Mrs. Brown's Boys

by Pa Rock

TV Junkie

No matter how much time I spend "working" at the computer each day, running into town for cardiac rehab, groceries, or to purchase my daily one-dollar "Show-Me Cash" lottery ticket, or feeding the birds, or checking the mail - I always manage to set aside some "me" time in the late afternoon to watch telelvision and de-stress.  I did away with cable a decade ago, and now I am a streamer currently using three services:  (Amazon Prime - boo, hiss, BritBox, and PBS Masterpiece).

My favorite television programs are British mysteries and police dramas, which I find primarily on BritBox.  I like British comedies (Britcoms), as well.  I am also becoming a big fan of the offerings on PBS Masterpiece, many of which bear strong similarities to BritBox fare.

Because I have been streaming for more than a decade, I am beginning to run out of new material to view, so I am always on the lookout for new offerings or old programming that I initially neglected.  Sometimes the shows that I overlooked turn out to be gems.

One of those recently unearthed gems is an Irish comedy series called Mrs. Brown's Boys, which began as a radio program and then morphed into a televission series on the BBC in 2011.  The show is so popular that it has even spawned a couple of movie specials.  It is currently still in production, and I have just started viewing Season 3.

Mrs. Brown's Boys revolves around the chaotic family life of a widowed Irish mother, her five adult children - four of whom are male, and, as of the beginning of Season 3, four grandsons.  They reside in a small house in Dublin, Ireland, which is where most of the series is filmed and the activity occurs.  Agnes Brown, the mother and lead character in the comedy series, is foul-mouthed and has no filters.  Her language is not for the faint of heart, but it is her everyday speech, and after a few episodes she begins to sound somewhat normal.

Despite the raw language, Mrs. Brown's Boys is hysterically funny - for several reasons.  It is a brilliantly written 30-minute sitcom.  The primary writer is Irish comedian Brendan O'Carroll, a male who also happens to play the lead character of Agnes Brown.  The show is filmed before a live audience with whom the cast occasionally interacts.  And, the stage concept of a fourth wall - the idea that when the audience views the action in a room on stage, such as in Mrs. Brown's kitchen, there are three walls visibly present with appropriate doors windows, furnishings, etc, and the audience is watching through an imaginary fourth wall - that concept of a fourth wall is completely destroyed in this series.

The cast almost routinely steps out of character and interacts with the technicians and cameramen who are filming the show.  At one point in an early episode Mrs. Brown's cell phone rings, she answers it, and walks over and hands her phone to a cameraman saying, "It's for you."  At another point in a different episode the group is sitting in the local pub and Mrs. Brown needs her purse - which she has forgotten to bring.  She stands, without comment, and walks around the end of that set and into the one that is her kitchen at home, picks up her purse, and then walks back into the pub scene.  These lapses often appear to be totally unplanned and leave the audience and the cast rollicking with laughter.

The cast, and particularly Mrs. Brown, shows no mercy when a cast member flubs a line and will usually make fun of them while the cameras are rolling.  The show is a very immersive experience for the audience in the studio -  and it feels that way to the audience at home also.

Another hallmark of Mrs. Brown's Boys is the closeness and camaraderie of the large cast.  Everyone is having a good time during the filming, and it shows.  That is likely due, at least to some degree, to the fact that several of them are related to each other.  The lady who plays Mrs. Brown's only daughter is, in real life, Brendan O'Carroll's wife,  two of the main characters are his adult children by a former wife, and another is his sister.  Mrs. Brown's grandson, Bono, in the show, is O'Carrroll's actual grandson.  It is, to a large extent, a family affair.

Mrs. Brown's Boys is always fresh, lively, and very very funny.  Check it out if you get the chance.

Tantrum Heard Round the World

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

This past Sunday, Donald Trump, the arrogant and angry face of America, sent a letter* to Jonas Gahr Store, the Prime Minister of Norway.  In that communication Trump linked his quest for  US ownership of Greenland to the fact that he was not chosen to receive last year's Nobel Peace Prize, something he has openly coveted for a long time, and something he mistakenly seems to believe is controlled by the Norwegian government.  Trump's letter follows - and all emphasis is his:

"Dear Jonas,

"Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.  Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a "right of ownership" anyway?   There are no written documents, it's only a boat that landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats land there also.  I have done more for NATO than any person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States.   The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you!  President DJT"

Although Trump's "letter" was exceptionally brief, not much longer than a couple of "tweets," he did manage to fit in an impressive number of lies:

• No country decides who gets a Nobel Peace Prize.   That decision is made by a committee of five individuals who are appointed by the Parliament of Norway and serve six-year terms.
• The "8 wars" that Trump claims credit for ending are basically limited to Trump's own personal vision of what has occurred and do not necessarily reflect on-the-ground reality.    The Israel-Iran "conflict" ended with more of a ceasefire than some permanent solution.    The ceasefire in the India-Pakistan long-standing hositiliies was reached with little or no US involvement and is unlikely to last.   Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo signed a peace agreement in Washington in June, but the agreement is falling apart and hostilities continue.   The brief shooting-spree between Thailand and Camobdia does seem to be holding after Trump threatened both countries with tariffs.  US led negotiations bwtween Armenia and Azerbaijan to end their forty-year-war appear to have been successful.  Egypt an Ethiopia weren't getting along, and still aren't, but there was no war occurring or even an open conflict for the Trump administration to end.  The diplomatic work with Serbia and Kosovo was also pre-emptive in nature and there was no actual fighting on the ground to stop.  And the Israel-Hamas  agreement has so far failed to stop the fighting, death, and destruction in Gaza.  All in all, it's not a clean-sweep of ending 8 wars, but a very mixed bag.
• Denmark cannot protect Greenland from Russia and China - that is correct - but NATO can.  If the United States would stand firm as a reliable NATO partner, Greenland would not be a target for any country to take over.
• The claim that Trump has done more for NATO than any person since its founding is just standard Trump baloney - and not recommended for human consumption.

If Trump cannot get recognition for being the "peace" president, then goddammit, he will be the "war" president!  It's what's known at the Daycare as a tantrum!

Peace out!

(* I learned later that the "letter" was actually a text message.   However, it was still deeply disturbing from a mental health perspective.)

Racists Work to Erase MLK

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Today is a federal holiday honoring the life of one of America's pre-eminent civil rights leaders:  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The holiday was first proposed in 1968 following the assassination of Dr. King, and after fifteen years of hard organizing work pitted against heavy conservative opposition, Congress finally passed legislation establishing the national holiday in 1983, and it was signed into law by President Reagan.   

