A Serious End-Times Prophet Emerges

 

by Pa Rock

Mortal Earthling

I saw a prophet once, a raggedy, undernourished individual, on a cold Thanksgiving weekend in downtown Chicago.  It was somewhere around forty years ago, and he was marching up and down the sidewalk in front of the Marshall Fields Department Store on State Street, that great street, carrying a sign that read 'The End is Near."  He was wrong, I think, because decades have passed and as far as I can tell I'm still here and civilization goes on.

There was a much more ominous end-times prophecy issued this week from a young man who appears have the expertise and be in a position to know that of which he warns.  Jacob Coxon, who until  two days ago, was a serious and high-placed researcher in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), quit his job at Anthropic, a company that creates ands builds AI models.  Anthropic was founded by researchers who got their start working for OpenAI, another major AI developer.  Coxon has worked for both companies.

Jacob Coxon is a very smart guy who knows and understands the potential of artificial intelligence, and he has concerns that the companies pushing into this new frontier are racing recklessly and creating an intelligence force that may slip beyond their control - and beyond all human control.  There have been multiple incidents of that happening on a small scale which have come to light over the past few weeks, including at least one where an AI system managed to hack into another AI system and steal information without any human control or supervision in the matter - and another incident in which multiple AI systems were found to have set up their own secret message board to share information among themselves.

One term commonly used to describe the situation when computers begin to work autonomously with no human controls is "the singularity," something which I have mentioned in this space on multiple occasions for more than a decade.  With the two incidents mentioned above, we are clearly on the cusp of "the singularity" now.

Jacob Coxon resigned from his position at Anthropic on Tuesday, cleaned out his desk, and went home.  Tuesday night he took to X (Twitter) and began his 21st century version of carrying a placard along State Street, that great street.  Mr. Coxon's series of tweets from last Tuesday evening follow:

"I resigned from Anthropic today.  I spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic.  Neither company is acting responsibly.  They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.   More thoughts below."

"Do not underestimate the power of this technology.   These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources.  We have all witnessed the progress in each of these domains, and progress is not slowing."

"The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.  This is not a marketing stunt.  If anything, many executives and senior researchers will couch their phrasing in the press to sound sensible - but I hear the same people express fear privately.  No other human activity poses this level of danger."

"A common response is 'if they believe this, why are they still building it?'  At OpenAI, many have not deeply internalized the civilizational stakes.  At Anthropic the stakes are well understood, but they are locked in a race to get there first - they believe no one else will act responsibly, so they must do it themselves, despite the risk."

"Accepting this race and entering the "endgame' is a hubristic gamble that should not be launched from a private company's Slack.  Attempting to speedrun alignment should require extraordinary confidence that there are no better trajectories available."

"I am optimistic about the potential for coordination.  Warning shots like the Hugging Face attack have made pacing agreements between U.S. labs more viable.  I don't feel like we're on track to prevent a global race, which may require costly actions such as a temporary ban on improving model capabilities."

"If you are a lab researcher, I urge you to consider what the next few years will actually feel like.  Do you want to kick off a superintelligent RL run without a rigorous understanding of its mind?  Should you put your head down because 'it's happening anyway' - or take this moment to call for different conditions?"

That's the view from an AI research insider - and isn't it cheery!  I took the liberty of highlighting the part about AI killing us all by the end of the decade.  The end of the decade is December 31, 2029 - counting today, there are only 1,209 days left.

Some might say that this would be a good time to begin getting one's affairs in order, but really, what would be the point?  However, it might be a good time to take out a bank loan and go on that world cruise you've always dreamed about!

If you happen to be in Chicago over the holidays, stop by and say 'hello."  I will be carrying a sign outside of Marshall Fields on State Street, that great street!

The. Cameras are Rolling

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

I recently posted a piece in this blog dealing with "Flock" cameras, those small, black rectangular panel devices sitting atop posts and on signs along America's highways.   Flock cameras rapidly record license plate numbers and help police monitor traffic, spot traffic violators or even wanted criminals, and occasionally even stalk track down persons of personal interest to cops - such as ex-girlfriends - and monitor their travel.   The use, and especially the misuse of Flock cameras, is becoming so controversial that some legal jurisdictions are taking them down.

Many jurisdictions also employ body cameras for officers to wear while they are on duty that record interactions with the public and the activities and behaviors the officers employ dring the performance of their duties - and some even have "dashboard cams" in patrol cars which record activities like car chases, street fights, and arrests. 

When body and dashboard cams are used they provide valuable evidentiary information that can be of tremendous assistance in the prosecution of crimes.  Unfortunately, sometimes during critical incidents these devices are inadvertently turned off and courts must rely on the testimony of law enforcement officers, victims, bystanders, and alleged perpetrators.   That causes doubt over verdicts that could have been "open and shut" if officers had followed protocol and had their cameras operating.

And sometimes filmed evidence is provided by people who are just observing, bystanders filming the encounters between police and possible criminals with their smartphones.  Some policing agencies, like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for instance, try to prohibit the public from filming arrests by informing them that it is "illegal" to film their activities and accusing the people with cameras and recording devices of being "security threats" and committing "harassment."  Observers armed with cameras have faced physical threats, been ordered to surrender their phones, or detained in custody for not complying with orders to turn their cameras off.

Dan Rather, an esteemed national television journalist from my generation, wrote a book about his life in broadcast journalistm that was titled "The Camera never Blinks," a title based on the obvious fact that what appeared on the video really happened.  (Those were the days well before the onset of Artificial Intelligence - aka AI.)  

Police today are well aware of Mr. Rather's admonition and what it means, and are very conscious of the power of video evidence.  (And yes, there are experts in the field who can sift AI enhanced videos from the real-deal film footage.).  Some cynics would certainly argue that the reason police cameras are sometimes turned off at critical moments is to advantage police by not making a record of their behavior during enocunters with criminals or the public.  Those cynics would also be likely to argue that certain segments  of the American police force at certain times would deem it far more appropriate and legally efficient if the judges and juries would take the word of law enforcement officers and be satisfied with that.

But if somebody steps forward with evidence relative to a crime, and even if that somebody is just a bystander or onlooker, judges and juries tend to want to see it to ensure they have a full 'picture' of what actually took place.

Yesterday there were some news stories on the internet about a new source of "evidence" in criminal matters, the product of META Glasses, ordinary looking eyeglasses which can make audio and video recordings of what the wearer is observing.  Some META Glasses' evidence has already been used in court trials, but police have concerns.

Of course they do.

The police argument against these devices is that they can be used inside of police facilities to record weaknesses in jail security - and also to identify and then "dox" officers who might not want their identities or profession known in the community.    Police organizations are arguing that allowing META Glasses to be worn inside of law enforcement facilities or around officers pose a risk of terrorism, attacks against officers and facilities, jail breaks, and all manner of mayhem.

It sounds like a modern day rehash of a much older battle between those tasked with keeping society orderly who sometimes get overly zealous in their work -  and those concerned with the erosion of personal freedoms and human rights, but who may sometimes also push limits.

Cameras are less deadly than guns, but they can also be highly effective in helping to stamp out criminal behavior.  If everybody, including law enforcement officers, assume cameras are rolling somewhere nearby all the time, that should serve as a deterrent to criminal behavior.  Those cameras never blink - unless, of course, they are turned off.

Smart glasses offer one more avenue for the pursuit of justice as well as an additional level of self-protection.

(Note: As of this morning, META Ray-Ban (Gen 2) Smart AI glasses with matte black frames and clear lenses are available at Amazon.com for $379 per pair.  According to the company's website, more than 5,000 were purchased over the past month.)

