How to reply to misogynists who oppose a woman's right to choose

Every day my friend Bill sends me a selection of memes.  In past posts I have alluded to some of them.  Today I want to share two that I think may be useful to counter anti-abortion fanatics.  

First, as you are well aware, many anti-science idiots opposed being asked to wear a mask.  Here is what to say to them:  “You didn’t like wearing a mask.  Imagine being forced to have a baby.”  

Second, here is something said by Sen. Ted Cruz followed by a comment:

“Democrats are nanny state authoritarians.  Personally, I don’t smoke cigarettes, but if you choose to do so, it’s your own damn choice!”

Ok Ted, now do uteruses.

Farmland preservation in PA

In my last post I complained that Pennsylvania had a minimum of 50 acres for a farm to be considered for the preservation program unless the farm adjoined already preserved land.  Then the limit was ten.  Small farms were shut out.

My friend Tom, who makes a living on a farm under ten acres, explained to me that in New York and New Jersey the eligibility limit for the preservation programs is five acres.  In New Jersey apiaries of even less than five acres are eligible for preservation.

In my own county, Carbon, a number of farmers have applied for the our state’s preservation program and would qualify under the existing law, but there is not enough money allocated to purchase the development rights.  In the meantime, “development” takes place and the demands for schools, roads, garbage pickup, and other services increase beyond the incremental tax revenues.  In addition, our built environment is really depressing.  Towamensing, once the home of family farms, is now the home of sprawl, and it is getting worse.  I have come to hate the sound of bulldozers and backhoes and carpenters.

No fewer than ten acres

At the time we applied to the Pennsylvania Farmland Preservation program, we only had 12 acres.  Our land was the type that developers are salivating for.  Across Pohopoco Drive was Beltzville State Park, and our property was half a mile from the Wild Creek Falls.  12 acres was probably enough for at least ten houses.  Norm Strohl’s old farm next to us was sold to a developer, and 12 houses have already been built with at least three more slated for construction.

At the time we applied to the program, under Pennsylvania regulations you had to own at least 50 acres to be considered unless your farm adjoined already protected farmland.  Since the adjoining fields on the south side of the road were owned by the Army Corps and leased to other farmers, we assumed that was preserved farmland, although it took years for the Corps to give us an official ruling to that effect.  [The fields across the road were part of the original Christman farm taken by eminent domain by the Corps, but that’s another story.]

In any case, we were able to enroll our 12 acres in the program.  Later, when we bought ten more adjoining acres, we were able to put that into the program as well.  

My friend Tom, who makes a living in Mahoning Township on fewer than 10 acres, has pointed out to me just how unfair Pennsylvania regulations are.  Tom obviously has a farm.  It’s close to Lehighton and under development pressure.  This would be an ideal farm to preserve and, as Tom points out, it would also preserve an actual farmer, of which there are fewer and fewer in Pennsylvania.

Tomorrow:  The New York and New Jersey laws on farmland preservation compared. 

Trump's trial for rape

Can you imagine ex-President Bush (either one) or ex-President Obama being charged with rape?  Of course you can’t.

Deep down, even Trump’s supporters know he is guilty.  I have no idea what the jury will find, but we know he committed the crime, although I wouldn’t be surprised if he got away with it.  He has the money for good lawyers, he has millions of followers hanging on his every word, and he has a history of successfully evading punishment.  

Two days older than Biden

I was born on Nov. 18, 1942.  Biden was born on Nov. 20 of that same year.  Is he too old to run for President?  Of course he is.  I can’t remember people’s names, can’t pitch a soft ball, have a pacemaker and artificial hips, and generally have started that downhill slide.  I think Biden might be in better shape mentally and physically, but at 80 he is not the man he was even at 70.

Will I vote for him?  Did you see the list of his possible opponents?  Trump the front runner.  Nicki Haley?  Asa Hutchinson?  Ted DeSanctimonious?  Chris Christie?  

Against that crowd I’d vote for Biden if he were in a coma.

The case against Fox

Quite a few people in our country believe that newspapers and news organizations lie.  I had an argument with a guy just last week who claimed the New York Times routinely lied.  If this were the case, of course, the Fox News case would have been one of many.  In fact, very few media trials occur.  

Those cases that are brought seldom reach the courtroom.  The plaintiffs must, under current rulings, show “actual malice.”  News organizations make mistakes or occasionally rely on bad sources, but they don’t deliberately lie.  (By the way, Alex Jones did deliberately lie, but Alex Jones’s “Infowars” was not considered a news organization.)

What made the Fox case unique and what made the amount granted to Dominion the highest award ever granted in this type of case was the fact that Fox did knowingly lie and did it with “actual malice.”  The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Allentown Morning Call, and the Lehighton Times News don’t do that. 

