Many Monsters Hurt Many Children

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

In a brazen and highly partisan political maneuver to get the Epstein onus away from Donald Trump, House Republicans on the Oversight and Accountability Committee issued a subpoena for Bill and Hillary Clinton to appear before the committee where they would sit for depositions (a.k.a. "be deposed), which the Clintons promptly declined to do.  This week, however, as the House prepared to take a vote to hold the Clintons in "Contempt of Congress" and it became apparent that even some Democrats in the House would vote for the measure, the former President and First Lady changed their minds and agreed to be deposed.  

The Clintons' lawyers requested that their testimony be public, and, as nearly as I can deduce from news sources, the House GOP is not in agreement with that request.   Bill and Hillary are both whipsmart politicians and skilled attorneys, and their testimony could show the public the shameful quality of bumpkins currently running our government.

The Clintons will testify on February 26th (Hillary) and February 27th (Bill).  Bill Clinton, like Donald Trump, has long been  closely linked to Jeffrey Epstein, but it is unclear what connection Hillary had to the child rapist.  One news account suggested that her subpoena was just to add extra embarrassment to the couple and that most of her answers were likely to be "I don't know.  I wasn't there."

There is some confusion in the press as to what form the Clintons' testimony will take.  The congressional subpoenas that they originally ignored called for the two individuals to sit through "depositions," yet many of the news reports are talking in terms of them testifying in committee hearings.  Those are two decidedly different things.

As an agent for the state of Missouri many years ago,I have been deposed and had to testify in court on numerous occasions - and they were distinctly different processes.  In a deposition the witness appears before an attorney for either party, often in an office, is placed under oath, and answers the lawyer's questions about his knowledge of the case.  Those answers will inform the lawyer as to whether that person would be of value as a witness in court or not, and also what information he possesses if he is called to testify for the state or the other party.  On the other hand, testimony given in court lets the witness be cross-examined by the counsel for the other party - and courtroom testimony is usually open to the public.

The subpoenas issued by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability apparently requested the Clintons sit for depositions rather than a hearing.  There is also a requirement that the sessions be electronically recorded and videotaped.  Depositions taken for congressional committees are usually conducted behind closed doors by committee staff and not by the members of the committees.  Witnesses are placed under oath and can have their attorneys present.  

Depositions will not be nearly as entertaining as a public hearing, but they will put a former US Presidnet on record as to his involvement with a known sex-trafficker of children.  The public may not gain access to that record for awhile, but it will be an official government record that will someday see the light of day.  The Republicans singled Clinton out as a partisan move to draw attention away from Donald Trump, but that is very likely to backfire because now a precedent will have been set about Congress being able to call former Presidents to account - and one day Donald John Trump may be a former President, and a Democratic Congress may choose to hold him to account for so many, many things - including his long personal history with Jeffrey Epstein.

This old Democrat is glad to see Bill Clinton being called forward to make an official record of his involvement with child-predator Jeffrey Epstein, and he hopes that he will live long enough to see people like Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and all of their rich and powerful friends who socialized and partied with the world's most notorious child rapist be forced to do the same.

Many monsters hurt many children, and they all must be called to justice.

Stepping Out Again

 

by Pa Rock

Country Bumpkin

The snow is still covering the ground today, eight days after its arrival, and there are patches of ice on the streets, sidewalks, and driveways.  Old people with brittle bones need to remain vigilant and be extra careful as they wander away from their homes.

I managed to get out at noon yesterday and go into town for the first time in a week.  My objective was to attend cardiac rehab, an exercise group that meets on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at the local hospital and is run under the supervision of two registered nurses.  Classes had been cancelled all last week due to the snow, and I had missed the Friday prior to the closures to be home while our new furnace was being installed.  

After that long break I was concerned that I wouldn't have the stamina or the wind for twenty-five minutes on the treadmill and twenty-five on the recumbent step machine, but it turns out that both sessions ran smoothly and I had no issues with either.

I wear a pedometer on my wrist which counts the amount of steps I take each day, my primary form of exercise.  Two years ago I was doing 10,000 steps on most days, and in the summer that often included a walk to a nearby park and the using its many walking trails.  But my balance has become an issue  and I no longer feel safe walking away from home, especially along the roadways.  Now I do 5,000 steps on most days, around the hose and yard, and occasionally grocery shopping.  I try to never go below 5,000, even if I have to stay up late and march around the house in order to get there.

On days when I have cardiac rehab I pick up an extra 5,000 steps there, so on thos days my goal is 10,000 steps.  I also park in the farthest parking lot when I go to that class (or anywhere else, for that matter) which, in the case of cardiac rehab, adds an extra 600 steps to my daily total.

My numbers were abysmal during the snow, and one day I only logged a miserable 1,900 steps - but most days it was 3,000 plus.  Yesterday that slow streak ended with my return to the exercise class and a follow-up trip to the grocery store, and I clocked in last night at 10,300 steps.  Pa Rock is back!

Our group at cardiac rehab is normally around eight, and I am the oldest.  Some seem to attend as a cure for loneliness and tend to spend much of their exercise time visiting, but I go to keep my blood pumping, and I take the program seriously.  Recently I have begun wearing headphones and listening to music as I workout, something that combats the endless chatter and gives me time to think great thoughts.  While the rest are chewing over each other's family problems, I am lost in contemplation and relaxing to sounds of Simon and Garfunkel, the Beatles, Billy Joel, the Eagles, and many other poets of my misspent youth.

