Writing is easy

I write a monthly essay for an online magazine edited by a friend who once worked for the Times News.  The assignment is open-ended; basically anything I want to write about as long as it is entertaining.  The word count is about 600.

You are thinking that shouldn’t be a problem.  After all, I usually post every night.  The problem is, after you’ve written about 150 of these essays you start to have problems coming up with a new topic.  I thought about the quote from an American journalist Gene Fowler who said,”Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.”

Maybe I’ll write about Gene Fowler, who not only was a friend of W. C. Fields, but had a successful career as a Hollywood screen writer.  All of this info is from Wikipedia, not AI.  AI can go to hell.  

Maybe I’ll write about being a Luddite.  Look it up in Wikipedia.

ICE agents arrest Pennsylvania poultry workers

That’s the headline in Lancaster Farming, Oct. 3, p. A3.  Remember how they were going to deport the drug dealers and the criminals.  17 poultry workers were arrested during traffic stops on three separate days in Lancaster.  How on earth does that Make America Great Again.

In the meantime Gov. Shapiro’s administration published an online guide for employers.  They have a right to view a copy of a search warrant before allowing federal agents into private areas of the premises, and they have the right to refuse consent in the absence of a valid warrant, probable cause, or exigent circumstances.

I’m not sure what “exigent circumstances” are.

I am sure what authoritarianism looks like.

Something wrong here

The developers of OpenAI and Anthropic have so far spent $55.7 million to influence elections this November.  Other democracies limit spending on elections.  Why can’t we have nice things?

Email to Fetterman

I received a three page email from Fetterman explaining his philosophy and why he couldn't allow socialism to corrupt the Democratic Party.  I sent him the following reply:

Dear Senator Fetterman,

     It is sad that a U.S. Senator does not know the difference between democratic socialists and communists.  You, sir, are a disgrace to Pennsylvanians of all parties.  If this is the result of the stroke, you should resign.  If it is a result of a lack of knowledge of political philosophies, you should also resign.

I am sure I'll hear back.

They're all crooks

No, they’re not.  I thought of this yesterday when I read the obituary of Byron Sher, a state legislator from the San Francisco peninsula.  I met Mr. Sher a number of times.  What I didn’t know was that he was the principal author of the Clean Air Act of 1988 and sponsored a waste management law that led the way to curbside recycling.  He passed legislation to remove dams on the McCloud and saved a redwood forest in Humboldt County.  In 1989 Republican governor George Deukmejian signed a bill sponsored by Sher to require the state to study the effects of global warming.

I worked as a field representative for CA state Senator Jerry Smith.  In my entire time in that office I never saw a scintilla of corruption or wrong-doing.  I was represented in Congress by Don Edwards and later represented by Norman Mineta.  Those were men of the highest moral standards.  

Do you think the men and women who run for borough councils or boards of supervisors or school boards are crooks?  Really?  They might not be the brightest people on the planet, and they often don’t get along with one another, but they are not crooks.

There are crooks in government.  The current occupant of the White House exudes corruption, and his entire family seems to be in on the grift.  But Carter, or Reagan, or George Bush (either one), or President Obama?  You might not agree with their policies, but they were not crooks.  

When you hear “they’re all crooks” you are dealing with someone who is too lazy to participate in self-government and democracy.  That person is both cynical and lazy.

the greatest deliberative body in the world

If you do an internet search for that, Google’s A.I. will tell you that particular phrase refers to the U.S.Senate.  If you have seen or heard about the Senators questioning Jack Smith today, you will be aware that you have just read what is commonly referred to as “A.I. slop.”

Doyle Heffley's campaign mailer on data centers

We received a campaign mailer today from Doyle Heffley, incumbent candidate for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.  Like many of his campaign mailers, it was misleading.  

His very first statement is entitled “Data Center Oversight.” and says “Heffley voted for legislation pausing all zoning considerations on Data Centers.  This gives control back to local municipalities to review the impact of communities and infrastructure.”

What the mailer does not say is that under Pennsylvania law every municipality–both borough and township–must zone for every legal use.  In some cases the use may be physically impossible (Weissport does not have room for an airport, for example).  BUT, every township in the county must make provisions for a data center in that township.  

A township cannot say:  no data centers.  The township might try to impose noise abatement standards or impervious surface requirements, but it must make provision for a data center.  It also may not impose requirements that would make a building a data center impossible.

So when Rep. Heffley says “data center oversight,” he probably means he is off the to side watching the data centers being built.