I paid more than $750

During the Reagan presidency I was surprised that we had paid more income tax than Reagan had.  Of course, Reagan’s taxes were available to the public; presidents did that before Trump was elected.

Now I learn that we also paid more income taxes than Trump did.  A lot more, since one year he didn’t pay any.  I also learned that he lied about being audited; the I.R.S. didn’t do what it was supposed to.  I also learned that he had foreign bank accounts, including one in China, exposing himself to financial pressure from foreign governments.  And most of all, I learned what a really crappy businessman he is.  In spite of all the cheating and lying he does, he really doesn’t have any business acumen.  It is obvious that he paid someone to take his exams at the Wharton School.  It is absolutely certain that he couldn’t have passed them.  What a loser.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

How did I live to be this old and not have read On the Road.  Today I finished listening to the book.  Matt Dillon was the reader, and he was excellent.  The book, named one of the best 100 English novels of the 20th century, was published in 1957, and follows “Sal Paradise,” (Jack Kerouac) and Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassady) in their adventures traveling back and forth across the U.S., smoking dope, chasing women, and listening to jazz.  Other figures of the “Beat Generation” appear as well.  (Kerouac is credited with coining the phrase “Beat Generation.”)

The book is 65 years old, but it still makes wonderful reading (or listening).  I was amazed at how trusting Americans were back then.  You could hitchhike across the country and not only bum rides, but also often be taken in by strangers.  (I should add, if you were white,)  Kerouac himself seems to be without prejudiced and populates his book with out groups.

I loved the book.  It is probably a good thing I didn’t read it when I was about 20.  I might have hitched to Denver or San Francisco or New Orleans.   I have an urge to do it now.

Sikh Marines may now keep their beards

Sikh religion requires that its male adherents don’t shave.  Sikhs in the British armed forces were known for their military prowess; in World War II they served with distinction.  But the U.S. Marine Corps required that their beards be shaved for basic training.  

Now a Court of Appeals judge ruled that the unshorn beards would not be a physical hindrance to basic training.  Freedom of religion is guaranteed in this country.  American marines who are Sikhs will now be able to wear their turbans and beards.  The Marine Corps will be stronger.

Thank you Gov. Wolf (and a warning)

We owe Governor Wolf a great deal.  Over the last two years he vetoed a bill that would have skewed redrawn districts to the Republicans, another bill that would have allowed gun owners to carry concealed firearms without a permit, a bill to block the state from capping carbon emissions from power plants, and a bill that would have messed with early voting and expanded ID requirements and put restrictions on drop boxes.

In fact, he vetoed 17 bills in the last two years, and none were overridden.  

Now the Republican legislature is trying to make an end run around gubernatorial vetoes by resorting to constitutional amendments.  Next May be sure you vote NO on all proposed PA constitutional amendments.

Info on the vetoes is from “Spotlight PA.”

Opening Day for Deer Hunting

Representative Brian Smith of Jefferson and Indiana counties has introduced a bill that would move the opening day of rifle deer season to the Monday following Thanksgiving.  In an informal poll, a majority of hunters supported this move.  Here is my letter to Rep. Doyle Heffley on this issue:’

Please support Rep. Brian Smith’s proposal to change the date of the opening of the rifle season for deer hunting to the first Monday after Thanksgiving.  There are a number of good reasons for a Monday opening.

First, it will aid sporting goods stores, which often do a huge business on the Thanksgiving weekend.  Secondly, it will give hunters more time with their families.  Kids have off from school and spouses often have Thursday through Sunday free as well.  It is also true that for many people, a post-Thanksgiving hike in our state parks is something of a tradition, and they shouldn’t have to worry about hunters.  Finally, I believe a majority of deer hunters are traditionalists.  I know I am.  A Monday morning start just seems the right way to open the season.

My preferred pronouns

I was so happy when the term “Ms.” was introduced as an honorific for all women.  I could never remember if women were married (Mrs.) or single (Miss).  When you were addressing a letter to a woman you didn’t know, it was always a guess.  The term Ms. made life so much easier.  Women were Ms., men were Mr.

My latest American Civil Liberties Union newsletter arrived in the mail last week.  Six new staffers were introduced.  After each name were the preferred pronouns.  Do you understand what that means?  Not only will I have to remember names of people to whom I’m introduced (something I’ve had trouble with all my life), but I’ll have to remember whether they are he/him/his or she/her/hers or it or they/them. 

