KITTY'S GOOD NEWS

Kitty's Good News

July 28, 2017

( Kitty Roedel, a member of our Progressive Miami resistance group, has been putting together a monthly list of "good news", the positive things we need to keep in mind, as we continue to fight #45 and his cronies. Here is the news from the last month.

1. Early this morning, thanks to 48 hard-working Democratic Senators and three sensible Republican Senators, the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act failed by a vote of 49-51.

2. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously to uphold the injunction blocking the  Muslim ban.

3. 45 reversed his pledge to deport Dreamers (for now).

4. Eighteen states have filed suit against Betsy DeVos over her delay of regulations to provide new protections for federal student loan borrowers who are defrauded by for-profit colleges

5. Hawaii is the first state to join Paris Climate Accord. Miami Dade Commission voted to support the Accord.

6. Acting US ambassador to China, David Rank, resigns in disgust over US pullout of Paris Accord.

7. Federal appeals court struck down EPA’s suspension of Obama’s emission standards.

8. For the first time, wind and solar accounted for 10% of US electricity generation.

9. Senate passes a bipartisan bill to add sanctions to Russia and to prevent 45 from removing sanctions.

10. Representative Quigley introduces the "Covfefe Act" requiring all presidential social media posts (FB, Twitter) to be preserved, expanding the Presidential Records Act.

11. Dept of  Justice’s top corporate ethics officer resigns, says it’s impossible to work under this administration.

12. The head of the Boy Scouts condemns #45 acting like a drunk evil stepfather when he spoke to 40,000 scouts at their annual gathering in West Virginia. Let's hope he doesn't speak in front of Girl Scouts as well.

13. White house spokesperson Sean Spicer quits. A new white house communications is appointed ("The Mooch") and is quickly condemned for trash talk.

14. Fox News host Neil Cavuto tells 45 that fake news is not his problem, that 45 himself is the problem.

15. NBA champs Golden State Warriors unanimously declined 45's invitation to visit the the White House.

16. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has not yet been fired by #45. He continues his investigation of 45 for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and ties to Russia.

17. Commission on Civil Rights has approved an investigation of civil rights enforcement in 45’s administration.

18. The military just announced that it will not implement #45's new transgender policy.

19. After ten years of trying, Rep. Barbara Lee finally got the Republican led Appropriations Committee to back her amendment to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which, if signed into law, would require Congress to debate and approve each new military action.

______________________________________

Thanks for the Good News, Kitty.

We needed that.

Keep in mind that we are the majority and

most of us did not vote for the Cheetohead.

We will prevail.

For Progressive Miami,

Glenn

SIGNS ALONG THE WAY

  IN MY TRAVELS I come across interesting signs.  I usually don't have places for these photographs in my blog so I thought I'd just create this Sign Show, sharing a few from the last year.

    Indian restaurant, Austin, TX.  The six Terry tots were told to join "The Clean Plate Club" at the end of every meal. I've cleaned mine ever since.  When no one is looking I sometimes lick it too. It tastes great and makes dish washing unnecessary.

  
I've always complied with these "Eat" signs as well though I really don't have to be told.  Ruby's Barbecue, Austin ,TX

Camp Topaz, Utah. This was one of many flyers put up in California in 1943 telling folks they had to "relocate" to the Utah desert. It was about 109 degrees when we passed through.

Western stop sign, Moab, Utah

 Warning Sign, public pool east of Denver.  The only contests I could win as a kid were those involving who could hold their breath the longest underwater.  I've gone as long as three minutes. 
I assume this pool's sign was a response to too many kids staging fake drownings. As a kid I did many stupid things but not that.

At them moment we are visiting a gated community south of Santa Cruz, Ca.   The first thing you see when approaching the pool is this sign that tells you, "If you've got the runs, run away!".

 This'n told me, "This is it. Now turn around and walk back up until you reach those tiny trees you see in the distance." 
 Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Good eats on Route 66

 Sammy Slug, mascot for the USC-Santa Cruz athletic teams. He is a bright yellow Banana Slug which is  common in Northern California.

 Burning Man, my home for a week last year.  
   I'll be there again at the end of next month.

 Death Valley weather forecast

Women's March at Trump's Inauguration, Jan. '17.
We're on Day 203 now.  How many more can our country endure?
          _____________________________________________
                  _______________________

BAN THE BOXES!

    Grove resident Dave Villano hit the nail on the head when asked about the huge white boxes popping up in the Grove.  In a Miami Herald article he said,

    “Developers building the boxes are hollowing out the Grove lot by lot. One is fine and two is okay but at some point the Grove won’t be the Grove anymore. They’re parasites. They’re sucking the life out of what makes the Grove special. And they’re profiting from what they’re destroying.”

  If you'd like to read the Herald article regarding over-building in Coconut Grove,

You can read the article here.