The Trump administration has a pronounced problem with anything in American culture or society detracts from what they see as our nation's white, European heritage, and his team seems to  constatnly work at chipping away references to the contributions to our national story by racial and ethnic minorities.    

Currently, as an example, the Trump administration is focused on a review of exhibits in the Smithsonian Institution.  The administration is concerned with what it calls "wokeness," a term created by Trump and his people to denigrate things they see as running counter to their mythos of a male-dominated, white American history and culture.   The Trump administration's focus at the Smithsonian is the museum's coverage of slavery and systemic racism in America, things they feel detract from the successes our country has experienced through the efforts of white culture.  Things that detract from that White message are what the Trump team labels as "improper ideology."

If history does not align with your story of America, then that history must be changed or buried.

So how does that racist attitude tie in with our national celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day?  During his second administration Trump has signed executive orders ending Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, a head-on attack against Dr. King's long and steady march toward inclusion of all peoples in the American dream regardless of race, creed, or color.   One of Trump's executive orders was titled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," a directive which sought to eliminate "divisive race-centered ideology in federal institutions and end DEI programs in federal government" - all of which flies in the face of Dr. King's goals.

Of course, with Trump there always has to be an element of pettiness.  One example of his personal vindictiveness toward the notion of racial justice and equality focuses on his recent cancellation of a National Parks' program which offered free admission to all US National Parks on the two federal holidays most aligned with the history of Black Americans:  Juneteenth and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day.   Thanks to Trump's action, the parks no longer offer free admissions on those days, but Trump made up for that overt racial slight by then proclaiming that from now on there would be free admission on Flag Day - June 14th - his birthday!

It would be had to get more petty than that!

Donald Trump seems to have some issues with programs, goals, and even museum displays which suggest that the United States has a multi-cultural and complicated past, and his actions speak volumes about his and his administration's attitude toward race in the present day.

Perhaps it's all just a ploy to keep us from focusing on other things, like the Epstein files.

Is Iceland the Next Greenland?

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

There once was an auctioneer in southwest Missouri who dreamed of better things.  The man's name was Billy Long, and by being an auctioneer he was fairly well known around Springfield, Missouri, the area's urban center.  Long decided he was so well known that he could parlay his name recognition into a successful run in Republican politics.  His opportunity came in 2010 when Roy Blunt, the congressman from southwest Missouri, decided to give up his safe Republican seat in the House and run for US Senator instead.

Thanks to a crowded field that year with a total of eight GOP candidates, Long managed to win the Republican primary with 36% of the vote, and was subsequently elected to Congress in the fall where he served as a reliable Republican "yes" man for twelve years.  In 2022 Missouri's Republican US Senator Roy Blunt decided to retire, and a swarm of Republican toadies raced to replace him, including Congressman Billy Long who seemed to think that because Blunt had run successfully for the Senate with his base in Springfied and southwest Missouri, that same constituency would be happy to replace him with Billy, the auctioneer.  Long got his ass kicked in that primary and came in fourth with only five percent of the vote.

But every dog has its day, and Billy Long's political star was destined to rise again.  After being re-elected to the White House in 2024, Donald Trump inexplicably announced that former congressman Billy Long of Missouri was his choice to head the Internal Revenue Service, a job for which he had no experience.  During his confirmation process for that position, accusations were made that Long had been invelved in promoting fraudulent tax credits to business firms.  Long was eventually confirmed to lead the IRS, and he held that position for just fifty-three days (the shortest tenure of any IRS leader in history) before beng removed from the office by the President.

When Donald Trump removed Billy Long as head of the IRS, he immediately announced that he was naming the former congressman as the new US ambassador to Iceland.  Surely, Trump must have reasoned, there was nothing Billy Long could screw up in Iceland.

Wrong.

While awaiting Senate confirmation as ambassador ot Iceland, Billy Long happened be in the House chamber earlier last week visiting with some of his old colleagues.   During that visit someone joked about Jeff Landry - the current governor of Louisiana and Donald Trump's new "special envoy" to Greenland - beoming the next "governor" of Greenland, to which Long apparently joked back that Iceland would become the 52nd state, and he (Long) would be the governor of it.  

Politico reported that comment on Thursday morning, and Iceland, predictably, was not amused.  The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted the US Embassy in Reykjavik (the country's capital) to verify Long's remarks, and more than 2,000 Icelandic citizens have reportedly singed a petition asking the country's Foreign Minister not to accept Long's credentials if the US Senate does confirm him as US Ambassador to Iceland.

Was Billy Long just passing gas, or will Iceland be the next stepping-stone in Trump's pursuit of world domination?

Billy, as we say here in the Ozarks, it looks like you've stepped in it!

Pedophile Protector! (Trump Salutes an American Auto Worker)

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Just when it looks as though the world may have quit producing heroes, a new one pops up.  This time it was 40-year-old auto worker TJ Sabula who is employed, or was employed, at a Ford truck plan in Dearborn, Michigan.

Last Tuesday Donald Trump addressed the Detroit Economic Club in the Motor City with one of his long and inane diatribes, after which he was hustled off to a Ford truck plant for a tour and photo op to boost his polling numbers and the American auto industry's sagging reputation.  As the elderly politician and his entourage were shuffling along an upper level of the main plant, they stopped so that Trump could strike a few poses for the worker bees down below, and at that point, one of those workers, Mr. Sabula, saw an opportunity and he took it.

TJ Sabula peered up at the imperial figure looming above him and yelled in a very loud and clear voice:  "Pedophile protector!"  His verbal potshot that hit its mark.  Trump resumed walking but pointed at the man who had made the comment, twice, as he walked and clearly said "fuck you" each time he pointed.  Trump's third communication with Mr. Sabula was to "flip" him off by extending the middle finger of his right hand toward the man standing on the crowded floor beneath him.

Donald Trump was clearly incensed that a nobody auto worker had the audacity to address Him in such a manner.  TJ Sabula, seemed delighted with Trump's angry response.  He had shown America just how to twist the old lion's tail.

Mr. Sabula was quick to claim credit the incident, and he said it was in response to the Trump administration's slow release of the Epstein files.  Congress passed "The Epstein Files Transparency Act" on November 19, 2025, mandating the the government release all files on the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epsteine and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell within thirty days - AND DONALD TRUMP SIGNED THAT BILL INTO LAW.  The deadline was not met.  Next Monday will mark 60 days since the law was signed into effect.  One estimate in the news this week was that only one percent of the files have been released so far.  The bottleneck to the process is the US Justice Department which is in charge of the release and whose director, Attorney General Pam Bondi, has put out conflicting stories as to the status and content of the files and the problems with their release.

