Last day of the decade

I understand that technically the decade doesn’t really end until next December 31, but it’s close enough for me.

Since it’s New Year’s Eve, I have decided to put aside the kvetching for one evening.  I think I might just get drunk and be somebody.

Chlorpyrifos

Chlorpyrifos has been linked to impaired development, Parkinson’s disease, and some types of cancer.  It was originally developed in Germany during World War II as a nerve gas.

It has been banned in the European Union, Hawaii, and California.  

The E.P.A. proposed a federal ban.  After Trump was elected, the E.P.A. backed off.  This past summer the E.P.A. said the data on chlorpyrifos was insufficient.  Millions of acres in the U.S. are still being sprayed.

I am so tired of this administration and the people who enable it to do its evil work.  

Thank you notes

I’ve noticed that tv news stations are thanking their staffs, including not only the reporters, but the men and women behind the scenes.  A number of businesses also feature their entire workforce saying things like Happy New Year from our family to your family.

I decided to do the same thing, sort of.  I need to thank a number of people.

Rene, who set up this whole blog thing.  I wouldn't have been doing this for the past 10 years without his help.  He tried to teach me how to incorporate pictures, but that was just beyond my limited capabilities.

Linda, who proof reads nine out of ten posts (though not this one, because I was afraid she would veto the idea).  She has saved me from countless spelling errors and syntax issues, and she has kept me from posting mean or embarrassing items.

Bill, who sends me memes every day, many of which I have used as springboards for posts or have even quoted.  

My readers, some of whom comment on the posts.  Others email me, phone me, or comment in person.  I especially want to single out Carol, George and Richard, Tom, Marian, and Debbie.  I am not going to thank my readers in the Ukraine.  When I go to the “stats” that measure where the readers are from, Ukraine leads all countries by far.  I don’t get that at all.

Best Garden Ever

Every summer I plant a garden, or as we used to say when I was growing up, a truck patch.  I do pretty well with hot peppers for salsa, lots of onions and potatoes, more tomatoes than we can eat, okra, lettuce, squash, cabbage, pumpkins, and more.  While I can various vegetables and make sauerkraut and eat potatoes and onions and winter squash into the spring, this is the first year I actually picked something fresh in winter.

Today I picked the last of the Brussels sprouts.  It’s December 27, and I picked Brussels sprouts!  Some collard greens are up there, but they look pretty ragged, so the sprouts are the end.  I’ll fry some of them up with an egg tomorrow for my breakfast.

Pennsylvania leads the way

Twelve eastern states and the District of Columbia are working on a plan to reduce auto emissions.  I’ll list them in the order from most to least in spewing out planet-warming emissions:  Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Delaware, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.  In 12 of those the leading cause of emissions is transportation.  In Pennsylvania it is electricity production, mostly due to the state’s coal-fired plants, but transportation is second.

The proposed cap-and-trade program could start in 2022.  The states would increase investment in trains, buses, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The Mid-Atlantic Petroleum Distributors Association and a number of fuel companies oppose the plan.  No surprise, but still discouraging.

By the way, what happened to West Virginia?  

Info for this post is from Hiroko Tabuchi, “Eastern States Offer Plan to Limit Auto Emissions,” New York Times, (Dec. 18, 2019), p. A 27.

Giving books for Christmas

One of my favorite gifts, both to give and to receive, is a book.  Unfortunately, that may be going out of style.  In the 1970s teens read three times as many books as teens do today.  60% of high school seniors in 1980 reported that they read a newspaper, magazine, or book on a daily basis for pleasure.  By 2016 that number had dropped to 16%.

Info for this post is from Jeremy Adams, “My students don’t take the time to read books anymore,” Allentown Morning Call, (Aug. 30, 2019), p. 14.

Room at the Inn

Now there is room at the inn.  A federal website last week posted awards worth $6.8 billion for detention facilities in San Diego, Calexico, Adelanto, and Bakersfield.  According to an article in the Allentown Morning Call today, the sites will house about 4,000 detainees, with capacity to expand later.  

These innkeepers, all private contractors, are making a killing.  Unfortunately, no wise men have been sighted, although I understand that government authorities are looking for undocumented kids.

