopened today, but without him. He was photographed recently in Eden Prairie, MN, not far from his Bloomington, MN practice.
Jared Fogle famously became a spokesperson for Subway when he claimed that Subway helped him lose over 200 pounds. He is now infamous for child pornography charges and he has agreed to plead guilty to charges of child pornography and paying for sex with minors. He faces over a decade in jail. Sad end to a success story.
The UK is saying the e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than tobacco and is, if not exactly endorsing them, coming very close to doing so.
A female “Viagra” has been approved for sale.
Ashley Madison is a website for spouses who want to cheat. It has, like many other sites, been hacked. Millions of names have been released to the “dark web.” Only good thing: most people can’t get to the “dark web.” Not a good day to be a cheater.
The day is beautiful and I am restless writing. I want to go back outdoors and read some more and soak in the harbor’s beauty.
Until next time.
Tags:Al Gore, Ashley Madison Hack, Cecil the LIon, Donald Trump, Edgartown, Female Viagra, Grand Illumination, Heidi Klum, Hillary Clinton, IS, Jared Fogle, Khaled Assad, Martha's Vineyard, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Palmyra, Walter Palmer, Zimbabwe
Posted in Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Social Commentary | Leave a Comment »
August 19, 2015
As I begin this, I am sitting in Terminal 5 at JFK, waiting for the short flight from here to Martha’s Vineyard. In front of me, I am facing an iPad, from which I have just ordered a latte and on which I can check the status of my flight, though that shouldn’t be necessary as I am right at the gate. I am surrounded by people of a myriad of backgrounds and speaking a variety of languages.
Terminal 5, which services Jet Blue, feels a little bit out of a science fiction film; we could all be waiting for flights to the stars. But we’re not, we’re waiting to go to domestic and international destinations, people laughing and enjoying, caught in the pleasure of departure and arrival.
A kind young man delivered me my latte and then circled back to make sure all was well with it.
I am continuing my binge reading of the “Roma Sub Rosa” series by Steven Saylor, up to number eight or nine now, I think, out of twelve. I downloaded two more last night to tide me over, coming and going from the Vineyard as well as reading time on the island.
Perusing the New York Times this morning, it now appears that Donald Trump has a commanding lead among Republicans. Ad Age yesterday had an article that stated Trump was JUST what television needed; his polarizing personality will revitalize viewing and boost ratings. He has boasted that he is “a TV ratings magnet.” And it is apparently too true…
As I finished typing the above sentence, they called my flight and I am now on the Vineyard, having just returned from a two-hour sail and having showered to get all the salt water off me.
The wind was good; we made twenty knots at one point and were thoroughly doused at more than one point. It was great fun.
A humanoid robot went for a walk through the woods today. I hope there were warnings out that he was coming. He looked a bit frightening to anyone just stumbling upon him.
22 were killed and 120, at least, injured in a bombing in Bangkok at a Hindu shrine. CCTV footage has police looking for a man in a yellow T-shirt and black-rimmed glasses. One minute he has a backpack; the next he doesn’t.
The world is tripping on, violent as ever. There are lots of trials going on of police officers all over the country for homicide, something like five of them right now.
Greece is stumbling through two crises. One is their financial one and the other is the flood of immigrants striving to make it to the island of Kos from Turkey. It has been overwhelming resources in that already battered country.
Out the window is Edgartown Harbor. The sun is beginning to set and I must leave you tonight to go meet my friends and see what dinner plans we have. Or take a book and read. It’s been a lovely day for me; may it have been for you too.
Tags:Bangkok bombing, Donald Trump, Edgartown, Greece, Greek Refugee Crisis, Jet Blue, Kos, Martha's Vineyard, Mat Tombers, Mathew, Mathew Tombers, Roma Sub Rosa, Steven Saylor, Terminal 5
Posted in Greek Debt Crisis, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Social Commentary | Leave a Comment »
August 17, 2015
It is moving toward six in the evening. The sun is beginning its slow set to the west; bright light glimmers through the trees and pools of sunlight litter the drive. I am sitting at my desk, looking out, keeping watch. A friend is coming over and I’m helping him think through his website, a first for him.
It has been a lovely weekend. Lionel and Pierre arrived on Friday evening, a bit ragged from a drive through heavy traffic from Baltimore. We ate at the Red Dot and then came home. Lionel and I had our traditional Friday night “cleansing vodka” and then I drifted off to a good night’s sleep.