TJ Sabula brought attention to the fact that the mandate of the law still has not been met, which means the identities of many prominent pedophiles are still being protected, and he directed his remark squarely at Pam Bondi's boss.   In defending his action in addressing Trump directly, Sabula said, "I don't feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you'd better be ready to seize the opportunity.  And today I think I did that."   He added that he had "definitely no regrets whatsoever" about calling Trump out.

Trump's communications director, Stephen Cheung, described the incident thusly:  " A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage and the president gave an appropriate and unambiguous response."

Ford Motor Company has laid off Mr. Sabula without pay, but two "Go Fund Me" sites have reportedly already raised over $800,000 in support of the fearless auto worker!

Salute, Mr. Sabula!  (A proper one, not one of Trump's!)

Warmonger Finally Gets (Second Hand) Nobel Peace Prize

 

by Pa rock

Citizen Journalist

Venezuelan political activist Maria Machado, a former Deputy of the National Assembly of Venezuela who was in hiding from the Maduro government in Venezuela for over a year after being barred from that country's 2024 presidential election, won the Nobel Peace Prize late last year for her work in trying to bring about political reforms in her country.  Because Machado was in hiding from the government of Venezuela, her daughter traveled to Oslo, Norway, and accepted the prize for her mother.

When Donald Trump sent American troops to Venezuela a few weeks later and kidnapped the President and First Lady of the country in what looked like a decapitation of the authoritarian government, many Venezuelans including Maria Machado likely thought the Americans were there to reimpose some type of democracy, but Trump quickly dashed those hopes by placing Maduro's vice-president in charge of the nation's political structure.    Trump's agenda had not been to reintroduce democracy into Venezuela, he was there to take the country's oil.

But Maria Machado is nobody's fool, and she had done her homework with regard to the United States' extremely shallow President.  Machado knew that Trump coveted two things above all others:  praise and presents.  She also knew that was bitterly disappointed that he had yet to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  

Machado, the winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize for her resistance work against the Maduro government, put out the word that she would  be happy to give her prize to Donald Trump, and a few days later she was sitting in the White House.   Machado had her foot in the door.  After a nice conversation where she no doubt gave her views on what the post Maduro government should look like, the seasoned South American politician pulled out her Nobel Peace Prize medal and handed it to Donald Trump.

Instead of politely decling the honor that he had done little (or nothing) to deserve, Donald Trump, the man who last year ordered the US military to bomb seven different countries, threatened annexation of three American allies - Greenland, Panama, and Canada, and sent troops into numerous American cities, THAT Donald Trump essentially said, "Gimme."

Maybe Trump will display his second hand Nobel Peace Prize in his Qatari jumbo jet - next to his FIFA Peace Prize!

The man is such an embarrassment.

Stand Strong, Greenland!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The United States has no strategic or military need to "own" Greenland.  Doing so would not only be an additional indignity for the already marginalized Greenlanders to bear, it would also serve as yet another unnecessary drain on our nation's economy.  The United States has operated a major air base in Greenland for the past seventy-five years, and a good relationship has long existed between American personnel there and the local populace, many of whom work at the base or have business interests with the American installation.  That base, on the northwest coast of the island, was formerly called "Thule Air Base" when it was run by the US Air Force, and now it is under the control of the US Space Command and is known as "Pituffik Space Base."

As a member of NATO, the United States has ready access to any protections that Greenland would afford.  Having our name on the island's title is simply a Trump vanity, one we cannot afford.  (If we can't afford food, shelter, and health care for all of our citizens, we damned sure can't afford to be buying or seizing other nations and assuming responsibility for their people.)

There was no friction between the United Staters and Greenland - or its protectorate nation, Denmark - until Donald Trump saw it on a flat map of the world (a Mercator projection) which, because of its proximity to the North Pole, makes the island nation look much larger than it actually is.  And it if was THAT big, and THAT vulnerable, Trump, the bully, had to have it!  (Check it out on a globe, Donbo!)

But Trump sees it as big, really big, a frozen wasteland just waiting  for a modern day Napoleon, like himself, to march in, plant a flag, and declare it his.  Trump blathers on about security, but taking Greenland by force will remove us from NATO, and perhaps even result in the destruction of NATO, both of which would decrease our security on the world stage - but would be of great benefit to Trump's good friend, Putin.

Yesterday top government officials from Denmark an Greenland met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President Vance at the White House to discuss the situation, but after they left Trump was again grinding out his spiel about how the United States must have Greenland.  Trump, the real estate mogul, does not want to rent it, or have a lease - he wants to OWN it.  To have Greenland in his presidential portfolio.  Something that will resonate in the history books like the Louisiana Purchase.

(There is so much that our country needs, that our citizens deserve, but Donald John Trump wants his presidential legacy to be the acquisition of real estate.  Cold, hard, barren real estate that will be of no direct benefit to Americans, but looks damned big on a map!)

Today the news is focused on a Danish-led field exercise (war game) called "Operation Arctic Endurance" which will be held this month in Greenland.  Participants will be NATO members including Denmark, France, Sweden, Norway, and the United Kigndom.  It is being described as "a symbolic and practical show of NATO commitment to a NATO member's territory."  The United States would be, one must assume, the "symbolic" enemy of Greenland and NATO in that scenario.

Donald Trump has placed us in that awkward and shameful position - just to glorify himself!

Talkin' 'bout My Generation

 

by Pa Rock

Boomer

I washed into this not-so-funny, never-ending sitcom of modern life as a part of what is commonly referred to as the "baby boomer generation" (1946-64).  I don't think it was common practice to label generations before that time, but the sex-plosion following World War II produced such a wave of new humanity in newly modern world that my generation was earmarked as being something novel, or special.  From the earliest days after the war when the country still turned to home radios and movie theatres for the primary forms of family entertainment, we were referred to as the baby-boomer generation, or simply the boomers.

In researching this piece I did come across one notation crediting babies born from 1928 to 1945 being known as the "silent generation."

After that it became more common to slap labels of different eras of children.  As of now we have gone through Gen X (1965-1980), Millennials/ Gen Y (1981-1996), Gen Z/iGen (1997-2010/2012), and Gen Alpha (2010-2024/2025).

I actually heard Gen Alpha referenced for the first time on a newscast this morning in a piece that talked about children born in that era who were forming strong friendship attachments to AI chatbots.  Perhaps that generation will eventually be known as "Gen AlphaAI."

But I have wandered far and wide and am only on the fifth paragraph of this exceedingly aimless (at least to this point) essay.  My intent at the outset was to talk about my generation:  the boomers, and in particular the boy role models that I grew up with.

