Tree huggers win

The Borough of Jim Thorpe received an “offer” from a company to buy timber from a 600+ parcel of woodland the Borough owns.  The trees would have been mature oaks and other hardwoods.  The company said the cutting would be selective and would help to prevent forest fires.

The environmental group Save Carbon County (I’m a member) showed up in force at the Jim Thorpe meeting with knowledgeable people who actually knew something about forestry.  It was pointed out that the resulting increase in underbrush in an eastern Pennsylvania forest would actually increase the fuel load, that erosion results from logging, that invasive species grow if no further steps are taken after logging, and that logging trucks can do damage to borough streets.

The Council voted unanimously to end negotiations for company to cut any trees.

The Lumpenproletariat

Everybody knows about the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.  You may even know about the petty bourgeoisie, which is an English corruption of “petite” bourgeoisie.  That’s group consists of small shop keepers or artisans. 

You may be less familiar with the “lumpenproletariat.”  These are people who are not workers, not owners, but rather people on the edge of society.  These are the thugs, the criminals.  In high school they aren’t part of the college bound group, nor are they learning any type of trade.  They are the tough guys who hang around and think learning of any kind is stupid.  They might sell some dope, abuse some women, look for the angles.  

Marx thought they were the kind of people who would work short time as strikebreakers or could be recruited to beat up labor organizers.  They have no morals, no empathy, no class loyalties.  

They are the group the ICE recruiters are targeting.

ICE fishing

No, the lakes are not frozen over.  We haven’t even had our first frost of the season.  Same for Portland, but my friend Bill sent me a photo of Portlanders with fishing poles.  On the ends of the lines are donuts which are dangled in front of the goons arresting immigrants (ands some dark-skinned American citizens).

It’s called “ICE fishing.”  Portlanders are very creative.  

Tuskegee Airman George Hardy dies at 100

He was one of the last of that group.  He was from Philly and had never even driven a car when he began his training.  I know that the current government (I love saying “current government,”  because it won’t last much longer) doesn’t like to discuss unpleasant things, but here is a quote from a recent obit for Lt. Col. Hardy in which he talks about white and black airmen:

“When we got back to the base we would get together and drink.  They really appreciated us.  But once we got back to the States, we were reminded that things hadn’t changed.  When we walked down the gangway of the boat as it docked there was a sign:  whites to the right, coloreds to the left.  After all we had been through, it really didn’t feel too good.” 

Shutting down the opposition

For a democracy to work, the people out of power have to believe that they may have a chance to return to power.  The people in power have to believe that at some future date they might lose power.  Otherwise, the people in power can prosecute and ignore those out of power, and the people out of power can’t see a way that they will ever win a future election.

What we are witnessing is the potential end of democracy.  The Supreme Court allows any amount of money to be spent on campaigns, permitting billionaires to buy elections.  Deep fakes and media ownership allow people who control the media to slant the news and lie with impunity.  Gerrymandering and election rule changes predetermine election outcomes.  Prosecution of “enemies” eliminates future opponents.  A culture of fair play collapses and procedural safeguards are eliminated.  

It is not looking good.

Another reason not to be on Facebook

People frequently ask me why I am not on Facebook.  Well, maybe not frequently.  OK, one person asked me in 2024.  

But I am not.  One of Facebook’s lucrative revenue raisers, according to Tech Transparency Project, a nonprofit organization that keeps tabs on large technology companies, is deceptive political ads.  Some of these are deceptive; others downright fraudulent.  

Frauds are social media platforms exceed those using text messages or phone calls.  AI is exacerbating the problem.  

My answer to this problem is simple:  don’t even sign up for Facebook, or META, or any of those time sucks.  Except this blog, of course.

A sliver of material for this post was from Steven Lee Myers, “Deceitful Political Ads Infest and Help Enrich Facebook, Analysis Finds,” New York Times, (Oct. 2, 2025), pp. B-1, B4.

Can College Students Mingle For an Hour Without Phones

That was a headline in the Oct. 1 New York Times.  The article, by Christina Caron, features a student at the University of Central Florida who started what he called the “Reconnect Movement.”  Students agree to put their phones aside for a set period of time.  They may take a hike together, or work on art projects, or just sit around and talk.  

Students reported feeling uncomfortable at the start of a phone-free period.  One student said when she and her peers feel uneasy, they scroll, but now their phones have been collected by a “phone valet,” and they have to “converse.”

The article ended by describing an encounter with a young woman who approached a phone-free group to find out what they were dong.  When group members offered to “valet” her phone, she pulled back.  “I thought you just didn’t use it–I didn’t know you took it away.  I think I’m just going to go.”

Why non-violent resistance works better

In their book Why Civil Resistance Works, published in 2011, Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephen point out that people can participate in non-violent protests in many ways.  They can boycott, or use humor, or paint signs, or demonstrate, or write letters, or give money.  Violent resistance, however, takes some skills.  You have to know how to shoot, or make bombs, or throw Molotov cocktails.  

