Yes, Israel is committing genocide

The word ”genocide” dates to 1944 when a Polish lawyer, Raphael Lemkin, coined the word, combining the Greek word for race or tribe and the Latin suffix “cide,” which means “killing.”  In 1948 the UN adopted a convention to punish the crime of genocide.  

It is important to remember that genocide as defined does not only mean the killing of a particular groups, although that certainly qualifies.  It also means causing serious bodily or mental harm to a group, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about a group’s physical destruction, imposing sterilization on members of the group, or transferring children from the group to members of another group.

Now Israel is proposing to herd the Palestinians in Gaza to one small section (already a scene of large scale destruction) in the south.  It is also clear that Israeli settlers are doing their best by physical violence and intimidation to drive Palestinian residents out of the West Bank with the connivance of Netanyahu’s government.  Both of those actions clearly fall within the definition of genocide.  

And I probably need to remind everyone–criticizing the actions of Netanyahu’s government does not mean you are anti-Semitic.

Maria at Holiday Inn

My friend Bill sends me memes every day for both my edification and my amusement.  Here are two I must pass on:

Obama announcing:  “We got Osama bin Laden”

Trump announcing:  “We got Maria the maid at Holiday Inn.”

And Andy Borowitz:

“The Epstein Report is the first thing Trump didn’t want his name attached to.”

A message from Dr. Martin Luther King

Some of you are wondering if it is correct to aid undocumented residents and interfere with the work of ICE agents.  Martin Luther King addressed something similar in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” dated 16 April 1963:

We should never forget that everything that Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.”  It was “illegal” to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany.  Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time,  I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers.

There is a reason why we celebrate Martin Luther King day and why we will never celebrate Stephen Miller or Kristi Noem day.

Four Ways Only

If you are an American citizen, you or your ancestors came into this country in only one of four ways: 

You were an American Indian.  Indigenous people are citizens, although it took some time for that to be recognized.

You were a slave.  Citizenship came with the 14th Amendment, although some states recognized citizenship for freed slaves before that.

You were an immigrant.  Again, the 14th Amendment said if you are born in the U.S., you are a citizen.  It’s right there.  If you are born here, you are one of us.

You were a refugee.  Under international law countries are obligated to give asylum to refugees who are in danger in their home countries.  While this is sometimes ignored, that is the fourth group.

That’s it.  The next time someone starts rant about citizenship, explain that and ask which category they or their ancestors fit into.

 

John Fetterman, major disappointment

At one time I liked John Fetterman, but I always thought he was a bit of a phony.  He visited Carbon County twice to speak to the Carbon County Dems for Progress and sounded good, but his actual accomplishments were rather meager.  

He was mayor of Braddock, PA, but that was not a big deal.  Braddock has fewer residents than either Nesquehoning or Lansford.  I thought the tattoos of the homicide victims in Braddock were a bit much, and his handling of his health problems was immature at best.  Then there was the whole hoodie/shorts silliness.  

The person I really liked was his wife.  She was smart and gave a much better stump speech than her husband.  

I don’t know what to make of his current attitude.  I can understand the need to reach out to Trump supporters, but to make the pilgrimage to Trump’s lair in Florida did not sit well with me.  The statements defending ICE are reprehensible.  His behavior toward his staff is reprehensible.  His driving puts people at risk and is reprehensible.   If he is unable to carry out his duties, he needs to resign.  

The whole thing makes me very sad.

Trump praises the President of Liberia for his "good English"

One of the issues early abolitionists argued about was what to do with the slaves provided they ever received their freedom.  One proposed solution was to transport them back to Africa, and a colony was set up on the African west coast for that purpose.  The colony was called “Liberia,” and its capitol was Monrovia, named for the President of the United States James Monroe.  Thousands of freed slaves and freemen eventually repatriated to Liberia.

This idea persisted into the 20th century.  The best known advocate for African-Americans repatriating to Africa was Marcus Garvey and his Universal Negro Improvement Association in the 1920s.  Garvey also believed that African nations (then mostly colonies) should unite, and this doctrine is known as “Pan-Africanism.  I wrote my college honors paper on that topic in 1964.

