Trump rally in South Carolina

Two people who attended the Trump rally in South Carolina have tested positive for coronavirus.  I don’t know if that is true, but I heard some people say that.

Deportation fees

Immigrants who wish to contest their deportation orders will now be charged almost $1000 in fees.  This is about a tenfold increase, and it obviously will make immigration appeals much more difficult.  

This is another one of those Trump administration actions that sneaks in under public scrutiny.  Even the New York Times, which we depend on to report this type of anti-immigrant action, relegated this action to page 18.  The coronavirus and the South Carolina primary suck all the air out of the news, and in the meantime, the Administration goes on its merry way hurting the most vulnerable people in our society.

The Trump administration says it doesn’t want U.S. taxpayers to cover the court costs.  It has no problem charging taxpayers to fly Trump around on Air Force One to golf in Florida or hold political rallies.

The origin of the coronavirus?

Unfortunately for us, many people in different parts of the world hold unscientific beliefs that threaten not only their own health, but the rest of us as well.  In the United States we have the anti-vaxxers who refuse to allow their children to be immunized.  Some claim religious exemptions, some quote bogus studies about autism.  The result is a loss of “herd immunity.”

Chinese folklore prescribes animal and plant remedies that have no scientific basis, but are still believed by millions.  For example, bats, which may be the source of the coronavirus and the SARS virus, are thought to be good for restoring eyesight.  People actually eat bat feces.  (I can get you some from our shed, but it will cost you.)  In some cases these beliefs have resulted in endangering some animals.  The widespread idea that rhino horns are good for impotence has led to a dangerous decline of that species.

If indeed coronavirus has resulted because people have ingested wild animals, I’m reminded of the old saying “nature bats last.”  (And by the way, if you are a deer hunter, you better not eat venison from deer suffering from wasting disease.  I am not kidding.)

See Yi-Zheng Lian, “The Coronavirus and ‘Jinbu’ Foods,”  New York Times, (Feb. 23, 2020), p. SR2.

Coronavirus problem fixed?

Mike Pence is in charge of U.S. policy on coronavirus?.  I’m pretty sure we are going to hear a great deal about the power of prayer.  That ought to fix things. 

Medical Marijuana

Tonight I heard a father of an autistic child discuss the benefits that his child got from a prescription of medical marijuana.  His child’s “acting out” was lessened, learning and toilet training became easier, and there were improvements in other cognitive areas.

I don’t understand why a substance that can help people runs afoul of federal law, while tobacco and vaping are still legal.  

North Dakota Indians win one

North Dakota had passed a voter suppression law that said you couldn’t vote unless you had a street address.  This rule disenfranchised many North Dakota Indians who lived on reservations where an address might be “the 2nd yellow house on the left past the stop sign.”  Mail would be delivered to a P.O. box, but that wasn’t good enough.

Earlier this month the North Dakota election officials reached an agreement with the Spirit Lake and Standing Rock Sioux to allow Indians to vote with just a P.O. box.  The agreement resolved two law suits and is a major victory for Indian Country.

Occasionally we win one.

For the full story see Maggie Astor, “Voting Rights Victory for N. Dakota Tribes,”  New York Times, (Feb. 14, 2020), p. A16.

Trump the Movie Reviewer

Trump didn’t like “Parasite.”  He hasn’t seen it, but he railed about it at one of his rallies.  I’m not about to get into a discussion of the film, but I will say it was amazing.  However you have to read subtitles unless you know Korean, and we know Trump does not like to read and does not know Korean.

I will point out that Trump’s opinion on movies has nothing to do with his policies or the United States government.  His followers don’t attend his rallies for that.  They attend for the same reason that people go to monster truck rallies or professional wrestling.  They want to be amused and entertained.  Opinions on movies or insults against Democrats excite the crowd, produce laughter, satisfy the expectations.  Trump may be re-elected not because of his polices, but because he is an entertainer, and he’s good at it.

