Revenge of the Karens

by Pa Rock
Social Commentator

I will admit to not being the hippest cat on the block.  My knowledge of social references, while never on the cutting edge, has been almost nil since I retired and moved off to my sanctuary on the outskirts of rural America.  If it was not for the internet, I would be a complete cultural recluse.

But the internet brings me the news, keeps me up with the current outrages of government, and even provides glimpses as to how society talks and interacts among its various classes and subsets of individuals.     It was through the internet, for instance, when - just a few months ago -     I began seeing the name "Karen" broadly used in a derisive manner.

By paying careful attention I began to understand, in general terms, just what being a "Karen" generally entailed.  A "Karen" was an entitled white woman, in her forties or fifties, who was frustrated with her lot in life and quick to take her anger out on others.  She was the explosive character attacking other shoppers at Walmart because they weren't speaking English, or the angry customer refusing to put on a mask before entering a business, or the mad driver refusing to accept a traffic ticket a policeman, or the driver whose car was blocking traffic because she had exited her vehicle to yell at the man in the car behind her - the man who had honked at her when she failed to move her car when the signal turned green - probably because she busy with her phone.

In addition to being loud and brash, I also pictured the average Karen as dressing slovenly, having tattoos, owning guns, and, of course, being a Trump-supporting MAGAt.  In my own mind I saw Karen as someone who had bitterly accepted her lot in life up until the day Donald Trump was elected, and then she suddenly came to the realization that she had just as much self-worth as any damned person in America - and by God she would be heard!

I assumed that one woman in one of those classic internet memes had actually been named "Karen," and that a few snarky individuals had appropriated the name and began using it to describe all persons of that general type.

This week Dictionary.com, a free vocabulary-building service to which I subscribe, sent around an email from the "Slang Dictionary" which focused on the meaning of "Karen," along with background on the current usage.  That dictionary's "Karen" is a bit more urbane than mine, but every bit as unpleasant.  According to the Slang Dictionary:

"Karen is a mocking slang term for an entitled, obnoxious, middle-aged white woman.  Especially as featured in memes, Karen is general stereotyped as having a blonde bob haircut, asking to speak to retail and restaurant managers to voice complains or make demands, and being a nagging, often divorced mother from Generation X."

The article in the Slang Dictionary gives several possible origins of the term dating back to 2010, with it becoming increasingly common during the past couple of years.  It also mentions two other proper names that are becoming shorthand to describe character types:  "Becky" - a basic, young white woman, and "Chad" - a cocky, young "dudebro."

But while Beckys and Chads are fairly harmless, the Karens are not.   They will be heard, and they will ruin your day!

Good Times Come with a Price

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

A few days ago I commented in this space about the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Arkansas after a teen swimming pool party, and Governor Asa Hutchinson's dangerous drivel about quarantining being "contrary to the American spirit."  I also mentioned the recent news articles about a what appeared to be a packed "pool party" at the Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks over Memorial Day weekend.  That event was actually a party at a pool bar, a large venue featuring drinks served to revelers in and out of a large swimming pool - accompanied to noise provided by one of more deejays.

Actually, it turns out there are at least three of these large pool bars in Lake Ozark,  Missouri, and each did a booming business over the recent holiday weekend.  Missouri has recently gone back to some semblance of business as usual, and restaurants and bars are able to resume service but with social distancing within the establishments.   Anyone who saw the photos from these monster pool parties at the Lake of the Ozarks over that weekend knows that there was no social distancing being observed.

A group of very entitled people were having some fun in the sun, and the rest of the world be damned. Well,  now the party is over - and the bills are coming due.

My son told me about a sign that he saw in the window of a nail salon near his home in the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City.   It read:   "If you've recently been to the Lake of the Ozarks, please don't come inside for two weeks."  It was apparently posted in earnest, and it was a sound business decision.

Yesterday the fallout from the wild weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks began to be felt.  The Camden County (which is home to the town of Lake Ozark) Health Department reported that a resident of Boone County, Missouri, who had partied at all three of the large pool bars over the holiday weekend had tested positive for COVID-19.  The local health director said that it was likely the disease was incubating in the individual during his (or her) visit to Camden County - and that the individual could have spread it to others.

(Boone County, Missouri, is the home to the main campus of the University of Missouri, a fairly well populated area - by Missouri standards - that would also offer a favorable environment for the transmission of disease.)

Because Lake Ozark was so congested over the Memorial Day weekend, and because the confirmed case visited several of the more crowded spots - and for extended periods of time - contact tracing is virtually impossible.  The health department director chose instead to publish a list of places visited by the carrier - along with approximate times - in the hope that persons who were in those locations at the same time would voluntarily self-isolate.

On Saturday, May 23rd, the carrier was at Backwater Jack's (a pool bar) between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. and then went to Shady Gators and Lazy Gators pool bars from 5:40 until 9:00 p.m.  From there the person went back to Backwater Jack's from 9:40 until 10:00 p.m.

On Sunday, May 24th, the carrier had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings in Lake Oark from 1:00 until 2:00 p.m.  and then went to Shady Gators from 2:30 until 7:00 p.m.  He or she then took a cab to a private home.

The Camden County health director asked that anyone who may have been in those places monitor themselves for symptoms including fever, cough, shortness of breath, body aches, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of taste or smell.  Those who are symptomatic should contact a physician for testing and then isolate until the results are known.

Meanwhile that soup of humanity that partied hearty at the Lake of the Ozarks is quietly spilling out across Missouri, the Midwest, and the nation.  The party is over, but the bills are just starting to arrive.

A Little Light Hoarding

by Pa Rock
Survivor

This past Monday (Memorial Day), late in the day, I ventured into town to buy a few groceries.  There is no "curbside" pickup or home delivery in my small town, so when I do wrap up and go shopping, it is with the intent to buy as much as possible - and to shop at times when the store is likely to be the least crowded.  Late in the day on a holiday sounded like a good time to go shopping.

There weren't many people at the store, as I had hoped, but of the few roaming the aisles, most were not masked.  None of the children in the store were wearing masks, and, as a former state child protection worker, I found that to be particularly grating.

(I suspect that our governor, a Republican politician named Mike Parson, had a committee formed for the express purpose of protecting parents who fail to protect their children from the deadly virus.  The absence of face masks in public places clearly endangers every American - except perhaps Donald Trump - to whom Governor Parson sucks up unrelentingly.)

But this piece isn't intended to discuss child abuse or sleaze ball Missouri politics.  Today I want to talk about hoarding.

While I was at the store last Monday I bought a twelve-pack of toilet paper, even though I have plenty already.  The store seemed to have a large supply with an abundance on display, and so I thought "Why not?"  In fact, whenever the opportunity presents itself over the coming weeks I will add to my supply of toilet paper - one package at a time.  Paper towels, too.  I won't be clearing out store shelves, but if there is plenty available, I'll have another, thank you very much.

I also bought hand soap and laundry detergent, neither of which I needed, but all of which would keep until I did need it.

I was hoarding - light hoarding - but hoarding nonetheless.  Here is my reasoning for behaving in such a socially malignant manner:

• Going to town and to the store is more than just a bother, it is a health-threatening experience;
• We currently seem to be in a season of plenty, and supplies appear to have come back and stabilized;
• Round two is coming and it's going to be bad.  If I have stocked all of my personal supplies carefully and in advance, I will avoid the inevitable pig-push when things start to get crazy;
• Public consumption helps grow the economy;  and,
• If there is a tragedy or an emergency, I will have the means to share with those in need.

I'm not intending to sell high-priced toilet paper over the internet or open a price-gouging country store, but I would like the satisfaction of knowing that even in a time of plague I could still meet certain standards of personal cleanliness without running to the barn in search of corncobs or mail-order catalogues!

Also on my grab-an-extra list:  pet food, canned goods (especially canned meats), nuts, dried fruits, hand-sanitizer, toothpaste, and, of course, chocolate!

You quarantine your way, and I'll quarantine mine!

Dead to Me

by Pa Rock
TV Junkie

I recently discovered a gem of a show on Netflix.  "Dead to Me" is a dark comedy (a dramedy)  that deals with the budding friendship between two women in their forties who are coming to terms with their grief, their anger, and their lives - all the while navigating an increasingly criminalized situation that has more twists and turns than a goat trail across the Andes.

Jen (Christina Applegate)  is a recently widowed mother of two boys - ages ten and sixteen - who shows up a grief support group hoping to work through some of some of her anger.  Her husband had recently been killed by a hit-and-run driver while out jogging in the middle of the night.  At her first meeting with the group, Jen encounters Judy (Linda Cardellini), who is also new to the group.  Judy says that she is there to grieve the death of her long-term fiancé.

The two women are inexplicably drawn to each other, and as their friendship flowers, so too does a myriad of complications that routinely catch even the most jaded of television viewers off guard.  There is nothing predicable in the rampaging lives of Jen and Judy.  The smart writing and extremely clever plotting cough up jaw-dropping surprises with almost alarming regularity.