Not only that, but take a quick poll at Wal-Mart and ask people to define a pronoun.  Go ahead.  Ask them to define a pronoun.  Good luck with that.  

So while the world is going to hell in a hand basket, missiles are dropping in Ukraine, and the leading cause of death of children ins the U.S. is gun violence, I am simply not going to worry about pronouns.  Neither should you.  But if you do, I won’t use any pronouns for you.  I’ll just say your name each time.  I hope that’s ok.

Looking at campaigns

Rick Wilson, a Republican campaign operative, discusses how to win campaigns in his 2020 book “Running Against the Devil.”  He says that too many campaigns believe in miracles.  

There is no substitute for organization, planning, discipline, data, metrics, and accountability.  In campaign after campaign, the grinding power of those dull things isn’t cinematic; it’s not the genius guru, the insightful pollster, or the witty, dissolute ad man who’s the real star.  It’s the grinding organizers who get volunteers to make the calls, send the texts, knock on the doors, and do the shit work.

Those folks work outside the Twitter bubble or the N.Y.-D.C. horse-race media coverage club.  They work in shitty, temporary offices in shitty temporary strip malls.  They’re the last mile in the campaign, and likely the only real-life contact a voter will ever  have with the national election.

U.N. Deal on Biodiversity

Somehow in all the excitement of the holidays and Trump’s tax returns, many people missed an important step to protect the world’s biodiversity.  The Chinese Environment minister Huang Runqiu told delegates to the U.N. conference, “We have in our hands a package which I think can guide us as we all work together to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and put biodiversity on the path to recovery for the benefit of all the people in the world.”

The plan, known as 30 by 30, is an agreement to protect 30% of land and water considered important for biodiversity by 2030.  Right now about 17% of terrestrial areas and 10% of marine areas are protected.  

This will not be an easy task given climate change, habitat loss, pollution, and development.  On the other hand, the first step to solving a problem is to recognize that there is a problem.  This agreement does that.

Donald Trump, Jr. and Zelensky

So Donald Trump, Jr., today tweeted that President Zelensky was “an ungrateful international welfare queen.” 

I doubt if Donald Trump, Jr., ever did an honest day’s work in his life.  However, when I am tempted to lash out at some idiotic statement by some fool, I remember the words of my mother and calm down.  She would say, “Consider the source.”

"Strange World"

“Strange World” is an animated film about a three generations who explores a weird world where they encounter danger and beauty and, of course, triumph in the end.

The movie opens with a white farmer making coffee for him and his wife, who turns out to be Black.  Then we meet their teenage son, who within ten minutes meets his friend from a nearby farm.  It turns out the sixteen-year-old is gay.  The family undertakes a mission to save the planet or nation or whatever at the behest of the leader, who happens to be a lesbian, or at least I think so.  After all kinds of adventures, the grandfather, father, and son bond. 

But wait.  The movie, and I don’t think this needs a spoiler alert, is really about weening the planet from a fuel that is harming it and threatening its life.  In other words, at least the way I saw it, the movie is an extended metaphor about ending the dependance on fossil fuels.

“Strange World” has not been getting great reviews, but I thought it was quite good and timely as well.  I don’t think Ron DeSantis would like it, however.

Leading cause of death for American children

The top five leading causes of death for American children are suffocation, drug overdoses, cancer, motor vehicle crashes, and guns.  In 2020 one moved ahead of the others to become top cause of death.  Guess which one.

C’mon.  I don’t need to tell you the answer.  You already know.  This is America.

A Trump trading card

 My friend Bill sent me a photo of one of the Trump NFTs.  I thought you might like to see what one looks like before you spend your $99.  

The situation at the border

Couldn’t we have an airlift back to the country of origin for the people crossing the border?  Fly them back to their home country, tell them they must go to the U.S. embassy, and fill out a form for an orderly entry.  If this were done for a week or two, border crossings would drop off dramatically.

I understand the need for political asylum procedures, but Ecuador and Peru are not exactly police states in the way that Stalinist Russia or Nazi Germany were.  Cuba, though dictatorial, is not Iraq.  Right now we really do have an open border, and support for much harsher measures is growing by the day.

Trump's trading cards

Trump’s “trading cards” are selling well.  After all, his four years were “better than Washington, better than Lincoln.”  (His words, not mine.)  The money he rakes in goes to him alone, not his campaign.  

