What goes around...

So Biden called Trump supporters at Madison Square Garden “garbage.”  These were the people who laughed when a “comedian” called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”  These were the people who thought it proper to call people like me “vermin.”

Now their feelings are hurt.  After years of using pornographic terms for Biden, for Kamala Harris, and for Democrats in general on signs, flags, and at rallies, their feelings are hurt.  

In the words of J. D. Vance, “I am done with that.”  What a bunch of snowflakes.

José Delgado and Ron DeSantis

Mr. Delgado is a 75-year-old farmworker in Florida.  He suffered a heat stroke in 2018, when he was hospitalized.  A group called “We Count!” formed shortly thereafter to push for local laws that would require employers to provide water and rest and shade breaks for Miami-Dade County’s agriculture and construction workers on excessively hot days.

Leaders in the agriculture and construction industry said such rules would create “an unneeded burden” on those industries.

In April Gov. Ron DeSantis, signed a bill banning cities and counties from imposing protections on agricultural and construction workers.

DeSantis was sitting in his air conditioned office at the time.

Information for this post came from Patricia Mazzei, “At 75, A Florida Farmworker Still Toils Under a Hot Sun,” New York Times, (27 Oct. 2024), P. 17.

Undecided?

We are still encountering people who say they are undecided in the Presidential election.  I’m not sure I even believe them, but I always have an urge to say, “What the f--- is wrong with you?”

Don’t worry.  I never say it.  But I think it.

By the way, Bad Bunny has endorsed Harris.  Trump is toast.

Your freedoms

This is from a meme, but I thought it worth repeating:

Republicans want to tell you what books you can read, what meds you can take, what words you can say, what history you can learn, what you can do with your uterus, what gender you are, and who you can love...but tell me more about how the Democrats are “coming for your freedoms.”

I can't wait for this to be over

Sign deliveries, parades, phone calls, insults from MAGA cult members, canvassing in Nesquehoning and Weissport and Summit Hill, waking up at night wondering about the future of my country and our grandson’s country if Trump wins.  It goes on and on.

I just wish it were over with a huge Harris victory and the MAGA movement with Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch and J.D. Vance and Marjorie Taylor Green and the whole Trump entourage slinking off into the sunset.  

I can’t wait.

Best parade ever in Jim Thorpe

We had four people distributing candy, one filling the empty candy buckets, two carrying a banner that said “Carbon County Democrats,” and me driving the truck with a boom box on top broadcasting “Freedom” by Beyonce.  (My friend René figured out how to connect the boom box to the cigarette lighter; it also involved a cell phone, and it sounded great.)  

We got lots of cheers, thumbs up, friendly waves, and requests for Kamala Harris stickers.  The Republicans had three vehicles from which they threw candy.  What a dour and unhappy group of people.

I was wearing a Dolly Parton wig and a Trump supporter yelled, “Trans.  Harris will love you.”  I blew him a kiss, and I thought the top of his head was coming off.

It was a great day for the Democrats.

Democrats are coming for your guns! Again!

Once again Democrats are coming for your guns.  They are coming into your houses and seizing not only your assault rifles, but also your shotguns, rifles, even 22 pistols.  

We Democrats have done this before.  Remember how under Obama we seized all of your guns.  And then in Obama’s second term we came back and seized them again.  And then when Biden was elected we came into your houses and took them all again.  And now we will be taking them again.  So many guns.  Every four years.  You remember.

E.Coli at McDonalds

I am not making this up.  A few days after Trump made his appearance at a McDonald’s, E.Coli was traced to McDonald’s burgers.  One person has died and 49 have been sickened so far.

See Teddy Rosenbluth, “E.Coli Outbreak Is Tied To McDonald’s Burgers, The New York Times, (24 Oct. 2024), p. B3.

Along Pohopoco Drive

I live on Pohopoco Drive in Towamensing Township.  Within two miles of my house are three displays of Trump signs.  One includes a very large sign on why you should vote Republican.  Unfortunately for the sign installer, what probably seemed huge on his kitchen table is quite small when you are driving by.  The only way you could read the sign is to come to a full stop.  I have neither the time nor the inclination to do that.