The show has a strong regular cast and there are cameos and guest appearances by some Hollywood notables like Ed Asner, Will Ferrell, and Katy Sagal.  (Sagal played Christina Applegate's mom, Peg Bundy, on the long-running television hit "Married with Children" back in the 1980's and 1990's.)

But it is the writing that makes this show so formidable.   Liz Feldman, an actress and comedian, created the show and is the driving force  behind its writing and production - and she is undoubtedly its primary energy.    Feldman has created the show's edgy nature, and seems laser-focused on keeping it fresh and sharp.

"Dead to Me" currently has two seasons (a total of twenty, 30-minute episodes) available on Netflix with certainly more to come.   It's a show that will pull you in, fiddle with your emotions, and likely impact your beliefs.

It is television at its unusual best!

Are Black Lives Finally Starting to Matter?

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Is the hard shell of subtle and not-so-subtle racism that has long encased the United States finally beginning to show some cracks?  Three recent news stories indicate that some changes may be beginning to quietly ripple through society.

First, as I mentioned in this space a few days ago, arrests were finally made in the case of Ahmaud Arbery, a young man who was jogging in his Georgia community when he was confronted and killed by a pair of white vigilantes who said they suspected him of being involved in a string neighborhood burglaries.   Local officials had fumbled the case and bounced it between jurisdictions for a couple of months with no arrests, even though everyone knew who the killers were.  Then a video of the incident was released on social media, supposedly to help exonerate the father and son perpetrators, but the video backfired when it instead served to fire-up protests in the community demanding arrests.

The Arbery case was then turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation which quickly arrested the white perpetrators on felony murder charges.  A few days later the man who made the video and released it on social media was also arrested as an accessory to the murder of Mr. Arbery.  Now there are new reports that the GBI is also investigating some of the local authorities who initially sidetracked the investigation as possible co-conspirators in a hate crime.

For the times they are a-changin'.

Last week a young white urban professional named Amy Cooper was walking her newly adopted dog in an area of Central Park in New York City called the Bramble.  The city requires dogs in that part of the park to be on a leash - and signs are posted to that effect.   A young black man by the name of Christian Cooper (no relation to Amy) happened to be bird-watching in the same area when he encountered Amy and her dog.  Christian explained to Amy that she needed to have her dog on a leash, and he offered the dog a treat.

The dog owner became visibly angry and took out her phone.  She said, "I'm taking a picture and calling the cops.  I'm going o tell them there's an African American man threatening my life."  By that point the man was also filming.  The lady called the police - and no arrests were made.

Later Christian Cooper posted his video to social media where it proceeded to go viral.   Amy Cooper and her employer were both identified.  The  shelter that had adopted the dog out to the lady asked for its return, and numerous postings went up that were critical of the woman's behavior - which could have led to the injury or death of the man - and attention was brought to bear on the incident with her employers.

Amy Cooper declared on social media that she was not a racist and apologized to Christian Cooper as well as to the black community - but it was too little, too late.  Her employer announced later over social media that she had been terminated.

And, to underscore the point that when police are called to deal with a black individual, the result can be deadly . . .

On Monday evening of this week police in Minneapolis were called by personnel from a store regarding an incident of forgery.  Upon arrival at the scene, they were directed to a black man sitting in a nearby car as the probable culprit.  Police removed the man, 46-year-old George Floyd,  from the car, handcuffed him, and then two officers forced him to the ground while two others supervised the gathering crowd and directed traffic.  A bystander filmed the scene in which one of the officers restraining Mr. Floyd had his knee on the prone man's throat.

The video captured the voice of George Floyd telling the policeman that he couldn't breathe.   He died during the incident.

Yesterday it was announced that the Chief of Police in Minneapolis had fired the four officers involved in the incident, and that the city's mayor had approved the firings.  Local residents took to the streets to demand that murder charges be filed against the four policemen.

And some were quick to point out that incidents like the ones described above are the reason why athletes like Colin Kapernick choose to kneel during the national anthem.  Black lives matter - they really do - and perhaps white America is finally beginning to realize that.

The American Spirit Parties in the Heartland

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

A few people in rural America, particularly in the Midwest, have taken the coronavirus threat seriously, but many have scoffed at all of the hullabaloo and seen it as mainly being a problem for city dwellers.  It was never going to get out in the woods where they lived - and, if it did, well, it wasn't much more than flu anyway.

While infections and deaths in urban areas numbered in the thousands, many counties in midwestern states measured infections (if they had any at all) in the single digits, and deaths were extremely rare.  It was a lot of noise and bother about what many saw as essentially nothing.

But all of that is about to change.

The predominantly rural state of Arkansas has had 5,775 confirmed cases of persons testing positive for coronavirus and 115 deaths.

Asa Hutchinson, a Bob Jones "University" graduate and the current governor of Arkansas, was forced to admit this weekend that his state, which he proudly notes never had a stay-at-home order during the height of the crisis, is now facing a second peak in infections as a result of a recent teen swimming pool party.   In fact, Arkansas had its highest single day of new cases last week - 455 - and on Saturday it added 163 new cases and two deaths to its tally.

But the new rise in cases is not deterring Governor Hutchinson, a former George W. Bush "Drug Czar" and immigration official - and long-time GOP lackey.  He assured Trump that Arkansas is "at work" and businesses are open.   And in acknowledging the rising numbers Hutchinson said:

"We have to manage the risk.  We take the virus very seriously, it's a risk, it causes death, but you can't cloister yourself at home, that is just contrary to the American spirit."

Well, ride em' cowboy!

Missouri, just to the north of Arkansas, contains two major population centers - Kansas City and St. Louis - and, as might be expected, has higher numbers of infections and deaths than Arkansas:  11,752 confirmed cases and 676 deaths.  But, like Arkansas, Missouri has large rural swaths which have not experienced the actual impact of the pandemic.

Springfield, the state's third largest urban area, is a commercial, educational, and medical center for much of rural southern Missouri.  This past week it was revealed that two hair-stylists in a large hair care center in Springfield had tested positive for the coronavirus, and that between the two they had exposed around 140 customers as well as the other stylists in the shop.  The stylists and customers were apparently all wearing face masks, but haircuts involve a lot of personal contact nevertheless.  Some of the haircut customers then returned to their jobs in the Springfield community where they interacted with other co-workers, clients, and customers - and most of the haircut customers also had contact with members of their own families - who then, in turn had contact with others!

See how that works?  It quickly becomes a contact tracer's nightmare!

And then there was the infamous large and raucous pool party at the Lake of the Ozarks in Lake Osage, Missouri, that made national news this weekend.  Hundreds of overly exposed bodies were having a grand old time as they crammed into a large swimming pool.  Those revelers came from across the state and likely several neighboring states as well - and they easily shared whatever viral baggage they brought along - just like the kids at the pool party in Arkansas had done a few days earlier.

The American spirit parties on - especially in the happy-go-lucky Midwest!

At least for now.

Doing Time in Leavenworth

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Very early this morning there was some snark floating around Twitter as to where the Trump presidential library should be built.  (I suggested someplace south of Texas.). One clever Tweeter opined that he thought Leavenworth might be an appropriate spot.  That remark stirred memories regarding my own time in Leavenworth.

That's right.   Cagey old Pa Rock did time in Leavenworth from January through November of 2005.  I was a civilian social worker at Ft. Leavenworth, an active duty U.S. Army base - my first job as a civilian with the military.  I was, even at that time, too old to work in the actual military prison which is located on the base - they wanted social workers young and fit enough to run like hell if the need arose - but I worked with base personnel, including many guards and others whose primary duties were inside of the prison.

I lived in an apartment in an old house in the town of Leavenworth, an aging and somewhat idyllic community north and west of Kansas City.  Leavenworth is the county seat of Leavenworth County, Kansas.

(One of my favorite memories of that small town experience was driving home late one night with my son and grandson in the car.  As we entered the "main drag" of town I saw a couple of city police cars pulled  to the side of the road with their lights flashing.  I slowed down to rubberneck, but could see no wrecks.   Then suddenly two young police officers came running along going the other direction - in pursuit of a loose longhorn steer!  It was a pure Barney and Andy moment!)

At that time Leavenworth County was home to four major prisons:  the aforementioned U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Ft. Leavenworth, the U.S. Federal Penitentiary at Leavenworth, and the Kansas State Men's and Women's Prisons at Lansing.

And, if that wasn't enough cell space, the county also had its own jail!

When people comment about "Leavenworth" as the Tweeter did this morning, it is generally used as a term referring to a prison complex, but that is inaccurate and represents more of a conglomeration of trivia and stories than it does the actual facts of the matter.

Here is a bit of clarification as to what "Leavenworth" as a correctional center actually entails.

