Black lives matter demonstration in Chico

Our daughter participated in a “Black Lives Matter” demonstration in Chico, CA, this weekend.  She arrived at the demonstration without a sign, but an 80-year-old lady brought a “black lives matter” sign and gave it to her to hold.

About 50 people participated in the demonstration.  All of the demonstrators except one were white.

The demonstration was peaceful, so the local newspaper didn’t report it.

Parents charged in boy's death

That was the headline in today’s Times News.  A couple in East Penn Township had a loaded handgun in their house, the kid found the gun, and fatally shot himself in the head.  The parents have been charged, and please do not tell me that they are already suffering enough from guilt.  They are not.  They were keeping a loaded handgun with a bullet in the chamber “for protection.”  From what?  Bears breaking into the house?  Armed marauders from Weissport?

I sometimes read letters from stupid pro-gun people saying “Well, cars are dangerous, why don’t they ban cars?”  I would point out that in order to drive, you need to pass both a written and a driving test.  Why can’t we do the same thing for guns?  Perhaps if this couple had taken a course that emphasized that you never keep a loaded gun in a house with little kids, that child might be alive today.  It’s at least worth a try.

Drive-by funeral

We are living in a time out of joint, and we adapt as best we can.  Linda’s church is having on-line communion, the House of Representatives is voting remotely, our grandson is supposed to report to his phys-ed teacher on his exercises by email, and Linda talks to her friends on Zoom.  

Today we attended a funeral for our friend Helen Torok, who died from the coronavirus.  Mourners met in the parking lot of the funeral home, and while some of us did get out of our cars, we were all wearing masks, did not shake hands, and did not even get within six feet of each other.  

The family, as most families are today, is scattered but came to Bethlehem for the funeral.  Family members stood on the porch of the funeral home (it was raining), and we drove past them, stopping to hand them condolence cards or memories.  There was also a service that you could view remotely.  

I had wanted very much to talk to Helen’s husband Tibor, but that was not possible.  Funerals are times when you share memories (and sorrows).  It wasn’t what I would have liked, but it was the best we could do under the circumstances.  I think Helen would have understood, and might even have been just a little bit amused.

"Get the facts"

Twitter put that at the bottom of two of Trump’s tweets on mail-in ballots along with links in blue lettering.  Trump, of course, went nuts, accusing Twitter of “completely stifling FREE SPEECH.”  

Evidently it is ok to lie, but when the lies are called out, it stifles free speech.

I just hope we see more of this from Twitter.  It’s about time.

What I miss

The social distancing and self-quarantining have been going on for over two months, and there are some things I really do miss.

the library.  I just received a note today that the Palmerton Library will be providing curbside service, but that isn’t the same as browsing the shelves and talking to the staff.

movies.  We averaged a movie a week.  Now even when the virus is gone, so is the Mahoning Theater.  I know there’s the Angela in Coaldale and the Pocono in East Stroudsburg, but neither are as convenient.

the liquor store.  I haven’t had any rum in months.

my “burner phone.”  There was a Radio Shack in Broadheadsville that always added a year’s worth of calls to my phone, but about two weeks into the shutdown, that Radio Shack closed for good.  Now I don’t know where to add minutes, and when I go to a store and it has a number posted on the door to call for curbside service, it does me no good.  

our trip across the country.  We had planned to drive to CA, leaving May 15, and traveling for about three weeks. 

our local Democratic meetings.  Defeating Trump is serious business on which the future of our nation depends (no exaggeration), but I also enjoy the camaraderie of fellow liberals.  

Tracking the spread

One of the problems states are now encountering in tracking contacts is that people no longer answer phone numbers they don’t recognize.  Census callers are having the same problem.  I read that only 6% of Americans now answer calls from numbers they don’t know.  

On my phone, when I call people, it shows up as “private caller,” and most people don’t answer.  I’m usually able to leave a message, and most eventually call back.  I’ve been told I can change that, but I don’t want to, since it enables me to make crank calls to Trump supporters, and they can’t trace me.

Seriously, it is no wonder people don’t answer the phone.  I probably get ten calls a day about switching my electric company, solicitations for medical insurance, car warrantees, retired police officers, and so many more.  Since my phone doesn’t tell me what the number is, I answer everything.  

So think about this.  Because our government is incapable of halting robocalls and unwanted solicitations (and these are commercial solicitations, for which the Supreme Court provides less protection than political calls), we now are having difficulty tracking virus contacts or providing an accurate census.  

