Giving people raises

 The Superintendent of the Lehighton School District was just given a two percent raise each year of a three year extension of his contract.  According to the Times News, in the first year of the contract his base pay will be $147,900, the second year $150,858, and the third year $153,875.

During Governor Jerry Brown’s first term as governor of California in the Seventies, he proposed an across-the-board raise for all state government employees of $400.  You can imagine the howls of people who were making $100,000 a year.  It was such a piddling amount.  

On the other hand, if you were a janitor making $10,000 a year (remember this was the Seventies), $400 was a big deal.  Percentage raises advantage the people on top; across-the-board raises of a set amount advantage the people making less.

That is why across-the-board raises with a set amount rather than a percentage are so rare.  After all, this is America.

Graffiti on Bake Oven Knob

 Bake Oven Knob can be seen from west end of Pohopoco Drive, if you know where to look.  It is a rocky outcropping along the Appalachian Trail.  Until Saturday, its rocks were covered with graffiti.  On Saturday volunteers (fire fighters, a bouldering group, hiking clubs, and people who just happened to be visiting the area) worked for  hours and used thousands of gallons of water to clean off the rocks.  

It amazes me that people think they can improve on nature.  Frozen ice along 209 in Jim Thorpe is sometimes covered with dye, as though that will make nature’s wonder look better.  Rocks are tagged or spray painted; frat boys put their logos on rocks along I-80.  

I am aware that some people call this art.  It isn’t.  It is vandalism, and I am so pleased that there are people left who volunteer to preserve the beauty of nature for the rest of us.

Chrome books

 School boards in some Pennsylvania school districts, knowing that their kids would be taking classes by “distance learning, “ bought Chrome Books for every student in the district.  Those districts tended to be suburban, with high property values and a school budget that permitted those purchases.

Other districts, often located in areas of rural poverty with low property values or in inner cities with low property values, could not afford such a policy, which meant their students often had difficulty keeping up with their classes and basically lost a year of education.

This is what is wrong with depending on local property tax to fund education.  In the meantime our Republican-dominated legislature is passing bills forbidding “vaccine passports,” limiting victims of sexual abuse from seeking redress, trying to make it easier to carry concealed weapons, and limiting the number of drop boxes for early voting.

If your Representative is a Republican, I don’t care how good his or her constituent services are, I don’t care how many state forms she or he filled out for you, or how many grants she or he got your local fire department.  Your Republican legislator is voting in lockstep with a party that does not reflect the the interests of the citizens of Pennsylvania.

Concealed Carry with No Permit

We live in the type of society where I don’t even need to explain “concealed carry.”  We all know what it means, just as we know terms like bump stock, active shooter, AK47, one in the chamber, and school shooting.

State Rep. Aaron Bernstine, Republican from Lawrence County, introduced HB 659 on May 17, and it was passed out of the House Judiciary Committee.  The Bill would allow concealed carry, and you wouldn’t need a permit.  I could take my fully loaded Glock into Mallard Market or Shea’s Hardware–no problem.

I must write to Rep. Bernstine and find out if I could take it into the State legislature, but I have a feeling that might not go over well.  I don’t know about schools, but I am assuming I could take it along to church. 

Killing Journalists

 The Committee to Protect Journalists, a non-profit organization founded in 1981, defends the rights of journalists around the world.  Its executive director, Joel Simon, is stepping down at the end of the year, and he noted that conditions are getting worse.  According to Mr. Simon,  Governments are increasingly taking aggressive action toward journalists, and there are very few consequences.  During the Trump administration , we saw a connection in governments appropriating “fake news” and using it to justify imprisoning journalists.  We’ve also seen governments brazenly use violence.

Simon noted that police are often aggressive to journalists during demonstrations.  When journalists get arrested at protests in the United States, those images echo around the world and they send a message to so many places that this is the way police behave even in democratic countries.  And therefore, arresting journalists at protests in Moscow or covering protests in Myanmar, which we’re seeing now, is less shocking and generates less attention.