The United States Disciplinary Barracks was built on Ft. Leavenworth  in 1874, and its function was (and is) to house serious lawbreakers who also happen to be active duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces.  The old prison gradually fell into serious disrepair, and in 2002 - just three years before I arrived - it was replaced by a new and very modern "pod" structure.   During my year at Ft. Leavenworth, the military was still in the process of tearing down the old prison.  Today the most famous inmate at the USDB is Major Nidal Hassan, the army doctor who killed thirteen soldiers and wounded more than thirty others in a shooting at Ft. Hood, Texas, in 2009.  Major (Doctor) Hassan is awaiting execution.)

(Two years later while I was working at my second base - Ft. Campbell, Kentucky - one of my social work clients was sentenced to a prison term at the USDB in Leavenworth.  Not too long after he was transported to Kansas, I returned to the area to attend a play that my son had written and was staging at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.  While on that outing, I stopped by Ft. Leavenworth to make my first actual trip inside the military prison for a visit with my old client.

I entered the prison main entrance and before I even reached the information desk I heard someone call my name.  It was another old client - this one from Ft. Leavenworth who was a guard at the prison - and she quickly walked over and hugged me!  After that I saw the client from Ft. Campbell, and he was not as cheerful!)

In 1903 military convicts from the USDB were used as forced labor to build another prison just a couple of miles down the road from Ft. Leavenworth.  That became the U.S. Federal Penitentiary at Leavenworth - which was commonly referred to as "Leavenworth."  Some of the better known prisoners to inhabit that maximum security facility were Machine Gun Kelly, Kansas City political boss Tom Pendergast, Robert Stroud (the bird man of Alcatraz), political assassin James Earl Ray, Indian activist Leonard Peltier, and mobster Whitey Bolger.   Leavenworth was downgraded to a medium security prison in 2005 as newer and more severe lockdowns began coming on line.

The state penitentiaries in Lansing (which is also in Leavenworth County) have apparently been reconfigured since my time in the county, and today they are known as the Lansing Correction Facility (with a men's and a women's department).  The "In Cold Blood" killers - Richard Hickock and Perry Smith - spent five years in the Kansas State Men's Prison in Lansing before finally being hanged in a warehouse there in 1965.   Truman Capote, the man who immortalized the crime, the victims, and the killers in his famous true-crime novel, was in attendance at their hangings.

And now to add to the prison milieu, there is apparently also a less severe incarceration center on Ft. Leavenworth itself called the "Midwest Joint Regional Facility," though I must admit to having no personal knowledge of that one.

But even with all of the emphasis on crime and punishment, the city and county of Leavenworth was one of the best places that I ever lived.  The population was educated and urbane, yet small-town friendly - and my sense is that they would not take kindly to having the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library arbitrarily plopped down into their community.

Housing criminals is one thing, but intentionally glorifying them is quite another.

Perhaps that honor could go to Florida - and it could be built on pontoons!

National Treasures: Dylan and Chabon

by Pa Rock
Arts Appreciator

Today is the birthday of two American literary treasures.  Bob Dylan was born as Robert Allen Zimmerman on this date in 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota - and Michael Chabon arrived in the world twenty-two years later (1963) in Washington, DC.  Both were born into Jewish households, though Dylan converted to Christianity later in life, and both went on to receive international acclaim for their work - including the Nobel Prize for Literature to Dylan as well as a special citation from the Pulitzer Committee, and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction to Chabon.

Bob Dylan, of course, has been holding a mirror up to American society since the 1960's.   During the Vietnam War years he created what eventually became the soundtrack for that turbulent decade.  Over the past sixty years or so he has gone on to capture much of the social and political turmoil and has ebbed and flowed across the American and world landscapes.

There are literally no documentaries on American life in the 1960's that do not contain some of the music of Bob Dylan:  "Blowin' in the Wind," "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall," "It Ain't Me, Babe," "The Times They are a-Changin', "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Subterranean Homesick Blues," and "Like a Rolling Stone" - and so many others.

(When my oldest son was about to enter his senior year in high school he somehow managed to acquire tickets for our entire family to see Bob Dylan live in an outdoor concert in Branson.  It was a beautiful night under the stars as we listened to many old standards - and many that were more recent works of the ever-evolving artist.  Twenty years on from there and I would be in a bookstore buying my grandson - who was a budding guitar player - a Dylan songbook that was literally too heavy to mail!)

And today the seventy-nine-year-old singer/songwriter is still at work guiding us toward our better selves.

I became a fan of Michael Chabon when I stumbled across a copy of his first book - The Mysteries of Pittsburg - in a bookstore.  That novel was written as a master's thesis in college, and his supervising professor was so impressed that he sent it off to a literary agent who promptly found a publisher who was anxious to get it into print.  My enjoyment of The Mysteries of Pittsburg led to me buying and quickly devouring Chabon's second novel, Wonder Boys.

Several years later I was sitting in a movie theatre with my youngest son - who was probably in college at the time - when a trailer began that was featuring a new Michael Douglas film.  As the preview got rolling I began to realize that the storyline was familiar.   Suddenly I told Tim, "I've read that book!"  It was Wonder Boys, and it was great - the book and the film adaptation.

(That son has gone on to have two of his own screenplays made into full-length motion pictures.  Undoubtedly part of his success is rooted in the fact that he appreciates good literature, both on the page as well as on the screen, the works of dedicated and talented writers such as Michael Chabon as well as gifted poets and songwriters like Bob Dylan.)

Next I read Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, an ethnic take on the comic book industry in the era of World War II, which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2001.  And my final encounter with the highly talented author was a very incisive alternative history entitled The Yiddish Policeman's Union.  

Michael Chabon teaches creative writing at UC Berkley, and in addition to being a highly regarded novelist, he is also a successful screenwriter and short story writer.  He has penned several other novels - and shame on me for not having read them - yet!

So happy birthday to two very successful cultural icons as they continue to fill our hearts and souls with with their distinctive and provocative cultural output.  Bob Dylan and Michael Chabon are both truly American treasures - and their works enrich our lives immensely!

Trump Gets Religion, Bigly!

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Donald John Trump, the only twice-divorced President in United States history and a man who has faced multiple sexual abuse allegations by multiple women, is the Messiah incarnate as far as many evangelical Christians are concerned  - or at least he was.  According to an article in yesterday's on-line Politico, Trump had been counting on an increase in his vote totals this November from evangelicals and white Catholics to offset slips in his approval rating among women as well as voters in suburban America.

But a pair of recent surveys from what Politico refers to as "reputable outfits" seem to have thrown White House assumptions about support from some religious communities into a cocked hat.  The Politico news report said that the surveys found a "staggering decline" in Trump's favorability among certain religious groups, and it stated that an unnamed GOP official had confirmed that a dip in Trump's support among evangelicals was also evident in the party's internal polling.

One of the surveys being cited was conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute and was conducted in April.  That survey showed an 11% drop in support for Trump from white evangelicals, a 12% drop from white Catholics, and an 18% drop in support from white mainline protestants over the previous month.

Politico cited a lack of confidence in the administration's coronavirus response as the key element in the sudden drop in religious support for Trump.

The new numbers represented a shrinking of Trump's political base, and that was very concerning to Trump and his political minions.  To compensate for this religious slide, Trump, a man who has rarely been observed in a church and likes to play golf on Sundays anyway - but has autographed a few Bibles in his time - suddenly got religion!

Yesterday Trump stepped before the White House Press Corps, made a quick announcement that painted many of America's governors as anti-religion, dropped a threat that he can't back up, and then quickly ran for cover, leaving his new press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, to deal with the mess.

In what was easily some of his sleaziest political maneuvering since moving into the White House, Trump declared:

"Some governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential, but have left out churches and other houses of worship.   It's not right.  So I'm correcting this injustice and calling houses of worship essential.   The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now.  For this weekend.  If they don't do it, I will override the governors.  In America we need more prayer, not less."

When Trump left the podium without answering questions, the press secretary was bombarded by journalists wanting clarification.   McEnany, a former producer for "Huckabee" on Fox, had a snark rebuttal ready and loudly lamented, "Boy, it's interesting to be in a room that desperately wants to see these churches and houses of worship stay closed."

Trump had declared state governors to be the enemy of religion, and McEnany expanded the list of heathen to include journalists.  It would be difficult to get more Trumpian than that.

According to an on-line article in The Guardian yesterday, after the press secretary made her snide rejoinder, Jeff Mason, a reporter from Reuters replied:  "Kayleigh, I object to that.  I go to church.  I'm dying to go back to church.  The question that we're asking you, and would like to have asked the president and Dr. Birx, is - is it safe?"

Indeed.  Is it safe?

Another reporter, according to an Associated Press article, asked the press secretary what authority Trump had to supersede governors, and she replied that she would not answer a "theoretical" question.

The Associated Press article, again posted on-line yesterday, also contained some feedback from religious sources as well as governors.

Rabbi Jack Malone, the president of the Interfaith Alliance, labeled Trump's call for a mass reopening of churches as "completely irresponsible."  He added:

"Faith is essential and community is necessary;  however, neither requires endangering the people who seek to participate in them.  The virus does not discriminate between types of gatherings, and neither should the president."