Trump, of course, knows no African history.  He does not know the official language of Liberia is English.  I’m sure he thinks of Liberia as just another “shithole” country, as he has referred to countries like Liberia in the past.  Our president is basically an idiot.

Living in an authoritarian state

If we have to live in an authoritarian state where political enemies are punished, the rule of law is set aside, the courts are complicit with illegalities, and the legislature is a rubber stamp, could we at least live in an authoritarian state where the trains run on time.

China is phasing out fossil fuels, is building cheap electric cars, has banned crypto-currency, and does not have a homeless problem.  It is giving aid to third world countries, has a strong military, a government-run space program, and a health system that does not mistrust vaccines. 

I know that people are jailed there without legal safeguards, but that is true here also.  At least in China things seem to work.

Sen. Charles Sumner on three things to look for in a politician

Sen. Charles Sumner, one of the most prominent abolitionists in the U.S., annoyed South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks in an anti-slavery speech.  1856 Brooks attacked Sumner on the Senate floor, beating him with a metal-tipped cane.  Blood was everywhere, and Sumner barely survived.  The response of the South was to send Brooks more canes.

Sumner recovered and, as a U.S. Senator during the Civil War, pushed Lincoln to make emancipation the goal of the war.

Early in his political career he told an audience there were three things to look for in a politician.  “The first is backbone, the second is backbone and the third is backbone.”

Given the current state of Congress, those are words to remember.

Did the cuts made in NOAA increase the deaths in Kerrville?

I really don’t know.  I’ve read claims that say that, but I have no proof.  I don’t know exactly where the cuts were made, what experts were cut, how the Weather Service was affected.

And I will tell you three other people who don’t know the answer to that question:  Elon Musk, Kristi Noem, and Donald Trump.  The cuts were made with no rationale, no careful analysis, no studies.  It was all a P.R. stunt with potentially dangerous consequences.  

Trump, of course, thinks NOAA is the guy who built the ark.  Musk will say those cuts didn’t have anything to do with the death toll to cover his ass for what his teenage minions did.  And Kristi Noem is too busy pretending to care and no doubt offering prayers while pushing ICE to separate more families.  Noem is also the one who bragged about taking funds from NOAA to help construct Alligator Auschwitz.  In the meantime, the death toll in Texas approaches 100.

Men no longer read novels

Do you belong to a book club?  If you do, chances are excellent that you are a woman.  Chances are good that all your book club members are also women.  My friend Marian said that was true of both book clubs to which she belonged.  According to a full page article in the Times last week, men commonly read novels in the past, but their habit of reading has died out.

Male authors also appealed to men.  Cormac McCarthy, John Updike, Philip Roth, John Cheever, to name a few, wrote novels featuring male characters.  Check out the new books section of the Palmerton Library, and you will find mostly women authors.  The male authors are there, but they are of the Clive Cussler/James Patterson/David Baldacci ilk, hardly serious or worth reading in any case.

I’m not sure if the lack of novel reading among men is even a problem.  They are probably reading their text messages.  Maybe that’s enough for most men.  They won’t even know what they are missing.

Becoming a gentleman

The term “gentleman” is not used much anymore.  When is the last time you heard someone say about a guy, “He’s a real gentleman”?

Richard Reeves in the June 2025 issue of The Sun writes about Wabash College, a private liberal arts college in Crawfordsville, Indiana.  The college has an honor code that includes what is called “the gentleman’s rule.”  Every year the incoming freshmen males attend a a meeting with the seniors where the seniors discuss what it means to be a gentleman in modern society.  Reeves said it does help to produces thoughtful “gentlemen.”

According to J.F. Roxburgh, the headmaster of the Stowe School, a private English boarding school, we need men who are “acceptable at a dance and invaluable in a shipwreck.”  I don’t do well with that definition–I never learned to dance and I am not a very good swimmer.  I do, however, understand what he means.

Too many men don’t know how to act civilly .  They are “bros,” acting like tough guys, unable to carry on a civil conversation.  

The best example I can give you is to contrast Barack Obama with Donald Trump.  Obama is a complete gentleman, able to score on the basketball court and able to address and relate to a group of parishioners whose place of worship was attacked.  