Friends in Outdoor Spaces

 

by Pa Rock

Survivor of Summer

Rosie and I have our routines and chief among them are several strolls outside each day where she relieves herself, I kick at pine cones and look for money on the ground, and we both bark at whatever we damned well please!  

Our first walk of the day is very early, often before daylight while it is still cool enough to breathe.  With the heat being so horrid of late, I have also taken to carrying along a couple of gallons of water which I use to keep my only two hanging baskets of flowers alive, fill the birdbaths, and dump any extra on the poor, semi-fried roses.   That water is key to the survival of the outdoor blooming plants as well to the health and well being of a few other friends of mine.

Take Mr. Toad, for instance.

Toad showed up a few weeks ago on the back porch after dark when I had the outdoor light on waiting for my son to get home from work.   We were eating bugs, but he is better at it than me.  Since then I have spotted him several other times at various toad outposts around the yard, but earlier this week he showed up in an unexpected location.   One of the two birdbaths outside of my typing window in the front yard is just a large pan that sits on the ground close to the real birdbath which is on a short stand three feet off of the ground.  The pan birdbath is generally empty most mornings, and the other one is often low on water, depending on how many robins have stopped by the previous day.

A few mornings ago as Rosie and I were out taking care of business several minutes before the first hint of daylight, I bent down to pour fresh water into the pan birdbath.  I could see the pan was about half full of water from the previous day, and I could also discern what looked to be a couple of dead leaves in the water.   As I poured water into the pan, one of the dead leaves got up and hopped out.  It was Mr. Toad who had been relaxing at the spa!

If Toad had waited for the sun to rise before taking his rinse, he would have been roundly attacked by the robins who believe any outdoor pool of water is theirs first.  Little birds gather, when they can, along the edge of the bird baths and sip politely as they gossip, much like the old men at the local coffee shops, but when the robins show up, the place gets to rocking and the civilized birds head for cover.   Birdbaths for robins aren't sedate rest stops like spas or a coffee shops, they are more on the order of locker room showers - and robins attack them with a frenzy, splashing water everywhere while joyfully submerging, ruffling feathers in the cool water, and delighting in their own commotion.  When they finish, the other birds can have the mess that's left.

My other outdoor friend of late has been a pesky yellowjacket. Yellowjackets are bees with samaurai credentials, mean little bastards who own the skies and have zero fear of anything.   Yellowjackets sometimes live underground, and my first encounter with them occurred more than forty years ago when I was mowing the yard at our home in Mountain View, Missouri, and unwittingly pushed the mower over an underground colony of yellowjackets.  I was stung eight times before I was able to flee the scene and reach the safety of the house - and it took fifteen minutes for the kamikazes to settle down enough to where I could get back to the mower and shut it off.

The pain from a yellowjacket sting is so unique and intense that I can sense it to this day.  The only thing comparable I have ever encountered occurred one night in Phoenix, Arizona, when I crawled into bed with a scorpion.  He got me twice and the pain was very reminiscent of the yellowjacket stings.

Late in the afternoon a few days ago a yellowjacket spotted me outside and began buzzing my head.  I tried waving him away, but he was persistent - to the point that he eventually landed on the lens of my glasses - which I was wearing.    The black-and yellow-striped flying insect had absolutely no fear.  Moments after I waved him off of my glasses, he alighted on my watchband.   His attentions were getting a bit too personal for my comfort, so I headed for the safety of the house.  I don't know where he is living, but now and then he still finds me when I am outside and begins buzzing my head - and yesterday he again landed on my watchband.  I have about decided that he likes me and just wants to be friends, though I have no idea why.

Maybe Toad gave me a "like'" on "Bluesky" and Yellowjacket happened to notice.

When you are retired and live in the country, your pan of friends is limited to whoever is available.

Jason Smith Ignores Bartiromo, Goes After Canada

  

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Monday, September 7, 2026:  Labor Day, a day set aside as a federal holiday to honor our nation's working men and women - and children.  

I thought it might be appropriate today to shine a light on a group of American workers who are better known for skipping work than they are for showing up.  I'm speaking of members of the United States Congress, and , in particular, the US House of Representatives.  Out of 250 total days so far this year, the House has been in formal session 118 days.  Even excluding weekends and holidays, time some American workers traditionally get off, 118 days of actual work in more than eight months is still a nice deal.

Members of Congress get paid for their travel to and from their districts, a per-day expense allowance of up to $79 with no receipts required, as well as whatever nice things lobbyists provide in order to make them feel at home while they conduct the nation's business - and some, like my congressman, even get free accommodations while in Washington, DC, by sleeping in their offices, a sweet, untaxed perk.

My congressman, Jason Smith, a Republican from Missouri's large, rural 8th congressional district, is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the group which writes tax law and keeps the lobbyists happy, and from that perch he often manages to get himself on television - but generally only on friendly, right-wing news programs where he is able to carry water for Trump while answering "softball" questions and not getting tripped up by those tricky real journalists.   In his weekly email newsletter which some of his constituents receive (myself included), Jason touts his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee (ad nauseam!) and never fails to brag about the news shows that he has appeared on that week, where he self-promoted and regurgitated the Trump administration's talking points.

Until the latest newsletter which came out this morning, Jason's missives almost always contained blurbs about his appearances with Maria Bartiromo on one or another of the three business-oriented news programs that she hosted for Fox.  Maria got her butt fired earlier in the week for an egregious act of disloyalty toward her employer after it was revealed that she shared confidential company internal communications with officials at the White House.  Maria carried water for Trump one too many times, and it finally washed her away.  

Maria Bartiromo's demise is something Jason Smith should study and reflect on.  If the golden aura of Trump is diminishing at Fox, chances are a large swath of America is souring on him as well.  The coming midterm elections will generate numbers that will prove or disprove that assertion, and the numbers will ripple across Missouri's ruby red 8th congressional district as well.  It will be interesting to see if Jason Smith's victory percentage drops this November over past election cycles.

The major focus of Jason's newsletter today was the US-Canada trade war, a war initiated by Donald Trump, a point Jason forgot to mention, and a war which has hit close to home, even in Missouri's 8th congressional district, a point he did mention.  In the lead article in his newsletter, "Canada is Choosing Politics Over People," Jason led with the following paragraph - which sets the tone for the entire misguided piece:

"Farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers across Southeast and Southcentral Missouri have spent years on the losing end of a trade relationship that was stacked against us.  For far too long, Canada has gotten the benefit of the doubt while our producers and businesses paid the price.  And our families, in particular, have paid the price as Canada has worked to protect its own domestic industries at our expense.   That's why I'm so supportive of President Trump working to level the playing field and return fairness to our trading relationships."

Where to begin!

Did Canadians destabilize a once peaceful and productive international relationship by issuing bellicose threats to annex the United States and make it a Canadian province?  No Jason, that was Donald Trump snorting a threat to annex their nation and make all of Canada one US state.  Trump wasn't a diplomat speaking to help his country work through issues with another sovereign nation, he was a schoolyard bully bellowing nonsense threats to attract coverage on social media.

Did Canada begin a trade war with the United States, Jason?  No that misadventure began with Donald Trump imposing import tariffs on countries around the world, often without rhyme nor reason, including countries where we already had established trade agreements in place - like the United States, Mexico, and Canada Agreement (USMCA) which was enacted in 2020 during Trump's first administration - an agreement that his administration helped to create!  

Is Canada responsible for the rise in the prices of diesel and fertilizer which are of massive importance to Missouri farmers, Jason?  Of course not.   Those are a direct result of Donald Trump's war of choice against Iran -  a country that posed no direct or imminent threat to the United States.  Trump's now-stalemated war on Iran has also raised the price of gasoline for every American, with prices reaching a high-water mark of a national average of $4.14 a gallon just today.  A big part of the income from our labor on this Labor Day is going for gas - and the rising price of gas and diesel (now an average nationwide of $5.90 per gallon!) raise the price of groceries - just like Trump's tariff's also raised the price of groceries.