The governor of Rhode Island, Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, said that it would be at least another week before churches reopened in her state, and she said that she was skeptical that Trump had the authority to impose his requirement for immediate openings of churches.  Governor Raimondo said:

"It's reckless to force them (the churches and houses of worship) to reopen this weekend.  They're not ready.  We've got a good plan.  I'm going to stick with it."

Chris Sununu, the Republican governor of New Hampshire, seemed to drift from party ranks when he said he would review federal guidance, but insisted that the decision for his state rested with him.  Governor Sununu said:

"Obviously we'd like to get to the point where we could have those open, but we'll look at the guidance documents and try to make some decisions rather quickly, depending on what it might say.  It's the governor's decision, of course."

The  Associated Press article also discussed the guidance that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) had drafted for the reopening of various organizations including churches.  It said that the draft had gone to the White House more than a month ago, but the Trump administration had "dragged its feet" on implementing the plan because it did not want to give the appearance that it was "interfering" in church operations.

The initial draft of CDC recommendations for reopening churches talked about doing it in steps with a first phase limiting gatherings to video-streamings and drive-in services.  Later small gatherings could begin occurring with social-distancing requirements.   It also stated that all attendees should wear face masks.

Yesterday, after Trump's surprise announcement,  new guidance was posted which had no mention of a phased reopening, and only said face coverings should be used when social-distancing cannot be achieved.  The new guidance recommends keeping worshippers six feet from one another and imposing limitations on singing.  Singing can cause aerosolized droplets which can spread the virus.

In summation, the Trump administration, which had no announced plan for reopening churches, suddenly posted one in coordination with Trump's demand that governors quit interfering with religion and allow all church services to resume.  In addition to Trump making the point that many governors, especially Democrats, are godless, his press secretary was quick to point out that journalists are godless as well.

And there will be a helluva lot of confusion this holiday weekend as some governors try to keep their citizens safe in spite of Trump's cynical and extremely dangerous re-election ploy!  There will likely even be morons with guns roaming around some of the churches insuring the worshipers god-given right to pray in crowded settings instead of in the safety of their own homes.

Pass those collection plates and praise Jesus!

But through it all Donald John Trump will remain secure in his firm conviction that he is God's man on Earth.

Fore!

The Baby Chicks Have Arrived!

by Pa Rock
Chicken Rancher

It's been a big week here at Rock's Roost.  On Wednesday, after prolonged harassment by Apple and Google, I finally broke down and bought a new cell phone, my first in over six years.  (The Smithsonian has expressed an interest in acquiring my old phone!)   Then on Thursday - yesterday - I received my first official call on the new phone.  It was from the local feed store informing me that my baby chicks had arrived.

I had ordered two dozen Buff Orphington pullets (hens) and two cockerels (roosters) of the same breed - as well as ten Sumatras, a black show chicken.   I hurried to the feed store where I found that the Buff Orphingtons had arrived, but the Sumatras had been cancelled by the hatchery.  Normally the hatchery will include one or two extra chicks in case some die during the delivery process, and when I got home and transferred the chicks out of their traveling box and into their new home, I was pleased to find twenty-six pullets and two cockerels.

I have a special room in the coop that is reserved especially for baby chicks.  The floor of this nursery is covered in new pine shavings, and the chicks themselves begin their farm adventure in a small kiddie wading pool that sits on the floor.  I have waterers and feeders in the kiddie pool, and the little birds instinctively know how to use those containers to meet their survival needs.  I also have a heat lamp hanging above their new home that will  remain on constantly for the first few days until they are completely acclimated to their new surroundings.

In a few days the little chicks will begin jumping out of the wading pool and into the pine shavings.  When most have left the pool, I will remove it.  The nursery is connected to a small enclosed (and covered) outdoor area which they will discover next, an area that allows them to be in the fresh air during the days and come into the nursery room at night.   Eventually as they get larger and begin growing feathers, I will let them outside during the days to scurry after bugs and eat ticks.

(Rock's Roost is currently home to two adult chickens, a Rhode Island Red hen and rooster, who have had the run of the farm for quite awhile.  They are quite curious about all of the "peeping" coming from the nursery!)

If all goes according to plan, the young hens will begin laying large brown eggs in about five months.  There are, of course, many things that could interfere with those grand plans, particularly trouble with predators:  skunks, raccoons, possums, snakes, hawks, and the absolute worst predators of all:  cur dogs.

But, hope springs eternal - and I am very hopeful that each of the little birds will make it to adulthood and go on to become productive workers and residents of Rock's Roost!

Westgate Shooting: The Gun Pandemic Rears Its Ugly Head

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

With the abrupt closure of most US schools a couple of months ago due to the coronavirus pandemic, we have been spared the regular headlines regarding school shootings.  But in a country as overly armed as ours the danger of malcontents with guns never totally disappears.

Last night there was a shooting at the Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale, Arizona.  Fortunately there were no deaths - yet - but one person was critically injured and two others received non-life-threatening wounds.

The shooting was reported on Twitter late last night by Arizona State Senator Martin Quezada, a Democrat from the community of Maryvale who happened to be at the center and witnessed the shooting.  In a pair of connected tweets, Senator Quezada had this to say:

"I just witnessed an armed terrorist with an AR-15 shoot up Westgate.  There are multiple victims."

"I saw 2 victims with my own eyes.  Not sure how many others.  I saw the shooter.  Being told not to say anything about details 'til I speak to police.  I'm okay.  Lots of shaken up people."

Glendale police arrived shortly after the shooting and an arrest was made.   Information regarding the shooter and his motive(s) have not been released.

Westlake is home to a large cinema complex, many individual shops and restaurants, as well as the Gila River Arena where the NHL Arizona Coyotes play hockey and the State Farm Stadium where the NFL Arizona Cardinals play football and a couple of Super Bowls have been held.

The Westgate had only recently reopened after a couple of months of being closed due to the pandemic.

My last official residence in Arizona was in military housing on Luke Air Force Base very close to the gate that opened onto Glendale Avenue - and just about a mile from the Westgate Entertainment District.  Westgate was where I generally went to see movies and sometimes to dine or shop.   I remember my granddaughter Olive playing in the fountains at Westgate when she was about two-years-old.   So the shooting last night had a bit of a personal connection for me.  I am hoping that none of my Arizona friends were in the vicinity of the trouble.

As soon we get the coronavirus pandemic under control, attention needs to shift toward controlling the gun pandemic.  Contrary to popular malarky, guns do not make people safer.   Raging microbes and raging morons are both plagues on society that must be defeated.

Be well, Arizona.

Trump Threatens Reprisals Over Voting by Mail

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump voted absentee - by mail - in last month's Florida presidential primary.  He also voted absentee - by mail - in New York's 2018 general election.  Now, in a pure Trumpian burst of hypocrisy, he is threatening to pull federal aid to two states that have announced plans to make it easier to vote by mail.

Nevada is planning on sending ballots to every active registered voter in the state for its June 9th primary.  That is an example of mail voting and something that the Republican Party generally opposes because they feel that it increases the number of Democratic votes as more poor people and people of color are apt to cast ballots if the process is brought to them.

Yesterday Trump threatened to withhold Nevada's federal funding as a result of this move to vote by mail.  He cited his concern that it would lead to voter fraud.  So far there has been no evidence of any widespread voter fraud as a result of voting by mail in America - by either party.

Whoops.

(North Carolina's 9th congressional district did have its 2018 congressional election invalidated because of absentee ballots being "harvested" by unscrupulous persons who were thought to have destroyed and/or changed votes for the benefit of the Republican candidate.  Whoops, again.)

Trump is also now threatening to withhold federal funding from Michigan for what he regards as a scheme to vote by mail.  Unlike Nevada, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson of Michigan is not sending ballots to every voter.  She is sending absentee ballot applications to every voter in the state, and those who choose to can then apply for an absentee ballot and vote that ballot by mail - exactly like Donald John Trump did in Florida and New York.  Benson pointed out in a tweet to Trump this morning that her plan is exactly like the ones enacted by Republican officials in Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska, and West Virginia.

Whoops, a third time.

Michigan resident, Ronna Romney McDaniel, the current Republican National Chairwoman, said that she has no problem with sending all state residents an application to vote absentee.

Apparently the only one with a problem is Donald John Trump - and he is not even a resident of the state.  Perhaps his erratic behavior is a result of the hydroxychloroquine kicking in!

Or maybe it's just the adderall.

Regardless, voting is a state matter - and Donald Trump needs to keep his big, bulbous, highly abused nose out of it!

Morbidly Obese Trump Launches Another Distraction

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

The news stories yesterday morning were not pleasing to Donald John Trump, so he determined to do what he always does when the news cycle isn't going his way - he changed the topic.

Yesterday morning the country was preparing to surpass ninety-thousand COVID-19 deaths, a big number certain to command massive amounts of newsprint and public attention - and, it had just been revealed that Trump had fired the State Department's Inspector General at the request of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a result of the Inspector General investigating complaints related to Pompeo's use of government personnel for personal services (like washing dishes and dog-walking) - and possibly subverting the role of Congress in a recent massive arms sale to the Saudis.

