Abortion Law

Roe v. Wade became legal and was celebrated not because people felt like abortion was good or right. The reason Roe v. Wade became legal, was that many women, mostly young women, either died or had permanent damage when they had illegal abortions. Recently R v. W law was overturned. But that is not the end.

The end is that an Abortion Law will be passed by Congress and signed into law by the president. Remember to vote for pro-choice candidates on November 8, 2022. Make your voices heard, by supporting Pro-Choice Congress candidates and senators!

We need to raise the Age to buy guns and assault rifles

Gun violence is a problem in America. It causes distress in every school in addition to the lives lost. Schools all across the country, prepare students for potential gun violence with active shooter drills.   Now some middle school students tease each other saying, if there is a mass shooter “You will be the one shot.”

Gun violence and just the threat of gun violence affects the quality of education of students and schools across the country.

And apart what a very small percentage of conservatives say, education is really important. We can’t fly airplanes, launch satellites, or have a society without having an educated work force.  Anyone that says differently is mistaken and delusional. We as a society are weaker, because of how gun violence effects schools and education.

So, if you don’t think we need to do something about gun violence, because it only happens, what a couple of times a week or it doesn’t happen in your community, you are not just letting school teachers and students die, you are also affecting the education of students everywhere in America.  

We need to be making the world a better place. One thing we can do is to raise the age of guns to 21, so these potential gun shooters, that are not fully emotionally developed can’t buy guns. Yes, we won't necessarily eliminate all school shootings, but why would we not take action, when raising the gun laws will save lives.

Due to the education level of the shooter at Robb Elementary School, the gun laws required to buy any gun, but especially high-capacity assault rifles on a National level, should require a high school diploma or turning age 21. This does not mean all guns are banned and you and your kid can't go hunting anytime. But it is beyond ridiculous if a law raising the legal age to buy a hand gun or an assault rifle to 21 or a high school diploma does not get passed.

Big Island of Hawaii-Day Two

 The Coffee Shack, Magics Beach Grille, and the Fish and the Hog

We traveled from our resort on the Kohala Coast up to Waimea to grab some fruit at the Farmer’s Markets in town. Waimea is in the foothills of the Volcanoes and has an elevation of our 3,000. It was cool and misty when we got there. We made it to one of their farmer’s markets at the end of the market, but were unable to find any fruit. They had a lot of stands of fresh made food, coffee, chocolate, and art. But no tropical fruit. We rush to another market, that was closing down, and missed out on any fruit they had.

Yelp has at least three four (or four and a half) star restaurants in Waimea. Merriman’s a fancy farm to table restaurant, at which reservations are required. Hawaiian Style Café-which takes no credit cards, and The Fish and the Hog. We drove by the Fish and the Hog on the way to the last farmer’s market, and so decided to stop by there. 

It was the nicest completely indoor dining we had on the west side of the big island.  They were out of poke (Hawaiian version of sushi), so I ordered a brisket sandwich and my better half ordered the fresh fish of the day. The food lived up to the high Yelp reviews, and the side of ranch, might be one of the best flavored Ranch dressings I’ve ever tasted. We chose the Fish and the Hog, because of their accepting of credit cards, but it was one of the best quality of food to cost values outside of the Hilo (East) side of the island.

Then we drove an hour south to tour a coffee plantation and get Lilikoi cheesecake at the Coffee Shack. On the way, we stopped a highly recommended chocolate shop- Donkey Balls, and got overpriced chocolate balls centered with macadamia nuts and peanut butter that we still haven’t eaten. The name definitely appeals to the juvenile nature, but the prices require some sort of professional employment. After buying our Donkey Balls. We then went to Greenwell farms for a free coffee tour and tasting.

Jet, our Emory college student/tour guide, went over the coffee making process from coffee tree to bean roasting, with the enthusiasm of someone high on coffee (as well as the caffeine of the coffee). We tasted many different styles of Hawaiian coffee, and found out a way they make decaf without chemicals. For the price, (Free) a great tour. We bought some Hawaiian salt, but no coffee. Since we aren’t regular coffee drinkers and the coffee is not priced at a discount.

After Greenwell farms we drove down the road to the Coffee Shack. Perched a couple of thousand feet up in elevation, with a view down to the coast and the Blue Central Pacific Ocean. We came for the Lilikoi Cheesecake, (Lilikoi-Passionate Fruit), but looking at the pies in the window, the Cream pies looked enticing. At the behest of our waiter, we ordered the chocolate cream pie over the coconut one and were not disappointed. We had views of the Pacific, and spotted our first gecko. Apparently, geckos are very common on the big island, and we definitely saw our fair share of them.

