Hiatus

I’ve been blogging since Nov. 5, 2010.  For the first four years the site was labeled “Sajeonogi,” which is Korean for “knocked down four times, rising up five.”  At least that is what I was told.  I switched over to “Dr. Roy Christman’s Blog” in July 2014.  It is easier to spell and to remember.

My readership is small, partly because the blog lacks visual excitement.  In my total of 4024 posts I’ve published one picture.  

Unfortunately, my knowledge of computer technology is almost Amish.  For example, a number of my readers would like to become followers.  I have no idea how they do that, and people have been frustrated trying to post comments.

One problem I don’t have is finding topics.  On many days I have three or four items on which I’d like to comment.  If you read this blog more than a few times, you know I have opinions on just about everything.  

In any case I need a break.  I don’t know how long Google Crome will host a blog that isn’t used, and I may occasionally come back with an opinion on a topic I feel compelled to share.  What I won’t do is post regularly, at least for the summer.  

I have never considered opening a Facebook page or a Twitter account.  I might get more readers, but I regard most social media outlets at pernicious and dangerous to civility and American democracy. 

To my faithful readers, some of whom have become friends, thank you for reading.  If for some reason you would like to get in touch, my email is hiramc at ptd dot net.

Roy Christman

Back for a brief message.  It's July 4.  Since I posted this, I have been getting all kinds of weird mail, including solicitations from "hot babes" and Walmart.  A friend of mine said that there are companies that scan the internet for email addresses, and I should write out the address to prevent this.  I suppose if the program is sophisticated enough, it could figure out the written address, but the hot babes were kind of cute.

Carbon Dems reorganization meeting

Tomorrow the County Committee members of the Democratic Party of Carbon County will meet in Lehighton to elect a chair, vice chair, treasurer, and secretary.  I’m not a Committeeman, but I will be voting.  (I hold a proxy for a Committeewoman who is unable to attend.)  I don’t anticipate any fireworks; Carbon Democrats are unified behind Shapiro, Fetterman, Wild, and Kost.  

Carbon County, like the Carbon Counties in Utah, Wyoming, and Montana, is Republican in registration, but not necessarily in voting.  It is difficult for me to understand why any voter would vote for Mastriano, who is calling for annual voter registration, or Heffley, who bought into the Trump lie that the election was stolen, or Scheller, who is opposed to all abortions, or Oz, for all kinds of reasons.  But that’s just me.

Deal Breaker

I can forgive Republican politicians who supported Trump in 2016.  They may have had any number of reasons–they didn’t like Clinton, they were worried about the southern border, they wanted tariffs against China, etc., etc.  

What I can’t understand is why a Republican politician would continue to support a man who tried to overturn a legitimate, fair, and free election, who lied about it, who set a mob to overturn the results, and who continues to claim that an election that HE TRIED TO STEAL was stolen from him.  That a candidate for governor of Pennsylvania continues to repeat this lie immediately disqualifies him for office.  It’s a deal breaker.

The Great Salt Lake is drying up

When Brigham Young came out of the mountains and saw the Great Salt Lake, he said, “This is the place.”  Salt Lake City sits at the eastern edge of the lake, fed by the rivers flowing from the mountains.

Now the lake is disappearing.  It has already retreated from its shoreline, and the dust from the dry lake bottom is creating problems.  I am always amazed at people who deny global warming.  It is in front of us every day.  A disappearing lake is not “fake news” or some kind of conspiracy theory.  Drive I-80 across Utah and open your eyes.

The Liberal Predicament

I’ve just started a book entitled Liberalism in Dark Times by Joshua L. Cherniss.  The “liberalism” referred to is sometimes known as English liberal thought, and it includes free and fair elections, free speech and press, a loyal opposition, tolerance, and rational discussion of issues.  You know, the kind of thing our Founding Fathers believed in.

The term “Liberal Predicament” was coined by political philosopher Isaiah Berlin.  Berlin asks what a believer in liberalism is to do when confronted by ruthless people who don’t believe in those values.  If you hold dear to your own reasonable and tolerant beliefs, you will get run over.  If you fight back ruthlessly, aren’t you just as bad as the people you are fighting?  That is the predicament.  

I’ll let you know the answer when I finish the book, but it is a slog.  The bibliography alone is 28 pages long.  I hope to finish it by the end of the summer.

Oklahoma "personhood" bill

The Oklahoma Senate passed a “personhood” bill.  It may very well become law.  The bill says a fetus is a “person.”  I’m not sure exactly what this means, but I assume that a pregnant woman in Oklahoma would be entitled to use the carpool lane.  On the other hand, she might have to buy an extra ticket if she went to the movies.

Qualified parties in Pennsylvania

A “qualified” political party has certain advantages.  It is given a line on the ballot and it can run candidates in the primary.  Most states require new or third parties to reach a percentage of the total registered voters in the state before they achieve “qualified” status.

“Ballot Access News,” a newsletter devoted to the legal aspects of “minor” parties like the Libertarians and Greens, printed the requirements to become a qualified party in a number of states in the June issue.  

I’ll list the required percentages for a selected group of states: Colorado, .02%; Delaware,.10%; California, .33%; Nebraska, .81%; Nevada, 1.00%; 

Pennsylvania, 15.00%.    You read that right.  15%.

Be afraid, be very afraid

Here is a scary headline in today’s Times.  “Carbon Dioxide Levels in Atmosphere Reach 4-Million-Year High and Continue to Climb.”

The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere now is 50 percent higher than in the preindustrial age.  In the 19th century we began to burn coal, gas, and oil, and we haven’t stopped since.

Here is another scary thing.  I would have thought this would rate a top-of-the-fold story with a banner headline.  Instead it is at the bottom of page nine.   

The good thing is you probably read about this in your Twitter feed or from your Facebook friends.  Surely Fox and MSNBC covered it. 

Brilliant analysis on gun violence

In a letter to the editor in today’s Morning Call, I read one of the most astute and meaningful conclusions on gun violence that I have ever come across.  I can’t believe someone didn’t think of this before.  Absolutely brilliant.  It is by Thomas W. Lutz of Bethlehem.  

After discussing the reason for the “lawlessness and unrest in the country,” which Mr. Lutz believes is God’s punishment for taking prayer out of the schools, abortions, and same sex marriage, Mr. Lutz concludes with this remarkable phrase, and I quote:  “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”

Truly amazing! 

Ted Cruz is tired

After the Uvalde murders, Ted Cruz said, “I get tired of all the politicking.  It happens every time there is a mass shooting.”

Every time there is a mass shooting.  

Deer hunters wanted

According to a front page article in today’s Morning Call, deer hunters in Pennsylvania have been in a steep decline.  Hunters are older and dying off.  Younger people aren’t that interested in shooting a deer.  This is a disturbing trend for at least three reasons.

First, deer are a blight on the environment.  They destroy the understory of the forest, and they wreck farmers’ crops, including some of my vegetables.  They have no natural predators; hunters (and cars) control their population.

Second, the money from deer licenses funds the Game Commission’s other programs.  For example, I participate in the state’s annual bat count every summer.  The bat count, and many other conservation programs, are paid for by deer licenses.

Finally, the state holds immense amounts of forest land set aside for hunters.  These state game lands are actually better for the environment than state parks, which are overrun by visitors, have camp sites and toilets, and require maintenance.  State game lands are generally used by hunters a few months of the year, and few other visitors use them, although they are open to the public.  If hunters decline, legislators will start to think about money to be made by selling off those lands.  I’m surprised it hasn’t happened already.  

My advice:  even if you don’t hunt and think it is cruel, buy a hunting license.  Just put it in a drawer somewhere.