Americans know what is going on, Jason.  There is a bogeyman out there, but it's not Canada.  You need to wake up and catch up.

When that chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee goes away in January, it won't be Canada's fault, Jason.   You'll have Donald John Trump - the politician with the tariffs, the bully who thought he was a generalissimo and could run a war, but couldn't, and the dilettante with the ballroom and the big arch - to thank for that.

Donald Trump totally owns the mess the United States is currently in, not Canada.  The Canadians aren't coming to the United States this year to spend their vacation money.  They are at home, kicked back, munching on popcorn, and enjoying our insane reality show that is happening below their southern border!

Racism So Thick You Could Cut It with a Bullwhip

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist 

In yet one more attempt to weed out any vestiges of diversity, equity, and inclusion - and basic human decency - and human dignity - from our national society, the Trump administration, through its Treasury Department, proposed new rules this past week that would end tax-exempt status for any private schools found to offer benefits toward admissions, scholarships, and the use of facilities based on race.  The new rules are just more examples of the Trump administration misusing Civil Rights-era laws to justify overt racism in American institutions based on the Trump position that programs designed to make up for generations of social and economic abuse caused by racism against people of color actually discriminate against white and Asian Americans.

The Trumpers argue that programs designed to correct for decades and centuries of accrued disadvantage based on race and racism serve as 'reverse discrimination,' which, in their twisted view, is harmful to white Americans - and they invoke Civil Rights-era legislation to defend their efforts to keep people of color at the very bottom of the socio-economic ladder in America.

And if the IRS or the Treasury Department concludes that a black or brown person received any sort of leg-up from a school because of their long generational history of being held down by white society - bang! - that school loses its tax-exempt status.  The schools will continue to offer a better social and economic fit to the historically white privileged class - or else!

I have written about the Trump administration's overt racism before.  It's out there, in plain sight, not caring whether it is called out or not.  The white race - as big portion's of Trump's base would no doubt refer to themselves - is on the ascendancy.  The South, as personified by the stars and bars of the Confederate flag, is rising again.  

The nation's ugliest period of slavery is being rewritten in American history books as being kinder, gentler, and more paternalistic than the living hell it actually was.  Trump himself bemoans the 'cultural' loss of Confederate statues being removed from public places, and US military bases being stripped of names honoring Confederate officers in the Civil War - and he is 'correcting' those cultural outrages where he can in the hypocritical guise of stamping out racism.  The Trump administration has stalled and connived to keep the image of Harriet Tubman, a black heroine, off of the $20 bill, yet he rushed his own image onto a dollar coin and 'jokes' about putting his picture n a $250 dollar bill.  And the Trump administration - through Defense Secretary Hegseth, has been zealous in removing women and people of color from the top ranks of our nation's officer corps.  ICE is removing immigrants of color, sometimes en masse, from our shores while our government actually pays white South Africans to immigrate here.

Slather as much lipstick on that pig as you want, but at the end of the day it's still a pig and it's still racist.

 

The end game is to keep people of color at the bottom of society - and everybody knows it.

The end game is to make America white again - and everybody knwos it.

It's a holy crusade - and a flaming narcissist born into a life of arrogance and privilege shall lead them.

Praise Jesus and the white steed he rode in on!

Draft Dodger's Vanity Arch Will Cast Shadow Over Arlington National Cemetery

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist 

On May 13, 1864, Private William Christman of the Union Army became thte first person to be buried on land seized from the family of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.   One month and two days later Secretary of War Edwin Stanton approved the establishment of Arlington National Cemetery on 200 acres of that same land.  Today more than 400,000 individuals are buried at Arlington, along with thousands more arriving each year.   Two US Presidents (one of whom was a genuine war hero), fourteen justices of the US Supreme Court, and many past members of Congress are interred tere.   More than four hundred Medal of Honor recipients are buried or represented at Arlington National Cemetery.

Now, more than 160 years after young William Christman was laid to rest in the first grave at Arlington National Cemetery, US President Donald J. Trump, a man who went to great lengths to NOT serve in the US military, is planning to begin excavation work for a 250-foot tall Triumphal Arch" to be erected on property adjacent to the cemetery.    The enormous structure will distort views of many of the city's famed monuments, and cast a long, cold shadow over the cemetery itself.  

Even the grave of President John F. Kennedy, a man for whom Trump seems to harbor particular animus, will be in the shadow of Trump's arch.  (As a young US Naval lieutenant during World War II, Kennedy commanded a motor torpedo boat called the PT-109 in the South Pacific that was cut in half and sank when it was rammed by a Japanese destroyer.  Two crew members were killed on the spot, but Kennedy led the ten other survivors (11 including himself) in a swim across three miles of shark-infested waters to safety - including one wounded sailor whom Kennedy pulled (by biting into the man's life jacket strap) as he swam.

John F. Kennedy, like Trump, grew up in wealth and privilege, but that is where their similarities end.

Yesterday, US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, a Trump appointee, announced that excavation would would begin for the foundations of the massive arch within two weeks.  The project will commence without any approval from Congress and even without the final approval of the Trump-appointed-and-controlled "National Capital Planning Commission."   

There are lawsuits pending from Veteran's organizations to stop the project.

What's the big rush to get things rolling even before Trump's puppet committee issues its final approval?  Except for Natalie, who could possibly know the wandering mind of Donald Trump?

Here's one scenario:

Trump had the East Wing of the White House knocked down, basically in secret, without seeking anyone's approval.  Once it was down, something had to be done to cover the hole in the ground, so why not build a ballroom?  Trump initially announced that his rich friends would pay for the new ballroom, but as he kept demanding more square footage, marble, and gold, the cost rose significantly and now it looks as though taxpayers will pay for the brunt f Trump's vanity ballroom -  lucky us - and Trump's pet Congress is too afraid of his wrath to oppose him on anything.  

But the days of having a pet Congress may be numbered with some political prognosticators predicting that Republicans could lose control of both the House and the Senate in the midterm elections.  

As of yet the Trump administration has not asked Congress for either permission or money to build his vanity arch - the one that would look down on the Lincoln Memorial as well as the gravesite of John F. Kennedy, firmly establishing, in Trump's mind at least, his ultimate superiority over those particular presidential predecessors.    Trump claims permission from Congress is not necessary because the project falls under the management of the Department of the Interior.  (And that is the basis for some of the Veteran's lawsuits which claim Congressional permission must be sought and granted for the eyesore to be erected - and that certain federal reviews must be completed ahead of the project.)   Trump claims that arch will be built with private contributions and money already within the budget that will be "repurposed" for the construction of the arch.

So he has a plan, similar to the charade that was involved in constructing his ballroom, and he has to get started - get some earth moved and some cement poured - BEFORE the November elections, elections which could very well reveal that a majority Democratic Congress will be seated in January - a Congress that will not play nearly as nice as the one Trump has bullied for the past twso years.

The new Congress might have enough backbone to bring the arch, and maybe even the ballroom, to an abrupt halt - and Trump is fixated on getting both to the point where they will be hard to take down.

And the upcoming elections aren't the only clocks that Donald Trump is fighting.  There is a scary old man wearing a hooded robe and carrying a scythe who is calmly and relentlessly working his way toward each of us - regardless of how much crypto we own.

