Leonard Peltier, America's Longest Serving Political Prisoner

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Leonard Peltier has been in prison since 1977.   He was convicted for being involved in a 1975 shootout at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in which two FBI agents were killed.  Two other Native Americans who were also at the scene were acquitted after claiming self-defense,  and the FBI pursued the prosecution of Peltier with a sense of urgency, feeling that the agency's credibility depended on the conviction of someone.    

Back in the 1970's Leonard Peltier was an activist with AIM, the American Indian Movement, an organization that the FBI had been working to undermine and discredit.  The shootout at Pine Ridge was the culmination of the government's work to bring down AIM, but the death of the two FBI agents placed an onus on the agency and its tactics, and many felt that the Bureau needed a Native American fall guy as proof that AIM was a dangerous group and the FBI's pursuit of them had been justified.

Peltier's trial was little more than a political farce.  Prosecutors hid evidence, the FBI threatened and intimidated witnesses., and one juror admitted early during the trail that she had a bias against Native Americans, but she was never dismissed from the jury.   Peltier was found guilty of being involved in the shootings and sentenced to two life terms in prison.

Today Leonard Peltier is a tired old man (age 77), who suffers from diabetes and other age-related maladies, and he would like to go home and spend his final years with his children and grandchildren.   Throughout his forty-five years in prison Leonard Peltier has always maintained his innocence, but even if he has some level of guilt for being at the scene of the shootings, he has certainly paid his debt to society - and then some.

Peltier has been eligible for parole since 1993, but that has not happened.   His last hope for leaving the federal penal system is through presidential clemency or a pardon, but at this point President Biden is giving the impression that he is not really cognizant of, or interested in, Peltier's case.

And for it's part, the FBI has always been steadfastly opposed to Leonard Peltier's potential release from prison.  The Native Americans embarrassed the Federal Bureau of Investigation at Pine Ridge, and that hoary old beaurcpatic agency will not forget - or forgive.

But as a nation we are better than that.

It is time for President Biden to step forward and do the right thing.  Leonard Peltier probably should have never been in prison in the first place, and he certainly should not die there.  Do the right thing, Joe, and let him go!

News that is Packaged to Incite

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

There ought to be a special word to describe people who become so enraged by dictionary definitions that they feel compelled to threaten the dictionary's publishers with physical harm.  Perhaps Merriam-Webster, the oldest dictionary publisher in the United States, is already focused on discovering that very word.

Jeremy David Hanson, a thirty-five year-old man from Rossmoor, California, has an appearance scheduled in federal court for today for issuing threats against Merriam-Webster that were so alarming the company felt compelled to close two of its major offices for five business days.   Mr. Hanson, who is apparently a fan of right-wing news sites, was angry at the dictionary's new, more inclusive definitions of "girl," "female," and "woman."  In one tirade on the company's "Contact Us" page he said:

"It is absolutely sickening that Merriam-Webster now tells blatant lies and promotes anti-science propaganda.  There is no such thing as 'gender-identity.'  The imbecile who wrote this entry should be hunted down and shot."

In another message to Merriam-Webster, Hanson expanded on his angry tirade:

"Your headquarters should be shot up and bombed.  It is sickening that you have caved to the cultural Marxist, anti-science tranny agenda and altered the definition of 'female'. as part of the Left's efforts to corrupt and degrade the English language and deny reality.  You evil Marxists should all be killed.  It would be poetic justice to have someone storm your offices and shoot up the place, leaving none of you commies alive."

Wow!  Small wonder Merriam-Webster felt compelled to close their offices and call in the FBI.

It turns out tthe FBI has been aware of Jeremy David Hanson and dealing with him since 2014 when he posted threats to rape and kill several people, but up until this latest incident with the dictionary publisher charges had never been filed.  Hanson's mother, who describes herself as his "caretaker," said that her son has been diagnosed with autism and depression.   She added that he had lately become obsessed with transgender issues.  She also said that he was prone to what she termed "verbal hyperbole."  Hanson's mother did not believe that her son posed any serious threat to anyone because he was reclusive, under her supervision, and had no access to weapons.

Hanson, for his part, has told the FBI that he knows it is illegal to threaten people, and that he struggled to control his rage and used the internet as an outlet for his emotions.

In the past Hanson has reportedly threatened to "shoot up and bomb" DC Comics after that company revealed that their new "Superman" would identify as bisexual.  He also threatened to "shoot up and bomb" the Hasbro toy company for "pandering to tranny freaks" after it removed the "Mr." from its "Mr. Potato Head" toys.

Today Jeremy David Hansen will have an opportunity to discuss his rage with a judge.  His mother says he is harmless, but even if he is not armed and a physical danger to others, his words still worry and cause anxiety and impact how others function.  At some point enough is enough, and apparently eight years is the FBI's limit for playing footsie with someone who fantasizes about shooting up and bombing his way back to the simpler times of mid-twentieth century America.

And we all should be concerned with the other loners listening to right-wing news that has been packaged to incite - those poor bastards sitting at home, getting fired up as they listen to the "news" and clean their guns - and have no sensible mothers at home to keep them in check.  Some of those guys will eventually be the news.

Putin's War Calculus Is Seriously Flawed

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

It seemed like we had been hearing about the massive Russian troop and weaponry buildup along Unkraine's borders for months before the actual invasion of that sovereign nation began on February 24, 2022.  With that enormous preparation for war, and with Russia's acknowledged status as a world superpower, a quick and brutal conquest of Ukraine seemed all but assured.

But a strange thing happened on Russia's quick march to rebuild its old Soviet empire.  The world reacted in disgust and Ukraine valiantly resisted.  All the Kremlin's war machinery and all the Kremlin's uniformed troops could not bring Ukraine back into the Soviet fold - at least not as quickly and as easily as Vladimir Putin and his "yes men" in the Politburo thought that it could be done.

Putin and his advisers had seriously miscalculated the resolve and determination of the Ukrainian people to remain free of the Russian yoke.  The young nation was energized by its independence and the growing economy that was being fostered by capitalism.  It was becoming westernized and the people, for the most part, had no desire to return to the more rigid and less affluent lifestyle that they had known during their decades under Russian control.

The leader of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, was himself young and vibrant, much like his nation's emerging lifestyle and economy.  Zelensky, a former actor and comedian, was only forty-four when Russia loosed its assault on Ukraine, and instead of hiding in the capital, or fleeing the nation, Zelensky  donned a uniform and headed out into the streets to join in the defense of his beloved Ukraine.

The people had a leader - a real one - and that leadership inspired a national fervor to push Russia out of Ukraine.   It also represented a serious miscalculation in Putin's war calculus.

Ukraine's resilient attitude caused world opinion to look with favor and admiration upon the Ukrainian David as he fought off the Russian Goliath.   It all had the feel of being on the right side of history.

That is not to say that the whole world stood in Ukraine's corner.  Russia had is's supporters on the international stage, including some prominent conservation sources in the United States who had been caught up in Donald Trump's four years of knee-bending to Russia.    However, most people - and most nations - recognized Ukraine as the victim and Russia as the aggressor, and that vision intensified dramatically as war photos and claims of war crimes and even genocide began emerging from the war zone.

But Putin's war calculus was flawed by more than his underestimation of Ukraine's resolve to resist invasion and the world's determination to stand up to Russia and support the independence of Ukraine and its people.   Putin seems to have also miscalculated Russia's military capabilities.