Trump's biggest lie

The Washington Post is keeping track of Trump’s lies.  As of the 10th of this month he had told 6420 lies.  That is truly amazing.  How do I decide the biggest one?  Technically he wasn’t president until the end of it, but here it is, right out of Article II, Section 1, of the United States Constitution:

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Trump ads on Facebook

The Trump campaign has been using the impeachment process as a fundraiser, telling Trump’s base how important it is to fight those nasty Democrats.  Interestingly, according to an article in Time, 

his campaign has really increased spending for ads for women 45 and older.  Men in that category have also seen a rise in Trump ads, but not to the same extent.

On the other hand, ads targeting women 18-44 have dropped precipitously.  The Trump campaign staff must have realized that was a lost cause.  To me it suggests that the demographic Democrats need to target is young women.  2020 will be the 100th anniversary of the Suffrage Amendment.  We need to push that and get those women to the polls.

Words from Calvin Coolidge

We are the possessors of tremendous power, both as individuals and as states.  The great question of the preservation of our institutions is a moral question.  Shall we use our power for self-aggrandizement or for service?  It has been the lack of moral fiber which has been the downfall of the peoples of the past.

He wrote that in 1921.  I copied it down years ago when we visited his birthplace at Plymouth Notch, New Hampshire.  By the way, Coolidge was a Republican.

The Spirit of Thoreau lives on

Massachusetts, the setting for the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party, has a long tradition of bucking authority.  Last April Massachusetts Judge Shelley Joseph and a court officer were accused of allowing an immigrant to evade detention by arranging for him to sneak out the back door of a courthouse.

Boston is a “sanctuary city,” and Boston courts have passed legal rulings that ICE officials can’t come into the courts to arrest immigrants.  The Federal prosecutor in Boston charged Judge Joseph with obstruction of justice.  She has refused a plea deal that would allow her to avoid prosecution if she admitted to breaking federal law.  She’s going to trial.  

Information for this post is from Ellen Barry, “ManFlees ICE, and His Judge May Go to Jail,”  New York Times, (Nov. 17, 2019), p. 1, 20.

Impeachment

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Feral Pigs

The irresponsible ways in which people act is mind-boggling.  Feral pigs do an incredible amount of damage to crops, to cultural and historical sites, and to mammal and bird communities.  They eat frogs, salamanders, baby turtles.  The economic damage they cause each year is well over a billion dollars.  They are reservoirs for disease.  They are almost impossible to eradicate once they are established.

One reason they have spread is because hunters move them into new areas on the backs of pickup trucks so they can hunt them.  Think about the selfishness and stupidity of that action.  

See Jim Robbins, “Feral Pigs are Coming!” New York Times, (Dec. 17, 2019), p. D3.

FedEx

Frederick Smith, the founder and chief executive of FedEx, said in 2017, “If you make the United States a better place to invest, there is no question in my mind that we would see a renaissance of capital investment.”  He lobbied for a big tax cut.

President Trump shortly thereafter signed the $1.5 trillion tax cut.  Trump brags about it.  In fiscal 2018 FedEx’s tax bill dropped from 34% to less than zero.  That’s right.  Technically we taxpayers owed FedEx money.  FedEx saved $1.6 billion in taxes.

Interestingly, FedEx did not increase investment in new equipment or other assets.

Ship your presents by the U.S. Postal Service.

Trump starts, loses, trade war

President Trump, in an attempt to appear reasonable in the midst of the impeachment proceedings, backed down from his threat to impose $160 billion a year tariffs on Chinese-made goods.  He also agreed to reduce tariffs he had already imposed on Chinese goods.  

Trump, in his usual lying mode, called the agreement a win.  It wasn’t.  It also emboldened Chinese hardliners who held firm.  They have Trump’s number.  They ate Trump’s lunch.  Trump is a loser.

Bougainville

It sounds like a town, but it is a collection of islands that now are part of Papua New Guinea.  Last week the people of the islands (about 250,000) voted 98% for independence.  The islands are not yet independent, but with a vote like that, it will be hard for Papua New Guinea to say no.  On the other hand, the small islands have gold and copper, so a struggle may ensue.

I am a great believer in self-determination for small islands in the Pacific.  They hardly ever go to war against their neighbors.  Their biggest threat is the rising sea level that results from global warming.  Why not let them govern themselves.

Things fall apart

Johnson wins in Britain, Hindu nationalists take over India, Israel is ruled by a crook, Turkey and Poland and Hungary move away from democracy, and one of the two major parties in the U.S. has been hijacked by people with no respect for the Constitution or morality.