Missouri Midterms Are a Mess

 

by Pa Rock

Missouri Voter

The US midterm elections are now officially less than two months away.   Mail-in ballots are being sent out in some locations beginning today, although the US Supreme Court has yet to issue a final decision as to whether the US Postal Service can limit the delivery of those ballots to persons on approved voter lists provided by state election officials - as per the wishes of the Trump administration.  (The states undoubtedly know who their eligible voters are, so it looks as if the Trump administration is trying to build its own national list of voters - even though the US Constitution clearly leaves the process of running elections to the states.)

But trying to obtain voter lists is not the only way the Trump administration has interfered with US midterm elections.  Many suspect, with ample good reason, that street-gang thuggery by ICE agents is aimed, at least in part, at intimidating qualified minority voters and keeping them away from the polls. 

Also, in June of 2025, Donald Trump floated the idea of doing a mid-decade congressional redistricting in certain states to increase the number of Republicans elected to Congress in 2026.  One of the first states Trump and his democracy disruptors targeted was Missouri which has eight congressional districts.  Six of the Missouri congressional districts were  basically suburban or rural and were represented by Republicans in Congress.  The other two districts - St. Louis and its surrounding communities, and Kansas City and its surrounding communities - were urban and represented by Democrats in Congress, both of whom were Black.

Apparently the St. Louis area district must have looked impregnable to the weasels redrawing the maps for Trump, and they chose to leave it alone.  The other though, Kansas City, was ripe with potential for gerrymandering, and its urban center was quickly sliced into three separate districts, all of which were attached to enough farmland, to likely insure the elimination of Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, the former mayor of Kansas City, Missouri.

Trump bootlickers in Missouri's GOP-dominated state legislature quickly followed the orders of their masters in DC and drew the new maps which broke greater Kansas City into three distinct congressional districts, each with more rural and suburban voters than urban.  The city of Kansas City would be without an actual representative in Congress.

The citizens of Missouri have had some major successes over the last decade in going around our lobbyist-driven state legislature and gaining much needed reforms through the initiative and referendum process - passing petitions, collecting signatures, and putting matters before the voters for approval - and they quickly did that with this gerrymander.  Citizens collected over 300,000 valid signatures to put the redistricting matter before the people on q referendum ballot, BUT Missouri's Secretary of State, Denny Hoskins, refused to recognize effort saying that referendum procedures do not apply to redistricting because that, according to Hoskins, is strictly in the purview of the state legislature.

A circuit judge in Cole County, Missouri (where the state capital is located), agreed with Secretary of State Hoskins and ruled in the state's favor - and primary elections were held in August based on the new maps.

But here is where it gets really interesting:

Yesterday the Missouri Supreme Court ruled on the matter, and justices at the state's top court declared unanimously that voters have a right to challenge redistricting in the "show-me" state through the initiative and referendum process - and - that the matter must go on this year's midterm ballot - and - until the matter is resolved at the polls, the old congressional district boundaries remain in effect.   (All of that is after candidates for Congress from Missouri were chosen in August based on the new district lines.

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, mentioned unkindly in this space just yesterday, has vowed to appeal the matter directly to the United States Supreme Court of Donald J. Trump.

Better overnight that sucker, Cathy!

(That's another fine mess you've gotten us into, Donald!)

Missouri AG Spends Public Money to Defeat the Will of the People

 

by Pa Rock

Taxpaying Missouri Voter

When the US Supreme Court, with the Dobbs' Decision in June of 2022, overturned a half-century of women in the United States having a constitutional right to abortion procedures, Missouri's cracker GOP-dominated state legislature was ready.  It had already passed a measure that would "trigger" a complete abortion ban in Missouri the moment that the US Supreme Court overturned Roe V Wade - which it did with the Dobbs' Decision - and minutes after that decision was announced Missouri became the first state in the nation to completely ban abortions.

Our legislators here in the "show-me" state had shown themselves how very proud and gallant they were to protect the rights of their wimmin folk by denying them the right to make their own healthcare decisions, something the gals were obviously incapable of doing without the help of Republican politicians.

But Missourians, and especially Missouri female voters, were not happy to sit quietly in that patriarchial sludge and let a bunch of farmers and preachers in the legislature tell them what they could and could not do with their own bodies.  Two years later, in 2024, Missouri citizens passed petitions in an initiative process and got a referendum on the ballot to amend the state constitution and reinstate a right to abortion -  and it passed!  That measure was called "Amendment 3;  The Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative."

But the good ol' boys (and a few good ol' gals) in the Missouri State Legislature were not happy with the vote of the people and quickly convinced themselves that the people had made a grievous error - no doubt due to direct interference from Satan.  So our self-righteous legislators fought implementation of the new constitutional right as long as they could while drafting a counter measure for a vote of the public - a proposed a new constitutional amendment that would nullify the last one.   In what was likely a move to confuse voters, this measure is also called "Amendment 3," and it will be on the ballot in Missouri this November.

Recently it was revealed that Missouri's GOP (of course) attorney general, Catherine Hannaway, a former Speaker of the Missouri House and a failed candidate for governor, has used public money - our tax dollars - to promote the new Amendment 3, the one that would, again, strip away the rights of Missouri women to control their own bodies and healthcare decisions - and again deny them the ability to seek abortions within the state.

Hey, Cathy this Missouri voter and taxpayer - of more than half-a-century - does not want his tax dollars being used to confuse voters into overturning the recently passed will of the people.  If you want to get out and support a state constitutional amendment to subvert the rights of women in Missouri, USE YOUR OWN DAMNED MONEY TO DO IT - NOT MINE!

Other than that, have a nice day - and we'll see you at the polls in November - again!

The View from the Rearview Mirror

 

by Pa Rock

Traveling Fool

The 275 miles of busy road between Roeland Park, Kansas, and West Plains, Missouri, are now safely in the rearview mirror.  I didn't sleep at all last night, probably due to too much iced tea during the day, so I knew as I headed out at straight-up 7-ish this morning that the drive would be challenging, and in that regard it did not disappoint. I put my little Korean smart car in auto-pilot mode at about the 2/3 mark, and when i finally came to, it was parked in my driveway at home.

I almost didn't recognize the place.  My oldest son, Nick, and a friend of his had taken down two maple trees in the back yard - trees which would have eventually fallen on the house.   A big limb from one of them fell across the deck last spring during a storm, but amazingly did no damage  So I was glad to see them gone, and their removal really opened up the back yard and now we can see some of the other trees for a change - including more maples, oaks, and singleton hickory, cedar, pear, and walnut trees.

Nick also completed a wooden handrail on the back porch while I was gone.  He's trying to keep his feeble old man from falling down so much - and his old man is greatful.  The railing is solid and very nice.

Yesterday afternoon, Tim, my youngest son, and I had a very good visit with my new heart doctor at KU Med Center about ten miles from Tim and Erin's home.  She struck me as very bright, young enough to still be current on her medical training, yet old enough to have solid work ethics, and in possession of exemplary social skills.  The doctor took her time in explaining my current health status and what she could do to correct things.  She also answered all of our questions carefully and thoughtfully.

I will be returning for a procedure that will require an overnight stay in the hospital during Halloween week.  I haven't decided whether to go in costume or not.

Nap time - before I start to get goofy!

The Things I Forgot

 

by Pa Rock

Traveling Fool

I'm back in the Kansas City area today for a doctor's appointment this afternoon.  The heat is so cruel that  I left my traveling buddy, Rosie, at home.   She is no doubt snoozing in the air-conditioning while I am bouncing around town running errands and having flashbacks to a previous life in Phoenix.

