Reviewing 2017 from non-personal angle

As I look back on 2017, with a social view, all I see is Trump.

Let's be honest here....the year was filled with an eclipse and the firing of the head of the FBI and of course that horrible incident in Las Vegas and the earthquake in Mexico.  Throw in three devastating hurricanes and the California fires and we had many things to take our mind off of what was happening in Washington D.C. with the GOP agenda.....
BUT
and yes it is a big butt......

Donald J. Trump, or as I like to call him, President "Biff" dominated the news....both at home and around the world.

The North Korean leader tried to steal some of the spotlight but every time he made a move "Biff" simply tweeted and took back center court.

Of course we had some sports moments that helped to take our mind off of reality....with the city of Houston celebrating their first ever World Series title after having been crushed by the flooding earlier in the year.

Those of us who are bit older in LA got to enjoy a local Dodger World Series experience for the first time in 29 years.

The Rams second season back in LA saw a complete turnaround of fortunes and this coming Saturday will mark their first playoff appearance since 2003.  Oh and by the way, the Rams are 6 point favorites over the Atlanta Falcons.....who actually played in last years Super Bowl and lost to the New England Patriots.

THIS POINT SPREAD DOES NOT TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE ELEMENT OF A DEFEATED SUPER BOWL TEAM KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO TO NOT ONLY GET BACK TO THE BIG GAME....BUT WIN IT THIS TIME AROUND.

WHY THE ODDS MAKERS ARE IGNORING THE FALCONS SIMPLY MAKES NO SENSE TO ME AND IF I WERE A REAL GAMBLER...THIS WOULD SEEM LIKE AN OBVIOUS UPSET.

I'm just remembering how bad the Rams were a year ago, and yes they are now a much better team, but I think it takes a few years to be seriously able to advance in the playoffs.

But if I'm wrong then I'll sure as hell enjoy being wrong.

SEE......sports do take our minds off of reality.

Another area that takes our attention away from political reality is the world of show business.

2017 was unique because it tied show business up in a neat little knot known as "sexual harassment." In a year where Wonder Woman appeared with a huge flourish, many regular women came along and stood up for their dignity.

The sexual harassment issue then moved to politics and once more we were slapped with politics interrupting our leisure time.

The fact that two completely opposite political figures bit the dust (Franken and Moore) seemed like a sporting event.

2017 saw the 8th Star Wars story reach a billion dollars in sales within 3 weeks of its release.
1977 to 2017 and there seems to be no end in site unless Disney somehow implodes 
and since 1955 the name Disney has dominated every aspect of our culture NOT HAVING TO DO WITH POLITICS.

The real problems with the GOP agenda will become clear over the next year and reversing any damage will take a few more years.  Hopefully the upcoming midterm elections will be an indication of what will happen in 2020.

But I'm reminded of what part of Neo-Illumination #6 says.....

               "Happiness might be based on
                          how much
                          information
                                         one can ignore"

and if that's true then we might be faced with two terms of President Biff and everything that took place in 2017 will seem like a soft preview before the main attraction.

Just imagine for one second that 2017 was the gentle and uneventful year of his presidency.

I think I just scared myself.

Time to stop looking back and move forward into a year that will finally give me personal accomplishments that I been dreaming about since 1972 when I first started pounding out letters on my electric Smith Corona in an lovely little studio apartment overlooking a beautiful creek in Fairfax, California.

I think back to how much I detested the President of the United States in 1972 and this current dude just seems cartoonish compared to Tricky Dick....

The world has changed a lot since 1972 mainly due to the proliferation of arms and social avenues of communication but it has also changed in one other large way.

THOSE WHO ARE AWARE AND AWAKE
are
a much larger number then existed in 1972

and those who are aware and awake are much more aware and awake then
in 1972.

Of course there are now 7 BILLION people on the planet so everything has increased including things we can't seem to control like poverty, hunger, pollution, disease, migration and tragic climate episodes.

Those six bullet points listed above are what is exactly wrong with the GOP agenda.

Those issues are not on the table when we sit down to shallow what the Republican Party is serving.

But in the meantime....

Go Rams
and yes.........Spring Training is only 45 days away.......

Michael Timothy McAlevey