THE ROSS: The 2022 Year End Report
2022 has been a wild ride.
The dramatic personal event was a health crisis. With my brand-new Medicare (thanks, Democrats!), I was able to have a ton of tests and procedures without bankrupting me. So far, nothing terrifying has been discovered other than the terrifying blood clots in my right leg and lungs. While this can be lethal, it is statistically manageable.
I knew early in the year that something was not right. With each passing week my energy level dropped to the point where I was napping three times a day and struggling with everything. Taking the garbage out would wind me. When I first began working on the library ceiling getting up/down the ladder once would overwhelm me.
Today? I am soooooooo much better and feel…squee!!!!!!!!…normal. Well normal for an old man!
All year I was intensely concerned about the November election. All year. Last year, too.
The four Trump years were a horror to me. Everything I held dear, like kindness, decency, honesty, empathy, and intelligence was trampled upon and even laughed at.
How had my country devolved to…this?
And in 2021 the Capitol of my country was violently attacked by Trump supporters, who hoped to murder Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence.
So, even though Trump had been voted out of office, the horror continued.
During Trump’s first two years in office Republicans had absolute power. And what did they do to help you and me?
Nothing. Zip.
They did though give the richest 1% tax breaks.
And what did Democrats accomplish these past two years to help you and me? More than any Congress and President since Franklin Roosevelt. I have previously posted the LONG list of these accomplishments which dazzle me.
This makes my heart sing.
I am soooooooo proud to be a Democrat.
Yet, with all this, the media and the Republican party have portrayed Biden as a failure, and a November ‘Red Wave’ was furiously pushed for much of the year.
But, in late June, the Supreme Court kicked Roe into the gutter and I instantly thought: The Court just handed Democrats a huge gift.
In early August, Conservative Kansas voted to keep abortion legal, or illegal. The voting results stunned the nation, and a woman’s right to choose was resoundingly affirmed.
This made my heart sing sing sing. Yet, I was almost alone in suggesting that Democrats would do well in the mid-term election.
Then came the day.
The results?
For the first time since 1934 the President’s party did not lose Senate seats. Indeed, Democrats gained a seat.
For the first time since the early 1960s, the President’s party was not wiped out in the House.
There proved no Red Wave.
And the media and almost all pundits were proved wrong.
This made my heart sing.
While my joy is great regarding all that my party has done, and is doing, to help you and me, the horror continues.
The Republican party has devolved to pure evil. I watch with horror as Florida governor Ron DeSantis demonizes the LGBTQ community, making it illegal…yes, illegal…to even mention ‘gay’ in schools.
I watch with horror over the obscene and surreal drama about drag queens sexually “grooming” children. This is what Republicans are focused on: a non-existent issue. All the while children are being sexually abused by religious leaders across the land.
Not a single drag queen has been arrested for sexuality abusing children yet here are headlines Republicans and Fox News ignore:
Michigan Youth Pastor Arrested On Child Sex Charges
Las Vegas Pastor Arrested On Child Sex Charges
MT Pastor Arrested On Multiple Child Sex Charges
Ohio Pastor Arrested On Two Felony Child Sex Charges
MD Pastor Indicted On Multiple Child Porn Charges
OH Pastor Busted In Human Trafficking Sting
IL Pastor Found Guilty Of Five Felony Child Sex Charges
NC Pastor Hit With 14 New Child Sex Charges
Church Youth Leader Convicted Of Child Sex Charges
TX Pastor Charged With Sexual Assault Of 11-Year-Old
MN Pastor Arrested On Multiple Child Sex Charges
IL Pastor Sentenced To 14 Years On Child Porn Charges
Pastor Gets Six Years Probation On Child Sex Charges
Megachurch Pastor Accused Of Child Rape Coverup Allegedly Told Victim “You Tempted My Father”
Florida Pastor Arrested On Multiple Child Sex Charges
NC Pastor Arrested On Multiple Child Sex Charges
WI Catholic Pastor Arrested On Child Sex Charges
MO Youth Pastor Sentenced To 9 Years For Child Rape
Oklahoma Youth Pastor Sued After Molestation Arrest
Think these are years worth of headlines?
Nope. All these headlines are from December, 2022. Just ONE month.
But, sure, drag queens are the problem.
For fuck’s sake.
For fuck’s sake.
For fuck’s sake.
And the party which believes the total fantasy that drag queens are sexuality abusing children, while wholly ignoring the very real issue…takes control of the House this week.
In short, this week the House will be handed over to a party which is detached from reality. And is evil.
If this doesn’t terrify you, there is something wrong with you.