Recent news out of the conflict zone indicates that Russia has lost over 15,000 troops so far, and there seems to be serious opposition to the war both within the Russian military as well as among the Russian citizenry.   Large protest crowds of thousands of people are gathering regularly in the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg, and some of the Russian oligarchs are beginning to make noises about replacing Putin.  And while the Russian leader still looks to have a tight hold on the levers of power, that could shift in short order if those who control the wealth of the nation begin to feel that their privilege is at risk.

During the two months that Russia has been at war with Ukraine, not only has it lost 15,000 troops, it has also suffered staggering blows to its military machine.  The battleship "Moskva," the flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet, was sunk, and now there are news reports that ithe Great Russian Bear has lost more than five hundred tanks - over half of which were due to a design flaw that causes their ammo shells in the tank to catch fire and explode when the tank is hit even by indirect fire.  More than 280 tanks have exploded so far through this design flaw, and each explosion usually kills the entire 3-man tank crew.   Training a replacement tank crew normally takes at least twelve months, again imposing a slowdown on the Russian war effort.  Estimates are that around another three hundred tanks have been damaged, abandoned, or captured.

Now there are reports that admirals with the Russian fleet are also showing hesitancy about moving close enough to Ukraine's Black Sea front to form a blockade because they fear the same fate that took the Moskva.  There are also reports that some recent explosions at oil depots in Russia and close to the border with Ukraine are the result of Ukrainian military stealth airstrikes.

None of that is good news for Vlad Putin, the man who built up a huge military presence around Ukraine and seemed to convince himself and the world that the country was his for the taking.  Russia would roll in and roll over Ukraine and then it would gather up the other former Soviet Socialist Republics and bring them home to Mother Russia.

It has not worked, and it will not work.

Putin's vision of he world is out-of-date, and so is his war calculus.

The world has moved on.

Long live Free Ukraine!

Another Cawthorn Publicity Stunt

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Madison Cawthorn, a Republican congressman from North Carolina, knows better than to try and take a gun on board a passenger plane.   He has to know better because he was stopped at the Asheville Regional Airport in his home state last year when he tried to pass through a boarding checkpoint while carrying an unloaded pistol.   He was not cited in that incident, but just warned that it was not allowed.

But warnings aren't enough deterrent for some individuals - and he did get his name in the news!

Yesterday Congressman Cawthorn again tried to board a plane with a gun in his possession.  As Cawthorn was preparing to board a flight at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, security personnel found a loaded 9mm handgun in his carry-on bag.  Cawthorn, who admitted that the gun was his, was charged with a misdemeanor and then released.  The charge was "possession of a dangerous weapon on city property."  The Charlotte-Mecklenberg Police Department  kept the congressman's gun.

Because this was his second offense, it would seem obvious that Congressman Cawthorn knew that it was illegal to take a gun into the city airport and try to board a plane with the gun in his personal possession, so the question arises as to why he attempted to board a plane while armed.  Was it due to a mental condition such as paranoia, or could it have been a cheesy campaign stunt to get his name in the news while reminding his voters that he is a champion of their Second Amendment rights?  

Whatever Cawthorn's actual motivation for his criminal activity, he will have a chance to explain himself when he goes to court.  The Class 2 misdemeanor can result in as much as sixty days in jail, though it is unlikely that a member of Congress would suffer such an indignity, at least not on a mere second offense.

It is also being reported that the congressman, as a result of the two airport incidents, has likely lost his expedited pre-check boarding status.  Now he will have to wait in line with us peons.

Madison Cawthorn does have a history of odd behavior with weapons.  Last year a county sheriff in North Carolina warned him regarding a fixed-blade dagger that he carried beneath his wheelchair when he attended a local school board meeting.   And recently while virtually attending a House Veteran's Affairs Committee meeting dealing with the harmful effects of burn pits, Cawthorn was observed by other meeting attendees to be cleaning his pistol.  One first responder who was a participant in the meeting said this about the congressman cleaning his gun during the meeting:

"It was immature.  He's a child.  He lacks common sense.  I think the congressman was overcompensating for something that he lacks and feeling inadequate among the heroes on that call."

Congressman Cawthorn has also recently made the news for claiming that he had been invited to GOP congressional sex and cocaine orgies, for referring to President Zelensky of Ukraine as a "thug," and for being pulled over for speeding and then found to be driving on a revoked license.  His brushes with controversy, in fact, are occurring so frequently that they are beginning to smell like publicity stunts.

Surely not!

 

Congresswoman's Faulty Memory Might Require Professional Attention

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

One of the many things that Marjorie Taylor Greene could not "remember" or "recollect" at her court appearance in Atlanta last Friday was a request - or at least a suggestion - to Trump's people that he declare martial law in order to keep Joe Biden from taking office.  That's a fairly significant lapse of memory.

Almost right on cue, a collection of text messages to Trump's last chief of staff, Mark Meadows, were released yesterday, at least one of which was from Greene, and that message did approach the notion of Trump using martial law (or "Marshall" law, as Marge put it) as a way to "save our Republic."

Unfortunately, Greene's almost comic misuse of the word "Marshall" for "martial" served to distract from the seriousness of the words she actually uttered.  Her text to Meadows, which would have been written during her first day or two as a member of Congress, read:

"In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law.  I don't know on those things.  I just wanted to tell him.  They stole this election.  We all know.  They will destroy our country next.  Please tell him to declassify as much as possible so we can go after Biden and anyone else."

Clearly Greene's text to Mark Meadows was steeped in paranoia and intended to support the notion of Trump remaining in power regardless of what was needed to make that happen.  It was not the type of communication that most people would forget.  In fact, Marge forgot so much last Friday that voters in her district should have serious concerns about her cognitive functioning and ability to represent them effectively in Congress.

A comprehensive psychiatric evaluation might be in order.

(Related note:  My hometown of Noel, Missouri, had a city marshal by the name of Marshall for many years.  The town had a peaceful nature - usually - and Marshal Marshall never had to be called on to impose martial law.)

The Mark of the Billionaire

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

News sources and social media sites are reporting this morning that it looks as though Twitter's eleven-member board is preparing to sell their company to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.   He is offering $54.20 a share for the social media company, or a total of around $43 billion.

Elon Musk, who just this year was promoted to the top of Forbe's list of the world richest individuals, has said that if he gains control of Twitter he will decrease the amount of content moderation that is currently exercised over the platform, a move that many fear will create a more dubious, and perhaps even more dangerous, environment - such as the dark days of just a couple of years ago when Donald Trump was using his personal and presidential accounts to spread falsehoods and dangerous propaganda aimed at subverting democracy and promoting his own material wealth.

Musk is CEO of SpaceX, a company that he founded in 2002 to manufacture and launch advanced rockets and spacecraft.  He is also the CEO of Tesla, a company that he helped found in 2003 to develop electric vehicles.  Twitter will represent his first major move into the social media market, a move that will give him increased influence over the world's topics of conversation and the ways that people view and react to the world.  

Elon Musk has bought his way into the exploration of space, he is developing a big stake in environmentally friendly ground transportation, and now he is on the verge of grabbing a big piece of how we communicate. At this point the ambitious billionaire seems very intent on putting his mark on the future of the planet.  He is literally defining the world that our grandchildren and their grandchildren will inhabit - and we mere mortals are relegated to watching and hoping he makes wise choices.