And the rhythm of the music keeps me stepping, and thinking, and relaxing.  I'm glad to be back at it!

Percy and Basil's Special Day

 

by Pa Rock

Observer of Nature

It's Groundhog Day, one of my favorite holidays of the year, one that really means something!  Groundhog day is the predictor of spring, and with the snow still covering the ground here in southern Missouri, we are all anxious for spring to bust through the ice and snow.   Sadly, with today's beautiful clear skies, all the local groundhogs, several of which reside in burrows beneath my backyard, will be seeing their shadows - making it a certainty that we will experience six more weeks of winter!

Predicting the weather, even with ground hogs, is science, a "folk science" built on generations of careful observation, and it's every bit as reliable as other weather signs, like sudden activity among ants being a sure predictor that rain is on the way, or animals having thicker coats of fur than usual, or which cutlery (knife, fork, or spoon) appears on the inside of persimmon seeds.  Folk science is where "meteorologists" turn when their Doppler is down.  We ignore what nature is telling us at our own peril!

Six more weeks of winter.  Keep chopping that wood.

I first flew into Okinawa on this date in 1972 for a one-year tour with the US Army, with no suspicion that I would eventually spend a total of four years of my life on that very small (roughly 8 miles by sixty miles) Japanese island.  When I arrived on Okinawa it was an American possession, something we had "won" in World War II.  I had been there only three months when Nixon gave it back to Japan.  Soon after I was married on Okinawa and my oldest son was born there a year later.  Forty years after that my youngest son and his wife and infant daughter visited me on Okinawa.

The movie, "Ground Hog Day" starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell premiered in 1993.   My youngest son, Tim, who was fourteen at the time, and I saw it at a "dollar" theatre in Springfield, Missouri, after it had been out several weeks and nearing the end of its theatrical run.  We left the show talking about how well it was written.  I mention that, of course, because Tim has gone on to become a successful screenwriter with  two feature-length films on his resume - and I've always felt like some of the genesis for his interest in film-writing came from the experience of watching a superb example that day in Springfield and then discussing it with his dad.  

(I have no idea why were were in Springfield that day, or why we chose that venue or that movie,  but the experience of watching it and then talking about it with Tim has always remained with me.  Thanks, Bill.  Thanks Andie.)

A friend from another location in the Ozarks whose home is in a rustic setting on hilltop overlooking a river, sent me some photos a couple of days ago of a very large groundhog who lives on her property.  She, like me, has several of the large furry mammals living close by.  My friend mentioned in her email that the big groundhog's name was "Percy," and later added that she calls all her groundhogs "Percy," and all the neighborhood opossums are known as "Joe."  I like that.

I have, according to my last farm census, at leas six groundhogs burrowed in my back yard, under brush piles, and beneath the dirt floor in the barn.  They are getting to be so fat and complacent that I can almost get up to them before they scamper off, and the lawnmower no longer fazes them.  I may name mine "Basil," in honor of the world class hotelier, Basil Fawlty.

Ranger Bob mentioned "cabin fever" in the piece that he posted here a couple of days ago about learning to write and penmanship.  I think cabin fever is my issue, too.  I haven't left the poor farm for a solid week, and I feel as though I am living the same day over and over.

Happy Groundhog's Day - especially to you, Percy - and you, too, Basil!

US Life Expectancy Rises, For Now

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The National Center for Health Statistics issued a report last week stating that life expectancy rates in the US have jumped back from their pandemic lows in 2021 to just above the levels they were at immediately prior to the pandemic, and the new numbers are greater than any prior year going back to 1900.  But, THE UNITED STATES STILL LAGS BEHIND MOST OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES IN LIFE EXPECTANCY.

The new figures indicate that a child born in the United States in 2024 can expect to live and average of 79 years, (81.4 years for women and 76.5 years for men).  Those figures have been climbing since 2021, and represent  roughly the same period of time that President Biden was in office.  Things have changed markedly since Donald Trump returned to the presidency in January of 2025 and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was placed under the control of its new leader, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

HHS Secretary Kennedy has embarked on a promotional "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) campaign.  In that effort he has restructured health agencies (getting rid of many experienced leaders), reduced recommended vaccinations, and advocated for the removal of fluoride from public water systems.   He has also changed dietary recommendations to emphasize eating more whole foods, meat, and dairy, with dairy products being full-fat, and less processed foods.  Critics claim the new dietary recommendations are geared more toward advancing the interests of American farmers than they are in promoting long-term health benefits.

The Trump administration cut more than $1 billion in funding for school lunches and food banks in 2025.

In addition to the impact that the new policies of the HHS Secretary will have on US life expectancy, many other factors will also affect the numbers.  One of the most important will be Americans' access to health care.   Enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies expired on January 1st due to inaction by Congress and opposition from many Republican legislators, and thousands of people have lost health care coverage as a result.   Complicating that is the steady rise in the cost of medicines and medical care.  THE UNITED STATES IS THE ONLY MAJOR INDUSTRIALIZED NATION THAT DOES NOT HAVE SOME FORM OF UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE.  

Access to health care, including vaccinations, and good nutrition are key components to long-term survival.   Life expectancy in the United States has increased over the past four years.  It will be interesting to see how those numbers change during the next four years.

