A good Saturday morning all.

Here we are again. What a perfect time to properly set your watch or clock. Click on the audio link and be poised to set time perfectly and sip some coffee while listening.

Soon it will be 30 years ago since the Berlin Wall came down. I remember it vividly. Suddenly I found myself listening to Klaus Meine sing with the German band Scorpions to what had quickly become the, de facto, anthem of the time; Wind of Change. Why bring it up? I had hoped to be in Canada where I could crank the sounds up while organizing Northern Comfort after its extra-long ‘winter’ hiatus. Now we’ve just been informed that the border will stay closed through August (maybe even longer). See the border theme? I guess more news to follow – in the meantime I’ll be here in the ‘Nati!

But there is more to my reflections on the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was emblematic of how the German nation was torn in half immediately after WWII. West Germany buried its past, embraced democracy and Capitalism and thrived, rapidly gaining its power-house nation status in Europe. Alongside that nation’s growth its citizenry thrived. At the same time the new East Germany buried itself under the burden of Marxism; saddled with the dictatorial edicts of Communism.

When the wall was torn down I remember watching TV as thousands upon thousands of people streamed through to the West; for the first time setting foot into personal peace and freedom. Now, thirty years later the former East is, in many ways, is still trying to catch up with its Western brothers and sisters. Escape wasn’t easy, even after gaining the freedom to do so.

Why do I even bother digging into this? The Berlin Wall was built to keep people in. Many died trying to escape and those who made were warmly embraced by the West, each success making headlines across the world.

But my real reason is to bring to light a bit of what we as a nation are facing these days. Sure, the language has softened, and been ‘sugar’ coated, but Marxism is beating at our own ‘gates. Two of the founders of Black Lives Matter (BLM), Alicia Garza and Patrisse Cullors during an interview had Cullers exclaim; “Myself and Alicia in particular are trained organizers. We are trained Marxists.”

Extreme ‘progressive’ Governors and Mayors in many of our major cities are allowing BLM and Antifa anarchists with their Communist underpinnings free reign and they are busily destroying cities into their world vision. The ‘Cancel Culture’ has gained speed and is now freely being allowed to erase our nation’s history –making it impossible to better ourselves by learning from history as names of founders, statues, and ideas are quickly being erased — and we’ve derided the Taliban for doing just this?  Bernie Sanders, looking a bit like a crazy professor to many, has managed to push one of our major Political Parties into left wing positions deemed impossible even at the time Obama was elected.

Almost 250 years since our nation embarked on our ‘Grand Experiment’ to become the de facto world leader, we are now close suddenly being pushed into an abyss alongside nations such as Cuba, Venezuela, and North Korea. How did this happen? We only need to go back in time, the time of Greek mythology when ‘sweet songs’ were being touted. In Greek mythology, sirens (creatures half bird and half woman) were known for seducing sailors with their sweet voices, and, by doing so, lure them to their deaths. In mythology it was a simpler time and sailors only needed to place wax in their ears to stay their course. We require much more, 250 years of effort and hard work building our nation lost in a blink — or in an election!

Currently we’re facing an onslaught, a barrage, a tsunami all pushing us into the direction from which East Germany finally escaped! Stay true to our ideals and plow through beyond this ‘surf’ to enjoy what we had and what we still want to attain; Wind of Change;

“The wind of change
Blows straight into the face of time
Like a stormwind that will ring the freedom bell
For peace of mind…..

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams
With you and me
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change…”

Coronadoom – Over the past weeks I’ve blathered enough on the Corona virus. So, this week a few voices, each more eloquent than mine;

“If you don’t think the Controlavirus is going to disappear like magic after the November election – pull my finger” ~ Catturd™

There is a great lesson to be learned from my experience handling COVID.. trust your people. Don’t lay down mandates that are going to hinder the flexibility that they need to really get through this difficult time” ~ Kristi Noem, Governor of South Dakota

”Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups” ~ George Carlin

Foods – are what we’re using, in part to get through all of this. Last weekend it was dinner at our favorite pub, Gordo’s. Marcia drools for days just thinking about their Pear & Blue Cheese Salad. Me, it’s a pint of ice cold draft Lager.

Last evening our neighborhood again organized to get one of the area’s great variety of food specialty trucks to make a stop. Placed the order on-line on Thursday, and was given a pick-up time of 6:06 on Friday. So, last evening we totally enjoyed our Korean Rice Pot dinner from Red Sesame Korean BBQ. Worthy of FIVE Stars.

Fini – Next Friday Baseball season starts – months late and without fans it really is a bit of a joke. Just imagine the roar of the crowd when on this very day in 1927 Ty Cobb hit his 4,000th run. Nevertheless, Go Reds!

This day, but back in 1969, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick island……the rest of that story lives on and on in infamy.

RIP Congressman John Lewis, he was one of the few remaining icons of the Civil Rights movement, he passed yesterday. But, also today we can celebrate the life of the first black American to receive the Medal of Honor. On this day in 1863 during the assault on Fort Wagner, SC, Union Sgt. William Harvey Carney, a former slave, despite serious wounds struggled across the battlefield carrying the Union flag which earned him that honor. The award was given to him in 1900.

It’s a new day (future trend?) in the emerging world of ‘Corona-Weddings’. Paul and Dia, in Michigan, watched via Facetime as granddaughter Sierra got married in California. Their toast on their porch never tasted as good. Much happiness Sierra.

Make it great week, keep the peace, stay safe, and be healthy! All Lives Matter.

Dirk