Pompeo had declined to cooperate with the inquiry and then asked Trump to fire the man conducting the investigation, which Trump gleefully did - his fourth firing an an Inspector General in just five weeks.

Yup, it was shaping up to be a good time to change the subject!

To achieve that goal, Trump almost nonchalantly announced to the press yesterday morning that he had begun taking the drug hydroxychloroquine and a zinc supplement in order to prevent catching the deadly coronavirus.   Trump had begun touting the unproven benefits of that treatment several weeks ago but had seemed to back down on the advocacy for its use after initial studies began showing that it was likely to have no significant impact - and could even be dangerous and/or fatal to people with certain preconditions - including advanced age and obesity.

But nevertheless Trump, who confuses a big ego with a big brain, persisted and used the drug anyway - or at least he says he did.   He told astonished journalists that he had been taking it for ten days.

Trump's personal physician, a Navy Commander by the name of Sean P. Conley, immediately coughed up a letter stating that he and Trump had discussions regarding the use of hydroxychloroquine and ". . . we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighs the relative risks."   Dr. Coley's letter, however, failed to state whether he had actually prescribed the treatment for Trump or not.  (At some point a medical licensing board may want clarification on that point.)

And the press was off and running with the latest Trump outrage.  Mission accomplished!

Soon after Fox News host Neil Cavuto told his viewers not to take the unproven treatment because "it will kill you."

Trump exploded at Cavuto and Fox News on Twitter, lamenting that Fox had begun turning against him since the death of Roger Ailes three years ago - and that he was looking for another news outlet.   And in several bursts of fire at Cavuto, Trump labeled him an "idiot," "foolish," "gullible," and "an asshole."

Later in the day House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose tongue was so far back into her cheek that it probably looked as though we was nursing a big old chaw of Redman Tobacco, took a well aimed shot at Trump when she said on Anderson Cooper 360:

"He's our president, and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by scientists, especially in his age group and his, shall we say, weight group . . . morbidly obese, they say."

So far Trump has held his fire on Pelosi, having learned the hard way that she, too, can change a headline!

But amidst the noise and confusion, Donald Trump controlled most of the headlines for the day, except for when Pelosi mocked his weight, and that had been his intention all along.

Monday's Poetry: "At the Zoo"

by Pa Rock
Poetry Appreciator

Everything remains delightfully up-to-date in Kansas City, even if the pandemic has temporarily closed some of the city's finer cultural attractions.  This past week, in fact, there was a cross-cultural experience in Kansas City that was covered by national and international news sites and brought smiles and bursts of light into these dark times.

Swope Park Zoo has been closed for several weeks and members of the public are not the only ones mourning the lost zoo experience.  The animals housed in the zoo are missing their interactions with the zoo's visitors.   The nearby Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has also been closed ever since the pandemic began casting is foreboding shadow across the land.

All of that changed this week - just a little - when three lucky residents of the zoo were allowed to take a special private tour of the Nelson-Atkins.  The guests, Humboldt penguins from Chile and Peru, were able to roam the museum  at their own pace and view the paintings.  The museum's director, Julian Zugazagoitia, showed respect to his South American guests by addressing them in Spanish as they waddled along enjoying the beautiful paintings.

The museum director said that the penguins seemed to appreciate art history and that they definitely showed a preference for the works of Caravaggio over those of Monet.

The zoo's director, Randy Wisthoff, said in the video of the visit that the animals at Swope Park have really missed the visitors at the zoo.  He said that he and the zoo staff were always looking for ways to enrich the lives of the residents of the zoo - and that the three lucky penguins "absolutely loved" their escape to the museum.

(And while a video was made of the penguin's visit to the museum, this is one of those stories where you just know there will soon be a major movie in the works!)

Today's poetry selection is actually a pair of works, both entitled "At the Zoo."  The first, by 19th century poet and author William Makepeace Thackeray (the author of "Vanity Fair"), and the second by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, two preeminent poets and songwriters of the mid-twentieth century.

Enjoy your zoo experience!


At the Zoo
by William Makepeace Thackeray

First I saw the white bear, then I saw the black;
Then I saw the camel with a hump upon his back;
Then I saw the grey wolf, with mutton in his maw;
Then I saw the wombat waddle in the straw;
Then I saw the elephant a -waving of his trunk;
Then I saw the monkeys - mercy, how unpleasantly they smelt!


At the Zoo
by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel

Someone told me
It's all happening at the zoo
I do believe it
I do believe it's true

It's a light and tumble journey
From the East Side to the park;
Just a fine and fancy ramble to the zoo
But you can take the crosstown bus
If it's raining or it's cold
And the animals will love it
If you do
If you do now

Something tells me 
It's all happening at the zoo
I do believe it
I do believe it's true

The monkeys stand for honesty
Giraffes are insincere
And the elephants are kindly but they're dumb
Orangutans are skeptical 
Of changes in their cages
And the zookeeper is very fond of rum
Zebras are reactionaries
Antelopes are missionaries
Pigeons plot in secrecy
And hamsters turn on frequently
What a gas!  You gotta come and see
At the zoo
At the zoo
At the zoo
At the zoo

Another Take on "Hollywood"

by Pa Rock
Television Junkie

For those like me who are still sitting at home desperately seeking something to stream that will be entertaining and perhaps offer a bit of education or history in the process, I would like to heartily recommend the new Netflix series "Hollywood."  The show, whose first season has recently been released, is just seven episodes long, but nevertheless it offers a panoramic view of Hollywood in the days just after World War II.

Some of the characters in the tale are lifted, by name, right out of Hollywood history (Rock Hudson, Hattie McDaniel, and the soulless agent, Henry Willson), while others are approximations of the people who ran and populated the film industry at a time when movies were the primary means of escapism in America.

On September 3, 2019, I did a review in this space of Quentin Tarantino's new film, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," a movie that looked at the Manson family as it prepared to exact some revenge on director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate.   In that piece I noted how Tarantino - the film's writer and director - had taken an actual historical event that occurred in 1969 and twisted the historical dial just enough to create some small changes that wound up impacting history in really big ways.

That same idea was at play in Netflix's "Hollywood."  A small group of diverse characters with an array of skills began coalescing due to circumstances over which they had limited control, and that little group, almost inadvertently, started crafting a movie that would change the social trajectory of America.  Yes, it's fiction, but like Tarantio's film about the Mansons, it also presents a strong case for what could have been if just a few things had occurred slightly different manner.

While the series offers up a strong focus on race relations in America in the post World War II era, it also shines a spotlight on some of the gay individuals who were prominent in the entertainment industry at that time.   Those today who remain intractable in their opposition to interracial and gay relationships, would probably not be able to sit through these highly thought-provoking and beautifully crafted episodes.

I don't want to give too much away about the plot except to say that "Hollywood" is glitzy and glamorous, yet grounded in reality and believable - for those who want to believe.  (And isn't that what the actual Hollywood was - and is - all about?)  The writing and acting are superb, and viewers with even a semblance of humanity will quickly be drawn into what is occurring on the screen.  Old friends carry the tale, familiars like Patty LuPone, Rob Reiner, Queen Latifah, Mira Sorvino, and Jim Parsons - as well as a host of newer faces who are destined to take their places among the familiars.

"Hollywood" was created and chiefly written by Ryan Murphy, the same talented writer who created such television hits at "Glee" and "American Horror Story."  Many of the professional critics seem to be panning "Hollywood," but, by and large, the public thinks otherwise.  Yes, it twists the reality of what Hollywood actually was, and it creates what some would see as a false sense of feeling good, but in these exceedingly hard times we all aren't necessarily looking to have our faces rubbed in reality, and some of us relish an opportunity to "feel good" for a change.

"Hollywood" is a grand time, and I recommend it without reservation.

"Nantucket Undertow"

by Pa Rock
Reader

It's been awhile since I have plugged my two favorite sources of fine mystery stories:  Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (AHMM) and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (EQMM).  Both are published by Dell Magazines and arrive in my mailbox six times.a year - often on the same day.  I have been a subscriber for more than a decade - probably closer to two decades - and had been a purchaser of individual copies from a local retailer for years before subscribing.   I read those two magazines cover-to-cover and enjoy them immensely.

The current issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine features at story by Shelly Dickson Carr, a granddaughter off well known writer John Dickson Carr.  It is the younger Carr's first publication in EQMM, although her mother, Julia McNiven, had a story published there in 1974 - and her famous grandfather had several stories published in the same outlet.

Early last month I used this space to review the mystery novel "Nantucket Soap Opera" by SFX Dean, a fictional tale that was set on the island of Nantucket during the 1980's.  The current story by Shelly Dickson Carr entitled "Nantucket Undertow," is also a work of fiction, and it takes place on Nantucket in the present day.  It is the first story that I remember in either EQMM or AHMM that used Nantucket as a backdrop.  In keeping with my new found penchant for reviewing  literary enterprises with the word "Nantucket" in the title, I will briefly introduce Ms. Carr's compelling tale here today.