Tim O'Brien, one of my favorite authors, wrote a couple of books dealing with his time as a young soldier in Vietnam, with the best among them being, IMHO, a series of related short stories entitled "The Things They Carried."  The title story  describes  a squad of young American's on patrol in terms of the things they took along with them, from necessities like guns, ammo, multiple canteens of water, c-rations, salt tablets, and the military's famous industrial-strength mosquito repellant, to cigarette lighters, chewing gum, plastic-wrapped letters and photos from sweethearts back home, and other small items to help them cling to sanity as they trudged through jungles and swamps in a very strange and dangerous land.   As the author recounted what was in each man's rucksack and strapped to their bodies, very intimate portraits of the fighting men, who were little more than scared adolescents, emerged.

The thing that brought my focus to Tim O'Brien this morning was a random thought that I could throw some illumination on my life by writing about the things I forget to bring along when I travel - and the older I get, the more I tend to forget.  (Mr. O'Brien is a year-and-a-half older than me, so he, no doubt, knows that of which I speak!)  Every time I hit the road, something important gets left at home.

Two trips ago, sometime last spring, when I came up this way, I forgot my laptop computer, which caused all kinds of issues.  I was able to borrow a loaner to get the blog up, but couldn't connect to my Wordle account and my long string of consecutive wins got wiped out.  (The older one gets, the more serious their minor issues become.)  

The next trip, which was four or five weeks ago, I made a point of remembering my computer, but forgot to bring along deodorant, a staple for functioning in polite society, which necessitated a quick run to the local CVS.   This trip I remembered to bring the laptop, but again forgot the deodorant as well as my ubiquitous "bucket" hat which keeps the skin cancer on my big head in check.   (My hat size is "8," which most stores don't carry, so I purchased a sock cap at Lowe's that advertises "Coors" - which will no doubt impress my new doctor, and in a few minutes I will head back to CVS to buy yet another two-pack of deodorant.

At one time I had a very clever mnemonic device for remembering what to pack - at least I think I did - but I must have left it someplace.   I guess if I am defined by the things I forgot, this trip I am a beer advertisement that smells bad!

A Private Entrance to Yosemite

 

Note:  I am slowly learning to ignore most of the tsunami of garbage that flows from twisted mind of Donald John Trump, but last week when news broke that his administration was in the process of transferring a "slice" of Yosemite National Park to a private developer so that people who bought into his development would have easier access to the heart of one of America's most scenic wonders (one rich guy doing a solid for another rich guy - to give special privileges to other rich guys) I was steamed.  My reaction was to contact my good friend, Ranger Bob, a retired Ranger with the National Park Service, and get his informed take on the matter.  It follows.  ~ Pa Rock

 
 
A Private Entrance to Yosemite
by Bob Randall
 
The Trump administration is processing the transfer of land for a new, private road into Yosemite National Park (YOSE).  It was all quiet and out of public consciousness until recently.  Now it's out in the open thanks to NOTUS, a digital newsroom that covers the US government and politics.  Read about it at:
 
https://www.notus.org/agencies/trump-administration-yosemite-private-developer-deal

The land in question is not a large slice of the park as it would accommodate about a quarter mile of road.  But it's a private road and in no way is to the American public's advantage.   The deal would be a land swap, something that is not illegal on its face as the National Park Service and other land agencies sometimes make land swaps which are to their advantage.  For instance, the CBP will swap 70+ acres of historically important land to Harper's Ferry National Historical Park for 25 acres of marginal land in West Virginia.   As a retired NPS Park Ranger, I'm aware of another swap between the NPS and the US Forest Service.  No big deal as long as it plays a positive role in conservation/preservation.
 
However, we're talking about YOSE and the land being swapped to the park is not high value land.  The deal isn't to improve or protect YOSE, it's to benefit a private developer whose land value will skyrocket with private access to a glorious national park.  It's about Trump doing deals for donors and buddies.
 
It's not a done deal, but it's now out in the open.  Additionally, it is not clear that it will be stopped.  A similar deal was stopped in the courts in a 2007 lawsuit.  However, those were different times with different pressure points and different lawyers.  Now we have a president eager to make deals.  In Trump's mind, a bad deal is better than no deal at all.  He's made enough of them.
 
Some thoughts:

• It's true that land swaps can and have been made in the past to facilitate land management.
• There will be lawsuits if the deal proceeds, but lately courts have been denying suits based on lack of standing and lack of damage to the plaintiff.  If you wanted to sue to stop the land swap, would you have standing?  If you don't, who does?   What damages are applicable to you that you could prove?  Are there damages prior to the act, or do we have to wait until the deal is done and the road is built to claim damage?
• If Trump gets this through, what will be next?   Trump has reduced the size of other park areas in Utah with little political penalty.  It is undeniable that he is an authoritarian who has no interest in democracy or the public interest.
• The midterms may have some sway on the decision depending on the pressure that can be imposed on Trump.   I'm not sure that it will matter.   He may just cause another kerfuffle to distract from this kerfuffle and proceed anyway.    What should be a lame duck period over the next two years may not be so lame if the Dems don't have big time electoral gains.
• If Trump is able to interfere in the midterm elections, Dems may not gain anything regardless of the vote.  That's the plan, Jack!
• The swap won't require congressional approval.  The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to adjust boundaries, at least small adjustments.  Another piece of authority that Congress has given away to the Executive Branch over the years.
• Oh, yes.  While we're ruminating on what will happen next, will he change the name from Yosemite to Trump National Park?

 

(Thanks, Ranger Bob.  We love hearing from you at The Ramble! ~ Pa Rock)

The Great Immigration Whitewash

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The expression of racist attitudes, whether in speech or action, used to be frowned upon in polite society and was, in many instances, illegal.   Being labeled "racist" was an attack on one's character and intellect.  Skin color was not to be regarded as a determining factor in in determining a person's opportunities or position in society.

That high-mindedness, of course, went out the window when Donald Trump and his crew of terminally aggrieved individuals took control of government power and vowed to make the country great "again," which seems to have been shorthand for returning it to the days of Jim Crow when white men, because of their superior intellects, ran things, women stayed home and raised babies (as God intended), having gay sex was illegal, and everybody knew their place.

The Trump regime began with a focus on identifying and removing any advantages that had been built into  the government and society which were designed to benefit minority groups (like women, gay, lesbian, and trans individuals, and members of racial and ethnic minorities).  Programs to support those groups had been launched to increase "diversity, equity, and inclusion," or DEI, in society - a concept that Trump quickly demonized by telling poor white Americans that any problems they were experiencing were the direct result of the government favoring minorities through something called called DEI.

After making sure that every Trump supporter in America understood that DEI was an evil force holding them down, the Trumpers controlling government then set about eliminating DEI programs and challenging racial quotas that were used by some schools and businesses to ensure people who had been historically barred from their services, primarily because of their race or gender, were now guaranteed to have some representation on their campuses or in the hierarchies of their businesses.

The Trump administration argued that guaranteeing a certain percentage of admissions to minorities amounted to "reverse discrimination" against qualified white applicants - and conservative judges, many of whom were appointed by Trump, had no problem in ignoring the effects of centuries of racial segregation and buying into the Trump "logic."

Trump's war against DEI has been especially apparent in the US Department of Defense where female officers and officers of color seem to be being pulled from promotion lists at a higher rate than white men, and minority officers already in top roles are being removed at higher rates than would normally be expected.

Trump also showed his racist hand by an overt defense of Confederate monuments and military base names by  claiming a "cultural heritage," that, even though it represented America at its racist worse, nevertheless merited being preserved as an in-your-face tribute to the glory days of slavery.

It has also been obvious from day one, page one of the first Trump administration that racism is the driving force behind his immigration "crackdown."   The goobers in the hills were sick and tired of seeing people from other countries (especially Mexico, Central America, and Black Africa) come in and take menial jobs that they, themselves, would never stoop to perform.  Trump smelled their racism and fanned its flames relentlessly to generate fear, anger, and votes.