Many in my generation lived in households where both parents held down jobs, something that was basically new to society, and time for childcare was essentially reduced.  Household televisions also came about during my generation, and parents soon discovered that they could create more precious time at home for themselves by parking the kids in front of the television.  Consequently, some of us got to where we identified with television families almost as much as with our own, and quite a bit of what we learned about family interactions and even life beyond our own families came from observing our television siblings.

One of the first that I remember identifying with was Tommy Rettig who played Lassie's master, Jeff, of the original "Lassie" television show.  Jeff was the all-American boy's boy as he romped through the countryside having adventures with his very brave and smart collie.  Tommy was born during the early years of World War II and was actually a young teenager when his three seasons on "Lassie" (1054-57) were being filmed.  Tommy had some drug issues as a young adult, including one charge of trying to smuggle cocaine out of Peru, but he went on to become a successful software engineer.  He died at the age of fifty-four in 1996.

Rusty Hamer was another of my early childhood television brothers.  He played Danny Thomas's wise-cracking son, also called "Rusty," on Thomas's television show "Make Room for Daddy."  Rusty was on the show from 1953 (at age six) until 1964 (at age 17).  Rusty died very young in 1990 at the age of forty-two.

I had two television brothers who were known as "Little Ricky."    One was Ricky Nelson who played himself on the radio show and later the television show ("The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett") based on the life of his Hollywood family.  The Nelson's had two sons, David who was the oldest, and Ricky, the younger one who was a bit of a smart aleck.  Little Ricky, born in 1940, started on the radio program in 1949 and moved with it to the television version in 1952.  In 1957, after learning to play the guitar, Ricky's father, Ozzy Nelson, a former big band leader, purchased an original rock-and-roll song from singer/writer Gene Pitney called "Hello Mary Lou" for his singing son to record, and Ricky Nelson went on to be a massive, pre-Beatles, rockstar.  Ricky Nelson died in a plane crash on New Years Eve in 1985 at the age of forty-five.

The other Little Ricky was Little Ricky Ricardo, the televison son of Lucile Ball and Desi Arnaz in their hit television comedy, "I Love Lucy."  He was played by Keith Thibodeaux whose stage name was Rickard Keith.  He is the only surviving member of the original "I Love Lucy" cast and is currently seventy-five years old.

Both Little Ricky's, Nelson and Ricardo, had the market cornered on cute and talented.

Jay North, the actor who played the lead role in the television series "Dennis the Menace" from 1959-1963, was also a fun friend to have around.  Dennis was the bane of his next door neighbor, Mr. Wilson, and he kept the neighborhood and his own family stirred up as well, but he was stoked with good intentions.  Jay North went on to become a prison guard in Florida and died last year at the age of seventy-three.

And then there was Opie Taylor, the son of Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry, North Carolina, in "The Andy Griffith Show."  Opie, played by Ron Howard, was entertaining and mischievous and always fun to have around.  Ron Howard went on to star in another hit television series, "Happy Days," and then became famous as a film director.  He is currently seventy-one years old.

Those were just some of my male childhood role models from the 1950's and early 1960's.  They were all good friends to have around while my parents were busy working and trying to build the American dream.  I didn't have any brothers in real life, but I'm sure I picked up many valuable life lessons from those guys.  I know they felt like good friends at the time, and it's always good to have good friends in your life.

I watched television, lots of television, and my grandchildren are on their computers, or phones, talking to chatbots.

Are we advancing into a brave, new world, or sliding into a technological abyss?

Now I have truly wandered.  Send out the Neighborhood Watch to walk me home.

Insurance Companies and Pharmacies, Banes of the Elderly

 

by Pa Rock

Constant Victim

T.S. Eliot famously described April (breeding lilacs out of the dead ground) as being the cruelest month, but for me, January is far and away the cruelest month of the year.  That is the month in which I have to roll up my sleeves and do battle with both of my insurance providers and the local pharmacy in order to insure that I can get my laundry list of meds throughout the year without co-pays or other bureaucratic interference.  

I'm covered by two insurance plans, pay a helluva lot in premiums, and consequently never have a co-pay, except in January when the insurance companies and the pharmacy always get things screwed up.  (Medicare Part D providers change their plans every year as to what they will and will not cover, and consequently many seniors have to change insurance providers in January to keep the best coverage for whatever meds they take.  I've had to change my Part D provider the past three years.)

The long and short of it is that in January, the cruelest month, things get screwed up and the pharmacy tells me that if I don't believe I should have a co-pay, I have to call the insurance companies, both of them, and get the matter straightened out.  And every January I do that - and then when I finally get it resolved, the insurance company which is at fault tells me to call the pharmacy and tell them how to bill properly.  Neither party, the pharmacy or the insurance company, wants to speak to the other directly, not when they have poor old Pa Rock in the middle to whack like a ping-pong ball.

It's an annual drill, always in January, and yesterday I dedicated an entire afternoon to being shoved around by a bureaucracy whose entire mission in life seems to be keeping old people angry and busy.  This morning the issue is only about half resolved, which is okay because the month is only about half over.  I'm going to rest today, and tomorrow I will roll up my sleeves and go after the sons-of-bitches again!  Spending twenty minutes or so dealing with their answering machines at the start of each call always has be in fine fettle by the time an actual human comes on the line!

Jack London, an Illuminating Life

 

by Pa Rock

Reader

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of America's greatest writers, Jack London.  While I am far from being an expert on his work, I have read enough of it to appreciate the power and strength of his writing ability.

Back in the day when I was in high school, the early 1960's, myself and many other American high school students were introduced to Jack London through a short story of his called "To Build a Fire," a tragic tale about an unarmed man and his dog who get caught in a snow storm in the Yukon wilderness.  He has seventy matches and his human intellect going for him, but he is up against the awesome power of nature - and eventually nature prevails and the man freezes to death.  It was one of those stories that sticks with you.  I hope it is still being taught, because the message about understanding, respecting, and working with the power of nature is something that so many have difficulty appreciating today.

London, who was born in San Francisco and grew up poor in Oakland, took part in the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska during the final three years of the 19th century. In addition to the short story of the man trying to build a fire in a snowstorm, that experience also inspired his first "dog" novel, "The Call of the Wild," the work that made Jack London famous.  "The Call of the Wild" is also something I read while in high school - and should read again.

The writer was  a world traveler, going abroad first as a young sailor and later as a more seasoned tourist.  He wrote hard and fast about his experiences, usually penning a thousand words each morning.  After leaving the Klondike and beginning to focus on the rest of the world, Jack London developed into an outspoken socialist and an advocate for the poor.  Two of his other novels, which I have also read, reflect those periods in his life.

