Anti-gay, anti-science, anti-semitic, and running for governor of North Carolina

An old dairy farmer once said, “The hardest thing about milking cows is that they never stay milked. “  We defeat Mastriano in Pennsylvania and Walker in Georgia.  And then we have to go back to the barn, because we have to do it all over again.

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson will probably run for Governor of North Carolina.  Robinson is Republican and black.  According to a recent article Robinson believes that the United States is a “Christian nation,” abortion is murder, and climate change is “junk science.”  He has referred to homosexuality as “filth” and to the transgender rights movement as “demonic.” 

He said on Facebook that the movie “Black Panther” was created by “an agnostic Jew and put to film by satanic marxist.” [sic]

And he could win.

Information for this post is from Frank Bruni, What’s Going On in North Carolina,”  New York Times, (29 Jan. 2023), p. SR3.

Note:  I always thought people who put their personal lives on “social media” were rather silly, but, just so you know, I am taking a strong antibiotic as a precaution against pneumonia.  Sorry if that is Too Much Information.

Guns and freedom and Taylor Swift

I have heard gun owners carry on about “freedom.”  I’ve actually heard some say that if they are prevented from carrying their guns, they will lose their freedom.  

If you listed all the democracies in the world...Canada, France, Japan, Norway, Portugal, New Zealand, and more...people are “free” in all of those countries, and you don’t see people carrying guns around.  Those countries don’t have “shooter drills” in schools.  They might have an occasional nut shooting a large number of people, but they don’t have mass shootings multiple times in a month.  

Those countries have freedom of religion, fair elections, and free speech, but only in the United States do you have one after another after another mass killing.  The House of Representatives, now controlled by Republicans, won’t do a thing about this, but by god they can pass laws when there is a problems with Taylor Swift concert tickets.  The Senate won’t do a thing about this because they have the outmoded tradition of a “filibuster” and a representational system in which Wyoming with a few hundred thousand people has the same power as California with almost 40 million.

I have a really bad cold right now, and I am in a terrible mood but dammit, there is something fundamentally wrong with this love affair with guns and mass murders. 

Testing for Covid

I’m coughing and feeling generally miserable, so I immediately assumed I had Covid.  Yes, I’ve taken all the vaccines and all of the boosters, but, pessimist that I am, it can’t just be a cold.  I was sure it’s Covid.  So I took the test.  Negative.  I then figured pneumonia.  Doctor Eileen examined me and said, no pneumonia.  The unspoken thing she didn’t say was “It’s a cold, you idiot.”

So I’m taking cough medicine, but I also know that some tests are false negatives.  I’m testing myself again tomorrow.  I’m sure it’s Covid. 

Pakistan and Oklahoma

Pakistan just increased the penalties for blasphemy.  You can get 10 years in prison for insulting the Prophet Muhammad’s wives, companions, or close relatives.  Also that sentence can be extended to life.  I don’t know exactly what is defined as a close relative, but I wouldn’t even take a chance on second cousins.

In Oklahoma, meanwhile, Governor Kevin Stitt celebrated his re-election this past November with this little sermon to god:

“Every square inch, we claim it for you in the name of Jesus.  Father, we can do nothing apart from you....  We just thank you, we claim Oklahoma for you, as the authority that I have as governor, and the spiritual authority and the physical authority that you give me.  I claim Oklahoma for you, that we will be the light to our country and to the world right here in our state.

No top secret documents here

In the summer of 1966 I had a summer internship at the U.S. State Department.  I did have access to some top secret documents.  I did not bring a single one home.  The F.B.I. is invited to search my office, the shed, the cellar, and the chicken coop.

Just bring a warrant.

That guy in Pelosi's office

Remember that guy at the Jan. 6 insurrection who was in Speaker Pelosi’s office with his feet on her desk.  He left a vulgar note for her and called her a bitch.  He was so smug.  Today a federal jury found him guilty on eight counts.  He could be sentenced to 47 years in jail.  The asshole deserves every year.  His lawyer says he loves God.  Ok, let him keep a bible in his cell.

Oh, yeah, four Oath Keepers were also found guilty of sedition.  This is sweet.

Dear Marjorie Taylor Greene

I decided to send a letter to Marjorie Taylor Greene soliciting her help with what I see as a major problem in America.  Here’s what I wrote:

Dear Representative Greene:  

Now that the Republican Party controls the House of Representatives I believe it is high time that some major issues should see the light of day.  Your party has the power to investigate and expose some important problems facing this country.