Saturday was a lot of running around; neighbors came for cocktails and a visit with Lionel and Pierre.
This morning, I woke early. Heavy fog drifted above the creek, making the place look otherworldly, almost mystical. I prepared breakfast for the three of us and saw them off on their return trip to Baltimore. While I was doing all of these pleasant tasks, the world continued.
An Indonesian plane lost contact with air controllers and there have been reports it crashed into a mountainside. E’Dina Hines, step-granddaughter of Morgan Freeman, was stabbed to death last night in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan by a deranged man, thought to be her boyfriend, who was attempting to cast demons out of her.
Premier Li Keqiang of China visited the port city of Tianjin, the scene of a huge warehouse explosion that was so big it registered on seismic meters. The warehouse contained dangerous chemicals, including sodium cyanide. The warehouse was close by apartment complexes; at least 112 have died and 95, many of them firefighters, are missing. 721 are injured. There is a huge evacuation zone; protests are being held at the hotel used for press briefings.
Sadly, Julian Bond has passed away. He was a young firebrand in the 1960’s and went on to become a respected state legislator in Georgia and head of the NAACP for some years. He was a voice for civil rights and agitated against the Vietnam War, a man to be admired I always thought. And now he’s gone, after a short illness. I will miss knowing that he is alive.
Donald Trump is still leading the Republican polls; he is calling for an end to “birthright citizenship.” Hillary Clinton is trailing Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire, which must be causing her some sleepless moments.
Sleepless in Syria are all kinds of people. Assad bombed a suburb of Damascus over the weekend. The war is going badly for him; Damascus is his nominal seat of power though he has long been rumored to have left the capital for the coast. His troops are being defeated and seem to be in slow retreat. Iran has sent ministers to Russia, seeking some kind of political solution.
Iraq, long riven by Shia/Sunni conflicts seems to be facing a Shia/Shia conflict too. I will need to do more reading to understand. I don’t right now. A few days ago, an American General stated that Iraq might have to be partitioned. And it is beginning to look like that might be a viable solution. Iraq was created a century ago by the Brits for their own reasons, mostly, one suspects, oil.
Amazon is one of my favorite suppliers. I don’t want to work there. Reports about the environment for employees indicate it’s a brutal, brutal, brutal place to work. I am, nor ever have been, up for brutal. I still use them, enormously. I am an Amazon Prime customer. Probably will be until the day I die. But not to work there. Oh my!
Apple is apparently building a self-driving car. As is Google. I will bet on Apple. Google’s devices…
Night has arrived. The floodlight on the fountain has turned on. Outside the cicadas are making noises. I am at the end of my day, about to step into yet another Steven Saylor book. I have been binge reading instead of binge watching. Actually, it feels good.
Tags:Amazon, Apple, Baltimore, China, Chinese warehouse explosion, Claverack, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Indonesian plane crash, Iraq, Julian Bond, Li Keqiang, Lionel White, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, NAACP, Pierre Font, Self-driving car, Shia, Steven Saylor, Sunni, Tianjin
Posted in Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Social Commentary | Leave a Comment »
August 11, 2015
Outside my window, it is grey and daunting. I am sitting at my desk, looking out at my drive that, not so long ago, was a lake. When I woke up this morning on Martha’s Vineyard, it was raining but not hard. Jeffrey, Joyce and I went to Behind The Bookstore and I had breakfast and then Jeffrey dropped me at the ferry to Woods Hole. Still not raining badly but by the time I reached my car, I was drenched. So I pulled a dry shirt from my suitcase and changed into it before I left the parking lot.
It was a fairly quick trip home, though I had to pull over a couple of times to answer texts. When I got close to Hudson, I needed to deal with a wire transfer that hadn’t gone through and while I was doing that, the heavens opened and torrential rains came down, the kind of rain Noah must have known.
When I reached the cottage, I left my luggage in the car and made a mad dash for the door. It was may have been only ten feet but by the time I opened the door I was drenched and had to get into dry clothes for the second time today. Not long ago, the rain stopped and I was able to retrieve my luggage without drowning. The lake in my drive has receded and I think I am safe for the night. The creek is a muddy ochre color and high.
So now I sit at my desk and write tonight’s blog. It is a great desk, found in an antique store not far up from the road that is no longer there. Stenciled on the back of it is that it’s for First Class on a White Star ship. White Star was the company that owned Titanic. Obviously the desk is not from Titanic but from some cousin ship of hers. When I saw that, I knew I had to have the desk and so I have the desk. It is where I do most of my work at the cottage.