The best poem in the English language has never been more relevant.  “The Second Coming” was written by W. B. Yeats in 1919, 100 years ago. 

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer; 

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

The Second Coming!  Hardly are those words out

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight; somewhere in sands of the desert

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again, but now I know 

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Why college grads leave Pennsylvania

According to Steve Bloom, vice president of the Commonwealth Foundation, a right-wing “think tank” (really, think tank?), it’s because of the growth of state government which drives up taxes.

By the way, the five cities with the greatest increase in tech jobs are L.A., San Jose, San Francisco, Seattle, and Boston.  Those are not exactly low-tax locales.

Mr. Bloom’s answer, in an op ed piece in the Morning Call today, is a constitutional amendment limiting government spending increases to the rate of inflation plus population growth.  Yeah, that will keep them in Scranton and Erie.

I don’t understand why Republicans need an amendment to rein in spending.  After all, they control both houses of the state legislature.  Are they so prone to temptation that they can’t keep themselves in check?  This is another one of those myths to which Republicans are so prone.

Maybe we could get Mexico to pay the taxes.

Articles of Impeachment

Only two proposed:  Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress.  

Left out were:

Acceptance of emoluments.

Corruption of elections.

Abuse of pardons.

Conduct unbecoming of a president.  

In my opinion as a former Constitutional Law prof and citizen of the U.S., these meet the threshold of impeachable offenses.  

Unfortunately for the future of American democracy, the Republican Senators will not find him guilty.  They will spin bizarre conspiracy theories, deny criminal behavior, shut their eyes to evidence, and do anything to keep this criminal in power.  

Not the U.S. I grew up in.

Defender of North Korea

Members of the UN Security Council wanted to hold a discussion today on North Korea’s human rights abuses.  Yesterday Kim Jong-un called Trump a “heedless and erratic old man.”  Evidently Trump can’t take a hint.

The meeting on North Korea was to coincide with Human Rights Day, held every Dec. 10 to celebrate the day in 1948 when the General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Eight Security Council members signed the letter to schedule the meeting, but they needed a ninth to make it official.

The U.S., which would have been the ninth member, wouldn’t sign the letter.  It is pretty obvious from the pardoning of war criminals to putting kids in cages to supporting dictators that the U.S. is no longer concerned with human rights.

Old Farmers

One in three farmers in the United States is 65 or older.  In 2017, the year of the last federal agriculture census, the average age of a farm owner or manager was 58.6.  In that year there were 2,042,220 farms in the country.  That represents a loss of 173,656 farms over the previous two decades.

You can certainly see it in Towamensing Township, where I live.  The Johnson farm is now Beltzville Lake Estates.  The Norm Strohl farm is zoned for 30 some houses.  The Christman farm shrank from 460 acres to 23 acres, with the remainder now part of a state park.  I'm one of those old guys who can drive around and point to subdivisions and say, "I can remember when that was the Babe Haydt farm"or "that was Lee Dreisbach's farm."

I know very few farmers who retire.  They keep farming until they die, but they are dying out at a fairly rapid rate.

The statistics are taken from Corey Kilgannon, "As Farmers Grow Old, Who Will Replace Them?" New York Times, (Nov. 28, 2019), pp. A1, A26.

The Evil That Men Do...

This week the U.S. Senate confirmed 9 federal judges.  These are lifetime appointments.  More are coming up next week.  Since Trump was elected 170 have been appointed.  These are largely radical right appointees, many only marginally qualified.
     Long after Trump is gone, they will still be deciding cases.  McConnell sees his job as not passing legislation or even discussing legislation the House has passed.  He will continue to sit on that and push more judicial approvals.

Pearl Harbor Anniversary

When I was in high school in the 1950s, I was an avid reader of tales, both fiction and non-fiction, about World War II.  Keep in mind that in 1955, when I was in 8th grade, that war was only 10 years in the past.  I was appalled at what the Nazis and the Japanese did to their captives.  We were the good guys.  We didn’t torture people.  We were Americans.

The New York Times has published some of the drawings of Abu Zubaydah, a prisoner captured in 2002 and still held at Guantanamo Bay detention camp.  Mr. Zubadah’s crude drawings show waterboarding (he’s been waterboarded 82 times) and other tortures he has been subjected to. 

When I type in “waterboarding,” my spell check shows that as an error.  Yeah, it is an error.  The United States government is a democracy, acting in my name and your name, and our government did what Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan did during World War II.