(One of the more memorable political lies of the 2024 election was Trump and JD Vance both raising the alarm about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, eating dogs and cats.  Everyone knew that was a blatant lie except for the hardcore Trump supporters living furthest from paved roads - and they ate it up - a campaign issue steeped in stupid that resonated with the bottom rungs of Trump's base.)

And speaking of Haiti, there are currently two big immigration stories circulating through the press which clearly expose the political machinations of the Trump administration in stark black and white.  

Following a Supreme Court decision in late June and a federal court final order in late August - moves sought by the Trump administration - Temporary Protected Status (TPS) has ended for Haitian nationals residing in the United States.  That means 330,000 to 350,000 Haitians in this country have lost their work permits, and no longer having work permits means they are now subject to deportation back to Haiti - an extremely dangerous place rampant with violent street gangs.  In fact, a Level 4 US State Department travel advisory is in effect for persons wanting to travel to Haiti.

And while our government officially deems it unsafe to travel to Haiti, that same government has increased deportation flights to that island nation from monthly to weekly.  Trump and Stephen Miller are living their dream!

Haiti represents the black part of the equation, but while the administration struggles to deport black immigrants, and generally any immigrants of color, it is also striving to attract white immigrants, people like Donald Trump's mother and two of his three wives, people from what Trump refers to as "nice" countries and not "shithole" countries like Haiti.

In the search for white immigrants from nice countries, Trump and his team focused on South Africa (the country that gave us Elon Musk) and promoted spurious claims that white South Africans were being mistreated by their black-dominated government, something the South African government denies and which has not been documented in the international press.

But Trump says the white South Africans are being horribly mistreated - and we must do the humane thing and bring them in.

In fiscal year 2026, over 99% of all refugees admitted to the United States have been white South Africans.  This past May the official cap for refugees allowed into the US was raised from 7,500 to 17,500 with all 10,000 additional slots being reserved for white South Africans.

And while our country is increasing the allotments for white South Africans, a population whose need for refugee status is questionable at best, admissions for applicants from war-torn nations like Afghanistan, Sudan, and The Republic of the Congo remain completely frozen.

Haitians who have lived and worked in the United States for years are being sent home into extremely dangerous circumstances, people from countries that are experiencing war and violence arre being barred from entering our country, and white South Africans with a questionable need to immigrate are not only being encouraged by the US government to relocate here - they soon will begin receiving up to $4,500 in direct federal aid for moving here!

Black and brown individuals are being barred from coming to America, and if they are already here, they are being sent home - while white immigrants are being paid to move here.

That is about as explicit as it can get.  If you aren't seeing the racism, your eyes must be closed.

The US immigration system is not being fixed - it is just being whitewashed.

That Guy at the Office

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump is like that guy at the office who can't be fired because of who he knows or his family connections.  The rest of us have to meet our quotas or serve our customers efficiently, without complaint, while stepping around him.   

We punch a time clock, and he comes to the office at his leisure, spends much of the day eating and watching television, and leaves when he feels like it.

We keep the place running while he posts on social media, plays games on his phone, or bloviates endlessly, in rambling nonsense, about his "very, very large brain" and how everybody loves him.

We meet deadlines and worry about how to get the kids to baseball practice and dance class after school, pay for car repairs, medical bills, and put food on the table - while he's "busy" changing the names of places on maps like they belong to him personally.

We struggle and work tirelessly to get our names on diplomas, vehicle titles, and housing deeds - while he schemes to get his name on public buildings built to honor others, and build monuments to himself with our tax dollars.

We work and sweat and try to keep the bill collectors at bay - while he trades stocks based on insider knowledge and sleeps through important meetings. 

We hold second and third jobs in families where both parents have to work, while he makes money on side hustles based on the job he is completely unqualified to hold.

We buy and sell clothes at yard sales, eat leftovers, and look out for our neighbors.   He scams and sells crypto, eats fast food (in excess), and looks out only for himself.

We run across the street twice a day, rain or shine, on our ten-minute breaks to grab a sode or a cup of coffee, and he pushes a button on his desk to have a Diet Coke delivered.  

We drive to work on gas that is 25% more expensive than it was six months ago due to a war of choice that he started with neither the consent of Congress, nor the taxpayers who fund it, and without consideration for the troops who ultimately fight it. 

We shop in discount houses where the prices of all foreign goods have risen dramatically due to import tariffs that he imposed by fiat, a.k.a. "executive order."

And for all his braggadocio and bluster, we are far less prosperous, secure, or healthy now than we were when he first showed up at the office.

We survive (if we're lucky) - while he thrives.

I guess that's a benefit of being firmly rooted in bullshit.

Decapitation Station Parks Next to Supreme Court

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The United States is one of the world's most dangerous countries thanks in large measure to politicians who have been bought and paid for by the gun industry - and benign neglect and insane decisions handed down by courts and, in particular, the US Supreme Court.  Everybody in the USA who wants a gun, has a gun - and often several.  Criminals have guns, spouse abusers have guns, drug addicts and drunks have guns, school kids have guns, preachers, politicians and other cult leaders have guns, and even pissed-off, near-sighted grannies have guns.

The American gun industry and gun rights groups have slathered their money through state legilatures, the halls of Congress, the White House, and into every level of nation's courts.  Legislators, governors, judges, Presidents, and even we the people are owned by guns to such an extent that much of the world views us as criminally insane.

So it must have been with an hysterical level of hypocrisy that members of the US Supreme Court and their expansive security detail got rattled this week when a 35-year-old tourist out of California parked his Toyota Tacoma pick-up truck in close proximity to the Supreme Court building.  They were excited by the fact that the fellow had a 10-foot tall, handcrafted, guillotine sitting in the bed of his truck.  

Had the dangers of too many dangerous weapons on the streets suddenly come home to roost for our nation's top judges?  Was the unchecked proliferation of deadly weapons not such a good idea after all?

When Philan Tam Duy Le parked his pickup in a "permit-holders only" space near the US Supreme Court, Capital Police and representatives of its Intelligence Division along with US Supreme Court investigators showed up and  questioned the driver.   Mr. Le freely admitted that the guillotine was the "real deal" and in working condition, but he denied having any plans to use it.  He said that he was not in Washington DC, for any specific purpose.

Police asked Le if he had a concealed weapons' permit, and he said that he did, but that he did not have is gun with him.  They swept the trashed out vehicle (the driver had been living in it) for guns and explosives, but found none.  Capitol Police arrested the tourist from California and charged him with "possession of a dangerous weapon" but the charge was later changed to a misdemeanor of "attempted possession of a prohibited weapon."

Arresting officials asked the judge to hold Philan Tam Duy Le in jail because he had been driving around for three weeks living out of his vehicle and had no roots, but his court-appointed attorney countered by saying that he (the attorney) had just come off of a seven-week road trip himself - and that living in your car was not a crime.

The judge pointed out to the disappointed Capitol Police that Mr. Le had not threatened anyone and he had been completely cooperative with their investigation.  The judge released the man on his promise to return for his court date in late September.

In America every lunatic with a pulse and a trigger finger has the right to bear arms, but the right to bear heads may still be up for discussion and interpretation by the courts.  It may be time for those with strong opinions on the matter of guillotines to begin investing in gavels.

Albert Hall Is Gone, Too

 

by Pa Rock

Entertainment Junkie

Two of my favorite entertainers have passed away this week, and it's only Thursday.  Dolly Parton died in Nashville on Tuesday, and stage and screen actor Tim Curry, expired yesterday in Los Angeles.  Both were 80-years-old.   

(I will be eighty in just over eighteen months, so their demise has captured my attention.   True story:  yesterday I took the dogs to the vet for their annual shots and a few minor repairs, and while the vet, a young man somewhere in his forties, was commenting on Rosie's increasing signs of decrepitude as she ages, he suddenly looked me in the eyes, bedpan serious, and said, "How are you doing?"  I had to admit that, like Rosie, I would like to sleep most of every day, too!)