Nonviolent resistance can be done in ways that you won’t get caught, or are hard to stop, or are funny.  Violent resistance can result in arrest, or torture, or death.  More people are usually willing to participate in non-violent resistance. 

In my classes I used the example of Martin Luther King.  Suppose instead of the Montgomery Bus boycott, King had gone into the hills of central Alabama with about 20 armed men and launched attacks.  Do you think that would have succeeded?  Do you think we would be celebrating Martin Luther King day?  Nonviolence is strategically the smart way to go.

A somewhat casual attitude toward mortality

Today I had lunch with two of my classmates from the Palmerton High School Class of 60.  Another classmate of ours sent us his most up-to-date list of our fellow students, including those who have died.  He has the addresses, phones, and emails of those remaining, but about 30 have no emails, and about six have no phones.

He asked the three of us to contact the ones who don’t have emails to see if they are still alive.  The ones who don’t have phones we can write to.  If the phone numbers are no longer valid, we can check obituaries.  

We speculated what to say if a spouse answers the phone.  Do we say,”Is Henry dead?”  We came up with better phrasing, but the point is that in 20 years probably everyone on that list will have died.  We know it, and we accept it.  I thought about that on the way home.  When you hit your eighties, you are aware that you don’t have a whole lot of time left.  It doesn’t seem all that big a deal.

What Hegseth misses

I have no doubt that I would make a better President than Donald Trump.  After today I also realize I’d make a better Secretary of Defense than Hegseth.  (Yes, I would change the name back.)

Right now China is amassing missiles across the strait from Taiwan.  Are we ready for that?

Warfare is changing.  Our Abrams tanks are the equivalent of Poland’s cavalry before the World War II.  Our aircraft carriers are sitting ducks.  Our Stryker troop carrier is so bad that troops in Iraq joked that it was a great fighting vehicle as long as the weather was dry, the roads were paved, and it didn’t need to fight.

According to an article in the latest Harper’s, the U.S. is developing the M7 rifle to replace the M4 which replaced the M16.  The M7 is “bigger, heavier, more complicated, less reliable, and costlier than its predecessor.”

The war in Ukraine shows the vulnerability of the old ways of combat.  The Russians and Ukrainians are actually putting screens and a type of shed around their tanks to intercept drones.  Drones are cheap and effective, but they don’t make much money for the military contractors, so we don’t build many.

And what is Hegseth worried about?  Overweight generals.  And what is Trump worried about?  Internal enemies.  We are in trouble.  I think our generals know that.  Tonight they are shaking their heads in disbelief.

Trump's judges

 Many of us hope that after Trump the country will return to some sort of sanity.  The problem is that some things will be so broken by the end of his term that they may never be fixed.  One of those areas of irreparable harm could well be the courts.

Let’s say there was an effort to put an initiative on the ballot in the state of Missouri to make abortion legal.  Let’s say I believed this was a good cause.  May I travel to Missouri and circulate the petition?

Of course I may.  There have been at least 18 court cases that affirmed the right to use out-of-state campaign workers along with the right of campaigns to pay out-of-state signature gatherers.  Nonetheless, on September 9 the 11th Circuit Court ruled that Florida COULD ban out-of-state circulators.  

The vote was 2-1.  The two judges talked about “fraud,” but there were no examples of fraud.

The two judges were appointed by Trump.  The dissenter was appointed by Biden.  Are those two judges like Trump’s other appointees–Homan, Noem, RFK Jr., Hegseth, Bondi, Patel?  No doubt.  And unlike those other clowns, judges are appointed for life.  

Overthrowing dictators

My daughter said she read that the overthrow of Nicolae Ceausescu began with one cartoon posted on a wall in Bucharest.  I have no idea if this is true, but I do know that dictators really hate when someone makes fun of them.  They can’t stand to be mocked or ridiculed.  Remember Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator.”  Hitler hated–hated–that film.

Do you know the real reason the escalator stopped in the U.N. building?  The load was over the weight limit.  

We need more of that.  Laugh at the guy.  Laugh at his minions.  Do you know why Steven Miller got into politics?  His arms were too weak to strangle prostitutes.

There is a reason Trump hates Steven Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel.  He can’t stand to be mocked.  The British are better at this than we are, but I think we can catch up.  

Just today I opened a fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant that read: “Release the Epstein files.”  I’m not kidding.

"Lansford Alive" Festival

Lansford is a small town in Carbon County, PA.  It is located in the anthracite coal fields, and it has seen better days.  A community group called “Lansford Alive” is doing its best to improve Lansford by promoting tourism and building a spirit of community.  The organization sponsors a festival in the fall.  Two blocks on Ridge Street are blocked off, bands play, and vendors set up booths.

One of those booths belonged to the Carbon County Democrats, staffed by volunteers, including me.  We gave away pocket Constitutions and free chances for $25 gift certificates for three local restaurants.

