I think it's WRONG to take Cuba out of the mix. I've always wanted to visit Cuba, and many people are now getting to go. WHY stop this transition now? The Castro Brothers aren't going to live forever, and the people there can benefit from our Americans visiting Cuba before the culture changes forever. If I EVER fly again, it would be to see Cuba before our American dollars change it forever. I may not get to go now, but I'm hoping in the Spring, now that I finally have access to portable oxygen and a wheel chair, I really CAN go there for a few days. My mother was there before we placed the embargo, and she absolutely loved it! I've only got her memories now to remind me of how it used to be; I'd love to be well enough to make my own trip before Americans ruin it. Please don't stop all the good progress we've been able to make in just a few months. After all, we welcome them here without the same discrimination we give to people who are a lot closer to our culture than Cuba is. Can't we extend common courtesy to them after all these years? Harboring grudges that hurt so many people are ridiculous, and Vietnam is now our friend; why not Cuba? Think about that, please, before you ruin what has already begun to be a better world of relations.

Janet Cruz - I've been doing such things for years. As a single person, I have even moved to apartments near where I work so I can commute by foot.

Another couple of things: Look into meet-ups (usually in more urban areas) and find groups that are into earthen buildings - cob, strawbale, adobe, earth-bermed, earth-ship etc. The use of thermal mass makes these buildings hold a very stable temperature of about 55 to 60 degrees. When thermal mass is warmed, it holds that heat for a long time, and often these buildings can be warmed by a south-facing window. The incoming sunlight warms the interior which is then radiated back during the night. Such buildings often need no air-conditioning. They are made of earth and need little wood in their construction, and there is no off-gassing.

There are often local clubs or meet-ups around permaculture, which should be the way we raise all our food - getting rid of the factory farming that uses so much petroleum. For inspiration, I recommend finding the YouTube documentary "How Cuba Survived Peak Oil", which is how the Cuban people completely revolutionized their agriculture into a permaculture system after the Soviet Union fell and US embargos closed in. I don't know how much the Communist government in Cuba helped with this, but it looks like it was primarily a people-instigated change.

Amen on that last suggestion

Wait a minute, Thom. There may be a reason why this is such a shock. We saw how the Repbulicans stole the election for W. - both against Al Gore and John Kerry. This time they have control of the Presidency, the House, AND the Senate. Funny, just what they always wanted. And voter suppression and countless other GOP tricks were rampant. They're getting much better at ways to subvert democracy and we can't ignore the real possibility that this time is another one of their coups. As much as they disliked Trump, they would do anything to avoid Hillary.

ikebertlersen: Thousands did not come out right after Obama's election. They did not claim he was not "their" president. Thousands did not take to the streets after he was inaugurated. ( Where did you get that information?).

Political factions that oppose presidents are not thousands of people screaming "he's not our president".

Sorry, but I feel this contrived hysteria is more about those throwing fits that they did not get the coronation of Hillary and the far left, than any legitimate fear or concern about the future of this country.

It seems that the strange fringe elements of this country are simply upset that the mainstream backbone finally got their say.

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Merely Wistful?

{a rhyme}

May Bernie-ite thinking be more than just wistful

that we might succeed in our efforts resistful, -

- that Trumpism’s thrusts can be constrained

before these errors become engrained.

May resistance be Real, and not merely wishful.

=====================================

After Donald Trump became the Republican candidate I took it upon myself to learn about this person, his business history, his personality, his character. I found that he was not the business empire builder that he promoted himself to be, but a duplicitous con artist whose real talent was in baffling others with BS, as he walked away from the wreckage of his business ventures with a large chunk of change while leaving investors out of their money, pleading bankruptcy and gaming the tax system . Most of his businesses have been abject failures, a result of his hubris and incompetence. This is a man who stiffed his contractors, working people who trusted him to live up to his end of a bargain, then pitched himself to the working class as a savior who will bring back jobs to America. The clothing that he sold was made in China. His university was an outright fraud, scamming people out of their savings. Not only is their no bottom to his dishonesty and unethical business dealings, I simply can't find any evidence that he has any redeeming qualities. What has he ever done that contributes to a better world? What little charitable giving Trump has done has always had strings attached. There is absolutely nothing in this man's past that gives any indication that he will serve the public as president.