Jazz plays in the background. While driving, I found there were few radio stations in eastern Massachusetts that my radio could receive so I put in a CD of baroque music and listened to that.
Before I left Martha’s Vineyard, I did a perusal of the news and noticed that the debates left Donald Trump where he had been at 24% while Jeb Bush declined from 17% to 12%. My goodness, where is all this going?
While amazed, I am amused.
Tags:Behind the Bookstore, Claverack Creek, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Martha's Vineyard, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Noah, The Donald, Titanic, White Star
Posted in Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Social Commentary, Trump | Leave a Comment »
August 3, 2015
The west bank of the Hudson River is a verdant green as the train slowly rumbles south toward New York. It is a bright day, warmer than it has been but still very sweet. I am coming down to New York for a few meetings and a lunch and then am heading home to get ready to go to my friend’s Jeffrey and Joyce’s home on Martha’s Vineyard on Friday.
I’ll linger with them for four or five days and then head back to the Cottage and then down to New York for a meeting on the 13th. Jeffrey calls Martha’s Vineyard “the land of off” and it seems that way though I am not sure how “off” their summers have been since the bought the Edgartown bookstore. It will be interesting to see what changes they have made since I was last there two years ago.
They had ambitious plans and I am sure they have been realized.
The water in the Hudson is browner than usual; the river stirred by the recent rains. It quietly laps the shore. For some reason, it is causing me to think of Lake Harriet in Minneapolis where we’d go as children to swim and sail.
Having spent a few days surrounded by a delicious amount of natural beauty, it seems reasonable that President Obama is issuing today a set of environmental regulations that is intended to reduce, sharply, the amount of greenhouse emissions from power plants. They promise to remake the industry.
There is a controversy happening in Columbia County regarding new power line towers. Most people I know think we don’t need them and intend to fight to stop them from blighting the natural beauty of Columbia County. They are strongly supported by Democratic Governor Cuomo. It is going to be an interesting fight.
And Obama’s regulations will set off a firestorm of lawsuits. Again, it will be interesting to watch. At the end, I suspect there will be change and the lawsuits will determine the extent.
At one point in my life I spent several months in Canada and was impressed with Canadian friendliness. Some Canadian researchers built a “hitchBOT,” a robot that hitchhiked its way across Canada and most of Germany and the Netherlands. He came south two weeks ago to attempt to cross the United States. He was found destroyed beyond repair around Philadelphia, “City of Brotherly Love.” Shame on whoever did this. He was only the size of a six year old and reportedly quite charming.
IS, which is known for its clever and relentless use of the Internet to tell its stories, is now relentlessly cracking down on those inside its territory who are using the Internet. Anyone connecting must now do it through an open network that is being watched. IS is showing signs of fear.
The French are leading the investigation of the wing fragment found on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean. Islanders are searching for more debris to see if it might be from the long missing Malaysian Airlines MH370.
The Chinese are having trouble with their escalators. Not so long ago a woman died saving her child in an escalator accident. Today, a man lost his foot and his leg had to be amputated. Both incidents, I believe, happened in Shanghai. Be careful.
Secretary of State John Kerry is making a round of visits to Arabic neighbors, drumming up support for the Iran deal. He seems to be having some success though I am sure it comes at a price, weapons and new pledges to counter Iran.
Donald Trump is still leading in the polls. The Republican mainstream is running in circles, unsure how to counter The Donald. The Koch brothers, rich as could be, with eighty some billion dollars between them, are simply freezing him out. David Koch and Trump are reputedly friendly but the organizations they fund have not given him any opportunities to speak. They own data firm i360, the best data and voter analytics company on the right, and it won’t do business with the Trump Organization.
The big winner at the Box Office was Tom Cruise’s “Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation” which not only claimed the top spot in dollars but also garnered very good reviews.
Without doubt, this is the longest it has ever taken me to get to the city on Amtrak. I have been traveling now for three and a half hours. Traffic ahead. The compensation? The Hudson River is beautiful. I’ve had time to read and write and contemplate.
Tags:Amtrak, Chinese Escalator Accidents, Columbia County Power Line Controversy, Donald Trump, Edgartown Bookstore, hitchBOT, Hudson River, i360, IS, John Kerry, Koch Brothers, Martha's Vineyard, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Mission Impossible, Obama, Philadelphia, Reunion Island, The Trump, Tom Cruise
Posted in Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Social Commentary | Leave a Comment »
July 29, 2015
It is a sunny and blistering hot day in New York. I had a lunch today at Sarabeth’s in Lord & Taylor on 5th Avenue. It is not a terrible walk but by the time I arrived there, I was more than damp and glad I had topped off with a cold drink of water before I left. Coming back, I caught the bus right outside the store and rode it to Penn Station, walking from there to the office.
