Here are this week's items: Europe's immigration crisis; moon walk; immigrants for Trump;
a personal remembrance of Cleveland; D.C. statehood; the VCR's passing; the back yard day lily; VP candidates; promises for Philadelphia; TX rising.
George Soros on European immigration. George Soros writes "This is Europe's last chance...," about the unraveling of the European Union (EU). Brexit, he says, is but one indication of a continent-wide problem crying out for a solution that demands wisdom and money.
[EU nations] pursue self-serving, discordant migration policies, often to the
detriment of their neighbors. In these circumstances, a comprehensive
and coherent European asylum policy is not possible in the short term,
despite the efforts of the EU’s governing body, the European Commission.
The trust needed for cooperation is lacking. It will have to be rebuilt
through a long and laborious process.
The Moon Walk. On July 20, 1970, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk of the moon. This important event was also the first ever live broadcast by Armed Forces TV network. I watched from Cam Rahn Bay, [South] Vietnam.
Immigrants for Trump. Not every Latino dislikes candidate Trump. Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell writes,
It’s not just native-born Americans expressing nativist sentiments
these days. Somehow, it’s immigrants, too....Many are convinced that
today’s newcomers are more dangerous to society
than they themselves (and other immigrants in their cohort) ever
were....[That in] a U.S. survey conducted this spring
by Pew Research Center, half of all foreign-born whites said that the
growing number of newcomers “threatens” traditional American customs and
values, rather than “strengthens” them.
A personal, non-political Cleveland remembrance. My father loved horses and
always seemed to know someone who would let him ride. As a youngster I
remember that he rode Black Diamond, a huge black gelding
that had been retired from Cleveland's mounted police unit. Diamond stood 18+ hands; hand = 4 inches. I could not
help but notice that Cleveland's security presence for the GOP
convention included their mounted police.
I will have to see if Philadelphia also has mounted police. I remember a NY Times interview of one of the city's mounted policeman. He said the horses were excellent for crowd control and usually a "crowd pleaser" with both kids and adults. No candy, thank you!
#51, Washington, D.C.? Does that move Puerto Rico
to #52? It seems that every four years, residents of the nation's
capital await word on what changes (if any) the Democrats and/or
Republicans might propose for their little piece of America (68.34
square miles). Statehood or no change?
Republicans, 21016: no change,
Continued plantation life for D.C. citizens, "The road to D.C.
statehood doesn't run through Cleveland." From the Democrats, 2016: most
probably more of the same-o-same-o. As always, the biggest impediment
is that the US Congress remains unwilling to surrender control of its
personal fiefdom to the vassals who actually live
there. Nevertheless, hope springs eternal.
The VCR, finally dead? Funai Electronics announced that production of the ubiquitous VCR will
cease at the end of July. For those who have to "own" something, I can
see an immense market for transferring those old tapes to CDs. FYI: the
VCR is actually 60 years old; designed for professional studios,
the steadily improving and shrinking the tape machine first gained popularity with
its use by hotel/motel chains. Then along came Blockbuster, et. al. At home, the VCR made "convenience viewing" possible, even if you could
not figure out how the family cat managed to unspool 1000+ feet of tape
or how you recorded over your daughter's wedding. Technology marches on.
RIP, once-loved machine.
The "day" lily.
The lone blooming day lily in the backyard continues its rebirth on
schedule and is regularly visited by one/more of the yard's resident
dragon flies who feed off whatever it is they find on the long stem. As I
type this Saturday morning, two are feasting on the sunlit stalk.
Vice Presidents. I image that only at certain times are there many googles for "vice presidential rankings/ratings." Generally, once very four years or when the 22nd amendment is suddenly in play. That time has rolled around again and Governor Pence (R-IN) and Senator Kaine (D-IL) have been chosen by their respective presidential nominees to be their governing partners.
Why Pence and Kaine? Between now and November 8th, there will be untold words written explaining/justifying these particular VP choices. This early Washington Post story about Senator Kaine is but one example. Right-leaning columnist George Will has weighed in (with more than a few statistics) on Trump's choice for Governor Pence. Britain's Economist notes that America has no sober prime minister to guide an overwrought president. Rather, a Trump VP would serve "at his majesty’s pleasure.
Every presidential candidate will dutifully pay homage to "step into the presidency on a moment's notice." But........ When it's all said and done, my personal thoughts are that the candidate wants someone (1) who will help me win; (2) won't overshadow me; and (3) I can stand to be around for four years. Oh, yes, #4 (do what that they are told) and #5 (be unlikely to mess up) are always part of the equation.
On to Philadelphia. Let's see how close the Democratic show comes to these seven predictions:
(1) almost no party discord; (2) the party's biggest 'stars' on display; (3) a lot more diversity on the podium and in the audience; (4) relative shortage of screwups; (5) enough policy to bore you to tears; (6) an optimistic picture of the present and future; and (7) a lot more "We" and less "I."
We'll see, as we recall Will Rogers's oft repeated comment: "I don't belong to any organized political party; I'm a Democrat."
TX and the GOP future. George Will
notes that if current population and ethnic trends continue, TX (the
nation's second-most-populous state) will assuredly turn "blue," no
longer being the GOP's anchor (assured, winner) state. (Currently, CA
and NY are the Democratic anchors.) Incidentally, contrary to popular
conception, by percentage Asian Americans are TX's fastest growing
minority. Latinos only add further to Republican worries.
Thank you for reading. Enjoy the City of Brotherly Love.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Here are this week's topics: the Xeric Way hawk; who in America will lead?; who is leading Labour in Great Britain?; the new Prime Minister; the Kasich alternative; America's shame list; race in America; Cleveland, Philadelphia, & technology; national disorder; a final uplifting story; the weekly Optimist section.