Early voting in California

My ace reporter Tom, who lives in Grass Valley, already voted in California’s presidential primary.  Although the California primary is not for another two weeks, early voting is permitted.  In 2018 “drop box voting” started in five counties.  Each county was allowed to adopt the process, and in this election 14 counties had drop boxes where voters could turn in their early ballots.  (Butte County, home of Chico State, and Santa Clara County, home of San Jose State, were among the 14.)

Tom is a “decline to state” voter, which means he was allowed to vote in the Democratic primary.  Republicans only allow Republicans to vote in their primary.  

What impressed me the most, besides the early voting and the “drop box” ease of voting, was a 48 page booklet each voter received that explained the process.  And what a process!  You can register to vote on election day.  You can check your voter status online.  You can pre-register at sixteen and vote at eighteen.  You can read a short summary of each party’s platform.  If you are in the armed forces, the way you vote is explained in detail.  California evidently believes voting is important and makes every attempt to increase turnout.  

Contrast that with states like Alabama, North Carolina, and Florida, which make every attempt to suppress voting.  Not only that, but California has a citizens’ commission which draws the district lines and eliminates gerrymandering.  

The moving vans are coming tomorrow.  We’re moving back.

Trump pardons reconsidered

A few nights ago I wrote about Trump’s pardons.  I took a more detailed look at the eleven pardons he announced earlier this month, and three were actually reasonable.  They were the kind of pardons previous presidents had granted to rectify miscarriages of justice.  Ariel Friedler, a technology entrepreneur, accessed a protected computer without authorization.  He served two months in prison and has since dedicated his life to helping former prisoners re-enter society, according the the White House statement.  

A second was for Crystal Munoz.  She received a prison term of almost 20 years for drawing a map her friends used in a marijuana distribution ring.

A third was for Tynice Nichole Hall who lived in a stash house where her boyfriend stored cocaine.  She has been in prison for 14 years, where she is on her way to earning a college degree.

Three good ones.

The eight others, however, were for Trump’s friends, rich crooks, hedge fund operators, a TV motivational speaker who gives speeches for Trump, tax cheaters, political corruption people, and personal friends.  Can Roger Stone be too far behind?  I think the first three were to give him some cover.

My prediction for November

If the Democratic nominee is:

Bernie Sanders?  A Socialist and old guy with a heart condition.  And he yells.  And his followers are brats.  Trump wins.

Joe Biden?  He’s halting, out of touch, his kid is in some kind of corrupt business in the Ukraine.  Trump wins.

Amy Klobuchar?  A U.S. Senator from Minnesota?  Never heard of her before a month ago.  Trump wins.

Elizabeth Warren?  The woman who has plans for everything.  The one who wants to take away my health insurance?  Trump wins.

Pete Buttigieg?  The guy whose highest office is mayor of a small midwest city?  Trump wins.

Mike Bloomberg?  He instituted “stop and frisk” and we won’t forgive him for that, no matter how many times he apologizes.  Plus, he’s rich, just like FDR.  Trump wins.

Tom Steyer?  The guy who couldn’t even make the debates?  Plus, he is also rich.  Trump wins.

Doesn’t look good, does it folks?  The center and the left in this country are engaged in a purity contest.  If you are not with me on every issue, if you don’t like my candidate, then screw you.  And Trump wins.  

This country is losing its democracy, and I blame the “decent” people who don’t know how to compromise, don’t understand that the perfect is the enemy of the good, and put their own ideological certainty ahead of global warming, kids in cages, the extinction of species, the growing economic inequality, and the end of democracy as we know it. And those six candidates on that stage tonight in Las Vegas are complicit.

Draining the Swamp?

Did you see the people Trump pardoned today?  

It never gets any better, does it?  We just sink further and further into the quicksand of corruption.  In Pilgrim’s Progress John Bunyan refers to the “Slough of Despond.”  We are in it, neck deep.

What matters most

Trump was at the Daytona 500 where he was quoted as saying that NASCAR fans never forget that “What matters most is God, family, and country.  

