Stranger Things Advent Calendar - 8

Door number 8: 

Stranger Things Advent Calendar - 7

Door number 7: 

Stranger Things Advent Calendar - 6

Door number 6: 

Stranger Things Advent Calendar - 5

Door number 5: 

Stranger Things Advent Calendar - 4

Door number 4: 

Stranger Things Advent Calendar - 3

Door number 3: 

Stranger Things Advent Calendar - 2

Door number 2: 

Stranger Things Advent Calendar - 1

It's time for this year's caption advent calendar. This year it's full of stranger things!

Door number 1:

From The Mind of Merc - Trump's Mental Decline

Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today I was thinking about Trump. Or, more specifically, Trump’s mental decline.

It is clear, whichever way you look at it, that there is something seriously wrong with the mental state of the President of the United States. I’m not referring to his racism, sexism, misogyny, narcissism or any of his other long-held and discriminatory beliefs (which could arguably, from my perspective, be referred symptoms of mental instability) but there are clear signs that the President is suffering from an increasingly severe cognitive decline.

Evidence includes:

-          verbal gaffes, growing confusion, and frequent memory lapses - including routinely confusing the names of countries, opponents, and foreign leaders, (which, according to Dr John Gartner states are “clinical signs of dementia”. Dr Gartner added that “Whatever personality issues or problems [people with dementia] have begin to deteriorate and they become even more crude, disorganized, aggressive, confused”.  In addition to this, Dr Ben Michaelis has noted a distinct difference both in his sentence structure and in the complexity of his vocabulary between from when he was, say, in 40s to now. Dr Michaelis also observed that Trump is not staying “linear” – he doesn’t stay on topic or answer the question he’s been asked (and not in the usual vague politician way but as in loses track of what was asked seconds earlier)).
-          falling asleep during high-profile meetings – in a work day that used to start at 10.30 and now rarely gets going before noon.
-          a wide-based gait and “droopy face” – noted by Dr Gartner as signs of a psychomotor deterioration 

Factor in a family history of history of dementia – Trump’s father, Fred Trump Sr. was diagnosed with dementia 8 years before he died and his niece, Mary Trump, has said she’s noticed similar symptoms in Trump that she saw in his father – and the probability of the president exhibiting at the very least early signs of the disease are too undeniable to ignore.

The trouble is, with Republicans controlling the government, and Trump being their golden goose, it is likely – however hypocritically given the focus that was directed at Biden’s mental health and capacity to operate efficiently in his role as President – that little will be done to prevent the President’s decline from impacting his work, our lives and the United States as a whole. And, when the man in charge of a country is using his personal affronts and perceived slights as the basis for national policy – like when Trump called off trade negotiations with Canada after taking a dislike to a viral video posted by Doug Ford, the Premier of Ontario, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking out against tariffs - this becomes a dangerous game for anyone to play or to allow to be played.

O Doctor! My Doctor!

And the second one being a parody of the Walt Whitman poem made famous by the film Dead Poets Society (and set at the end of the last 9th Doctor episode - The Parting of the Ways).

O Captain! My Captain! O Doctor! My Doctor! not by Walt Whitman
O Doctor! My Doctor! The battle now is done;
The ships have all been destroyed, Daleks gone - every one;
Your Rose is here, her mind unclear, the time vortex is pulsing,
Her golden eyes reveal her deed, and also that she’s dying:
      O her head! head! head!
            She can’t ignore its strong call!
                  Be not afraid the Doctor’s here,
                        He will save us all.

O Doctor! My Doctor! Step up to help the girl;
Step up—for you she did this thing—for you she saved the world;
For you she came back and fought —for you she stands there glowing;
It’s you she needs, to stop the pain, your resolve now is showing;
      The Doctor! Will help her!
            And save her from her fall;
                  He reaches out, his lips touch hers,
                        And he will save us all.

The Doctor catches her then, and lays her on the floor;
Rose wakes from her salvation and wonders what went before;
The Doctor’s face now shows a pain, he knows his time is done;
Though neither want, neither can staunch, the process has begun;
      Golden light flares, and then it fades!
            A new man stands there tall,
                  A diff’rent face (yet) still we know,
                        He will save us all.