Paying Fox Corporation's fine

According to an AP business analyst, Fox probably will not have to pay its full fine because of insurance and because it will be allowed to deduct the fine as a business expense.  That means that the average taxpayer will be helping to make up the tax liability that Fox escaped from paying, since it can write off the fine.

Fox had $4 billion on hand as of December.  I don’t think it will suffer too much.  Its viewers probably will never hear that it lied on the air.

At least that Putin acolyte Tucker Carlson is gone.

Judicial candidates visit Carbon County

Today I met Bryan Neft, candidate for Commonwealth Court, and Jill Beck, candidate for Superior Court.  Both were impressive and both have been highly recommended by the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Neft is a civil rights attorney.  I asked him if Pennsylvania had an ethics code for judges.  He said we do, and we also have a board that investigates complaints against judges and can remove them from office.  This is, of course, what the U.S. Supreme Court so badly needs.  The Commonwealth Court, by the way, was the Court that recently decided that Pennsylvania’s school funding system underfunds property-poor districts like Panther Valley in Carbon County.

I met Ms. Beck earlier this year.  In my estimation she would make an excellent judge.  The Superior Court, which hears appeals on criminal and civil cases, is now evenly split between Democrats and Republicans.  Ms. Beck and her running mate Tamika Lane would make a major difference in how the Superior Court decides cases.

Lawn darts

After lawn darts killed three children in the U.S., lawn darts were banned from sale.

Three children.

Incest in Mississippi

The New York Times printed a list of what states had what bans on abortion.  Twelve states have complete bans on abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest.  A number of states, like West Virginia, have banned abortions but had exceptions for rape and incest.

Then we get to Mississippi.  In Mississippi abortion is banned with exceptions for rape, but not incest.  I think that is really strange.

The SpaceX Starship explosion

I am not a big fan of Elon Musk.  I think he is a total jerk, and the fact that he is rich just makes him a rich total jerk.  So when I heard that his spaceship was being launched this morning, I said, “I hope the damn thing blows up.”

Now I’m feeling guilty.

Not too guilty. 

Republican Tax Cheats

House Republicans are pushing to eliminate the increase in I.R.S. funding.  These Republican House members, who pretend to be worried about the national debt, hope to make it easier to defraud the United States government.  They wear their little flag lapels and talk about patriotism, all the while attempting to undermine our country.  

I cannot understand why millions of Republicans aren’t switching their party.  And if they can’t stomach the Democratic Party, why not become Libertarian or Independent?  How can you remain in a party full of people like Green and Gaetz and Trump and Kevin McCarthy?  

Dominion wins!

Fox News loses big, but not big enough.

I was so looking forward to seeing Rupert Murdoch and Tucker Carlson trundled down to the guillotine on one of those two-wheeled carts.  I wanted to be in the jeering mob.  I’m quite disappointed.

 

The "License to shoot African-Americans" law

Missouri has one of those "stand your ground" laws.  It is completely misnamed.  It’s a “license to shoot African-Americans” law.  Legislators knew that when they voted for it.

According to reports in the New York Times, the guy who called for help first made the shooting victim lie on the ground with his hands out.  The two previous homes he ran to didn’t help at all.

Why are people so afraid?  Why are people so mean?  

Decline in visits to untrustworthy sites

Here is good news.  Researchers at Stanford University found that although the number of sites containing false or misleading content increased from 2016 to 2020, the average number of visits by Americans had dropped.  

The bad news is that while fewer people visited such sites, nearly 68 million people checked out sites that were not credible.  The researchers also noted that misinformation has serious consequences, and mentioned the riot on Jan. 6 as an example.

Incidentally, old people tended to visit misinformation sites more than young voters.  I am not surprised.

You will be happy to know that this is a trustworthy site.  Really.

See Tiffany Hsu, “Fewer Voters Visited Untrustworthy Sites iIn 2020, Study Finds,” New York Times (Apr. 14, 2023), p. B3.

Wanda Dietz

There’s a woman residing  in Franklin Township, Carbon County, named Wanda Dietz who has a habit of writing letters to the editor of the Times News.  The letters are compilations of every crazy theory you can find on the internet.  The letter printed today was truly amazing.  Ms. Dietz explained what the Democratic Party stood for and blamed Democrats for all kinds of weird stuff, although I do think she forgot satan worship.\

It has occurred to me that Ms. Dietz may actually be a Democrat who is writing these letters as a spoof on Republican extremism.  No one could read them and take them seriously except maybe Marjorie Taylor Green.  It also occurs to me that maybe Ms. Dietz is a pen name for Marjorie Taylor Green.  There must be some logical explanation.

democracy has left the building

The Tennessee House of Representatives has 99 members.  In the Nov. 2022 election, 60 of them had no opponent.  No legislative seat was flipped in that election.  That is what gerrymandering does.