On Dip Pens, Penmanship, and Cursive Writing

 

by Bob Randall

(Editor's Note:  Ranger Bob is back with a bit of nostalgia on the fine art of penmanship and learning to write in a rural Missouri public school more than sixty years ago.  Bob and I are three months apart in age, and I, too, went to a rural Missouri public school, but in a different part of the state.  Some of my experiences in learning to write align with his, while others do not.  (See the "comments" section at the end of this blog posting.) In the meantime, Bob and I would both be interested in hearing from others of our vintage about the processes and materials they used as they learned and mastered their writing skills.  Thanks, Bob, for sharing your time, thoughts, and talent with The Ramble yet again!  Pa Rock)

I've been watching too many tv shows based on 18th century plots where characters write letters with quill pens, dipping their "nibs" into an ink well every few words.  Think of Benjamin Franklin signing the Declaration of Independence.  Dip Ben, dip jam, dip in, dip Fra, dip nkl, dip in.   Maybe you could stretch the ink out a little if the ending letters were sparsely inked.  Never mind erasures.

I recall learning to write cursive with a dip pen, an elongated handle with a metal point, the point being basically flat with a vertical split to hold ink.   It lacked the blade of a wing feather at the far end.  With that now between my neurons, I picture the northeast classroom of the floor of the old Wheeling School.  That's where I attended third grade in roughly 1955.  Mrs. Stapleton was the teacher.  Above the chalk boards that covered two adjacent walls were rectangular cards with examples of both capital and lower case cursive letters.  Of course, they were organized in alphabetical order.  We practiced our "penmanship" dipping our pens in an ink well, looking up at the letter cards, and then applying ink to the lines on our paper tablets.  

Do you recall a similar scene?  Why did we use dip pens instead of pencils?  When did we stop using dip pens?   The answer will come to us when one of you says you used those pens and someone who was one grade behind you says nope.   I know that you can still buy those alphabet cards because I looked it up:  less than twenty dollars on Walmart.com.  You can even buy dip pens, but I don't know why.  Google "why use a dip pen" and the answer isn't convincing.   Is cursive writing being taught on a regular basis, or is it just the occasional teacher who is stuck in their own nostalgia?   Do you confuse young postal carriers if you write an address in cursive?  I expect that question to rankle a few postal service retirees.   I'll be disappointed if I don't get a testy reply or two.  Do you write in cursive, or print, or mix and match them?  Do you simply use your thumbs on a keyboard and watch printed words show up on a monitor that corrects your spelling?  

The Wheeling third grade class that year was split in two groups with separate rooms with different teachers.  I wonder if those other kids know cursive.  I know that one of the kids in the third grade that year only writes using printed letters.  I don't recall for sure, but I'm going to say that he was in the other room and that they split us up into a smart group who could learn cursive writing and a dumb group who couldn't.  

I think I'm getting cabin fever.

No Sugar, Sweetie

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

As a matter of personal preference, I don't shop at Walmart and haven't in years, but my oldest son, who lives with me, still goes there on occasion.  One of our dogs eats a special dog food that is only available at Walmart.  We have been home several days because the snow is still with us, though the roads are clear.  Yesterday my son got out, for the first time in several days, and went into town to get the dog's food.  We were also out of sugar, so Nick thought he would pick some of that up as well while he was there - but Walmart had no sugar.  It turns out that there is no sugar for sale in the entire town - something apparently to do with tariffs.

Last week we had a couple of days forewarning about the approaching big snowfall, and everyone rushed to the local stores to stock up on food.  By the time that push was over, many items were in short supply.  Most stores have now been re-stocked, but apparently sugar was one item that was not readily available with the grocery distributors.

I checked on the internet this morning, and the general news seems to be that there is no widespread shortage, but sugar prices have risen dramatically over recent months due to import tariffs - and there are "localized" shortages.  I guess West Plains, Missouri, is sitting in one of those localized sugar shortage areas.  Of particular interest in the sugar situation are the US import duties of 20% to 25% on the sugar coming from Mexico.

American sugar importers pay the import duties directly to the government, then they, like all profit-focused businesses, recoup that expense by passing the cost along to consumers.  And sugar is a major ingredient in the processing of foods, so not only do tariffs directly impact the cost of five-and-ten-pound bags of the sweet white stuff, they also impact the prices of all of the processed foods on the grocery shelves that use sugar as an ingredient - and that, unfortunately, is a lot of damned food.

When my son returned from Walmart yesterday, he explained the local sugar situation to me and went on to discuss tariffs, and though he has had no formal economics training, Nick has a solid understanding of how tariffs work - and he knows who ultimately pays them.  It's a damned shame that Donald John Trump doesn't have that same level of knowledge.

Springsteen Rages on "The Streets of Minneapolis"

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

American rock legend Bruce Springsteen has once again, through his music, taken dead aim at the heart of the Trump administration's war on immigrants and basic American values.  Last Saturday, shortly after the ICE murder of Alex Pretti, an emergency room RN at a VA hospital in Minneapolis, Springsteen took pen in hand and poured his rage about what was happening in Minneapolis into an anthem entitled "The Streets of Minneapolis."