When I left the apartment this morning, I turned off the air conditioning but it may have been wiser to leave it on. Heat warnings are in effect for NYC until tomorrow at 8:00 PM. People are to restrain outside activities between 11 and 4 and cooling centers are open for those who might not have air conditioning.
As the day begins to fade, I am gathering my thoughts about the events of the world.
Mullah Omar, head of the Taliban, has apparently been dead for the last two years, according to the Afghans. US Intelligence is examining the claim closely. Supposedly, he died in a Pakistani hospital of an undetermined illness. If he is dead, it may help the peace process. Or not. Some of his supporters have broken from the Taliban and proclaimed their allegiance to IS.
The murkiness continues.
Some parts of a plane washed up on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. They are being examined to see if they are pieces to the missing MH 370, the Malaysian Airlines flight that disappeared in March of 2014, leaving behind no trace. Despite huge search efforts, nothing has been found and the mystery has been unabated.
Another Malaysian Airliner was shot down over Ukraine. Effort has been being made to initiate a UN tribunal to look into the events surrounding the downing of the flight but they are being blocked by Russia.
Two young Florida boys went fishing. Their boat was found capsized 180 miles from where they started. The search continues, without a trace of them so far.
There is a religious festival that is held every five years in Nepal. Five hundred thousand [500,000] animals have their throats cut. It won’t be happening this year. Priests at the temple of Gidhimai have said that there will be an indefinite halt to the sacrifices to this Goddess of Power. Animal activists are pleased but don’t intend to lower their watch. I think it’s the use of the word “indefinite” that concerns them.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is an old saying that is not holding up between the Turks and the Kurds. Both are fighting IS but they haven’t quit fighting each other. Erdogan, President of Turkey, is concerned because the Kurdish party won 13% of the vote in the last election. Something it has never done. Erdogan is accusing some of the Kurdish members of Parliament of having ties to terrorism. The Erdogan accusations are getting a lot of play; Kurdish rebuttals are receiving little attention.
The Government of Kim Jong-un, everyone’s favorite pudgy little dictator, looks like it is getting ready for a new missile test, having just finished upgrading its rocket launch facility. It will raise tensions between North Korea and the rest of the world, again, and probably result in more sanctions. It will probably happen in October when there is a big political celebration.
Over the last couple of days, hundreds of migrants have stormed the Chunnel, between England and France, desperate to make it to the UK. Riot police have been called out. The Mediterranean problem is sweeping north.
A Minnesota dentist paid $50,000 for a big game hunt in Zimbabwe. He hired a couple of locals. They lured a lion out of a park and he was felled with a crossbow. It turns out the lion was a local tourist favorite, Cecil the Lion. The uproar is horrific. Walter Palmer, the dentist, is apologetic, saying he relied on the locals to ensure a legal hunt. But it looks like the website to his practice has been taken down and he has been thoroughly trashed on social media.
I was not aware that one could still legally hunt wild game in Africa. I thought the only shooting that could be done was with a camera. I was wrong.
It took the hunters forty hours to locate Cecil and to end his misery with a gunshot.
And in ending today’s blog, how better to end it than with an update on The Donald? He has gone on record saying he would welcome Sarah Palin in his administration.
Oh my.
Tags:Afghanistan, Cecil the LIon, Chunnel, Donald Trump, Erdogan, Gidhimai, IS, Kim Jong - Un, Kurds, Malaysian Airlines, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, MH17, MH370, Migrants at Chunnel, Minnesota Dentist who killed lion, Mullah Omar, New York Heat Wave, Reunion Island, Russia, Sarah Palin, Taliban, The Donald, Turks, Ukraine, Walter Palmer
Posted in Elections, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary | Leave a Comment »
July 28, 2015
It feels a little later than it is; the sun is shaded by clouds and I’m sitting in a darkish office in Chelsea, doing some work and getting ready to meet a friend for dinner.
It was a magic morning coming into New York today. Fog clouded the road from Claverack into Hudson, a wisp at every turn. As the train moved south, the fog followed; sometimes it was so thick it was impossible to see the river. Flotillas of pleasure boats floated on the river, shrouded by the fog.
