Which country is next?

Russian Rape of Ukraine, 5 x 7 watercolor

Eight years ago, March 5, 2014, I did this watercolor after the Russian Hitler invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea. Now it's the rest of the country. Remind you of someone back in 1939?

Which country is next? This is how WWII started. The rape of Ukraine shows history always repeats itself. Too bad the war criminal Putin hasn't been assassinated. Though his puppet pal tRump would be sad.

Jesus' example and the mob--from Rumi

"As those with business ideas

were driven from the temple courtyard,

so bitter, self-important people need to be excluded

from the mix being stirred in this day's great wooden bowl."

 Sometimes, truth choose you, or  jumps out at you, when you need it.

In these dangerous times for freedom, as hell-bent thugs and their leader  threaten our  country, even going to sleep can be difficult.

Rather than take a sleeping pill or anxiety medicine, I often turn to soothing wisdom of the Catholic seer Thomas Merton, or to the Persian mystic and poet Rumi.

Their books are by the bed, and I'll just randomly open one of them up and start reading.

So it was last night, when  opened Rumi's The Big Red Book, and these lines from the section, title "The Majesty," the poem, "This Day's Great Wooden Bowl" leaped out. He lived from 1207 to 1273. Amazing perspective.

How to put someone down with just one word

Remember when we were growing up and our parents taught us manners? Or you wanted to put down a friend or a pest who was acting unbecomingly?

If we "got to big for our britches," or didn't act right, they would tell us, something like, "don't be a spoiled brat," or "don't be a poor loser."

No need for that anymore. One word will suffice for a multitude of pejorative judgments and put downs. "Oh quit being a ---trump."  (lower case please.)

Think of all the instances that will fit. Some version of with, "Don't be a..." or "Quit being so.... " Here are a few that come to mind. Other ideas?

1. Spoiled brat.
2. Liar. 
3. Poor loser.
4. Cry baby.
5. Bossy.
6. Egomaniac.
7. Racist.
8. Con man.
9. Arrogant.
10. Cruel.
11. Name-caller.
12. Deluded.
13. Sullen.
14. Selfish.
15. Self-Centered.
16. Moody.
17. Callous.
18. Impolite.
19. Pompous.
20. Inconsiderate.
21. Dishonest,
22. Narrow-minded.
23. Intolerant.
24. Resentful.
25. Inflexible.
26. Deceitful
27. Machiavellian.
28. Traitor.
29. Full of yourself.
30. Big-headed
31. Braggart.
32. Selfish.
33. Thinking you're entitled.
34. Cheater.
35. Freeloader (not paying your taxes).
36. Defrauder.
37. Defaulter.
38. Thief.
39. Pathetic.

Alone...

"Alone," 6 by 10, watercolor, 140 lb Fabriano Artistico extra white cold press 

"You gotta walk that lonesome valley,
You gotta walk it by yourself,
Nobody here can walk it for you,
You gotta walk it by yourself."

        --Woody Guthrie

In these days of pandemic, racism and political tyranny, I feel more and more alone.

Woody's songs don't seem to help, but that he felt the same  in other bad times, when the future of the country he loved was teetering.

This time not because of economics, but because of the twin pandemics of virus and tyranny in the open-door closet.

I won't get out of this alive, but I always knew I need to paint what "I feel," and this is what I feel.

Today's watercolor says all of that. I am so alone.