Social Media Driving Stunt Kills Six

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

While I have never been a supporter of the death penalty, there was at least one time in my life when I seriously wavered in my resolve on the issue.  In October of 1989 two teen brothers, both of whom I knew, murdered my friend, Dan Short, the President of the State Bank of Noel.    They took Dan hostage at his home in northwest Arkansas, transported him to the bank in southwest Missouri where they robbed the facility, and then drove their prisoner to Grand Lake of The Cherokees in northeast Oklahoma where they duct-taped him to a chair that had been weighted down with cement blocks, and dropped the doomed banker off of a bridge and into several hundred feet of cold lake water.

If ever there was a instance that merited the death penalty, that night of three-state criminal mayhem - a kidnapping in one state, bank robbery in another, and a heinous, sadistic murder in a third - should have certainly been a contender for the honor.  But even then, with a victim whom I knew well, my heart told me that murder as a response to murder is wrong.

There was a crime in Delray Beach, Florida, this past January that was every bit savage and senseless as Dan Short's execution.    A teen driver who fancied himself a social media star, back-ended a Nissan Rogue SUV carrying six farmworkers, killing all six.  The youth, who was seventeen at the time but has since turned eighteen, is being charged with six counts of vehicular manslaughter, with each count being a felony charge that is punishable by up to fifteen years in prison.

The driver, who was behind the wheel of a 2019 BMW that had his Instagram handle emblazoned on the driver and passenger sides and back window of his car, had reportedly previously done racing stunts for social media attention.  He also had a video on Instagram offering $25 to anyone who could guess his speed.

Police reports stated that the driver of the BMW was traveling 151 m.p.h. when he hit the Nissan Rogue.  The high speed collision occurred with such force that it compacted the rear of the Nissan several feet into its passenger compartment and caused that car to flip over several times before finally coming to rest on its top in the median of the highway.   Five of the passengers were pronounced dead at the scene, and the sixth died at a nearby hospital.

The driver of the BMW was also taken to a local hospital where he told doctors that he had been going 120 m.p.h at the time of the collision.  According to a report in. "People" magazine, hospital staff reported smelling an odor of alcohol on the driver.

The driver was arrested in April and held at a juvenile detention center.  He will be tried in court as an adult.

The victims were Mirlaine Innocent Julceus (45), Remize Michel (53), Marie Michelle Louis (60), Michel Louis Saint (77), Filaine Dieu (46), and Vanice Percina (29).

Relatives of the victims have already begun filing lawsuits for damages against the family of the driver.

The driver's name is Noah Thomas Galle.  His police mug shot reveals him to be a caucasian, and the 2019 BMW that he was driving (reportedly a $100,000 vehicle) could be an indicator that he is a son of privilege.  He has pleaded "not guilty" to all six charges of vehicular manslaughter.   

Six productive human beings are dead and six families are irretrievably broken, all so that a self-absorbed teenager could have his fifteen minutes of fame on the internet.  The state of Florida is about to deal with a willful monster, and while execution is not an option, six individual fifteen-year sentences does sound like punishment that would fit the crime.  

Let him see how fast he can drive at the age of one-hundred-and-eight!

Rosie and Pa Rock Go to the Vet

 

by Pa Rock

Chihuahua Parent

My little dog, Rosie, and I went to the vet this morning for a follow-up visit as we try to figure out what is going on with her eyes.  Rosie will be eight-years-old in July, and other than the current situation with her eyes, she is a healthy little spitfire who enjoys dividing her time between running free on the farm and sleeping.   She has a pretty great life.

Rosie does not like going to the vet, and she began shaking as soon as we pulled onto his parking lot.  (She heard a couple of dogs and a goat in the outdoor kennel and knew immediately where we were.)

Once inside of the vet's waiting room we were joined by two other dogs and their humans.  Both dogs were about a year-old, and both were named after mythological super-beings.  Freya (a female German Shepard and Border Collie cross who was named after the Norse god Thor's mother) and Apollo (a Doberman who was named after the son of Zeus, the Greek god of the sky.). Of the three, Rosie was the best behaved - she just sat on my lap and shivered the entire time until we were called back to the exam room.

(Freya's human had seen the Netflix series "Ragnarok" which deals with a reincarnation of Thor as a modern youth, and she and I had a brief discussion about that.)

Another interesting experience that we had at the vet's was finding a doggie magazine with an article on how to teach a dog to ride a skateboard.  Rosie was not interested in that at all!

Rosie's eyes started clouding over a year or so ago.  As it started becoming noticeable, dog experts (and everyone in this part of the country is a dog expert) began diagnosing her as having cataracts and suggested that there was little that could be done to change the situation.  Then we went to the her lifetime vet, a young man whom I trust implicitly, and he assured me that it was not cataracts and appeared to be some sort of a viral infection.  She got a shot and some special eye cream.  The vet also did a blood screen which was inconclusive.

After ninety days or so of no obvious improvement - but no obvious worsening of the situation either - we returned for a follow-up.  At that point the vet adjourned to his office to do some "special" reading. When he came back to the exam room he said that he was going to put her on a special diet for thirty days and then do a thyroid screen.

We did the follow-up to that visit today.  Rosie, who had weighed 10.7 pounds thirty days ago, now weighs 10.1 pounds - a significant drop of six-tenths of a pound.  The thyroid screen came back normal.  I am keeping her on the diet dog food (which is very expensive and which she does not like) and will check-in for another follow-up in forty-five days.

Rosie's eyes are a concern, and just looking at her leaves one with the impression that she is either blind or heading that way.  But the vet said that she is getting "plenty" of light through her eyes.  And when Rosie is outside, she can spot a squirrel on the far edge of her very big yard  - and take off after the offending rodent at full speed.   She shows no signs outdoors or indoors of being vision impaired other than having those very noticeable cloudy eyes.

Even calculating for dog years, Rosie is still almost two decades younger than me, and she is far too young for serious medical issues.

And so am I.

The Seditionist Chickens are Finally Coming Home to Roost!

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Georgia  Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is already in an Atlanta courtroom this morning where she will give testimony - under oath - regarding her role, if any, in the insurrectionist activities at the Capitol on January 6th, 2001.    Greene was accompanied to court by her good friend, Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida, who may serve as a character witness in her defense.

(Congressman Gaetz is currently the subject of an FBI probe that is looking into allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl, and that he paid women to travel across state lines to have sex with him - a.k.a. "sex trafficking.")

Rep. Greene is about to become the first elected official to testify in court, under oath, regarding personal involvement in the insurrectionist uprising at the Capitol, and while she has often appeared supportive of the events that occurred that day, Rep. Greene denies any personal involvement in planning, organizing, or conducting the event.  Now she will get make those denials again - but this time they will be under oath and under the threat of perjury charges should she stray from the truth.

The congresswoman will be expected to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth - undoubtedly a tall order for any elected official.

The reason that Congresswoman Greene has been called into court to appear before an administrative law judge today is that five voters in her district formally objected to her name being on the ballot for re--election due to what they deemed to have been Greene's involvement in the insurrection and violence of January 6th, 2021.  Ms. Greene went to federal court seeking to have today's action stopped - and to have the part of the 14th Amendment under which the complaint was lodged declared unconstitutional. A federal judge ruled against her earlier this week, clearing the way for today's hearing.

Rep. Greene has been complaining on social media about today's hearing which is being videotaped.  She fears that clips will be taken from her testimony and then used against her by the campaigns of her several opponents.

News reports this morning indicated that Greene had enthusiastic supporters waiting for her when she arrived in court.

After today's hearing, the judge will make a report to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger who will then make a decision as to whether Greene will be allowed to remain on the ballot.   Raffensperger is a Republican, but he is unpopular with Trump forces in the GOP after his office certified Biden's win in Georgia against Trump in 2020.