"The Iron Heel," (1908) is a fictional account of the rise of a capitalist oligarchy in the United States during the early part of the 20th century, and the underground resisters who fought to bring it down.  I have actually read "The Iron Heel" twice, the last time about twenty years ago, and there are so many parallels to the sad state of political affairs in America today, that I may take it from the shelf and read the gripping novel one more time.

The other Jack London novel with which I am personally familiar is "The People of the Abyss" which was written in 1902 after he walked off into the endless slums of East London to live anonymously among its wretched masses.  The novel captures the social landscape and people of that area and that era in sharp, and often painful, detail.

Jack London lived as fast and hard as he wrote, and he died at the very young age of forty in 1916 from kidney issues, alcoholism, and self-medication with morphine.   Like that campfire in the Yukon blizzard, his light was extinguished far too early.

Nonsense and Gibberish

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The President of the United States, the person who speaks for our country on the world stage, should possess the ability to communicate verbally, in an intelligent manner, on a wide range of topics.  The President should know what he (or hopefully someday soon, "she") is talking about and have the ability to speak in a clear manner that allows him (or her) to be understood by others.  Our current President falls far short of that mark.

Donald Trump is currently on an authoritarian bender of removing public aid - things like food for hungry children - from  states led by Democrats, and trying to incite public protests in Democratic-led states by sending in agents of his rapidly expanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) force of masked marauders for immigration sweeps.  His current focus is on the large Somali community in Minnesota, a group of people that Trump has referred to as "garbage."

It is not a job requirement for the President to be a great orator, though some like FDR, JFK, and Obama clearly were, but Presidents should at least have the restraint and decency not to call large groups of people "garbage."   US Presidents have never talked that way before, at least not in public, but Trump denigrates an entire class of people - and the press and the public just treat is a normal political speech.  Our silence in the face of such disgusting rhetoric enables Trump to keep right on talking, and with each of his vile outbursts, the standards for presidential speech and public discourse go lower and lower.

Humanity has some rotten apples, "garbage" perhaps, but whole group and classes of perople are not garbage.  The Nazis tried to peddle that bullshit in World War II.  It was wrong then, and its wrong now.  Somalis are not garbage, but Trump's speech clearly is.

With Trump it's more than just his disdain for decency, it's the way he says things.  Trump's lies are so constant and rapid that fact-checking (correcting) him in real time is next to impossible.  His sentences and his thoughts are disjointed, and he jumps from subject to subject faster than fleas can change dogs.  During the last campaign he referred to his rambling and inability to stay on a topic as "the wave," but some observers saw it as a means of covering up for a lack of knowledge in certain areas, or an impulse control issue, or even a sign of cognitive impairment.

The campaign ended more that a year ago, and "the wave' rolls on.

This past Friday there was an exchange between Donald Trump and a reporter that was such a classic Trump-speak, baloney-fest that I chose to preserve it here.  Kaitlan Collins of CNN was  questioning Trump on the impending FBI investigation of the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an ICE agent.  Collins wanted to know if he thought the FBI should share information about their investigation with Minnesota officials, something that would be a standard practice in most similar cases.  Here is how the President of the United States responded:

"Well, normally, I would, but they're crooked officials.  I mean, Minneapolis and Minnesota, what a beautiful place, but it's being destroyed.  It's got an incompetent governor fool.  I mean he's a stupid person, and, uh, it looks like the number could be $19 billion stolen from a lot of people, but largely people from Somalia.  They buy their vote, they vote in a group, they buy their vote.  They sell more Mercedes-Benzes in that area than almost - can you imagine?  You come over with no money and then shortly thereafter you're driving. a Mercedes-Benz.  The whole thing is ridiculous.   They're very corrupt people.  It's a very corrupt state.   I feel that I won Minnesota.  I think I won it all three times.   Nobody's won it for since Richard Nixon won it many, many years ago.  I won it all three times, in my opinion, and it's a corrupt state, and the Republicans ought to get smart and demand voter ID.  They ought to demand, maybe same-day voting and all of the other things that you have to do to have a safe election.  But I won Minnesota three times that I didn't get credit for.  I did so well in that state, every time.  The people were, they were crying.   Every time after.  That's a crooked state.  California is a crooked state.  Many crooked states.  We have a very, very dishonest voting system."

That's not how Presidents talk.  It's not even how normal people talk.  Trump-speak is untethered gibberish and nonsense, yet we - the press and the public - go right on pretending that our naked emperor is fully clothed and we are in safe hands.  His "wave" says otherwise.

(FYI:  Lincoln's eloquent "Gettysburg Address" was only 38 words longer than Trump's diatribe above.  It looks as though mankind may no longer be evolving!)

Good vs. ICE: Jesse Welles Is Already There

 

by Pa Rock

Spectator

Rose, a close friend from college days in the 1960's, is a driving force in keeping me connected with some of the cultural milestones of the 21st century.    One phenomenon of the current decade which she follows closely in the skyrocketing career of protest and folksinger, Jesse Welles, an amazing young talent whom I have mentioned in this space on a couple of occasions.  

Last night, in the middle of the night, Rose forwarded a new music video by Jesse Welles that was performed in a remote, wooded setting where he often records, just him and a camera which he operates.  His new song was brief, poignant, straight to the point, and very, very current.

Jesse Welles new protest song is entitled  Good vs. ICE.  It poses as a recruitment tool for Immigration and Custom's Enforcement (ICE) that explains, in a cynical manner, some of the benefits of serving in our nation's new, secret paramilitary police force.   Welles' new song uses this week's killing  of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis as an example and selling point.  It is very compelling, emotional, and unsettling stuff.

Good vs. ICE is all over the internet.  Check it out - and after you've had your anger over the killing of Renee Good reignited, check out some of Jesse Welles other great songs that so eloquently capture the tumultuous times in which we are living.

Ms. Good was killed this past Wednesday morning as she was driving home after taking her six-year-old son to school.   Jesse Welles watched the coverage and the videos of the shooting just as most of us did.  He internalized what he saw and heard, no doubt struggled with it internally, and by late Friday had penned his reaction into a song and had it filmed and posted on the internet.   That's almost as fast as some professional news organizations processed the same event, and Welles' take on the tragedy will resonate far longer than the "news" coverage.

For a unique and heartfelt perspective on the chaotic world in which we live, check out the works of singer/songwriter Jesse Welles.  He tells it like you have never heard it told before.

Hawley Lands on the Naughty List

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Missouri politics received an unexpected jolt yesterday when one of our two Republican US senators, Josh Hawley, voted with four other Republican senators and all of the Democratic senators to advance a war powers resolution that would bar Trump from putting US boots on the ground in Venezuela without first coming to Congress to seek its approval.