First, how did so many people in this country get so stupid so fast?  We have millions of people who think vaccines, including vaccines for polio and measles, are unnecessary for our children’s health and are actually a danger.  We have millions of people who believe that some mysterious being called Q-Anon has inside info about a child porn ring run by Hillary Clinton from the basement of a pizza parlor.  

We even have people who think that global climate change is a myth, that Social Security is a socialist plot, and that the 2020 election was stolen.  

You and your Republican colleagues should look into this.  This is crazy.

And yes, I used my name and address.  I think Ms. Greene needs to hear from us.  Her address is 403 Cannon Building, Washington, D.C. 20515

 

Alec Baldwin is innocent

You’ve all seen fights in movies where a guy is hurled through a window.  Do you think the actors stop just before the take and say, “Wait, is that glass fake, or is it real glass?”  You’ve all seen bottles broken over heads.  “Wait, is that a real bottle, or is that a prop bottle.”  And in gun fights when the good guys open up with automatic rifles, do they hold up production and inquire as whether they are using real bullets on the fake zombies?  Are the zombies real?

There are prop people who prepare all of those guns, acids, windows, bottles, and other objects of mayhem seen in films.  The actors assume those people know what they are doing.  Most actors have no knowledge of weaponry.  Actors act; they don’t prepare the stunts.

If anybody is guilty, it should be the prop people, but even they were not intending to kill anyone.  It was a terrible mistake, and people should be fired but not accused of murder.  Companies should be required to use fake guns so this kind of thing doesn’t happen again. 

This is probably a case of a D.A. trying for publicity by going after a movie star rather than an unknown employee.

Not for Evangelicals

Tonight I watched the first two episodes of a series entitled “The Righteous Gemstones” streaming on HBO Max.  The series, starring John Goodman, is about a family of gospel preachers who run a megachurch.  The first two episodes were very funny, but I don’t think you should watch it if you are an Evangelical.  You really won’t like it.

Oh Ruby, don't take your gun to town

A New Jersey law forbade licensed handgun owners from taking their weapons into nightclubs, theaters, arenas, concert halls, racetracks, and museums.  A judge recently threw out that portion of the law, saying it would force a licensed gun owner to “navigate a veritable minefield,” since she or he would have difficulty remembering where guns were allowed and where they weren’t allowed.

Why would you want to take a gun into a night club?  When you order a “shooter,” that actually isn’t an invitation to a gun fight.  And concert halls?  Are you planning to shoot the tuba player?  And a race track?  “They shoot horses, don’t they” was the title of a movie, not an invitation.  

Leave the goddam gun in a locked cabinet, unloaded, and at home, you jerk.

Info for this post is from Tracey Tully, “Much of a New Jersey Law on Gun Limits Is Blocked, New York Times, (Jan. 10, 2023), p. A13.

Dress code for women in the Missouri legislature

The vote was 105-51.  Women in the Missouri legislature are now required to wear a jacket, such as a blazer or a cardigan.  A Republican female legislator, Ann Kelley, introduced the bill.  She said it would help ensure professionalism.  When Democratic women questioned the bill, Kelley said, “Why should we talk about something like this?  It is absolutely ridiculous.”  

Democrat Ashley Aune, a Democrat, replied, “You brought this to the floor, lady.  You tell me.”

Men were already required to wear a jacket, shirt, and tie.  Hoodies and shorts are out. 

Info for this post is from Eduardo Medina, “Women in Missouri’s Legislature Are Now Required to Wear a Blazer," New York Times, (Jan. 16, 2023), p. A13.

Republicans worry about classified documents

It is amazing how Republicans now think the mishandling of classified documents is a problem.  They want investigations and action on Biden’s cache of documents.  I suppose they will apply the same standards to the pile that Trump took, but they do seem to have a high tolerance for hypocrisy.  

My takeaway on this is that the documents are one more reason that Biden should not run in 2024, and he better announce his retirement in time to give other Dems a chance to campaign. 

Write for Your Life

Anna Quindlen has written a short easy-to-read book entitled “Write for Your Life.”  She says that anyone can write, and every one should–letters, journals, diaries.  We should record the moments of every day life for our children and our grandchildren–and ourselves.

When is the last time you received an email or a text?  Today, right?  Probably ten or fifteen or more of them.  Do you remember any of them?

When is the last time you received an actual letter?  Can’t remember?  If you received one, you would love it.