Marjorie Taylor Greene will become - today - the first member of Congress to testify under oath about possible involvement in the insurrection, but she will not be the last.    Similar citizens' actions have been launched against Republican Congressmen Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina and Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of Arizona, and there will undoubtedly be others.

Who knows, if Congressman Matt Gaetz takes the stand today to swear to Marjorie Taylor Greene's good character, perhaps the plaintiffs' attorney will ask Gaetz about his own involvement in the attack on our nation's Capitol - under oath, of course!

The seditionist chickens are finally coming home to roost!

Ignorance Is Not an Acceptable American Value

 

by Pa Rock

Retired Educator

It's a phenomenon that seems to be happening nationwide.   Angry parents steeped in conservative political ideology storm school board meetings demanding that classes and materials conform to their limited world views.   Conservative state legislatures cut funding to public schools while finding new and clever ways to channel taxpayer's money to private and charter schools, places where the rights of certain groups and populations can be more easily ignored or even vilified.  And good teachers are driven from the profession because of poor salaries and flagging public support for education.

It's a cycle of ignorance, feeding on itself and constantly slipping downward.  In the end students and families without means wind up in festering hellholes of educational deprivation, and those who can afford to buy their way into better school situations, do so - and a social and economic segregation is achieved in which the poor and minorities are more marginalized and deprived than ever.

One way this cycle of ignorance has been manifesting itself is through the banning of books in public schools.   Book banning - and even book burning - have been embarrassing filaments of American culture for years, but the practices seem to have been revitalized during and immediately after the Trump era in American politics, a period that served to empower a segment of America that does not value a liberal arts education or any education that lets children glimpse beyond the social norms of their parents.

The writers' organization, PEN America, recently released a report that revealed a surge in book challenges and bans across America.  The group found that the libraries of eighty-six school districts from across the nation had removed 1,145 titles from their shelves within the past nine months.  Some had already been permanently removed and other "challenged" books were off of the shelves pending reviews.   Two-thirds of the books were works of fiction, and most of the challenged titles dealt with racism or LGBTQ issues.  

It's not just books in the school libraries.  Text books are also coming under increased scrutiny over the social messaging that they may be spreading.  The state of Florida announced last week that it was rejecting forty-one percent of math textbooks submitted by publishers for Florida's K-12 schools because someone in the state government had determined that the books contained the dreaded (by conservatives) "critical race theory." 

 (Interestingly, Florida Governor Ron Desantis and the state's department of education have not shown any examples of how CRT - which isn't being taught in any Florida public schools - is present in any of the challenged textbooks.)

And that is often what is happening across the nation with school library books.  Parents are challenging books they have never read based on lists generated by national conservative lobbying groups - or certain news organizations - or even coffee shop gossip.  

Many regard this current anti-public education hysteria to be a temporary political reflection of the times, and something that will eventually pass.  Others see it as move to kill the concept of compulsory education and get children back into the workforce where they were before the government mandated that all children be educated.   

At its base, an educated public is necessary for maintaining freedom and democratic ideals .

It's up to concerned people everywhere to protect and nurture the flame of knowledge, and to improve and strengthen the family of man through the acceptance and inclusion of others whose lives and experiences may differ greatly from our own.

Buying and sharing banned books is one way to do that.

Ignorance cannot be allowed to become an acceptable American value.

The Mouse Will Roar!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The Walt Disney Company, a multi-national entertainment conglomerate, owns the theme park, "Disney World," near Orlando, Florida, an international tourist destination that is, at least by some metrics, the largest employer in the state of Florida, and definitely a major contributor to the state's economy.   

When the complex was first being talked about in the early 1960's, Disney and the state of Florida entered into an agreement called the "Reedy Creek Improvement District" which essentially gave Disney complete autonomy over nearly forty square miles of prime Florida real estate in exchange for bringing their amusement park to Florida, as well as some tax breaks.  The "Reedy Creek" agreement gave Disney more-or-less complete control and responsibility over the property.  The company not only could build and operate as they pleased, but they also were tasked with providing their own public services such as police and fire departments.   Disney even established its own power grid for the park complex.

But all of those services are expensive, even for a multi-national corporation such as Disney.  The "Reedy Creek Special District" has long operated at a loss and has, by some estimates, more than a billion dollars of debt on its books,  That debt has traditionally been covered by cash influxes from Disney, a system that has kept the park operational and bringing in the tourists - all of whom spend money out beyond the special district in communities that are governed by the state of Florida.

This spring Disney World became embroiled in a political dispute with the state of Florida when the state legislature passed, and Governor Ron Desantis signed, the notorious "Don't Say Gay Bill" which forbid discussions of gender in early elementary classrooms and gave parents the right to sue for damages if teachers violated that law.    

Disney initially tried to ignore the situation, but employees at Disney World were not as reserved their corporate masters, and many began to be openly critical of their employer for not speaking out against what they saw an insensitive and intolerant legislation.  The bosses at Disney soon decided to show support for the views of their employees, particularly the LGBTQ workers who felt personally targeted by the legislature, and the company announced its opposition to the law.  To emphasize its position against the legislation, Disney announced that it would suspend donations to political candidates in the Sunshine State.

(Disney had given over $4.8 million to Florida political candidates in the 2020 election cycle, a majority of that to Republican candidates, and a $50,000 donation to Ron DeSantis.)

After Disney's accouncement, the egomaniacal DeSantis then took to the airwaves castigating Disney and before long his ragged army of intolerance began appearing outside of the park trying to  blockade the entrance and harassing families who were trying to enter the facility.  The Magic Kingdom was under seige!

Yesterday Ron DeSantis carried his War on Disney  even further.  He announced that he would be asking the state legislature to consider dissolving the "Reedy Creek Special District" agreement, a move that would turn ultimate control of the park's facilities over to the Florida counties of Orange and Osceola - whether they sought that control or not.

Dissolving a "special district" would be like dissolving a town or other municipality.  The two counties that absorbed the old "special district" would receive some tax advantages of the new property within their borders (and in this case those revenues could be considerable), but they would also acquire the responsibility for maintenance and improvements within the area.  In practice, if Disney World needed a new road or two, buildings removed or replaced, or landscaping, the county involved would have to grant approval and in some cases even help or cover expenses.

And then there is the matter of that billion dollars in debt currently owed by the "Reedy Springs Special District," (to bond holders or Disney itself).   There are already arguments being make that the debt would logically shift to Orange and Osceola Counties, a move that could add something like $2,200 of extra tax indebtedness to every taxpayer in the affected counties.

Ron DeSantis may have just been doing his daily political posturing exercises when he lashed out against Disney's independence yesterday, but if he and his GOP lackeys in the state legislature were expecting a quick and cheap win against Mickey Mouse and friends, they had best think again.  When that mouse begins to roar in response, the people of Florida are going to listen - and Ron DeSantis may not like what they are hearing!

You screw with Mickey at your own peril, Ron.

Sedition Must Have Consequences

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is an unhappy camper, you betcha she is.  Ms. Greene, who had filed to run for re-election this year, is facing opposition from a group of voters in her own district who have filed paperwork with the Georgia Secretary of State seeking to keep her name off of the ballot.   The concerned voters cited a provision in the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution which states:

"No one can serve in Congress who, having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same."

That provision was tucked into the 14th Amendment shortly after the close of the Civil War in order to keep former congressmen from the states that seceded from reclaiming their old seats.