I have done some reassessment of George W. Bush, but I will not forgive him for authorizing “enhanced interrogation.”  Nor will I forget that Trump wanted to bring back torture, stopped only by Gen. Mattis.  I feel ashamed and disgusted by my own inaction.    I should have done more.  I should have gone to jail protesting this.

Harriet

Take a break from Trump and his pending impeachment and go see "Harriet."  It is an account of Harriet Tubman, the escaped slave who went back into the South and led over 70 other slaves to freedom in the North or Canada.

I knew a little about Tubman from a term paper our daughter Rachael wrote in high school.  (I typed all of Rachael's high school papers and Linda's college papers.)  What I didn't realize was that Tubman also led an actual military raid during the Civil War, nor did I realize that she died in 1913, just one year before my father was born.

It is an exciting film.  What the movie doesn't tell you was that fewer than 2% of the slaves escaped to the north or to Canada, and almost none of those were from the deep South.  Nonetheless, the fact that some escaped led to the Fugitive Slave Law, which led to Northern anger, which was one of the contributing factors to the Civil War.  Nonetheless, the fact that some escaped led to the Fugitive Slave Law, which led to Northern anger, which was one of the contributing factors to the Civil War.

Juxtaposition

Definition:  Two things being placed close together with contrasting effect.

“Review:  Trump’s bailout overpaying farmers”  Morning Call, (December 5, 2019), p. 17

“668K will lose food stamps with new rule,”  Morning Call, (December 5, 2019), p. 12.

Aren’t you proud to live during the Trump presidency?

Four more weeks

Remember when the Republicans would not hold hearings on Merrick B. Garland, President Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court.  They said it was not proper to pick a Supreme Court justice in a year with a presidential election coming up.  They wanted the people to decide.

I hope nothing happens to the Notorious RBG, but if she were to die, Trump could pick her replacement.  Do you think the Republican majority in the Senate would balk at holding hearings after January 1?  After all, it would be months to go before the election.  Let the people decide.

Yeah, right.  McConnell has already said he would move ahead with hearings.  Republicans will also approve anyone Trump appoints.  After all, they’ve already approved a sex offender.  The hypocrisy of Republican Senators is beyond belief.

Steve Bullock drops out

Steve Bullock would have made a great Democratic nominee to run against Trump.  He was elected governor in Montana, a state Trump won with 56% of the vote.  Bullock, a moderate, made campaign financing one of his issues.  What chance does a candidate have who is from a small state, does not have a national following, and has a hard time getting heard.  

The debate requirements instituted by the Democratic Party also hurt Bullock.  In the one debate for which he qualified, he did well, but he never received enough publicity, and he was stuck in the one percent area.  The $25 I sent him wasn’t enough.

I have a history of backing losers, except for Obama.  I’m still happy with that one.  Now I’m looking at another candidate, and it is not Biden, Warren, or Sanders.  

Under the radar

The Federal Reserve Bank is not my area of expertise.  I also never see any mention of it on MSNBC or CNN.  I know enough about it, however, to understand it can make or break our economy.

The Vice Chairman for supervision and regulation is Randal K. Quarles.  He has held the job for 21 months.  In that time he has met at least 22 times with partners at his former law firm, which represents many of the nation’s largest banks.  He’s met with Republican Senators 29 times.  He’s met with Goldman Sachs representatives 23 times.

And he is weakening the rules that govern banks.  As Elizabeth Warren, who does understand this stuff, said, “His motto seems to be: Whatever the big banks want, give it to ‘em.”  

So, no big headlines.  Hardly any reporting.  Just a steady drip drip drip erosion of the rules that were put in place to protect us.

See Jeanna Smialek, “He Is Easing Bank Rules, One Detail at a Time,”  New York Times, (Nov. 29, 2019), p. B1, B3.

News items you may have missed in the holiday excitement

•  In an attempt to make the holiday parade more inclusive, Mayor Amy Goodwin of Charlestown, West Virginia, changed the name of the annual parade from the Christmas Parade to the Winter Parade.  Jews, Muslims, and atheists were happy with the change, but as you might expect, the Christians and Trumpists, acting in the spirit of the teachings of their savior, went nuts.  These are people who bristle at the “war on Christmas” but are not insulted by a president talks about “grabbing ‘em by the pussy.”

