Sunday, December 31, 2017

Happy New Year?

I am a glass half empty kind of guy.  It is hard for me even to conceive of a happy 2018.  Trump will still be president, the environment will continue to deteriorate, the gap between rich and poor will widen, immigrants will continue to be demonized, Republicans in Congress will represent their campaign donors, religious fanaticism and ethnic hatreds will be unabated.


Too pessimistic?  I don’t think so.  If I am still here, check back with me a year from now and we will see.

Saturday, December 30, 2017

A hero from Ghana

Emmanuel Mensah, 28, immigrated to the U.S. five years ago.  Last year he joined the National Guard  He was home on leave, visiting relatives in the building in the Bronx that burned two days ago, killing twelve people.  Mr. Mensah saved four people from burning and then went back into the building to help more people to safety.  He died in that attempt.


I think the word “hero” is way overused, but in this case it fits.  

Friday, December 29, 2017

First bats, then frogs, now snakes

In 2006 a winter den of timber rattlesnakes in New Hampshire suffered a population crash.  Then similar cases popped up in Massachusetts, then in Illinois.  By 2009 a snake-killing fungus, Ophidiomyces ophidiodiicola (don’t ask me to pronounce it) had been identified and named.  

Now up to 20 species of snakes are suffering from the fungus.  Other fungal infections have killed millions of bats and millions of frogs.  Some snakes do survive, but scientists are not sure if the infections will increase in intensity.  

At this point some of you are probably thinking, well, who cares about snakes, or bats, or frogs.  Or for that matter, canaries in coal mines.

I’ll leave you with a quote from naturalist John Muir, Sierra Club founder.  “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.”


For more info, see James Gorman, “A Spreading Fungus Can Be Deadly to Snakes,” New York Times, (26 Dec. 2017), p. D-3.

Thursday, December 28, 2017

Standing with America

Last week the UN voted to declare Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “null and void.”  The vote was 128 to 9.  The nine, of course, included the U.S.and Israel.  I thought you might be interested in the other seven.  They were Guatemala, Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, and Togo.  

Guatemala and Honduras are client states.  They are the equivalent of what we used to call the satellite nations of the USSR during the Cold War.  Togo is a small dictatorship in Africa that receives U.S. aid.  Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, and Palau are also client states with a combined population of less than Boise, Idaho.

Remember when we used to be called the “leader of the Free World?”

(Information for this post is from an article by Jessica Durando and Oren Dorell, “USA Today,” (Dec. 21, 2017).  I want to thank Tom M. for drawing my attention to this list.)



Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch

I always thought Hatch was one of those conservative Republicans who had integrity.  As happens occasionally, I was completely wrong.

The Salt Lake City Tribune labeled Hatch the “Utahn of the year” on Monday, but it was not a compliment.  The paper stated Hatch had an “utter lack of integrity that rises from his unquenchable thirst for power.”

Before Trump signed the tax bill, Hatch told Trump, “You’re one heck of a leader.”  The Tribune said the dismantling of the Bears Ears National Monument was basically a political favor granted by Trump in return for Hatch’s support of the corporate tax giveaway.


The lack of patriotism and personal courage among some of these old Republican members of Congress–McCain, Graham, Hatch, Collins–is depressing.  Toomey, of course, is not in that group, since he never had any integrity to begin with.

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

The great Amazon taxpayer ripoff

If you’ve been paying any attention, you probably know that Amazon is planning to build a second corporate headquarters.  

Amazon is the company started by Jeff Bezos, who in 1994 developed the “Amazon Loophole” which allowed the corporation to avoid collecting local and state sales taxes.  In the meantime, brick and mortar stores which did collect the taxes were driven out of business and state and local governments were out millions in sales and property tax.  

Now Bezos, one of the richest men on the planet, has started a bidding war by cities trying to lure the company into building its headquarters in their location.  Please, Mr. Bezos, please.  