Last year 274 journalists were imprisoned.  22 journalists were murdered for doing their jobs.  Seven have already been killed so far this year.

See Katie Robertson, “Head of Group That Aids Journalists to Step Down,” New York Times, (June 10, 2021), p. B5.

Dave Eggers says no to Amazon

 I have enjoyed the work of the novelist Dave Eggers.  He not only writes great novels, but he also founded the publishing company McxSweeney's.  His new novel, "The Every," is set to be released on Oct. 5, but only in independent bookstores.  Six weeks later Vintage will publish the e-book and paperback versions.  You will not, however, be able to buy the hardback version from Amazon.  You can only get that from McSweeney's website and from independent booksellers.

Here's what Eggers wrote to explain this:  "I don't like bullies.  Amazon has been kicking sand in the face of independent bookstores for decades now."

Some things are worth supporting.  Independent bookstores are one of those things.

We need people like us to move to Wyoming

 “The core power imbalance in America is that Democrats win more people, Republicans win more places.  In 2020, Joe Biden won 551 counties and 81 million voters.  Donald Trump won 2,588 counties and 74 million votes.  The Democrats’ advantage among people was enough to win power nationally, but the Republicans’ advantage in counties gave them control of more states....  There are 23 states where Republicans hold the lower house, the Senate and the governorship–a governing trifecta that eases the passage of highly partisan bills–but only 15 states where Democrats do the same.”

--from Ezra Klein, “Joe Manchin and Stacey Abrams Can Meet on Common Ground,” New York Times, March 11, 2021.

Good News on Voting

 No, not in Congress.  Republicans there are determined to keep the Democratic vote down.  The only way they can win is to keep Democratic voters from voting, and they are willing to do that, democracy be damned.

No, not in the Pennsylvania legislature.  The current bill now being pushed would force mail-in ballot users to include a copy of a photo I.D.  How many residents of the Lansford High Rise do you think have one of those?

The good news comes from Priorities USA.  It is a Democratic super PAC, and it is about to spend $20 million in a voting push.  It isn’t nearly enough, given the obstacles that are being put in place in states like Alabama, Georgia, Texas, and Pennsylvania, but it is a start.  

"Wrath of Man"

One of the purposes of this blog is to save my readers both time and money.  Do not go to see "Wrath of Man," directed by Guy Ritchie.  Incoherent plot, bad acting,  confusing sequences, unexplained characters.  I wish we had seen "Peter Rabbit, Part II instead. 

Democratic Booth at the Carbon County Fair

Well, actually, this year there won’t be one.  Every year we pay for a booth, set up a tent, schlepp supplies down, watch the water run under our tent when it rains (because our space is always over a drain), and listen to insults from the Republicans from their booth across the midway.  

People who come to the fair don’t seem to be much interested in politics.  They come to hear the music, eat deep-fried Oreos, look at the 4-H kids’ animals, and have a good time.  I’ll bet there isn’t one in 500 who says, “I can’t wait to get to the fair and check out the political booths.”

So this year during fair week, the Democrats are planning to canvass three boroughs, talking to voters, handing out literature, and raising the profile of the party.  I think it is a much better strategy, and I am totally in favor. 

Catholic Bishops and Biden

American Catholic bishops have voted to draft guidelines on the Sacrament of the Eucharist that would deny President Biden communion because of his stand on abortion.

Note that the American bishops are doing this against the wishes and policy of Pope Francis.

Biden, of course, does not advocate abortion.  He simply believes that women have a right to make up their own minds without either government officials or religious authorities dictating their reproductive decisions.

I have questions:

Where were the Catholic bishops when Trump was separating children from their parents at the border or approving the executions of more people in his last week in office than in previous decades?

Will Catholic couples who practice birth control also be denied the sacrament of the Eucharist?  After all, we aren’t seeing many Catholic couples with six or seven children, are we?