I have always liked Anna Quindlen, and I still write letters.  Now I feel I have a good reason to continue.  Please read this book.

MLK's birthday

We can celebrate birthdays any day of the year.  They don’t have to be on the actual birth date.  Suppose instead of celebrating MLK’s birthday in January we had made election day the holiday.  That would have honored King’s legacy by providing voters a work free day to get to the polls.

Is it too late to change it?  I am starting a campaign to do just that.

What is it with Republicans and Social Security

You would think that a program that has benefited hundreds of millions of retirees over the last 82 years (the first monthly payments began in 1940) would be safe.  I remember that my mother and father were so happy when in 1954, during the Eisenhower administration, independent farmers were brought into the program.

Earlier this week, in a closed door session, the Republican leadership had as its first goal, balancing the federal budget in ten years.  Republicans also want to cut the I.R.S. budget drastically, ensuring that tax cheats like Trump and other rich bastards can cheat with impunity, resulting in less revenue.  All of this will mean deep cuts in Social Security and Medicare.

Why do these people win elections?  

Recipe for peace

People would be content

with their simple, everyday lives, 

in harmony, and free of desire.

When there is no desire,

all things are at peace.

Tao Te Ching, 400 B.C.E.

Why you can't change the mind of a Trump supporter

It is the true believer’s ability to “‘shut his eyes and stop his ears” to facts that do not deserve to be either seen or heard which is the source of his unequaled fortitude and constancy.  He cannot be frightened by danger, nor disheartened by obstacle, nor baffled by contradictions, because he denies their existence.

Eric Hoffer, The True Believer:  Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (New York:  Harper, 1951), p. 83.

Spotting Misinformation in Finland

In a survey published by the Open Society Institute based in Sofia, Bulgaria, Finland ranked number 1 of 41 European countries on resilience against misinformation.  Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, and Sweden also ranked high.  In Finland 76 % of the population considers print and digital newspapers to be reliable.  College is free.  There’s a high trust in government.  School kids are taught from early grades how to spot misinformation.  Now the government is also using libraries to help older people spot lies and conspiracy theories on the internet.

Countries where misinformation was most frequently believed included Georgia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia, and Albania.  

I wonder where the U.S. would rank.  Probably between Bosnia and Albania.

Info for this post is from Jenny Gross, “How Finland Teaches Even Youngest Pupils To Spot Misinformation,” New York Times, (Jan. 11, 2023), P. A10.

So you want to move to Pennsylvania

According to the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, the median sales prices of valid residential property sales by county, 2021-2022, showed the lowest ($50,000) was in McKean County in the northern tier.  In fact, the whole northern tier was below $150,000 except for Wayne County, which is next to New Jersey and New York.

The entire row of counties that abutted New Jersey were in the $200,000+ range.  Centre, where Penn State is located, had a median price of $291,061.  The highest was Chester, coming in at $390,000.  

In Carbon, where I live, the median price as $165,000.  Next door, in Schuylkill, the median was $80,000.  Sometime, when I’m feeling really ambitious, I will see if the lower the median home price, the higher the Trump vote.  I have a feeling that may be the case. 

Biden visits the border

Finally.  This problem has been going on for months, and finally the Administration is taking steps to alleviate the mess.  The choice is not between Trump’s policy and doing nothing.  Obviously the steps now taken won’t solve the issue, but they will alleviate it somewhat.  

Sometimes I think Biden is tone deaf.

Prostitutes want my body

When I went on my posting sabbatical last summer, on the day I signed off I listed my email address in case any of my thousands of followers wished to contact me.  Naive and trusting person that I was, it never occurred to me that this was not a good step to take.  

Soon I began to get solicitations from stores, fake invoices that I had ordered various goods, and very explicit come-ons from various sites featuring scantily-clad women who told me they were just waiting for me.

I had enough sense not to click on the prostitutes, but I kept unsubscribing the various companies.  This seemed to result in other companies sending me ads.

When I took my computer in for service last week, it was explained to me that when I unsubscribe, that shows that a living person is there, and companies will sell that email address to other companies.  As for the prostitutes, I had been doing the right thing–delete without opening. 

To end this silliness, I could get a new email address while keeping the old address.  I would then let people who email me know the new address.  At some point I could then delete the old address.  This seems like too much trouble, and it doesn’t take all that long to hit the delete key.  

Remember when the internet was supposed to be this wonderful tool for communicating and would tie the world together?  