Here is how this works, according to Jim Hightower, publisher of the “Hightower Lowdown.”  New York gave a $258-million subsidy to Yahoo and got 125 jobs, costing taxpayers $2 million per job.  North Carolina gave Apple $321 million and got 50 jobs, which is $6.4 million per job.  There are many other examples, including the recent one by Gov. Scott Walker giving the store away to Foxcomm.

On the other hand, the mayor of San Jose wrote in an op-ed column that San Jose wouldn’t offer special incentives to any giant corporation, “Because they are a bad deal for taxpayers.”  The mayor of San Antonio also wrote to Bezos that “giving away the farm isn’t our style.”  Too bad other mayors and governors have not figured that out.


In case you are wondering, I have never bought anything from Amazon.  It is so much fun being a Luddite.

Monday, December 25, 2017

Broken slate

I apologize for not posting last night, but I was outside the whole evening guarding our house.  It seems as though last year we had a whole pile of broken slate on Christmas Eve.  Evidently eight reindeer were walking around on our house roof.  

I had to make sure that didn’t happen again.  

Normal and depressing political commentary will resume tomorrow night.


Happy Boxing Day.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Holiday news: We can modify lethal viruses

Federal officials this week ended a moratorium imposed three years ago on funding research that alters germs to make them more lethal.

This research is called “gain of function,” and it can make pathogens more deadly or more easily transmissible.

If some of the new strains escaped, a pandemic could ensue.  

We concentrate on the tweets and the bullshit, and we are missing the steady drip drip drip of disturbing and harmful regulatory changes.


Information for this post is from Donald G. McNeil, Jr., “U.S. Lifts Ban On Modifying Lethal Viruses,” New York Times,(Dec. 20, 2017), p. A12.  I want to thank my friend Tom for drawing my attention to this article.

Friday, December 22, 2017

PA Sen. Michele Brooks worries about babies?

Senator Brooks seems quite concerned about babies, but only if they haven’t been born yet.  I wrote the following letter to her:

Dear Senator Brooks:

In an article written by Marc Levy in the Lehighton Times News, you were quoted as saying that you were disappointed that Pennsylvania “will be unable to protect so many babies in the future, who will never know the joy of living.”

First of all, a child unwanted by its mother, a child born already addicted to drugs, a child born with horrible birth defects, a child born with a fatal condition that will live for a few days or hours will not experience the “joy of living.”  

Secondly, it would amazing if the Republicans in both the U.S. Congress and the Pennsylvania legislature expressed the same concern for children already born as they do for “the unborn.”  Their concern seems to be only from conception to birth.  Then the kids are no longer important.


I know, I know.  It was a waste of time.  Still it felt good when I dropped it into the mail box.

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Friends with Trump voters

Every month Harper’s magazine publishes the “Harper’s Index” with interesting statistical data.  In the latest issue we learn this:

Percentage of Clinton voters who think it’s hard to be friends with Trump voters:  61
Of Trump voters who think it’s hard to be friends with Clinton voters:  34

I count myself in that 61%.  I find it very difficult to be friends with Trump voters.  I am angry at them, think they are unpatriotic, and, while I am civil to them, I find it difficult to be in the same room with them.


I have no idea why Trump voters find it easier to be friends with Clinton voters.  

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Demonstration at Toomey's office

The tax giveaway to the rich had already passed when I arrived at Sen. Toomey’s Allentown office today, so it seemed kind of pointless to hold signs related to the vote on the bill.  Most of the people brought generic signs like “Make America Great Again–Impeach Trump.”

My sign said “Trump:  Is the Audit Over Yet?  Show Us Your Taxes.”  

I was referring, of course, to Trump’s statement during the campaign that he couldn’t release his tax returns because they were being audited.  He still has not done so, but we know he will make millions due to provisions in the bill.  


And here is “framing” advice.  When you talk about this bill with your friends and neighbors, never call it a “reform.”  It is not a reform.  It is a giveaway to the rich and powerful.  Call it the “tax cut for the rich.”  That is exactly what it is.