•  Joe Sestak announced he is dropping out of the presidential race.  

•  Various Republican organizations are buying the book “Triggered” by Donald Trump Jr.  They are attempting to put the book on the best seller list.  The books are being stored.  Even Republicans won’t actually read them.

•  Rebels in the Congo are killing aid workers who are vaccinating people against Ebola.  The rebels evidently take their inspiration from anti-vaxxers in the U.S.

Utica and Rome

I have never liked the Thanksgiving holiday.  Too much food, too many people in a small space, too much football, just too much.  Add to that “Black Friday,” a travesty of greed. My answer is to get away from it all; to go somewhere far away.

This year we traveled to Utica and Rome.  No, not Greece and Italy, upstate New York.  Thanksgiving Day itself has light traffic, since almost everyone who is visiting relatives is already there.  We arrived in Utica in time to see “Knives Out,” a really good movie.

Friday we drove to Fort Stanwix in Rome.  This Revolutionary War fort is a reconstruction, but the interpretive Center was open at 9 a.m., and we got a personal tour of the Fort itself from a knowledgeable guide.  Then it was off to the Utica Art Museum, which has an wonderful collection, including a Franz Kline.  We still had time for a matinee of “Good Liars” with Helen Mirren, another great film.

While you were eating turkey, we were eating at a diner, Denny’s, a sandwich shop, an excellent Japanese restaurant, and a rib joint in Binghamton.  

My only regret was that neither I nor the desk clerk could figure out how to connect to the WiFi, so no posts for two days.  Sorry.

The kind of people we've become

An 8-year-old kid from Guatemala in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol died from the flu last December.  Subsequently the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that the Border Patrol should conduct an immunization program.  The Border Patrol refused.  Hundreds of detainees and some Border Patrol personnel contracted the flu.  Two more kids have died.  

The Border Patrol still has no plans to vaccinate the migrants.  

Information for this post is from Robert Moore, “Border Patrol rejected flu shots for migrants,” Allentown Morning Call, (Nov. 27, 2019), p. 11.

Presidents are not kings

I think that says it all.  That was the most memorable line in a 120-page decision by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia.  “Presidents are not kings.”

Judge Jackson also said  that White House officials owe their allegiance to the Constitution.  Presidents ”do not have subjects, bound by loyalty or blood, whose destiny they are entitled to control.”

The Justice Department, now a sycophant to Trump, will appeal this decision.  I would remind the Justice Department that our forefathers once fought a revolution on this ideal, and if need be, we can fight another.

Cisgender and Latinx

‘Cis” is Latin for “on this side of” as opposed to “trans,” which means roughly “on the other side of.”  I was born male, I identify as male, so I am “cisgender.”  Is this really necessary?  It simply shows how “woke” we are, which is another word I really really hate.

Latinx is another one of those neologisms that I will never use.  Latin, like German, is a “gendered” language.  Latino and Latina are fine; I as an Anglo am not about to tell Spanish speakers how they should speak.  How do you even pronounce “Latinx”? 

And please, do not say “Ok boomer.”  I am 77, older than the “boomers.”  I am old enough to appreciate English (and Spanish, for that matter).  

While we concentrate on using the latest terminology, the earth heats up, children are put in cages, the Kurds are betrayed, the President commits treason, and people die every day for lack of gun safety legislation and adequate health care.  Focus, people, focus.

Celebrating "the Founders"

No, not Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, and Adams.  According to information forwarded to me by my friend Tom, Trump calls the early European settlers “the Founders.”  

Beginning with George H. W. Bush in 1990, November has been designated National Native American Heritage Month.  Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama continued that policy.  

Now we get Trump, who has changed the designation to “National American History and Founders Month.”  He had to add in white European settlers.  It goes with his installation of a portrait of Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office, the President who was responsible for the “Trail of Tears.”

You really have to wonder what is wrong with this man?

Encouraging suicide

Imyoung You is on trial in Massachusetts for involuntary manslaughter, a crime that carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.  Ms. You sent her boyfriend (?) text messages urging him to kill himself.  She and the boyfriend were students at Boston College, and they were in an 18-month relationship.  Evidently it was not a particularly healthy relationship.

Note that she did not provide him with opiods, a pistol, a rope, or any other means of committing suicide.  She did not threaten his family, coerce him or assist him.  She sent text messages.  Why didn’t he close his account?  Why didn’t he text back an insulting message?  Why didn’t he find another girlfriend?

