Bombing hospitals

When Trump threatened to destroy the Iranian civilization, most people viewed that as a future threat.  Little did we know the process had already started.  The Times today on page A10 published a partial list of some of the dozens of civilian structures hit by U.S. and Israeli bombs.  Those are two countries that brag about their accuracy in targeting.  

I can’t list all of the buildings damaged or destroyed, but they included the Isfahan University of Technology, the Gandhi Hospital, The Khatam al-Anbia Hospital, the Motahari Burn and Trauma Hospital, the Tehran Emergency Center, the Ghazal Surgical Center, the Imam Ali Hospital, the Delaram Sina Psychiatric Hospital, the Hedayat Boys’ High School, and the Shahid Mahallati Elementrary School.  

This is what Hegseth was praying for.  These are our bombs.

Pope Leo is "weak on crime"

Do we really need to respond to this kind of idiocy?  Is there anything left to say?  Or do we just throw up our hands and move on?  Evidently that is what members of Congress and members of the Cabinet are doing.  

And how do you respond to Trump as Jesus?  Evidently somebody got to him on that one, since he removed the picture some hours after he posted it.  And then he said he thought he was being portrayed as a doctor.  That was so cute.

There is some debate about whether Trump is mentally ill.  Why is that up for debate?  Let me make it clear in case you have doubts.  Yes, Trump is mentally ill.  Period.  And he is in charge of nuclear weapons.

Orban loses in Hungary

In June 2016 the people of the U.K. voted to leave the European Union.  This was a huge shock to many people, including me.  I had a very bad feeling.  If that could happen in the U.K., I saw it as an omen for our own Presidential election that November.  My fears were justified; Trump won.

Today in Hungary the Tisza party won a smashing victory, and the authoritarian dictator Viktor Orban is out.  He didn’t even claim the election was stolen; he congratulated his opponent.  This was after Orban received the support of Putin and Trump.  Netanyahu and J.D. Vance both campaigned for Orban.  None of that mattered.  In fact, all of that probably hurt him.  

I have a very good feeling.  The tide is turning.  This is an omen of what will happen here in November.  You read it here first.

My friend Roger

This morning I emailed my friend Roger in New Jersey to ask him how goldfinches could change from drab grey to bright yellow in less than a week.  Roger in his later life became an amazing birder and photographer of birds, and I figured he would know.  I also asked him about Zillow, the real estate company.  I wanted to know how it worked, and I figured he could tell me, since he had been a realtor for most of his life.

At noon I got a call from his wife, and I had a bad feeling.  She said their daughter had read my email, and she wanted me to know that Roger had died last evening from heart-related issues.  

I met him my first year at Ursinus College, when he was a sophomore.  We lived in the same dorm for three years.  When I went to grad school at Penn State, Roger was an MBA student, and we were apartment mates.  We each had one daughter, and we kept in touch for the last 60 years, occasionally visiting and emailing.  

My father died when he was 91.  He said the hardest thing about getting old was seeing your friends die.  I had five really good friends from my Ursinus days.  I’ve lost touch with two of them, and the other three have died.  I didn’t see Roger that often, but I will miss him.

Another rant about cats and deer

Two species have a deleterious effect on Pennsylvania’s natural environment–cats and deer.  House cats kill millions of birds each year.  The Audubon Society reports that many bird species are in major decline, and one of the big reasons is cats.  We actually have a local organization that takes care of feral cats, raises money for them, and feeds them.  The cats are neutered, but neutered cats kill birds.  But the cates are so cute and furry and cuddly.  No, they aren’t.  They are killing machines.

And deer.  Tonight I counted 23 deer in our fields behind our house.  We rent out those fields to a friend and nearby farmer.  This year I will tell him not to pay me.  With a deer herd that big eating soybeans down to the ground, how can he make any money?  In the Poconos you can see though the forest.  There’s a “browse line.”  The deer eat all the vegetation as far as they can reach.  And people feed them!  But the fawns are so cute.  No, they aren’t.  They are destroying crops and forests.  The only natural predators are coyotes, and there aren’t nearly enough of them.

Raising the retirement age

Social Security was enacted in 1935 and payments began in 1937.  Life expectancy for men and women at that time was in the low Sixties, although, like today, it was roughly two years higher for women than men.  The retirement age for collecting Social Security was 65.  

Now recipients can retire earlier.  I retired at age 62, although I did continue part-time employment for another five or six years.  The average life expectancy for men is about 79, although it is inching upward.  This means that more people are receiving Social Security payments for more years, and it is putting a strain on the system.

A number of proposals have been advanced to ensure that the system does not go bankrupt.  One is to have more undocumented workers, since they often pay into the system but don’t collect the benefits.  This seems both unfair and immoral.

Another proposal is to raise the retirement age.  Who advances that idea?  If you check, you will find it is often proposed by members of Congress, economists, and the Republican business class.  You will not find it proposed by janitors, long-haul truck drivers, warehouse workers, miners. and construction workers.  

My idea is to peg the year you collect Social Security to the life expectancy of the workers in your field.  It should be relatively easy to figure that out.  Then you pass a law that you can collect your payments five years before your average life expectancy.  You’d probably need to factor in incomes and the availability of medical care.  If you are working as a college professor and you didn’t like that system, then become a construction worker or a miner.  I think that would work.

Return of the Flip Phones

Quite a large number of members of the Gen Z generation are turning in their Smart Phones for old-fashioned flip phones.  According to a recent article by Matthew Shaer, there are “Luddite clubs” at some high schools and on college campuses.  There is even a phone-free campaign known as the “Reconnect Movement” which has as its slogan, “We’re all craving something real.”  According to a recent poll, over half of the Gen Z respondents had experimented with “digital detoxing,” far more than baby boomers.

I am always so pleased when I am on the cusp of a new trend.