Representative Greene quickly went to Federal court in Georgia and asked that:  1. the provision be ruled unconstitutional, and 2. the complaint against her be tossed out.  Greene is adamantly denying that she "aided and engaged in insurrection to obstruct the peaceful transfer of presidential power."

Yesterday a federal judge issued a 73-page opinion which said that the efforts to disqualify Representative Greene from running for re-election can proceed.  A hearing on the matter must now be held before an administrative law judge who will listen to the facts and present findings to the Georgia Secretary of State who will ultimately make the decision as to whether Greene can remain on the ballot or not.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is a Republican who managed to get crossways with Donald Trump after he (Raffensperger) refused to change or manipulate Georgia's 2020 presidential election results.

If Marjorie Taylor Greene can manage to keep her name on the ballot, she will face three Republican challengers in the May primary election.  The Democrats also have three people vying for the post, one of whom will be on the November ballot running against whichever Republican wins the May primary. 

It's still a long time until November, and a lot can happen along the way, but for now the biggest challenge to Marjorie Taylor Greene is just to keep her name on the ballot.

Marge Greene may not be happy with the way things are unfolding, but they are proceeding according to a system established by the Constitution that she swore to uphold.  If she truly supports the Constitution she needs to make her appeals and then abide by the results.  If she does not support the Constitution, she needs to be barred from running for re-election because sedition must have consequences.

Missouri's Democratic Senate Primary Heats Up

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Missouri's senior United States Senator, Ol' Roy Blunt, has announced his retirement from public service and will be moving his office on over to K Street in Washington, DC, over the Christmas holidays where he can spend his golden years doing what he really loves - lobbying and looking out for the needs of corporate America.  Blunt's departure from the Senate leaves an opening that Republicans had assumed would be theirs for the taking.

However, Missouri's Republican Party, like the national Republican Party, is still suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, and at this point in the election process it appears that the party could wind up nominating a candidate in the August primary who would be vulnerable to a strong Democratic opponent.

But the Democratic Party in Missouri was unusually late in smelling the blood in the political waters.   Three high profile Missouri Democrats (former US Senator Claire McCaskill, former Governor Jay Nixon, and former Missouri Secretary of Stated Jason Kander) who all had an outside chance of winning the general election in November if given the right circumstances, decided to sit it out.    The primary race for the Democratic nomination devolved early onto two lesser-knowns:  a former state senator and lackluster campaigner by the name of Scott Sifton, and Lucas Kunce, an ex-marine and political novice who charged out of the gates running a dynamic populist campaign that quickly raised more in small donations that had been accumulated by any other candidate in either party.

The populist messaging of Kunce made some in his party uncomfortable.    There were those who were not crazy about Kunce's left-of-center progressive ideals, and others who agreed with his positions and passions, but felt that his message would not appeal to a majority of voters in November.

All the while, the Missouri GOP senate candidates continued attacking each other relentlessly and at times the entire field of Republican contenders appeared to be on the verge of self-destruction.  A former governor who had been involved in a sex-and-bondage scandal was their frontrunner - and the best the Democrats seemed to be able to field was their B-team.

Then on March 29th, the last day of filing for the August primary in Missouri, two things happened:  Trudy Busch Valentine, a registered nurse and heiress to the St. Louis-based Busch beer fortune, announced her candidacy as a Democrat for the Senate seat that Ol' Roy Blunt was vacating, and Scott Sifton dropped out of the race and announced his support for the beer heiress.  

Now, as the Republicans continue to blunder and self-destruct, the Democrats are gearing up for a potential barn-burner of a primary.   Busch Valentine has the name and the money and the aura of celebrity, and Kunce has the fire and the passion of a street fighter intent upon winning.   Neither candidate has a lock on the nomination at this point.

One topic that is already being discussed in the campaign is that of personal wealth.   Lucas Kunce grew up in modest circumstances and is building his campaign around small donations.  Trudy Busch Valentine grew up in great wealth as one of seven children of Gussie Busch, and although her financials won't be filed until July 3rd, Forbes Magazine in 2020 rated the Busch "family" fortune at $17.6 billion - with none of the individual family members making the list of the 400 richest Americans, a list that bottomed-out at $2.9 billion.  A fair guess would be that Trudy Busch Valentine could self-fund her Senate campaign at whatever level she felt was necessary.

There are plenty of people, and many of whom are Missouri voters, who believe that what the US Senate does not need is another member who is a millionaire or billionaire, and Lucas Kunce can be expected to beat that populist drum throughout the remainder of the campaign.

But besides money and the inherent privilege that it always seems to provide, another thing which is separating the two candidates, at least at this point in the campaign, are the issues which inspire or provoke them.  Lucas Kunce, who has been campaigning for many months, is passionate about helping advance the cause of American workers, small businesses, and voting rights.  He is opposed to the practice of family members of Representatives and Senators working as lobbyists (Hello, Ol' Roy Blunt!), and he opposes corporate PACs.   Kunce is also a friend of public health and the environment:   when a small community in southeast Missouri had a recent fundraiser to replace the lead pipes in the town's water system, Kunce was there actively promoting the cause - and listening.

Trudy Busch Valentine, on the other hand, is being more reserved about where she stands on the issues.   She did issue a bromide about placing people over politics, and she has talked of her history as a candy striper and her service as an appointee on various boards - as well as about growing up at Grant's Farm - but her stance on actual, substantive issues has been less than forthcoming at this point.

As this election heats up - and it WILL heat up - both Busch Valentine and Kunce are going to have to wade into the crowds and tell them how they really feel about things.  Some of it will be messy.  There will be plenty of opportunities to discuss education, race, abortion, access to medical care, voting rights, war, infrastructure, taxes, gay rights, the price of gas, the price of insulin, supply chain failures, and all manner things that are weighing on voters' minds.  But if the candidates want to succeed in their quest to reach the US Senate, they will have to stand tall for their beliefs and be heard - and they will also have to listen.

Missouri voters want to know your positions and plans, Trudy and Lucas, and perhaps most of all we want to know your passions.    Share yourselves with us, and we will share our votes with you - but take us for granted and it will be at your own peril.

Concerns Over Geriatric Politicians

 

by Pa Rock

Geriatric Citizen Journalist

When James Madison and his wealthy white male colleagues drafted the Constitution for our new nation back in the 1787, they did yeoman's work and created a document that has survived with relatively few modifications for nearly two-and-a-half centuries.  

One of the issues that the Constitutional Convention dealt with was setting qualifications for the elected officials who would run our national government, and one of the primary qualifications that they wrangled with was age requirements to serve in the House, Senate, and Presidency.  The delegates set a clear hierarchy of minimum ages that have lasted through the centuries.  A representative must be at least 25-years-old in order to serve in the House, a senator must be a minimum of 30-years-old, and the president must be thirty-five or older.

What the delegates did not consider, however, was maximum age limits for service in government.  Maximum age limits might have been a touchy concern that the delegates did not want to address.  Convention delegate Benjamin Franklin, who was eighty-one at the time of the Constitutional Convention, was so infirm that he had to be carried into the sessions in a sedan chair.  Old Ben might have taken personal offense at talk of maximum age limits for those elected to run our government.

And today it is still a very touchy issue.

This past week the San Francisco Chronicle carried a very long article focusing on what it termed the "mental acuity" of California's senior senator, Dianne Feinstein.    That piece, which was based on accounts provided to the Chronicle from colleagues of the senator and people who have had recent contact with her, predictably stirred a hornet's nest of quick responses, both supportive and critical of the long-serving public official.