Hawley, who still operates in the Middle Ages when it comes to some issues - abortion, for instance - has a background in constitutional law and has apparently read the US Constitution - and has a basic understanding of that document.   In explaining why he voted with four other Republican senators (Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Todd Young of Indiana, and Susan Collins of Maine) to essentially place limits on what Trump seems to believe is his God-given right to be an armchair general, Hawley referred to Article One in the Constitution which grants Congress the sole authority to declare war.

Not surprisingly, Josh Hawley's exceedingly rare direct challenge to Trump's effort to totally control the US government and its military put him on the MAGA cult leader's naughty list.  Trump exploded on social media saying that the rebellious five GOP senators "should never be elected to public office again!"

Ouch!  Piggy was pissed.

The resolution passed 52-47.   Thanks, Josh.

Historically (over the past few election cycles) Trump's endorsement or lack thereof has been a critical factor in the campaigns of many Republicans.  His rebuke of Marjorie Taylor Greene was seen as a key factor in her resignation from Congress which took effct this past Monday.  All of Missouri's statewide elected officials are Republicans as are seven of nine congressmen and both United States senators, but Trump is still the biggest fish in the show-me pond.  He carried my rural Missouri county with 80% of the vote last November.   Which means that Josh Hawley's vote yesterday has the potential of costing him his cushy job and lifestyle.

The young senator, however, has a couple of things working in his favor.  Trump's poll numbers seem to have peaked and are on the slide, and he is beginning to face successful challenges to his political power.  The recent revolt by the Republican state senate in Indiana when they killed his plan to redistrict the state and gain more Republican seats - or the rebellions in Congress from a few specific GOP representatives also show Trump's increasing political weakness.    Instead of committing political suicide, Josh may have caught a political wave at just the right moment.

The other thing Josh Hawley had going in his favor is that he is not up for re-election until 2030, a time when Trump should no longer be a player on the US political scene.  A lot can be forgotten or forgiven in four years.

But Missouri does have a limitless supply of Republican goobers who probably think they have the political smarts and connections to get elected to the Senate.  Congressman Jason Smith, maybe you should throw your MAGA cap into that race.  Your tongue has been coated with Trump's shoe polish for a decade, and you would be a heavy favorite to kick Hawley's butt in Cape Girardeau and Sikeston!  Think about it, Jason.

Thank you, Josh Hawley, for for letting the Constitution of the United States of America be your guide.    Now, try to make it a habit!

ICE Kills Young Mother in Minneapolis

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Yesterday morning in Minneapolis, less than a mile from where George Floyds was brutally murdered by police in 2020, Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, Christian activist, and award-winning poet, was gunned down in her vehicle by an ICE agent.   Some reports say Ms. Goode came upon the scene of an ICE protest just after she had dropped her six-year-old son at school, while others say she was there acting in the capacity of a "legal observer."   A video of the deadly incident shows her attempting to turn her car around when she was shot through the window three times in the skull.  She died at the scene, and the ICE shooter was apparently spirited away in a government vehicle.

A vigil was held at the scene of the shooting last night, and more protests are planned for today.

The federal government immediately went on the offensive in discussing the killing of the young woman.  Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said the victim "attacked" ICE officers and attempted to run them over with her car, statements that were not born out by the video evidence.  

Donald Trump went even further afield in a highly imaginative social media post which began:

"The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer who seems to have shot her in self-defense.  Based on the attached clip, it is hard to believe he is alive, but is now recovering in the hospital."

Video footage from the scene does not show anyone being run over.   

Last Sunday the Trump administration began a process of sending 2,000 federal agents into the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul for an immigration "crackdown" which was aimed primarily at the area's large Somali population, a move opposed by the area's congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, (an immigrant who was born in Somalia), and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.  Donald Trump has called Somali immigrants "garbage," and said they contribute "nothing" to our country.

Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis called claims by Noem, Trump, and others that the ICE agent had shot the Renee Good in self-defense "bullshit."  He said the agent was recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed.  

In a news conference yesterday after the shooting, Mayor Frey had this message for ICE:

"Get the fuck out of Minneapolis.  We do not want you here."

That sounds like a plan.

America Needs Healthcare a Helluva Lot More than It Needs Greenland!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Republican politician with limited access to Donald Trump, appears to be trying to cool talk of a US military invasion of Greenland and is instead trying to direct the press toward the notion that Trump is more likely to try and buy the world's largest island.

Here's an interesting factoid, something this college history major did not know:  the United States made a tentative offer to buy Greenland from Denmark eighty years ago.  In 1946, shortly after the end of World War II, our country offered the Danes $100 million in gold for their big frozen piece of North American real estate.   We had bought the US Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million in gold in 1917, and probably figured that the Danes, in their rush to recover from World War II, would jump at the chance to offload Greenland for four times that amount.  But it was a "no sale."

Now Donald Trump, who is far more interested in building a personal legacy than he is in governing, has Greenland in his sights for some sort of annexation to the United States.  His two primary options for acquiring that big chunk of land are: 1. to "trump" up some sort of goofy justification and take it by military force, or, 2. to purchase it outright.  A purchase would be easier and undoubtedly cheaper than going to war with Greenland, Denmark, and NATO, and it would pose much less interference with Trump's weekly golf outings on the taxpayer's dime.

But what would it cost?

Our last offer was $100 million in gold eighty years ago.   Inflate that to modern times and the old bid would increase to around $1.3 billion.  That used to be a lot of money, but not so much anymore.  The Trump family has reportedly made about that amount just selling imaginary money (crypto).  With billionaires popping up like zits on a teenager, a billion dollars just doesn't have the heft that it once did, and Denmark would likely not be impressed.

Or Elon, whose wealth is reportedly in the hundreds of billions of dollars, could easily buy, call it something clever like "Trumptasia," and turn it over to Piggy and his family, making Trump the largest single landowner in the world.  That would probably suit his ego.  Elon could do it.  By early 2025 he and his companies had pocketed over $38 billion in US government contracts.

Some estimates are that one in five American children lack a consistent, nutritious source of food and often go to bed hungry at night.  (That's around 14 million kids.). Our country can't afford teachers for our classrooms, childcare for working parents, adequate and safe housing, mass transportation, or affordable healthcare for our citizens, yet we are talking about buying Greenland, a territory for which we have no national need and whose purchase or seizure would only serve to stoke the ego of an elderly politician.

It's absurd.  It's an insult to people who pay taxes and work hard to make better lives for themselves and their children.

Tax people like Elon - for a change - and use the revenue to improve the lives and futures of all Americans.  

If we can afford baubles like Greenland, we can damned sure afford healthcare for all!

