I might as well put you on notice. This week’s Post is heavy on politics. However, before you slam the cover down, it’s not about the Politic of politics. It’s about the spectacle of politics.

So, ease down into your chair and join me for coffee – mine’s already poured.

The other good news is that nowhere near the bottom will you find multiple paragraphs of fine print, nowhere!

“I’m not a global-warming believer. I’m not a global-warming denier.”~ Dr. Charles Krauthammer

Busing – Follow two fogies on a bus run is an adventure. Midafternoon last Thursday Marcia and I struck out on our adventure and it was off to ‘The Event’ (more on that shortly).  Thirty or so feet by the corner is the bus stop. We had made a pact. Marcia had the change and I had our senior fare passes. So, when the ‘beast’ rolled up, I stepped in and in turn held each Senior Pass card so that the chip could be read. Next was Marcia who dropped her whole hand full of change into the slot – it jammed immediately.

This led to a teaching moment by the driver and a coin retrieval process by Marcia as she began to fish out all the jammed quarters and dimes. Finally that feat was complete and one of us was now a legal bus passenger. Marcia was on a roll; carefully sliding each new coin into the slot for her fare. Whoops it turned out that the other Pass had to be read again since only one card followed by money could be ‘read’ at one time. Trouble being, they were already back in my wallet and I wasn’t sure which card had been read.

Let it be said that the driver was very patient as were the other riders. Marcia and I took seats near the rear and out of sight.

This is now later and after ‘The Event’, we were homeward bound. To save time we took a differing bus route which would drop us off a block or so away; two tall white-haired ‘Q-tips, us, climbed aboard. The driver, another patient soul, smiled and asked for our destination. How often does the driver ask where you’re heading? That driver saw nothing but problems since the final destination of his particular run aimed smack-dab into a large ghetto area. No, we were OK.

Lastly, having reached our stop I nearly pushed the rear doors off their hinges before a fellow passenger stated; “he’ll open them from the front”. It was good that it was dark as Marcia and I slinked back to our little condo. I think I just need more training; is there a class in mass-transportation practice and etiquette?

Jazzing – up the audience as was done by our President-Elect last evening was something. This was ‘The Event’ which we attended and watched with delighted awe – he’s good, very, very good. Obama who we’ve seen for these past years is silky smooth, sorta like an expert Lounge Entertainer. Trump grabs you by the throat, sorta like a R&B rocker. Obama does best when he works with a Teleprompter. Trump works best when he’s ‘unfettered’.

Last evening Marcia and I went to the Trump ~ Pence “Thank You” tour event, the first of these. Lucky that we used the bus, for as we discovered security had all of the downtown streets messed up. As per plan, we ‘primed’ ourselves by eating at a little downtown bistro called Nada. It touts itself as serving; “mood-lifting, drool-worthy, Mexican-inspired food with an Electric Design”. We loved it.

As I wrote to some, it’s easy to see that Ohio, which under both Bush & Obama has lost over 600,000 manufacturing jobs and has had stagnant wage growth during this same time, voted for a populist like Trump by over a 10,000 vote margin (more than either Bush’s and Reagan had). Looking at the folk present — they were ready for ‘Red Meat’.

Trump spoke for almost fifty minutes, delighting the crowd with a ‘whispered’ announcement that next week he’ll nominate as the Secretary of Defense retired Marine General James “Mad Dog” Mattis. The speech itself was one of hope, unification, acceptance, and optimism. At one point he also quoted Mark Twain: “do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

For me, it was my first Political Rally. I’d shaken President Nixon’s hand while at College and saw President Reagan transfer to his limo at our nearby Lunken airfield – but nothing like this. An evening to remember – one which saw me with headshakes, head-nods, and Goosebumps.

Animal Planet – I do believe that I’ve discovered something election newsworthy which everyone can embrace. I know, I know, it’s been difficult, but hang in with me – it’ll all begin to make sense.

For the longest time, President Obama – he’s a global-warmer believer – has proudly proclaimed; “Climate change is a fact.” Really?

It’s so “settled” that even the U.K.’s national weather service concedes there’s been no change — delicately called a “pause” — in global temperature in 15 years.

Now enters President-Elect Trump who doesn’t mince his words when he states that he’s not convinced that man-made global weather change is real. What are we to believe?

Many, many, and many more politicians, scientists, and educators say it’s so. Now that it is certain that the political winds are shifting, more ‘air-time’ (pun) is being given to scientists who hold opposing viewpoints. In fact, they are coming out of hiding, out of the woodwork.

So, let’s all agree that in Science nothing is ever “settled”. There is “nothing more anti-scientific than the very idea that science is settled, static, impervious to challenge”, quoting Krauthamer.

Can we now all embrace that with our political change, there is now a glimmer of hope that real, ongoing, vigorously debated, study of our climate may take place? And that is a good thing.

Let’s protect our environment, let’s do right, but also, let’s stay focused and follow-the-money. Let’s not blindly believe that someone’s ‘model’ is finality.

If I get the chance, I’ll talk to Al Gore.

Finis – With my new phone I am now one of the ‘app’ centric folk you see everywhere. Dining at Nada, I pointed out to Marcia that on every table in sight we could see a smart phone either in use or on the table – so I too placed mine on our table.

However, my new walking app is wonderful. Speed and time, distance, elevation, it’s all there. Then there is my new world of messaging and the word suggestion functuality – OK it did insert ‘virgin’ when I wanted to write ‘vigil’. The reader interpreted my thought correctly.

Next Friday will be Cathy’s graduation (Master’s Recognition) as she’ll be awarded her Master in Hospital Administration degree. We are all so proud!

Then, with absolutely no warning I am noticing our calendar filling up – is this a seasonal thing?

Cheers.

Dirk