On the road again! After a month and a half hiatus I am on the road teaching again. Actually two weeks ago it was Fairfax, but I really had not much to say. But it are days like today that I have to vent, after four to five hours in a car, listening to the radio. It is amazing what you get to hear while trying to stay entertained and allert while driving. I really needed to decompress in Draper and walk a piece of the New River Trail.
What got me upset? Don't get me wrong, I love the mountains of Virginia and the people that live here. Yes, the number of tea party license plates are higher here in them hills, but to each there own. What upset me was listening to the radio. There were programs that were all over the place. I understand religeous broadcasts and money shows etc, but some more conservative radio hosts were absolutely virulent and vitreous. Now I am from European stock, and my father spent time in a German concentration camp; and from what I understand from stories have heard and read, this is very remeniscant of what Germany went through. The hatred of liberals and the name calling was absolutely amazing. Hopefully only a small minority listen and or agree with these demagogues, but yes it is remeniscant of some of the Hitler news reals I have seen; although it is not anti Jewish, but anti Muslim and anti liberal. It was absolutely flabbergasting, and I needed to decompress; like showering after getting really dirty.
Walking the New River Trail I saw trees covered with lichen and it symbolizes my feelings after the name calling and hatred. I wrote about lichens in a previous post, but I need to bring it back.
While lichen may look like moss, they actually consists of two different lifeforms. They are algae that live on (together with) a fungus. These two lifeforms live in a symbiotic relationship (they scratch each other's back and don't live separately) something that these bizarre fashist radio hosts cannot do with people that don't agree with them or when they are Muslim. In addition to helping each other, lichen are also food to animals and the may protect trees and soil from temperature extremes.
We are such a self destructive species that hates and kills our own species, something that most other species do not do, let alone live in a truly symbiotic relationship with others. It really amazes me how much hate there is in this world.
What got me upset? Don't get me wrong, I love the mountains of Virginia and the people that live here. Yes, the number of tea party license plates are higher here in them hills, but to each there own. What upset me was listening to the radio. There were programs that were all over the place. I understand religeous broadcasts and money shows etc, but some more conservative radio hosts were absolutely virulent and vitreous. Now I am from European stock, and my father spent time in a German concentration camp; and from what I understand from stories have heard and read, this is very remeniscant of what Germany went through. The hatred of liberals and the name calling was absolutely amazing. Hopefully only a small minority listen and or agree with these demagogues, but yes it is remeniscant of some of the Hitler news reals I have seen; although it is not anti Jewish, but anti Muslim and anti liberal. It was absolutely flabbergasting, and I needed to decompress; like showering after getting really dirty.
Walking the New River Trail I saw trees covered with lichen and it symbolizes my feelings after the name calling and hatred. I wrote about lichens in a previous post, but I need to bring it back.
While lichen may look like moss, they actually consists of two different lifeforms. They are algae that live on (together with) a fungus. These two lifeforms live in a symbiotic relationship (they scratch each other's back and don't live separately) something that these bizarre fashist radio hosts cannot do with people that don't agree with them or when they are Muslim. In addition to helping each other, lichen are also food to animals and the may protect trees and soil from temperature extremes.
We are such a self destructive species that hates and kills our own species, something that most other species do not do, let alone live in a truly symbiotic relationship with others. It really amazes me how much hate there is in this world.
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