RFK, Jr's War on Children Rolls On

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

There was no call for public comment, and pharmaceutical companies were not consulted and asked to weigh-in on the matter.   The scientific community was not polled, and there were no requests for research.  Family physicians were not surveyed.

Yesterday the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), under the direction of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, announced the immediate implementation of a new schedule of childhood vaccinations.  The new schedule recommends that the 17 vaccinations the agency had been recommending for children be reduced to eleven - a move that is in line with Kennedy's long-standing desire to reduce the number of shots children receive.

The vaccinations being removed from the recommended list include those for rotavirus, influenza, meningococcal disease, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), hepatitis A, and hepatitis B.  

In making these drastic cuts to the list of recommended pediatric vaccines, the CDC was responding to a Trump mandate that they look at the recommended vaccination lists of other countries, particularly Denmark, and bring US recommendations more in line with those.  The new US list apparently mirrors that of Denmark.

It is unclear at this point, at least to this scribe, why Denmark's list should be regarded as scientifically superior to the original list developed by US researchers and physicians.

Again, the new shot regimen announced yesterday by the CDC and put into immediate effect sought no input from parents, the pharmaceutical industry, or even (apparently) scientific researchers and practicing family physicians..  A group of political operatives just xeroxed the plans of another country and announced they were now in effect here.

The kids are not alright.  They are being abused by the American political system and are doomed to suffer.

Facebook conspiracy theories are ridiculous and highly dangerous substitutes for quality medical research,  They place our children's health and their very lives at risk.

Congress needs to act immediately to impeach RFK, Jr, and remove him as head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  His continuing presence as the head of that department places children in a dangerous situation and at risk of harm.

I Object!

  

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

One of Donald Trump's primary operational strategies is to sling so much shit, so fast, that the news media, and certainly the public, cannot possibly keep up with his outrages.  These onslaughts against our environment, heritage, values, decency, and intelligence are relentless.  We are constantly awash in his narcissistic whims and vulgarities, but before we can form the resolve to deal with today's Trump-initiated crime or crisis, he is already on the internet ginning up the next one.

I am angry about a lot of Trump crap, but my options for challenging or voicing my opposition to his self-promotional garbage are limited.  I have marched in street protests a few times in my life.  Those forays into public resistance were usually fun, but seldom seemed to effect any change.  Today, it is all I can do to march to my mailbox in the afternoon to pick up the advertisements for guttering, thermal windows, and hearing aids.  I can launch a complaint into the social media sewer, such as I am doing right now, but it will quickly sink into the constant sludge of noise and distraction.

My congressman and US senators don't read their own mail, and they respond to written communications from constituents with form letters and requests for donations.

I am angry about Trump's crackpot war on Venezuela, but war falls under the constitutional purview of Congress, and my congressman and senators have abdicated that power and responsibility, and shuffled it off to the White House - a situation which denies American voters their most direct input into decisions about our country going to war.

I am angry about Trump plastering his name everywhere.  Some of my professional training is as a social worker, a field in which I worked as a therapist for more than a decade.   I have a copy of the DSM-5 within reach of where I sit typing this morning, and through it and my own work experience, I know that narcissism is a mental disorder and something that is not easily controlled,  but the behaviors narcissists exhibit affect others, nonetheless.

I object to Trump and his cronies that he put on the Board of Directors at the Kennedy Center placing Trump's name of the national memorial to John F. Kennedy, a war hero and a politician who was not encumbered with a laundry list of felony convictions,  I object to that desecration of John F. Kennedy's memory, I object to it strongly - but so what?  If too many people object too loudly, we'll go to war with Paraguay and change the subject!

I also object to Trump strong-arming the Treasury and US Mint into putting his image on a dollar coin to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American Independence.  I heard a news report on the radio this morning which indicated that national insult is still in the works.  A US law from 1866 prohibits living people from being represented on any "bonds, securities, notes, fractional or postal currency of the United States," but, as Trump would probably say, "So what?"

Add to the fact that putting Trump's face on a US coin while he is still alive is illegal, putting a convicted felon on a US coin is in extremely bad taste and monstrously unfair to the millions of Americans who have spent their lives working hard and following the law.

We deserve better.  Much better!

I object.  I object.  I OBJECT!

(Somebody make a note of that.)

Win, Win, Win! So Much Winning!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

It's been less than two days since the US military assault on the country of Venezuela and our kidnapping of the country's President and First Lady, but already much of the political mud flung by tha operation has begun to clarify.  Donald Trump, a person who lacks the ability to stay off of social media, quickly laid out the actual rationale for the military assault on the South American nation.

Trump has been yammering on for the past several months about the threat of "narco-terrorism" being spawned in Venezuela, using that as rationale for the US sinking several small boats off the coast of Venezuela and Colombia and murdering the crews of those boats.  But the amount of drugs entering the US which originate or even just pass through Venezuela is almost nil.

Honduras, a nation in Central America, is a different story.  That country has been instrumental in moving large amounts of drugs to the United States, and last year a jury in New York convicted former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez of helping to smuggle more than 400 tons of cocaine into the United States.  He was sentenced to 45 years in prison and was already incarcerated when Donald Trump gave him a full pardon last month.  That convicted drug trafficker is now a free man, and Trump's bizarre hypocrisy is a matter of public record.

Less than a month after freeing a convicted drug trafficker (narco-terrorist) from prison, Trump pivots and snatches the leader of another country, ostensibly for aiding in the trafficking of drugs to the United States.  But when Trump finally began boasting about the military strike on Venezuela, he was no longer focused on drugs.   In explaining the rationale for the attack, the US President was talking business.  America would be "running" Venezuela, he said, and American oil companies would be going to Venezuela to repair and expand the infrastructure of its oil business and increase production.  We would be "partnering" with Venezuela in the oil business.

There it is:  oil, not drugs.  The re-emergence of good, old American Imperialism.  One of the darkest chapters of American history was being dusted off trotted out for a few more laps around the track.  

The Robber Barons were back!

Trump's empire-building will not end with Venezuela.  He has already warned the President of Venezuela's neighbor, the country of Colombia, that he had better "watch its ass," supposely with regard to the manufacture of cocaine in that country, and he also said ominously that "something will have to be done about Mexico."  Trump's Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, an American of Cuban descent, said yesterday, "We will be talking about Cuba," before adding "Look, if I lived in Havana and I worked for the government, I'd be concerned."  Forewarned is forearmed, one must suppose.  

Even the spouse of one administration member was rattling her saber.  Shortly after the US assault on Venezuela, Katie Miller, the wife of Trump's most influential adviser, Stephen Miller, posted a sketch of Greenland on "X" showing the immense island colored in red, white, and blue - and a one-word commentary:  "Soon."