Hawk here. The daily blog by David Hawkings in Roll Call, is appropriately titled, "Hawings Here." Meanwhile, here at home, the recently arrived red tail hawk continues its nest building activity. Our neighbor to the east and his young son have been altered and now have their binoculars close-at-hand on the back deck.
A leader needed. Last Tuesday conservative columnist Michael Gerson asked, "In our moment of division, who will lead?" Indeed. For all his oratory skills, the president's laments about recurring violence are becoming passé. Gerson remembers, "On April 4, 1968 — the day that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by a sniper — Robert Kennedy gave (arguably) one of the greatest American speeches not given by a president...[He] quoted Aeschylus on the wisdom that comes “drop by drop” from pain, and set out the ideal of a politics that could 'make gentle the life of this world.' ”
Gerson continues, "Our country is less riven than in 1968, but our [current] leaders are not as skilled, at least when it comes to rhetoric....[I]t would be nice if politicians did not immediately fall into partisan ruts, or post Facebook banalities." Alas, this generation's RFK, if it has one, is strangely quiet.
Washington Post columnist, Kathleen Parker, thinks that perhaps one of the best leaders might be an insider who is outside the political system, namely Dallas police chief, David Brown.
The People's Labour Party (PLP) in Great Britain. You may have thought the British political scene was a bit like ours: relatively uncomplicated, two political parties slugging it out, toe--to-toe. But, of course, we know that is not that simple, the systems on both sides of the pond are becoming ever more complicated. Here it is the Republicans with their Tea Party and Trump-backers, plus the ill-defined, amorphous "Never Trump" group. The Democrats confront their own equally vague "progressive" element.
So, too, it seems that the Brits have not only their now-conventional Conservative and Labour establishments, but also the Labour Parliamentary Party, their upfront left-wing parliamentary equivalent of our more stealthily named, right-wingers, the Tea Party.
A new Lady in the House. The House of Commons, that is. Theresa May is now the leader of the Conservative party and Great Britain's new Prime Minister. She joins the ranks of twenty-two women leading nations on five continents. Does that number surprise? None yet in North America, but stay tuned.
The Trump alternative. Gordon Humphrey, former Republican governor of NH, believes that former OH governor John Kasich is the last and only obstacle to Donald Trump's nomination. Senator Humphrey's column succinctly presents the thoughts and fears of those who oppose Trump.
America's Shame List. Last Thursday Denver Post columnist, Greg Dobbs noted that far too often one place name revives memories of shame: Columbine. Virginia Tech. Aurora. Newtown. San Bernardino, Orlando, Dallas, and yet again Baton Rouge. Seventeen years with little action and the continuing common theme: "a crazy guy with a gun." And, as for the NRA's assertion that the only defense is a "good guy with a gun," how do you explain Dallas where there were more than a few "good guys with guns" in the immediate vicinity?
Canis latrans, aka coyote. This Christian Science Monitor review examines Dan Flores's book, Coyote America, a survey of the long, long coyote - human relationship. Coyotes are now found in all fifty states, in cities and suburbs, as well as wild-America. Flores's research has found references indicating that these uniquely adaptable animals "prowled the side-streets of Aztec cities like Tenochtitlan 600 years ago, much as they now prowl the side-streets of Cape Cod and NYC's Central Park. He also notes as urban America has eliminated its Canis familiaris (stray dog) problem, the coyotes have moved in to fill the vacuum. Cautiously guard your small dog and the family cat.
Race in America, bluntly put. The Washington Post headline for Stacey Patton's recent column is pointedly blunt: "We don't need Lincoln-inspired racial 'unity.' We need whites to stop being racist." Her summation of Lincoln's views on race and are sure to upset many. She takes Hillary Clinton to task for talking about racial unity.
Rather, "...talk of unity, reconciliation and restoring trust is a diversion from the raw, ugly, excruciatingly painful work of addressing the systemic racism that is tearing our nation apart." She quotes MLK, Jr., “The thing wrong with America is white racism. … It’s time for America to have an intensified study on what’s wrong with white folks.”
Ms. Patton quotes Lincoln, speaking to a group of freed slaves in Richmond, Virginia: "Although you have been deprived of your God-given rights by your so-called masters, you are now as free as I am, and if those that claim to be your superiors do not know that you are free, take the sword and bayonet and teach them that you are.” She then asks, "Are white Americans ready to embrace the Lincoln who said this?"
Ms. Patton, an African American, is an assistant professor of multi-media journalism at Maryland's Morgan State University.
Political conventions, technology, and violence. Presidential historian and author, Tevi Troy, writes of the early travel/communications limitations that gave birth to political conventions and how our evolving technology has continually changed them. It is an interesting historical read. Troy writes, "The upshot is that smartphones and social media may very well exacerbate floor fights, as warring party factions use their ability to connect directly with delegates to try to lure candidates to their preferred positions."
These changes generally benefited leading candidates and their parties, though the first convention was held in 1831 by the Anti-Masonic gathering in Baltimore. This summer's conventions in Cleveland and Philadelphia will give evidence of this ongoing technological process. As the public saw recently with the Periscope broadcasting of the Democrats’ sit-in on the House floor, those in charge no longer have the ability to choose what people see. Yes, House Speaker Ryan could turn off C-Span, but.....then there were all those members with their smart phones!
Strangely, this make make for boring, disjointed TV coverage. On the positive (?) side, it will mean the networks' coverage which depends on advertising $$$ will have a devil of a time. "As the World Turns," "Judge Judy," and the usual evening's bill of fare may well outperform the convention coverage.
Disorder. Colbert King: "[Like it or not,] regrettably this national disorder is who we are." (emphasis added)
Baltimore, Cal Ripken, and Earle 'Jock' Freedman. In this moving op-ed remembrance, Adam Neuman, Mr. Freeman's grandson, remembers both Ripken and Freedman as symbols of Baltimore's steadfast, resilient character.