IN THE SONG, "The Boss" honors victims Alex Pretti and Renee Good by name and he also singles out three of the major bad guys:  Donald Trump, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and presidential adviser Stephen Miller.  The song, written last Saturday, was recorded by Springsteen, released to the public yesterday (Wednesday), and is being covered across the internet this morning.  National Public Radio (NPR) is also airing a piece about it today.  One of their reporters described it as "a very angry song," and it is, and it should be.

As I listened to "The Streets of Minneapolis" I was transported back to the angry 1960's and the gravelly voice of Barry McGuire belting out his own anti-war rage in "Eve of Destruction."   Artists like McGuire, Dylan, Baez, and County Joe and the Fish captured their rage and shared it with the world, and Bruce Springsteen has captured his.

Springteen's new song is so on-target that the White house has already issued a rebuke, with a spokesperson calling it "irrelevant"" and "inaccurate."  Here are the lyrics, so you decide:

THE STREETS OF MINNEAPOLIS

by Bruce Springsteen

"THROUGH THE WINTER'S ICE AND COLD

DOWN NICOLLET AVENUE

A CITY AFLAME FOUGHT FIRE AND ICE 

'NEATH THE OCCUPIER'S BOOTS

KING TRUMP'S PRIVATE ARMY FROM THE DHS

GUNS BELTED TO THEIR COATS

CAME TO MINNEAPOLIS TO ENFORCE THE LAW

OR SO THEIR STORY GOES

AGAINST SMOKE AND RUBBER BULLETS

BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT

CITIZENS STOOD FOR JUSTICE

THEIR VOCIES RINGING THROUGH THE NIGHT

AND THERE WERE BLOODY FOOTPRINTS

WHERE MERCY SHOULD HAVE STOOD

AND TWO LEFT TO DIE ON SNOW-FILLED STREETS

ALEX PRETTI AND RENEE GOOD

OH OUR MINNEAPOLIS, I HEAR YOUR VOICE

SINGING THROUGH THE BLOODY MIST

WE'LL TAKE OUR STAND FOR THIS LAND

AND THE STRANGER IN OUR MIDST

HERE IN OUR HOME THEY KILLED AND ROAMED

IN THE WINTER OF '26

WE'LL REMEMBER THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO DIED

ON THE STREETS OF MINNEAPOLIS

TRUMP'S FEDERAL THUGS BEAT UP ON

HIS FACE AND HIS CHEST

THEN WE HEARD THE GUNSHOTS

AND ALEX PRETTI LAY IN THE SNOW, DEAD

THEIR CLAIM WAS SELF-DEFENSE, SIR

JUST DON'T BELIEVE YOUR EYES

IT'S OUR BLOOD AND BONES

AND THESE WHISTLES AND PHONES

AGAINST MILLER AND NOEM'S DIRTY LIES

NOW THEY SAY THEY'RE HERE TO UPHOLD THE LAW

BUT THEY TRAMPLE ON OUR RIGHTS

IF YOUR SKIN IS BLACK OR BROWN MY FRIEND

YOU CAN BE QUESTIONED OR DEPORTED ON SIGHT

IN CHANTS OF ICE OUT NOW

OUR CITY'S HEART AND SOUL PERSISTS

THROUGH BROKEN GLASS AND BLOODY TEARS

ON THE STREETS OF MINNEAPOLIS"

A glove can cover a rotting hand, but no amount of spray tan can conceal a rotting soul, especially with artists the caliber of Bruce Springsteen shining a light on it!  Springsteen has it right, and the brave patriots in Minneapolis have it right:   ICE OUT NOW!

Remembering the Challenger Disaster

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Today is one of those rare days in history when old people tend to remember exactly where they were and what they were doing on that exact date many years before.  Other than the anniversaries of specific family and personal events, there are three days that I remember clearly due to a major event that occurred on each of those days.  

The first was, of course, the day President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas - November 22, 1963.  I was a sophomore at the small Noel School in Noel, Missouri, on that day sitting in a "study hall" when I heard the tragic news from an older student who had walked home for lunch and heard it on television while he was eating.

The second big event (and the one I will expand on here today) was the tragic explosion of the Challenger space shuttle and the deaths of all aboard) nearly twenty-three years later on January 28, 1986.  I was again at the Noel School, by that time working as the building principal.

And the third major event that made an indelible imprint on my mind was the terrorists crashing US passenger planes on 9/11 - September 11, 2001.  I was a graduate student at the University of Missouri in Columbia and had just gotten off of the elevator on the 7th floor of the tallest building on campus when a classmate approached and gave me that horrific news - as it was still unfolding.

The Challenger explosion, which occurred forty years ago today - on a Tuesday, a school day - had a significant impact on American education because that was the flight that President Reagan had chosen to place a special emphasis on teaching and to try and stir an interest among Amerian Students in science and technology.  The government had conducted a national competition to select a regular school teacher for a ride into space.  During that flight as the spacecraft orbited the earth, the teacher was to present a couple of classroom lessons, and then upon the flight's return from space, go out into American schools and communities to promote the space program.

Christa McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies teacher with two small children who taught in her hometown of Concord, New Hampshire, won the competition.  (At the time of the explosion I was a former high school social studies teacher, age 37, and also working at the school in my hometown.  I was the father of three children, and the two youngest were the ages of McAuliffe's children - so I identified strongly with her.)