The city was warm today and I lunched at the Bryant Park Café, outside, with Neva Rae Fox who works for the Episcopal Church here in New York in the Communications Department. Over the years I was working with Odyssey we became friendly and I haven’t her seen for a while.
We talked of their recent conference in Salt Lake City and the vigil that was held to honor victims of gun violence. It is one of the things they will be focusing on, that as well as racial reconciliation.
It seems strange to be back in the city after a week in the country. When I have been away from New York City for a week, I always have a little trouble re-inserting myself into the bustle and the crowds and sirens. So it was today. I gingerly left Penn Station and threaded my way through the rush hour crowds and felt I had reached an oasis of civility when I got to the office.
It is a languid time and a contemplative time, with my mind juggling all the opportunities for my future. Stay here? Live up in the country? I am allowing it to flow through me, as I know the answer will reveal itself. A friend advised me, should I go to the cottage full time, to give myself time to grieve for the life I was leaving behind. Thinking about it, I realized I would mostly grieve for the friends I wouldn’t see as often.
My “grief” is a very first world problem. The families and friends of 25 killed by a suicide bomber in Nigeria are experiencing deep grief, the kind that time softens but does not really “heal.” A fire in a furniture factory in Cairo also killed 25. Grief walks there, too.
In Yemen, a five-day humanitarian truce appears to be crumbling. At least 6.5 million people are on the edge of starvation and some are calling the Saudi Arabians “war criminals” for preventing supplies from reaching the populace. 21 million Yemenis, 80% of the population, is in need of assistance.
I am sure that grief is walking there, too. The Saudis have been relentless in their bombing. The lack of food is also partially because there is no infrastructure to disperse the goods, roads having been destroyed by bombing and no fuel delivered for vehicles.
Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Col. Gaddafi, once ruler of Libya, was sentenced to death by shooting in a court in Tripoli. He was not there; he is being held in a prison in Zintan, a hundred miles away. The Zintan group hates the Tripoli group so much they probably won’t turn him over. It’s not that they love the son; they despise him. Famous for lecturing people and pointing his finger at his audiences, the Zintan group chopped off the offending finger when they captured him.
One of Trump’s lieutenants stepped in it. He said there was no such thing as raping your spouse. In fact, it is a crime in all fifty states. Michael Cohen has apologized. The topic came up because of a comment by ex-wife Ivana Trump some twenty years ago, one she has backed away from. In their bitterly contested divorce, she allegedly accused him of the act. Today she says the accusation is “without merit.” She and The Donald are “the best of friends.”
Mr. Cohen had some other choice words for the reporter who published the story in the Daily Beast. He used several Anglo Saxon expletives.
The Donald is still leading in the polls and it looks like he will be in the first Republican debate. Not that will be something to watch.
Also worth watching is the clock. I’m getting close to the time when I need to be heading for the restaurant to meet my friend Mitch and get his take on his newly married life.
Tags:Bryant Park Cafe, Cairo Factory Fire, Claverack, Daily Beast, Donald Trump, Episcopal Conference, Gaddafi sentencing, Hudson, Ivana Trump, Marital Rape, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Micheal Cohen, Mitch Saloway, Neva Rae Fox, New York, Nigerian Suicide Bombing, Penn Station, Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, Saudi Arabia, Tripoli, Yemen, Zintan
Posted in AT&T, Elections, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Nigeria, Political Commentary, Social Commentary | Leave a Comment »
July 25, 2015
It has been a resolutely beautiful day in Columbia County. I awoke late this morning, having been up late, cleaning up after a dinner party. Thursday night some friends were going to come for dinner and cancelled. I had food that would have rotted and so I called other friends and invited them for dinner Friday evening.
Serving a chilled avocado soup, followed by a salad, then a grilled chicken breast with sautéed heirloom carrots and potatoes, along with some dreadful sugar snap peas I managed to destroy, it was a dinner much enjoyed [except for the sugar snap peas]. Dessert was ice cream with chocolate sauce; it felt very summery and right.
I have always enjoyed having people for dinner and last night was a testament to that. It was mostly good food with great company, good wine and sparkling conversation. I went to sleep with a bit of a glow.
Awaking this morning, the sun was already fairly high in the sky but it was neither hot nor humid today. At this moment, I am sitting on my deck, looking over the creek, and thinking of how wonderful it is that I am in this spot.