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Deported–No Hugs Allowed

Every year when Juan Villacis went to see the Immigration and Customs Enforcement to renew his stay of removal, his twin daughters Liany and Maria went with him.  The renewals were routine.  Last month Mr. Villacis was detained and jailed in Bergen County, New Jersey.  He will be deported to Ecuador.  His wife of 29 years was allowed to go home under supervision, but had to return in December to prove that she had purchased a one-way ticket to her home country of Columbia.  

Immigration officials refused to let the twins or his wife give Mr. Villacis a goodbye hug.  “They told us they no longer provide that courtesy because they don’t like emotional scenes,” according to their lawyer.  

All of these people are productive, law abiding people.  They are not “bad hombres.”  They are decent and hard working.  

And if you are going to tell me, “What part of illegal don’t you understand?” I will tell you that you are a heartless bastard who does not understand this country’s values and does not belong in America.


Information for this post is from David Gonzalez, “Without So Much as a Hug, a Father Is Detained for Deportation, New York Times, (Nov. 27, 2017), p. A21.

Monday, December 18, 2017

For Allentown area residents only

Celebrate the holidays by demonstrating at Sen. Pat Toomey’s office at 1150 S. Cedar Crest Blvd, Allentown on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We are calling attention to the giveaway to corporations and the richest Americans in the Trump tax bill.  Toomey has always represented wealthy Americans and cares nothing for the working class.  The people in front of his office won’t change his mind, since we haven’t given him any campaign contributions, and we aren’t in the top 1%.


Nevertheless, the weather should be reasonable, you will be among friends, and you will be exercising your First Amendment rights.  What better way to celebrate the holiday season?

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Can't say that

The policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told there were seven words they could not use in any official documents that were being prepared for next year’s budget.  

The seven words were vulnerable, entitlement, diversity, transgender, fetus, evidence-based, and science based.  


Earlier this year Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Trump a “f**king moron.”  Those words may still be used, without the stars if you like.

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Republicans and climate change

I was about to post something about how stupid Republicans are when I realized how unfair that would be.  According to polling date, 31% of Republican voters believe that human activities are contributing to global warming.  In urban areas the number is higher; in New York, over half of Republican voters take that position.

What that means, however, is that even in a state like Pennsylvania, there is a good chance that 1/3 of your Republican friends understand and respect scientific findings.  I can’t tar all Republicans with the same brush.  It would be very unfair to call them all stupid.

I can say that about Trump, however.  He thinks the idea of global warming is a Chinese hoax.  I can also say that about Senator Imhofe, who made a snowball in Washington, D.C. and said that refuted the whole idea of global warming.

Here’s the weird thing.  Even though only 1/3 of Republicans believe human activities contribute to global warming, over half think we should regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant.  (Except in the panhandle of Texas and the state of Wyoming.  No joke.)


Information for this post was taken from Nadja Popovich and Livia Albeck-Ripka, “How Republicans Think About Climate Change,” New York Times, (Dec. 15, 2017), p. A16.

Friday, December 15, 2017

When will Trump voters apologize?

OK, I can understand that you were duped.  You actually thought this guy was not beholden to special interests and would be on the side of the middle class.

Yesterday the FCC voted 3-2 (3 Republicans vs. 2 Democrats) to end net neutrality.

Yesterday the NLRB voted 3-2 (3 Republicans vs. 2 Democrats to overturn an Obama-era policy that gave workers in the fast-food and hotel chains power to challenge labor law violations.

And then there’s the tax bill, which gives huge benefits to the rich and to corporations, increases the deficit, and will be used as an excuse to cut Medicare and Social Security.


You may have voted for Trump under false hopes.  I get that.  I also think it is time to hear some contrition for that vote.  You did this to America, and you ought to be sorry.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Why didn't she speak up sooner?

One of the ways women who speak up about sexual assaults are discredited is the criticism that they are coming forth years after the fact.  Why didn’t the 14 year-old complain about Roy Moore at the time she was sexually assaulted?  Why wait four decades?

Think about that.  Would she have been believed?  Look at the women who spoke up about Trump’s behavior.  They are still being smeared and vilified.