The Noel School at the time of the Challenger disaster was a K-8 facility, with the principal as the head of building.  A friend in the community called me with the news, and I went door to door within the school telling each teacher (privately, out in the hall) what had occurred.  Most shared the news with their students, particularly the older students, and some classrooms followed the news on radios or with one of the school's very few television sets.  It was a sad event and a sad day, especially with regard to the fact that McAuliffe was a teacher with a direct connection to American schools, but several of the teachers (especially those with junior high classes) were able to tie into that day's events and use them in their teaching.

The Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart just 73 seconds into its flight, approximately 46,000 feet or 8.7 miles above the Atlantic Ocean.  All seven members of the space crew were killed.  In addition to Christa McAuliffe, the crew included Commander Francis R. Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, Mission Specialists Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, and Judith Resnik, and Payload Specialist Gregory Jarvis.  (Christa McAuliffe was also classified as a Payload Specialist.)

The tragic loss of the Challenger was ultimately a factor in the US government's pivot toward opening the space program to private companies, which had been a goal of the Reagan administration.

The last radio transmission from the spacecraft before it exploded was from Pilot Smith who said simply, "Uh, oh."

  

Absolute Madman! My Trip Up the Taipei 101

 

by Pa Rock

Traveling Fool

A big story in the news last week (not as big as Trump's War on America, but big nonetheless) was the adventure tale of American rock climber Alex Honnold, age 40, who scaled the exterior of the tallest building in Taiwan (by far), and formerly the tallest building in the world, the Taipei 101.  Mr. Honnold, a man Yahoo News referred to as "an absolute madman," climbed up the side of the building without using ropes or safety equipment, a climbing process called "free solo."

The Taipei 101 currently ranks as only the 11th tallest building in the world, but it is impressive as hell, standing tall and lean in the center of Taiwan's capital and dwarfing its urban neighbors.  The 101 is, obviously, 101 stories above ground, with five basement levels below ground.  The aboveground part of the structure is 1,667 feet in height.  It has a glassed-in observation deck on the 89th floor, an open-air deck on the 91st floor, and an "exclusive" deck on the 101st floor - all supported by the world's fastest elevator.  (The trip to the 89th floor is 37 seconds.)

Like Mr. Honnold, I too, have ascended the Taipei 101, except I had the good sense to do it by elevator.  While I was a civilian social worker at the Mental Health Unit at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, (2010-2012), two co-workers and I spent several days exploring Taiwan in February of 2012.  One of the first places we chose to tour was the Taipei 101, the literal centerpiece of the city.  Unfortunately, it was overcast the morning of our visit, and the outdoor observation deck on the 91st floor was closed, so we had to settle for the enclosed observation deck on the 89th floor.  (I don't remember what made the 101st floor "exclusive," but it was probably an exorbitant access fee.)

The view from the 89th floor was not great that morning because of fog, but we were able to look down on the structures close to the towering building.  One of the things that I remember being pointed out to us was the Dr. Sun-Yat-sen Memorial Hall which is located a few blocks from the Taipei 101.  

That afternoon we toured a tea plantation outside of the city which was at the foot of a mountain.  We rode gondolas (like ritzy ski-resorts use) up the mountain, and then later during the descent got off and visited a large Buddhist temple.   The fog was gone and that airborne adventure was lovely.  (All those Taiwan adventures are still posted in the archives of this blog.)

But, back to the Taipei 101.   Here is the portion of my blog entry for February 17th, 2012, which recounts that historic (for me) ascent into the clouds (of fog):

"Much of our first day in Taiwan was spent in some mighty high places.  After we figured out how to use the subway system, we traveled downtown and made our way to the Taipei 101, the tallest building on Taiwan and a very unique piece of architecture.   It was a cloudy. miserable day, so after riding what was billed as the world's fastest elevator up to the observation room on the 89th floor, we found ourselves wrapped in fog, more so than usual, and not able to see much from the enormous windows.  There was a very large and very beautiful collection of carved coral on display on the 89th floor as well as much coral jewelry for sale - and plenty of assorted tourist junk."

(If I had suspected that I would be repeating that observation in this blog fourteen years later, I would have taken more pains in crafting that description, but we were rushing around Taipei and the vicinity seeing the sights, and the quality of the blog necessarily suffered as my focus was on being a tourist.)

Alex Honnold, the absolute madman, chose a sunny day for his trip to the top of the Taipei 101, and massive crowds stood below on the streets to cheer him ever upward.  There were also many people watching from the windows inside of the building as he passed.  The entire climb took around an hour and a half.  The daring spiderman listened to a metal band called "Tool" as he made his way, hand over hand, up the side of the building.

Netflix reportedly paid Alex Honnold in the neighborhood of $500,000 to make the live, free solo, climb. an amount he referred to as "embarrassingly small" as compared to other major sports contracts, though it wasn't too shabby for an hour-and-a-half's work.

Pa Rock is fairly certain that he had to pay to ride the elevator up the same building, and that feat left him feeling like an "absolute madman," too!

The Worm Is Turning

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The current ICE Age is starting to show signs of cracking and melting.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to stand in the background and listen as two middle-aged, gun-owning, rural white men discussed the current situation in Minnesota.  Both of the men, who were avid Trump supporters a year ago, seem to have undergone a rapid and seismic shift in their political perspectives of what is occurring in America.  Their primary grievance is the federal government's shifting position on the right to keep and bear arms = particularly the "bearing" part.

