1. It’s Monday, November 9, 2015

2. I’ve been up since 4:30 a.m. lamenting the stupidity in our lives. I know, being awake at 4:30 because of the world’s stupidity is, in itself, stupid. So maybe this is a case of “Physician, heal thyself.”

But then I think about the Starbucks’ holiday cup “controversy.” And the agitation over the alleged “War on Christmas.” And I think why, oh why, was I born into a world of such overwhelming, overpowering, monumental stupidity.

There are no designs on Starbucks’ 2015 holiday cups. It’s just red with the Starbucks logo. I think I noticed when I stopped at Starbucks on my way home from my parents’ house for the Oprah Chai Latte. But I didn’t spend much more than 5 seconds thinking about it.

Apparently, there are people who did.

There are people who believe that Starbucks, in removing any designs from this cup, are making an anti-Christmas statement. That this coffeehouse chain is throwing down the gauntlet. By not putting a snowflake, or a snowman, or whatever the hell it put on the cups in years past, Starbucks is smacking the faces of Christmas-celebrating people everywhere. Yet one more incursion into the sanctity that is the Christmas season.

BOOM!

That was the sound of my head exploding.

Christmas is not threatened by the lack of a design on a Starbucks cup. Christmas is not threatened by my wishing you a “Happy Holiday” instead of a “Merry Christmas.” Christmas is not threatened by Wal-Mart talking about holiday sales instead of Christmas sales. Christmas is not threatened if a shopping mall doesn’t put up a tree, if a community doesn’t put up a creche, if a public high school choir doesn’t sing “Silent Night,” if preschool kids light menorahs.

There is no one stopping anyone from celebrating Christmas in the United States in 2015. There is no war on Christmas. There is, however, an understanding that there are people who do not celebrate Christmas, and those of us who do want to share the season somehow with those people. These are our neighbors, friends and colleagues. Along with family, these are who we care about.

The holidays are a time for all to celebrate. If you want to be irritated about something as inconsequential as the design on a Starbucks coffee cup, you sure as hell are going to miss out on the real fun and joy that the season brings.

It’s November 6, 2015 and time for Friday Yes or No, the thing I do on Friday in which I ask myself questions that I myself answer. Seems a little loaded, I know, but it’s a good shtick. Anyway, here we go:

Q1: With the strong October jobs report, should the Federal Reserve raise interest rates for the first time since before the financial crisis began?

A1: Yes

Q2: Is that because it would be a sign that the U.S. economy did it – it recovered from the worst financial setback since the Great Depression?

A2: Yes

Q3: Is there any way in the world that Donny Trump should be hosting “Saturday Night Live”?

A3: No

Q4: If Ben Carson wants to be President of the United States, shouldn’t he expect the kind of scrutiny that has led to people questioning the sanity of his past statements?

A4: Yes

Q5: Do you get the sense that George W. Bush’s presidency was a way to get back at his father for something that happened when W. was a tyke?

A5: Yes

Q6: Do you think that’s why he brought in guys like Cheney and Rumsfeld who his father wasn’t crazy about?

A6: Yes

Q7: Speaking of legacies, is there any chance the mess that W. created in Iraq will be cleaned up anytime in the next decade?

A7: No

Q8: Is it long freakin’ about time that oil companies are being investigated for what they know and haven’t done about climate change?

A8: Yes

Q9: And it’s a great day now that President Obama is killing the Keystone XL pipeline?

A9: Yes

Q10: Even though it’s been five days, I’m not over the Mets’ loss to Kansas City, am I?

A10: No

1. It’s Wednesday, November 4, 2015.

2. It was 75 degrees and gorgeous here yesterday. When did suburban New York become San Diego?

3. Yesterday was Election Day. Today, the winners recover from overcelebrating, the losers lick their wounds, and life goes on.

I’m unhappy with the results where I live. A Democratic incumbent, who twice ran unopposed before this year, lost in a campaign of ugly charges and countercharges.

I sensed his desperation the night before when, in an official town e-mail that announces what’s going on in the new month, he announced there would be no property tax increase next year. That’s kind of weird to see in a newsletter that normally tells about leaf collection schedules and the pre-Thanksgiving parade.

In this town, the population is aging. There’s little patience for higher taxes that come from families with fixed incomes. They don’t like it when the school district builds new things that their kids — grown and gone away — can’t use. They don’t like it when they see strange surnames and different face shades that are nothing like the old ones. And they’re frightened by what they see in the next town over, where they sense that Hasidic Jews have conspired to change the nature of the community and gut the public schools, and don’t want anything like that happening here.