This is the third community-type festival I’ve worked in the last two months.  In previous years we got all kinds of grief from MAGAs, including occasional insults, even cursing.  

Those days are over.  So many people came up and thanked us for being there.  People told us how worried they were, and how they couldn’t stand Trump.  Lansford voted for Trump in 2024 and probably would again, but I’ll bet if they voted today, Trump would not do nearly as well.  

Could things be turning around?  I certainly hope so.

I receive a letter from President Trump

A few days ago my friend John asked me if I ever received a response to one of the letters I sent to Trump.  Today I did.  It thanked me for taking the time to “share my views.”  It also said (and I am not kidding):

“We are in the midst of the most extraordinary period of political reform in the history of our country.  Since I took office on January 20, we have spared no time in making good on our promises to the American people and advancing our agenda of prosperity, peace, safety and success.”  

He went on like that, talking about “dangerous illegal aliens,” “rebuilding our economy,” “purging left-wing indoctrination from our schools,” etc., etc., etc.

In the last paragraph he said, “The Golden Age of America is finally upon us–and we are only getting started.”  He then asked God to bless me and the U.S. as well.

It was signed Donald Trump.  I thought, “Where did I see that signature before?”  Then I remembered.  It was scrawled in the crotch area of a crude drawing of a woman’s torso.  Same signature exactly!

It's officially here

When the President of the United States can order the Justice Department to investigate people he considered his enemies and the Justice Department complies with the President’s wishes, it is safe to say we no longer have the rule of law.  We have entered the realm of tyranny.  That isn’t hyperbole.  That is fact.

I don’t know where this is going, and I am not sure who will stand up to this (Congress?  the Supreme Court?  the Press–do we even have a free press?  the American people?) but I am not optimistic. 

Antifa is hiding in your closet

Trump is obsessed with “Antifa,” a name given to an unorganized group of self-proclaimed anti-fascists who have no headquarters, no fundraising mechanism, no bank account, no membership rolls, no website.  Trump has declared Antifa a “domestic terrorist organization.”  

There is no such thing under U.S. law.

This order will have no practical effect whatsoever.  It may make Trump appear in his own mind as a dynamic guy taking action.  By the way, I consider myself to be anti-Fascist.  I have a feeling that every reader of this post is also anti-Fascist.  At least I hope so.

"Turning Point" at Lehighton High

According to an article in today’s Times News, the Lehighton Area School Board recently discussed forming a student organization called Turning Point, a right-wing Christian nationalist group founded by the late Charles Kirk.

I have no quarrel with this, but I was under the impression that student groups were formed by interested students, not some old farts and windbags sitting on the Lehighton School Board.

Perhaps instead of trying to indoctrinate their students, Board members should discuss introducing civics and American political theory classes into the curriculum.

On the Road

I’ve driven across the country about 40 times, and for all but the first two times, I kept trip journals.  Who I met, what national parks I visited, storms I witnessed, where my car broke down, where I found fossils.  

I am now in the process of typing up these journals.  It won’t be anything like Jack Kerouac’s adventures.  Not as much dope or drinking or carousing, although one time our daughter and I did stop in Kansas to photograph an abandoned farmhouse on Route 36 and found ourselves in a low spot covered with shoulder high marijuana plants, which I learned is called “ditch weed.”  

The journals won’t be published, and I’m not sure anyone will read the whole collection.  Maybe our grandson, who was along on at least four of them, will enjoy them.  I will say that after traveling back and fourth, I came to appreciate this country.  What a wonderful place.  What great people.  I know we have some awful jerks in the U.S., but almost every encounter I had along the way was enjoyable.  Even in Texas.

My most recent letter to the President

President Donald Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Trump:

I realize that you might not have liked Jimmy Kimmel very much, but I don’t understand why you just didn’t change the channel.

That’s what I did when “The Apprentice” came on.

Sincerely,

Roy Christman

Charlie, you summed it up for me

“I don’t care that he’s dead.”

“He’s not a hero.”

“He’s a scumbag.”

“He shouldn’t be celebrated.”

Charlie Kirk said that about George Floyd.  That’s my feeling exactly.

Some other things to get depressed about

One bad and depressing item after another assaults us daily.  Jimmy Kimmel, stupid stuff from Kennedy, Patel, Bondi, Noem.  People caving.  Businesses caving.  Praise for sexist/racist commentators.  It gets so depressing.  

As a public service, I will give you three things that don’t relate to Trump about which to get depressed.

Here is a headline from the Sept. 10th New York Times:  “High School Seniors Test at a Record Low In Math and Reading.”  We are getting dumber and dumber.

Here’s another headline from the Sept. 16 New York Times:  “Study Finds Drop in Reading for Fun.”  People are too busy looking at their phones.

And we haven’t had any real rain for over a month.  We are watering my pepper plants every other day, but our rain barrels are almost empty.  All of my Scotch bonnets, habaneros, and jalapeños are drying up.  Not looking good.

Now, don’t you feel better?