Red, white and blue (not so much) and black of tragedy --opinion

"Red, White and blue, (Not so much), 5 x 7 watercolor, 140 lb cold press paper

Blatant racism besmirches the American flag, this week, earlier this year, in the recent past, and throughout our history.
The colors of the American flag, red, white and blue, are supposed to represent courage, purity and justice. 
They don't, as the homicide (not murder--that's a legal term determined by a conviction) proved by the death of another African-American male by a blue clad white police officer. This has repeatedly happened in the last few months. 
No courage, no purity, no justice.
Riots have erupted in cities. The president ( he doesn't deserve to have that title capitalized)  has called for killing American citizens.
The country is in turmoil from two viruses...one biologic, the other more deadly, blatant racism repeatedly and violently exercised by that president's violent, fear-mongering, insulting tweets.
It's not new...riots erupted after the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968  in the midst of another national tragedy, Vietnam. Two years later, four protesting students at Kent State were killed in a protest by National Guard soldiers, the same outfit tRump threatened Minnesotan protesters with. At least President Nixon knew the tragedy, saying it was the worst day of his presidency.
(I believe tRump for the first time...trying to cover up, he said he didn't know the history of the "looting, shooting" phrase. Of course not, he's ignorant of history and the Constitution.)
I don't condone looting, but as Martin Luther King Jr. said, riot is the language of the unheard.
Regardless, I'm ashamed of all that happened in my country, and have nothing much original to offer. I know 95 percent of the police wearing blue are not racists, are well trained, mostly underpaid people who get little respect.
The flag, and America, and those who have faithfully served her in the armed forces, has been dishonored.
Here's my take on the red, white and blue: red for blood and courage, blue, drowned out by the black of death and tragedy--not race--and white...purity fading.

Glory to Ukraine!

"Invaded Again," 5 /12 by 8 watercolor from 2014--See "Blood and Bars" below

I don't know why, but hundreds of Ukrainians have been clicking on this blog in the last month and week, more than readers in America.
For some reason in previous years, blog readers in Ukraine have consistently ranked about fourth or fifth as the blog's total audience, but these numbers have recently soared. More than 1,900 in the last 30 days, and almost 1,000 of those in the last week.
I'm wondering if these freedom-loving, often suppressed people are worried about their country's future in the Trump Ukraine scandal, and if his friendship with Russia's dictator Putin will bode more threats to their freedom.
It's nothing new for a country whose name can be roughly translated "borderlands," already invaded by Putin in the east, and remembering other despots from Stalin to Hitler and most recently Putin in 2014. (Russian readers of the blog rank second over the years behind the U.S., but only 257 in the last month.)
I blogged and painted about that when it happened. Since then, we have terrific new neighbors, across the back fence, Ukrainians Aleksandr and Iryna, also a watercolor artist. 
I've read that most Ukrainians are trying to ignore the Trump impeachment proceedings, wanting nothing to do with it. They need our and international support to fend off more Russian atrocities. 
Still they gather to remember the Maidan protests from Nov. 2013, which started peacefully, ending with 100 killed by riot police in Kiev's Maidan--Independence Square. 
You can read my previous articles on Ukraine in the three links below.
In the meantime, here's a salute to their citizens, who have lots of experience with dictators, and value their freedom.
I asked my neighbors how you said "Viva Ukraine!" in their language. Iryna responded with what translates to "Glory to Ukraine!" In their alphabet, it looks like this.

Слава Україні!

Here are my blog posts:

• Saluting Ukraine
• Invaded Again, Blood and Bars
• Flags of Invaded, Occupied and Free

 

Watercolor journals of a week

Speed

Meeting daily prompts for #worldwatercolormonth are challenges, and result in mostly smaller, 5 x 7, works, done fairly quickly. I year now to take longer on a piece, so that is stewing, but without answers.

This week's prompts: Casting Shadows, City Life, In the Jungle, Rainy Days, Wet and Dry. All are 5 x 7, 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press paper.

And I added an additional more abstract one of a roadrunner, actually one of my favorite so far. So, after 20 days in July, I've done at least 21 or 2. Some are good, and cheery and others are not. Life.

Casting Shadows

Shadows--I stay away from politics in my blog and painting, for the most part, but anger and alarm at a president being a lap dog for a Russian dictator provoked the Casting Shadows of fascism across America. Art is supposed to matter, and this was inspired by attending the Woody Guthrie festival Saturday...a fighter of fascism indeed.

