Summarizing the verdict

I don’t have the time to go through each of the 34 felony counts in the Trump trial, so I thought I would summarize each of them.  I hope this will be helpful.

1.  guilty.  2.  guilty.  3.  guilty.  4.  guilty.  5.  guilty.  6.  guilty.  7.  guilty.  8.  guilty.  9.  guilty.  10.  guilty.  11.  guilty.  12.  guilty.  13.  guilty.  14.  guilty.  15.  guilty.  16.  guilty.  17.  guilty.  18.  guilty.  19.  guilty.  20.  guilty.  21.  guilty.  22.  guilty.  23.  guilty.  24.  guilty.  25.  guilty.  26.  guilty.  27.  guilty.  28.  guilty.  29.  guilty.  30.  guilty.  31.  guilty.  32.  guilty.  33.  guilty.  34.  guilty.  

 

Black players in Major League Baseball

In the 1970s and 1980s, when I was living in the Bay Area, approximately one in five major league ballplayers was black.  I think it may have been higher on the Oakland A’s.  This season black players accounted for 6 percent of opening day rosters, only 57 players across 30 teams.

One reason, according to Ken Griffey, is because of the rise of “travel teams.”  Not sure what these were, I called my good friend who has a vast knowledge of sports.  He explained that travel teams are run privately.  They are not connected to schools or even communities.  Players pay a fee, often hefty, and their parents take them to the games, sometimes in other states.  Parents stay in hotels.  The kids are usually recruited for their skills, and they are told that college coaches and even professional coaches will see them play.

Obviously, kids of parents who don’t have the money to pay the fees or the travel expenses won’t be on the team, whatever their race.  Once again in the U.S. money seems to be the crucial factor in success, in this case in baseball.

The statistics and Ken Griffey info were taken from an article by Tyler Kepner in The New York Times, (29 May 2024), p. B-9.

Why don't more Israeli's object?

A number of my friends have wondered why more Israelis don’t object to the carnage in Gaza.  Why aren’t they taking to the streets to protest their government’s policies?  Many have objected, but a majority continues to support Netanyahu.  

I think it is important to note that when the U.S. began extensive use of napalm and cluster bombs in Vietnam, American streets were not exactly filled with protestors.  

If you are splashed with napalm and you jump in a river, the napalm will keep burning. Cluster bombs are bombs that contain bomblets that contain shrapnel.  The shrapnel will not penetrate a brick wall, but it will penetrate flesh.  The shrapnel is not round BBs, but odd-shaped, because that will cause more damage to a human body.  

I’m not excusing the Israeli reluctance to criticize the government policy in Gaza.  I do understand it.  I have a good memory.

He really doesn't like you, Clarence

Clarence Thomas actually thinks that the billionaire Harlan Crow is his close friend.  After all, Mr. Crow gives him expensive gifts and invites him on vacations on his yacht and puts up with Ginni Thomas, one of the most unlikable people you can find.  

What Justice Thomas doesn’t recognize is that if he were impeached, Crow would drop him like a hot coal.  He wouldn’t let Thomas mow his lawn. 

Frustration

I want to apologize to any readers who wonder what is happening.  First our cable connection went down; Linda fixed that after about a day.  Now I used an non HP ink cartridge in the printer, and HP, I guess to punish me, shut down my printer.  I am not smart enough to fix it, although I spent the last 45 minutes trying.  

Some guy in Slatington mocked my letter criticizing Lansford for not accepting cash for borough charges, and lectured me about getting a credit card and told me to try using a computer.  It's fun, he said.  I wish I had his number.

"One Love"

I finally saw the Bob Marley biopic entitled “One Love.”  I have the T-shirt and a necklace with the lion, and now I’ve seen the film.  Brad Pitt was a producer, and the main actors were very good. ”Let’s get together and feel all right.”

Nikki, Nikki, Nikki

Name three prominent Republicans who have the integrity to defy Trump.  I said three because I can only think of two–Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney.  They both paid a price for their opposition to Trump.  Cheney lost her re-election bid, and Romney is not running again.  On the other hand, they retained their integrity and can sleep with a clear conscience.  Two.

Now name 20 Republicans who are fully aware that Trump is incompetent, a danger to America and the world, and should never be allowed near the Oval Office.  The 20 Republicans you name should also be reasonably intelligent, are familiar with Trump’s actions, and must know he is a charlatan.  They may have been critical of him in the past, like J.D. Vance or Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio, but now, for their sheer self-interest and cowardice, they suck up to him.  You can go down the list of Republican governors, Senators, or Representatives.  The list will grow long.