After eating pie, what did we do? Head straight down to the Ocean and the restaurant with our dinner reservation. Cause that's how we roll. We got there an hour early, but Magics Beach Grill, honored our reservation early. We had a view of Magics Beach, and the sunset. The food was good, but the view was spectacular. One thing about the big island, not so many sandy beaches. So much so, that I am not sure Magics Beach wasn’t man-made. But there must have been fifty plus people out in the waves: body surfing, a few snorkelers, and a couple of swimmers. It was definitely a scene. We missed out on any surfing beaches on this trip, so this was the closest. Watching all the body surfers and their joy at Magics Beach was definitely one of my best memories of the Big Island. We also ate delicious poke nachos, a mushroom flatbread, and got a free dessert of three Tropical Dreams ice cream flavors, mango, strawberry, and vanilla. One of the perks of saying we are on a Honeymoon. 

After Magics Beach Grille, we headed back to our resort, at the Fairmont Orchid (affordable thanks to a Costco Travel Promotion bought during the peak of Covid), and caught the end of the sunset and our second full day on the island of Hawaii.

Naomi Osaka and the French Open

This is my interpretation of what might have happened to Naomi Osaka, the female tennis player that withdrew from the French Open. Initially, she refused to talk to the press there. Then she was fined. Then she withdrew from the tourney. A grand slam event. One of the big four tennis tournaments, that people (historians) really care about. No offense to all the other tennis tournaments that aren’t as important.  

This opinion piece is based on my own experience with therapy, and mental health issues, and is not fact. I realize, after four years of a Trump presidency, putting this out there, even with the warning that this might not have been what happened, won’t matter to some of you. But that’s even more important, why I am sharing this. You-depending on who you are- might believe anything you read. At least you are exposed to what I think.

When Naomi Osaka, announced she wouldn’t be available for an interview after the French Open, because of Mental Health Issues, I was to be honest disappointed. Then the French Open fined her, $15,000, and she withdrew from the tournament. I was really disappointed. I don’t want to be dismissive of mental health issues. But at the same time, both men and women, need for lack of a better word, “balls.” Or assertiveness, or overcoming adversity. No one tells the story of someone that doesn’t speak or avoids doing an important task.

First, let me tell you how-I think- it went down. Naomi to her therapist. “I think I would do better in the tournament if I didn’t have to talk to the press.” Therapist: “what would happen if you refused to talk to the press? That sounds like a good boundary you could put up.”

 Therapists for some reason, usually tell you to be more selfish. As if most of the problems, we cause ourselves, is that we are not selfish, enough. I don’t know if that’s true, I don’t think that’s true. Sure, for some people, that might be true, but definitely not others. Some people might need to be selfish. Some might need more balls. Balls to find out that the world is not the scary place they think it is. If you never venture out, you’ll never discover, how fucking friendly, most people are. Even in New York. They are just pretending to not care and not notice. Its’ fucking New York, and people know how to act, when in New York. It doesn’t mean anything. Just like being friendly in certain parts of the country, don’t mean anything. Although in the Midwest, they generally do.

 But that’s what therapists do. For the most part they tell you to be more selfish. Maybe not in couples therapy, but definitely in individual therapy. “You don’t want to talk to the press?,” well, “you-he or she will suggest-can refuse to talk to the press.”

Obviously for Naomi, talking to the press was difficult. So instead of the therapist, saying, “Why do you find talking to the press difficult?” and getting to the root cause of this. Maybe it is perfectionism. Maybe she thinks she’s hiding something. And by not putting herself out there, and discovering, that people accept people as who they are, for the most part. Especially successful female athletes. And while it is tough for Naomi to talk to the press, maybe that’s exactly why she needs to do it. People don’t write stories or make tv shows or movies, about people that avoid difficult things. We write stories and honor those, who do difficult things. And if Naomi finds talking to the press, more difficult than winning tennis matches. Maybe she should focus on that. Maybe even practice that. Maybe she is a good tennis player, but g-d’s plan for her is to be a tennis commentator or a politician. And if she avoids talking to the press, that will never happen.

The therapist- again I’m projecting here- chose to help her avoid her “difficulty” instead of facing it. And yes, I’m blaming the imaginary therapist, that might not really exist for Naomi’s decision.

But if you don’t put yourself out there and do the difficult thing, you won’t grow.  You’ll just get stuck. Maybe that’s why the therapist suggested that-avoiding the press, as opposed to investigate why Naomi didn’t like talking to the press. Did she practice talking to the press? maybe she should. Maybe the therapist could get at the root of why Naomi was so uncomfortable, and let her know that it is ok to be awkward-occasionally, that she didn’t have to be perfect.