Alex Jeffrey Pretti, the ICU nurse who worked at a VA hospital in Minneapolis, had a gun on his person when he went out this past Saturday morning to be a "legal" witness to the ICE operations in his city, that's true.  The gun was in the waistband of his trousers, and there is no known video footage showing him brandishing that weapon at any time - nor has the government claimed that he had it out threatening anyone.  There is video footage of an ICE agent removing the gun from Mr. Pretti's waistband and taking it away before ICE agents fired multiple shots and killed him.

The video footage of his murder was airing on social media even before the administration grabbed their microphones and began describing the off-duty nurse as an "assassin" and a "terrorist,"  lies which flew in the face of the video footage that the world was already seeing on the internet.   FBI Director Kash Patel grabbed his microphone and began ranting about the fact that Alex Pretti had brought a loaded gun with an extra clip of ammunition to the scene of the protest.  Patel said:

"You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want.  It's that simple.  You don't have that right to break the law and incite violence."

Nurse Alex Pretti was carrying a registered weapon which he was duly licensed to carry.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Gun Owners of America (GOA), the two most prominent gun rights organizations in the US, quickly asserted that the Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms while protesting, a right, they argued, that the federal government must not infringe upon.

(It must be assumed that Kash Patel, the current FBI director who was appointed by Donald Trump, forgot about Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who showed up at a rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August of 2020 with an AR-15 assault-style rifle and killed two men at a protest and wounded another.  Rittenhouse and his weapon were both ushered off the scene and sent home by police at the event.  The boy, Rittenhouse, was later charged with homicide, attempted homicide, and recklessly endangering safety.  He claimed self-defense and was acquitted on all charges.  Donald Trump later hosted Kyle Rittenhouse at Mar-a-Lago.)

Kash Patel did not mention MAGA golden boy Kyle Rittenhouse as he lashed out against the dead ICU nurse saying the man's death was he own fault because he brought a firearm to a protest.

Gun right's groups were not happy with the FBI director's betrayal of their basic right to be armed anywhere they damn well please, and, more importantly, ordinary gun-owners like the two I overheard talking yesterday, weren't happy either - and their resentment was deep - and it felt as though it would definitely linger past the next election.

ICE took that ICU nurse's  registered weapon, one that he had a legal right to carry - even to a protest, and then ICE killed him.   That's what the videos show, and that's what rural gun owners saw - and no amount of bald-faced lies from politicians is going to change that.

Cell phones show the world what is really happening on the streets of America.  They are the "weapons" that ICE fears most.  Don't leave home without one!

Another ICE Murder in Minnesota

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

It was bitter cold in Minneapolis yesterday morning when Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old  RN, bundled up in his winter coat and left home to go out on the streets and do what he could to protect his friends and neighbors from the masked and armed ICE agents who have invaded his city.   Not much later he was standing along a public street when he observed ICE agents push a woman to the ground.  The ICU nurse, a trained and skilled medical provider and humanitarian, was helping the victim to get up when he was swamped by several ICE agents who pushed him to the ground.

Alex, who was a nurse at a local VA hospital, had a cell phone in his right hand when ICE attacked him.  His left hand was empty and he had it raised in the air.  He also had a pistol on his person, a weapon that was registered and which he was licensed to carry - but the weapon was not out.  Video footage shows one of the masked ICE agents pulling the gun from Pretti's waistband and walking away before at least one of the agents fired multiple shots into him.  

One report from the scene indicates that at least ten shots were fired

The ICU nurse was unarmed at the time he was killed.  He had been pepper-sprayed and physically overwhelmed, yet was still valiantly trying to protect a stranger who had been assaulted by ICE.

Minnesota and the world lost a good human being yesterday, a highly trained medical provider whose value to his community was immense and whose passing will negatively impact local health care for years to come.  He was senselessly killed by a masked thug whose qulaifications for a "law enforcement" position are unknown to the general public and whose value to the community and posterity are, at best, highly questionable.  Ironically, both Alex Jeffrey Pretti and the man who murdered him were employees of the same government.

Today the United States of America has another dead hero, a man who gave his all to protect and defend someone he didn't even know.   Thank you, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, for your selfless dedication to humanity. You will be remembered with honor and respect long after this government and its ICE horrors are held to account.   Salute, sir!

GOP Plan to Kill Postal Service Marches On

by Pa Rock

Curmudgeon

(Weather Update:  At 8;15 this morning there is about one inch of snow on the ground in south central Missouri, with lots of dead grass and leaves still poking up from the ground and through the gathering whiteness.  A light snow is blowing across the front yard as I sit behind what passes for a picture window, typing.  The birds, primarily cardinals, are hopping among the bird feeders and gnomes trying to consume as much seed as they can while they can.  Alexa says it is six degrees F. outside with an expected high today of twelve degrees F.

Rosie and I darted outside an hour ago and she valiantly attempted to do her business - with some success, but the icy ground hurt her little feet, so I scooped her up and we rushed back into the safety of the house.  The thermostat is set on 73 degrees F, but it still feels chilly, so I may goose it again.

We will survive!)

I have a list of things on my writing desk that piss me off, good material to tap on a snowy day.   I'd like to begin with the US Postal Service (USPS), always an easy target. But before airing grievances against that cesspit, I do want to acknowledge the hard-working lady who is my local delivery person.  Out in rural areas such as where I live, the people who bring the mail are the face of the USPS, and most of them are sweet, kind, and very helpful.  