This is just one small symptom of the rot at the center of our government.  It is rot that starts at the very top and is now infects the country as surely as the coronavirus.  We no longer know how to solve even simple problems.

The Old Farmer make money

We live just across the road from the trailhead for Christman Trail in Beltzville State Park.  The trail is on land that the Christman family once owned that was taken by eminent domain for the park.  

It occurs to me that I could make a sign that says, “Tales from the Old Farmer, $5.00,” sit on a chair at the trailhead, and regale visitors with local lore.  I could ask people to sit six feet away and tell them about growing up on the farm in the 40s and 50s.  There were probably at least 20 carloads of people today, and I am expecting an equal amount tomorrow.  

I believe I could make some money.  The “tales” would not have to be totally true.  No one would know.  I have a straw hat, and I can do an authentic Pennsylvania Dutch accent.  I might try this tomorrow.

In memory of Helen Torok

From the Forties to the Sixties the Reader’s Digest ran articles entitled “The Most Unforgettable Character I Have Ever Met.”  For me that would have been my friend Helen Torok, who died earlier today of complications from the Coronavirus.

I first met Helen at a 4-H Roundup when I was visiting from California and she was taking pictures of the kids and their animals.  I asked my sister Kay, “Who is that black woman taking pictures?”  Kay said “That’s Helen Torok,” like, who else would it be?  Helen was the most multi-talented person I have ever known.  She was a professional singer, a jewelry maker, a businesswoman, a computer expert, photographer, political activist, excellent cook, organizer, office holder, community volunteer, and so much more.

Helen lived the civil rights movement.  When she and Tibor married, their interracial marriage was illegal in a number of states.  Tibor was himself an amazing guy, one of the Hungarian freedom fighters in 1956 who managed to get across the border to Austria and escape certain death.  

I was Helen’s campaign treasurer when she ran for borough council in Lehighton.  The question at the beginning of that campaign was, “Can an African-American Jewish woman win a council seat in Lehighton?  Answer:  yes, if it was Helen Torok.

There will be a memorial at a synagogue in Bethlehem, the details to be announced.  Another bad thing about our current situation is that Helen’s friends can’t meet to grieve in a normal way.  We will grieve in private, but we will definitely grieve.

Lock him up!

Remember General Flynn, who led the attendees at Trump rallies with the chant against Hillary Clinton–“Lock her up.”  Yeah, that Flynn.  Trump is now claiming Flynn was a victim.

A good reason for telling the truth is that you never have to worry about contradicting yourself.  You just tell the truth, and it is always the same.  Poor Trump.  He tells so many lies that he can’t remember what he said before.

Trump, Dec. 2, 2017:  “I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI.  He has pled guilty to those lies.”

Trump, May 7, 2020:  “He was an innocent man.  He was targeted by the Obama Administration.  He was targeted to try and take down a president.  I hope a big price is going to be paid.”

It's personal

So far I’ve personally known two people who have had the coronavirus.  Rene was one of the healthiest people I know (he was in his forties, he exercised, practiced yoga, and ate a healthful diet). and he said he had a mild case.  He slept for two days, had a cough for about ten days, felt not quite tip-top for weeks, and has offered to give blood for the antibodies he now has.

The second is a good friend of mine who may be gone by the time you read this, since she has a “do not resuscitate” order.  (I will let you know in tomorrow’s post.)

When I see the jerks who think that wearing a mask to protect other people is a denial of their civil liberties, it really irritates me.  When I see Trump strutting around, using the virus to gut environmental legislation, I wonder how people can still support this idiot.  It’s personal.

Asking Trump for medical advice

Tonight I sent the following letter to President Trump.  I'll be checking the mailbox every day for his answer.

President Donald Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Trump:

I have a dear friend suffering from genital herpes, and I was wondering if you could recommend a medicine.  I understand you know an excellent amount of information about medical issues, and I thought this might also be something you would be familiar with.

Sincerely,

Roy Christman

Doyle Heffley vs. Doyle Heffley

Recently I received a letter from the Doyle Heffley campaign asking me to write in Republican Heffley's name on the Democratic ballot.  Heffley is our current state representative from the 122nd district, and we do not have a Democratic nominee.  A low key campaign is asking Democrats to write in Kara Scott, a Bowmanstown Boro Council member who ran against Heffley in 2018.  In the mailer, Heffley, who is one of the most partisan members in the state House, is presented as a "non-partisan" guy who represents all the people of his district.