And now Nikki Haley.  I feel like the newsboy who confronted “Shoeless” Joe Jackson of the Chicago “Black Sox” after the World Series cheating scandal.  “Say it ain’t so, Joe.”  I’m that little boy:  “Say it ain’t so, Nikki.”

Unfortunately it is.   

The Wild West (in Columbus, Ohio)

So, here’s the scoop.  Mr. Keys and his wife were getting into their car after a Father’s Day visit with Mrs. Keys’s grandparents.  A 72-year-old neighbor came out carrying a rifle.  He believed that Mr. Keys had let the air out of his daughter’s tires and poisoned his lawn.  That’s the first gun.

Mr. Keys was carrying a pistol in his waistband.  That’s the second gun.  His father-in-law tried to disarm the guy with the rifle and knocked him down, but in the meantime another relative ran into the house to get a .22 rifle.  That’s gun number three.  

Mrs. Keys ducked behind the car to call 911 when she heard gunshots, multiple gunshots.  Some ex-marine across the street had opened up with a ghost gun assault rifle, gun number four.  He hit Mr.Keys five times and killed him.  

Trump wants to eliminate all the paltry gun safety measures that the Biden administration enacted.  I’m not sure that would make much difference in any case.  While I’m on the subject of Trump and his proposal, why are attendees at his rallies not allowed to bring their guns in?  What’s with that?  Is the Trump campaign willing to trample on the 2nd Amendment?

Info from the shootout in Columbus, Ohio, is from a page one article in the May 21 issue of the New York Times.  In another indicator of life in our times, somebody had filmed the entire episode.

Not On Our Dime

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed a bill that would strip New York nonprofits of their tax exempt status if their funds are used to support settlement activity on the West Bank.  Right-wing fanatics are building illegal settlements on the West Bank, committing atrocities against Palestinians, and doing their best to drive out the inhabitants.  One of those right-wing fanatics sits on Netanyahu’s cabinet, and Netanyahu depends on the parties backing the settlements to stay in power.

The West Bank Jewish settlers, some of whom won’t even serve in the Israeli Army, are a main impediment to peace.  Secretary of State Blinken said the settlements in Palestinian territories are “ inconsistent with international law.”  The U.S. has imposed sanctions of some of the settlers accused of violence against Palestinians. 

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee opposes the Not On Our Dime bill.  Of course it does.

I do not want to be behind this guy in the checkout line

We were in Schuylkill County today.  Just east of the town of Schuylkill Haven a guy has a sign in his yard that says “I’m paying out the ass for Joe Biden’s policies.”

Now I can’t get this image out of my head.

Pronouns

I’ve been a member of the American Civil Liberties Union since I was an undergraduate at Ursinus College in the early Sixties, although I did quit for a time after the Santa Clara County Chapter defended the right of prostitutes to work in our neighborhood near San Jose State.  Would-be customers would cruise the streets and proposition female students.  Eventually I did rejoin ACLU, and I’ve been a member for decades.

The latest newsletter just arrived, and it has pictures and descriptions of some of the volunteers along with their desired pronouns.  Since there is little reason to ever contact these people personally, and since no one will remember their names anyway, what is the reason for listing their desired pronouns?  It is to show how “with it,” how sensitive, how caring ACLU is.

When I am introduced to someone, I sometimes have trouble remembering his or her name five minutes later.  Now you want me to remember pronouns as well.  This is why people make fun of “progressives.” 

Union busting in the South

Workers in the Mercedes-Benz plant outside of Tuscaloosa are voting on whether to join the U.A.W.  Southern politicians, depending on low-wage workers to fill their factory jobs, are in an uproar.  Republican governors of six states (Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Tennessee) issued a statement in April criticizing unions as “special interests looking to come into our state and threaten our jobs and the values we live by.”  

The values they live by evidently include keeping workers at the mercy of large corporations and forbidding them to bargain as a group.  Alabama’s Speaker of the state’s House of Representatives called the U.A.W. “leeches” and pushed through a law that denies funding to any company that voluntary recognizes a union.  

Mercedes has already fired workers who supported the union.  

Information for this article was taken in part from Jack Ewing, “Turning Point As Auto Union Eyes Alabama, New York Times, (May 17, 2024), pp. A1, A20.  Anger and disgust with the South are my own personal views 

Whippoorwills

Earlier this evening I heard a whippoorwill call.  It is the first time in many years.  In the Fifties I would hear them every night; a wonderful sound and one of the few birds I could imitate fairly well.  

