I have been busy this last week and finally got around to reading all my journals, papers and doing things other than talking about the speakers lineups at their varying conventions.

What I have been happy to not have is the daily rants of the Barista/Baker whom I used to talk to and who frankly concerned me that if all Millennials were that angry and selectively informed it explains more than Donald Trump but also why we have become such a disengaged nation.  If anything the conventions have shown that there are passionate people who do care and if you agree or not at least there are those who want to participate.  The real problem is the ideologues on both sides who seem to think that feelings are valid expressions for facts and that compromise is neither a virtue nor necessary to accomplish anything, especially with regards to our Government. 

Well every now and then the Government does work at things and sometimes good things result.

First up: How collection agencies can collect debt. This is only a first step but a rather big one considering this is an industry that has gone unregulated and under examined for decades. Let's hope we have those agencies doing criminal background checks soon follow.

Then we have the Medicare Fraud arrests.  Note that this had gone on for 14 years. Well better late than never. 

Once again the Republicans are the first to demand that this medical insurance program for seniors be disbanded while the Democrats are starting to embrace the idea of this concept.  Regardless the ACA did not do what it set up to do, insure all Americans and reduce the costs of health care. Heath care has improved, but in much smaller doses (pun intended).

And boys will be boys and by that I mean raging lunatics and perverts.

First up Sex Lies and Videotape  and thought well Michael Lewis has a new book on the horizon.

 I just watched the Inquisitor with Brian Cranston as a former Customs Agent investigating the money trail of Pablo Escobar. Do we ever tire of those stories? Well acted and yes slightly dated cliche story but hey when you have the caliber of acting and interesting characters it makes one realize real life is way more interesting. Cannot wait for the movie of that hedge fund, starring an equally fascinating cast like the Wolf on Wall Street or The Big Short.

Money does make strange bedfellows, wait until you see The Inquisitor.

Then we have the "new" economy and this story of sexual harassment.  Gee Silicon Valley changing the world or not. 

And my favorite the story of Roger Ailes, kingpin, autocrat, dictator and raging perv.  Fox News a boys club of bullying and harassing. Sounds fun.  Frankly until their 'star' Megan Kelly came forward I suspect that no one would have given a blow job or fuck to care.

What I love is the parallels to Bill Cosby.   Until the charges were levied they were both vital men, large and in charge at ages well over 75 and then suddenly are frail individuals with health problems who need assistance getting in out of their limos by their loyal wives who seem both protectorates and guardians of their legacy.  Yet Bill Clinton is villified for not speaking about his indiscretions and choosing instead to make a public declaration of love for his wife at the DNC.  Frankly I don't give a shit about what he did in the past as long as he doesn't do in the future we are all good.  There is point where I respect a person's privacy and discretion about their relationships, but when it veers on harming others and doing so in ways that affects careers or lives then game on.

Perhaps this article on the king of the bad boys, Howard Stern, explains it all to you. He was the king of the pins when it came to shocking and jocking and yes even he too has grown older and changed and it appears for the better.

And perhaps it is now time to go after the big boys - the NRA.  Last night watching survivors and victims of Gun Violence talk about their pain they rightly did not point fingers at raging maniacs and blame Muslims, Mexicans, Autistic people, Cops or any other assorted freaks who use guns to bring harm, but to the organization that enables it - the NRA.

I had coffee yesterday with an Orthodox Jew.  He was one step removed from Tevya in Fiddler on the Roof and I was so shocked I presumed he was a Rabbi given his appearance.  And my experience, as limited as it has been and largely confined to New York City, I was shocked he would sit with a single woman by choice.  It was slightly off putting and fascinating when he then told me what he did do:  Gun wholesaler.

I chose not to go into my anti gun rant and elected to talk about laws and how often they are so redundant and oddly condemning over one group vs another and often directed at what I call "moral Jesus" laws that are based on religious convictions and connected tangentially to a Judaeo Christian law versus actual law that has no connection to Church or Synagogue. It was a fine discussion but all I kept thinking was how odd that in Nashville of all places this is someone I would meet, and of all people be a gun toting gun endorsing whack job.  That stereotype went out the window as many others I have had since moving here, Nashville is by far more liberal and diverse than Seattle could ever be.

He does hate gentrification and like many peers my age sees it as the end of days and is thinking of moving to Montgomery, Alabama.  It was as if I had been hit on the head with a rock when we ended our coffee and went our separate ways.  Ah Nashville you are my home and I have said repeatedly this is now the Magical Mystery Tour portion of my relocation. So to come home and watch the DNC I was amused as I took that message from the higher power as well.

Bill Maher said it best if an alien watched the conventions he would think America is run by Angry White Men or by religious Black women.    And then I laughed as Bill Maher (another bad boy) is playing Nashville next month at the Ryman - a former Church.  Talk about alien.  I will be there and look forward to hearing his thoughts on what it means to be alive in this time of either great hope or great disaster. Pick whatever works for you.