Kara Scott needs 300 write-in votes to get on the ballot in November.  Heffley's mailer, which is in full color and quite slick, may get him more than the 300 votes he needs.  It's all legal, but it is completely against the ideals of democracy.

Here is a copy of the letter I sent to his campaign committee.  I don't think I will get a response.

Dear Committee members

While I am pleased that you are using the Post Office, now under attack by the Trump administration, to mail out your request that I write in Doyle Heffley on the Democratic primary ballot, I won’t be doing that.

I don’t like Soviet or Chinese style elections in which only one candidate appears on the ballot.  No debate, no airing of issues–one choice only.  I don’t think elections like that are in the American tradition.

Two new birds

Birders often keep “life lists,” a record of all the bird species they have seen.  A typical life list will be 600 to 800 species.  My friend Roger, an excellent birder, has traveled to Peru, South Africa, Big Bend, Australia, and Taiwan, among other locations, and he doesn’t even bother to keep a list.  He just likes to see different birds.  Linda’s and my life list (we don’t include a bird unless both of us have seen it) was, as of this morning, 147.  

Then, today, in the space of an hour, we added two birds.  We saw a strange bird in one of our back yard feeders eating an orange Linda had put out=.  After consulting our bird book, we realized we had an Orchard Oriole.  Then, while we were fishing at a small cove in Beltzville Lake, we spotted a yellow bird that wasn’t a Goldfinch.  Again, after consulting our guide, we realized we had just seen a Prothonotary Warbler.

One hour, two new birds.  Good day.

Medical experts and the Coronavirus

Some people have pointed out that the early projections of deaths by medical experts were wildly overestimated.  When the virus first hit we heard numbers as high as one to two million unless stringent measures of “social distancing” and a shut down of normal economic activity were in place.

So we shut down, we wore masks, we stayed six feet apart, and the death toll is still under 100,000.  Now many people are saying the medical experts were wrong, and the coronavirus wasn’t so bad.

What they seem to have forgotten is that it was very bad ion places where the virus spread before measures were in place to contain it.  We have some controlled experiments where distancing was impractical or not possible.  If we look at prisons, nursing homes, Indian reservations, and battleships, we can see what would have happened if we had continued with business as usual.  The reason the death toll was so low was because we followed the guidelines.  

That’s if 85,000 is considered “low.”  We should also remember we may experience an increase as people quit wearing masks, breath freely, and exercise their rights as free American citizens to ignore medical experts and infect themselves and others around them.

Hitler and Stalin as wartime leaders

Linda and I are listening to a 36 lecture course on World War II taught by Dr. Thomas Childers of the University of Pennsylvania.  We learned that both Stalin and Hitler fancied themselves excellent military leaders, but both were incompetent.  Stalin, for example, ignored the intelligence that pointed to Germany’s invasion.  He couldn’t believe that Hitler would break his word.  Later, in the summer of ’42, when Hitler was moving south into Russian territory, Stalin kept a large force in front of Moscow, convinced Hitler would try to overrun the capital, even though the Germans had no interest in doing that.  As a consequence the Germans reached important oil fields.

Hitler, of course, thought Britain would come to the peace table once France had fallen.  He later thought the U.S.S.R. would be easy to defeat.  He said if you kick down the door, the whole structure would fall.  Whoops.  Later, he could have cut off the Suez Canal, taken the Middle East, and linked up with Japan.  He did not because he thought it wasn’t important.

Both Stalin and Hitler thought they knew more about military strategy than their generals, many of whom had extensive military experience.

This all sounds vaguely familiar.  

Good news, bad news, and Republicans

First, the good news:

     The U.S. is on track for renewable energy to pass coal in the generation of electricity.  This comes in spite of efforts by the Trump administration to increase global warming by pushing coal.  Renewable energy includes wind turbines, solar panels, and hydroelectric dams.  Renewables have already produced more electricity than coal on 90 days this year.

Now the bad news

The anti-vaxxers, who have go be the biggest idiots on the planet, are already gearing up to oppose any vaccine developed for the coronavirus.  Even Trump, who in the past has seemed to be sympathetic to the anti-vaxxers, is supporting the development of a vaccine.