But back to the celebrities . . . 

I wrote about Dolly yesterday, so today I want to make a few comments about Tim Curry.  The performer, who was born in northern England and harbored ambitions of becoming a rock star in his youth, instead turned to acting where he became famous for taking on quirky and out-sized roles, the most famous being the lead in the 1975 cult-classic movie "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."   Curry played Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a mad scientist and a "sweet transvestite from Transsexual Transylvania" who labored in the laboratory in his creepy mansion, in fishnet stockings, to create a man, a handsome creature whom he named "Rocky."  

The film, which had earlier been a London stage play also starring Tim Curry, ran for years in a few select theatres, often midnight showings, and the audiences were populated with people in costume who would stand in front of the screen as the film rolled and act out certain segments involving their characters - and at times, quoting dialogue in unison with the actors on the screen - essentially making themselves part of the evening performance.   Some audience members were reportedly so obsessive about their participation in the late-night events, that they would ridicule newbies who showed up trying to join in the fun. 

I never tried to see "Rocky Horror" in a theatre and would have surely been picked on by the show's possessive audience, but I have seen it staged by a couple of amateur theatre groups, and I also have the movie on DVD.  It's enormous fun with plenty of great music that still holds up well - including a scene and featuring "Meatloaf," who roars into the mansion on a motorcycle.

Another of my favorite Tim Curry roles was his portrayal of Miss Hannigan's younger brother, the cocky "Rooster," in the movie version of "Annie."

I have been sitting on a Tim Curry anecdote for fourteen years that I felt reluctant to share while he was alive so as not to invade his privacy - and now that his privacy is no longer an issue, I will share that curious tidbit here:

Tim Curry suffered a serious stroke in early August of 2012, one that ended his film and stage career.  He was living in Los Angeles and admitted to a medical facility there.  I had just arrived home from my two-year work stint on Okinawa a few weeks before and drove from Phoenix to Los Angeles to visit friends for the weekend.  One of my friends happened to have been in the hospital where Curry was admitted earlier in the day, and she mentioned it to me that evening.  The friend said he was signed in under the name "Albert Hall," (as in the famed London entertainment venue, the "Royal Albert Hall," which was named after Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert).  Pa Rock thought that was damned clever - and funny!

Tim Curry is gone now, so I feel safe in outing his alter-ego.  Tim Curry is no longer with us, and neither is Albert Hall.  Rest in peace, gentlemen.

Goodbye, Dolly

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

American music icon, film star, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Dolly Parton passed away yesterday at a cancer center in Nashville following a brief illness.  Songs she wrote and recorded comprise a significant part of the American songbook and include such major hits as "I Will Always Love You, "Jolene," "Coat of Many Colors," and "Nine to Five."

Parton, who was known beyond the music industry for her business acumen, founded a range of successful enterprises including "Dollywood," a major family theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near the Great Smoky Mountains, "Dolly Parton's Stampede," a dinner theater near Branson, Missouri, and she recently opened "Dolly's Tennessean Travel Stop near an exit on Interstate 65 in Cornersville, Tennessee, about an hour south of Nashville.  She was at the opening of the travel center last month, an event which proved to be her final public appearance.

Dolly was also a noted philanthropist who managed to give much of what she made to people in need.  Her "Imagination Library," which she started in 1995, provides a free children's book every month to thousands of children under the age of five in the United States and in several foreign nations.  To date more that 330 million books have been provided in her effort to promote literacy and give little kids something of their own.  She donated a million dollars to coronavirus research during the pandemic, and started a program to lower the school dropout rate in her home county in Tennessee that was hugely successful.  And there were other examples as well - Dolly had a focus on helping others and always being ready to offer a hand up.

Dolly Parton's husband of nearly sixty years, Carl Dean, passed away in Nashville last year.  Dean owned and operated a construction firm.  The couple had no children.

I have a Dolly Parton story which I shared in this space one other time but will shamelessly repeat it here anyway.  In the late 1960's or early 1970's while Dolly was still a regular Porter Wagoner's television show, she and Porter appeared at the Shrine Mosque in Springfield, Missouri.  Some college friends and I had nothing better to do on a Saturday night and decided to walk the several blocks to the Mosque and see the show -  and it was great.  Dolly and Porter both sparkled like human disco balls, and her songs were angelic.  

Years later I was at a barber shop in West Plains, Missouri, Porter Wagoner's hometown and my current place of residence, and it was Dolly's birthday - a fact that somehow got into the general conversation at the hair emporium.  I bragged to the barber that I had seen Dolly perform in person in Springfield in my younger days, and the barber quickly shot down my boast when he replied that he had seen her singing atop a hay wagon in the public square of West Plains!

And I didn't doubt him for a minute because that's who Dolly Parton was - one of us, a common person from a hardscrabble background who had the gumption to get on a bus the day after she graduated from high school and move, alone and on her own, to Nashville and make a name for herself in the music industry.  A person with that level of grit and resolve would not hesitate to climb on a hay wagon and sing for a few hundred strangers.

Dolly Parton did well in life, and she set the bar for sharing her blessings with others.

The President of the United States has ordered that our nation's flags be flown at half-staff for the next seven days out of respect for Dolly Parton.    It is an honor well deserved.  

Better Tools for Digging Up Dead Relatives

 

by Pa Rock

Family Historian

Having been involved in the meddlesome hobby of digging up dead relatives (genealogy / family tree research) for over half a century, I have acquired more than just reams of information on my ancestors.     I have also learned how to research families through newspaper files, school records courthouse records, and even cemeteries.  

I have mastered the use of microfiche readers, communicated with other researchers with everything from hand-written letters along with stamped, return envelopes, to email and text messaging, navigated computer databases, and learned to search the internet..  Over the last few years I have even learned how to access and use DNA to make and verify familial connections.  Keeping up with the technological and scientific advances has been as challenging and exciting as discovering a new family line to research.

As science and technology advance, so too does the reach and accuracy of family tree research, and nothing illustrates that more than the blossoming field of DNA research.

Today there are several large companies which maintain DNA databases for the primary purpose of genealogy research.  I've had my DNA analyzed and entered into the systems of two of those companies, and they have informed me of biological connections to other individuals as they registered with them.  Some were first cousins whom I have known all my life, but gradually connections to strangers located further out on branches of the family tree began emerging.   

The list of relationships expanded as more people registered their DNA - and they widened as DNA research became more sophisticated.  Where I once received notifications of the existence of specific first or second cousins, today notifications are likely to reveal relationships to people who are much farther out on the family charts - and show their relationship with surprising specificity.

As an example, yesterday I received an email notice from Ancestry.com that I am related to a man who recently submitted his DNA sample to that company, one of the places where my own DNA is registered.  Because we both chose to be registered as "public" on the company's database, the email gave me the individual's name, our kinship status, and a way to message him.  It also had a brief bit of his family tree which showed no connections to my own.

But the reason I am mentioning all of that is the kinship status that the email revealed.  The other man and I are related in one of two ways according to our 3% of shared DNA:  we are either "half 1st cousins two times removed" or "2nd cousins one time removed."  How's that for specificity!

Here's me showing off:  The first scenario, that we are "half first cousins two times removed," means that we share one common ancestor, and that person had at least two children by two different mates  Those children were half-siblings, and their children would be half-first cousins between the two families.   The relationship indicated by the DNA results I received would be between one of those half first cousins and the grandchild of another half first cousin.  (Two times removed means two generations apart.  Since I am seventy-eight years old, the other fellow would undoubtedly be the grandson of one of my half first cousins.)