Down the road a few hundred yards is an array of Republican candidate signs, including those for Trump, on both sides of the road.  I’m not sure if the residents are in competition or cooperating.  It’s so cute.

Finally, another mile or so to the west is a Trump sign with Vice Presidential space neatly cut out.  You can see through the sign.  At first I thought it might be someone who didn’t like J.D. Vance, but since Vance lacks even Trump’s ethical standards, it finally hit me.  The sign was from the 2020 election and the cut-out part was Pence.  The guy was too cheap to buy a new sign, and he didn’t want to include the guy Trump wanted to hang on January 6.  

Another reason to hate open primaries

At a time when Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to take Georgia, they must also deal with a “Democratic” Congressional candidate in the northern suburbs of Atlanta who favors mass deportations, calls immigrants “invading ungrateful hordes,” and wants to repeal the right to gay marriage.

The Democratic Party is urging voters to write in an actual Democratic candidate, but that takes work and money and detracts from the presidential election.  How did this fake Democratic candidate get on the ballot?  The general opinion is that in Georgia’s open primary, Republicans crossed over to nominate the kook.  

I’ve heard people say that in an open primary, cross-over mischief wouldn’t happen.  Of course it does.  A primary should be how a party nominates its own candidates.  Other parties have no place in that process.  

Trump's second term?

People keep worrying about Trump’s second term and what he will do about the environment.  In its quarterly magazine Earthjustice has reminded us of just how bad he was in his first term.  I can’t list all of the things he did, but here are a few in case you have forgotten:

gutted Obama-era methane pollution standards.

decimated Obama-era clean car and fuel economy standards.

eviscerated the National Environmental Policy Act.

pulled out of the Paris Agreement on climate.

gutted Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.
tried to weaken protections against coal ash pollution.

tried to rewrite the standards on the Endangered Species Act.

overturned a moratorium on coal leasing on public lands.  

There are more.  In some cases Earthjustice and other environmental groups were able to stop or blunt Trump administrative actions; in some cases the fight goes on.

And that was in the first four years he was in office.

By the way, Jill Stein is a disgrace.  Once again we have a candidate who is willing to put personal ambition above the environment and the country.  That woman is a blight on the Green movement.  There is nothing “green” about her.  Take it from a founding member of the CA Green Party.

First political memory

The year is 2074.  I’m a student in a Cultural History class in the Delaware River Watershed University, and I’ve been given an assignment to interview a person over fifty about their first political memory.  I find an old guy who is 54, far older than the average person lives in our time.  I ask if it  [gender specific pronouns were outlawed in 2031] can remember its first political memory.

It says the following:.  “I was at a parade in a town called Palmerton.  I remember people walking by, and they would give us candy.  A man came by from a group that was supporting someone named Harris.  I think she was running for what was then called 'the president.'  I had put out my bucket for the candy he was distributing, and my father said, 'Don’t take that candy!  That is from the Democrats.' ” 

It continued:  “I didn’t know who the Democrats were, but I remember being really disappointed.  I think that was just before the the Great Dismemberment, when the country called United States broke up into eight different countries.”

The Lehighton Halloween parade

Today we were in the Lehighton Halloween parade.  The “we” were seven of us on the Carbon County Democratic Party entry; a decorated pickup truck with our volunteers passing out candy to the kids.

My friend Midge and I sat in the bed of the truck and filled the buckets of the candy distributors when their buckets were empty.  I am no longer able to walk the route.

It was fun, but I don’t understand the need of Trump supporters along the route to boo and holler insults.  I don’t believe Harris supporters insulted the volunteers on the Trump float when it went by, although I could be wrong.  

When I asked my friend why Trump supporters were such jerks, she said it was because Trump himself encourages that type of behavior.  So here we are, at a Halloween parade, and the Trump followers are simply doing what their leader wants them to do–act as a spoiled and unruly child, just like he does.

Jalapeños

I grow quite a few hot peppers, including Scotch bonnets, chiles, habaneros, Hungarian wax, Jamaican yellows, cherries, and many more.  I’ve noticed that jalapeños are no longer hot.  They never were in the range of Scotch bonnets and habaneros, but they did have some heat.