In state legislative bodies, approximately one in four state legislators run unopposed.  I live in a district like that.  My state representative, Doyle Heffley, went even further.  In 2020, realizing that the Democrats did not have a candidate, he asked voters to write his name on the Democratic ticket.  That fall it was Doyle Heffley, Republican, vs. Doyle Heffley, Democrat.  

Doyle Heffley won.  

Democracy lost. 

Just like East Germany

When the Communists ruled East Germany, they set up a spy network that included civilians.  Neighbors were encouraged to report on neighbors.  It is a hallmark of totalitarian states to systematize citizen spies.  

Now at least three states with Republican governors–Florida, Virginia, and Texas–have adopted laws that encourage private citizens to report violations of abortion laws or laws on sex education or the teaching of “critical race theory.”  In some cases bonuses are provided for citizens who report on women who receive abortions. 

I learned about this from an article by Thomas Edsall in the New York Times.  The article discusses how the endorsement of violence, the questioning of elections, the extreme gerrymandering, and the overt partisanship of the courts is now part of the Republican Party’s DNA.

Comparing presidential candidates

I was born in 1942 during Roosevelt’s third term.  It occurred to me tonight that every Democratic presidential candidate since I was born was better than every Republican candidate.  Here is the list:  Dems first.

FDR Dewey

Truman Dewey

Stevenson Eisenhower (though Ike wasn’t bad)

Kennedy Nixon

Johnson Goldwater

Humphrey Nixon

Carter Ford

Carter Reagan

Mondale Reagan

Dukakis Bush, Sr.

Clinton Bush, Sr.

Clinton Dole

Mondale Bush, Jr.

Kerry Bush, Jr.

Obama McCain

Obama Romney

Clinton, H. Trump

Biden Trump

Isn’t it an amazing list?  Where do the Republicans get these people, and why do people like Nixon or Trump win?  It is a puzzlement.

Another look at Infinite Jest

I explained last week that I had decided to read all thousand plus pages of David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, including the footnotes.

The book was listed by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential novels of he 20th century.  It isn’t.  Nobody has read the book.  Nobody.  It is unreadable.  It is beyond comprehension.  I read Don Quixote so the length isn’t the problem.  The whole book is the problem.  

I abandoned my copy in one of those little lending libraries at my gym.  I feel just a wee bit guilty about that.  

State legislatures: Lavatories of Democracy

No, it isn’t a mistake.  Some of them really are the outhouses of American democracy.  Examples:

North Dakota:  A few days after a vote against expanding the free lunch program for poor kids, the legislators voted to expand their own meal reimbursements.

Tennessee:  We all know about the legislature expelling two members for protesting Tennessee’s lax gun laws.  I think we also all know the two expellees were African-American.

Kansas:  The legislature overrode a governor’s veto of a bill authorizing genital examination of any trans student who wants to play sports.  

Florida:  The legislature passed a bill for gun carry without a permit.  

Pennsylvania:  Actually, right now I feel pretty good about living in Pennsylvania.  Our legislature hasn’t done much of anything.

News organizations and their mottos

A recent editorial cartoon listed some American news organizations and their mottos.  I thought it worth repeating.

The New York Times:  “All the News That’s Fit to Print.”

The Washington Post:  “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”

CBS News:  “And That’s the Way It Is...”

Fox News:  “You Can’t Handle the Truth!”

Procedural vs. substantive issues: The Tennessee legislature

Substantive issues are matters of policy.  Procedural issues are how you decide the substantive issues.  Let’s use football as an analogy.  The rules of the game are the procedural issues; the scores are the substantive issues.  As long as the teams agree on the procedure (i.e., the rules), they can play game after game.  The scores really don’t matter that much.  Who won the fifth Super Bowl?  Most of us don’t know.  The final score obviously wasn’t that important.  As long as we have agreed upon rules, we can play (or watch) game after game after game.

Now, suppose two teams take the field and one plays by Canadian football rules and one by U.S. football rules.  The game would break down before the end of the first quarter.  The refs, the coaches, and the players wouldn’t be able to play the game. 

That, dear readers, is what is happening in Tennessee.  The legislature, by throwing out three Democratic legislators, has changed the procedure.  The process can’t continue.  One side can win, but it has changed the rules, and when you change the rules you change the game.  The game had been democratic government.  When you throw out the legislators you don’t agree with, you are no longer playing democracy.  You have moved into a new game.  It is called tyranny.