In elections, people either vote their hopes or vote their fears. Usually, voting hope feels better – that is why Barack Obama is President. But sometimes fear gets the upper hand. If you think the things you value in life are at risk, there’s a good chance you’re going to vote fear.

That’s what happened here yesterday. As much as I dislike it, I have to accept it, because this is a democracy. But the idea of leaving the house we’ve lived in for 22 years and going to a more welcoming place is more palatable today than it has ever been. Because life is no fun being around fearful people.

For my side, for the Democrats, the dilemma posed yesterday is daunting: How do you get people to see a brighter future instead of a scary present?

On that is what the 2016 Presidential election will turn.

1. It’s Tuesday, November 3, 2015

2. Vote! (if it’s Election Day where you are) If you don’t, you get the government you deserve.

3. I’m trying to remember what people argued about ten years ago, before there was Twitter.

Today, of course, they’re arguing about Twitter itself. But not about whether it’s a reliable source of information, or whether people spend too much time on it.

They’re arguing about the change from clicking on a star to say a tweet is a favorite to clicking on a heart to say you like a tweet.

By switching from “Favorite” to “Like,” Twitter is using the same nomenclature as Facebook. But Facebook uses the thumbs-up icon to indicate you like something (I’m still waiting for that “Unlike” icon for people who can’t stand someone’s goofy picture of a dog).

Some people are bothered by the change in terminology. Some people are bothered by the change in icon – so much so that Lucky Charms is trending on Twitter because both stars and hearts are the shapes of marshmallows in the cereal, indicating that half-moons might be next.

Anyway, the fact that I’ve wasted all these electrons on this subject indicates why it’s a topic for discussion. Twitter has changed our world in its nearly 10 years of existence, and maybe not always in ways that make the world a more enlightened place.

4. The Times’ lead story underscores what a freakin’ mess Syria is.

It points out that a coalition the U.S. backs to battle the Islamic State hardly exists in reality. In facts, the Kurds who are supposedly part of the coalition look down at the Arabs who are supposedly part of it. There’s no unity of purpose, no coordination and suspicion galore.

When critics suggest the U.S. needs to take a more forceful position in the region, they need to consider who we’re dealing with here. The only alternative that could override this factionalism is a massive American force. And while that might light Dick Cheney’s fire, the American people are understandably not the least bit interested.

1. It’s Monday, November 2, 2015.

2. In Mexico, today is Dia de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, a day when families commemorate the passing of loved ones in their lives. Like tequila and good tortillas, this is another great idea from our friends south of the border.

Sure, we think of people we’ve lost all the time. But to have a day dedicated to thinking about them seems like an excellent idea. I hope it’s a day of peace and fondness for those who celebrate.

3. I saw “Bridge of Spies” this weekend and thought it was a decent, workman-like film. But what struck me were the scenes when Tom Hanks’ character was passing to and from East Berlin as the wall was being built, and how East German soldiers shot anyone trying to escape to the West.

It was a reminder that this is sort of what Donny Trump wants with Mexico, probably complete with the snipers shooting at anyone trying to cross in from Mexico. That way, Americans can be as reviled in the second half of the 21st century as the East Germans are in this film.

4. Tomorrow is Election Day in many places. When I asked the students in my Journalism class how many of them planned to vote, not a single hand was raised.

So here’s my diatribe:

Local elections are the minor leagues of races for higher office. Politicians who make it through these ranks get to run for jobs with more recognition and power. So not paying attention to these races means a lot of crappy people get a chance to get a job paid for by your taxes. If there’s any kind of scrutiny at all, perhaps it would leave public office for those who can pass muster.

So vote tomorrow. It’s a couple of minutes, but it’s worth your time. If we don’t vote, we get the political figures we deserve, and have no right to badmouth.

5. I was sitting in the middle deck of Citi Field down the right field line when I saw an amazing sight: the instant that summer became winter.

I didn’t think to look at the clock, but I’m guessing it was sometime around 11 p.m. That’s when Lucas Duda’s throw to home trying to nail the Royals’ Eric Hosmer sailed away from Mets’ catcher Travis d’Arnaud. Instead of a 2-1 Mets’ win, the fifth game of the World Series was tied.

At that moment, a frost filled the air and it seemed as though there was snow on the ground. You could almost see the icicles hanging on the arc of the ball’s errant path. The Royals won about 90 minutes later, and baseball’s summer was now a bitter winter.

But it was a really, really cool summer — and the last words echoing through the stairways of Citi Field, a heartfelt “Let’s Go Mets” chant, will ring all the way to spring training.

1. It’s Thursday, October 29, 2015.

2. Three years ago today, Superstorm Sandy made life miserable for folks in these parts. Lives were lost, property was destroyed or damaged and the general state of things in the area was godawful.