I really hate Verizon

We have two landlines in our house.  On Tuesday night during a rain storm both went out.  No dial tone, and the phone says “No Line.”  On Wednesday I call.  You don’t speak to a person, just a disembodied robot.  The robot booked an appointment for Thursday between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., and said an adult had to be home and couldn’t have Covid.  

No one came all day, but about 4 p.m. robot texted that the problem had been resolved.  It hadn’t.  No dial tone, no line.  We called back, but the next appointment won’t be until Monday.  That is almost a week with no service.  My elderly neighbor up the road also has no service; she and I must be on the same line.  She has no cell phone, and she is in poor health.

Verizon robot gives you a number for the Penna. PUC to call if you aren’t satisfied.  If we ever get our landline back, I am calling the PUC first thing. 

DDT ban anniversary

It’s the 2nd anniversary of the attempt by Trump and his dupes to overturn the election.  Today Biden held a medal awards ceremony for some of the men and women who stepped forward to help to preserve our democracy.  It was both fitting and moving.

Not to detract from that ceremony, but this year also marks the 50th anniversary of the banning of the insecticide DDT.  Residue from DDT is “bio-accumulated,” which meets it builds up in fatty tissues.  Animals higher in the food chain are especially affected.  Thus robins began to die because their food was earthworms, which had ingested DDT residue.

When DDT was banned, Pennsylvania had three pairs of nesting bald eagles, our national bird.  Prior to the introduction of DDT after World War II, the state had hundreds of pairs.  Slowly the eagles recovered, and they were removed from the threatened list in Pennsylvania in 2014.  Today there are more than three hundred pairs in the state.

(Info on the DDT ban is from Bob Frye, “The DDT Story,”  Pennsylvania Game News, (Jan. 2023), pp. 16-18.)

Kevin McCarthy frightens me

Nancy Pelosi had members of her caucus who were less than happy with electing her as speaker.  Known as “the Squad,” they were to the left of most House Democrats.  In spite of their differences, they understood the importance of unity, of the need for some compromise in order to accomplish even limited goals.

In the Senate Joe Manchin of West Virginia was not in favor of much of the Biden agenda, but he understood the need to compromise, and the more liberal Democrats understood the need to placate him, given the views of Manchin’s constituents. 

Republicans who oppose McCarthy aren’t like that.  McCarthy isn’t like that either.  They have no policies they want to enact, no goals they want to achieve other than to hold power, no matter what the cost.  

On one level I enjoy watching the Republican House debacle.  On the other hand, the amorality of those people scares me.  I don’t understand how so-called “moderate” Republican members of Congress can even associate with them.  

Tomorrow I’m taking my computer into “Double Click” in Bethlehem for a tuneup.  I don’t know how long it will take to “de-frag” it, but I may be off-line for a number of days. 

Mifepristone in pharmacies

The Food and Drug Administration has given approval for pharmacies to dispense Mifepristone with a doctor’s prescription.  Before this drug was available only in clinics or from doctors.  The drug, taken in combination with a second drug misoprostol, will induce an abortion.  Misoprostol is already widely available.

I don’t know if pharmacies in states like Texas will stock the drug.  I don’t even know if it would be legal to prescribe the drug in those states.  I do know it will be a lot easier to obtain and ship the drugs to friends and family members across the country.  Just saying. 

Speaker Kevin McCarthy?

Tomorrow we will have a new Speaker of the House of Representatives.  The Speaker of the House is third in line for the presidency.  It has been Nancy Pelosi, a true leader who could control her frequently cantankerous caucus and get bills passed.  She is a woman of integrity whose appointments to the Jan. 6 committee showed both her leadership skills and her commitment to democracy.

The new Speaker, although not officially selected as of this writing, will probably be Kevin McCarthy.  If he becomes speaker it will be because he caved for people like that Q-Anon idiot from Georgia and that election denier from Ohio and other House members who aren’t fit to hold office in Parryville, let alone be serving in the House.

McCarthy is the guy who after the Jan. 6 insurrection criticized Trump–for a week.  Then, seeing the way the Republican wind was blowing, sucked up to Trump.  I would say McCarthy is a weasel, but I do not want to insult weasels.   

New Year's Resolutions

I made quite a few:

eat more kale and spinach, 

lay off the rum, 

defeat Republican candidates; 

submit, write, and read more poems, 

eat less beef to help the planet, 

do more to support Ukraine, and 

expand my blog readership by giving out cash prizes.