Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. Your day! Enjoy it! Hope your families give you the attention you deserve.

I miss my mother. She has been gone 30 years. Think of her frequently.

We became closer as each of us got older. My mother was born in Italy. A tough disciplinarian. Many the spaghetti bowl broken over my head.

My fond memories came later in life. Our kitchen table talks an example. I used to stop to visit on my way home. We sat at the table. Always a bottle of Beefeaters and glass of ice on the table waiting for me.

Good conversations. This woman who only went to the 3rd grade often showered me with a pearl of wisdom.

I was under the weather till mid afternoon yesterday. Stayed in. Me, my bed and the TV set. Rested so  much I could not sleep all night. Watched one cowboy movie after another.

This morning, good so far.

Song Writers Festival this week. Locals and a ton of visitors enjoying. I only know of last night from a photo and article run on the internet.

A Saturday night block party. Duval closed to traffic from Sloppy Joe’s towards the Atlantic for several blocks. The photo showed Duval packed from one side of the street to the other all the way down Duval.

Stars sang last night. Like Brad Paisley and Arista Nashville.

I grew up taught there was a separation between state and religion. Seems to be disappearing.

Vice President Pence spoke to the graduates at Liberty University yesterday. Liberty a conservative religious school. Evangelical based.

Pence told the grads to be prepared to be ridiculed for being Christian. The “secular left” was out to get them.

Where did this bullshit come from?

He elaborated upon the “division” between Christian conservatives and liberal Christians. Especially in the areas of homosexuality and immigration.

What happened to…..We are all God’s children, love one another, etc.?”

I don’t see the division described. I see a highly elected religious fanatic of sorts fomenting division. Using religion in an attempt to separate and distort believers. Trying to solidify a political base.

The NRA. A crack in the dike.

The NRA’s Chief Executive Wayne Pierre has come under scrutiny. His voice quieted I suspect by his own organization.

Some of Pierre’s expense account items came to light this week. He is ripping the NRA’s donors off big time.

Examples include $39,000 for clothes in one day, $18,000 for a car and driver, $200,000 for air travel for one year. The air travel included 2 weeks at Christmas in the Bahamas.

The NRA a not for profit group. There’s money in not for profit. Pierre discovered it.

The U.S./China tariff war not resolved. China went home yesterday. Trump bellowing he would raise the tariffs even higher after he was elected in 2020.

China had previously said it would retaliate re the 25 percent tariff already imposed.

Retaliation to be expected. You can only defecate on a people so long. Especially a proud people such as the Chinese. Face is involved. More important than money in many instances.

Trump forgot China is considered the #2 power in the world. The U.S. #1. The evaluation means nothing in a sense. China may already be first. One only finds out when an armed conflict arises.

Two types of war involved. Economic and actual. We are presently in an economic war. Should the U.S. push China too far, actual war could occur. Missiles would fly. To our cities.

In the past 5 years, China has moved forward militarily big time. Constructed over 550 new Naval vessels. Developed islands/air fields on the water in China seas. Developed new radar and nuclear missile systems. We have not progressed as well. The winner of an armed conflict not certain.

Two new Trump goofs this past week.

The first was Giuliani’s planned trip to the Ukraine to get dirt on Biden. Called off at the last minute. The second, Trump advising it was “appropriate” for him to talk to the Department of Justice about investigating Biden.

Things are getting worse. Wake up America!

At the moment, I have a need to get out of the house. Need to smell the roses again. It will depend how I feel later in the day.

Enjoy your Sunday! Mothers, enjoy your day!