Saturday, May 18, 2024
British Isle Cruise - Days 1 through 5
This trip has been the longest I have been disconnected from work - I did go through 350 office emails a couple days ago and need to check again today or tomorrow - and blogging in memory. The husband and I have been enjoying ourselves despite some disappointments with our ship, the Celebrity Silhouette. The ship is clean, the food decent (although not anywhere as good as advertised)and the crew very friendly. Surprisingly, for a European sailing, almost all the passengers are American, many well into later or old age. The dress code for "chic attire" in evenings is a joke and not enforced with many passengers, especially the men, looking like they are dressed to dine in at their local McDonalds or Burger King.
Our day in Dover was nice, but it rained constantly which made our tour of Dover Castle, one of the largest in the UK, a bit soggy. After a day at sea (sunset over the Celtic Sea is above) we visited the Waterford glassworks in Waterford, Ireland which gives one an appreciation for why the products are expensive. Yesterday in Cobh (formerly Queenstown under the British) was enjoyable and we had a great tour through Railtours Ireland which we would definitely use again. The Lusitania memorial in Cobh town center is below. The husband at Blarney Castle is shown above. What one doesn't usually hear about is Blarney House - owned by a friend of King Charles III - which was built in the 1870's on the 60 acre site with the castle. We also helped the local economy with some purchases at the Blarney Woolen Mills in the town of Blarney, Ireland.
We have met several nice couples - some gay and some straight - from various parts of the USA, including a group that formed their own travel club and do trips and cruises together. The supposed LGBT meet ups have been a bust since they are at the martini bar which is overrun with aging, overweight straight couples, few of who know how to dress. Based on other cruise lines we have sailed on, we brought "dress up clothes" for formal nights or "elegant" nights and have worn them since we have them with us (e.g., I brought 3 tuxedo shirts), Each time we have received many compliments, including from the crew. If one wants good attire, our recommendation is Cunard which still requires proper attire for the main dining rooms.
Today, we are in Liverpool and will do a walking tour that traces the Beatles and their rise to fame. The morning clouds are forecast to burn off, which will be welcomed. A view from the ship is below.
Tomorrow we will be in Glasgow and will be doing a castle tour and views of the edge of the highlands.
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Saturday, May 11, 2024
Reduced Posting - European Vacation
Today the husband and I fly to Amsterdam in the Netherlands where we will be boarding a Celebrity cruise around the British Isles, including stops in England, Ireland and Scotland. This past week between being sick - thankfully I am much better - and trying to get things done at work before leaving for two weeks has reduced the number of posts I have published. I will continue to post as we travel and share my thoughts and impressions on politics, our trip and whatever else strikes my fancy. A young attorney with the firm and his dog will be house sitting for us while we travel and "holding down the fort." I have British, Irish and Scots ancestry *the husband has Scots ancestry as well), so I am excited about the trip. Thankyou to all the faith readers who have followed this blog for the last 17 years.
Trump's Would Be VP's Do Not Stand for Democracy
Don’t say they didn’t warn us. If Donald Trump loses again to Joe Biden in November, the attempt by MAGA Republicans to overturn the result — in essence, to negate the will of the voters — could be even worse than last time.
Trump’s denial of his 2020 defeat has had a deeply corrosive effect on our democracy, with a majority of Republicans still deluded into believing the election was stolen. The damage might be ameliorated if prominent GOP officials, who do know better, at least expressed confidence in the democratic process and pledged to accept the outcome of this year’s vote, no matter who wins.
Surely, that’s not too much to ask of men and women who owe their jobs to the same electoral system that Trump claims is hopelessly corrupt. Right?
Wrong. Witness the pathetic performance by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Host Kristen Welker tried six times to get Scott to say, yes or no, whether he would accept the result of the November election. Scott refused to give an answer.
Scott’s evasiveness is understandable because he is auditioning to be Trump’s running mate, but it is not excusable. He knows that cases of proven voter fraud — or even formally alleged voter fraud — are vanishingly rare. He knows that recounts and audits consistently show that votes are tallied accurately. He knows that all the conspiracy theories about the 2020 election spun by MAGA fabulists such as Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell have been proved utterly false and, in some cases, expensively defamatory. Still, with his nonanswers, the senator undermines the legitimacy of U.S. democracy.
Other Republicans hoping to be Trump’s vice-presidential choice have been equally shameless.
All of this could be written off as nothing more than politicians being craven — hardly a new phenomenon — if not for the damage it does. A sobering study released last month by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University found that 62 percent of Republicans and 22 percent of independents believe Trump was the “legitimate” winner in 2020. Hardly any Democrats share that view.
Those “deniers” add up to about one-third of voters overall. If that much of the electorate believes a presidential election was stolen — despite multiple recounts and dozens of court cases proving it was not — we have a serious problem.
The strong viewpoints that deniers hold, and the distinctive identity that they have formed, demonstrate that reviving our democracy will require more than any given result at the ballot box, or providing accurate information to voters on how the election process works. It will require a functioning, responsible conservative party that still believes in democracy.”
No such party now exists in U.S. politics. And for that failing, Trump is only partly responsible.
No one is forcing Republicans such as Scott, Burgum, Stefanik and Donalds to pretend to believe Trump’s lies. No one is forcing them to weaken faith in our elections. Whatever happens in the days and weeks after Election Day, many leading Republicans deserve to share the blame.
Friday, May 10, 2024
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