My mailbox out by the road is larger than the average box, something that saves the mail lady needless trips to my front door, and saves Pa Rock occasional trips into town to pick up large packages when a substitute carrier is running the route.    But I seldom have to go to town for oversized mail.  When a package is too large for the big mail box, my wonderful mail person pulls up the drive, gets out of her car, and walks over and carefully sets it on the porch.  When I'm outside, she hands it to me, and has even offered to help me inside on days when she worried I might be too unsteady - and she always has a nice word for Rosie!

The continuing racket from political Bozos about eliminating rural mail delivery as a cost-cutting measure is a direct and unnecessary threat to the livelihood of thousands of hard-working Americans who carry the mail, and one more way to inflict pain and hardship on the poor and elderly.

But behind the super folks who man the frontlines of the US Postal Service are hordes of sinister bureaucrats and political functionaries whose sole reason for employment seems to be to destroy a necessary and once well-operated mail delivery system from within.  I've not done a "deep-dive" into the postal system's problems, but I am aware of a couple of things which our government has intentionally done to cripple this very critical public service.

The postal service used to be a cabinet position with the Postmaster General (Ben Franklin's old job) reporting directly to the President, but after a massive postal strike in 1970, Congress passed and President Nixon signed the "Postal Reorganization Act" which removed the patronage elements (where politicians were involved in the selection process of postmasters) and tried to turn the operation into a business.  Wages were raised, and postal workers were given the right to organize - but not to strike.  The concept of the postal service as being some sort of government function, something we paid for with our taxes, began to fade, and was replaced with the notion of the postal service being a business that had to make a profit in order to survive and function.

But the postal service didn't completely become a free-wheeling agent of American capitalism.  The head of the organization, still called the "Postmaster General" is appointed by an independent board of governors who are themselves appointed by the President of the United States on staggered terms - a system that does not necessarily work as intended if there happens to be a megalomaniac tyrant in the Oval Office.  (Donald Trump did threaten to fire members of the postal service's board of governors last year, and to place the entire operation under the control of the US Department of Commerce - but later TACOed.)

Congress and President George W. Bush significantly hobbled the US Postal Service in 2006 with the enactment of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) which forced the postal service to pre-fund its Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund years in advance.   The annual payments were supposed to keep the retiree's health plan funded for the next 75 years.  No other government agency operated under such a mandate.  The new program sucked up most of the postal revenue and accounted for 84% of the agency's losses.  The price of postage skyrocketed, service declined, and public faith with the USPS began to significantly wane - which was likely the long-term intent of the legislation to begin with.

Today the postal service is in a losing position and takes abuse from all sides.

The most recent outrage regarding the USPS is a change in its policy for postmarking mail.  The agency recently announced that mail is now being postmarked when it first reaches an automatic mail sorter - and not on the day that it is dropped off at a local postoffice.  That change distorts when an item is actually mailed, masking the length of time that it takes for mail to be delivered.

My son recently sent me a package from a post office in the Kansas suburb of Kansas City where he lives.  It took six days to arrive, when not long ago it would have gotten here in two days or less.  (No wonder they want to mask the delivery time!)   The local mail from here goes out by truck every day that the postal service is operational at 4:00 a.m., and it is trucked to a sorting center (I'm guessing in Springfield, MO - but for all I know it could be Baton Damned Rouge in Louisana!)

A friend of mine in a community close to Joplin, Missouri, (about 180 miles due east from where I live) sent me an important piece of mail that I finally received yesterday - one week after it had been mailed.  Instead of going west, toward my house, it went due north 160 miles to Knasas City where it was postmarked, and then was sent south and east to West Plains, perhaps by pack mule, where I finally received it - seven long days after it was mailed.

Another friend, who lives in McDonald County, Missouri, the southwest corner county of the show-me state, mailed in her county propery taxes on December 30th, a full day ahead to the deadline before penalties are imposed.  The county seat was less that ten miles from the postoffice where she mailed her statement and check.  A couple of weeks later she got a notice that she owed a penalty because her payment had been postmarked on January 2nd, in Knasas Cit, Missouri - 200 miles north of where she had physically mailed the correspondence.  My friend is pissed!

I can put a 78-cent stamp on a letter to my daughter in Oregon on a Monday, drop it in the mail here, then get in my car and drive west - leisurely - spending at least four nights at motels along the way, and easily be sitting at her house in western Oregon when the letter arrives on Saturday, or possibly the following Monday!

One more note:  I did see some speculation on the internet that the new policy of postmarking mail at sorting centers rather than at the location where it actually enters the mail system may have been the result of some political pressure by forces who are opposed to mail-in voting.  Just sayin:)

Pa Rock would rather his tax dollars be used to fund a decent mail service instead of paying masked criminals to terrorize and arrest five-year-olds!

Okay, that's it.  My spleen is vented.  Have a wonderful snow day - and give your mail person a warm smile and maybe a hug - none of this is their fault.

Winter Approaches

 

by Pa Rock

Winter Warrior

The clouds are beginning to mass in preparation for a serious onslaught of winter weather that is expected to begin in about two hours.  The forecast is for snow and then ice across the Ozarks and a big swath of the United States this afternoon and tomorrow, with accumulations (at least in the Ozarks) of up to a foot.