Now I’ve learned, thanks to a professor at New Mexico State University and info from my friend René, that the heat is being bred out of jalapeños to make them more acceptable to wimpy Americans who think they like Mexican food, but want to make it less spicy.

This is pathetic.  If you want some peppers with spice, if you want some salsa that will take the top of your head off, contact me.  Not that I’m crazy.  I don’t grow ghost peppers or Carolina reapers.  Even I have my limits. 

Predicting MAGA voters

Once again I learned you cannot predict from appearance who will be a MAGA voter.  While canvassing in Jim Thorpe this afternoon I approached an older white guy with a trucker hat, tee shirt, and large dog.  I thought, “This is not going to go well.”  Then I learned that the guy was a retired steel worker who couldn’t stand Trump and said he certainly was voting for Harris.

I just realized that “older white guy with a trucker hat and tee shirt” is a description that fits me down to the tee.  No dog, though.

Werewolf moon

I always think of a night with a full moon peeking from behind the moving clouds as a “werewolf night” ever since I first saw Lon Chaney, Jr. in “The Werewolf.”  That old gypsy woman, Maria Ouspenskaya, warned him, even if he was dubious.  We know better.

Even a man who is pure in heart

and says his prayers by night

may become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms

and the moon is full and bright.

WOOOOOO00oooooo

What to tell your friends and relatives who support Trump

One:  The reason the race is so close is because there are not enough pickup trucks flying huge Trump flags.  Studies have shown that every time a pickup truck goes by with a huge Trump flag, more people vote for Trump.  If they don’t have a pickup, they should rent one.  And four or five flags would be even better.

Two:  You heard that two really good investments are Truth Social and Trump’s new crypto company.  After all, he has been a very successful businessman, and his wine company and Trump University and the casinos made lots of money.  They can’t go wrong investing in a Trump company.

Three:  It is important that Trump supporters vote in person.  This year the election will be held on Wednesday, November 6.  Polls open at 7 a.m.

Mormons for Trump

The Trump campaign is putting out merch for Latter Day Saints.  They can purchase a “Latter Day Saint for Trump” coffee mug or a beer cozy.  

Think about that.

Canvassing in Weissport

Weissport is a tiny borough on the edge of the Lehigh River in Carbon County.  It is home to a wonderful ice cream store, a small restaurant which makes excellent breakfasts and lunches, but closes at 1 p.m., a very good pizza joint, and Rep. Doyle Heffley’s office.  Like most towns in Carbon County, it has a drug problem, but little kids also ride their bikes around town without fear.  

We canvassed Weissport on Saturday and Sunday.  We found quite a few Harris supporters, although they don’t advertise it with signs and flags like the Trumpists do.  We did not go to houses with Trump signs, and we did encounter some meanness.  When I talked to one Democrat who was voting for Trump, I said I just can’t imagine deporting 13 million people.  She said, “We let them in, didn’t we?”  I ended that contact.

I also met a Democrat in her seventies who said Biden ruined the economy.  I mentioned the economy was strong, and she came back with “I know what groceries cost.”

Only one guy hurled insults and curse words at us, but we also got a mail-in ballot application from a bed-ridden Harris supporter who wouldn’t have voted if we hadn’t canvassed.  Since we visited fewer than 100 people, that is more than one percent.  That’s why we canvass

Victories

I took very seriously the warning that we might have a killing frost last night and harvested about half of my pepper plants and covered the rest.  When I woke up this morning I found a thick coating of frost on the truck windshield, but my peppers–Scotch bonnets, jalapeños, serranos, cherries, habaneros, and Jamaican yellows–were saved.  I feel good about that.

In these times we must celebrate small victories.  Tomorrow we are going canvassing for Harris and the rest of the Democratic ticket in Weissport.  That is to help ensure the big victory.

Doyle Heffley on the cover

Today I attended an open house sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Trachsville Firehouse.  The open house featured information on the Corps’ plan to update the comprehensive plan for Beltzville State park.

On one of the tables were a number of publications, including:  Wildlife Notes: Birds; Wildlife Notes: Mammals; and Common Trees of Pennsylvania.  I took a copy of each and then noticed that the back cover of each one featured a photo of Representative Doyle Heffley with his contact information.