I did get one of the medals that were struck when he visited North Korea, but the trading cards at $99 are out of my range.  On the other hand, they would make interesting Christmas presents.  

AOC nails it

Here is what AOC said about Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s statement on why she is leaving the Democratic Party and becoming an independent:

“Not once in this long soliloquy does Sinema offer a single concrete value or policy she believes in.  She lays out no goals for Arizonans, no vision, no commitments.”

AOC is correct.  Sinema has no vision other than helping large corporations, big Pharma, and her own re-election. 

Candidates wanted

We recently held an election, but the next one is just around the corner.  Judges, school board members, supervisors, borough council members, local magistrates–all are up for grabs.  If you have ever thought about running for office, this would be a good year.  The primary is May 16, 2023.  

Unfortunately, with its usual snail-like speed and complete lack of efficiency, the Pennsylvania Department of State still has not published the calendar of the window to circulate petitions, the cut-off dates, and the offices that are open.  However, if you want the calendar for 2022, that’s available on the Department’s website.

Lehighton beats Palmerton

Today’s on-line version of the New York Times featured an article entitled “The Climate Impact of Your Neighborhood Mapped” by Nadja Popovich, Mira Rojanasakul and Brad Plummer.  A map of the United States was included; you could zoom in and out of individual cities and rural areas.  The darker the green color, the less the geographical area was contributing to global warming.

Most of the greenest areas of the map were located in the heart of large cities.  Manhattan was almost all dark green, Kansas had almost no green whatsoever.

Large cities have more people living in smaller homes.  Apartments take less heating and cooling than large homes, and today large houses are taken for granted.  Big cities also often have public transportation systems.  People bike more.  Stores and restaurants are often within walking distance, and there are fewer lawns to irrigate.  

It is also true that large cities often contain concentrations of lower income people.  They don’t fly to Hawaii or Europe for vacations.  They often don’t own cars, and they have fewer appliances that draw electricity.

Think about the development next to our farm.  Large new houses have replaced farm fields.  The inhabitants must drive everywhere for groceries or restaurants.  I know–I drive four miles to get the paper copy of my New York Times.  

What I don’t know is why Lehighton is greener than Palmerton, both towns located in Carbon County, PA.  I do know that quite a few people walk to the drug stores or Mallard Market or Alfie’s Pizza.  Maybe Lehighton inhabitants have less money to take vacations or purchase expensive energy wasting appliances.  I’m guessing.

water pistols

A number of demonstrators have been threatened by young thugs carrying assault rifles.  As far as I know, none of the rifles have been discharged, but they can be intimidating.  I’m afraid if my side also carries guns (shotguns would actually be more effective), there would be a chance that a small war could break out.  If someone just sets off a cherry bomb, people might start shooting.

The best tactic might be if our side carried water pistols.  It would make a mockery of the gun nuts and would be funny without causing an armed confrontation.  Imagine the press coverage the water gun contingent would garner.  It’s what I plan to do.

The Edward Hopper show

Today we drove to New York through rain and snow to see the Edward Hopper show at the Whitney Museum of American Art.  If you like Hopper’s art, which I do, the show is wonderful, with art works like “Sunday Morning,” “The Intermission,” and “Chop Suey.”  The show featured examples of Hopper’s early illustrations for magazine covers, his studies for paintings like “The Nighthawks,” and sketches from his notebooks.  Hopper was skilled in different mediums as well, and we saw works in watercolor, charcoal, and oils as well at etchings.

The range of museums who contributed Hopper’s works was truly amazing.  The Santa Barbara Art Museum and museums in Des Moines, Iowa; Kearney, Nebraska;  Montgomery, Alabama; Williams College, Massachusetts–all represented.  Tickets were $50 a couple. and the price we paid for parking was outrageous, but I’m glad we had that experience.

Pipelines leak

When the PennEast pipeline company was attempting to run a pipeline through our farm, we were constantly reassured that modern pipelines were safe, didn’t leak, didn’t pose any danger.  

The Keystone pipeline began operation in 2010.  It carries oil from Canadian tar sands to refineries in the U.S.  Earlier last week the pipeline ruptured in Kansas, spilling 14,000 barrels of oil.  14,000 barrels equals 588,000 gallons.  

While this was the largest spill from the Keystone Pipeline, it was not the first.  It has happened on Keystone 22 times before.  