(It's a good thing the US is not on the metric system of measurement because if the forecast was "up to a meter," that would be much more serious!)

During the twelve years that I have been back home in southern Missouri, we have had only minimal snowfall.  That picked up a bit last winter,   Today's snowfall sounds as though it will be our most consequential since I have been back in Howl County.  Forty years ago when I lived in the northern part of this same country and worked as a high school teacher and principal, we had large snowfalls every winter that would result in the schools being closed for three to four weeks a year.  The climate has changed markedly since then.

This weekend should remind us of what things were like back in the day.

I went to the grocery store this morning, always an exciting experience when a big change in the weather is approaching.  At 8:45 a.m. Aldi's was insane.  The place was packed with dummies who waited until the last possible damned minute to get their storm snacks, and stockers were everywhere trying to keep goods on the shelves.  Chaos prevailed.  It was rude, crude, and brutal - much more entertaining than television!

Now I am at home basking in the warmth of a new furnace.  The birds have been fed, the dogs walked and fed, the larders are full, the car has a full tank of gas, and I am seated in front of my typing window banging out a blog, watching the world rush by, waiting on the snow to start falling, and thinking about hot chocolate, and wishing I had bought some.  Maybe I should make a quick run to town and get some!

Winter is not kind to wildlife, outdoor pets and livestock, and disadvantaged humans.   Stay warm and safe - and be prepared to share your blessings (and hot chocolate) with others!

A Very, Very, Very Fine House

by Pa Rock

Homeowner

My house is a very, very, very fine house.  It has two small bedrooms, two small bathrooms, a small kitchen with inadequate cabinet space, a small utility room, a decent sized living room and a finished half-basement.  It sits on a 10-acre corner lot at at the intersection of two paved county roads and is about a mile from the city limits.  The property has three out-buildings that came with the place including one large but very dilapidated old barn, a decent garage, and a serviceable chicken coop.  Additionally there are two very nice 8' X 24' metal storage buildings which I had custom-built seven years ago and are sitting on a concrete slab that was a basketball court when I moved here.

I've never counted the trees, but there are many and most of them are large, so massive, in fact, that some pose direct threats to the house in the event they ever blow over.  When the town tornado sirens wail, about once a year or so, we go to the basement!

My house was constructed by a professional carpenter, one of the best in the area, and he built it for himself and his family - a wife and four sons - in the 1960's.  That family occupied it for the next four decades or so.  There was one owner after them before I bought it.  The house has what builders refer to as "good bones.".

I bought this very, very, very fine house in the fall of 2013 while I was still living in Phoenix, and moved in upon my retirement in March of 2014.  My intention was to live here alone, do some travel and writing,  and enjoy my golden years.  I had a grandson who lived here and was in high school, and I earmarked one of the bedrooms as his in the event he ever needed it.  Now that grandson lives 200 miles away and works full time in the town that I grew up in, the one that I undoubtedly would have retired in had i not relocated here.  Funny how life works out.

But I like it here, and for the first decade there were few major financial issues with my very, very, very fine house,    It had been on a well water system when I purchased the property, and after a major (500-year) flood a few years back, water tests on the well came back negative, so I switched over to the rural water provider.  Getting a meter installed, digging atrench from the house to the meter, and securing the hookup was $2,500 or so, but it was worth the expense and I am glad to be off of the well.

The two other major expenses that I encountered during my first decade of residence were the two storage buildings constructed at a Mennonite family factory seventy miles away and then transported her (a total of $10,000) - not a necessity, but something that I wanted, and matching metal roofs on the house, garage, and well house (there had not been any leaks, but the existing roof was old and I wanted to get ahead of the game.)

So, all things considered and by my perspective, the first ten years weren't too bad.

The second ten, however, are shaping up to be a different story.  This decade in residence began with the central air going out.  It turns out the unit was thirty years old, and that expense ran four grand.  Then one of the big pines (somewhere north of 40-feet tall and the closest one to the house) died and needed to be removed.  I had the tree men take down an enormous dying hickory while they were here with their heavy equipment - $2,200 - and my neighbor who knows about such things assured me that was cheap.  The furnace has been operating in fits and starts for several weeks, and this week it had to be replaced as well.  $3,400!  (Turns out the furnace was also thirty years old.)

There is major bad weather coming in tomorrow, so I was not surprised at all when, while taking my morning shower today, I heard the toilet burping - a totally new occurrence -  and when I finished showering I found that I was standing in an inch or so of water that had not drained.  A plumber will be here later this morning, just in time to get things dug up and spread out before the snow starts tomorrow.

Some days if it wasn't for the lottery, I'd have no hope at all!

I have heard a couple of news stories over the past few days which credit home-ownership (the American dream) with being the most direct path to accumulating wealth for the majority of Americans, but it is a hard path to access, and once you are on it, home-ownership can be an expensive path to navigate.

And now, with private equity firms and ultra-rich s.o.b.'s  snapping up every house that comes on the market, breaking the chains of homelessness and poverty becomes even more complicated.

If ending poverty was a concern of our government, which it clearly is not, building more housing would certainly be one way to begin addressing it.

Oh, my, but I have wandered.  I think I will refer to this type of mindless musing as "the weave" and stop where I am at so that I can rush to town and buy some rock salt for the walks - and stock up on bird feed. A homeowner's work is never done, even in a very, very, very fine house!

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.