OKC dawn

City life was difficult because I generally don't like cities, but this version of a card for Susan's nephew fit. 

Heart of Darkness

Jungle took me to who old friends and students know is my favorite novelist and novel, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, a copy always in my office: “Going up that river was like traveling back to the beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on earth.... An empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest....The ...waterway ran on, deserted, into the gloom....”

Cabin Fever

• Rainy Days was almost a failure, but I thought about cabin fever. I'm cooped up in the city traffic, but not in my cabin, with books, cats, paint, a fire and company. I am always ready for a cabin, good cabin fever. 

Wet and dry--What is wetter and dryer than a good martini. Dorothy Parker and a martini.-“I’d love a martini, two at the most, three I’m under the table, four, I’m under the host” 

Painting months-2

Late May and June--three watercolor commissions, all 8 by 10s.
Then four  inspired by the weather, though my cloud painting is suffering, 5 by 7s and 8 by 10s.
Two from imagination, a unicorn again, and a cabin, again.
This blog has avoided politics, as does my painting, but nothing has upset and depressed me more in the past years than the sTrumpet administration's gestapo splitting families and caging children. People who are cruel to children will be cruel to anyone and anything, without remorse or conscience. Thus the painting at the end, painting what I feel.
I'm glad the July daily challenge begins with the prompt, "Sunny Days."
Commissions:

Memphis family home

Add caption

Tajique, N.M. church and Manzanos

The Weather:

Windy Day, 8 x 10

Trouble on the Prairie, 5 x 7

Drought, 5 x 7

Yellow, 5 x 7

Imagination:

Cabin Dreams, 8 x 10

Whimsey, 5 x 7

Tragedy:

Don't be a sucker for "fake" news--guidelines

    Are you skeptical? I hope so.

So I tell my students. Challenge everything you hear or read—including this sentence. Don’t take anything without checking it out.

An old copy editor’s maxim—“If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out.”

Maybe not that extreme, but with all the talk of “fake news” these days and trust in the news media at a low, intelligent citizens need to be more vigilant about their news sources.

With the current occupant of the White House labeling everything he disagrees with as “fake,” and the verbal vomit of “social” media,  this is more critical than ever.

So here are my thoughts that appeared in my column in this month’s Oklahoma Publisher.

A reader’s guide to getting factual news

(Don’t be a sucker for fake news)

• Be skeptical. Check it out.
• Seek multiple sources. Any person who relies on just one source of information these days is shallow, and lazy.
• Be skeptical of anything on “social” media, especially from individuals who seem to have personal or political agendas.
• If “social” or other media quote another news source, especially a newspaper, look it up to make sure it’s a real newspaper, not a fake one.
• If some “news” sounds outrageous or extreme, always find more than one source to look it up (If it sounds too good to be true…). Ask “Why” something sounds extreme.
• If the source always presents just one viewpoint with loaded political or other claims, regardless of the viewpoint, be skeptical.
• Beware of loaded propaganda language in “news” items like “right –wing,” “liberal,” “fake news.” Such terms are dead giveaways of slanted or false facts.
• If you’ve never heard of the source of the “news” before, or if you can’t identify the source, if it anonymous, why believe it?
• A source of information that presents more than one viewpoint is more trustworthy.
• Verifying real news is easier than ever with Internet searches, or by calling or emailing your newspaper editor.
• Unlike other media (broadcast and digital), most newspapers clearly label opinions as editorials and columns, separated from the main news pages.
• Just because you disagree with some news, or don’t like it, doesn’t mean it is ‘fake.”  
• Has the news source earned your trust with factual information in the past?
• Who really owns the news media source—Do other interests affect the news?
• Use the Internet to find the ownership—for instance:

1. CBS is owned by Viacom, a media conglomerate, with interests in cinema and cable TV.
2. NBC is owned by GE and Comcast, world’s largest broadcast and cable TV company by revenue.
3. ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company.
4. Fox News, Wall Street Journal, is owned by Rupert Murdock, of News Corp, including 150 newspapers, magazines and stations around the world.
5. CNN Is owned by Time Warner, third largest entertainment company by revenue.
6. New York Times is owned by the Ochs-Sulzberger family since 1896 with 16 newspapers, 8 TV stations, and more.