The sun is now hidden behind clouds but it does not prevent the birds from singing or the frogs from leaping. This morning I found one on the side of the house; they are everywhere right now and I’m grateful.
Far away, I can hear traffic on 23, moving to and from the Massachusetts border. The green of the trees is luscious. All seems right in the world.
All, of course, is not right in the world. While it seems far away, it isn’t really. Events keep happening that keep shaping our world. Some of them are for the good and some for the bad. It is interesting to figure out which is which.
Obama was in Kenya today, homeland of his father, and spoke out for gay rights, which caused a very tense moment between him and the President of Kenya, Kenyatta. Kenyatta thought it was a non-issue and Obama did not. There has been a crackdown on gays in Kenya and it’s apparently not very pretty. Tomorrow Obama will meet with some of gay leaders in Kenya. Kenyatta is not happy.
But good for Obama! Yes, good for him.
Donald Trump’s campaign keeps trucking along. Right now he is mired in a bit of controversy as he has formed a group called “Veterans for Trump,” though some of the veterans named claim they have so idea how they got on the list. He is being accused of hiring actors to cheer for him. Gosh, it sounds a lot like ancient Roman politics.
He made a visit to Laredo, Texas and I was surprised in reading the reports from there how many agreed with him, including some of Hispanic origin. He is tapping into a vein of American discomfort and is doing well by it.
Duke, the Great Dane, whose family lives next door, just wandered onto my property. Two years ago he had been given two months to live by his vet. But he’s still here, seemingly having a good time. We’ve begun to think of him as indestructible. He just keeps going on…
The sun is setting, the green is fulsome; the creek glitters with the fading light. I find myself astonished at my luck in having this place to sit and write. A small plane flies overhead, flying south from Columbia County Airport. These are country sounds and moments.
I’ll be having more of them, suspecting that some time in the not too distant future I will be here full time. Sitting on the deck on day this week, I realized that I didn’t care that much about the life I’ve had though am interested in finding out what life I will have.
I’ve been here long enough to note the changes. Rosemary Schneider has passed away and her cottage torn down and rebuilt from the slab up. Harry Fonda has passed away and his wife is now in assisted care facility up near Albany and her daughter; new people live in their house. Lionel and Pierre bought their house across the street from long time residents I didn’t know well.
Time keeps changing things. I am treasuring this moment when time seems eternal. The creek reflects the light. The small plane flies south. I hear someone cutting their grass. It is a perfect evening on a summer night in Columbia County.
Tags:Columbia County New York, Donald Trump, Laredo, Laredo and Donald Trump, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Obama, Obama in Kenya, Veterans for Trump
Posted in Columbia County, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Social Commentary | Leave a Comment »
July 24, 2015
I feel asleep early last night and woke early this morning, the sun bursting through the windows of the cottage. Getting my coffee, I went outside for a moment but it felt too chill to sit and sip on the deck so I retreated to my bedroom, went over the morning headlines, read the NY Times’ Briefing for today, and then went online to find a recipe for dinner tonight. Friends are coming over and I am grilling, a thing I always do with trepidation.
We will see how it goes, another adventure in the world of cooking.
There was another mass shooting last night, at a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana. Three are dead, including the shooter and nine are wounded, one critically. The film that was playing was “Trainwreck.” The suspected shooter, John R. Houser, was a “drifter” from Alabama.
Hours before the shooting, President Obama, in an interview with the BBC said that his inability to get gun laws passed was his greatest frustration.
It was a wide-ranging interview in which Obama also expressed his belief that the UK should stay in the EU that resulted in grousing from Britain’s anti-Euro factions.
He is off to Kenya shortly and said he will speak out “bluntly” on human rights while there.
Scrolling through the news as I write this, I’m glad I’m not flying out of LaGuardia today. A power outage of as yet unknown origin is causing three-hour delays.
Amazon has done something it rarely does: it turned a profit in the second quarter, astounding all and boosting tech stocks ahead of the market’s open. The uptick in its share price now makes Amazon more valuable than Walmart.
Turkey has authorized the U.S. to use its airbases in its fight against IS while at the same time it has begun its own aerial operations against them in various parts of Syria. Earlier this week there was a suicide bombing that killed 32 that has been blamed on IS, motivating Turkey to become more proactive in the fight against IS, something the U.S. has sought for a long time.
Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server continues to haunt her; two inspectors general have requested a criminal investigation. No comment from the Clinton camp and no decision on action from the Justice Department.