The article noted that colleagues and co-workers of the senator were saying that are days when she functions relatively normally,  but there are also days when the 88-year-old Feinstein has trouble following conversations.  Some told of having to be constantly "re-introduced" to her during meetings, while others said that she would berate staff for not briefing her on things which they had just briefed her on.   Overall, the reports painted a picture of a political leader who was operating in a fog.  The examples were plentiful, and they were devastating.

The Chronicle led its coverage on April 14th with:  "If Feinstein is mentally unfit, Democrats need to tell her openly.  And she should resign."

The following day the city's other major newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner , shot back with an editorial which was headlined:  "Sen. Dianne Feinstein gets the job done.  Leave her the hell alone."  The Examiner went on to speculate that most of the criticism of Feinstein was coming from "progressive" Democrats.

San Francisco's other aging political giant, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seemed to take the Chronicle's  critical article on Feinstein personally.  Pelosi pointed out that Feinstein has recently lost her husband to a long battle with cancer.   She called Feinstein a "workhorse for the people of California,"  and said that the attacks on her were "unconscionable" and "ridiculous."   Pelosi herself is eighty-two and is currently weathering calls for her to step down from her leadership position at the end of the current Congress.

Senator Feinstein has reportedly quit holding town hall public meetings, and she is constantly attended by aids.   She has denied any impairment and seems intent to serve out her current term which ends in January of 2025 - at which time she will be ninety-one.

Dianne Feinstein is currently the oldest serving U.S. Senator.  She is 88-years-old and will be eighty-nine on June 22nd.  The second oldest U.S. Senator is Charles Grassley of Iowa, who is also eighty-eight and less than three months younger than Feinstein.  Senators Richard Shelby of Alabama and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma are each eighty-seven, Patrick Leahy of Vermont is eighty-two,  and Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky are each eighty-years-old.

All seven of those United States senators (two Democrats, four Republicans, and one Independent) are wandering about on the thin ice of the aging process, and all seven should put the country first and step aside from their decades of entrenchment in our nation's capital.  

Call that ageist if you must, but that is how this seventy-four-year-old feels about things.  My cognizance of my own increasing limitations makes me aware of their increasing limitations as well.  The attainment of eighty-years-of-age would be an excellent stopping point for elected public officials, and seventy-five would be even better!

When the Cost of Fame Is Too Damned High!

 

by Pa Rock

Film Fan

I like movies and on occasion I have been known to sit through a film more than once, usually with several years intervening between the viewings.   This week I enjoyed two Gene Wilder movies for the second time, "The Woman in Red" and "Young Frankenstein."  Both were funny and well worth a repeat performance.

"The Last Picture Show" is my favorite movie.  I have seen it three times, and I have it on DVD, so there is a chance that I may even watch it a fourth time before the old eyesight and hearing completely fade away.  But really, three times is plenty.  I have also seen "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" three times and have it on DVD as well - and I have seen it two additional times as a stage production - and "Dammit, Janet!" that's enough for one lifetime.

"The Graduate" is the only movie that I have paid to see in a theatre three times - twice when it first came out, and once years later at a nostalgia showing.  Also friends and I went to a drive-in (remember those?) when we were in college to see "Wild in the Streets" on two occasions when it was a fairly new release, and I have seen it once in the last five years or so on DVD - and it has held up well!

Movies are like fine chocolate.  A few samplings are wonderful, but gluttony can lead to problems - I believe that.  

I saw a piece on the internet about a young man in Florida who has earned a bit of fame and notoriety for watching the same movie over and over - and over.  The obsessive movie-goer, Ramiro Alanis, got inspired to go on this unusual quest when he read about a woman in Australia, Joanne Connor, who earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for watching the movie, "Bohemian Rhapsody" 108 times.   

(The "rules" for the endeavor as established by Guinness stated that the activity had to occur independent of any other activity.  The person doing the viewing could not look at his phone, take a nap, or even go to the bathroom while the movie was running.)  

Alanis didn't just want to break Connor's record, he wanted to smash it.  A few months later he relieved the  Australian of her title by watching "Avengers:  Endgame" 191 times!  That record lasted about two years until a fellow named Arnaud Klein toppled it in 2021 by watching "Kaamelott:  First Installment"  204 times.

Alanis was upset at losing his title so quickly, and he vowed to win it back by again smashing the record.   He chose the movie "Spider-Man:  No Way Home" and managed to watch it 292 times between December 16, 2021 and March 15, 2022.  That's a total of 720 hours or the equivalent of 30 solid days ov viewing!   -

The glory of it all!

Somewhere today there are a half-dozen or so extraordinarily sad young people who are relentlessly focused on taking Ramiro Alanis's title away from him.  And somewhere today there are a half-dozen or so psychiatric researchers who are relentlessly focused on learning what type of damage watching the same movie for 700 hours does to the human personality, thought processes, and the brain itself.

Surely if ever there was a time when the cost of fame was too damned high, this would be it!

Grass Wars, Bees, and a Wicker Hat Box

 

by Pa Rock

Grass Warrior

Yesterday I fired up the old Dixie Chopper and began what will eventually be six or seven months of mowing.  

I write about mowing quite a bit in this space.  That is because during the spring, summer, and fall of the year, mowing is a big part of what I do and who I am.    I'm the wizened old man who is covered head-to-toe in long garments and topped off with a bucket hat - and who keeps his really big yard looking (as one of my son's friends puts it) "like a park."  There are months-on-end each year when every big decision that I make is predicated on weather forecasts and mowing schedules.

I live on a paved rural road that is home to many other old farts, and most of them - but not all - fuss with keeping their yards looking nice.   It is an unacknowledged competition to see whose lawn looks the nicest on any given day, and in the battle to have the best looking yard, I am always a contender and often reign supreme.

But, alas, I am getting older and tire more easily, and I am on the verge of changing my mowing habits.  Two of my neighbors started mowing the weekend before last, and I made a conscious decision to ignore their provocation.   Instead I began yesterday - and one of my neighbors who had already mowed two weeks ago, rushed out and fired up his mower when he saw me on mine!  Now he has done two mowings to my one - but this morning my yard looks just as nice, or nicer, than his!

Grass wars, country style!

(One of my friends, a lady who has other friends who raise bees, gave me an excuse for the late start on mowing.  She pointed out that the little wild violets and dandelions are still blooming, and that bees enjoy and need both of types of blossoms.  My laziness was helping to save the planet!)

 Alexa promised that if I mowed on Thursday, I would have a decent Friday and Saturday to finish.  (I mow about six acres, and it normally takes two three-hour sessions on the mower to get it done, so I do that over two afternoons - and sometimes it even spills over onto a third afternoon.)   

I only got in about two-and-a-half hours yesterday, but thought it would still be alright with two mowing days on the horizon.  However, when I finished yesterday's mowing and came in the house, Alexa had an update.  She had changed her forecast and was now saying that it would rain Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  And this morning it looks as though the new forecast will be the correct one.

Oh, bother!

But I want to slow down on the mowing, and I have already begun by skipping the first mowing of the year and joining the great grass chase on the second go-round.  I am also on the verge of deciding that this year will be my last of mowing six acres.  When I first moved here eight years ago, I mowed about three acres, but each year I pushed the. "snake line" back further and further until now I have doubled what I originally mowed.  I think its time to let the snakes and all of the other creatures of nature snuggle up closer to the house, and to give myself significantly less yard to worry about in the process.  