 

HOT WHEELS & SCARY CLOWNS

     This is the final segment of my four-part series on summer parades. Along with today's Maine event, we visited two Fourth of July parades, and last month's Keep Austin Weird 5K. Here's hoping you can enjoy a festive procession soon.
________________________________________________________

              GETTING WEIRD FOR A GOOD CAUSE

    As a kid, it seemed strange to see grown men acting like children. Every year I'd see guys dressed like clowns driving tiny cars in Miami's Orange Bowl Parade. Others looked like Moroccan palace guards swinging curved swords.          
                                                                        "Baby Cakes"


 
      
       My mother explained that these men were "Shriners", a club for men who enjoyed acting silly in parades. It seemed as odd then as it did last month when I ran into the secret society again.
     
       They were having their own parade in Belfast, Maine. For an hour the Bangor members of "The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine" passed by with their crazy costumes and miniature vehicles. 

     Shriners were a popular men’s club long ago -they’ve been around since 1870- but like the Moose, Lions, and Odd Fellows clubs they are slowly fading away.  But somehow they've managed to stay strong in Bangor, Maine.  The city has a large chapter that spends it weekends parading all over the Pine State. There it is still cool for a young man to wear a tasseled fez and pledge allegiance to the “Potentate”, (the local group leader). 

             Potentate of the Bangor Temple, Stephen "Steve" Trimm
   
    To join you have to first be a Mason and  express a belief in God. It was a lot like that when I joined a fraternity fifty years ago. 

   If you'd like to become a Shriner
we still have our Miami group ("The Mahi Shriners").  It might be fun to wear the fez and clown around.  If you're a woman, they've got an auxiliary for you, "The Daughters of the Nile". Besides throwing  parties and parades they raise a lot of money for children's hospitals.

     So there I was in Belfast, Maine, waiting to see my first Shriners in fifty years. When the first of  of them marched down the road they did not disappoint. I spent an hour fascinated inside their fez-topped time warp.

      The procession followed rank, beginning with their leader, Steve, on a throne.

   The current Bangor Temple Potentate was pulled up the street by neophytes hitched up like horses. The head horse wore a clown nose.

Next were,
past Potentates  
 
driving snazzy convertibles.

 

Tuxedo’s Potentate wannabe’s

were followed by white coated wannabe’s hoping to move up to the tux level.

 

The six most recent applicants ("The Second Section") were marching in street garb hoping that some day they too will wear the fez. Their leader also wore a clown nose.
Most of the hundreds that followed could be called, "No Way I'll Ever be a Potentate, I'm happy enough playing in the Temple Band",


This is a good time to point out that the Miami Shriners are looking for musicians to reform their temple band.
 

or the temple priests, keepers of mystical secrets,
 
or a Chanter, happy to sit in the back of a truck and sing songs from the 1890's.

   After fifteen minutes of this a huge billboard rolled by reminding us that the Shriners may seem weird but they raise a lot of money to support hospitals for children.  One of them is in Milwaukee.

  After all these preliminaries we got to the serious kidding around, hundred of Shriners hot rodding  in loud, little vehicles. They got darn close to the children perched on the parade's edge of as they zoomed, slid, and figure-eighted driving
 
Mini-model T’s
Go Carts

 
Mini-Bikes,

 
 Mini-Formula One Racers

Mini-18 wheelers and, this being the boys from Maine,

Go-carts pretending to be Mini Lobster Boats.

Interspersed within all these "mini-groups" were scary clowns with names like,

                 Green Giant 










Snickers and Cray Cray

 Piggy



and this smiling man with the unlikely name, "911".







 





Oh it was entertaining watching those silly men. Their antics were fine with me. 
     No kids got run over,  none (hopefully) had clown nightmares and the sick children of Milwaukee are better for it. 

                     __________________________________________

  

 

VIKING FUNERAL FOR A SURFING LEGEND

    Jack O'Neill died last month. In his 94 years the surfing pioneer managed to be a WWII Navy pilot, raise a family, and create the surfing empire that bears his name. 

   
     O'Neill is credited with creating the black neoprene wet suit that allow folks to surf in cold water.  California, the surfing capital of the world, has very cold water. 

    Two months ago, I met a young man who surfs  the coast of Maine every day of the year (yes, even in the snow) .  He said his aquatic addiction was made possible by his O'Neill wet suit.  
    The master surfer also created the O'Neill Sea Odyssey organization in 1996. It provided hands-on educational experiences that teach thousands of children to preserve and protect the ocean.

      Miami's Adam Steckley is an educator at O'Neill Sea Odyssey.
      Today we went to O'Neill's memorial service next to his home in Santa Cruz, California.
 

     There is a longstanding tradition of the "paddle out", a way to say goodbye to departed surfers. 
Today thousands of watermen carried their boards to the shore
 
 

and paddled out to sea. 

  
    There, along with a few curious seals and otters, they formed a huge circle to pay tribute to the one-eyed Jack (O'Neill lost an eye in a surfing accident). 

    Many more -like my wife and I- watched from the cliffs a half-mile away.
 
   
    When all was said from the officiating schooner, the surrounding surfers hollered and splashed in approval. It sounded like a football stadium roar rumbling across Monterrey Bay.

    They owe a lot to this guy. On this foggy 62 degree morning everyone of them was kept warm by a black neoprene wet suit.
              ___________________________