What is wrong with American Catholic leaders?  You don’t get stuff like this in France or Italy or Germany.   

Megadrought

 One of my favorite stretches of road on a cross-country drive is the 23-mile stretch between Scipio and Salina on Route 50 in Utah.  The road follows one side of a wide valley bordered by a mountain with a bit of snow on the far side.  A long lake covers much of the valley floor, and cattle graze on the grass along the lakeside.  It is just gorgeous.

Except this year the lake had no water.  The West is in the grip of a multi-year "megadrought."  Lake Mead is way down, growers, environmentalists, and urban water users are fighting each other, and wildfires are now a common occurrence.  

Scientists think global warming accounts for about half of the severity of the current drought.

See Henry Fountain, "The West Has Lacked Rain So Long It's a Megadrought,"  New York Times (18 June 2021), p. A15.

Pulling together

 We left Richmond, Indiana, this morning and arrived home in Towamensing Township about 7 p.m.  On the way across the country we listened to a 36-lecture course on the history of World War II.  (We arrived home with three lectures to go.). What is amazing is how this country pulled together to defeat Germany, Italy, and Japan.  We put organized an army, navy, and air force and manufactured planes and tanks and ships,  and we did it quickly, efficiently, and with little complaint.  That is the kind of people we were.

I wonder if anything like that would be possible today.  I don’t think so.

Poor towns

 We are on the border of Indiana and Ohio in Richmond.  We drove about 50 miles on old U.S. 40, and we drove about 100 miles off-freeway in Kansas.  We were also generally eat lunch or dinner in little towns along the way.  Very few of these towns seem prosperous.  They are full of empty storefronts and unkept yards.  

This, of course, is Trump country.  Population is declining, kids want to get out as soon as possible, and I don’t think people are very happy.   There may be a solution, but I sure don’t know what it is.

The World War I Museum in Kansas City

 Major tourist day.  First we stopped at Nicodemus, somewhat of a disappointment.  We did not see a single person, the Visitor Center was closed, and the five buildings on the driving tour were sad.  Nicodemus was a thriving town of free blacks, but the railroad located five miles south, and the town died.

The world’s largest ball of twine in Cawker City was as silly as you might think, but the lady who was in charge was a delight.  Gavin and I both added to the ball.

We heard about the World War I museum from a guy at breakfast.  It is really a well-done museum, with interpretive films, a tank, a aeroplane, large cannons, a trench, interactive exhibits, and a bunch of old guys who are docents.   That was definitely the high point of the day.

Tomorrow we blaze through St. Louis and on to Illinois and Indiana.

Nicodemus, Kansas

 We are in WaKeeney on I-70.  Tomorrow morning we are heading north to Nicodemus, a town founded by ex-slaves who were being mistreated after Reconstruction.  The town thrived for years, but the railroad bypassed the town, and that began a long decline.  Today it is a National Historic Site.  It only has a few buildings left, but it does have an interpretive center.

After that we are driving past the largest ball of sisal twine in the world.  Really.  Then it is off to Lawrence (home of University of Kansas) and then to Independence, MO, to see the Truman library and museum.  

Politicized vaccines

 Twelve states have now achieved the milestone of 70 % of the adult population vaccinated.  California is one; so is Pennsylvania.   I won’t list them, but every one of them went for Biden in the last election.  That is obviously not happenstance.  It is, however, an indication of how idiotic things have become in the     U.S.  No wonder Chinese leaders think the U.S. is falling apart.  It is.  Simple things that are good for everyone don’t get done.  

The Loneliest Highway in America

 That would be U.S. 50 through Nevada.  After you leave Fallon, there are only two very small towns–Austin and Eureka–with populations under a thousand.  They are literally over 100 miles from any hospital; in Austin some years ago we learned that over one-tenth of the population are qualified EMTs.  When you are that far from a hospital, you must depend on your neighbors.

