A REVERSE SEVEN OF SWORDS, THE THREE OF CUPS AND THE SEVEN OF RODS

These are the cards I drew this week and for the life of me, I cannot come up with a story. I have been pondering them for days and the problem with them is that they seem so personal, so rooted in the person I am.

The Reverse Seven of Swords: Heed advice and counsel.

The three of Cups: Bountiful outcome with contentment and solace.

The Seven of Rods: Validity of one’s principles are under attack by adversaries. The courage to uphold those principles create advantage.

I do a lot of reading and research. Some of that is part of my job. Science is an ever changing landscape of new information. Research science is never stagnant. If I want to stay up to date with this landscape, I have to put in the work. The same is true with current events. I want to be an informed voter and that means reading more than a catchy headline. This may surprise some people, but I get the bi-weekly newsletter that is sent out by the White House Press Secretary. And…I read it. It never has anything of actual fact on what the administration is doing, but instead is filled with links to opinion pieces and editorials. My polite emails kindly asking for more factual information from the White House and less opinion have gone ignored. I keep my name on the newsletter list so that I can read both sides of the story. Getting all of the actual information requires a lot of weeding out of the false crap that circulates. Actually the false crap is pretty easy to weed out. The false crap is very similar to spoilt milk. If the milk smells bad, it’s probably bad. If the headline is sensational and invokes a reactionary response, most likely it is crap that has been generated to exploit your feelings. Breitbart media makes a living doing just that. They have found a way to monetize on fear mongering.

Now, I want to talk about what has been happening and what is currently happening in Portland, Oregon. There have been over fifty days of Black Lives Matter demonstrations in that city, which is mostly a white city. These demonstrations and protests have been mostly peaceful. There have been some fist fights here and there instigated by far-right extremists who came to town specifically to advocate violence. Other than these minor skirmishes there has not been looting or burning buildings (Janet). Then federal agents arrived and started beating and arresting protestors. The people Trump sent in to stop the violence that was not happening in the first place, created violence. I will repeat that sentence. The people Trump sent in to stop the violence that was not happening in the first place, created violence. They turned a peaceful protest into a riot. This is information gathered through reliable research resources.

No news source gets everything right 100% of the time and is completely free of bias.  Here are some characteristics of the best news sources.

 Practice fact-based journalism grounded in professional ethics. Clearly separate opinion (editorial) and news stories

Examples of trustworthy news sources:

New York Times (center-left perspective), Wall Street Journal (center-right perspective), Al-Jazeera and BBC (international perspective)

Sources for checking the media bias of news sources:

Media Bias Fact CheckAll Sides

For over 50 days Black Lives Matter demonstrations have gone on in the city. Recent images in the national media show Portland in a state of violent and civil unrest although the majority of the demonstrations have been peaceful. Federal agents and police have clashed with protesters almost exclusively in the late night hours in a small area of downtown Portland near the Justice Center, after the larger peaceful protests have wound down. President Trump has sent armed officers from a variety of federal agencies to the streets of Portland, where they have been firing tear gas and pulling protesters into unmarked vans. Leaders in the Black community worry that what should be a moment for racial justice will now be overshadowed by the violence.

Even the city of Portland is denouncing the federal agents.

What Trump is doing is a violation of the First Amendment. He is criminalizing protestors. There is also the issue of States’ rights. The state of Oregon did not ask or file for federal intervention. This goes against any one who believes in less government. Here is where I get to that third card and having the courage to uphold certain principles. What Trump is doing is wrong. You cannot start violence to end violence. This country was founded on protest and is such an important part of being an American that the right to do so is in the constitution. I will not allow this administration to manipulate me with fear tactics. I will not fall for the headline or meme whose sole intent is to create division and fuel anger. And I’m going to beg you to not fall for it either. I’m going to ask you to be better and to do your research. I’m going to ask those things from you because I believe that you are good and have the capacity to put in the work to be a better citizen.

Wear a mask and social distance!