Republicans

In a review of the book No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder in the latest issue of the New York Review of Books, the Violence Against Women Act is discussed.  The VAWA was passed in 1994, co-sponsored by Joe Biden and Orrin Hatch.  It did reduce violence against women, and it was re-authorized in 2000 and 2005 on bipartisan votes.  In 2012, however, Republicans attacked it, objecting to protections for those in same sex marriages or aid for victims who were undocumented immigrants.  I’ll pause here so you can re-read that previous sentence.  Incidentally, if you are a Republican reading this, why are you still a Republican?  If you don’t want to become a Democrat, change to Independent or Libertarian or Green.  

46%

According to an article in the Allentown Morning Call, 46% of Pennsylvanians approve of the way Trump handled the pandemic.  That is almost half.  Are they all watching Fox?  Do they not read a paper?  Do they think that the bumbling, the lies, the incompetence represent a successful response?  We have the most deaths of any country.  This calls for approval?

Black is white.  War is peace.  Lies are truth.  And I am in deep despair.

Indians and the coronavirus

The United States has almost 500 tribally-owned casinos.  The Indians, the American minority with the highest rates of poverty, finally found a source of income that, while woefully inadequate, at least brought in some needed dollars.  Now those casinos are all closed.

Even worse, some of the worst “hotspots” of the virus are located on tribal lands.  The Navajo nation has a higher death rate than any state except New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

In some cases Indians live without running water.  They have clinics instead of hospitals.  They have underlying medical problems.  They live in remote areas.  

It is so disheartening that after all years of genocide, and that is what it was, this country is still causing Indians to die unnecessarily.  

The Fifth Risk

In his book The Fifth Risk Michael Lewis in 2018 wrote about Trump's failure to appoint good people or any people at all to the various agencies.  In the Department of Homeland Security only 35% of the top spots are staffed by confirmed appointees.  We have an acting secretary of Homeland Security.  We have an acting director of the OMB.  We have an acting director of national intelligence.  The Treasury Dept. lacks the under secretary for domestic finance.  People who have been appointed, of course, are often completely unqualified, given their positions because they gave money to Trump's campaign, or he liked what they said on Fox, or they are relatives.

The whole government, beginning at the top, is full of people who, as Lyndon Johnson might say, couldn't pour piss out of a boot if directions were written on the heel.

Some of the info for this post is from Jennifer Senior, "The Trump Administration is Made of Swiss Cheese," New York Times, (May 11, 2020), p. A26.

"A fucking moron"

The latest issue of the magazine Foreign Affairs contains a review by Max Boot of four books about “the generals” appointed by Trump.  One of the books is by General Mattis himself.  I won’t list all four books, but I want to quote from the review.  

In July 2017 a briefing was held for Trump in a Pentagon conference room used by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  Three of the books are in agreement as to what happened.  General Mattis explained why the U.S.-led system of security alliances and trade relationships still benefited the U.S.

It did not go well.  The president lashed out, telling the generals:  “We are owed money you haven’t been collecting!”  Mattis interjected, “This is what keeps us safe,” but Trump predictably wasn’t buying it.  “You’re all losers,” he spat.  “You don’t know how to win anymore.”  A few minutes later, the president–who had cited bone spurs to evade service in the Vietnam War–told a roomful of decorated generals.  “I wouldn’t go to war with you people.  You’re a bunch of dopes and babies.”

The generals, conditioned not to question the commander in chief’s authority, sat in stunned silence.  It was left to then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to speak up.  “No, that’s just wrong,” he retorted.  “Mr. President, you’re totally wrong.  None of that is true.”  After the meeting, standing with a few people he trusted, Tillerson called the president “a fucking moron.”

Pitiful America

Timothy Eagan noted today that in 1847 the members of the Choctaw Nation sent relief money to Ireland when a million people were lost in the potato famine.  The Irish have not forgotten, and they are now sending aid to Native American tribes hit by the coronavirus.

The United States, with about 5% of the world’s population, has 33% of the sick.  South Korea and United States reported their first cases on the same day.  South Korea acted immediately with tests and social distancing.  The U.S. did almost nothing for two months.  South Korea is back to work.  We are getting hundreds of new deaths every day.

When Trump was asked about who was in charge of the vaccine program, he said, “Honestly?  I am.  I’ll tell you, I’m really in charge of it.”  We are in such trouble.

Will this country’s prestige ever recover?  Will we ever be the leader we were for 70 years from the end of World War II?  Trump has made this nation an object of pity and derision.  Even if he loses the election in November, he has set this country so far back that it will take many years to recover, if we ever do.

Some of the information for this post was taken from Timothy Egan, “All Across the Globe, They’re Taking Pity on America,”  New York Times, (May 9, 2020), p. 27.