That change will probably come at the end of this mowing season.  My good neighbor, Rex, bush-hogs the rest of the ten acres twice a year, and I will let him add what I neglect to his portion.  It will still look like a park, just a bit more compact.

And, on a mostly unrelated note, two young adults just walked down the country lane in front of my house - no doubt enjoying my beautifully trimmed front yard as they strolled along.  The one in front was a woman.  She was wearing a face mask, although there were no other people around other than her companion.  The other, a male, followed about ten feet behind the woman.  He was also wearing a face mask and carrying what appeared to be a wicker hat box.  I will likely never know their story, but if it rains this afternoon and I cannot mow, I may sit at the computer in front of the big window that looks out on the country lane, and invent a story for them.

Never let a rainy day go to waste, that's my motto!

Governor Abbott Breaks US Supply Chain

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

With the 2024 presidential election season drawing ever nearer, career politicians are already jockeying  for national attention.  One GOP White House hopeful who seems to be pulling out all of the stops in his efforts to be noticed is Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas.  This week Abbott has attracted national attention over two shamelessly political stunts that he and his staff dreamed up and foisted on America.

The least harmful of the two bits of political theatre was a free bus ride that Abbott and his people organized to take immigrants from the Texas border to Washington, D.C.   Apparently Abbott at first thought he could have his uniformed goons simply hustle the newcomers onto buses, whether they wanted to go to the nation's capital or not.  Then somebody alerted him to the fact that might be considered kidnapping, so they had to regroup and make the trip voluntary.

When the bus ride to Washington, D.C. became voluntary, the governor was only able to fill about half a bus, but he is promising the press that more will follow.

Abbott's tourist bus arrived in D.C. yesterday and the twenty-some individuals who were aboard disembarked in front of Fox Studios for photo ops.  In covering the event, Fox failed to mention that the immigrants were delivered directly to their news studio, saying instead that the travelers disembarked a few blocks from the White House.  (For those who do not think that Fox News works hand-in-glove with Republican politicians of the fascist stripe, think again!)

But the bus adventure was not Abbott's political low point for the week.  That came when he announced that Texas would begin "enhanced" inspection of vehicles arriving from Mexico, and delivery trucks in particular.  The practical impact (and no doubt the intended impact) of the more thorough inspections was a massive slowdown of traffic crossing into the United States.  Lines of stalled trucks waiting to cross the border grew longer and longer with anger and frustration mounting on both sides of the border.  Drivers in Mexico were reporting food rotting in their trucks, and US drivers waiting to pick up the loads and move them on into the country had their schedules (and incomes) interrupted and drastically impacted.

Meanwhile as drivers sat in Mexico watching their cargos rot, Republican politicians in the US grabbed media microphones and began wailing about empty grocery shelves and the awful Biden administration breaking the supply chain!

This morning a news update revealed that Abbott was backing off of the enhanced inspections.  The governor had made plenty of headlines for the week, and he had proven to the GOP party faithful that he is a true  reptilian Republican.  Next week will no doubt bring more wonderful opportunities to humiliate human beings and work at destroying the nation just for a bit of political advantage.

That's the way Greg rolls.

The Bloody Awful Geography of Ukraine

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

As a freshly minted high school history teacher forty-some years ago, I was also given the opportunity to teach one class of basic world geography, a class that I enjoyed immensely.  One of the materials that I used to introduce each region of the world that we studied were outline maps.  I would give students a blank map of a particular set of countries along with a list of places which I had carefully chosen for them to locate on the maps.  It was an activity that stirred a lot of chatter and helped to get the kids oriented to the part of the world that we would be learning about.

For the past few weeks the world has been focused on Ukraine, a country which is the second largest in Europe (second only to Russia), yet many Americans knew little about Ukraine until the war broke out.  Now we hear about it daily - and in the process we all seem to be absorbing lots of geographical information - and without the aid of outline maps!

Before the war some of us knew Ukraine as a former state of the old Soviet Union.  The Soviets thought of it as a "region" of their country that they referred to as "the Ukraine."  For some, calling the country "the Ukraine" felt right, but that is no longer the way to refer to it.  "Ukraine" is an independent nation - and a democracy - and it is decidedly different in its political makeup than its neighbor, Russia. "The Ukraine" refers back to a time of political captivity by a dangerous neighbor, and that is no longer the case - and it is no longer acceptable to refer to the proud nation of Ukraine as though it was little more than a mountainous extension of Russia.

Another simple geographic fact that became quickly evident as the war news spread across audible news sources like radio and television had to do with the pronunciation of the name of Ukraine's capital, a name, Kiev, which the world generally pronounced as "Kee-ev," but now is correctly spelled in newsprint as "Kyiv" and pronounced in a way that rhymes with the name "Steve."

The Soviet Union earned the enmity of the world with the 1986 meltdown of a nuclear reactor in the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl.  Today the reactors at Chernobyl remain off-line, as they have been since 1986, but radioactive waste is still stored at the site.  The world had almost forgotten the catastrophe, but with the war that is currently raging we have been reminded of Chernobyl, particularly when Russia fired missiles at the city where the reactors are based.    Now we are more aware than ever of the dangers still present with the retired nuclear reactor site.   We are also aware that there were fifteen active nuclear reactors in Ukraine which were operating at the time the current war started, and that seven have since been pulled off-line by the government.    Nuclear power provides about half of Ukraine's electricity needs, and the existence of those reactors poses a horrendous health and safety threat to Ukraine and much of Europe as a result of Russia's aggression.

In addition to being reminded about the horrors of Chernobyl and the unique dangers posed by nuclear reactors in a time of land wars, the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine is also introducing us to other cities and areas of the country.  Many of us now recognize that the city of Mariupol, for instance, a large urban area that Russia tried to pound back into the Stone Age, is also an important port city for the country of Ukraine.

News reports remind us that the country has ports on the Sea of Azov (Mariupol) as well as on the Black Sea, and that it has seven European nations as neighbors, including Russia, Belarus, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, and Romania.  All of those countries, even Russia to a minor extent, have felt the impact of refugees from the war crossing their borders in search of sanctuary and safety.

The war has made us familiar with Bucha, a commuter suburb of the capital, Kyiv, and the butchery and horrors that Russian troops committed on the city's citizens.  We've seen the photos of broken bodies lying on the ground and heard the stories heavy equipment being brought in to unearth mass graves.  Bucha is ugly, it was made ugly by Russia, and its images of despicable war crimes have been burned into our brains.

Now we are learning about Donbas (or Donbass), a region in northeastern Ukraine near Mariupol where apparently Russian forces are massing for a new, revitalized attack on the independent and very proud nation of Ukraine.

America and the world are learning the geography of Ukraine.  It is being taught with stories and images that defy imagination and mock humanity.  The geography of Ukraine that is being seared into our consciousness is so bloody, goddamned awful that it will be with us forever.  

Civilization must never forget what has happened to the people and the nation of Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin, the man who taught us the geography of Ukraine, must be held to account for his war crimes and crimes against humanity!

Quitting the Lottery Is Almost Like Winning the Lottery

 

by Pa Rock

Former Loser

The Great Pandemic of the early 21st century spawned massive suffering and death and set this nation and the world back in countless ways,  but as with many disasters, it also had a few unintended silver linings.