You can easily look up the ownership of your local newspapers, television and radio stations.

The Russians are here

Coffee with Clark page hits this week

I have no idea why, but the number of hits on this blog in the past two days has skyrocketed, because of good people in Russia.
I haven't even written about Russia, that country that lost 9 million people defending their country from Hitler. Even though this is is a non-political blog, I wonder if they wonder what's happening in this country, when the great Russian chess master Kasperov, compares Trump to Putin and Hitler.
Don't know, but welcome Russians, and a toast to freedom loving people everywhere who fear the iron fist of ego-driven authoritarian government.

When I'm in a concentration camp

Painted two years ago, and owned by step-son-in-law Jake Harms.

You won't be able to visit me, or it will imperil your safety.
You won't be able to say my name, or even mail me.
You will have to disavow you knew me.
You will have to affirm, under oath, that you knew all along, I was a traitor.
You will have to join the majority, goose step and salute with cheers to the dictator. 
You will have to "vote" unanimously to disband schools, to destroy libraries, to repeal the Bill of Rights, to censor all art and music.
It will begin in one of the smallest states, and spread, like cancer, an infection of the mind, of the soul, of humanity, by selfish forces of delusion and division, of intolerance and insecurity, and funded by the hunger for power, not for people.
I will understand, because I will be one of the first to be rounded up and sent behind barbed wire for "national security."
I will admit that I used you, deceived you, led you astray against your wishes.
I will deny that you ever agreed with me, and affirm that you were afraid to disagree with me. 
I will die doing slave labor to build a wall in 100 degree heat in a desert compound where there is a cup of water, and a piece of bread every day.
Or I will be executed for failing to bow down, or salute and repeat the mindless sayings of the "leader," or for trying to escape into the deadly heat of the desert.
I hate pain, and that is my great weakness, but I would rather be shot in the back running away than suffer.
But just know, that my memories of you will sustain me with joy; that I will not judge you for staying away, that I will pray for your survival--knowing that this too shall pass--because souls are eternal--that despots and demagogues are not. 
But I will weep for the loss, for America, and freedoms, and decency, and morality--stolen and fueled  because of a "leader's" manipulation of fear, and hatred, and racism, and violence, and intolerance,  and demagoguery, and ignorance, and extremist religion and politics.
They will come for you next. 

I wish this were a fantasy. 

Heroes, and messy democracy

Young Americans

The three of them stood there, holding three hand made signs, protesting Trump. as a constant stream of all kinds of people flowed by, heading for the rally inside the Oklahoma City convention center yesterday.
Two of them are students at Oklahoma City Community College, the other a student at Mid-Del High School. 
I spotted them as I rounded the south side of the building, curious about the types of people and the event. No, I didn't have tickets and intended to hold up my own protest sign, hoping to find others.
They were the only ones,  there of their own volition. Two were registered Republicans, one wearing a Tea Party shirt. The other was too young to vote.
Their courage inspired me  and since my sign was disrespectful compared to theirs, I just talked with them, watched from a respectful distance, and then had my photo taken with them.
They were polite and respectful, greeting passers by with "Hello, how are you?" Sometimes saying  things like "Don't build walls," and from one sign, "He's a fake conservative." The youngest one, always ended the conversation with "feel the love."
A few passersby who stopped got into respectful conversations.
But more of the people just flowed by, or were rude. 