Mayor Adams and the mentally ill

Walk around downtown in any major American city and you will encounter mentally ill people.  During the Reagan administration the policy was to close mental institutions and return mentally ill people to the community.  If you live in a small town with one mentally ill person, that can work.  Everyone knows that person and looks out for him or her.  If you live in a large city with hundreds of people who can’t care for themselves, it’s a disaster. 

New York has an additional problem.  Martial Simon, a man with schizophrenia who had been in and out of facilities for decades, recently pushed a woman to her death in a subway station.  

Mayor Adams’ policy calls for people with severe untreated mental illness to be removed and given treatment.  A program to train the police on the procedures will be implemented.

Here is the hypothetical example Adams used for someone who could be removed:  “the shadow boxer on the street corner in Midtown, mumbling to himself as he jabs at an invisible adversary.”

Advocates for the mentally ill reacted with a lawsuit. The group filing the suit said that Adams’s example “...does not describe someone who is unable to care for their basic needs, let along someone who meets the standard of serious danger.”

I’ve seen people like that boxer.  They scare me.  I don’t know who they plan to hit.  I don’t think I should have to put up with that.  And it is why “law and order” candidates are gaining ground in cities and suburbs.  I’m with Mayor Adams on this one.

Info for this post is from Andy Newman and Emma G. Fitzsimmons, “New York Aims To Clear Streets Of Mentally Ill,” New York Times, (Nov. 30, 2022), p. A1, A20; and Andy Newman, “Advocates for Mentally Ill New Yorkers Ask Court to Halt Removal Plan,” New York Times (Dec. 9, 2022), p. A14.

No Fracking Water in the Delaware

The fracking process to produce “natural gas,” requires a large amount of water.  This water becomes contaminated with all kinds of harmful chemicals.  Some of this toxic liquid is held in ponds, some is injected into the water table, and some is dumped into waterways.

The Delaware River Basin Commission is a multistate agency dedicated to preserving the purity and drinkability of the Delaware River.  Four states–Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware–make up the membership.  The Commission had already banned fracking in the watershed.  

Earlier this month it also banned the dumping of fracking waste liquids in the watershed.  Hats off to the DRBC.

Power over state elections

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case on whether state legislatures have complete control of elections.  This bizarre theory, which was bandied about after Trump lost in 2020, would hold that state courts and state governors would have no say in any matter election-related.

If there is one thing that distinguishes the American constitution, it is the effort to avoid concentrated power.  The entire document is about checks and balances, separation of powers, and a federal system.  There are checks within checks.  Not only are there three branches, but one of the branches has two different legislative bodies.  The President serves only a four-year term.  The President can be impeached.  The President can veto bills.  The veto can be overridden.  Some powers are national, some are state.  The Supreme Court jurisdiction can be set by Congress.  

As James Madison put it, the government must first be able to control the people, but then it also has to control itself.  

To think that these Founding Fathers would have supported a doctrine that state legislatures have absolute power over something as important as elections is goofy.  And yet a number of justices on the Court seem to be sympathetic to this idea.

Warnock wins

 I am so happy.  The Dems now have a clear majority in the Senate.  I will now leave my computer and do a happy dance around the room.

Irresponsible people and their pets

I often read obituaries in our local paper, sometimes because I know the person and sometimes because I’m just curious.  Quite a few of the obits ask for donations to a favorite charity.  Often that charity is an animal shelter or a facility that takes care of pets and puts them up for adoption.

Those facilities exist because pet owners no longer wanted the responsibility or perhaps the cost of taking care of a pet that they owned.  I suppose in a very few cases the pet wandered away, but even that betrays a lack of responsibility.  What is wrong with pet owners?  Don’t they consider that owning a pet also comes with the care and feeding of that pet?  

Lancaster Farming recently ran an article about the problem of unwanted potbellied pigs.  They are cute when they are little, but they grow up to be large animals, more suited to a barn than a living room.  Baby chicks at Easter grow up to be hens that peck, scratch, and crap.  Those cute kitties grow up to roam in your yard and kill birds.  Before you take that sweet little puppy home, remember the it won’t always be quite so cute.

Opposition to windmills

A proposals to build the first major wind farm in the ocean off the Massachusetts coast ran into some heavy opposition.  The opponents seemed to be people who made their living from the sea, worried that the cables and the turbines would interfere with fishing.  Ads were made with guys with New England accents.