Trump has said a number of things that I agree with - bad trade policies, Wall Street greed, the carried interest loophole. There is absolutely nothing in his past that would lead me to believe that Mr. Trump will do anything to fix the problems he brought up. He does not have the interest, the focus, the will, the competence, or the empathy to fix any of this. He is a total fraud with a talent for pressing people's buttons. He will not accomplish any of the things he said he would do. He won the election by lying constantly, degrading others, ginning up hate, all with a pass from the media. Expect buyer's remorse within a short time. He may be the president, but he's not my president.

My wonder is why only half of us voted...almost guarantees another half-assed four years. I pray for peace for us all.

One can just imagine the outcry if tens of thousands of Americans took to the streets after Obama was elected and they chanted "not my president".

The fact is, like it or not, Donald Trump will be the President of the United States.

This Chicken Little hysteria is unwarranted. I think it is just a tantrum over the fact that the Hillary coronation was derailed.

There will be immediate good to come from Trumps victory, if we can hold him to the fire. Rather than building a wall to keep out illegals, the use of a comprehensive and mandatory e-Verify program, combined with draconian penalties on employers who hire illegals in the construction and manufacturing trades, to start, would be of great benefit to the American worker and taxpayer.

Also, revamping the ACA to make it economically sustainable and less burdensome on middle class taxpayers would also be of great benefit to the mainstream.

Third, reversing the efforts to establish the economic ties with Cuba that would enable the murderous Castro regime to stay in power, and keeping the effective embargo in place, would hasten Castro's demise and protect American workers from having a cheap labor "China" 90 miles off shore.

If nothing else, this election should clearly show that mainstream, middle class Americans have grown tired of the Democrats ignoring their needs in favor of smaller, but louder special interest groups that have become the favorites of Democratic Elites more interesting in social engineering than beneficial change for the mainstream.

If the above changes can take place in terms of illegal immigration, the ACA, and Cuba, and the Democrats learn who actually butters their bread, than the country will benefit greatly.

Also, I believe strongly that the demise of Hillary Clinton and the end of her lifelong quest for self-aggrandizement, is one that should be applauded, not mourned.

Buckle up, we're in for an exciting, unpredictable ride. But one that should not frighten or "terrify" the majority of Americans.

Big Pharma wins, Joe and Jane Average get screwed, get more sick and die. The latest Epi-Pen and insulin scandals prove conclusively that Big Pharma only cares about money, not human beings and their health / lives. Joe Manchan's daughter, CEO of the company that makes the Epi-Pen, got a raise from about $2 million a year to over $20 million after they raised the price of the Epi-Pen 600%. And, Joe Manchan's history is being a DINO big-time.

It's to some extent a matter of degree but to a large extent Trump can be expected to be significantly less corporatist. He appears better on workers' issues, particularly on free trade. He is by far the more believable - and the more believed - in promising to scuttle TPP and reverse the other trade agreements and this apparently genuine sympathy and support of the blue collar worker alone is what got him elected.
Now, Bernie would've done all that without incorporating all the working class, "man in the street" prejudices but Clinton was rejected as she was mostly because of her clear corporatism and of her moving of the Democrats in the decidedly corporatist direction while Trump was moving the Republicans in the opposite direction. The traditional, big business Republican base was deserting the party for Clinton in this election while the traditional Democratic base was deserting the Democratic Party for Trump and the Republicans.
The wine and cheese lefties here (I won't name any names) are so out of touch with the American blue collar worker - whom they pretend to support - or so look down on them as to not ever listen to them or take them seriously that they were completely blind sided by this election and are in dumb, numbed shock, clueless as to what happened.

The Repug(nants) are salivating to "run the Govt". Liberals are saying "now let's see them run the Govt". Pull your heads out people, they have been running the Govt, horribly, for 35 years. President is an executive position, the Repug(nants) have dominated econimic policy and paid the SCOTUS to fabricate laws for 35 years. Also, the Repug(nants) have dominated state govt, which is FAR larger than the feds. Violent overthrow is NOT a viable option, but I think we may well end up trying it. I participated in a 5,000 person anti-war march on the courthouse in Houston, that received absolutely ZERO media coverage. Nobody knows that we marched and peacably occupied the town square for 24 hours. I wasn't surprised, the media is own by war corporations, but many young folks in the crowd were calling for violence, so they could no longer ignore us.