Something more important than China seizing Taiwan

At a candidates’ debate on Tuesday Darline Graham, Lindsay’s sister and current U.S. Senator, was asked a question about the importance of Taiwan.  She said she was “not that informed on national security.”

When people questioned whether she should be in the Senate with an admission like that, she said “Of course Taiwan is our friend, but I think people in South Carolina are more worried about boys in girls’ sports.”

Boys in girls’ sports certainly keeps me up at night.

But here is the sad thing.  She’s probably right.

Testimony at the D.E.P. hearing this evening

 First, an explanation (and apology).

 Ever since I heard that the first thing some of my readers do in the morning before they eat breakfast is to read my posts, I feel really bad when I miss an evening.  Last night I came home from a political meeting feeling really lousy.  I took my temperature; it was 102 degrees.  I felt completely exhausted and went straight to bed and slept until noon today.  I still have a fever, but it is only around 100 degrees.  Tomorrow I go in at 9:00 to find out what I have.  I'm thinking Lyme disease.  

And while I am on the topic of missing posts, I am driving to Indianapolis on Tuesday to see the Art Museum and the Indian Museum and won't be back until next Saturday if all goes well and I am not in the ICU.  I will not post from the trip.

Now, about the testimony.  A company plans to build a data center (four buildings) upstream from the town of Nesquehoning.  The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection held a question period for the developers followed by a comment period.  My comment follows.  Most of the comments were very technical; mine was more philosophical because I don't know the technical aspects.  Or, if you are cruel, you might call it B.S.

Perhaps developers use the term “artificial” intelligence to indicate that it is not authentic intelligence.

Anyone with real intelligence knows that the massive amounts of power necessary to operate data centers will accelerate global climate change and raise the cost of electricity for the rest of us.

Anyone with real intelligence will understand that data centers will impact huge tracts of land, often in areas of sensitive environmental concern.

Anyone with real intelligence realizes that in an era of increased drought (much of Eastern Pennsylvania is already in a drought watch; Lake Mead is reaching its lowest levels ever), the increased necessity for water to operate data centers is worsening a global disaster.

Anyone with real intelligence will question why an industry that promises tremendous benefits for the economy continues to advocate for tax breaks.

Anyone with real intelligence understands that the frequent touting of increased job opportunities flies in the face of layoffs and unemployment already resulting from the use of artificial intelligence.

New technological developments often bring unanticipated economic and social changes.  While these changes may be beneficial (I can drive to town without saddling my horse), they often have undesirable aspects as well (my car is powered by petroleum products).  It may take years, even decades, to determine whether a new technology does more harm than good.  (Think drones, or social media, or atomic weapons.)

This is not an argument against technological development or innovation.  I am making an argument for “deliberate speed,” for careful study, for thoughtful regulation, and for assurance that what we are doing won’t harm the natural world and will benefit our communities.  Until then we need a moratorium on data center development.

I am also fully aware that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection can’t sit around debating philosophical questions on technological development or impose a state-wide moratorium or determine tax policy.  It can, however, take steps to ensure that our streams are not polluted, our air is clean, we are not subjected to unwanted noise, our aquifers are protected, and our wetlands are not destroyed.  Those are things D.E.P. can and should do.

France can do it–why can't we?

Last week a French law prohibiting unsolicited cold calls by businesses took effect.  I probably get ten of these calls a day, often four of five from the same scam artists.  Lately I’ve been getting solicited for an auto accident I might have been in that I can get money for.  

I do have a bit of fun.  First you get a robot, always female, who then switches you over to a “claims specialist.”  If I’m not too busy I see how long I can keep the scam artist on the line.  I also tell the scam artist outlandish things, like “I did have an accident, but it wasn’t my fault because I was drunk,” or “I only killed two pedestrians.”  Click.

Nonetheless, these calls are annoying.  Why can the French legislature act when our Congress can’t even publish the Epstein files?