While Democrats have, as stated, accomplished a phenomenal amount these past two years to help you and me, I anticipate a shit-show for the new House. For, based on their long history, Republicans will likely do nothing to help you and me. Rather, they will revel in their shit-show.
While I watch in horror as about 25% of my fellow citizens work to overthrow democracy, I have been joyous in watching the people of Ukraine valiantly fight to protect their democracy.
I have been joyous in watching the people of Iran protest women being subjugated by male leaders. Such bravery!
I was joyous that Trump-wannabe Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was voted out of office. He’s now fled to, of course, Florida.
I have lost a number of kitties this year. I knew this time would come, as the majority of my cats arrived in Ross Land the same year. This process is not as hard as it was when I was younger. Still, it is hard, as y’all know. What helps though is the feeling of being blessed by their warm fuzzy presence for many years. I feel grateful that they shared Ross Land with me. This really helps.
Overall, I enjoyed 2022. Working on the Cross House continues to delight me, and the project is massively engaging. While I thought I would move in during 2021, life intervened (like covid) and the sudden shift in my direction to get the carriage house ready for Cody. And my health issues made moving in during 2022 a non-starter.
My new target is 2023. Wish me luck!
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You’re such a beautiful human being! Thanks for speaking out.
Thanks for being here, Ross. And here’s to your continued good health, work on the house, and loving kitties in 2023. I don’t comment often, but I read all of your posts, especially the political ones. (And of course I agree with you 100%)
Thank you for being who you are!
Best wishes for a healthy, productive, and creative 2023.
Best wishes for 2023 Ross. I look forward to reading your continuing saga. Love what your doing in the library THAT CEILING. Wallpaper might work on the panels but not those two. I like your handwork much better (parlor is a great example of your work & thought processes). I have no doubt in your finding the best choices for your library. Love the table! Makes room look more age appropriate. Room for chair and side table? Looking forward to the move-in day.
Love to read your posts & especially political posts as they are always “right on the money.”
Also love the creative processes! Especially in the parlor & the library!
So glad health is on the mend!!
Yes it’s been a year! Here’s to 2023!!!
I have enjoyed all of these posts over the years! I am grateful you keep doing the blog.
I look forward to you moving in when you can, but am simply and truly enjoying the ride!
Thanks, and Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, Ross! I have learned about your patented Baby Step method and often think of you when I get overwhelmed with projects. I share all of your views about TFG and his awful army but hopefully we will press forward and sanity will return to the world again.
When is the first Cross House drag show? Could you imagine how fabulous the queens would look descending the grand staircase?
I’m thrilled your health has bounced back, the Dems did so much better than expected, but most of all for your optimism/positive outlook through all these years. It’s a real inspiration for all of us!
Drag queen here to volunteer!!!
Happy New Year, Ross! I agree politically with you completely! Here’s hoping 2023 treats you well, in health, happiness and wealth!
Dearest Ross,
As Derek said above, I too am grateful for your posts over the years.
I found you during a tough time in my life. When is saw “Restoring” in the title, I originally thought the blog was about restoring self, calm, personhood… But I too am a preservationist who adores old houses, so imagine my joy when I found out the things you restore!
I also agree with you 100% politically and was thrilled to see what happened in the House today. Maybe a miracle will happen and Hakeem Jeffries will get the few more votes needed to become Speaker.
I saw a post about 2023 that might make you laugh- “2023, come in, sit down, shut up and don’t break anything!” Give us a rest! Amen to that!
Wishing you a happy, healthy and fun year and I hope this is the year your move into across House.
Big hug!
Thank you , Karen!
I wrote in my post: “I anticipate a shit-show for the new House. ”
And…surprise!…their very first day was a shit show!
And there are people who vote for these idiots!
I’ll bet some of those “idiots” have shared your site and even contributed to you. Having a different opinion shouldn’t be causing so much hatred in our country, but here we are. As for the grooming, it’s happening. Just because the MSM isn’t reporting it doesn’t mean it’s not true. There’s an amazing group out there, “Gays Against Groomers” who are bringing attention to what is happening across the country. That’s why it’s being talked about so much.
Dear Alisha,
“Gays Against Groomers” is an anti-trans hate group.
Most of what they state simply isn’t true. And for this reason they have been banned by Google, PayPal, and Venmo.
And while Gays Against Groomers is ranting about mostly non-existent issues, all across America religious people are grooming kids and sexually abusing them, as my post make terrifyingly obvious. And THIS is what the media is ignoring. And THIS is what Conservative are ignoring. And THIS is what you are ignoring.