The Optimist. If you would enjoy a weekly dose of uplifting news in these trying times, subscribe to the Washington Post's Optimist section.
Thank you for reading. Have a good week and brace yourself for the next onslaught of convention hoopla from Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love.
Hawk here. The daily blog by David Hawkings in Roll Call, is appropriately titled, "Hawings Here." Meanwhile, here at home, the recently arrived red tail hawk continues its nest building activity. Our neighbor to the east and his young son have been altered and now have their binoculars close-at-hand on the back deck.
A leader needed. Last Tuesday conservative columnist Michael Gerson asked, "In our moment of division, who will lead?" Indeed. For all his oratory skills, the president's laments about recurring violence are becoming passé. Gerson remembers, "On April 4, 1968 — the day that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by a sniper — Robert Kennedy gave (arguably) one of the greatest American speeches not given by a president...[He] quoted Aeschylus on the wisdom that comes “drop by drop” from pain, and set out the ideal of a politics that could 'make gentle the life of this world.' ”
Gerson continues, "Our country is less riven than in 1968, but our [current] leaders are not as skilled, at least when it comes to rhetoric....[I]t would be nice if politicians did not immediately fall into partisan ruts, or post Facebook banalities." Alas, this generation's RFK, if it has one, is strangely quiet.
Washington Post columnist, Kathleen Parker, thinks that perhaps one of the best leaders might be an insider who is outside the political system, namely Dallas police chief, David Brown.
The People's Labour Party (PLP) in Great Britain. You may have thought the British political scene was a bit like ours: relatively uncomplicated, two political parties slugging it out, toe--to-toe. But, of course, we know that is not that simple, the systems on both sides of the pond are becoming ever more complicated. Here it is the Republicans with their Tea Party and Trump-backers, plus the ill-defined, amorphous "Never Trump" group. The Democrats confront their own equally vague "progressive" element.
So, too, it seems that the Brits have not only their now-conventional Conservative and Labour establishments, but also the Labour Parliamentary Party, their upfront left-wing parliamentary equivalent of our more stealthily named, right-wingers, the Tea Party.
A new Lady in the House. The House of Commons, that is. Theresa May is now the leader of the Conservative party and Great Britain's new Prime Minister. She joins the ranks of twenty-two women leading nations on five continents. Does that number surprise? None yet in North America, but stay tuned.
The Trump alternative. Gordon Humphrey, former Republican governor of NH, believes that former OH governor John Kasich is the last and only obstacle to Donald Trump's nomination. Senator Humphrey's column succinctly presents the thoughts and fears of those who oppose Trump.
America's Shame List. Last Thursday Denver Post columnist, Greg Dobbs noted that far too often one place name revives memories of shame: Columbine. Virginia Tech. Aurora. Newtown. San Bernardino, Orlando, Dallas, and yet again Baton Rouge. Seventeen years with little action and the continuing common theme: "a crazy guy with a gun." And, as for the NRA's assertion that the only defense is a "good guy with a gun," how do you explain Dallas where there were more than a few "good guys with guns" in the immediate vicinity?
Canis latrans, aka coyote. This Christian Science Monitor review examines Dan Flores's book, Coyote America, a survey of the long, long coyote - human relationship. Coyotes are now found in all fifty states, in cities and suburbs, as well as wild-America. Flores's research has found references indicating that these uniquely adaptable animals "prowled the side-streets of Aztec cities like Tenochtitlan 600 years ago, much as they now prowl the side-streets of Cape Cod and NYC's Central Park. He also notes as urban America has eliminated its Canis familiaris (stray dog) problem, the coyotes have moved in to fill the vacuum. Cautiously guard your small dog and the family cat.
Race in America, bluntly put. The Washington Post headline for Stacey Patton's recent column is pointedly blunt: "We don't need Lincoln-inspired racial 'unity.' We need whites to stop being racist." Her summation of Lincoln's views on race and are sure to upset many. She takes Hillary Clinton to task for talking about racial unity.
Rather, "...talk of unity, reconciliation and restoring trust is a diversion from the raw, ugly, excruciatingly painful work of addressing the systemic racism that is tearing our nation apart." She quotes MLK, Jr., “The thing wrong with America is white racism. … It’s time for America to have an intensified study on what’s wrong with white folks.”
Ms. Patton quotes Lincoln, speaking to a group of freed slaves in Richmond, Virginia: "Although you have been deprived of your God-given rights by your so-called masters, you are now as free as I am, and if those that claim to be your superiors do not know that you are free, take the sword and bayonet and teach them that you are.” She then asks, "Are white Americans ready to embrace the Lincoln who said this?"
Ms. Patton, an African American, is an assistant professor of multi-media journalism at Maryland's Morgan State University.
Political conventions, technology, and violence. Presidential historian and author, Tevi Troy, writes of the early travel/communications limitations that gave birth to political conventions and how our evolving technology has continually changed them. It is an interesting historical read. Troy writes, "The upshot is that smartphones and social media may very well exacerbate floor fights, as warring party factions use their ability to connect directly with delegates to try to lure candidates to their preferred positions."
These changes generally benefited leading candidates and their parties, though the first convention was held in 1831 by the Anti-Masonic gathering in Baltimore. This summer's conventions in Cleveland and Philadelphia will give evidence of this ongoing technological process. As the public saw recently with the Periscope broadcasting of the Democrats’ sit-in on the House floor, those in charge no longer have the ability to choose what people see. Yes, House Speaker Ryan could turn off C-Span, but.....then there were all those members with their smart phones!