We own Big Bend National Park

The closest I ever got to Big Bend was Fort Stockton on I-10, but this evening when I saw the film of the earth-moving equipment and the bulldozer uprooting trees in the Park, I felt so sad.  I heard that something like one percent of the people illegally crossing into the U.S. enter at Big Bend.  There is no reason to put a wall there other than to show that you can do it.

Like the White House and the Smithsonian, Big Bend National Park is owned by all of us, not some buffoon in the White House.  We–Congress, Texas politicians the population at large– really need to stop this madness.  And that is what it is.

 

The Timing of Medicare cuts

The Great Leader and the Republicans in Congress have cut subsidies for the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces.  So far this year approximately 3 million people have lost their medical insurance.

But wait.  The Republican Congress also enacted cuts in Medicaid.  Guess when those cuts take effect.  After the November midterms.  

Those wily Republicans.  Clever little buggers.

Working the Ukrainian Festival

Each year the Democratic Party has a booth at the Ukrainian Festival in Carbon County.  We give away small Ukrainian flags and plastic bracelets, have candidate literature available, collect money for a Ukrainian charity that helps bombing victims, and display four large posters with quotations by Trump and Vance praising Putin and criticizing Zelenskyy.

It is wonderful to bask in the warmth of the support of hundreds of people.  In the entire afternoon we had two negative passersby, including a MAGA supporter who claimed the Democratic Party was filled with Communists.  Everyone else gave us thumbs up, snapped pictures of the posters, took flags, and engaged in friendly discussions.  It was a great day.

The Republican Party did not have a booth.

Dayton, Ohio

“Would you like to come over for tea with the missus and me?  It’s a real nice way to spend the day in Dayton, Ohio, on a lazy Sunday afternoon in 1903.”

That’s from a wonderful Randy Newman song which you can hear on YouTube.  Dayton must still be a nice place.  It has immigrants from over 100 countries, including India, China, Vietnam, Haiti, and Rwanda.  

The City Council decided to remove all Flock cameras.  It was afraid ICE would use the data to harass immigrants.  I’ve never been to Dayton, but it sounds like my kind of town.

Rival conceptions of nationhood in the West

In an article entitled “Continental Drift” in the Aug. 17 issue of the New Yorker, Ian Buruma writes:

Since the nineteenth century, the Western world has been divided between two rival conceptions of nationhood:  the nation as a community of blood and faith, and the nation as a democratic state of citizens of equal rights.

That is one of the best summaries of the difference between the Republicans and the Democrats of today.  Listen to any speech by Trump or Hegseth or Vance, and you will hear the former.  Listen to any speech by any Democratic Senate candidate, and you will hear the latter.  

As the old labor song said, “Which side are you on, boys, which side are you on?”

 

Rounding up the "tonks"

I’ve heard that ICE agents are tired of being called “Gestapo.”  If that is the case, then they should quit acting like the Gestapo.  Agents are now referring to Mexican immigrants as “tonks.”  That is supposedly the sound made when one of those big flashlights is brought down on a Mexican immigrant’s head.  In light of that, Gestapo seems all too apt.

It is obvious that brown people are targets, whether American citizens or not.  And the rot starts at the top, where ICE administrators are issuing quotas of 3000 arrests a day.  And now our local municipalities are signing agreements to partner with ICE in return for funding.  

Hey Dumbass

It’s not your House.  We own it.  You rent it, and your lease expires on Jan. 20, 2028.  We will be inspecting for damages, and you will not only lose your deposit, but there will be additional charges for damage the damage to the East Wing and all that gold crap you put everywhere.

The Court of Appeals finally spelled it out for you, but we always knew it. Many of us have been tenants; some of us still are.  Any renter can tell you; there’s a lease with rules.  You have broken the rental agreement.  You will will be required to pay for all that damage.  Dumbass.

