Trump reminds me of my grandfather and so many men I've encountered in the U.S. Although my grandfather was a working class man and thankfully didn't have as far a reach on as many women and children as Trump has. It isn't so much that men like Trump exist and live comfortably without accountability all over the U.S. as it's that we as a society have allowed them to. We have looked the other way with their locker room talk, with their racism, their bullying of each other and their misogyny and assault of women and children. We forgive them quickly for their cruelty. And give them unearned respect, honors, and laurels. I wish I had learned to stop doing this at a much younger age but here I am at 47 trying to sort it all out still. My grandfather is dead and gone and I do not miss him. And I love my family dearly but the silence on pedophilia has been deafening within my own family, within the small town I grew up in, and throughout our culture as a whole. And here we are, on a daily basis, so many of us living our lives while children and families are human trafficked by ICE and social elites scoff at survivors who dare speak the truth about Epstein and his nightmare island of horrors. And here we are, so many of us who survived our own experiences of SA or physical violence or hate crime for being born gay or Black or Brown or in another country. I honor the heroes (those survivors named in the Epstein files, those who fight for their neighbors, and those who expose corruption and who have lost their jobs or life for it). I especially honor those who speak up in our toxic society that to often blames the oppressed. I'm feeling a bit numb some days and I'm struggling to complete all my obligations, but I'm doing my best to feel the grief and rage. And then find some time to read, stare at the sky, have wonder for art, and hike in the woods. Don't stop looking and feeling and thinking with your own heart and brain. There is a maze of info-wars on these "monster boxes" spewed at us everyday but what have you experienced in your family and community? Where do you see the cognitive dissonance in yourself? When did you violate consent or bully or deny another access because they were gay/strange/Black/female/immigrant? Are you ready to examine that? Forgive that? And begin to hold others accountable in all the micro moments that white supremacy and imperial capitalism is upheld by us all? Just some late night thoughts after letting a visit to a waterfall wash away my confusion. May fierce compassion and love guide my future thoughts and actions. At the beginning of this year, 2026: I got accepted to a two week study abroad program through Portland State University. In August I plan to travel to Copenhagen, Malmo, & Amsterdam to study European approaches to sex work, human trafficking, and harm reduction. I'll get a chance to meet scholars, activists, and law enforcement across Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands. And the timing feels right. Harm reduction sounds right to me: realistic, and collaborative. We shall see. Following the threads with the hope that love wins in the end and that the fascists truly are bound to lose.