This is “basin and range” country.  You are driving up and down mountains the whole way, but it is not a traditional mountain range like the Rockies or the Sierras.  These are small individual mountain ranges separated by wide and sweeping valleys.  Rivers like the Carson end up absorbed in the ground in what are called “sinks.”  The whole area is a basin, hence the name–Great Basin.  I love Nevada (except for Reno and Las Vegas).  I think it is one of the most beautiful of our states.  (And it went for Biden.)

A rant on the New York Times

 My sister-in-law Kayla has a small booklet entitled “Rants.”  When things irritate or upset her, she gets out her pen and puts her irritation down on paper.

So here is mine for today.  I am in Chico, California, approximately 3000 miles from Manhattan.  Today I drove down to the Barnes and Noble store and picked up the New York Times.  The store had multiple copies.  

Meanwhile, back in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, 90 miles from Manhattan and full of transplanted New Yorkers, I can’t buy a single goddam copy of the Times.  Not in Palmerton, not in Lehighton, not even in Jim Thorpe, a tourist mecca.  What the hell is wrong with the people who distribute the New York Times? Why can’t at least one outlet be available?   This is so irritating.  

Paradise

 Today our daughter took us to a Mexican restaurant in Paradise, a town about 10 miles east of Chico.  Paradise is the town of 27,000 people that burned on November 8, 2018, destroying almost all of the homes and killing 85 people.  The area is a beehive of activity, with new homes and businesses going up and greenery emerging.  Rachael said for months after the fire thousands of truckloads of debris were hauled out to landfills.  Nonetheless, it is doubtful the city will ever return to what it was.

Chico itself was a refugee center, gaining thousands of residents overnight.  Many Paradise residents lost everything in the fire and still have not recovered.  And once again, the winter rains were below normal, the snowpack is thin, and Lake Oroville is down.  California always dries out in the summer, but it is looking like it usually does in August.  The dryness is not confined to California; much of the Western part of the U.S. is suffering a multi-year drought.   

The Pandemic in California

 The state guidelines in CA still call for mask wearing in enclosed spaces.  There are ads for free shots on electronic signs along the freeway.  Teenagers are now getting the vaccines.  Why isn’t the state doing better?

Living here, I always thought Californians were not quite as backward as Pennsylvanians.  Now I learn that Pennsylvanians have a higher rate of vaccination than Californians.  Some of this is the result of “new agers” and whackos who live in small cabins and grow dope in places like Mendocino and Humboldt counties.  For example, Mendocino is currently a hot spot.  Evidently no state has a monopoly of stupid and selfish people.  California has a large proportion of the anti-vaxxers in the U.S.

2034

 The U.S. and China start a shooting war.  Nucs are dropped.  San Diego and Shanghai are destroyed.  India emerges as a superpower.

This is a quick summary of 2034, a novel by Eliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis, published earlier this year.  It’s a page turner.  In the book China is able to disrupt the electronic communications equipment on which the U.S. military depends.  In addition, internal divisions in the U.S. have continued, and those divisions serve to encourage a belief in China that American should be easily defeated.  The conflict also encourages other nations to take advantage of the chaos; for example, Russia peels off a chunk of Poland and regains the Baltic states.  

It’s fiction, but you may feel some slight discomfort when you read it.

California Dreaming

 Ten states, 2700 miles, seven pronghorn antelopes, and eight Trump signs later, we are in Grass Valley, where you can order and pay for marijuana on-line and have it delivered to your door.  I’m not saying I’m about to do that, but I could.  

The speed limit in Nevada is 80 miles per hour.  I’m not saying I drove that, but I did.

Travel is such a broadening experience.

Is no news good news?

 This is our fourth day on the road, and I have no idea what is happening in the world.  Have we had any mass shootings in the last few days?  Has Trump said anything stupid?  Is Sen. Manchin of West Virginia still being a jerk?   