It sounds so much better in German, nicht wahr?

Tired of Democrats

I’m tired of hearing about Democratic candidates criticized by Democrat pundits, columnists, and activists.  Bernie is too radical, Buttigieg was only a mayor of a medium sized city, Warren is unrealistic, Biden is too conservative, Steyer is too rich, Bloomberg supported stop and frisk, Klobuchar was a prosecutor.  Give it a rest.

Look at who is in the White House.  We have Democrats who wouldn’t have voted for Lincoln because he was not an abolitionist.  They would have opposed FDR because he had been Secretary of the Navy.  They would have attacked Truman because he dropped the atom bomb.  Clinton used a private email server, Obama smoked dope.  

For goodness sakes people, look at the man who is now in the White House.  Get a grip.  Every Republican Senator except Romney was willing to overlook criminal acts to keep this man in power.  Every Republican Senator defends his policies, lies for him, supports him, hopes he will win.  But Democrats are willing to pick and pick at the remaining candidates, all of whom are thoughtful and rational adults.  

I don’t see any need to list the Trump policies that are harming our citizens, our country, and yes, the future of our planet.  If you are reading this, you already can make your own list.  The Democratic candidates may have flaws, but compare them to Donald Trump.  Really, get a grip.

Wildlife Trophies

The Trump administration earlier this month disbanded an advisory board known as the International Wildlife Conservation Council.  (Note the ironic term “conservation.”)  This was a board created to help to boost trophy hunting and ease up on federal rules on the importation of the heads and hides of African elephants, rhinos, and lions.  

It was created by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who was forced out after a corruption scandal.  The board was made up mostly of big-game hunters, including some with direct ties to Trump and his family.

There is a law that federal advisory boards cannot be one-sided, which this board certainly was.  The Interior Department decided to disband the board in the face of legal challenges.

I have not heard if Barr will step in on this one.

See “Interior Dept. drops trophy hunting panel amid court fight,” Morning Call, (Feb. 11, 2020), p,. 11.

American Dirt

The plot of American Dirt, a novel by Jeanine Cummins, involves a Mexican woman and her son fleeing to the U.S. after the rest of her family has been massacred by a drug gang.  

(Warning:  I have not read the book–yet.)  The book has inspired controversy because the author is not Mexican, and therefore, in today’s society, not qualified to write about Mexicans.  In fact, the author has received death threats for her “cultural appropriation.”

This drives me nuts.  I am a poet.  My poems are sometimes from the viewpoint of old men, teenagers, African Americans, women, Indians, chickens, and trees.  I believe that nobody has the exclusive rights to write about his or her culture, race, religion, language, or identity.

The question should not be: Is this author a member of a particular subset or group?  The question should be:  Is this writing good?

Registering a Trump voter

Today Frank, who is 86 and a long-time activist, sat at a table with me at the entrance to a supermarket in Nesquehoning.  We had a sign celebrating that this was the 100th year anniversary of the 19th Amendment, and we were signing people up for mail-in ballots or to register to vote.  We weren’t having any luck with registrations, but we were passing out the applications for mail-in ballots.

I mentioned to an older women about the 100th year anniversary, and asked if she wanted a mail-in ballot application.  She said , “I have never registered to vote.”  I said, ”This is your lucky day,” and told her I could fill out the form in under three minutes.  She hesitated, then agreed.  

I got the name, address, and all that, and reached the boxes to indicate party.  She said “Republican.”  I said, “You know, the big race is in the Democratic primary with Sanders, Warren, Biden, and all the others.”

She paused, then said, “No, Republican.”  

Jesus wept.

Trump voters as isolates

I’m listening to One Nation After Trump by E. J. Dionne, Jr., Norman J. Ornstein, and Thomas E. Mann.  I got it for Christmas, and I am learning a great deal.

Today I learned that many Trump voters are disconnected from their communities.  Few of them have been engaged with their local governments, volunteer groups, or community organizations.  