I don’t see how the government can charge someone with manslaughter for sending text messages.  And yet, that is what Massachusetts is doing. 

They just keep coming

I’m referring to Trump’s lies, of course.  On Wednesday Trump toured an Apple computer manufacturing plant in Texas with Tim Cook.  He accepted a plate with the words “Assembled in America.”  Then he went on to take credit for the plant, saying it was evidence of his three-year success in bringing manufacturing back to America.

The plant was built in 2013.  Tim Cook did not correct him.  

I could make a snarky remark here and tell any Trump supporters who read this that 2019 minus 2013 is actually six years, but I’m more interested in how they justify this kind of bullshit.  I’m going to take a stab at it:

“It was just a slip of the tongue.”

He has a lot on his mind right now with the impeachment hearings and all.”

“That was Trump just being Trump.”

“Anybody can make a mistake, but he is getting Mexico to pay for the wall.”

“You’re just picking on him because you don’t like all of his successes.”

Pretty good, huh?  I believe I could be a Trumper.  All I need is a lobotomy.

Sen. John Yudichak

My state Senator John Yudichak announced that he was becoming an independent and caucusing with the Republicans in the Pennsylvania State Senate.  Since you can’t win an election in Pennsylvania as an Independent, I assume that Sen. Yudichak will soon make an official switch to the Republican Party.

Sen. Yudichak has been very supportive of coal-fired electrical plants.  He has supported payday lenders.  He has been sympathetic to pipelines and to fracking.  

I will find it much easier to oppose him than support him.  I guess he thinks that since this area is Trump country, he will get re-elected.  Unfortunately for him, Trump is about to go down big time. 

Please hold your applause

I turned 77 today.  So much for dying young and leaving a good-looking corpse.

Here’s how old I am.  I am older than baby boomers, since I was born during WWII.  FDR was president.  No black players were in the major leagues, and the American military was segregated.  Women had received the right to vote only 22 years previously.  The atom bomb had not been developed.  Nobody had a television set.

When I played in the high school band for Memorial Day, the ceremony featured a Spanish-American war vet.  I was forced to pray in school.  Lady Chatterly’s Lover was considered obscene.  

I put hay away loose, picked potatoes by hand, husked corn by hand, and helped to butcher pigs, chickens, and steers.  Everybody smoked.  Cars were air conditioned by opening little wing windows. Polio was a constant threat.  We sprayed DDT in the barn to kill the flies.  Relatives visited without calling first.  

In 1942 Trump had not yet been born.

Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act fund

I never heard of it either, but according to an article in today’s Pocono Record, it is known in Pennsylvania as the “state Superfund” program.  It will be out of money shortly unless the legislature acts.  

Under the act the PA Department of Environmental Protection monitors over 100 sites and does things like removal of toxic drums and soils, treatment of drinking water, and capping toxic sites.  

It also runs a hazardous household waste program and responds to emergency situations. 

Tax funds flowing into the program amounted to $40 million in 2017, $24 million in 2018, and nada in 2019. 

Perhaps when people die the legislature will act.  Maybe.

See Kyle Bagenstose, “PA’s ‘State Superfund’ programs goes broke cleaning up toxic sites,” Pocono Record, (Nov. 17, 2019), pp. 1, 2.  The snarky comments are mine.

Military justice thwarted

Only in a very few countries does the military punish its own troops for crimes against civilians or opposing forces.  I only know of two, although there may be more.  Israel in the past has punished its soldiers for causing civilian deaths.  The U.S. is the other.

War or armed conflict does not mean the absence of rules.  After the My Lai massacre, the U.S. army emphasized just what constituted an illegal order or an illegal action.  In the heat of battle, the rules may be bent or broken, but if you are a member of the U.S. armed forces and you are given an illegal order, you are supposed to disobey it on the spot.  

American armed forces do not kill unarmed civilians. 

Trump has now pardoned three members of the armed services who have been convicted or accused of war crimes.  One was serving a 19-year sentence for murdering two civilians.  One killed an unarmed Afghan because he said he believed the man was making bombs.  One was a Navy SEAL who was acquitted of a murder charge but convicted of a lesser offense.

I know what some readers will say.  But Christman, you were never in the army.  You don’t know what it is like.  I have two answers for this.  First, neither was President Trump.  Second, the juries that convicted those men were in the military and did know what it was like.