Men need to aspire to be like Obama and turn away from Trump.  If you are using Trump as your role model, you, sir, are no gentleman.

Independence Day

I’m sorry.  I just don’t feel like celebrating.  What George Washington and Thomas Paine and and Ben Franklin and John Adams and Thomas Jefferson and the Boston Tea Party and Lafayette and the Green Mountain Boys snd the soldiers at Valley Forge fought for is under attack by an onslaught of greed and stupidity.  It feels to me like we are witnessing the end of the ideals and the wisdom of our forefathers.  All three branches of the government are in the control of charlatans.  The populace is full of MAGA clones who delight in cruelty and lack both empathy and support for democratic values.  To me it is more of a day of mourning than a day of celebration.  

Somehow we must rekindle that Spirit of ’76.  I’m not sure given the culture and climate in this country that is doable.  I know that I and many people around me will try.  The spark has not yet been extinguished.

Republican Congress members dance after passing the bill

There they were.  After passing a bill that will increase the deficit, take people off Medicare, take people off food assistance, end support for programs that will help to reduce climate change–and they were dancing and laughing.

 

I thought about the lines at the end of The Great Gatsby.  “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy–they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

I cannot think of a better summary.

The dollar is dropping

The U.S. currency has gone down more than 10% in the last six months when compared to the currencies of U.S. trading partners.  This is the worst start of the year since 1973, when Nixon took the U.S. off the gold standard.

Initially the value of the dollar jumped after Trump’s election, but the silliness with the tariffs and the looming increase in the government debt have been major factors in the dollar’s drop.  When investors are concerned about future economic conditions, they look for a safe haven.  The U.S. is no longer the default save haven.  

Some info for this post was taken from Joe Rennison, “Dollar Has Worst Start To the Year Since 1973, New York Times, (2 July 2025), pp. B1, B4. 

Senators behaving badly

Everybody knows the bill that passed today in the Senate is a bad piece of legislation–a transfer of money from the bottom to the top, a disaster for health care, and provisions to speed up global warming.

Almost all of the Republican Senators voted for it anyway.  Some were too stupid to understand it.  I’m looking at you, Tommy Tuberville.  Some didn’t care.  I’m looking at you Sen. McCormick of PA.  Some are cynical.  Step up, Mitch McConnell.  Most were afraid of Trump’s wrath in the next election.  That’s probably the majority.  And then there was Lisa Murkowski, who knew the bill was bad, said the bill was bad, got a few baubles for Alaska, and proved once and for all that she has no integrity.

Rand Paul voted no, but for bad reasons.  Thom Tillis voted no and decided not to run again.  And Susan Collins, after disappointing us time after time, found the courage to vote no.  Thank you, Sen. Collins.

Ooh, Ooh, I'm so afraid Pres. Trump will be mean to me

A few hours after he announced that he was no longer running for re-election, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said he was voting against Trump’s budget bill because of the cuts to Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of his constituents.  Trump then did his usual, hurling childish insults and calling Tillis names like the second grader he resembles.

This is why people like Susan Collins and many other Republican Senators are scared.  What if Trump and the MAGA crowd and Fox News and Truth Social and all the rest of the MAGA universe says mean things.  What if they are REALLY NASTY, IN ALL CAPS.  

Will the Senators be thrown into a Siberian gulag if they cross Trump?  Will their husbands and wives be dragged off to some underground jail?  Will they be sent to El Salvador?  No, they will be insulted and might lose their election, but they would at least retain some shred of integrity.  I never thought Republican Senators and Representatives would be such lickspittle cowards.  I am ashamed for them.

What Made America Strong

 This morning Fareed Zakaria had as his guest Jake Sullivan, national security advisor to President Biden.  Sullivan listed three reasons why America is the strongest nation on earth.  

1.  Government sponsored basic research.  The internet itself, the space program, medical advances, and so much more because of government-funded research.

2.  Universities that attracted the best scholars from all over the world.  The United States was a magnet for brilliant scientists from countries around the globe.