I haven’t seen “Jurassic World” yet and may not but it is the third highest grossing film in history and a sequel is planned for 2018. I am a fan of Chris Pratt and suspect he is getting a sizable pay bump for the sequel. I am looking forward, eagerly, for the sequel to “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Speaking of the pre-historic world, it astounded scientists when they discovered that an ancestor of the snake had four legs, used for grasping. The unusually complete skeleton was found in Brazil and is over a hundred million years old. Personally, I don’t like snakes at all.
Russia has sentenced the leader of a neo-Nazi group to life in prison; he was convicted of ordering the killing of five, including a human rights lawyer. Ilya Goryachev had been hiding in Serbia but was extradited.
Interestingly, on the political scene today, Pew has issued a report saying that Republicans have a dimmer view of themselves than six months ago. Their self-respect has dropped by 18 percentage points since January. 68% of Republicans approve of their party today.
Democrats think as highly of themselves now as they did in January; 86% of them think well of their party.
While many I know look at The Donald with astonishment, from both sides of the political spectrum, he is touching a vein of something in the American psyche. A friend called it “rage.” Whatever it is, it bears looking into because it is powerful, strong and a force in this election.
It has climbed fifteen degrees since I woke up this morning. I have some errands to run and then am off to a lunch with a literary agent that I met two weeks ago in Rhinebeck at the “T Space.” We’re meeting at Earth Foods in Hudson at one. In between there are things to do, places to go, adventures to be had.
Tags:BBC, Chris Pratt, Donald Trump, Four legged snake, Guardians of the Galaxy, Hillary Clinton, John R Houser, Jurassic World, Kenya, Lafayette, LaGuardia, Louisiana, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, NY Times Morning Briefing, Pew, President Obama, The Donald, Trainwreck shooting
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July 24, 2015
In the west, the sun is slowly setting, a great golden orb pulsing through the trees and almost hurting my eyes as I sit at my desk typing. It has been a magical summer day in Columbia County. Rising early in a cool morning, I sat on my deck reading and sipping coffee, reminded of summer mornings when I was a child in Minnesota. Then the sun was glittering off the creek. Snapping a shot of it, I sent it to Nick Stuart, my friend who is currently touring Southern California with his daughter Francesca. He returned with a shot of a greyish morning in LA, with downtown Los Angeles visible in the background of the shot.
It is Thursday night and another week has slipped away. Last Friday night I was headed north, plumped with the excitement of having a full week at the cottage. Now that time has slipped away and it has been very sweet. Friends have visited, I have had friends for dinner, books have been read, shopping has been done and now that time is coming to an end. Next week I will be back in the city.
World events swirl around me while I am here and I make note of them but feel far from them. We have done a deal with Iran, something that seemed impossible. Republicans are going to attempt to derail it. Interestingly, the Ayatollah Khamenei seems to have decided he is okay with it. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Ash Carter, the Secretary of Defense, has surprised Baghdad with a visit to discuss the preparations to retake Ramadi from IS. How strange it is that I have become so familiar with such unfamiliar names of places like Ramadi. Years of war have caused them now to be tattooed on my brain.
Obama is about to make a visit to Kenya to address the Global Entrepreneurship Summit; Kenya is agog with excitement. Obama’s father was Kenyan of the Luo in the west of Kenya. “Mama Sarah,” his grandmother, will go to Nairobi to see him but he will not go to the ancestral lands of his father. Kenya is deeply invested in the success of Barak Obama. Schools are named after him; children are named after him. He is the “native” son who has become the leader of the most powerful nation on earth.
Ah, the sun has slipped down and the sky is now a soft pearl grey. Twilight has arrived while I review the events of the day.
NASA has announced the finding of a near Earth twin, Keplar 452b. Well, may be an older cousin like planet but one that holds the possibility for all the factors NASA believe are necessary for life. Heavier gravity, older than earth, but in the “Goldilocks” zone, it may well be a place where life has evolved. Hopefully, radio telescopes are looking at it to see if there are messages that might be coming from it. Unfortunately, it is 1400 light years from here. We will need warp drive to get there.
Donald Trump is in Laredo, Texas. I would so like to chat with my friend Alicia who is from there. Would love to get her take on his visit. He is causing constant conniptions in Republican circles, even more so now that he is thinking of running as a 3rd party candidate. They see catastrophe in front of them. The Donald is leading in the polls! And if he doesn’t get the nomination, he might not go away! Ouch!