According to the Cornell Ornithology Lab, whippoorwills are in steep decline, dropping 69% between 1966 and 2010.  Scientists don’t know why.  You can hear their sound on YouTube.  In a few years that may be the only place you can hear them.

Was That So Hard?

I support the Israeli people.

Netanyahu is a terrorist.

I support the Palestinians.

Hamas is a terrorist organization.

See how easy that was.

My friend Bill sent me that meme a few days ago.  I think it sums up exactly how I feel.  Hamas is a terrible organization.  It has never cared for the Palestinian people, nor has it done anything to better their lives.  Netanyahu is currently under criticism from his own military for having no idea what to do with Gaza once Hamas is defeated.  He is only interested in maintaining power.

You can support the right of the Palestinians to have their own state without calling for the end of Israel.  You can see Hamas for what it is without supporting the attack on Rafah.  You can be an adult.

Pete McCloskey, 1927-2024

 Soon after I moved to California, I drove to the town of Walnut Creek to see this bank festooned with a huge peace sign.  The bank was under the direction of Pete McCloskey.  McCloskey, a Congressman, had earlier beaten Shirley Temple Black in a race for Congress, a campaign detailed in the book The Sinking of the Lollipop.   In 1971 he launched a campaign against Richard Nixon.  McCloskey, a Marine who won the Navy Cross, two Purple Hearts, and a Silver Star in the Korean War, had visited Vietnam three times and was horrified by the napalm attacks and the use of cluster bombs.

Of course he lost to Nixon, but he kept fighting for good causes.  One of his bills was the Endangered Species Act of 1973.  

In 1987 he was sued for libel for $35 million by Pat Robertson, the “Christian” evangelical who was then running for President.  Robertson claimed he was a combat Marine in the Korean War; McCloskey said it was a lie.  When many other Marine officers said they were willing to testify that Robertson had avoided combat, Robertson then said he didn’t have time to both sue and run for President.  He dropped the suit and paid the court costs.  

In 2006 McCloskey said that the Republican Party was hostile to progressive causes, and he became a registered Democrat.  He died a few days ago at age 96.  He was a true patriot.

Some of the information for this post was taken from McCloskey’s obituary written by Robert D. McFadden in the New York Times, (May 10, 2024), p. A 21.

Lansford refuses cash

Sometimes people will say to me “I’ll text you.”  Then I explain that I don’t have a smart phone, and they find this hard to comprehend.  Doesn’t everybody have one?

When Katrina hit New Orleans the evacuation order detailed the routes for cars to leave the city.  What the authorities didn’t realize was that thousands of residents of New Orleans did not own cars.  

Lansford Borough Council has decided that the Borough will not accept cash for payments for sewage transmission fees and other charges.  You can pay be credit cards or by check.  Unfortunately, many residents of Lansford have neither bank accounts nor credit cards.  Believe me, they don’t.

When asked how they could pay, a Councilwoman said, “They can get a money order.”  Really?  Then they have to go the the Post Office.  And money orders also have a fee.  This is typical of authorities who can’t imagine how some people live.  They assume that since they have a checking account or a credit card, doesn’t everyone?  No, some of us don’t.  This discriminatory rule should be rescinded.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

My review:  Caesar, the one-time Ape leader, preached “ape not kill ape,” and believed that apes and humans could live in harmony.  But that was a long time ago, and Caesar’s teaching have been perverted by Proximus Caesar, who uses force to remain in power and greets his subjects in a ranting daily speech that opens by claiming that it is a wonderful day. 

His followers hang on every word, saluting him and cheering him on, hoping to Make Apes Great Again, although they don’t wear the hats.  In the end some human/ape cooperation manages to overthrow Proximus, although the relationship between the peaceful apes and the human (who has a pistol and knows how to use it) is left ambiguous, no doubt a setup for the sequel.  

Northern Lights quest

Perhaps for the first time ever the Northern Lights were supposed to be visible in northeast Pennsylvania.  A major electrical disturbance meant we might be able to see this phenomenon.  

Unfortunately it was cloudy both last night and tonight.  Nonetheless we gave it a shot, driving up to Penn Forest Township, then heading toward Hickory Run State Park.  We found a wide-open farm field (Getz’s farm) with a good view to the north and very little ambient light.

Also, no northern lights.  Darn.

