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Well, no need for conjecture, speculation, prediction or ouija board consultation anymore. Trump is the POTUS and there is nothing you can do about it. I won't launch into the rank and file diatribes and rants about his win. But I will say this -America deserves what it voted for. I will not comment about the events that have taken place over the past weeks. They speak for themselves. Half of eligible American voters refused to partake in this past election. That says something. For millions, it was too much of an inconvenience, indifference, apathy or because I don't like either one of the candidates. Fine. This man did not have to win if everyone voted. They left it in the hands of the electoral college. For that, like James Baldwin's book title, "The Price of the Ticket", the future of America in the next four years speaks for itself.....

I don't totally agree with that statement. Yet i aspire to it.

The best minds are always open.

My introduction to astrology was through the horoscopes, though I always thought of them as the same thing. I took a course in Astrology and learned how to cast charts. I never got really good at interpreting them, as that does take some study and imagination. As I learned more about astronomy and biology, I find it impossible to believe in horoscopes at all. That is not to say that I'm dismissing the impact of celestial bodies on people, I just don't think this influence can be distilled down to a handful of celestial bodies. Our calendar has never been fixed. going from 10 months to 12--on a whim. It has only been a few hundred years when most of the world even used the same calendar. Of course the universe does not conform to our arbitrary labels since it is constant state of flux, and requires correction periodically. Mel previously mentioned Ophiuchus, illustrating that the astrological signs we commonly follow don't adhere to the actual constellations. Of course there is disagreement on whether there should be a 12, 13, or even 14 astrological signs... That vast majority of the material of our universe (dark matter and dark energy) is currently unknown to us. Perhaps it is unknowable--who knows. I'm all for seeking hight levels of knowledge. Perhaps astrology and religion can provide a path to a more profound understanding of the nature of the universe, but more often they seem to lead more restricted understanding

Welp, you win... "I got tears" from "salad days of our youth" to the quoted. All beautifully expressed, @Cynique

"As long as there is profit in Black death...." Profit in black death? Who profits? The undertakers? "....ignorance and misery, nothing will change." Unfortunately bro Troy -ya got that right! American Negroes are showing little to zero effort from disengaging themselves from the ignorance and misery that they themselves are responsible for. None of the tired and overwrought excuse making, rationalizations, nefarious victimization and entitlement rants will suffice.... "As along as we continue to put our faith in others things will only get worse..." Faith in others? Exactly who are the others? Until Negroes address the twisted culture that spawns these violent, hyper-aggressive young males who are toxic by-products of fatherless homes and a celebrated impoverished American Negro "baby mama society", yes...things will continue to get worse!

I find all of the comments on this subject very thought-provoking. Astrology has never captivated me. I have had a chart cast and readings, and I didn't find them be especially accurate or prophetic. I was told by one reader that my aura inhibited her powers because she could sense that I was a skeptic. My skepticism may have had something to do with how she asked me more questions than I asked her. I figured that, with her psychic gift, she should've been able to divine the answers about me and shouldn't have needed to quiz me. I do harbor a certain amount of awe for Astronomy, however. The configurations of heavenly bodies are predictable and constant and they seem to represent order in a universe that is fraught with chaos. In this vein, I would like to share something interesting I've just experienced. Yesterday I was thinking about an old friend of mine who I haven't seen or heard from in over 25 years. The last time I saw her was when she was briefly in Chicago for a funeral. She caught up with me and we were able to spend a couple of hours together, and it was like we'd never lost touch. We parted with her extracting a promise that if I ever came to LA, I'd look her up and that was that, since I never made that trip. I always thought of her as the "golden girl". She was very pretty and very smart and - a very nice person, and she was able to beat out a few other girls for a really cool, smart, popular guy they all had eyes for. When she became pregnant, they got married and moved to California, where from all reports they were apparently living happily ever after. They had a long marriage (about 63 years) and in a recent picture their niece posted on FaceBook, they looked well preserved and happy. Of all my girlfriends, she was the one who had it all, a beautiful home, a good income, a high achieving daughter. The golden girl who enjoyed a fulfilling life. Then today, this same niece, who is a friend of mine on FaceBook, in-boxed me a message telling me that my friend had lost her husband My first thought was that the golden girl's sheen was probably a little dulled. But the story doesn't end here. There was my other old faraway friend, who I talked with on the phone from time to time, and we would always reminisce about the salad days of our youth. it was during one of our last conversations that she mentioned what I had always known but didn't think it was something she still dwelt on. She had been one of the girls that my other friend beat out for this guy they both liked. The health of this friend was very frail and she would become depressed, looking back over her life, thinking about all the trials and tribulations she had gone through. Indeed, she was not somebody I'd label a "golden girl" despite that fact that she was also pretty, and smart and nice. Anyway, the subject of what evolved into an intriguing love triangle involving my 2 friends and the guy one had married, often came up and we would laugh about it. But, then, during one conversation, she opened up about her feelings, saying that this guy had been the love of her life and that she'd never really gotten over her broken heart and that over the years when their paths crossed she thought she saw a glint in his eyes that signaled to her what might have been. One of the last things I said to this friend when she'd declared she was tired and ready to go, was to "cheer up", adding that maybe in another place and another time, she would be reunited with this love of her life. She chuckled and said "who knows?" This friend, who I'll call Jackie, died in December a week after her 83rd birthday. The second thing I thought about upon hearing about the death of the first friend's husband today, was: "now it's your turn, Jackie". Coincidence? Maybe. The only mystery deeper than Life, is Death. Two words that have no meaning.