I’m not sure what was learned from the storm. I’d like to think that if the same thing happens again, we won’t be so disrupted for so long.

But the power lines are still above ground. And it’s the same utility company that wasn’t especially responsive in 2012.

The consolation is that no one remembers another storm quite like Sandy. So maybe there won’t be anything quite as bad again in my lifetime. Then again, since I’m not a climate change denier, I’m not that optimistic.

3. I didn’t watch the Republican debate last night, being preoccupied with the Mets (more on that later).

But from what I’ve gleaned from watching and hearing clips, CNBC violated one of the interviewing rules I gave my introduction to journalism: don’t ask questions aimed at drawing attention to what you know instead of questions designed to draw out the candidates’ positions.

Arguing with the candidates about how your research shows that their idea is bogus seems bogus in itself. By doing that, you give the candidates the opportunity to deflect any serious questions you have and elicit undeserved sympathy.

The Republicans seem to be able to find ways to entertain audiences with their wackiness without needing enablement from the news organizations that are supposed to hold their feet to the fire.

4. I’m writing this in the middle of Rockland Lake State Park because, when I started, it was this unseasonably warm and sunny day. Now, alas, it’s this:

5. This perhaps is a metaphor for how Mets fans feel today after our team didn’t cover itself with glory in the first two games of the World Series.

To be fair, the Kansas City Royals are pretty good.

But I don’t care about them. I care about the Mets. I have loved this run that has put them in the Series for the first time in 15 years.

This has been special for me not just because the Mets have won – it’s also the year that my former CNNMoney colleagues gave me a 10-game ticket plan as a retirement gift. So this is about the present and the past, and the vibe that such a generous gift leaves in a heart.

Perhaps it’s greedy to want more. But you sometimes you don’t get things unless you try for them.

So even though they’re down 2-0 and looked bad last night losing, I still believe these guys can win. That’s partly because my heart has no other real option. We all die soon enough. Might as well hang in there and celebrate life.

That explains today’s title. It’s disputed that John Paul Jones told the captain of a British ship that “I have not yet begun to fight” when asked to surrender during the revolution.

But there’s no dispute about this from me and my fellow true blue-and-orange Mets fans: We have not yet begun to fight.

1. It’s Wednesday, October 28, 2015

2. The Republicans are debating again tonight. This time, the drama will focus on the evaporation of Donny Trump’s lead and the surge of Ben Carson.

How will Donny, who used to say he was enamored of Carson, strike back at a guy he’s been attacking as the poll numbers shifted? With Carson taking the lead, will CNBC ask the kinds of economic questions that will reveal what he actually knows about the economy? Donny, for his part, will tout his self-described business acumen as a panacea for everything he sees wrong with the country.

And, of course, there are the others. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio now have less than 100 days before the caucus on Feb. 1. Will this debate once and for all get Chris Christie out of this race? And whatever happened to Carly Fiorina – wasn’t she supposed to be surging after the last of these things? That meteor crashed quick.

3. I won’t be watching the debate. I will be performing the act of self-flagellation known as watching game two of the World Series. I’m still feeling the effects of game one – the slow unbinding of the knot in my stomach, the lack of sleep that comes from staying up past 1 a.m. and then staying awake another 90 minutes after the Mets lost the way they lost.

But after about three hours of a fitful night, I’m starting to recharge my confidence. It’s Jacob deGrom tonight. They can’t lose like that twice in a row. I’ve believed in them this long. I can’t quit now.

1. It’s Tuesday, October 27, 2015.

2. The White House and Congress say there’s a budget deal that takes away the threat that the U.S. would default on its debt. It’s good that this has happened, but it’s still stupid that these negotiations ever come to this point.

The idea here is to give the new Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, a chance to shape his agenda without all the baggage from these ersatz crises. Unfortunately, Ryan already says he won’t work on immigration reform as long as President Obama is in office.

An opportunity to actually do some good, and – if he really thought about it – help his party, is being squandered in the pique Ryan and the Republicans have that Americans elected Barack Obama. Twice.

3.  The latest obscene video of a white police officer roughing up an African-American kid comes from Spring Valley High School in South Carolina. It will lead to protests by people who say black lives matter, counter protests by people say police lives matter, and then all will pass until the next video surfaces.

What would be better is if these stupid things didn’t happen. And while there are few details of what happened before the police officer flipped the girl over in her chair, there can’t be any circumstance in which what he did looks rational.

Why police officers don’t understand that, and figure out that they are supposed to be professional in dealing with problem situations, evades me. It appears to evade them, too.