In addition to the negative consequences, women may not even recognize the actions for what they were.  Self-blame comes into play.  The perpetrator will say “I was just kidding” or simply deny that it happened.  


We also had in the past a cultural predisposition to blame the woman..  Readers who are older might consider the Clarence Thomas hearings.  l remember buttons that said “I believe her.”  Unfortunately, the Senators on the Committee believed him.  I have a feeling that those Senators who still alive may have reconsidered their support of Thomas.  

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Report from Tuscaloosa

I called Terry in Tuscaloosa to ask if he was celebrating or mourning now that Jones was elected to the U.S. Senate.  Terry is one of my Alabama relatives and a good friend.

He said neither.  He cast a write-in vote for a third candidate.  He knew what he was doing.  Had the 2% of the people who wrote in a candidate other than Moore had voted for Moore, he would have won the election.


Thank you Terry.  (and Roll Tide)

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Manipulating the census

Let’s use a football analogy.  Take the Eagles and the Cowboys.  Sometimes the Cowboys win, sometimes the Eagles.  Each game seems important at the time, but as long as both teams play by NFL rules, the games can continue year after year.

Now let’s say the Cowboys come out armed with pistols.  On the first play both teams line up and the Cowboys shoot the Eagles.  Game over, forever.  

Democracy works the same way.  As long as the Democrats and the Republicans play by the same rules, the Democrats can win, followed by Republican victories, back and forth, with no end in sight.

Now let’s say the Republicans change the rules.  They gerrymander.  They suppress votes.   They get help from Russians.  They manipulate the census.

Democracy ends.  Game over.  

There is evidence that the Republican-controlled Congress may be ready to manipulate the Constitutionally-mandated ten-year census.  They are cutting funds to the Census Bureau.  Inmates in prisons may be under-counted.  Immigrants are hiding.  Practice runs are being eliminated.  All of this to ensure Republican over-counts.  We may be seeing the demise of our American democracy.


[See Michael Wines, “Accuracy at Risk as Census Shifts to Online Counts:  Politics May Encroach,” New York Times, Dec. 10, 2017, p. 1, 20.]

Monday, December 11, 2017

Who is responsible?

“The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid ‘dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to paint.  It is not done even in concentration camps and labor camps.  In those we see its final result.  But it is conceived and ordered  (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clear, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice.”

-C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters


That quotation was used by President Reagan in a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals in March 1983. 

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Summit Hill Church Tour

Today four of Summit Hill’s churches along with the Summit Hill Heritage Center were open to the public.  Linda and I went on the tour.

It was kind of sad.  We only saw a few people taking advantage of the opportunity to see the interior of St. Joseph’s Panther Valley Catholic Church, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Hope of Christ Presbyterian Church, and Church on the Rock.  All four churches were impressive, and all four are suffering the loss of membership.  


I am an atheist, but I take no pleasure in seeing a decline in mainline churches.  These churches are community centers, the communal glue that helps to hold us together and gives meaning to people’s lives.  Their loss is our loss.  

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Same old Native American policy

I read that the U.S. has never honored any treaty ever made with American Indians.  I don’t whether that is true or not, but I do know that Indians have been shunted to land that the U.S. government thought was worthless.  If that land later turned out to be valuable, it was taken anyway.

We saw that with the Dakota Access pipeline.  We are seeing it again with Bears Ears, land sacred to a number of Indian tribes.  That part of Utah may have petroleum or valuable minerals.  White people want it.  Trump has shrunk Bears Ears from 1.35 million acres to 201,876 acres.  That is less than 1/5 what President Obama set aside.  


After all, they are only Indians.

Friday, December 8, 2017

Sexual predators stick together

Trump is traveling to Pensacola to campaign for Roy Moore.  Are you surprised?  They can get together and laugh about the woman they harassed, touched, pawed, grabbed, and worse. 

I can just see them in the White House, snickering and joking.

And just in case you forgot, here is a quote, on tape, from our President.  “Women, you haves to treat ‘em like shit.”  


Make America Great Again.  Really?