I know I can read the front page of the Times on this iPad, but I’m enjoying a holiday not only from day-to-day responsibilities, but from the news itself.  I’m beginning to understand why so many people avoid current events.

I-80

 When our daughter was little and visiting with my parents in Towamensing Township, I would tell her that she could always get back to California if she just followed I-80 west.  She has told me since that was actually very reassuring.

That is pretty much what we are doing.  We are following I-80, which often times parallels the old Lincoln Highway.  I’ve heard people say it is boring, but it really isn’t.  If you do want a change of scenery, you can get off and follow the old U.S. highways that often parallel I-80.  For example, we drove about 50 miles on Route 6 from Atlantic to Council Bluffs today.  It’s an excellent two-lane blacktop with little traffic through rolling hills.

We saw an interesting billboard about ten miles inside Wyoming this afternoon.  It had a picture of Liz Cheney with the text, “Thank you Congressman Cheney for defending the Constitution.”  

Tomorrow I am wearing a Carbon County AFL-CIO union shirt from a St. Patrick’s Day parade from years ago.  We will be going though Carbon County, Wyoming, and the people here won’t know it is from Pennsylvania.  It will confuse the local Trumpists.

Atlantic, Iowa

 Atlantic, Iowa, is about 40 miles west of Des Moines and ten miles south of I-80.  I wish I could bring the borough council of Lehighton here to see it.  The park is spotless, and a farmers’ market is held there every Thursday morning.  The downtown movie theater is showing “Cruella” and “A Quiet Place, II”.  There are two Mexican restaurants (at least one of them excellent), two Chinese restaurants, and a number of other diners and restaurants.  The sidewalks are not cracked and buckled.  There is one empty building, in good shape, with a sign “This is not an empty building; it is full of opportunities.”  This is how a small town should look.

Stupid people also live in Ohio

 We are in Waseon, Ohio, about 30 miles from the Indiana border.  It is a very nice town, with manicured lawns and a midwestern feel.  It has a railroad station on the National Register and a Post Office with a WPA mural.  And just when I was thinking what a wonderful town, I see a Trump sign on a lawn, then a flag, then another Trump sign.  The town has its full complement of idiots.

As we drive along we are listening to a reading of Ron Chernow’s biography of President U.S. Grant.  The activities of the Ku Klux Klan in beating, lynchings, and mass killings of Black men and women who tried to exercise their right to vote is truly depressing.  Grant did his best, using federal troops to keep the Klan under control.  Perhaps even more depressing is that these attempts to keep Blacks and other minorities from voting are still occurring.

The International Brigade

 The last known survivor of the International Brigade, a group that fought the fascist Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, died this week.  His name was Josep Almudéver, and he was 101.  

The International Brigade included the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, a group of Americans who had to sneak into Spain to fight on the side of the democratically-elected government.

Franco was aided in his successful attempt to overthrow the legitimate Spanish government by both Hitler and Mussolini; Mussolini provided troops and Hitler provided war material.  Many members of the International Brigade were Communists, and the Brigade received a small amount of aid from the U.S.S.R. in a war often considered a precursor to World War II. 

I have always admired the men and women of the International Brigade.  Many of them had no military training, but they fought and died for a cause that was just.  While the fascist nations were pouring in aid to help Franco, democracies like the U.S., Britain, and France stood by and did nothing.  

A Business Plan

 You are in the delivery business, but the profits have been down.  You decide to fix things and improve the bottom line.  Your answer is to call for slower deliveries and higher prices.

I know that sounds totally stupid, but that is what the Post Office under DeJoy called for in March 2021.  The first shoe has dropped–the proposal is to raise the price of stamps.  It is fairly obvious that this plan is really a plan to weaken the U.S.P.S. and increase privatization of mail delivery.

(I saved the article.  It was by Hailey Fuchs in the N.Y.T., (Mar. 24, 2021), p. A19.  I was wondering when the proposal would be made to raise the price of stamps.  It came last week.)