Rudeness, cussings, fingers

One dumpy, frazzled woman, when greeted with "How are you?" wouldn't make eye contact, and replied "Better than you, go home."
Another 30 something, on hearing something about the wall, said "He's not going to build a wall." One of the protesters replied, "But he says he is." 30 something replied, "He's not going to build a wall." Reply, "Are you calling Trump a liar?" That got them a finger.
Worst case was one rough looking, big buckle, cigarette, who started loudly cussing them as he walked by, including the "F word," in easy sound of smaller children. (His Momma didn't teach him any manners)
I said to them, "Great vocabulary," and one smiled back at me, "Trump sure attracts well-educated, doesn't he?"
Another snipped from them: "It'd sure be nice to have a rational conversation with these people."
Others were outside too, passing out leaflets, selling campaign signs.
I saw one guy with an old campaign hat on, with a sign scratched on cardboard: "When tyranny comes to your house, it will come armed and in a uniform." We smiled at each other.
Another group (all men), one in an American flag shirt, was passing you pink sheets, urging women to vote for a candidate.
Teachers were everywhere, getting people to sign the petition for the one cent sales tax.
One young couple had driven up from Fort Worth and were passing out fact sheets on Trump, polite and smiling, unaffiliated with any campaign. They cared--they had information on how much money he'd given to politicians in both parties, including Hillary, and several who had voted for Obamacare. In addition, his past use of, and support of illegal immigrants. Here's their link: http://goo.gl/ochUxm if you care to see the research they did.

Most disturbing were the people passing out an eight page leaflet, "The Pope's Secrets," attacking Catholicism and the pope as part of an international conspiracy controlling the IRS, FBI, Mafia, and more.
Here's the first sentence: "The Vatican is posing as Snow White but the Bible says she is a prostitute, "The great whore." a cult (Rev 19:2.)" Oh and by the way, backing up  the claims are Bible references, but you're urged to use only the King James Version.
I went home and looked up the author, Tony Alamo, "World Pastor, Tony Alamo Christian Ministries."
Turns out that Alamo is not his real name, and he seems to have some trouble with the law. He moved from California back to his wife's home state in Arkansas. But in 2014 seven women who say they were sexually abused by him as minors were awarded $525 million.Church tycoon.
There are all kinds of tales, including an FBI raid on his Fort Smith compound in 2008. Fort Smith raid. Google some more and you'll find arrests and stories of child abuse.
I just wonder if all those people passing out the Pope article, calling the Vatican a "cult" knew any of this, or were deluded..
(Snarky comment about deluded people hinted at but  suppressed.)

Democracy and The First Amendment are messy.

Back to these three protesters -- I'm so encouraged by them, not because I agree with all their politics, any more than agreeing with my young family members supporting Bernie. 
What stands out is their commitment, their courage, their involvement in this Democracy--hope for the present and future.
Oh, the messages on their signs:
"Republicans Against Trump"
"Build a wall around his house"
"Trump is a fake conservative"
"A vote for Trump = A vote for Clinton"
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power
Then this world will know peace."

Their parents have done a great job, and should be proud--they have manners, conviction, and courage. They're a real contrast to all the anger and negativity of this campaign. I think that also is grounds for being proud of a still great America. Thank you, Americans.

Proud to pose with some dedicated conservatives

Trumping Trick or Treat

Vintage artifact--me, and the photo by friend and colleague Mark Zimmerman taken with a 4x5 Speed Graphic, real flashbulb, 100 ASA film, and then scanned...there aint' no grain in this folks, you can enlarge it to a wall size post if you wish. Mark, a collector of vintage photography equipment and expert in vintage photography, is going to party tonight as WeeGee. 

Favorite "holiday" for all ages--pumpkin carving Jack o'lanterns, and costumes and trick or treat.

I love it because you get to have fun and poke fun--America needs humor more than ever. Past costumes have been a hard-hat wearing Tea-partyier (which almost got me slugged by a fanatic without humor), Steve Irvin the crocodile man, and more.  
This year's obvious version--Trump!
Previous years follow:

With David Nelson

Okie

Taureg and gypsy

As bro in law Jim Henry says, "I can see why you're still working"