Strangely, this make make for boring, disjointed TV coverage. On the positive (?) side, it will mean the networks' coverage which depends on advertising $$$ will have a devil of a time. "As the World Turns," "Judge Judy," and the usual evening's bill of fare may well outperform the convention coverage.
Disorder. Colbert King: "[Like it or not,] regrettably this national disorder is who we are." (emphasis added)
Baltimore, Cal Ripken, and Earle 'Jock' Freedman. In this moving op-ed remembrance, Adam Neuman, Mr. Freeman's grandson, remembers both Ripken and Freedman as symbols of Baltimore's steadfast, resilient character.
The Optimist. If you would enjoy a weekly dose of uplifting news in these trying times, subscribe to the Washington Post's Optimist section.
Thank you for reading. Have a good week and brace yourself for the next onslaught of convention hoopla from Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Here are this week's topics: the worst presidential contest; Brexit, revisited; Dallas and beyond; a bad week; Jupiter and beyond.
Re-election, Nov 8th: Last week's blog challenged readers to match 2016 to any previous presidential campaign with candidates any more tawdry, for some even loathsome, than Donald and Hillary. This past Wednesday's Roll Call had a piece, "What is [Senator] Bob Corker [R-TN] doing with Donald Trump?" Dah? Running for re-election, of course -- anyway he can. Further down the page was "The Democratic Party's Hillary Clinton problem." It noted that many "down-ballot" Democrats now face a similar problem: a less-than-sterling, slightly odious, candidate.
There is an old saying in sports, that the team owner or athletic director just gave the not-so-winning coach, his endorsement, the dreaded kiss of death -- just before firing him. So it was with the FBI director delivering the dreaded pronouncement on Hillary: Yes, there was extreme carelessness, but no criminal charges would be filed. Oh, yeah. An even further damaged candidate.
When Hillary comes to CO (as she must because we Coloradans are now in the presidential cross hairs, being an important "swing" state and all), what will our down-ballot Democratic candidates and officialdom do? Be suddenly called out of town to visit a sick aunt? Will the Denver Post headline wonder, "What is [Senator] Michael Bennett doing with Hillary Clinton?"
My personal presidential election memories go back only to 1956 and the second Eisenhower vs Stevenson contest. The newspapers and commentators must have been at a loss with no ready "label" for Ike, who had never run for public office before the presidency in 1952. Was he referred to as "Eisenhower (R-US Army)"? Stevenson was, of course, D-IL. True, by 1956, Stevenson seemed as "old and worn" as the famously pictured hole in his shoe sole, but otherwise respectable. To use the parlance of today, Ike was hard to categorize, but Adlai was firmly part of the Washington "establishment."
Tawdry vs. careless. Last week I mentioned George Will, who opined that, however objectionable, "tawdry and distasteful" were not criminal. This past week it was the FBI director, James Comey, testifying that "extreme carelessness" (i.e. Hillary's damnable email mistakes) did not rise to the level of criminality.
Inadvertent vs purposefully careless. During the dark days of the Cold War, a front page picture (above the fold) in the NY Times showed a harried President Johnson walking, talking, and carrying some papers, including a file folder clearly labeled ".......," then one of our most highly classified intelligence projects. No doubt you get the picture: harried and inadvertent vs. purposelessly careless and knuckleheaded.
Trump's reaction? Once again, he ignored the old military/political axiom: never interfere with an opponent who is in the process of committing suicide.
Lawless and/or clueless? There are those who are above (and below) the law and due civility. Is Hillary above the law? Is Donald beyond the of dictates of common civility?
Dallas. The news late last Thursday should make all Americans afraid, very fearful of our nation's current racial situation. One cannot but have the distinct feeling that "the chickens are coming home to roost." Coupling that sad shooting news with this education and prison story from the Washington Post should only heighten our concern.
Here at home, Colorado is among the states that now spend more money on its prisons and prisoners than its college students. Between 1990 and 2013, spending increases for prisons vs education ranged from a low of 63% (Massachusetts) to a staggering 668% (Texas). Startlingly, the US has less than 5% of the world's population, but we now house nearly 25% of the world's imprisoned population.
Something has gone terribly wrong. Which unfortunate author will shoulder the burden and become America's Edward Gibbons?
Brexit, the morning after. Well, perhaps not the morning after, but Ann Applebaum, an experienced European foreign affairs correspondent, notes that the rift in Great Britain parallels a continuing continental pattern. Namely, "[The] established, integrationist politics on the one hand and isolationist or protectionist nationalist politics on the other..." She thinks that in voting to leave the EU, the Brits strangely became more like their continental compatriots.
A bad week and social media. The opening sentence from Jelani Cobbs' article in the New Yorker: "The least disputable measure of a bad week is any seven-day period that requires a body count at the end of it." An attendant measure might well be when any nation's leader is forced to cut short an important trip abroad in order to address a hateful, man-made tragedy. To yet again, be characterized in the press as the "mourner-in-chief." Far different than if the San Andreas Fault had shifted dramatically under San Francisco.
Jupiter, Pluto, the Kuiper Belt and beyond. To end on a much happier note, as Juno settles into the first of its 32 scheduled orbits around Jupiter, NASA's New Horizon craft is hurtling past Pluto, on its journey towards the Kuiper Belt, on into interstellar space. With governmental budgets stretched thin, some (especially the science-detractors) question the expenditures for these and other space missions. It goes without saying that Juno's $1.1B price tag makes Spain's 15th century investment in Columbus's four voyages seem impossibly minuscule.
Nevertheless, unexpected future advances often result from today's seemingly audacious adventures. That light-weight, indispensable Velcro "born" to anchor pens/pencils/tools from floating about space capsules, a battlefield surgeon's "discovery" that superglue worked just fine in a pinch. The list goes on!
Thank you for reading.