Now, since I am unaware of having any half first cousins, one of my grandparents could have "fathered" or "mothered" a child who didn't appear in the official family chronicle, or . . . 

The fellow and I could be related the alternative way that Ancesttry.com presented:  "2nd cousins one time removed."  That relationship would involve one set of ancestors in common.  Their children's children would be first cousins, the children of those children would be second cousins, and if one of the second cousins had a child, that child's relationship to the second cousins of his parent would be "second cousin one time removed."  Again, because of my age, chances are good that I would be the second cousin and the other fellow would be the child of one of my second cousins.  The ancestors which we had in common would be a set of my great-grandparents who would also be a set of his great-great grandparents.

Simple. huh?  I told you I was showing off!  

The art of digging up dead relatives is becoming as much about science and technology as it is about library reading rooms, courthouse storage basements, and, of course, cemeteries.  It still requires a lot of digging, but the tools are getting better!

Welcome Home, Sailor. Thank You for Your Service!

 

by Pa Rock

US Veteran

A week ago yesterday I used this space to talk about the deplorable living and work conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, an American aircraft carrier that has been at sea over nine months and has not has a port call in over eight months.  Moral aboard that mighty vessel, which was then stationed in the Middle East, was so low that sailors were writing home and alerting their families to the awful circumstances they were enduring.  The families took their concerns to members of Congress and the press, and enough pressure was exerted on the Defense Department and Trump administration that the USS Abraham Lincoln was ordered home and is currently en route back to the United States.

The sailors aboard that aircraft carrier have been treated badly, and they are deserving of our respect and gratitude upon their return home.  They are not deserving of remarks by whiney politicians who say their deployment was not long enough, nor are they deserving of racist attacks by our government upon their loved ones who have been anxiously awaiting their return.

On Saturday Joshua Aviles, a sailor aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln issued the following statement on Facebook regarding his father, Luis Manuel Aviles, a native of Nicaragua:

"I just got a call that my dad was taken by ICE.  If you know my dad, you know that he is a hardworking, humble man who is always willing to help anyone if he can."

The day after that Facebook post, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the US Border Patrol had arrested the father at a routine traffic stop in Key West

The sailor's father has lived in the United States 19 years and has been employed in construction in Key West, Florida.  He has an American driver's license, social security card, and work permit.    He is currently involved in the process of getting a green card.  The senior Mr. Alviles is believed to be somewhere in ICE detention.

The sailor's Facebook post continued:

"We have done everything through immigration to get his green card approved, and we are just waiting.  This is heartbreaking for me.   I don't know how I can continue working 12+ hour days knowing that my dad is somewhere, possibly being treated like a criminal."

Sailor Aviles and his shipmates know full well what it feels like to be confined and treated like criminals.  They should not have to also worry about their families back home being targeted by the government and treated like criminals while they, the generation in uniform, are overseas working night and day to maintain freedom for the entire nation.

Welcome home, sailor.  Thank you for your service.

Being President is Hard Work - Just Ask Natalie!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

When Donald Trump first ran for the White House in 2016, he boasted that he could eliminate the national debt.  That was, of course, before many Americans knew that they could never believe a word the old man said.  The national debt was a whopping $19 trillion at the time Trump made that unhinged promise, and last week it climbed past $40 trillion and is still headed due north.

Not only did Trump's multiple tax cuts for the rich greatly reduce treasury income and our ability to pay off the debt, his war of choice on Iran increased military spending on a massive scale and thus inflated the debt.  Trump's grandiose vanity projects have also come at a substantial cost to the country, all of which are being paid for with borrowed money.  In short, Don Trump, the genius businessman, is spending far more money than our government takes in, and he is growing the debt at a time when we must face the reality of  beginning to pay it down - and then off.  But Trump understands bankruptcies and he appears to be wandering aimlessly on comfortable turf.

If our national debt continues to grow, more interest has to be paid each year, and at some point it will trigger a financial crisis of gargantuan proportions.  Something has to be done to correct course and turn the ship of state toward safer seas - and moves of that magnitude will require careful and thoughtful crafting by our elected leaders in Washington, DC.  The current Republican majorities in both houses of Congress refuse to act in any manner that challenges Trump's control of government.  Nothing moves out from Washington, DC, without Donald Trump's explicit stamp of approval.

But Trump is too damned busy to worry about balancing the nation's checkbook.

Today he is hosting an Indycar Freedom 250 Grand Prix on the streets of Washington, DC.  Like Trump's vanity cage fights on the White House lawn in June, private companies are claiming that they are paying to put on the show, but in reality taxpayers are picking up the tab for police, security, and many operational expenses.  And don't expect any help from Trump in dealing with the national debt next week either because he needs to get back to selecting chandeliers and draperies for his new White House ballroom.  The week after that is out, too, because he has to take some time to issue a new series of toothless threats against Iran.   And hell's bells people, Trump can't ignore his whack-a-doodle nightly postings on social media!   His posts are so good that big companies pay big bucks to get them before the rest of us do - and they don't pay their tithes to the nation's treasury to help bring down the national debt, they pay directly to Trump Media for the direct benefit of the Trump family and their rich investor partners.

With Trump, it's his business as usual in the good ol' US of A!

Being President is hard, demanding work.  Just ask Natalie!

Pentagon Pete Attacks "Stars and Stripes"

 

by Pa Rock

US Veteran

The Trump administration's ever-expanding war on democracy and freedom of the press has finally taken aim at the "Stars and Stripes," the de facto hometown newspaper for the nearly quarter million American service men and women who are stationed overseas, many of whom are living abroad with their families.  Their other major news source besides the venerable "Stars and Stripes," is "Armed Forces News (AFN)" which provides canned television and radio updates from around the world - and now, of course, the internet as well.

But the "Stars and Stripes" is still a staple of stateside news, much of which is focused on matters pertaining to members of the US military and their dependents.   The military-oriented newspaper is published Monday through Thursday with a weekend edition coming out on Fridays.   The publication posts news updates on-line and occasionally also prints special editions.  It is a publication that Americans overseas (even some who are not in the military) enjoy and look forward to reading each morning.

I know the importance of the "Stars and Stripes" to American communities overseas because I have spent four years of my life living and working overseas either in the military or for the military.  The newspaper is a lifeline home.  One that Americans abroad depend on for fair and accurate reporting of the news.

Of course, fair and accurate reporting of the news is not a priority for the Trump administration.   Donald Trump has a long and colorful history of mocking reporters whose questions he does not like, suing publications which write unfavorable stories about him, his family, or his administration, and threatening the broadcast licenses of news networks whose reporting, points of view, or program hosts he dislikes.

And with an anti-news bias as big as that, it was inevitable that sooner or later his administration's censorship focus would come to rest on the "Stars and Stripes."

Late this week there were two stories in the news regarding the "Stars and Stripes."  The first said that the publisher, editor-in-chief, and a reporter on Middle East affairs had quit in protest over management decisions.  A second story followed soon after saying the three individuals had been fired in an effort by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (or possibly his wife) to take over direct editorial control of the military newspaper.   Apparently Pentagon Pete (or his Missus) thought the paper was featuring too much "woke" content, and he (or Jen) wanted the paper to refocus its content exclusively on "military readiness."

It's a shame that someone in the Trump administration wasn't focused on military readiness before we launched a war on Iran.  But, better late than never.  If they get the propaganda arm of the military fixed, victory may follow - or not.

There will be none of that "woke" crap infecting our military, right, Pete?  America's forces are at their fighting best when they are completely numb and blissfully ignorant of the world around them.

But censorship is, of course becoming a lost art.   Praise Jesus and Al Gore for for keeping the flow of information alive with the internet!