Maj Sjowall, 1935-2020

I came fairly late in life to detective fiction.  The first detective novel I remember reading was The Underground Man by Ross MacDonald about 1978, and I was hooked.  Shortly thereafter I stumbled on Roseanna by two Swedish authors whose names I didn’t know how to pronounce–Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall.  I later learned it would be considered a “police procedural”  It featured a middle aged Stockholm homicide detective named Martin Beck.

I was so delighted when I learned there were more Martin Beck mysteries, ten in all.  I have all of them in my bookcase upstairs, and I have read them at least three times.  The series stopped when Per Wahloo died in 1975.

One time a student was in my office complaining about San Jose State, how political science was a crock, how I wasn’t telling the truth about American politics, how I was part of the lying establishment.  She was crying, I was upset, and I said, “Yeah, well, I’d rather be at home reading Martin Beck mysteries.”  She stopped crying, looked at me, and said, “You read Martin Beck?”  From then on we were ok.  It was one of my best teaching experiences ever.

The Martin Beck series was the forerunner of what is today often referred to as “Swedish noir.”  If you liked the Steig Larsson books or Jo Nesbo, thank Ms. Sjowall.  

Here we go again

When the Black Death devastated Europe, many people immediately blamed the Jews.  Thousands of Jews were put to death all over Europe.  I thought this time it was different.  I thought at least now the conspiracy theorists are blaming others–Bill Gates, the Chinese, the CIA, bats, pangolins, the American army, some guys in the basement of a Washington pizza restaurant–all have been identified as the source.

Sorry.  I was wrong.  Here is a quote from an article in today’s New York Times about the coronavirus in Russia:

Sergei Romanov, a cleric in the industrial city of Yekaterinburg. also weighed in, thundering against restrictions on public gatherings, including church services, as part of a satanic pilot aided by Jews.

Here we go again.

Cinco de Mayo

I now live in a place where a person asked me, “When is Cinco de Mayo?”  I can’t stand it.

Really bad optics

Yesterday Trump did an interview with two Fox news personalities while sitting in front of the Lincoln Memorial.  There is Lincoln in all his sad grandeur.  There is Trump in all his incoherency.  Trump looked so small and insignificant in so many ways.  His media advisors must have known that would happen.  Maybe they don’t like him.

Canada bans assault rifles

Two weeks ago a man killed 22 people in Nova Scotia.  Some of them were in structures he set on fire, but most of them were killed with an assault rifle.

Two days ago the Canadian government banned assault rifles.  That’s how a real government works.

Facebook and Bleach

Facebook announced in March that promoting bleach as a cure for the coronavirus was “misinformation that has imminent risk of danger,” and it would immediately remove such messages.

Until Trump promoted ultraviolet lights and disinfectant.  Facebook allowed those comments to stay.  And now there are other posts preaching the same thing.  People are making thousands of comments “liking” the suggestions for the use of bleach, saying things like “Chlorine Dioxide is a bleaching disinfectant that is often added to municipal water systems to make water SAFE to drink.”  It is the fake news media that doesn’t want you to drink this stuff.

Once again I am so smug for not being on Facebook.  Once again I think Mark Zuckerberg is a bane of civilization.

On the other hand, if you are a Trump supporter, you have already drunk the Koolaid.  Maybe you really should try the bleach.

I found the information for this post in Sherra Frankel and Davey Alba, “Trump Puts Sites’ Vows To the Test,”  New York Times, (May 1, 2020), p. B1, B5.

Migrants

The migrants are coming through.  In addition to the year-round hairy, downy, and red-bellied woodpeckers, jays, crows, ravens (who eat from our compost pile), chickadees, gold\finches, house finches, and white-crowned sparrows, this week also brought a rose-breasted grosbeak, mockingbirds, a catbird, flickers, eastern bluebirds, and two beautiful Baltimore orioles.  

The catbirds and the mockingbirds will probably hang around.  We have nesting boxes for the bluebirds, and we feed the catbird from a jelly feeder on the front porch.  The flickers, the orioles, and the grosbeak are probably just stopping by on their way north.  

I suppose I should stop here.  Nice nature post.  Pleasant.  Heart-warming.  Unfortunately, every one of these bird species is in decline; some, like flickers, more so than others.  It’s the usual suspects–cats, both feral and tame, habitat loss from development and global warming, loss of insects because of monoculture agriculture, pesticides and insecticides.