Did Rep. Heffley write these publications?  No.  Is he an expert on Pennsylvania mammals, birds, and trees?  Probably not.  Did he pay for these publications?  No, the taxpayers of Pennsylvania paid for them.

This practice of giving out free stuff with legislators’s names plastered on them is one of the perks of being a legislator, and it is also one of the reasons why it is so hard to beat an incumbent legislator in this state.  It doesn’t matter if that legislator does little or nothing to advance the public good.  There is all this free stuff.

Climate change in Florida textbooks

In July a number of publishers reported that Florida officials were requiring them to delete references to “climate change” in certain textbooks used in Florida schools.

How’s that working out for you down there?

I voted!

It was easy.  I filled out my ballot, put it in the yellow envelope, sealed that, put it in the envelope with the purple color, sealed it, signed my name and today’s date, affixed a first class stamp, and sent it in.  Easy Peasy.  

The instructions were much clearer than in past years.  

What we don’t get in Pennsylvania is a nice sticker that says “I voted by mail.”  If you vote by mail in New York, you get one of those.  New York also pays the postage.  

You probably are curious about my vote.  Really?  A choice between an intelligent and rational and empathetic candidate who isn’t senile or cruel or stupid and a blowhard narcissistic sack of poop.  It wasn’t a hard choice.  And I voted for all the other Democrats.  I didn’t see a single Republican candidate on the the ballot who was worthy of holding office.  The third party candidates were simply there to boost their egos, since none of them has a chance, and the Green Party candidate for President is actually a tool of Putin and represents no green values whatsoever.

Bulletproof backpacks

Over the last ten years there have been more than 230 school shootings.  Congress still has not addressed the gun issue that is the cause of this carnage, but good old American ingenuity has risen to the challenge.  

You can now buy your 2nd grader a bulletproof hoodie or a backpack with a removable ballast shield.  How about a bulletproof three-ring binder?  Also available are bulletproof classroom desks and bullet-resistant hand-held shields.  And there’s more!

I won’t even comment on how stupid this is.

Info for this post is from Emily Baumgaertner and Alex Kalman, “Grabbing School Gear in Case of a Shooting, New York Times, (Sept. 22, 2024, p. 20.

All you need to do is flatter him

In his new book H.R. McMaster, one of Trump’s National Security advisors, explains how he tried to prep Trump on a visit to the Far East.  McMaster warned Trump that Xi would try to trick him into praising China.  He told Trump that the phrase “win-win” really meant “that China won twice.”

Trump seemed to agree, but in the Great Hall of the People Trump agreed with Xi that military exercises in South Korea were “provocative” and a “waste of money.”  Trump also suggested that Japan’s Senkaku Islands might actually belong to China.

McMaster passed a note to Gen. John Kelly, the chief of staff.  It said Xi “ate our lunch.”

The book is entitled At War With Ourselves.  It’s available for $32.50.

The end of human life

There are three main candidates to cause the extinction of humans.

The first is nuclear war.  As more and more countries acquire nuclear weapons, the chances for an all out nuclear war increase.  Accidents can happen.  Madmen can decide a nuclear war is winnable.  Countries may intend to use “tactical” nuclear weapons and end up with a full “exchange.”  The various agreements on nuclear weapons between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. made during the Cold War are lapsing and are not being renewed, and now we have many more countries developing both weapons and delivery capabilities.  If the blasts don’t wipe us out, the fallout and the nuclear winter will.

The second is pathogens.  A number of countries have experimented with biological weapons, including the U.S. and Russia.  We still don’t know absolutely if Covid was natural or an escapee from a Chinese lab.  Even if governments stop this madness, natural pathogens can still occur or can jump from animals to humans.  

The third candidate is global climate change.  The earth is obviously warming, plant and animal species are disappearing, the sea is rising, forest fires are growing in intensity, and storms are worsening.  Of the three this is the slowest moving threat, but it is also the one that is already occurring, and it seems to be picking up speed.

Notice that the threat of nuclear war and global warming and and most of the threat from pathogens are caused by humans.  You know, the species with the large brain that can solve problems and think rationally.

Something else just occurred to me.  All three threats will be more dangerous and more likely if Donald Trump is elected.  Think about that.