Politics in Trump times

Having worked at the European Parliament has given me a bit of insight of how 27 states can work together... Yet what CNN, BCC and other TV-channels show me these days is beyond my comprehension. The turmoil, the confusion and the arrogance is mind boggling. It all seems haphazard, not thought through. There seems to be no trust, just in some people the blatant arrogance of power. If T. doesn't know anymore what to do he starts an other press conference. The meeting with his Israeli colleague Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu was to say the least weird. Trump suddenly didn't care whether a one state or two state solution. He only suggested to cool it a bit with the settlements. Palestinians have once again gotten the short stick.
Living in Antwerp, near a larger Jewish section makes me wonder how the people there feel. I see the different 'factions' in how they dress. I see how the young Jewish girls are little happy princesses and then when they grow up they seem not happy anymore. They have a bunch of children in tow, seem often sullen and down. Maybe they long to go back to Israel where the weather is better.
Yet what I really don't understand is how suddenly a person becomes Trumps best friend and how they get fired, or they make the decision to leave the ongoing madness and try and salvage their dignity...
Elizabeth Warren is my favorite together with Claire McCaskill
I root for them.

Domestic trouble in the morning leading to empowerment

In the evening I always let down the blind in the kitchen to keep the cold out. Yet when I tried to make it go up again, there seemed to be a bit of confusion in the workings. Then I noticed a tiny message on the device that the batteries were empty. I thought I just knew the shop where to get the small batteries I needed. I was pointed in the right direction by the kind old lady of the shop, because they didn't carry that. At the shop, basically DoggyDog couldn't come in. But soon enough the shopkeeper gave me the correct size batteries and for 4.99€ I was on my way home again in the very brisk frosty morning. I put the batteries in, reconnected the device to its support and for 20 seconds, or half a minute the blind was confused, made a few weird movements, but then success: the blind went up and seems to be functioning well. I could have asked for help, but didn't and in not doing that and figuring it out by myself I felt strangely empowered. Yesterday, I managed to fix my printer and was also proud and now feel empowered... May it last a long time ;-)

Courage against Racism

Coretta Scott King, the widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., urged Congress in a letter to block the 1986 nomination of Jeff Sessions for federal judge, saying that allowing him to join the federal bench would “irreparably damage the work of my husband.” The letter, previously unavailable publicly, was obtained on Tuesday by The Washington Post.
(Read the full letter below)
The letter was read by courageous Elizabeth Warren. She was silenced and brought outside the Congress, where in the hall she went on reading the full letter which follows here:
“Anyone who has used the power of his office as United States Attorney to intimidate and chill the free exercise of the ballot by citizens should not be elevated to our courts,” King wrote in the cover page of her nine-page letter opposing Sessions’s nomination, which failed. “Mr. Sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters. For this reprehensible conduct, he should not be rewarded with a federal judgeship.”
Thirty years later, Sessions, now a senator, is again undergoing confirmation hearings as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, and he is facing fierce opposition from civil rights groups.
In the letter, King writes that Sessions ascension to the federal bench “simply cannot be allowed to happen,” arguing that as a U.S. attorney, the Alabama lawmaker pursued “politically-motivated voting fraud prosecutions” and that he “lacks the temperament, fairness and judgment to be a federal judge.” She said Sessions’s conduct in prosecuting civil rights leaders in a voting-fraud case “raises serious questions about his commitment to the protection of the voting rights of all American citizens.”
“The irony of Mr. Sessions’ nomination is that, if confirmed, he will be given a life tenure for doing with a federal prosecution what the local sheriffs accomplished twenty years ago with clubs and cattle prods,” she wrote, later adding, “I believe his confirmation would have a devastating effect on not only the judicial system in Alabama, but also on the progress we have made toward fulfilling my husband’s dream.”