Re-election, Nov 8th: Last week's blog challenged readers to match 2016 to any previous presidential campaign with candidates any more tawdry, for some even loathsome, than Donald and Hillary. This past Wednesday's Roll Call had a piece, "What is [Senator] Bob Corker [R-TN] doing with Donald Trump?" Dah? Running for re-election, of course -- anyway he can. Further down the page was "The Democratic Party's Hillary Clinton problem." It noted that many "down-ballot" Democrats now face a similar problem: a less-than-sterling, slightly odious, candidate.
There is an old saying in sports, that the team owner or athletic director just gave the not-so-winning coach, his endorsement, the dreaded kiss of death -- just before firing him. So it was with the FBI director delivering the dreaded pronouncement on Hillary: Yes, there was extreme carelessness, but no criminal charges would be filed. Oh, yeah. An even further damaged candidate.
When Hillary comes to CO (as she must because we Coloradans are now in the presidential cross hairs, being an important "swing" state and all), what will our down-ballot Democratic candidates and officialdom do? Be suddenly called out of town to visit a sick aunt? Will the Denver Post headline wonder, "What is [Senator] Michael Bennett doing with Hillary Clinton?"
My personal presidential election memories go back only to 1956 and the second Eisenhower vs Stevenson contest. The newspapers and commentators must have been at a loss with no ready "label" for Ike, who had never run for public office before the presidency in 1952. Was he referred to as "Eisenhower (R-US Army)"? Stevenson was, of course, D-IL. True, by 1956, Stevenson seemed as "old and worn" as the famously pictured hole in his shoe sole, but otherwise respectable. To use the parlance of today, Ike was hard to categorize, but Adlai was firmly part of the Washington "establishment."
Tawdry vs. careless. Last week I mentioned George Will, who opined that, however objectionable, "tawdry and distasteful" were not criminal. This past week it was the FBI director, James Comey, testifying that "extreme carelessness" (i.e. Hillary's damnable email mistakes) did not rise to the level of criminality.
Inadvertent vs purposefully careless. During the dark days of the Cold War, a front page picture (above the fold) in the NY Times showed a harried President Johnson walking, talking, and carrying some papers, including a file folder clearly labeled ".......," then one of our most highly classified intelligence projects. No doubt you get the picture: harried and inadvertent vs. purposelessly careless and knuckleheaded.
Trump's reaction? Once again, he ignored the old military/political axiom: never interfere with an opponent who is in the process of committing suicide.
Lawless and/or clueless? There are those who are above (and below) the law and due civility. Is Hillary above the law? Is Donald beyond the of dictates of common civility?
Dallas. The news late last Thursday should make all Americans afraid, very fearful of our nation's current racial situation. One cannot but have the distinct feeling that "the chickens are coming home to roost." Coupling that sad shooting news with this education and prison story from the Washington Post should only heighten our concern.
Here at home, Colorado is among the states that now spend more money on its prisons and prisoners than its college students. Between 1990 and 2013, spending increases for prisons vs education ranged from a low of 63% (Massachusetts) to a staggering 668% (Texas). Startlingly, the US has less than 5% of the world's population, but we now house nearly 25% of the world's imprisoned population.
Something has gone terribly wrong. Which unfortunate author will shoulder the burden and become America's Edward Gibbons?
Brexit, the morning after. Well, perhaps not the morning after, but Ann Applebaum, an experienced European foreign affairs correspondent, notes that the rift in Great Britain parallels a continuing continental pattern. Namely, "[The] established, integrationist politics on the one hand and isolationist or protectionist nationalist politics on the other..." She thinks that in voting to leave the EU, the Brits strangely became more like their continental compatriots.
A bad week and social media. The opening sentence from Jelani Cobbs' article in the New Yorker: "The least disputable measure of a bad week is any seven-day period that requires a body count at the end of it." An attendant measure might well be when any nation's leader is forced to cut short an important trip abroad in order to address a hateful, man-made tragedy. To yet again, be characterized in the press as the "mourner-in-chief." Far different than if the San Andreas Fault had shifted dramatically under San Francisco.
Jupiter, Pluto, the Kuiper Belt and beyond. To end on a much happier note, as Juno settles into the first of its 32 scheduled orbits around Jupiter, NASA's New Horizon craft is hurtling past Pluto, on its journey towards the Kuiper Belt, on into interstellar space. With governmental budgets stretched thin, some (especially the science-detractors) question the expenditures for these and other space missions. It goes without saying that Juno's $1.1B price tag makes Spain's 15th century investment in Columbus's four voyages seem impossibly minuscule.
Nevertheless, unexpected future advances often result from today's seemingly audacious adventures. That light-weight, indispensable Velcro "born" to anchor pens/pencils/tools from floating about space capsules, a battlefield surgeon's "discovery" that superglue worked just fine in a pinch. The list goes on!
Thank you for reading.
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Here are topics I have selected for this past week: new back yard visitor; July 4th trivia; Brexit; El Paso county, CO; immigration and globalization; how are you financially?; last chance; college racial diversity; reading, non-fiction, Secondhand Times, the end of the USSR; the worst possible candidates?; Elie Wiesel;
The Hawk. Our newest back yard visitor, as yet unnamed, is a red tail hawk. No doubt there will be a mom and dad. The nest building is underway. I am assisting by breaking up some of the larger twigs on the back deck to a more manageable, appropriate size for her/his endeavor. We would love to have resident backyard mouse-catchers make a home in our tree.
Does one talk to your backyard hawks? Henry and Harriet? Howard came to mind, but he is our human neighbor to the west and we do not want there to be any confusion.
July 4, 1826: ICYMI (in case you missed it), it was exactly 50 years after our nation's 1st July 4th that both former presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died. Adams's famous last words were, "Jefferson survives." Actually TJ had died 5 hours earlier -- but Adams can be forgiven as that was long before the telegraph, telephone, radio, cable TV, and internet.