How rich is he? Hard to tell from the forms filed but Forbes is guessing $4 billion.
The Euro is up on the progression of Greece obtaining new loans from the EU. Reading an article just now it seemed like it’s Peter borrowing from Paul to pay…I have to say it seems more and more like a house of cards that will only work if there is a reduction in Greece’s debt, which is unsustainable. The country can’t survive with the amount of debt it has.
The sun is almost gone. Evening is upon us. The light has turned on for the fountain in the courtyard. Soon it will be summer dark.
What a wonderful summer day it has been. I am going to curl up with a new book or a good movie and let the day slip away. Tomorrow I have lunch with a new friend and then dinner at home with my friends Susan and Jim; we know each other from the train.
Perfect. May your day be perfect too!
Tags:Ash Carter, Ayatollah Khamenhei, Baghdad, Columbia County, Donald Trump, Greece, Greek Debt Crisis, Iran Deal, Kenyan Visit of Obama, Keplar 452b, Laredo, Laredo Donald Trump, Los Angeles, Mama Sarah, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Nairobi, NASA, Nick Stuart, Obama, Ramadi
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Letter From Martha’s Vineyard 08 19 15 Pristine sea, cloudless sky, and trouble on land…
August 19, 2015In the room where I am staying on the Vineyard, there are floor to ceiling windows that look, across the balcony, onto Edgartown Harbor. The water is a dark blue, the sky is lighter but both are crisp and clean. The sky is cloudless and pristine.
I have spent the morning on the porch, reading a book and doing some emails. After a late breakfast, all the batteries on my devices were running low, so I came up to my room to plug them back in. My kindle is charging, as are my phone and laptop. My poor laptop, three years old, is beginning to feel its age and I am afraid it will soon be time for a replacement.
This evening will be The Grand Illumination, a lighting of the old cottages in the Campgrounds with antique Japanese lanterns and more. I’m looking forward to it and will do my best to give you a good description tomorrow. That’s why I am writing early today. I’ll be out in the evening, taking in the Grand Illumination.
Grand are also the ambitions of Donald Trump, who is now, unbelievably and, to me, horrifyingly, being treated more and more as a viable candidate. In some polls he is within striking distance of Hillary. As I sit here looking out at the placid waters of the harbor, I am stunned.
Trump has declared that, sadly, Heidi Klum is no longer a ten. She wonders what that has to do with the election while, at the same time, mocking him back on social media. One often wonders what Trump has to say has to do with anything.
In another pre-election year kink, Al Gore is said to be thinking about a run in 2016.
IS today beheaded an 82 year old archeologist, Khaled Assad, in Palmyra. Author of many books and articles, sire of 11 children, he was one of the world’s, if not the world’s expert, on Palmyra. He refused to divulge to IS things they wanted to know. His headless body is hanging from a lamppost in town.
Turkey is restless. Following the failure of Erdogan’s government to win a majority for the first time since 2002, the country has been unable to form a government and new elections are expected soon. Two terrorists attacked the Dolmabahce Palace today, popular with tourists and home to the Prime Minister’s Istanbul offices. Kurds killed eight soldiers in the southeast.
Zimbabwe has arrested the man who owned the farm where Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist, killed Cecil the Lion. That brings to three who have been arrested. Not charged so far is Walter Palmer, whose Minnesota dental practice reopened today, but without him. He was photographed recently in Eden Prairie, MN, not far from his Bloomington, MN practice.
Jared Fogle famously became a spokesperson for Subway when he claimed that Subway helped him lose over 200 pounds. He is now infamous for child pornography charges and he has agreed to plead guilty to charges of child pornography and paying for sex with minors. He faces over a decade in jail. Sad end to a success story.
The UK is saying the e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than tobacco and is, if not exactly endorsing them, coming very close to doing so.
A female “Viagra” has been approved for sale.
Ashley Madison is a website for spouses who want to cheat. It has, like many other sites, been hacked. Millions of names have been released to the “dark web.” Only good thing: most people can’t get to the “dark web.” Not a good day to be a cheater.
The day is beautiful and I am restless writing. I want to go back outdoors and read some more and soak in the harbor’s beauty.
Until next time.
Tags:Al Gore, Ashley Madison Hack, Cecil the LIon, Donald Trump, Edgartown, Female Viagra, Grand Illumination, Heidi Klum, Hillary Clinton, IS, Jared Fogle, Khaled Assad, Martha's Vineyard, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Palmyra, Walter Palmer, Zimbabwe
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