Defense Department officials argued that the pardons would undermine the military code of justice.  Do you think our President cares?

Deval Patrick, Presidential candidate

Do we really need another one?  Deval Patrick, governor of Massachusetts, has begun a long-shot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.  He has likened his effort to a “Hail Mary” pass.  I have never seen a Hail Mary pass play work.

Evidently Patrick thinks we need a more moderate candidate as opposed to Warren and Sanders on the left.  We already have some quite reasonable moderate candidates, including Amy Klobuchar, Mayor Pete, and Steve Bullock.  I have no idea what Gov. Patrick expects he will accomplish.

A simple explanation for impeachment

McClatchy newspapers will now be skipping the Saturday editions.  In the meantime more and more people are getting their “news” from Facebook.  They are also getting dumber.  My state representative, Doyle Heffley, told me yesterday that he is answering phone calls and emails either praising or criticizing him for his impeachment vote.  The only problem is that STATE representatives have nothing to do with impeachment.

If you do read newspapers, I will apologize in advance for the long quote from Nicholas Kristof that follows.  It was in today’s Times.

Suppose that a low-ranking government official, the head of a Social Security branch office, intervened to halt a widow’s long-approved Social Security payments.  The widow, alarmed that without that income she might lose her home, would call the branch director to ask for help.

“I’d like you to do me a favor, though,” the director might respond.  He would suggest that her Social Security payments could resume, but he like the widow to give him her late husband’s collection of rare coins.  

If the director said later that payments were resumed, or said the widow’s son had done some questionable things, do you think that would save him from being fired?

It’s that simple.

NOTE:  WOULD ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LISTED AS "FOLLOWERS" PLEASE EMAIL ME AT <hiramc@ptd.net> AND TELL ME HOW TO GET LISTED AS A "FOLLOWER."  I have a friend who wants to comment on my posts, probably in a very negative way.  Yeah, I know I should know, but I don't. (It's a real friend, not a Facebook" friend.)

Impeachment hearings

It certainly didn’t take long to establish that Trump is guilty of extortion and soliciting a bribe.  Forget the Latin.  Think Gambino and Luciano and Gotti.

Unfortunately the jury is already paid off.  This perp will walk, but only until next November.  

Trump's subsidized presidential campaign

In October Trump traveled to Florida on Air Force One to tout an executive order that is supposed to improve private Medicare plans.  At his appearance he ripped into “Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren” and “Sleepy Joe Biden.”

At a shale conference in Pittsburgh Trump basically turned the meeting into a campaign rally.  He does it all the time.

The hourly rate for flying Air Force One is between $142,000 and $272,000 an hour.  We pay for this.  I am helping to pay for this.  Every time he does this kind of campaigning at public expense he is violating the Hatch Act.  And no, other Presidents did not do that.

Everything he touches

Bama had not lost a home game in four years.  If I’m correct, it was 31 victories in a row.  Then Trump shows up.

Coincidence?  I think not.

High School Football

Largely because of fear of concussions and the resultant health issues, fewer students are coming out for football.  In some states, including West Virginia and Ohio, the reduction in student athletes playing football has been dramatic.

In fact, only three states have seen an increase in participation rates since 2009.  They are Alabama, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania.

Football remains the number one high school sport, followed by track, basketball, baseball, and soccer in that order.  Football had the highest rate of injuries of the top five sports and was at the top in head injuries.

For charts on each state, see Joe Drape and Ken Belson, “America’s Game Makes Its Case,” New York Times, (Nov. 10, 2019), pp. SP1, 6-7.

Sen. Toomey predicts Democratic presidential win

Toomey has introduced a bill in the Senate that would prevent a president from banning fracking.  Since Trump would never even think about banning fracking, it is obvious that Toomey is convinced a Democrat will win the presidency.  

Good to know.

Why can't Johnny read?

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test administered by the National Center for Education Statistics, a part of the U.S. Department of Education, found that two out of three children did not meet the standards for reading proficiency.,

The Assessment test was given to about 600,000 students.  The average eighth grade reading score declined in more than half of the states compared to 2017.  

Betsy DeVos, our beloved Secretary of the Department of Education, was alarmed.  She blamed the parents.  Her solution is more charter schools.

Information for this post was plagiarized from Erica L. Green and Dana Goldstein, “DeVos Calls Slump in Reading Scores a ‘Student Achievement Crisis,’” New York Times, (Oct. 31, 2019), p. A17.