Intelligent parents

When I was looking through some old family records this morning, I found a smallpox vaccination certification dated June 21, 1947.  It was given by Dr. Kenneth G. Reinheimer, who had an office in Weissport, PA.  I was 4, and I don’t remember it, but I’m sure I cried.

We don’t need those any more because parents all over the globe had their kids vaccinated.  Smallpox has been eradicated.

I also found my sister’s and my polio vaccination records.  They were in 1956.  I was 13, and I remember that.  I didn’t cry.  The vaccine was made by Eli Lilly & Co.  Evidently there were three doses; at least that is what the certification says. 

In any case, I didn’t get polio.  I remember seeing those pictures of kids in iron lungs–the ones who didn’t die.  That was scary.

I did get measles.  We didn’t have a vaccine for measles in the 50s.  Or mumps.  Or whooping cough.  The medicine has advanced.  The parents have gotten dumber.

A question for any Republican running for the U. S. House or Senate

I saw an ad for Rep. Bresnahan tonight.  Some constituent was testifying about how Rep.Bresnahan cares.  Not he doesn’t.  He spent the last yer and a half supporting Trump’s every move.  Hold his feet to the fire.  

If you are ever at a campaign event with Bresnahan or any other candidate for the House or the Senate and have a chance to ask questions, just ask:

When Trump was tearing down the East Wing for a ballroom, why didn’t you speak up?

Or, when Trump was appointing people like Hegseth and Robert Kennedy Jr., why didn’t you speak up?

Or, when Trump was gutting the Endangered Species Act, why didn’t you speak up?

Notice that you can do this with literally hundreds of things Trump did or did not do.  Greenland, the war in Iran, the tariffs, the tax cuts for the rich, the pardoning of criminals, the claims of voter fraud, and on, and on.  Literally hundreds of bad things, and each one ends with this question:  WHY DIDN’T YOU SPEAK UP?

Watch the cowards squirm.

ICE agents and masks

Judges have now blocked state laws in both California and New York that would have prohibited ICE agents from wearing masks.  In both cases the courts ruled that immigration polices were federal, and that the feds could decide how to conduct their operations.

The question is why ICE agents should wear masks at all.  The claim is that people will harass the agents if they know their identities.  This, of course, is bullshit.  Our local cops don’t wear masks, and many of us know them, know where they live, know their families.  We do not harass our local police officers.  We support them.

There are a number of reasons why ICE agents wear masks:

*  They are harder to identify when they shoot people down in the street or 

conduct illegal search and seizure operations.

*  They look more intimidating when they are hiding their identities.

*  Some of them are actually embarrassed to be in an organization that is frequently compared to the Gestapo.

Our local police should not enter into partnerships with these thugs, no matter how much money ICE dangles in front of our local municipalities.

Our income tax penalties

We’ve been filing a joint income tax return since 1973, the year we got married.  Every year.  I fill out the return.  I don’t know much about tax policies, so we usually end up paying.  One year in the Seventies we had to sell our car to pay the tax.  We also don’t file quarterly.  Sometimes we get a penalty, but the paying the penalty is worth more than going through the rigamarole of filing four times a year.

A week ago I got a penalty of $160.05.  Not too bad.  The letter was addressed just to me.  Linda also received the exact same letter with a penalty of $160.05.  Since we filed a joint return that doesn’t seem right.  And since we don’t have a tax consultant, I must now attempt to call the I.R.S. to find out if a mistake was made.  

A few days after these letters arrived, I read this headline in the New York Times:  “Republicans Let Trump Keep an Unparalleled Benefit: I.R.S. Immunity.”  The article was by Andrew Duehren in the Aug. 6 issue on page A15.  And I find it very irritating.  I’m thinking of simply photocopying it and sending it along with a note that says, “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander” and see what happens.

Congressman Rob Bresnahan donates his salary back

I heard that on a political ad this evening.  And I thought, Wow!  I am very impressed.  He bought himself a congressional seat, and that must have set him back.  His net worth is only a little over #40 million. 