I'm not speaking for the author - ( Aside: It seems as though folks drop stuff here and never return) just offering my observation to your remark @Troy Currently there is no difference between men and women because as the quote indicates "both men and women participate in the patriarchal system"... I believe some women are working to free themselves from the mindset and as the author suggest men too - but as I wrote in my blog the other day, women spend so much time loosening themselves from the shackles that its hard to do anything else. All this to say; yes, men need to have that conversation separately -

Yes @Mel Hopkins my comment, back in May, about Twitter' and Trump was on point wasn't it? But that was an easy call. Yes @Delano, here are my on my comments a full 6 months before the election I doubt Trump will be elected in the general. Doubted but I did not rule it out. Perhaps this was wishful thinking or a consequence of living in a liberal in a liberal bubble If seems likely Trump will win the Republican nomination, upping the level of absurdity reached with the Palin ticket. Correct If America elects Trump as Pres, we will have officially "Jumped the Shark," becoming a caricature of our celebrity obsessed self. The United States has officially Jumped the Shark The POTUS is like the Queen of England, yielding little power beyond ceremonial and doing the bidding of the plutocracy. I disagree with this now that the plutocracy actually hold the office and several of the Cabinet positions A perversely curious part of me actually wants to see Trump win; just to see what will happen. One should be careful what they wish for It is interesting to observe how women are not nearly as slavishly devoted to Hillary as Black folks are to Obama. It was interesting then; now I find both sad and disturbing the majority of women felt it was in their best interest to vote against Hillary and for Trump. Unless Bernie gets the Democratic nod, Trump has a very real chance of becoming president. Who knows

Some of the best minds throughout history were interested in the occult. If you were to take the thinkers, mathematicians and scientist that held those beliefs science would be impoverished. BTW Francis Crick was a a regular user of LSD and the Reefer.

The guide to literary agents found here https://aalbc.com/writers/ is a popular resource as well.

Does anyone believe that the roles of men and women should be different? Given that Michael suggests that the conversation should be between men, that implies a difference. I suspect that many of the problems we see today particularly with relationships have been created because the culture (In the big coastal cities) imposes the impression that the only difference between men and women are our sex organs. Rather than making us all the same, I think the differences should be explored understood and inform our behavior. Of course, I realized we all lie on a spectrum and everyone is different, but at the same time I think that the differences between the sexes are different enough to warrant a conversation exclusively between men.

Sometimes lines from books just strike you. I'm been posting interesting lines from books (well this is only my second time doing it. Continuing to tweak what I share on social media. This quote is from the true story, Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy B. Tyson I shared an interesting video on the book's page, of Tyson giving a talk about racism in the south. He is a historian and provides an interesting perspective, but he is literally preaching to the choir. The folks who need to hear his message I'm sure are not listening. Perhaps use of the word "nigger" in my post will attract the attention of people who could most benefit from his words.