The Fall Guy

At one point in my life I was seeing approximately a movie a week.  I loved movies, perhaps because I saw so few growing up.  I audited a film class in grad school, and I helped to develop and taught a course in “political films” at San José State. 

Now I must drive at least 25 miles to see a movie.  As I probably complained before, Carbon County, PA, does not have a single movie theater, although Palmerton once had three, Lehighton two, and Nesquehoning and Lansford at least one each.

Today we drove to Stroudsburg to see “The Fall Guy” with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.  It’s a romantic comedy, partly about making movies.  (Hollywood loves movies about making movies.)  It had its moments, but like so many movies today, it was about 40 minutes too long.  The saddest thing was that there was only one other person in the theater.  No wonder movie theaters are disappearing.

Tonight: Florida legislation praised

Yesterday I took the Florida legislature and Gov. DeSantis to task for passing a bill that says lab grown meat is illegal in Florida.  Sometimes the state actually does the right thing.  The legislature just passed and DeSantis will most likely sign a bill making it illegal for balloons to be released into the air.  

When they eventually land balloons are ingested by animals, including fish and birds.  Because of the material, the balloons do not disintegrate for a long time, and animals die.  Many states, including Pennsylvania, already ban the release of balloons into the air.  It is good legislation.

No lab-grown meat in Florida

It’s not yet available for consumers, but if it is eventually commercially viable (no need to kill animals, better for the environment), you won’t be able to buy it in Florida.  DeSantis pushed and passed a law to make it illegal to buy lab-grown meat.

This is typical Republican behavior.  Favor free enterprise and limited government, but then decide you will tell people what they can eat.  I’m surprised they haven’t gone after plant-based milk.  About 15% of “milk” sold in the U.S. is now plant-based.  

My take on this is that if people want to drink plant-based milk and eat lab-grown meat, it is their choice.  But I’m a guy who believes in free enterprise and resents big government making my food choices.

Super-Ager

In a recent study of “super-agers,” scientists found out that slightly fewer than 10% of old people have the memory abilities of people 20 to 30 years younger.  These super-agers had more volume in areas of the brain important for memory, especially in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, whatever they are.  

There was little difference between the super-agers and regular old people in terms of diet, exercise, amount of sleep, professional backgrounds, or alcohol consumption.  

The only thing that seemed to set them apart was that they had strong social relationships.  I’m thinking it may be more a matter of will power.  So I’ve decided to be a super-ager.  Go ahead, ask me anything except what I did ten minutes ago.

See Dana G. Smith, “Peering Inside the Brains of “Super-Agers,” New York Times, (7 May 2024), p. D6. 

The Voting Rights Speech

Lyndon Johnson gave his speech on the Voting Rights Act in 1965.  In this time of division and hatred , it is good to be reminded of that speech.  Here is a portion:

There is no constitutional issue here.  The command of the Constitution is plain.  There is no moral issue.  It is wrong–deadly wrong–to deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote in this country.  There is no issue of states’ rights or national rights.  There is only the struggle for human rights....

This time, on this issue, there must be no delays or no hesitation or no compromise with our purpose....

But even if we pass this bill, the battle will not be over.  What happened in Selma is part of a far large movement which reaches in every section and state of America.  It is the effort of American Negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life.

Their cause must be our cause too.  Because it is not just Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice.

And–we–shall–overcome.  

I saw that speech on television with two fellow students in a rooming house at Penn State.  We cheered.  We had so much hope.

Protecting the right to vote

In Pennsylvania you may not hand out political material within ten feet of a polling place.  This is barely enforced; I’ve seen polling places where voters must run a gauntlet of partisan activists, sometimes loud and rude, accosting voters.  In Palmerton one of the polling places featured a man yelling at voters while holding the leash of a large and fierce-looking dog.  At the East Penn polling location a crowd of activists was almost blocking the door.  I think one of the reasons more Democrats are voting by mail is that they just don’t want to deal with obnoxious MAGA types acting like bullies.

The latest meeting of the Carbon County Democratic Executive Board passed a resolution asking our state representatives to introduce legislation extending the no solicitation zone to 50 feet.  People can still hold up signs and pass out literature, but they must be at least 50 feet from the front door.  Since some states have a 100 foot zone, 50 feet seems reasonable.  

If the legislature won’t extend the zone by November and you are accosted, remember you can use your outside voice.  And call the cops.  And register a complaint with election authorities.  It is illegal to interfere with voters.