July 4, 1916: Alan Seeger, American poet, romantic, and member of the French Foreign Legion, died among his French comrades in the Battle of the Somme, where more than one million died, were wounded, or just lost. In those bye-gone days, it was not illegal for an American to fight in the army of a friendly foreign nation. His most beloved poem, "I have a Rendezvous with Death," was a premonition of what was to come.
Brexit fallout. The Guardian reports on the scarred campaign and some of the more tawdry, racist fallout from Brexit. For example, [in] Huntingdon, Polish-origin schoolkids get cards calling them “vermin”, who must “leave the EU”. They come with a Polish translation, thoughtfully enough." The author continues, telling "how, while trying to sleep on a hot night, he hears a man bellowing outside his open window: 'We’ve got our country back and next I’ll blow that fucking mosque up.' ” The article goes on to relate other equally troubling examples.
The view from the editor of the left-leaning Nation: "How Brexit could avert a new Cold War."
Thomas Friedman, NYTimes columnist, in "If you break it, you own it." A major European power, a longtime defender of liberal democracy, pluralism and free markets, falls under the sway of a few cynical politicians who see a chance to exploit public fears of immigration to advance their careers. They create a stark binary choice on an incredibly complex issue, of which few people understand the full scope — stay in or quit the E.U.....Attention Donald Trump voters: this is what happens to a country that falls for hucksters who think that life can just imitate Twitter — that there are simple answers to hard questions — and that small men can rearrange big complex systems by just erecting a wall and everything will be peachy. He wonders if someone is not "the dog who's caught the car?"
Charles Krauthammer, in the Washington Post noted, "Unity is not easy. What began in 1951 as a six-member European Coal and Steel Community was grounded in a larger conception of a united Europe born from the ashes of World War II. Seven decades into the postwar era, Britain wants out and the E.U. is facing an existential crisis."
"Where are we now?" Link to multiple responses from (mostly British) readers of the London Review of Books.
El Paso county, CO. This past Tuesday there was more anti-establishment news for the GOP. In solidly Republican El Paso county, the GOP primary voters gave the nod (37%, in a five man race) to Daryl Glenn, a county commissioner who campaigned using an all volunteer staff and not all that much money. Most of Glenn's money came from conservative sources outside the county and state. Glenn called himself “an unapologetic Christian, constitutional conservative."
Thus, CO's US senate race will pit Michael Bennett (first term incumbent, white, male, Democrat and establishment candidate) against Glenn (the African American, Republican outsider). A major decision now confronts Glenn: what to do about Donald Trump? In this anti-establishment atmosphere, be afraid Senator Bennett!
It is a long time until November 8th. Colorado is a target state, so moi has checked his mute button, set his landline and cell phone to weed out as many unwanted incoming calls as possible, and taped a "no solicitors" note above the door bell. There will be more than enough candidate information to peruse on the web.
To rephrase the old saw, "Hell hath no fury like an establishment scorned."
Immigration and globalization. These two terms are much talked about. The important question: how are they interrelated and what impact do both have on people around the world? Retired ABC foreign correspondent, Gregg Dobbs, pondered these questions in his recent Denver Post column, "Nationalism in the U.K."
Most Denverites will avow that the world is becoming increasingly interconnected, but are just as unsure about the consequences of such globalization. Decisions, governmental and/or economic, now have worldwide impact. At the beginning of the industrial age, changes might result from an innovation (e.g. the Bessemer steel process, the telegraph, the Model T, radio) but the impact was not immediately felt around the globe. However, the world has, indeed, sped up!
The Chinese government just announced the "retirement" of the man responsible for developing a system that too long ago was thought impossible: censoring the internet. In 2000, then President Clinton said, "[Censoring the internet] is sort of like nailing jello to the wall." But LuWei did it, with frightening effect for free speech around the world.
Your income health. Two recent studies, one from the Pew Research Center, the other from IRS data, published by the Washington Center for Equitable Growth think tank, Asian males and the top 1% are doing just fine. Others groups? Not so much.
Your demise? Most likely you will not die overseas at the hands in an ISIS or like-minded melee. Rather, it will be close to home, most likely in an auto accident; in 2015, auto accident deaths were up 7.7% from 2014. Good news: lower gas prices; bad news: more accidents. "...spikes in deaths of bicyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists, up 13, 10 and 9 percent, respectively....young drivers up 10 percent....rollovers in passenger cars up 5 percent.... large trucks up 4 percent."
“[Unfortunately,] 94 percent of crashes can be tied back to a human choice or error,” Beware the distracted driver.
Final decisions. The last week in June always heralds the Supreme Court's most awaited and often most contentious decisions. This year was no exception. Abortion, voting rights, corruption, racial preferences, et. al. The Defense Department even "threw in its two-cents worth" by announcing an end to recruitment/retention problems for transgender members or recruits.
George Will thought political corruption to be the most important. He agreed with Chief Justice Roberts that, however unseemly and objectionable, "tawdry" and "distasteful" were not "criminal." As Will Rogers said, "Feel free to disagree, that's democracy for you."
In his normal Friday PBS appearance, liberal columnist Mark Shields said that while the nation had "moved on" on other social issues (LGBT, same-sex marriage, etc.), abortion remained a sharply dividing issue for most Americans. Hence, disagreement over the TX-based abortion decision.
College racial diversity. Professor and author, George Zimmerman, noted that hiring high priced "diversity officers" may not be the key. Research indicates that a program of inter-racial roommate assignment may be more effective.