Politics in America

I am beyond astonished or flabbergasted by the political events in my country, the USA. I am an American abroad and that is not easy right now. I have incredulously been watching what Trump causes, his blustering approach and his narcissistic personality. His not thought through actions do not give me a safe feeling. Mr Trump: greatness is earned, not bought by money nor by power. He has been rude with other leaders, even in a case where he needs the help of that country in order to find a place for the many refugees. October, November last year I was in Chloride, Arizona and was astonished by the strange change that came over the country like a dark and foreboding cloud! Now my worst fears have been confirmed. My country, our country dear fellow Americans, is being ruled by a narcissistic bully. Also by someone who changes his mind in a flash. Someone who insults, by his actions and his words. Someone who thinks briefly about a short term solution for a serious problem at hand.

I watched him sign the presidential decrees, always showing his signature. It are interesting times when terminology changes, when a new person comes to office. Miss Kelly-anne Conway is rather good at inventing a "massacre" that never happened: "Bowling Green Massacre". The travel ban is causing a lot grief and confusion. The president has already caused a lot of grief and confusion. He has quarreled with the Australian premier, an ally he needs. By his blustering approach, his not thinking through of issues, or getting real advice makes me shudder. His choice in people who surround him also hurts my sensibilities.

Dear congress members, members of she senate I admire the people who stand up against him because they have moral fiber and integrity and take the high road. Also, please do realize climate change is a reality, whatever deniers may say. Don't forget, we only have one earth!

I congratulate and support the Federal Judge who dared to block Trump's executive order('s).

Where Water Comes Together with Other Water / Raymond Carver

Joris Iven, composed, translated and introduced this new and fascinating book about Raymond Carver, born on July 2nd in 1938 in Clatskanie, a small town in the northwestern state of Oregon. His father kept the saws sharp for the sawmill. So he is a kid from an American working class family. The books opens with the line "I have had two lives. My first life ended in June 1977, when I stopped drinking." He wrote this in a autobiographical note. His first life, was the longest and without a doubt the least fortunate. His writing feels dark and threatening, probably because money and health were extremely precarious. He met Maryann, then 15 and they got married two years later. They had two children. It was usually Maryann who brought in the money. They were always studying, but is was Raymond's goal to become a writer. He followed a lot of writing workshops, creative writing courses and such. They were extremely poor, and it wasn't easy to get his work published.
The moved around a lot, he was a notorious drunk, the bottle of Vodka always under the front seat of his car. In 1977 he met Tess Gallagher whom he married not long before his death. In 1987 he was diagnosed with lung cancer, too late for a surgical intervention and soon afterwards a brain tumor was found. Radiation didn't work, the cancer kept coming back. He passed away on august 2nd, 1988. After his death A new path to the waterfall (1989) came out.
I like Joris Iven's translation into Dutch, keeping the dark feeling of thread.
Joris's introduction was also very helpful.

Poetry and friends

Yesterday Inge, a dear friend, and I met up, talking, visiting a gallery where her teacher has an exhibition and listening to her explanation that is was all about the translucency of the background which is a very difficult thing to get right. She has been studying with him for a really long time and she really wants to get it right having developed quite a sharp eye.

Sitting in front of a text is a quite a different activity. And I am not sure I do get it right. It is a good thing in dark times to seek the light in poetry, in friends one hasn't seen for a long time. So I look
forward to this afternoon's event when Joris Iven presents his new book. And then there is also another consolation: José Meyvis playing in the teachers performance tonight. The Music school is right across from me and in summer I would just have to open the windows to hear the lovely sounds above the heavy city traffic. So today will be a day of friendship and culture. It might even be a day of healing.

The passing away of fathers

How honest can I be in a public piece of writing? My stepfather and I did not have a good relationship. That is the kindest I can be about it. And then say no more. The void is good for me. It becomes a place I can use for healing. So next Sunday I'll walk with a friend while talking. She has had similar bad experiences but then found other means to deal with it all. I am sure a long walk/talk will be good for myself and hopefully also for her.
I have recently seen in a friend what the sorrow for the loss of a real father really is. I knew the man and I liked him a lot. I have also seen how strong the mother tries to be. A long marriage, a close friendship, a real pair with enough space for both of them. Quite a way to be.