The United States needs to do a better job of eliminating the kind of policing that exacerbates situations and leads to Ferguson or Staten Island or any of the racially charged incidents of the past few years. Otherwise, nothing gets better, and the reasoning behind the Black Lives Matter movement, the idea that people of color are not just would-be criminals and non-entities, will get angrier and harder to reconcile.

4.   The World Health Organization now says bacon, sausage and hot dogs are carcinogens. I think anyone who eats them knows they aren’t the healthiest things in the world. But, really, are they cigarettes? I don’t think the risk is anywhere near the same.

Putting processed meats in the same class as tobacco and asbestos doesn’t help reduce the risks of eating them – it makes people gives less consideration to how dangerous other substances are.

5.    Tonight is game one of the 2015 World Series. For the first time in 15 times, my team is in there. Whatever happens, I’m proud of the Mets and what they’ve accomplished. But if they lose, my heart will be smashed.

So let’s win this one, Mets, let’s say in five games so that, on Sunday night, my daughter and I can be part of the celebration at Citi Field.

1. It’s Monday, October 26, 2015

2. I can’t imagine Donny Trump or Ben Carson as the Republican nominees for president. And yet, we’re about to make the turn into November 2015, and they’re far and away at the top of the heap. Nobody else is close. The more these guys hang at the top, the less likely it is that anyone who’s more mainstream – although that does seem like a relative term with this bunch of loonies – can overtake them.

3. Blame Sarah Palin. That’s what former White House Chief of Staff William Daley says in a Washington Post op-ed piece. Daley believes that when John McCain picked Palin as his running mate in 2008, he opened the door to the kind of lunacy that has prevailed in the Republican Party since.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

I understand his point – since bursting onto the national scene, Palin has been an embarrassing example of what happens when right-wing talking points combine with being none too bright. And the veins she tapped with her candidacy – the empowerment of women, particularly working mothers – are clogged by the fact that nothing she claims to stand for helps them much.                                                                                                                                                                                      

But saying Palin is to blame misses a big point. The Republicans have been heading down the path they’re on for a long time. Since George W. Bush and Dick Cheney saw political advantage in a unified nation after 9/11 and went down the path of stupidity in Iraq. Since the Bush White House chose faith-based policies over fact-based policies. Since the refusal to tone down some of the racist sniping at President Obama from the day he was elected. Since they decided that immigration reform was a sure way to give Obama a victory without seeing that it would give them one, too.

Sarah Palin is a symptom, not a cause of the Republicans’ turn to stupid. She found a welcome home – just like Trump, Carson, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee and others who have no business claiming they should be our commander-in-chief.

4. Currently where I am, in the suburbs north of New York, it is 47 degrees, and with a mild wind it feels like 44.

And yet, thanks to the New York Mets, the summer continues, and will until at least Halloween night. By making it to the World Series, the Mets – and their opponents, the Kansas City Royals – still have us putting aside dealing with the fall and the fact that the end of the calendar year is fast approaching.

It does mean that, when we get to Citi Field on Friday, the conditions are not going to be quite the same as they were the night in July when there was a Heart concert right after a Met win over the Dodgers.

But that’s all right. As the Beach Boys proved, summer is a state of mind as well as a season. The summer of 2015 goes on here in New York and, with luck and some decent pitching, it’ll last until a ticker tape parade downtown next week.

It’s October 23, 2015, and time for Friday Yes or No. I ask the questions. I answer them simply and elegantly.

Q1: Although it’s hard to beat Donny Trump on a day-to-day basis, is Trey Gowdy the biggest horse’s ass in America today?

A1: Yes

Q2: So, now that Hillary Clinton has answered every possible question anyone can ask about what happened in Benghazi three years ago, will this put an end to the “investigation”?

A2: No

Q3: Is that because Fox News needs something to talk about every once in a while?

A3: Yes

Q4: Is it possible that the Chancellor of Germany is more interested in the truth about the horrors that befell millions of Jews during the Holocaust than the Prime Minister of Israel?

A4: Yes

Q5: Will Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders make a big pitch to woo the supporter of Lincoln Chafee, who’s dropped out of the presidential race?

A5: No

Q6: Did some PR person earn his/her keep with the promotion of Back to the Future Day?

A6: Yes

Q7: Is “Back to the Future II” anywhere near the quality of sequel that “Godfather II” is?

A7: No

Q8: Is Paul Ryan making a mistake in becoming Speaker of the House?

A8: No

Q9: Is that because he isn’t really running for anything, and it doesn’t matter what happens?

A9: Yes

Q10: Two days after the fact, is it still hard to believe that the Mets will be playing in the World Series?

A10: Yes

Q11: Will they win it?

A11: Yes