Reading, non-fiction. Secondhand Times: the Last of the Soviets, Svetlana Alexievich. "Moscow is the capital of some other nation, not the country beyond the ring road....Don’t believe Moscow." p.40 Not unlike our nation's capital and the beltway.
"They feel that they’ve been lied to...? (p. 40) “USSR. That was my country; the country I live in today is not. I feel like I’m living on foreign soil. I was born Soviet…" (p. 41)
"The death of the USSR was the death of the military nation. "We were a military nation, 70 or so percent of the economy was, in one way or another, tied to the military. Our best minds worked for it… physicists, mathematicians….And our ideology was also militarized. But Gorbachev was profoundly civilian." (p. 122)
"The Czechs can have their Vaclav Havel, but we don’t need a Sakharov in charge here, we need a Tsar." (p. 124)
The USSR had fallen, rotted from inside. Tellingly, China, North Korea, and Cuba had not fallen. (p.125)
Seeming incongruities: The funeral of USSR's then most famous, beloved dissident, Andrei Sakharov, drew crowds estimated to be 70,000+. The sole representative of Soviet officialdom was the nation's highest ranking Field Marshall, Akhromeyev, in full uniform, silently paying solemn respects to his life-long adversary.
Later, at Marshall Akhromeyev funeral, there was no military salute, his obituary was printed in Time magazine, not Pravda written by retired Admiral William J. Crowe, former chairman of the US Joint Chief of Staff, the Marshall's long time advisory. Again, proper respects duly paid.
"I’m a construction worker… Before August 1991, we lived in one country, and afterward, we lived in another. Before that August, my country was called the USSR...[R]eady to die for freedom, not capitalism." (p. 133)
Alexievich, Svetlana. Secondhand Times: The Last of the Soviets. Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Nov 8th, disaster day? If the candidates turn out to be Donald and Hillary, what past presidential slate would you rate as "worser?" A year when you might well decide, as Bob Dole (former senator and Republican presidential candidate), has said "to sleep in that day." Feel free to comment with your least favorite date.
Elie Wiesel, survivor and voice of the Holocaust, "the memory keeper for victims of Nazi persecution, and a Nobel laureate who used his moral authority to force attention on atrocities around the world, died July 2 at his home in New York. He was 87....Few survivors spoke openly about the war. Those who did often felt ignored. Decades before a Holocaust museum stood in downtown Washington and moviegoers watched Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List,” Mr. Wiesel helped force the public to confront the Holocaust." President Obama walked through Buchenwald with Wiesel, who told him: " ‘Memory has become a sacred duty of all people of goodwill.’ ” Thank you, Elie, and RIP.
Thank you for reading. I hope you had an enjoyable 4th.
The Hawk. Our newest back yard visitor, as yet unnamed, is a red tail hawk. No doubt there will be a mom and dad. The nest building is underway. I am assisting by breaking up some of the larger twigs on the back deck to a more manageable, appropriate size for her/his endeavor. We would love to have resident backyard mouse-catchers make a home in our tree.
Does one talk to your backyard hawks? Henry and Harriet? Howard came to mind, but he is our human neighbor to the west and we do not want there to be any confusion.
July 4, 1826: ICYMI (in case you missed it), it was exactly 50 years after our nation's 1st July 4th that both former presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died. Adams's famous last words were, "Jefferson survives." Actually TJ had died 5 hours earlier -- but Adams can be forgiven as that was long before the telegraph, telephone, radio, cable TV, and internet.
July 4, 1916: Alan Seeger, American poet, romantic, and member of the French Foreign Legion, died among his French comrades in the Battle of the Somme, where more than one million died, were wounded, or just lost. In those bye-gone days, it was not illegal for an American to fight in the army of a friendly foreign nation. His most beloved poem, "I have a Rendezvous with Death," was a premonition of what was to come.
Brexit fallout. The Guardian reports on the scarred campaign and some of the more tawdry, racist fallout from Brexit. For example, [in] Huntingdon, Polish-origin schoolkids get cards calling them “vermin”, who must “leave the EU”. They come with a Polish translation, thoughtfully enough." The author continues, telling "how, while trying to sleep on a hot night, he hears a man bellowing outside his open window: 'We’ve got our country back and next I’ll blow that fucking mosque up.' ” The article goes on to relate other equally troubling examples.
The view from the editor of the left-leaning Nation: "How Brexit could avert a new Cold War."
Thomas Friedman, NYTimes columnist, in "If you break it, you own it." A major European power, a longtime defender of liberal democracy, pluralism and free markets, falls under the sway of a few cynical politicians who see a chance to exploit public fears of immigration to advance their careers. They create a stark binary choice on an incredibly complex issue, of which few people understand the full scope — stay in or quit the E.U.....Attention Donald Trump voters: this is what happens to a country that falls for hucksters who think that life can just imitate Twitter — that there are simple answers to hard questions — and that small men can rearrange big complex systems by just erecting a wall and everything will be peachy. He wonders if someone is not "the dog who's caught the car?"
Charles Krauthammer, in the Washington Post noted, "Unity is not easy. What began in 1951 as a six-member European Coal and Steel Community was grounded in a larger conception of a united Europe born from the ashes of World War II. Seven decades into the postwar era, Britain wants out and the E.U. is facing an existential crisis."
"Where are we now?" Link to multiple responses from (mostly British) readers of the London Review of Books.
El Paso county, CO. This past Tuesday there was more anti-establishment news for the GOP. In solidly Republican El Paso county, the GOP primary voters gave the nod (37%, in a five man race) to Daryl Glenn, a county commissioner who campaigned using an all volunteer staff and not all that much money. Most of Glenn's money came from conservative sources outside the county and state. Glenn called himself “an unapologetic Christian, constitutional conservative."