Because-maybe secretly and subconsciously- the therapist gave her that advice, didn’t truly really want to help Naomi, because the therapist was afraid of losing her as a patient. And if you give too good of advice as a therapist, your patients will realize they don’t mostly don’t need therapy, they often just need “balls”. And you’ll (the therapist if you do a good job of helping people find theirs) will have to find more new patients.

I think it is important to acknowledge that things are difficult or unpleasant. But those difficult and unpleasant tasks, still need to be done. I get it. Talking to the press, especially with language barriers is hard. But it is something that professional athletes, need to do. It’s part of the “job.” And avoiding that doesn’t make you brave. 

At least people want to hear you speak. So speak! Be brave, Naomi! Because that’s what the world needs. Not another avoider of facing our own problems- like lots of people, so I project.

Signing off,

GCNOF

California Fire Season Hotel Advertisement- For Smokers

Fire season.

Newscast: With the recent brush fire near Vacaville, the air quality is horrendous. Being outside is obviously, really bad for your lungs. I hear experts saying being outside with this air quality for 15 minutes is the equivalent damage to your lungs of smoking five cigarettes.

Hotel commercial: California fire season deals! If you are a smoker from out of state, come stay at our hotel. Discounted rates for smokers. Not only can you save on our hotel rates during Fire season, but you’ll also save on cigarettes!  Just no smoking in the building. Our air quality is so bad, being outside for an hour is the equivalent of smoking a pack of cigarettes.  Just make sure to go outside for your smoke breaks and breathe deeply, no cigarettes required!

Note, Cigarettes are not included in this deal, but our terrible air quality is on the house. Stay in our smoking rooms for less ventilation and even worse air quality than our standard nonsmoking rooms. The memories you have from your stay will be priceless!

Please note, if the air quality gets into the extremely hazardous zone, some outside activities might be cancelled.

Warning the air quality can seriously damage your lungs, but our hotel nor the state of California are not liable for future lung problems like emphysema or lung cancer. Also, forest fires can be deadly, you’ll want to make sure to book a hotel down wind from the fires, but not too close to them, in case the wind pattern changes.

Smokers come to California during Fire Season, save on hotel rates and cigarettes! Of course, you’ll have to find some other way to look cool and sophisticated, if you choose not to smoke, but being the suave and cosmopolitan person you are, we are sure you’ll think of something.

Day One Before S.I.P: Shelter-In-Place

Day One Before the Shelter:

This is my first post. I hope to post more in the future, but I do have other commitments. 

Today sometime around noon, Bay Area counties ordered a shelter-in-place for the next few weeks. This is the greatest challenge for our generation, claimed an elected official. He is talking for the Health Care professionals, I hope.

Or maybe he is saying that because all sports seasons have been cancelled, I think? Because our gyms will be closed? Because we won’t have to sit in commute traffic? Because we will be forced to be on our computers and watch tv and spend time with the people we live with?

I am sorry if you just joined a gym and were planning to finally improve your life. You will need to find a way to work out, without a gym, like everyone else that normally workouts at a gym. Hopefully the weather will be nice and we can hike. But I’m sure you can find an online workout class if you need it. What a great time to have bought a Peleton.

If this corona virus had happened, but in a different world, and the NBA and March Madness wasn’t affected, most people would get through the shelter-in-place watching basketball and maybe betting too much. The question now is how are the new sports betting companies doing? And the casinos? Do they have a rainy day fund to survive a few months with no sports betting? Anyone want to make a bet about which casinos will fold or consolidate?

If you binged watched before the shelter-in-place, well you can still binge watch after the shelter-in-place. I’m guessing we have enough TV shows and movies to survive a four-year trip to Mars. Even if you did binge watch a bunch before, I’m guessing you can still binge watch now.  I/we still have the final season and a half of Homeland. We’ve been pacing. We have to finish it before May, when our cheap Showtime trial, thanks to American Express, runs out.

Maybe the fall season TV overall won’t be as good. But, I’m pretty sure all the TV shows of the next few months have already been taped. And movies won’t be affected at all. The virus will be way over, by the time it would affect the abundance of TV shows and movies-at least in my opinion.

Hopefully, you read. I have a bunch of books I haven’t read on my book shelf, tons of magazines I refused to throw out. I even have two books from the library that I am instructed not to return until it is confirmed I don’t have the virus. So I can finally catch up on my reading.