The authors point out that Trump rallies are composed of people who have very little interaction with one another.  They come into an arena, cheer their hero, and then go home.  They don’t walk precincts.  They don’t phone bank.  They are really alienated not only from their communities but also from each other.  Trump gives them a sense that they are part of something bigger.

Andrew Yang drops out

You’ve seen films of Ford or Chevy plants..  The cars move down the assembly line, and men and some women along the line are installing doors, welding fenders, adding seats, working hard and fast as the cars keep coming.

Have you seen the line recently?  Almost no humans.  Giant arms come down, pick up parts, weld automatically.  Those arms are robots, not like the ones you see in science fiction movies, but robotic machinery that does the work.

In many ways this is an improvement.  Assembly line jobs were repetitive and soul deadening.  On the other hand those were union jobs paying good wages and allowing the workers to own houses and cars and send their kids to college.

As automation has increased, fewer and fewer of those jobs exist.  When is the last time you paid a toll booth operator when you got on the turnpike?  The “gig” economy is growing; steady work is decreasing.  What happens to the millions of employees when self-driving trucks become commonplace, when robots stock the shelves, when clerks are replaced by smart machines.

Only one candidate was addressing this issue.  Only one candidate talked about a guaranteed annual wage for millions of soon-to-be displaced workers.  That was Andrew Yang.  

Now that he has dropped out, I fear that this issue will be ignored, much like climate change or economic inequality or health care reform had been downplayed for decades and still is downplayed by our president.  Yang was smart, personable, and thoughtful.  I didn’t think he would be nominated, but I wish we could have heard more of his ideas.

Land mines and cluster bombs

164 nations of the world have banned the use of land mines and cluster bombs.  Cluster bombs break apart into small bomblets that contain even smaller shrapnel.  They are useless at knocking out hard targets, but the shrapnel is excellent at penetrating flesh.  Land mines, of course, last for years after they have been planted, killing and maiming people long after a war is over.  Civilians are still killed in Vietnam from land mines.  

The Trump administration now says it will reverse American policy against these weapons that has been in effect since 2008.  We will again permit their use.

And people bitch about Nancy Pelosi ripping up Trump’s speech and J. Lo’s half time show and the slow count in Iowa.  When will we start complaining about the stuff that matters?  Land mines matter.

See John Ismay and Thomas Gibbons-Neff, “Trump Administration Embraces Weapons 164 Nations Ban,” (Feb. 8, 2020), p. A5.

Rush Limbaugh, an inspiration?

When Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh last week, he said Limbaugh was being recognized for “the millions of people a day that you speak to and that you inspire.”

Here’s what Limbaugh said about the NAACP:

“The NAACP should have riot rehearsal.  They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.”

Here’s what he said about whether the massacre of American Indians was comparable to the Holocaust:

“Holocaust?  Ninety million Indians?  Only four million left?  They all have casinos–what’s to complain about?”

Here’s what he said about Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown University law students who in 2012 testified in support of the Obama administration’s policies on birth control:

“What does that make her?  It makes her a slut, right?  Makes her a prostitute.”

Here’s what he said about feminism:

“Feminism was established so that unattractive ugly broads could have easy access to the mainstream.”

Limbaugh has late stage lung cancer.  

Trump on Architecture

Political leaders who order a certain style of buildings to reflect their beliefs include Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini.  And now, of course, Trump.  There is a draft executive order entitled “Make Federal Buildings Beautiful Again” that would direct the use of traditional or classical architectural styles for nearly all new federal buildings.

Deviations from this style would have to go to a presidential “re-beautification” committee.

This from a man who thinks the Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago are architectural masterpieces.  

I never cease to be amazed.

Trump is killing our birds

The Audubon Society at one time prided itself on being “non-political.”  Unlike the Sierra Club, it stayed neutral on political matters.  No more.  I’m a member of the Audubon Society, and in the latest fundraising letter to its members, it flatly stated:  “Trump is killing our birds.”