Thus, CO's US senate race will pit Michael Bennett (first term incumbent, white, male, Democrat and establishment candidate) against Glenn (the African American, Republican outsider). A major decision now confronts Glenn: what to do about Donald Trump? In this anti-establishment atmosphere, be afraid Senator Bennett!
It is a long time until November 8th. Colorado is a target state, so moi has checked his mute button, set his landline and cell phone to weed out as many unwanted incoming calls as possible, and taped a "no solicitors" note above the door bell. There will be more than enough candidate information to peruse on the web.
To rephrase the old saw, "Hell hath no fury like an establishment scorned."
Immigration and globalization. These two terms are much talked about. The important question: how are they interrelated and what impact do both have on people around the world? Retired ABC foreign correspondent, Gregg Dobbs, pondered these questions in his recent Denver Post column, "Nationalism in the U.K."
Most Denverites will avow that the world is becoming increasingly interconnected, but are just as unsure about the consequences of such globalization. Decisions, governmental and/or economic, now have worldwide impact. At the beginning of the industrial age, changes might result from an innovation (e.g. the Bessemer steel process, the telegraph, the Model T, radio) but the impact was not immediately felt around the globe. However, the world has, indeed, sped up!
The Chinese government just announced the "retirement" of the man responsible for developing a system that too long ago was thought impossible: censoring the internet. In 2000, then President Clinton said, "[Censoring the internet] is sort of like nailing jello to the wall." But LuWei did it, with frightening effect for free speech around the world.
Your income health. Two recent studies, one from the Pew Research Center, the other from IRS data, published by the Washington Center for Equitable Growth think tank, Asian males and the top 1% are doing just fine. Others groups? Not so much.
Your demise? Most likely you will not die overseas at the hands in an ISIS or like-minded melee. Rather, it will be close to home, most likely in an auto accident; in 2015, auto accident deaths were up 7.7% from 2014. Good news: lower gas prices; bad news: more accidents. "...spikes in deaths of bicyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists, up 13, 10 and 9 percent, respectively....young drivers up 10 percent....rollovers in passenger cars up 5 percent.... large trucks up 4 percent."
“[Unfortunately,] 94 percent of crashes can be tied back to a human choice or error,” Beware the distracted driver.
Final decisions. The last week in June always heralds the Supreme Court's most awaited and often most contentious decisions. This year was no exception. Abortion, voting rights, corruption, racial preferences, et. al. The Defense Department even "threw in its two-cents worth" by announcing an end to recruitment/retention problems for transgender members or recruits.
George Will thought political corruption to be the most important. He agreed with Chief Justice Roberts that, however unseemly and objectionable, "tawdry" and "distasteful" were not "criminal." As Will Rogers said, "Feel free to disagree, that's democracy for you."
In his normal Friday PBS appearance, liberal columnist Mark Shields said that while the nation had "moved on" on other social issues (LGBT, same-sex marriage, etc.), abortion remained a sharply dividing issue for most Americans. Hence, disagreement over the TX-based abortion decision.
College racial diversity. Professor and author, George Zimmerman, noted that hiring high priced "diversity officers" may not be the key. Research indicates that a program of inter-racial roommate assignment may be more effective.
Reading, non-fiction. Secondhand Times: the Last of the Soviets, Svetlana Alexievich. "Moscow is the capital of some other nation, not the country beyond the ring road....Don’t believe Moscow." p.40 Not unlike our nation's capital and the beltway.
"They feel that they’ve been lied to...? (p. 40) “USSR. That was my country; the country I live in today is not. I feel like I’m living on foreign soil. I was born Soviet…" (p. 41)
"The death of the USSR was the death of the military nation. "We were a military nation, 70 or so percent of the economy was, in one way or another, tied to the military. Our best minds worked for it… physicists, mathematicians….And our ideology was also militarized. But Gorbachev was profoundly civilian." (p. 122)
"The Czechs can have their Vaclav Havel, but we don’t need a Sakharov in charge here, we need a Tsar." (p. 124)
The USSR had fallen, rotted from inside. Tellingly, China, North Korea, and Cuba had not fallen. (p.125)
Seeming incongruities: The funeral of USSR's then most famous, beloved dissident, Andrei Sakharov, drew crowds estimated to be 70,000+. The sole representative of Soviet officialdom was the nation's highest ranking Field Marshall, Akhromeyev, in full uniform, silently paying solemn respects to his life-long adversary.
Later, at Marshall Akhromeyev funeral, there was no military salute, his obituary was printed in Time magazine, not Pravda written by retired Admiral William J. Crowe, former chairman of the US Joint Chief of Staff, the Marshall's long time advisory. Again, proper respects duly paid.
"I’m a construction worker… Before August 1991, we lived in one country, and afterward, we lived in another. Before that August, my country was called the USSR...[R]eady to die for freedom, not capitalism." (p. 133)
Alexievich, Svetlana. Secondhand Times: The Last of the Soviets. Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Nov 8th, disaster day? If the candidates turn out to be Donald and Hillary, what past presidential slate would you rate as "worser?" A year when you might well decide, as Bob Dole (former senator and Republican presidential candidate), has said "to sleep in that day." Feel free to comment with your least favorite date.
Elie Wiesel, survivor and voice of the Holocaust, "the memory keeper for victims of Nazi persecution, and a Nobel laureate who used his moral authority to force attention on atrocities around the world, died July 2 at his home in New York. He was 87....Few survivors spoke openly about the war. Those who did often felt ignored. Decades before a Holocaust museum stood in downtown Washington and moviegoers watched Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List,” Mr. Wiesel helped force the public to confront the Holocaust." President Obama walked through Buchenwald with Wiesel, who told him: " ‘Memory has become a sacred duty of all people of goodwill.’ ” Thank you, Elie, and RIP.
Thank you for reading. I hope you had an enjoyable 4th.
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