It turns out that the opposition to the windmills was financed by the Texas Public Policy foundation, an organization backed by oil and gas companies and Republican donors, who obviously are willing to sacrifice the future of the planet for some short term profit.  It does get discouraging.

Info for this post is from David Gelles, “Offshore Power Finds Rich Foe In Oil Country,” New York Times, (Dec. 4, 2022), pp. 1, 18.

Ignore him, maybe he'll go away

There’s this singer Ye (what was his mom thinking when she named him that) who also designs clothes and dines with President Trump.  He (Ye), according to the news, is making anti-Semitic remarks and admires Hitler.  

I don’t know this guy, don’t think I ever listened to one of his songs, never bought his clothes, and wouldn’t know him if I bumped into him at the Palmerton Library, although it does seem unlikely that a guy like that would be in the Palmerton Library in any case.

Adidas sweatshop

Adidas is the official outfitter of the World Cup.  It sells shirts for $90 to $150 each in Qatar.  Shoes retail for $200.  The shoes are made by 7,800 workers at the Pot Chen Group factory in Yangon, Myanmar.  The workers are paid approximately $2.27 a day.

The workers went on strike in October.  They were asking for $3.78 a day.  Soldiers were brought in and the union organizers were fired.  

See Elizabeth Paton, “Luxury Soccer Jerseys, but Rock-Bottom Wages,” New York Times, (Dec. 2, 2022), p. B1, B5.

The January 6 Committee

The House Select Committee investigating the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2022, has little time left.  The new Republican House has no interest in pursuing that line of inquiry.  In fact, many Republicans opposed the Committee’s work from day one.  On Dec. 27, 2021, the New Yorker magazine ran some comments on the work of the committee from various House Republicans.

Mary Miller of Illinois said the committee was “evil and unAmerican.”

Yvette Herrell of New Mexico said the committee was setting the country “on its way to tyranny.”

Jim Jordan of Ohio said the committee was an example of the Democrats’ “lust for power.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said the committee proved that communists were in charge of the House. 

What is the matter with Yale University?

The leader of the “Proud Boys” (why not “Men,” or is that too obvious?) was found guilty of a number of crimes for his actions before and during the insurrection against the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.  At one time he was a student at Yale University.

Ted Cruz, the U.S. Senator from Texas, also attended Yale.  

San José State, where I taught political science and American studies, doesn’t have any former students in Congress or, as far as I know, leading anti-democratic groups bent on overthrowing the government.  

San José State was the college of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the track stars who gave the black power salute at the ’68 Olympics.  There is a statue of them on campus.  I doubt if Yale will put up statues to that jerk who leads the Proud Boys or, for that matter, to Sen. Cruz.

Republican Committee Chairs

They won’t be the best and the brightest.  Here are five.

Appropriations:  Kay Granger of Texas.  Opposes spending that Biden asked for, but lobbied for money for F-35 fighter jets.  (They are built in her district.)

Armed Services:  Mike Rogers of Alabama.  Pushed for the “Space Force.”  

Energy and Commerce:  Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington.  Plans to have her committee interrogate Dr. Fauci.  

Foreign Affairs:  Michael T. McCaul of Texas.  Will look into the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which could actually use some looking into.  Is a big supporter of aid to Ukraine, so we have one who might be ok.

Judiciary:  Jim Jordan of Ohio.  Plans to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, the head of Homeland Security.  Also plans to look into the “politicization” of the Justice Department.  Chairman of the “Freedom Caucus.”  Trumpist.

I’ll get to the rest some other time.  Some committee chairs are still in contention.

Escaping Thanksgiving

Every Thanksgiving we leave town, avoiding the whole holiday.  Last year we drove to Albany, N.Y., for the weekend; this year to Salisbury, MD.  We visited the beach at Ocean City, MD, ate lunch at an old tavern in the town of Princess Anne (not making that up), and walked around a National Wildlife Refuge on the Eastern shore, although we only saw one great heron.

I also saw three movies.  “The Glass Onion” with Daniel Craig is a mystery, and reasonably fun.  “Devotion,” about the first African American navy pilot, is somewhat of a tear jerker, so you can probably figure out how that ends.  Finally, I caught “The Menu,” billed as a horror movie, but with some funny bits, although that may be more my warped sense of humor than the movie itself.

Now I’ll have to get back to reading the paper.  Has Trump done anything stupid in the last four days?