The Administration has decided to eliminate criminal penalties for “incidental” bird deaths under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.  Corporations may now destroy habitats and kill birds even when the deaths could have been mitigated.  The Audubon Society has filed suit against the Administration, but guess who has been appointing federal judges for the last three years, and guess which Senate leader has been expediting their approvals.

How Dictatorships Work

That’s the title of a book by Barbara Geddes, Joseph Wright, and Erica Franz (Cambridge University Press, 2018).  In a review of the book in a recent issue of Foreign Affairs Anna Grzymala-Busse explain how things work.  I will quote a paragraph.  You draw your own conclusions.

...today’s would-be dictators do not rely simply on censorship, repression, and patronage.  Instead, they follow a course similar to those charted by democratically elected strongman in countries such as Hungary and Turkey:  go after the courts, intimidate the press, hamper civil society, and use parliamentary majorities to push through new laws and constitutions.  If one squints, things look normal:  elections take place, people can travel in and out of the country, the cafés are full, and the secret police’s dungeons are (nearly) empty.  But underneath the surface, checks and balances that had once prevented dictatorship are falling away.

But he has no clothes

Everyone knows the story about all the king’s followers scared to tell him that he wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing, but he was, in fact, walking at the head of the parade route completely nude.  It wasn’t until a little boy pointed and yelled, “But he isn’t wearing anything,” that people admitted that the king was naked.

Now we know the kid’s name.  It was Mitt Romney.

(In writing this I pictured Trump nude, and now I can’t get that disgusting image out of my head.  That overhanging belly, the man boobs, the waddle, the tiny penis–I need to unsee that.)

Rush Limbaugh

If I had to name five people who brought us to our present state of affairs, where truth no longer matters and political opponents are seen as enemies, I’d include Rupert Murdoch, Newt Gingrich, Tom Delay, Donald Trump, and one of the earliest of this ilk, Rush Limbaugh.  

Limbaugh is truly an evil person.  He actually blamed his opioid addiction on his maid.  Sitting in his radio studio, puffing his cigars, he has been spewing hatred for decades. 

A few days ago he announced he has advanced lung cancer.

Iowa Caucuses

I know Iowa caucus goers are better educated than the average voter, and I know Iowans are whiter and older than the average American, but I like the caucus system.  I like the idea of people getting together in the church basement or the high school gym and joining the supporters of their candidates, talking to each other, strategizing when their candidate doesn’t make the 15% threshold.  If I’m a Klobuchar supporter and she doesn’t have the 15%, do I then caucus with Mayor Pete’s group, or do I see if we can combine with the Yang Gang to get to 15%, or do I jump to Biden because I think he has the best chance to beat Trump?  

This feels like what democracy should be.  Community action and thoughtful voters weighing ideology with electability.  I don’t think every state should adopt the caucus system, but Iowa should definitely have a place in the selection process.

The Groundhog predicts a SF win

The game isn’t over as I am writing this.  I do enjoy football, but I never have enjoyed the Superbowl.  I don’t even know if it is one word or two.  The half-time show is a complete waste of time, and the ads try too hard.

Plus this year I can’t even decide which team to root for.  I consider myself a 49er fan, but I think it would be nice if Andy Reid won one.  

I’ll read about it tomorrow.

Bats, Cats, and Windmills

The latest issue of Lancaster Farming contains an article detailing the loss of bats in Pennsylvania.  Wind turbines are killing approximately 500,000 bats a year, although mitigation strategies such as blade-free turbines and acoustic deterrents show promise.

500,000 is a large number, but it pales in comparison to the number of birds and bats killed by communication towers (6.5 million), power lines (25 million), and windows (300 million).  Those numbers are also small in comparison to the estimated birds and bats killed by cats.  Are you ready?  1.4 to 3.7 billion.  

I wonder how many people who are upset by wind turbines are allowing their cats out at night or feeding feral cats.

See Sue Bowman, “Expert Discusses Endangered Bat Population,” Lancaster Farming (Feb. 1, 2020), pp. B-4, B-7.