Alden and Alexandra were students at a very exclusive prep school on the eastern seaboard several years before.  They worked on assignments together and for awhile it looked as though they would become romantically involved - at least Alden hoped they would.  But then Alexandra suddenly cooled toward Alden, and he spent the final few years of school pining for her and suffering through the rejection that he never understood.

Alexandra, who became known as "Zuzu," went on to marry a rich prat and spent several years in a very unhappy marriage.  Eventually she gave up on the loveless union, filed for divorce, and went off to hideout on Nantucket until the divorce could become final.  She changed her appearance (hair style and color, tinted contact lenses, clothing options) and got a job as a barista at a local coffee shop because she feared that her husband might try to harm her if he could locate her.

Alden graduated from school and then disappointed his affluent parents by becoming a policeman. A few years later after working as an undercover narcotics agent who occasionally got to "whack" bad guys, he lost his job on the police force after accidentally killing an infant.  Having developed an ease with snuffing people, he easily transitioned into a new career field - being a contract killer.

As this story opens, Alden is also on Nantucket where he is preparing to fulfill a contract for an aggrieved husband who has just found out that he wife he wants shed of is working incognito as a barista on the island.   Alden, in one of his many disguises, is standing in line at the coffee shop preparing to scope out his next victim - but when he steps forward to place an order with the woman he has been hired to kill, he immediately recognizes her.

And from there things get complicated - and very interesting!

For anyone - like me - who has yet to set foot on the very small island that was once the whaling capital of the entire world, "Nantucket Undertow" by Shelly Dickson Carr offers a quick, but very satisfying, glimpse into what life on Nantucket is like today.   Ms. Carr spins a clever and captivating tale.

"Nantucket Undertow" is a five-star story in a five-star magazine - an entertaining escape to a unique locale - an especially welcome getaway when the whole world is stuck at home.

A Lack of Faith in Our Government

by Pa Rock
Retiree

Last winter  I applied for a job with the upcoming 2020 U.S. Census.  It was a job that I really wanted because as someone who does lots of work with family history (genealogy) I have an understanding of, and respect for,  the census, and I wanted to do my part to help insure that the upcoming census was the best ever.

Also, it is getting about time for me to buy a car, and I am an old-fashioned consumer who, when he buys something, prefers to pay for it at the time of purchase.   More than a year ago I started a special savings account to buy a better car, and the census job, which pays well, would have put me over the top.

And then this pandemic mess hit the fan and the world changed.

The folks at the Census phoned nearly two months ago just to see if I was still interested.  I said that while I had some qualms about going door-to-door to collect census information, I would like for them to keep my name on the list.

And then I waited, and waited . . .

I have an old 3G cellphone - one with a hand crank - and it doesn't always get my messages to me in a timely manner.  Yesterday a message popped up from the regional office of the Census that had been drifting around the ethernet for at least a day.  I called them back this morning.  The nice lady said that their office had been closed due to the pandemic, but that they were open now and needed an answer as to whether I was still interested in working on the census or not.  I asked when training would begin - because I am one of those pesky individuals who believe that a second wave is coming - and that it will hit hard.  The lady told me that they did not know the dates yet for training.

And then  I thought, and thought . . . and finally coughed up an answer.

I told the lady that I am seventy-two and that I felt the need to be extra-cautious regarding decisions that could impact my health.   I said that everything I have been hearing from our federal government sounded dubious, and that I was losing faith in the government's ability or commitment to keeping me (and others) safe.

So I said, "No thank you."

And she thanked me for my time.

On the Road in a Time of Plague: Crawl-Ins Welcome

by Pa Rock
Traveling Fool

I made my first trip out-of-state in more than two months this past Tuesday when I traveled to Mountain Home, Arkansas, for a yearly doctor's appointment.  Mountain Home, located close to beautiful Lake Norfolk in northern Arkansas, is approximately fifty-five miles from my home just north of West Plains, Missouri.  Both communities, Mountain Home and West Plains, have approximately 12,000 residents, and both are commercial hubs for this very rural area.

I ran into a bit of traffic early in the morning as I was heading south out of town.  People with jobs in West Plains were headed to work, but other than that the two-lane road was basically clear, allowing me to zoom right along.  As I pulled into Mountain Home I noticed that the traffic was much lighter than it had been during previous visits - and many of the businesses along the main drag appeared to still be closed as a result of the pandemic  All of the food places were operating drive-through only, and most of those had very few cars or activity.

The doctor's office had a woman stationed just inside the front door who rushed outside to greet each visitor with a forehead temperature scan.  Those who weren't already wearing a mask were given one before they could proceed into the building.  I had mine on, but the old couple who followed me in did not, and they seemed to be somewhat resentful at having to wear one.  I assumed that they might be maintaining the Trump "this is all a hoax" perspective.   The waiting room was small, but the clinic had limited appointments to insure that everyone was able to sit at least one seat apart from others.  Everyone in the clinic, including all staff, were wearing masks.

The wait time was surprisingly brief before I was guided back to a room.  The nurse took my vitals, read through my history while asking a few questions about changes in medications, and then left me alone for a few minutes before the doctor entered.

This particular doctor is well known for his love of prattling on about everything during patient visits.   He started off with a flip remark about what the "Chinese have done to us," but when I didn't take the bait like some unhinged Trump supporter, he added "Or the Russians."  I was still silent so he then added "Or whatever."  I finally began engaging when he turned his attention to the medical reason for my visit.

After the exam was over I asked the doctor about coronavirus cases in Mountain Home.  He said there had been five so far, with two being a young couple who had picked it up while attending a family celebration in St. Louis.  The couple had since recovered.  (Five is also the number of confirmed cases in my entire county in Missouri.)   We talked about social distancing, and he noted that it is not a major issue in rural counties because we seldom gather in confined spaces anyway.

He did mention one big exception to maintaining social distancing had occurred the previous week in Mountain Home when the T.J Maxx store had reopened and crowds had swarmed in.   He said, "Can you imagine people risking their lives to shop?"

I continued observing businesses on my way out of town, and had a laugh when I passed a chiropractor's office with a sign out front that said, "Crawl-Ins Welcome!"  That, I thought, seemed oddly appropriate for the times!

Republicans Cook the Books on Pandemic Numbers

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump has some vocabulary issues.  Aside from the fact that there is no definitive proof that he has ever read anything beyond the length of a "tweet," Trump also speaks in a very elementary manner and does not seem to be acquainted with many multi-syllable words.

But numbers are a different matter, and while Trump may not possess any extraordinary mathematical skills, he does seem to appreciate numbers and what they can convey.  He is obsessed with his popularity which he sometimes refers to in a quantified sense as "ratings," and he knows that he will need big numbers of people voting for him if he is to win the election this November.

He also knows that sometimes big numbers can be bad.

Since the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold in the United States in late February and early March, Trump has been focused on minimizing the numbers related to the rapidly spreading illness.  In February when the United States had just fifteen known cases of coronavirus, Trump reminded America that the ordinary flu killed many thousands a year - and he predicted that the coronavirus numbers would decrease from fifteen and be down "around zero" in about a week.

He was, of course, wrong about that - as he is with many things.  But he wanted to control the count and control the story.

The next month when the Grand Princess cruise ship was trying to find a port in California that would allow it to disembark with twenty-one known cases of coronavirus on board, Trump fought (unsuccessfully) to keep the ship from docking - even though it's 2,400 passengers were primarily Americans who had been on a pleasure cruise to Mexico.  Trump openly stated that he did not want to have to absorb the ship's number of ill passengers and crew into our national total.

He was focused on numbers and the bad things they implied.

Trump's attempt to manipulate the coronavirus tally set the mark for politicians everywhere - particularly Republican politicians.

GOP Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida initially tried to keep the coronavirus tally in Florida artificially low by not identifying deaths in nursing homes by the cause and obfuscating information about the spread of the disease in his state.  DeSantis seemed more concerned with opening the state's beaches than he was in protecting the public health.  He was thwarted by legal efforts from several news organizations in Florida, but there is concern in the news media that DeSantis and Florida's Health Department still are not accurately reporting coronavirus testing results and deaths in the state.

GOP Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota is threatening two large tribes in her state with court action if they do not withdraw coronavirus checkpoints on public roads within their reservations.  Governor Noem claims that the Native Americans are interfering with commerce, and the Indians counter that they are protecting their populations from the killer virus, a necessary precaution because they do not have adequate medical facilities on the reservations to handle an out-of-cotnrol pandemic.  Some on both sides are also suggesting that the ultimate problem might lie with efforts to curtail construction of the Keystone XL pipeline across South Dakota.

But . . . checkpoints will undoubtedly reveal cases of the coronavirus that we're not known before - and numbers will go up, and elimination of those checkpoints will serve to curtail numbers, both in South Dakota as well as nationwide - at least for the time being.