What a sacrifice he is making in donating back his Congressional salary.  His family is probably forced to go to food banks.  I’ll bet he’s wearing clothes he buys at Goodwill.  What a guy.  The main is practically a saint.

Agents Provocateurs and Congressman Ryan Mackenzie

A number of thugs follow 7th PA Congressional District Democratic candidate Bob Brooks to his various campaign events, including his appearance at the Carbon County fair.  They were also at the Democratic candidate debate in Carbon County.  They are “agents provocateurs.”  That is French for “inciting agent.”  Those tactics have an old history, often used in the past by extremist parties like the German Nazi party.  The idea is to stir up trouble and then use the trouble to discredit your opponents.

It is too bad that Republican candidates have resorted to this kind of authoritarian behavior, but it isn’t surprising.  The racial gerrymandering, the dark money, the attempts to subvert mail-in ballots, the constant whining about stolen elections only when they lose, false claims about illegal voting–what has happened to free and fair elections?

Could Ryan Mackenzie, Brooks’s opponent, call off these thugs?  No doubt, but I don’t think he will.

When I searched for “Agent Provocateur” to make sure I spelled it right, I learned it is also a brand of women’s lingerie.  It’s an expression of “confidence, sensuality, and style.”  Could the thugs be wearing it under their clothes?  Something to consider.

Chat GPT Uploads "The Terminator," Begins Hunt for Sarah Connor

This can not be good. 

Jeanine Pirro gives me Schadenfreude

Trump used Fox as a recruiting pool, and now one of his picks has had a problem with a different kind of pool and Trump is angry.  Trump appointed  former Fox “News” legal analyst Jeanine Pirro as federal prosecutor for D.C.  Yesterday she dropped the case against the man accused of vandalizing the reflecting pool.  The evidence was non-existent and the charge was ridiculous.  Pirro really had no choice.

Except that Trump hates–hates–to be contradicted.  Pirro might just be fired.  I hope so.  I love internal squabbles in the Administration.  

Hey, whatever happened to Kristi Noem? 

Blissfully ignorant

The owner of the Four Winds Craft Guild, an upscale artisan craft and antique shop on Nantucket, put up a sign that said “No Influencers,” and his friend posted it on Instagram.  An “influencer” named Paige Paul, who has over a million followers, said the sign was the same as a sign barring women.

When I read this, I realized I have never seen an “influencer.”  They don’t pop up on my emails, and you can’t get them on a landline, which is the only phone I own.  This is one of the reasons when Charlie Kirk was shot, my reaction was “Who?”

My second takeaway was: A MILLION FOLLOWERS!  Wow.  I usually get between 15 and 20 people reading these posts.  I once got a hundred.

My third takeaway was:  Why would anyone take the time to read people like Joseph Rogan or that asswipe who runs the Proud Boys?  Really?  Don’t people have anything better to do?  Get a library card.

Lastly, I thought:  I’ve got to figure out how to become an “influencer.”  This could be a whole new career.

Some info for this post is from an article by Madison Malone Kircher entitled “Two Words Cause Many on Nantucket to Weigh In” in today’s N.Y.T., p. 3st.

Presidential primaries in 2028

In many past elections the presidential nomination process began with caucuses in Iowa followed by a primary in New Hampshire.  Candidates with good organizations could win in both those states.  Both states had relatively small populations which lent themselves to personalized campaigning.

Unfortunately, neither Iowa nor New Hampshire are particularly representative of members of the Democratic Party in 2028.  Both states have mostly white voters, and neither state is a Democratic stronghold.  Since political parties can determine their own nominating process, the national Democratic organization decided the first six states will vote in this order:  South Carolina (in January) followed by Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan, and Virginia.  

That’s a nice cross-county mixture of urban and rural.  Black voters, Latino voters, union members, and big city residents are all represented.  It should be an interesting contest.