"New agers" driving toads into extinction

I get so tired of selfish Americans.  The Sonoran Desert toad is on the road to extinction because jerks in the U.S. who want to “expand their consciousness” are smoking a psychedelic compound that is secreted by the toads.  Mexicans are catching the toads and harvesting the secretions until the toads die.  The toads are now in steep decline and may go extinct.  

You want to raise your consciousness, try raising it to the level where you don’t need to kill innocent animals.  

This is just one more example of selfish behavior on the part of Americans who don’t give a damn what they do to the rest of the world.  How many drug cartels and how many Mexican gangs would exist if it weren’t for Americans using drugs like heroin and Fentanyl.  I personally don’t care if people get high.  I just wish they would find a way to do it that doesn’t wreck other countries. 

Drug addiction is an activity of selfish people who ought to know better.  For goodness sake, get addicted to alcohol.  At least you won’t be endangering toads.

Sheer vandalism

Some of the actions of this President make sense in a twisted way.  Trump thinks the world is taking advantage of the U.S., so he proposes tariffs.  I get that he doesn’t understand tariffs, but at least there is some justification, however misguided, for the action.  I get that he thinks brown and black immigrants are a threat to white America, so I understand his support for mass deportations.  I get that he thinks women are to be used–he has said as much–so I get his visits to Epstein’s island to rape teenage girls.

What I don’t get is why we would pull out of UNESCO.  Or why we would pick a fight with Canada.  Or why he is willing to gut workplace safety rules.  The only explanation I can think of for these actions is that Trump is like a young boy who vandalizes a public park and thinks that was an interesting and fun thing to do.

What I also don’t get is that grown men and women, who would take the young boy to the juvenile authorities, seem quite willing to go along with the vandalism.  I have never seen a good explanation for this behavior on the part of Trump or his followers. 

the Washington "Redskins"

 Trump announced he wants the Washington Commanders to go back to their old name, the “Redskins.”  He also supports the Cleveland “Indians.”  

We should honor more groups that way.  The Cincinnati “Krauts,”  The Boston “Micks,” The New York “Dagos,” the Chicago “Polacks,” and the San Francisco “Chinks” could be appropriate.

In honor of Trump’s interest in sports, he should have his own golf team.  I suggest the Mar-a-Lago “Pedos.”

I dump my Paramount stocks

As you probably would guess, I am not a major player in the stock market.  Way back in the 1980s I received a cold call from who I think was a Merrill-Lynch intern asking me if I wanted to buy some stocks.  He recommended something called “Blockbuster.”  I didn’t know what that was, but I thought that was a really cool name, so I bought some shares.  Over the years Blockbuster was sold to another company, which was sold again.  In any case, my few stocks were now part of Paramount, the parent company of CBS.

You know, CBS.  The one that caved and paid off Trump when he sued “60 Minutes” over editing decisions.  The one that cancelled Colbert.  The one that is the definition of “anticipatory obedience.”

So I called Merrill-Lynch and told the representative I no longer wanted to be associated with Paramount, not even to own a few stocks.  Unlike CBS, I do not compromise with evil.  With the money I got from the sale, I invested in something called “Lands End.”  I think they make clothes.  I like the way that sounds.  I don’t know if it has an apostrophe.

(And just so you get the complete picture of my “portfolio,” I also own stock in the New York Times, my go-to source for posting info.  The rest of my savings are in a lard can buried under an apple tree.)

Here's my latest letter to my Congressman, Ryan Mackenzie

Dear Rep. Mackenzie:

I was cleaning out my bookcase when I came across an old elementary school text entitled The First Book of Congress by Harold Coy, c. 1956.  The book explains in simple terms what the House and Senate do.  Obviously some of it is out-of-date, but the basic lesson that Congress is a co-equal branch of government and is in charge of the “purse strings” remains valid.  

Given your votes and those of your Republican colleagues, it is obvious that you do not understand either “checks and balances” or “the separation of powers.”  You and your colleagues in the House and Senate are a co-equal branch of government.  The President does not tell you what to do.

I thought you knew that, but if not, I would be happy to send you the book.  Don’t worry about the cost–even with the ever increasing cost of postage, I will be able to afford the book rate.

Let me know if you would like a copy.

Sincerely,

Roy Christman

 

We don't need no stinkin' energy from windmills

Sen. Josh Hawley said he has a commitment from Energy Secretary Wright to stop a loan guarantee that the Energy Department had previously offered to the company Invenergy.  That company was ready to build an $11 billion transmission line from Kansas windmills to Indiana and Illinois.  The line would cross Missouri.  The governor of Missouri and Missouri senator Josh Hawley want it killed.

Trump is all in on this, since he doesn’t like electrical power generated by windmills.

It is difficult to believe how stupid and short-sighted these guys are.  By the way, one of the reasons they say they opposed the transmission line was because it could use eminent domain for the right-of-way.  They have no problem with using eminent domain for fracking gas pipelines, however.

I speak from experience on that one.

Some of the information for this post is from David Gelles, “Hawley Gets Trump’s Help in Bid To Quash the Grain Belt Express, New York Times, (19 July 2025), p. A10. 

Nixon Redux

One of the advantages of being old is that you remember stuff.  After we discovered that Nixon had taped conversations in the Oval Office, Nixon said, in effect, The tapes prove I am innocent, but you can’t hear them.  Of course, we all knew that if the tapes proved he were innocent, he would have delivered them to the special prosecutor with a Brinks Armored Truck.

Now we get the same story from Trump.  I am innocent, I didn’t do anything wrong, I hardly knew that Epstein guy, but you can’t see the papers even though they would prove this.  

Yeah, right.

At least Nixon didn’t force himself on underage girls.

Lies from the Department of Homeland Security

First, here is what Mayor Bass said about the raids in L.A.:  “These reckless, unlawful raids are fueled by racial profiling that has driven fear in communities, tearing families apart, crushing entire sectors of the economy because people are afraid to go to work and flying in the face of American democratic values.”

That is the absolute truth.  How many white people are caught up in the raids?  How many undocumented Irish in Boston have been picked up?  How many Russians?  This whole raid business is pure racism.

Tricia McLaughlin, an ICE spokeswoman, will now give you the line of bullshit:  “The intensity and pace will continue until we get the terrorists, gang members, murderers, rapists and child abusers off Los Angeles streets.”  

If they  are looking for rapists and child abusers, maybe they should be going after the people mentioned in the Epstein report rather than the guys picking lettuce and hanging drywall.

The quotes from Mayor Bass and the ICE spokeswoman are from Hamed Aleaziz and Orlando Mayorquin, “Arrests of Immigrants Spike in Sweep of Los Angeles Area,” New York Times, (July 12, 2025), p. A 17.

Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto

Written by Japanese philosophy professor Kohei Saito, Slow Down has become an international best seller.  The book has been translated into 14 languages.  I have not read it yet, but from the reviews I have seen, it sounds like something we all need to read.

I’ve been thinking about this since the early 1970s, when Gov. Jerry Brown held up a copy of E. F. Schumacher’s book Small is Beautiful and told us to read it.  Schumacher said he didn’t know what would cause society to collapse.  He added, “I do know that a society which seeks fulfillment only in mindless material expansion does not fit into this world for long.  There simply is no place for infinite growth on a finite planet.”

While everyone is excited about AI and all the money that is being invested, very few people seem bothered by the need for “rare earth” materials or the electricity needed to run the machines or the amount of water needed to cool the machinery.  

In the meantime the Trump administration is doing what it can to INCREASE global warming, which it dismisses as a hoax.

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.