And then there is GOP Governor Pete Ricketts of Nebraska.  Infection rates were climbing rapidly at meatpacking plants in Nebraska, but suddenly the state quit reporting those numbers because Governor Ricketts was concerned about maintaining the "privacy" rights of the large employers. The plants themselves also quit reporting numbers.

(Donald Trump finally invoked the Defense Production Act just a few weeks ago for the specific purpose of forcing workers at meatpacking plants back to work.)

A recent news report stated that the thirty counties in the United States with the highest per capita prevalence on the coronavirus, ten also happened to be home to major meatpacking plants.

Meanwhile people who work in the meatpacking industry are being denied the specific information about the number os coronavirus cases and deaths at each plant by people like governor Ricketts of Nebraska who are more concerned with maintaining corporate "privacy" than in protecting the lives of American workers.

Donald Trump has dragged his feet on testing for the virus since the beginning days of the pandemic.  Testing would reveal new cases - and that would be an increase in numbers of confirmed cases.  Now Trump is crowing that we have tested over nine million people (in a country of over 325 million), but other political figures - like Senator Mitt Romney of Utah (who is considerably smarter than Trump) point out that our testing numbers are still far below what they need to be.

Trump is trying to control the numbers for his ultimate political benefit, and he is being assisted in his dishonest reporting by the efforts of GOP governors who are out serving their own political agendas - and his.

Sadly for us, if we are ever to get ahead of this coronavirus catastrophe, accurate knowledge and honest reporting of the numbers will be essential.  Anything less and the virus will rage on.

Decoupage Makes a Comeback

by Pa Rock
Crafty Citizen Journalist

A few days ago I was exchanging email among a couple of friends when the subject of the stimulus checks came up.  I had not gotten mine - and still haven’t - but my friends had.  That led to a discussion of Trump’s letter that was mailed out along with the notice that their checks had been directly deposited into their bank accounts.  One of my friends said that she had gotten the letter and promptly ran it through a shredder – and that action had given her much personal satisfaction.  

I thought about her response for a beat or two and then told her that I thought I would write the word “Asshole” across mine in bright red letters and then decoupage it – creating a family heirloom from these very strange times.

A day or two later one of the “Word of the Day” dictionary sites that I subscribe featured the word “decoupage.”  My mother, who passed away thirty-three years ago, took up painting and arts and crafts late in life, and one of the crafts that she really enjoyed was decoupage – gluing a document to a sanded piece of wood and then covering it with a heavy coating of varnish or shellac.  I literally had not even thought of decoupage in decades, yet suddenly it seemed to be lurking everywhere I turned.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of decoupaging Trump’s letter.   It will serve as a reminder of the coronavirus plague, the Trump joke of a presidency, and the government handout that was late in coming - assuming it ever gets here at all.   And some day maybe one of my great-grandchildren or their great-grandchildren will take it to school for show-and-tell!

Nothing would make me prouder!

The Earth's Tolerance of Man has Limits, and Extinction Is Forever

by Pa Rock
Earthling

There are those who believe that after man eventually extinguishes himself on this tired old planet, nature itself will survive, perhaps in a wounded form, and eventually replenish  the Earth - this time without the burden of having to accommodate self-destructive humans.  It will be Heaven at last, without the blight and stench of mankind.

At this stage the planet is awash in pollution, species that have roamed, swam, and flown above the Earth for eons are becoming extinct, a global pandemic is killing thousands of humans with each passing day, and mankind is focused on making decisions about the future of the planet based on greed rather than on sustainability.  It doesn't require a soothsayer or even a highly trained futurist to predict that man's reign of terror on Planet Earth may be rapidly coming to an end.

The 18th century philosopher and economist Thomas Malthus, in talking about controls on population growth, used the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (from the book of Revelations) as his examples of things that curtail population growth.    Malthus cast them as War, Famine, Disease, and Pestilence.

War and Famine seem to always be with us, and they, along with natural forces like floods and droughts, work to displace large groups of population and move them about the planet in search of the ability to survive.  Those forced immigrations often tend to create even more conflict and instability - and the cycle ramps up, bringing about more starvation, misery, death, and mass human migrations.

With the current coronavirus pandemic that is ravaging the planet, we are painfully aware of the power of Disease to shatter our lives - impacting where we go, who we see, and even how we space ourselves from one another as we attempt to interact within a new reality.

That leaves Pestilence, something that has also always been a factor in human suffering.   Stories of swarms of locusts and grasshoppers devastating crops and upending human lives rebound through recorded history.

So it should really surprise no one that as the Horsemen seem to be gathering, the United States, the country that sits at the center of the world's economy and makes policy decisions which affect the movement and survival of populations around the globe, should suddenly be subjected to an invasion of "murder" hornets.

It is just one more "sign" of our impending doom.

The large and vicious-looking two-inch hornets which have their origins in Asia began appearing in the northwestern United States last year and have apparently now established a firm footing in this country.   Reports indicate that their stings are among the most painful of any known insect, and that the stings of several at once can kill a man.

Forty or more years ago the southwestern United States was invaded by a species of "Africanized" honey bees (commonly called "killer bees" in the press at the time).  They are still here and have claimed a permanent and widespread presence in several states from Texas to California and as far north as Nevada.  The "murder hornets" are also likely to become permanent residents of the United States as well.

And still we have the locusts and grasshoppers.

War, famine, massive forced immigration movements, disease, pestilence - the signs are all around us, and they are piling up.  At some point mankind is going to have to change its focus from raping the planet to saving the planet - if it's not already too late.

The Earth has been patient with us, tolerant beyond belief, but she has surely about reached her limit in dealing with the corruption, greed, and destruction of her most dominant species - and when that limit is reached, she has the ability to eliminate us.  Never doubt that.  But with our long history of self-destructive behavior, we may do the dirty job for her.

The end is nigh - and extinction is forever!

Mother's Day and Mother Maybelle

by Pa Rock
A Mother's Child

Today is Mother's Day, a holiday honoring the women who birthed, and, in most cases, raised us, and when the time came, gently pushed us from the warmth and safety of the family nest.  My own mother passed away over thirty years ago, but  seldom does a day go by in which I do not think of her - and miss her.

This is a day when I look in appreciation on the formidable people - and especially the mothers - who are raising my grandchildren.    School being cut short due to the pandemic, and the resulting "shelter at home" orders have been especially hard on young families, situations which presented mothers and fathers with challenges they never anticipated having to face.  But they are prevailing and the world continues to spin ever onward.

Bless them and their love of the next generation - and give them strength!

And, on a related note . . .

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite mothers.   "Mother" Maybelle Carter of the iconic country music family, the Carters, was born on this date in 1909.   She played guitar and the auto-harp and sang - and raised three singing daughters June (Mrs. Johnny Cash), Anita, and Helen.  The family played musical venues across North America and around the world from World War II until the 1990's.

I attended a Carter Family show at the Shrine Mosque in Springfield, Missouri, in the mid-1960's.  I've written about that night in the space before, but a basic recap would include the fact that it was snowing as a friend and I walked from our college dorm a mile or more through the slush to the downtown show.  Johnny Cash was supposed to headline the event, but as the crowd got settled, an announcement was made that he would not be performing that night because his plane had been unable to land at the Springfield airport due to the snow.  Refunds of the $5.00 ticket price would be made at the door, or, for those who wanted to remain, members of the Carter family would still be performing - as well as the Statler Brothers.

My friend grabbed his five bucks and left, but I stayed to watch the show.  The snow didn't bother me, and I didn't have any better options for that Saturday night.

And it was a "show," not a "concert."  In that earlier blog posting I began the description of the event this way:

"June Carter, one of the stars of Johnny's traveling show, took that stage in much that same manner as Grant had taken Richmond in the previous century, full-throttle and never giving any quarter. She sang, and danced, and joked and told stories, and played music. Others shared the stage that night including June's sister, Anita, their mother, Maybelle Carter, and a relatively new singing act by the name of the Statler Brothers. But the show was June's from the first joyous note to the final curtain call."

It would be more than a full year later before June and Johnny finally brought their act together through the bonds of marriage.

One of the things I remember most clearly about that very cold and snowy night was the deference and respect that June paid to Mother Maybelle.    June was the outright star of the night through her commanding presence on stage, but Maybelle was still her mother, a fact that reigned supreme than night - and throughout their lives.

And today, Mother's Day, is also Mother Maybelle's birthday.  It's as though some things were just meant to be!

Happy Mother's Day to all the world's mothers!  And may the Carter family enjoy a double scoop of blessings as they remember their matriarch, the late Mother Maybelle Carter, on what would have been her 111th birthday!

Rock on, Moms!

Running with Maud

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Yesterday, May 8th, friends of Ahmaud Marquez Arbery gathered in his hometown of Brunswick, Georgia, a picturesque seaside community, to celebrate his life on what would have been his twenty-sixth birthday.   Ahmaud, whom his friends called "Maud," had been shot to death over two months earlier - on February 23rd - while jogging in a local neighborhood.  He had been murdered by a pair of white vigilantes, a father and son, who said they believed that he had been the perpetrator of a string of local robberies, and they thought he was running from the scene of a crime when they confronted and killed him.