If you play video games, before, I guess this is a great time to play video games again. Maybe I’ll start again - I but I hope to do more productive things. Although the real reason, I don’t play video games anymore is that I am not that good at them they got too advanced for me.

Lastly, the commute. Every day in the bay area commuting is, let’s just say, ridiculous. I know at least two people that commuted two hours each way. How is it bad that they have to work from home for a couple of weeks? We spend so much of our time commuting, it will be nice to have more time.

I understand, people are concerned that we can’t handle this forced shelter-in-place isolation. I understand if you are a health care worker and exposed to the virus on a regular basis. I’ve got elderly parents. I frankly don’t quite see what all the fuss is about - not about the virus, but the shelter-in-place. I think our society, may be too prepared for this. All the binge TV watching. Video games galore, which you can stream. Podcasts.

But I do think for some, this would be a great time to test Andrew Yang’s idea of giving every citizen $1,000 a month. See how it works. I think the thing some people are most scared about is money. And maybe most of us, should take a forced stay-cation, so you can home school or just spend some quality time with your kids, or catch up on house work. I don't see the point of working now, if it is not necessary.

One final note, we are all praying that the internet doesn’t get overloaded. Or you get ransomware. So I’ll end with a warning.

This shelter-in-place would be a terrible time to have a ransomware attack on your computer or a cyber attack. Please be very careful. Don’t answer unknown phone numbers. If it is important, they will leave a message. If someone is sending you an email with anything that might be a phishing email. Send it to phishing-report@us-cert.gov or you can just forward it to someone you don’t like. Be very careful with your computer usage. It would be a shame to have ransomware or a computer virus at this time. Especially if you are working from home.

This is it for the day prior to the shelter in place. I hope to keep you updated and let you know what happens. 

Peace,

GCNOF

Viagra or Cialis

I joked with my friends that Robert Kraft probably took Cialis or Viagra for his “massage” for which he got busted today. Even if not true, if winning a Super Bowl at 77 means you don’t need Cialis or Viagra to get it up. Pfizer or Lilly should use Robert Kraft in as a featured spokesman in a new commercial.

Robert Kraft says: “When you go to the “massage” parlor and want the extra special happy ending. You want to make sure you get your money’s worth, take “Cialis”. Satisfaction guarantee or your money back.” Disclaimer: In most states prostitution is illegal, if you happen to go when the undercover agents are making a bust, it might ruin your reputation, embarrass your wife and family, and not be that very happy of an ending after all.

Kraft is friends with Donald Trump. Trump has an opportunity to help out his friend. In the past couple of years, we’ve legalized marijuana, and sports betting. Maybe we can legalize prostitution as well?

When I am 77 and my team wins the Super Bowl, if I want to have sex with a young, attractive woman to celebrate, I might not want to divorce my wife and marry a gold digger. I might just want to go the massage parlor and pay less than desperate fools pay at a strip club, and have a discrete rendezvous with an attractive, younger woman. (Maybe I'll prefer being with a forty something then. And I'll not want to worry about being arrested for paying for sex, and be the big, embarrassing news story of the day.)

The problem with prostitution isn’t that men are paying women for sex, (Money is better spent on experiences than things, right?)  It is that some of the women aren’t really women, they are under 18, and many of both the woman and girls, are not there voluntarily. Then there’s the whole pimp thing, and madam thing, and many of the women prostituting don’t get their fair share of the wages earned either. (You know the wage gap is a big problem in the sex industry, right, being that women pretty much deserve all the money, and may not be paid accordingly.)

By legalizing prostitution, a la Nevada. (each state can decide whether to legalize it or not- just like sports betting and weed) as a society we can better solve the whole human trafficking side of prostitution, and men can legally visit a brothel, when they are 77 to celebrate a Super Bowl win and not get arrested and make front page news.

Of course, if we tax the shit out of it, then most of it will stay underground. Just like weed has in California, and that will defeat the purpose. 

Trump help out your buddy Kraft, and make prostitution legal. I can totally see you running a brothel. You would promise, “only 9’s or 10’s here”, but once one paid, you'd bring women that were only 4s and 5s. (You being the “good” businessman.)

 I am only 43 now, so I am pretty sure prostitution will be legal when I am 77, I am more worried about global warming and massive storms and droughts, and I am sure that will be true when I am 77 too, but Trump your legacy:

A president that sleeps with porn stars and Playboy Playmates, and marries models would be a fitting president to make prostitution legal. Make pot and prostitution legal federally and I’ll support you to help you build your very, very important wall. (Who really cares that much about those Mexican wolves and other animals that might need to go back and forth across the border now, right?)

Peace, 

GCNOF