Meanwhile, Trump blathered:  "American dominance in the Western hemisphere will never be questioned again."

Trump will expand access for American businesses to resources, labor, and markets, throughout the Western hemisphere, and in return they will have plenty of opportunities to donate to projects near and dear to Trump's heart (ballrooms, arches, a presidential library), and perhaps even invest in some of the businesses being run by Trump's family members.

Win, win, win!  So much winning!

Another Undeclared War

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

A new year finds the United States of America rushing headlong into yet another undeclared war of aggression.   Our nation's Constitution clearly gives Congress, and only Congress, the power to declare war, a power it last used for our entry into World War II nearly a century ago.  Congress has taken itself out of the business of starting or entering wars and instead passed that responsibility along to whatever tinpot, wannabe Generalissimo is parked in the White House - a system that gave us the futility of Korea, bloody horrors of Vietnam, and the insanity and corruption of Bush Oil Wars One and Two.

War has become little more that an expansion vehicle and profit center for American capitalism.  It takes the children of American workers and runs them through a meat grinder to ultimately benefit America's wealth-hoarders and captains of industry and their children.

And Congress, the body of government that should be the gatekeeper for the business of war, is absent without leave.

Donald Trump, a raging patriot whose bone spurs regrettably kept him from putting on his country's uniform and going to war a half-century ago, but not from playing golf, last night sent America' s sons and daughters into the South American country of Venezuela to bomb the capital, Caracas, and to abduct the country's president and first lady.  Today Trump's administration is no doubt busy explaining to the government and people of Venezuela just how their new "free" country will operate in the future.

Troops storming into a country uninvited, bombing infrastructure, and abducting the country's leader and his wife, certainly sounds like acts of war, yet Congress, which lacks to resolve or discipline to even pass gas, much less a war resolution, snoozed peacefully through the night and let Trump and Little Marco, and possibly even Pete handle it.

Congress also snoozed through Trump's capture of the Kennedy Center, his demolition of the East Wing of the White House, and his usurpation of Congress's power to impose tariffs.  The United States of America does not need Venezuela's oil reserves, Trump's primary motivation from dragging us into yet another international conflict - what the United States really needs is a NEW CONGRESS!

Register and vote!

Mike Johnson, you're pathetic!

A New Year Starts with Deer and Wordle

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Rosie and I stepped out the back door and into the New Year yesterday morning right as dawn was breaking.  My little dog, whose eyesight is rapidly fading, ran to the edge of the porch and began barking.  It was still so dark that I could barely see, but Rosie knew we were under siege and she kept up her insistent yapping.  As my focus finally roamed out into the yard, I saw what had her so excited.  Five beautiful young whitetail deer were grazing on the lawn about thirty feet in front of us, and they seemed to be regarding me and the noisy little dog as more of a curiosity than a danger. 

We went on about our business and the deer went on about theirs before eventually wandering off in search of greener, and quieter, pastures.  2026 had begun with what I regarded as an unusually positive omen.  We'll see how that holds up!

A few weeks ago I bought a bag of pecans at one of the local grocery stores, and as my luck would have it, they turned out to be old and rubbery.   Yesterday evening, after filling the bird feeders that are situated out in the yard in front of my living room (typing) window, I took some of the old pecans and scattered them on the ground beneath the bird feeders.  This morning the birds, and especially the colorful and bossy cardinals, and the sweet doves, are busy pulling sunflower seeds and corn chops from the feeders, but the squirrels have yet to discover their treat.  That will happen soon, and I eagerly await the commotion!   

Tim, my youngest, taught me how to play "Wordle" while I was in Kansas City two weeks ago.  Four days ago I finally googled it at home on my computer to see how hard it would be to set up.  Literally all I had to do was to click on the link, and I immediately had my own "Wordle" account via the New York Times.  ("Wordle" is one of the few things that the Times isn't charging for - yet.). I have always suspected that I was a flippin' genius who never worked up to his potential, and now I am proving it.  I am on a four-day winning streak with the addictive vocabulary game!

If you are like me, getting a little long-in-the-tooth and starting to forget where you are or why, find some puzzles that suit your particular interests in life and give the old brain a good workout.  And if vocabulary is your thing and you want a break from crossword puzzles, give "Wordle" a shot.  It is certainly keeping me amused.  ("Wordle" is also a game that Donald Trump and his spawn would be unlikely to ever attempt because as nearly as I can tell, there is no way to cheat.  So there's that!)

Today I will be going into to town to get a salt block for the deer.  Take care of nature, and she will take care of you.

Have a wonderful 2026!

Hizzoner, the Mayor of New York!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

At least four major American cities are entering the New Year of 2026 in full victory mode.  Yesterday the Trump administration announced that it was ending its attempt to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon.  The major political retreat comes after the US Supreme Court last week in a six to three vote rebuked Trump's efforts to send troops into Chicago, something Trump had been intent on doing despite protests from the mayor of Chicago and the governor of Illinois.

The mayors of Los Angeles, California, and Portland, Oregon had also been protesting the presence of National Guard troops in their cities, as had the governors of those states.

Trump announced his surrender yesterday evening on social media in his trademark petty manner:

"We are removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland despite the fact CRIME has been greatly reduced by having these great Patriots in those cities, and ONLY by that fact."

Troops had been deployed in Los Angeles earlier in the year, but had only been "staged" in Chicago and Portland where they were performing very limited duties.  Trump's crime estimates for all three of those cities seem to have not been based in actual, measurable fact.

Trump continued his social media screed with this threat:

"We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again - ONLY a question of time!"

Oink, oink, and more oink!

(Pa Rock thinks he will have tacos for lunch today, yes, he does!)

The other big city victory moment came in New York City last night at midnight.  Just after the New Year's ball dropped in Times Square, 34-year-old Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as the city's first Muslim and Democratic Socialist mayor in the historic subway station located beneath City Hall in Manhattan.   His oath of office was administered by New York Attorney General Leticia James, an official the Trump administration has been unsuccessfully trying to indict for months as part of its personal retribution agenda.  Mayor Mamdani was sworn into office on a Quaran, the Muslim holy book.  

The beautiful Old City Hall Station was chosen for the initial swearing-in as a nod to Mayor Mamdani's push for more accessible public transit.   That symbolic ceremony was a private affair with limited attendance.  

Later today the new mayor will be above ground where he will be officially sworn into office in a large public event held on the steps of City Hall.  That ceremony and swearing-in will be conducted by Mamdani's good friends and fellow Democratic Socialists, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York City.

Several blocks of street parties are also planned for downtown Manhattan after the mayor's formal inauguration.

Then Mayor Mamdani will roll up his sleeves and get to work!