The two men who committed the heinous killing, 64-year-old Gregory McMichael and his 34-year-old son Travis, had finally been arrested one day before the birthday celebration - or more than two months after the murder was committed.  The long delay in arresting the duo came about because the prosecutor in the original jurisdiction recused herself and her office from the case four days after the shooting because, until his retirement the previous May, Gregory McMichael had worked as an investigator in her office for thirty years.  Before that the elder McMichael had been a police officer in the county for seven years.

The case was then transferred to a second jurisdiction where the District Attorney declined to prosecute saying that he believed the father and son had acted in accordance with Georgia's "citizen arrest" and "self-defense" statutes.  Public outrage led to that DA recusing himself and the case being transferred to a third jurisdiction.

The case appeared to be languishing in the third jurisdiction with the family and public unable to organize for protests due to social-distancing restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, but then earlier this week a cell phone video appeared and began making its way through social media.  The video was of the shooting and seemed to demonstrate that the jogger had been deliberately killed by his attackers.   Law enforcement and court agencies had been aware of the video, but its sudden availability to the general public caused the District Attorney in the third jurisdiction to punt the case over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

That agency, which was independent of local politics, arrested Gregory and Travis McMichael within two days after receiving the case.  The pair are currently in jail awaiting trial on charges of felony murder.  So far there has been no bail set in the case.

Yesterday in celebration of Ahmaud Arbery's birthday, friends jogged and walked 2.23 miles in acknowledgement of February 23rd, the date on which he had been gunned down by a pair of white vigilantes for jogging while black.  Many carried signs and wore buttons which said "I Run with Maud," and the hashtag "#IRunWithMaud" was prominent on the internet all day.

This is the twenty-first century in the United States of America.  We all need to be out running with Maud.  It's time for everyone to feel safe as they go about their daily business - and not have to worry about becoming a victim of irrational racial hatred and bigotry.  No, actually it's well past time.

Ahmaud Arbery's life mattered to his family and to his friends, and it should matter to all of us.  Anything less disrespects the human race.

US COVID-19 Rate Much Higher than Canada or Mexico

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

I heard a report on the radio this morning that construction of Trump's spite fence along the southern border was proceeding at a breakneck pace and that he plans to use progress on his "wall" as a major component of his re-election bid in the fall.  Apparently the Trump administration is also planning to hail his "wall" was some sort of international safeguard in the battle to contain the spread of the deadly pandemic.

But if Trump's slatted "wall" is protecting anyone from the disease, it would be Mexico that is receiving the benefit.

As of this morning the United States had 1,295,101 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and a total of 77,059 deaths.  Canada had 64,922 confirmed cases of the virus wit 4,408 known deaths, and Mexico had 29,616 confirmed cases and a mere 2,961 deaths.

Yes, but . . . Trump's klansmen number crunchers would surely argue . . . the United States has a much larger population than those other two countries, so of course we would have more confirmed cases and more deaths.  Agreed, but when we figure those confirmed cases and deaths as percentages of each country's actual population, the United States still leads the big three in North America - bigly.

In fact, the United States leads the world in both confirmed cases of COVID-19 and actual deaths from the disease.  The next two countries in confirmed cases are Spain and Italy, each with about one fifth of the number of cases confirmed in the U.S.

Much of the problem undoubtedly has to do with leadership.

If Trump really wants Mexico to pay for his grandiose "wall," this might be a good time to ask!

Trump's Optics of Grandeur

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump likes to use race to stir passions and divide Americans, whether that is through his support of hate groups here in the United States who routinely attempt to marginalize or terrorize people of color, or through the establishment and enforcement of racist immigration policies which target groups of people trying to enter the United States who do not resemble Americans of northern European heritage.

Trump wanted to make it simple for Bubba to understand:  if they don't look like you, they're bad people.

And he holds hate rallies, and issues travel bans, and builds walls - and never lets Bubba and the good old boys forget that he is just like them - white - and he loves his guns (or at least his golf clubs), God (or at least money), and fried food.

Some politicians strive to present themselves as the common man, but that image has never appealed to Donald Trump.  He is not common, nor was he raised to be lost among the masses.  Donald Trump is special.  His parents told him that early on - when they bothered to tell him anything at all - and he grew up secure in the knowledge that he was entitled, privileged, and better than everyone else.

Donald Trump lives in a fantasy land.  He has convinced himself that he is an extraordinary human being, and he has spread the image to a culturally and economically impoverished American subculture who struggle through each day in the false belief that Trump appreciates and respects them - and that they are just one winning lottery ticket away from being his complete social equal.

But for Trump to maintain his illusion of grandeur he must constantly be concerned with keeping up appearances - maintaining the optics of grandeur.  It is important to Donald Trump that he live in a penthouse atop a skyscraper that bears his name, that he empty his bowels into a golden toilet, and that when he descends from his high abode to walk among mortals that it be on a grand escalator - like Jesus coming down from Heaven.

Donald Trump will not wear a face mask because to do so would make him ordinary, one of the common people whose health and safety depend on covering their faces.  Donald Trump has to show his special face - it's good optics - and it's necessary to maintain his distinct presence above the masses of common people.

Donald Trump had a chat with the nation a few days ago from the Lincoln Memorial.  He could have spoken from the White House press briefing room, or from the Oval Office, or from the Rose Garden, but he chose to be seated next to a gigantic statue of Lincoln to remind America that like Lincoln, he too is a great and revered American leader.  Optics.  Trump wanted to be seen with Lincoln, two American leaders struggling to hold a nation together during a time of crisis.

Donald Trump wanted his name and signature to be on every stimulus check going out to every eligible American, and he wanted his name and signature on a letter to every American whose stimulus checks were direct-deposited into their banks.    He wanted - demanded - that every American who received this bit of good news from the government see his name and signature so that they would associate that good news with him.  Yes, it was a cheesy election stunt, but it was also part of the Trump illusion, the one that places him above everyone else, the one that he has maintained and reinforced since he was a child in Queens.

While a real leader, someone like Justin Trudeau of Canada or Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand or Angela Merkel of Germany, would be focused on protecting the citizens of their countries from a killer virus, and with consoling the families and friends of those stricken with the killer disease, those are not concerns shared by Donald Trump.  Our "leader" is laser-focused on his "ratings," and devotes large amounts of time to plotting revenge against government officials who disagree with him and journalists who share stories that cast him in an unfavorable light.

True leaders worry about the health and safety of their people, for them it's about others.  Donald Trump frets over his image, and for him it is all about himself.

At a time when the United States of America desperately needs an inspirational leader, we are stuck with Donald John Trump.  November can't come quickly enough!

Boone Macy, My Adult Grandson!

by Pa Rock
Proud Grandpa

Boone Macy, my oldest grandchild, turns twenty-one today!

Boone was born in the wee hours of the morning on May 6th, 1999.  In fact, it seems like Cinco de Mayo had been over less than two hours when his maternal grandmother telephoned me to report that he had arrived safely at the hospital in West Plains, Missouri.

I was attending graduate school at the University of Missouri in Columbia at the time of Boone's birth, working on a Masters Degree in Social Work (the much-lauded MSW), and when he finally got here I was living in Waynesville, Missouri, doing an internship with the state of Missouri in support of that degree effort.   A few hours after that middle-of-the-night call I drove from Waynesville to West Plains and met my met my new grandson.  He was tiny, and normal, and everything about him appeared to be wonderful!

Boone was born five days after James Hoffa, Jr. was sworn in at the General President of the Teamsters Union - a position that he still holds to this very day.  I know that because as a part of my MSW program at the University of Missouri, I traveled with our class of graduate students to Washington, DC, to lobby Missouri congressmen on social work issues the week before Boone was born.  While we were there we had one free day, a Saturday (May 1st - May Day) in which Jimmy Hoffa, Jr, was being inaugurated as the new Teamsters president in the park next to our hotel.  While my classmates and our professors hit downtown to see the sights, I went to the Teamsters event and stood right up front less that fifteen feet from young Mr. Hoffa as his sister, a federal judge, swore him into office.

And, as long as I am digressing, just a few days after Boone's birth I was on another student trip, this time to do social work research in Russia and Sweden.

But even with all of that heady adventure and travel, the most important event of that era was the birth of my first grandchild, Boone Agustus Macy!

Boone is himself a college student today, a junior with plans to become an elementary school teacher.   His in-person classes stopped midway through this semester due to this unforeseen national medical catastrophe, but he - and all of his fellow students - are learning to adapt with internet strategies.  Education is evolving rapidly, and Boone and his group are at the very forefront of that transformation.

The stories of my time are quickly consigning themselves to the pages of history, but Boone's adventures in life are just beginning.  I wish him all of the excitement and promise that life has to offer - and then some - as he breaks new ground and carries his story into the future.  He marches to his own drummer and pursues his own dreams, but he also carries the legacy - and the hopes and dreams - of all of those who went before him.

Your forebears are cheering you on, Boone.  Make us proud!