Thursday, December 7, 2017

WWJP

Quite a few Christians wear a wrist band with the initials WWJD, which stands for “What would Jesus do?  It is to remind the wearer that in difficult situations, he or she should act according to the teachings of Jesus.

Now Christians have another wristband to wear.  Liz Cheney, Republican Senator from Wyoming, said the right to carry a concealed weapon is “God given.”  


The new wrist band is WWJP.  That stands for “What would Jesus pack?”

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Republicans respond to mass shootings

Finally, Republican congressional members are responding to the mass murders in Las Vegas and at the Texas church.  A House committee recently approved a bill to expand gun owners’ rights.  Gun owners with a state-issued concealed carry permit (say Missouri) would be allowed to carry an handgun in any state (say New York).  This is called reciprocity.

The bill does not say that a resident of a state that allows marijuana use would be granted reciprocity to use marijuana in any other state.


The concealed carry permit bill is backed by the N.R.A.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Jerusalem

Israelis and Palestinians argue about which imaginary friend is the true God.  I get that.  I also get that both sides in this dispute have done stupid things, are locked in a struggle, and can’t seem to find a way out.  

Nonetheless, the U.S. has, until this point, tried to be a somewhat honest broker, tilting toward Israel, but within limits.

Tomorrow, if what we are hearing is correct, that will change when Trump recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.  It will upset the Middle East and is one of the worst foreign policy moves this administration will have made in a year of stupid and harmful foreign policy moves.  


Some commentators say this is Trump trying to please his base.  I don’t think that the hoofties at the Palmerton Rod and Gun Club who voted for Trump last year really care about Jerusalem.  This is just a stupid move.  When you think it can’t get much worse, it gets worse.

Monday, December 4, 2017

111 out of 228

What would you call a political system that had a legislature with 228 seats up for election, but in 111 of those races, there was only one candidate on the ballot?  That is just short of half of the legislative seats in which voters had no choice.  You certainly wouldn’t call it a democracy.

You could, however, call it Pennsylvania.  Those were the statistics from the last election in 2016.  I learned that at a Fair Districts Pennsylvania presentation tonight at the Palmerton Library.  


Everybody knows how government no longer works, largely because of the results of a gerrymandered legislature.  Unfortunately, the bipartisan bill to set up an independent commission to draw fair districts can’t even get out of committee.  It’s Pennsylvania.

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Sen. Toomey and Hillsdale College

I am sorry to say that Sen. Toomey (R-PA) is one of my U.S. Senators.  The man has no integrity.

In the tax giveaway to the rich that just passed the Senate, Toomey put in a special provision that would have exempted Hillsdale College in Michigan from a tax levy on large endowments.  

Toomey’s amendment would have only applied to this one college, a “college” that brainwashes students instead of teaching them.  If you are wondering how I know this, I subscribe to their newsletter. 

Evidently, Toomey spoke at the college and received a warm reception.  He would.


Unfortunately for Toomey even this amendment was too much for the Senate.  Toomey’s amendment failed, but at least we have learned just how low he will stoop to aid his ideological allies.

Saturday, December 2, 2017

When the police lie

The Times News this morning published an article about two state troopers in the Lehighton barracks who flat-out lied about an arrest for drunken driving.  They claimed they had performed sobriety tests and wrote a detailed report on the results.  Fortunately for the man arrested, the dashboard camera showed no such tests had been given, and the officers debating who would get the credit for their quota.


Those officers should be terminated immediately and charged with falsifying evidence.  The problem with that kind of behavior is obviously greater than the one incident.  All the other arrests those officers made are now called into question.  Other honest police officers are tainted as well, and any citizen pulled over will wonder if he or she will be falsely charged. 

Friday, December 1, 2017

Schadenfreude

It’s a German word; it means that you take joy at another’s misfortune.  Remember in the summer of 2016 when General Flynn led people at Trump rallies in the chant “Lock Her Up.”

Remember all those posters with Clinton behind bars.  Remember “Hillary for Prison.”


And now guess who’s going to jail?  I am feeling schadenfreude, and it feels really good.