Greatest defeat?

At his rally in support of Bevin in Kentucky, Trump said of Bevin, “If you lose, they’re going to say, ‘Trump suffered the greatest defeat in the history of the world.  This was the greatest.’  You can’t let that happen to me!”

But it did happen.  Greater than the Germans losing at Stalingrad.  Greater than the Confederates losing at Gettysburg.  Greater than the British losing at Yorktown.  Greater than Hastings, or Troy, or Waterloo.

Of course that is silly, but I will say this.  It was a really great defeat for Trump.  One of the best defeats ever.  A bigly defeat.  A perfect defeat.

Carbon County goes "Red"

Yesterday’s election in Carbon County, PA, was a disaster for the Democrats.  We have now joined Carbon counties in Utah, Montana, and Wyoming as centers of retrograde politics.  All of our county office races were won by Republicans, although the Democrats fielded a good slate of candidates with years of experience and excellent work histories.  It didn’t matter.  A large number of Republican voters voted straight ticket, unable to see past the R next to the candidates’ names.

Once again I am reminded of presidential candidate Morris Udall’s comment when he lost a close race in Wisconsin.  “The people have spoken, the bastards.”

Trump's plans for National Parks

Like many Americans, I think our National Parks are jewels to be treasured and preserved.  This year we visited the Everglades and Acadia in Maine.  Both were wonderful, with excellent staff and interpretative information.  Both could have used more funding.

My brother-in-law Tom from Grass Valley sent me an article from the L.A. Times detailing suggested “improvements" proposed by the “Made in America” Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee.  The committee, consisting of Trump appointees, proposes to allow Amazon deliveries at campsites and an end to senior discounts.

Three of the people on the Committee have potential conflicts of interest.  One is the head of concessions in Yosemite who donated $167,700 to Trump’s campaigns.  One is the president of Aramark, which runs a $2 billion contract to operate hotels, eateries, and campgrounds at Yosemite.  The committee also includes the former president of Kampgrounds of America and Brad Franklin, government relations manager of Yamaha Motors, the U.S.A. producer of electric-powered bicycles that recently were allowed on federal trails in national wildlife refuges.  

The Committee has recommended digital services, flushable toilets, hot and cold showers, equipment rentals, mobile camp stores, food trucks, kayaks, and overnight tent rentals.  All of this would be privatized.  The Committee is using the Park Service maintenance backlog to scare the public into accepting these recommendations as a way to fund the parks.

There are times I would like to just grab Trump supporters and shake them and yell “Do you not understand what is happening?  Do you not get what this administration is doing?  Is this making America great again?”  

The report of the “Made in America” committee recommendations can be found in Louis Sahagun, “Trump Team Has a Plan for Nationwide Parks:  Amazon, Food Trucks, and No Senior Discounts,” Los Angeles Times, (Nov. 4, 2019).  Thank you Tom for bringing this to my attentional.

Tomorrow is election day in Carbon County

I have been working on election campaigns since 1960, and I still don’t know what works.  Tomorrow I will be standing at a polling place at the Palmerton Rod and Gun Club passing out slate cards.  The cards list all the Democratic candidates in Carbon County, and I will be urging people to vote the slate.  Slate cards are almost useless, affecting perhaps one percent of the voters.

But...think about how many elections are won by one percent.  

If you had to predict how a voter will vote and you could know only one variable, it would not be gender, income, race, religion, or educational level.  It would be party.  Most Republicans vote Republican; most Democrats vote for Democratic candidates. What about independents?  Most of them are not truly independent; they lean toward one party or another.  Since Carbon County has a majority of Republican registrants, Democratic candidates are at a definite disadvantage, although this year the Carbon County Republican Party is split down the middle, so Democrats have a better chance.

Most campaigning is playing with the margins.  Yard signs, newspaper ads, tv ads, direct mail, billboards–you try them all.  The best tactic for the candidate to go door-to-door and engage voters, but even that doesn’t work if the candidate is not personable.  You also will have a tough time meeting more than four or five candidates an hour.  

A consultant at a candidate school once explained that the worst elections are those you lose by one or two percentage points.  You lay awake at night thinking of all the ways you could have gotten that one or two percent.  He told us that you do everything possible; that way if you lose a close election, you tell yourself there was nothing else you could have done.  You will be able to fall asleep knowing that.