Excuse me? You are assuming an awful lot. I am an outspoken advocate for children, including those abused by religious people, teachers, and politicians. I’ve also done my research in order to understand what is real and what isn’t. Just because the media doesn’t cover it doesn’t mean that the issues are “mostly non-existent”. What is being done to the children is evil and ugly and they brush it under the rug so people don’t know how prevalent it is. As for politics, I don’t give a big, fat, rats @ss about who anyone supports. We are all entitled to our opinions. But what is happening to the children…well that’s the hill I will die on. Denying it doesn’t make it go away. (By the way….there are many trans people in the Gays Against Groomers group. )
Alisha,
So, you care about children. That’s great. Yet, you support a hate group that isn’t helping children. Rather, their mission is to promote hate.
One of their targets? Drag queens. Yet, there is no evidence that drag queens are sexually assaulting children. But the hate group you praise? Their homepage doesn’t mention the overwhelming abuse of children by religious people.
Why is that? I mean, if they cared about protecting children this would be their #1 mission, right?
But they never mention the issue. An issue that is real. Instead, they target a non-issue: drag queens. FFS.
You wrote: “I’ve also done my research in order to understand what is real and what isn’t.”
There are people who do a lot of research and conclude that the Earth is flat. So, research is pointless when collecting information from non-credible sources, and also pointless without the discernment to understand the difference between reality and bullshit.
I remember when it being widely reported in some circles that Hillary was running a child sex ring in the basement of a Pizza Hut. One guy, who had…surely…done his research, went to the Pizza Hut, rounded up the employees at gunpoint, and demanded to be shown the basement so he could free the children being held against their will.
The employees explained that there was no basement. He didn’t believe them. Because…he had done his research. So, he scoured the building and eventually realized that…drum roll, please…there was no basement.
Lastly, you write: “there are many trans people in the Gays Against Groomers group”.
Well, there were also Jews for Hitler.
Alisha, you say “Having a different opinion shouldn’t be causing so much hatred in our country”
Having a different opinion about how much money we spend on various items or how involved we should be in foreign affairs or various other political items is fine.
When your “different opinion” is “gay people don’t deserve the same rights as I have” or telling lies about “critical race theory” or spreading hate towards LGBTQ+ people or attempting to roll back 100 years of civil rights, then that’s hate.
“Gays Against Groomers” is a hate group. They are spreading the same hateful lies that the rest of the Republican party is about LGBTQ+ people and trying to associate “pedophilia” with LGBTQ+ people.
“Grooming” is not happening the way you and the Republicans claim it is. You throw around words like “grooming” and “woke” and “critical race” and you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about; all you’re doing is mimicking the hate language that conservatives are using to dehumanize people they don’t like.
Thank you, Kara.
Thank you.
Try expanding your research beyond the MSM and google. By the way, I’m bisexual so all of your assumptions are moot points.
Girl. Anyone actually queer who is part of ‘gays against groomers’ has clearly NOT done their research. (Side note, i dont know ANYONE who is pro groomer, that word would be pedophile, and we leave those to the church and to the republicans.) The upright and good Queers that i DO know, know better. All media tells lies somwhere, period.
Anyone who tells me to “research” beyond MSM tells me multiple things about you:
1 – You don’t understand how media works
2 – You don’t have the ability to vet your information sources and tell the difference between facts, opinion, and propaganda
3 – You don’t understand how research works
Also you use the term “moot point” – I don’t think that means what you think it means.
Thank you, again, Kara.
I would suggest that if you want to learn more about *real* grooming (not alleged LGBTQ grooming), you could start with RAINN and their guide to the topic:
https://www.rainn.org/news/grooming-know-warning-signs
Also this page has some definitions for you – it’s an official UK based group affiliated with their law enforcement programmes:
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/What-is-sexual-grooming/
Grooming is about gaining power over children via emotional manipulation.
Grooming is NOT taking children to drag shows, or exposing them to facts about sexuality, or teaching them that LGBTQ people exist and are just as “normal” as everyone else.
Woooooo love this discussion. How come, when factual information is given, the one with the less data gets upset?
To those that might plan to contradct Ross, please think again, because prior to posting topics that ruffle feathers, hair, clothes…Ross devote a lot of thought to those topics. Life is about learning. Let us understand different viewpoint/s. Read about it from various sources. Think about the data given. Then respond.
As for Ross’ 2022 year-end report: you are an incredible being in many, many ways Ross. Wishing you, the Cross House, the kitties and fishes more blessings for 2023.
We are here to learn and be amazed by you.