3.  A government of laws that rewarded people for their effort, not for their politics.

All three of those are being destroyed.  Instead of grants, we are giving tax cuts to billionaires.  We are deporting scientists and preventing foreign students from studying here.  And we are promoting people on the basis of their politics.  Is Trump an agent of a foreign government doing his best to weaken and destroy our country?  As far-fetched as that seems, it also would provide an explanation for his actions.

The 14th Amendment means different things in different states

Trump opposes the 14th Amendment’s clause that if you are born in the U.S. you are an American citizen.  He is not the first president to oppose it.  President Andrew Johnson complained that under the 14th Amendment, even Chinese born in the U.S. would be citizens.  Johnson was correct, but the President can’t veto amendments to the Constitution.

Trump, of course, thinks he can, and issued an executive order that “birthright citizenship,” as it is often called, is void.  Something like 21 states have now adopted policies following Trump’s lead.  A district court said they couldn’t do that.  The Supreme Court has now ruled that a district court can’t determine law for the entire country.  

So now, if I have this right, in some states, like Texas and Florida, even if you re born here, you won’t necessarily be an American citizen.  In other states, like Pennsylvania, you would be.  I don’t know how this will work in practice, but it has to be one of the worst interpretations of the U.S. Constitution since Plessey v. Ferguson. or the Dred Scot decision.

Zohran Mamdani's mom

She’s Mira Nair.  I would have voted for Mamdani just knowing that.  She directed “Mississippi Masala” starring Denzel Washington.  In the film the Indian girl, played by Sarita Choudhury, falls for Denzel, much to her mother’s dismay.  Sarita then says to her mother, “This is America, Ma.”  I love that line.  I’ve used it in many of my classes.  

So now we have a Muslim as the front-runner in a city with the most Jewish residents on the globe, more than Tel Aviv, more than Jerusalem.  Many of them voted for him.  So did Asians.  So did Latinos.  Blacks not so much, but he beat Cuomo rather soundly.  Keep in mind that this is only the primary.  Eric Adams is running in the general and Cuomo might also run in a third party. 

Nonetheless, a 33-year-old Muslim is now the front runner for the mayor’s seat in New York.  Did I mention he styles himself a democratic socialist.  This is America, Ma. 

A message to "pro-life" Trump supporters

At a Senate hearing today, Sen. Merkley from Oregon asked Russell Vought, Christian nationalist, what he felt about the closing down of foreign aid that has meant the death of approximately a quarter million children around the world from such causes as malaria, malnutrition, and a variety of childhood diseases.  Vought, of Project 2025 fame, denied this was happening.

It’s happening.  Of course it is happening.  Denying it won’t stop it.  Calling yourself a Christian and wearing a cross around your neck won’t stop it.  Of course, the children who are dying probably aren’t Christian and probably haven’t been baptized and probably aren’t white.  

We have never had such a collection of amoral people running our government.  Never.  And we are supposed to celebrate our 250th anniversary as a nation with people like this in charge.  It should be a wake.

Am I on the spectrum?

An excellent article in today’s Times explains why autism seems to be increasing.  It’s the diagnosis that’s changed.  Our daughter, who often works with autistic children, explained this to me years ago.  

In the 1980 the 4th edition of the “bible of psychiatry,” the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, changed the definition of autism.  Prior to that, to be autistic meant that before the age of three you had severe cognitive, interpersonal, emotional, and behavioral problems.  

After 1980 if you had something called Asperger’s syndrome, which is more common and much milder, you were on the “Autism spectrum.”

In my high school graduating class we had a guy who doodled by drawing electrical circuits.  For his science project, he made a synthesizer that played music.  In 1959!  He was socially inept, and I don’t think he went to the prom.  We were sort of friends–I was also socially inept and didn’t go to the prom.  I lost touch with him after graduation, and he died before our fifth reunion in a traffic accident.  Was he autistic or just “on the spectrum?”  You can bet that today he would definitely be diagnosed; back then we just thought he was a genius, which I still believe.

There are advantages to being “on the spectrum” in school.  You can get special help.  It can explain bad behavior.  Unfortunately, guys like Robert Kennedy, Jr., are so dumb they think vaccines cause “autism.”  They do their own research.  And some of them are now in charge of our health care.