For me personally, the extremely scary days of March of 2020 brought about an end to my long addiction of playing the state lottery.   For years I had a routine of going to town every day around noon where I would pull into one of the local quick stops and buy a large iced tea and one - or sometimes two or three - lottery tickets.  (And on Tuesdays and Fridays I would spend an additional four dollars and play the national lotteries.)   Most weeks I would spend a minimum of fifteen or twenty dollars on lottery tickets and as much as twenty dollars on iced tea.  And then there was also the time and gas that I consumed in getting to town and back.

Yes, it provided a break in my day and gave me something to do during the golden days of my golden years, but I actually had plenty that I could be doing at home.

All of that changed when the pandemic hit.  I had thought, off-and-on, about kicking my midday tea and lottery habit, but the arrival of the coronavirus finally forced me into action.  I remember clearly one day in March of 2020 when I had to drive my son into town for some reason, and as we were headed home he suggested pulling into my favorite quick stop so that he could buy a soda.  As I sat in the car waiting for him to make his purchase, the old lottery bug bit - so I donned a face mask and went inside to get a ticket.  There I stepped into a line, and while I was waiting to get to the counter, an unmasked woman who was standing directly in front of me turned and commenced a discussion with an unmasked woman who was standing behind me.

I stepped out of the line, left the store, and never went back.  The vague promise of a big win was not worth the risk of my health and life.

One of my first "learnings" after that incident was that there was very little withdrawl associated with quitting the lottery.   I also soon learned that I was making far fewer trips to the cash machine at the local bank.  Instead of a couple of trips a month to the local ATM,  I was now just going once every six or eight weeks.    Most of my small cash purchases had been related to lottery sales, and those had stopped.    When I had to go to town for something important - like groceries - I used a credit card.   It didn't take very long before I could see the balance on my checking account actually beginning to grow.

I was driving less and there were fewer trips to the gas station - which resulted in fewer credit card purchases, and less driving also meant lots more time to get things done at home.   I began buying my unsweet tea in bulk at the grocery store.  It was much cheaper than purchasing it by individual servings.

The entire new experience was win, win, win!   

(The lottery had never been win, win, win!)

So now this former lottery loser is a lottery quitter - and a winner!   It's a shame that my good fortune had to come at such a horrible cost to the world.   I should have done it on my own, years ago.

Murder Charges Dropped Against Texas Woman

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

It was beginning to look like it would be justice - Texas style . . . 

In what is quickly proving to be a rolling embarrassment to Texas GOP Governor Greg Abbott and most of male members of the state's legislature, the prosecutor in Starr County yesterday dropped the murder charge that he had earlier asked a Grand Jury to level against a twenty-six-year-old woman for performing a self-induced abortion to end a pregnancy.  In correcting his earlier error, the prosecutor pointed out, correctly, that there is currently no law on the books in Texas that prohibits a woman from inducing an abortion on herself.

Texas does have a civil law on the books that gives individuals the right to sue anyone who performs an abortion on a fetus old enough to exhibit a heartbeat (some say the that occurs around six weeks, though that is certainly a matter of contention).   Interested parties, who are defined as including almost anyone -  including friends and family of a rapist who caused a pregnancy - can sue abortion providers and those who aid or abet abortion providers, for up to $10,000 per abortion.

Lizelle Herrera, the victim in this case of police injustice, was not in jail at the time the news broke about the charges being dropped.  She was out on a half-a-million dollars bail that had been provided by her new legal representatives at the Frontera Foundation, a group which helps to provide abortions to women in need in the Rio Grande Valley.

More news about Ms. Herrera's particular case also became public yesterday.  In January of this year she had visited a local hospital over a medical matter related to her self-induced abortion.  Someone at the hospital then felt compelled to share Lizelle Herrera's private medical information with the local sheriff's office.  She was arrested this past Thursday, spent two nights in jail, and was released on exorbitant bail on Saturday.

Since Lizelle has already gone to the bother of securing legal representation, she might as well put the lawyers to good use.  Surely there is a case to be made against the hospital and it's employee(s) who grossly violated the young lady's HIPAA rights by releasing her private medical information to the Starr County Sheriff's Office, an organization that had no right to that information - and clearly no need to know it.

Then there is the matter of the wrongful arrest by the Starr County Sheriff's Office and the two day's (and nights) of illegal imprisonment that were forced upon the undoubtedly traumatized young woman - was well as the excessive bail that was required for her release from confinement.

I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on television, but I am reasonably sure that several lawyers in Starr County, Texas, and one victim of a social lynching, are about to come into some serious coin.  The hospital, and the Sheriff's Office, and their insurers are all very likely to have their deep pockets picked by a phalanx of attorneys who are trained in recognizing the intricacy of rights which are embedded in the US Constitution.

. . . And that will be justice - American style!

Texas Woman Charged with Murder over Self-Induced Abortion

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

It's like a really bad episode of The Twilight Zone.

In its race to the bottom with Florida to become the nation's most dystopian state, Texas has just jumped into a commanding lead.  This Thursday authorities in Starr County arrested a young woman and charged her with murder after what was reportedly a self-induced abortion.  The woman spent two nights in jail before being released Saturday on a $500,000 bond.  She now has legal counsel and is awaiting her day in court.

The arrest victim has been identified as 26-year-old Lizelle Herrera.  Starr County is located in the Rio Grande Valley along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Texas legislature recently passed - and the state's GOP governor, Greg Abbott, signed - a draconian measure to stop nearly all abortions in the state by giving private citizens the right to sue anyone who provides an abortion (or aids or abets in an abortion) after a so-called "fetal heartbeat" can be detected (usually around the 6th week of pregnancy).  The law makes no exceptions for pregnancies caused by incest or rape, and it even allows relatives and friends of the rapist fathers to sue as interested parties.

But, according to University of Texas Law Professor Stephen Vladeck, Texas law doesn't apply to the murder of an unborn child if the conduct charged has been committed by the mother of the unborn child.  Apparently the authorities in Starr County disagree with the professor's interpretation of Texas law, and now the matter will go before a judge.

A recent study out of the University of Texas revealed that about 1,400 Texas women are traveling out-of-state each month to obtain abortions, and another study by the American Medical Association showed a sharp rise in the number of Texas women requesting abortion pills from the overseas non-profit provider, Aid Access.

It would appear as though the state of Texas, and with it the United States of America, is headed into dark and dangerous times as the War on Women kicks into high gear.  This week's outrage in Texas will soon be copied in Florida, and then Oklahoma, and Alabama, and Mississippi, and Missouri, and on across every cultural backwater in America until women everywhere fear for their safety as they each grapple with how to meet their own unique medical needs.

Control of a woman's body should rest with the woman herself and her medical providers.  Her health and well-being should not a topic of concern or action by non-medical personnel such as legislators, law enforcement officers, ministers, nosey neighbors, ex-partners or spouses, or rapists and their friends and family.  

Everyone should have a basic control over their own body - and everyone should enjoy a basic right to privacy!

(On-line donations to help with the legal defense fees and economic relief of Lizelle Herrera may be made to the "Frontera Fund," an abortion fund serving the Rio Grande Valley.) 

Federalist Society Promotes Dollywood Over Disney

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Joy Pullman, the executive editor of "The Federalist," a right-wing publication of the conservative Federalist Society, penned an editorial in her publication this week that dissed the Walt Disney Company for undermining what she referred to as "sexual wholeness" with its push for LGBTQ rights, and suggested that families planning to visit Disney theme parks think about going to Dollywood instead.

Ms. Pullman seemed to think that Dollywood, the amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, would be more welcoming to her particular view of proper sexual stereotypes in America than Mickey Mouse and friends at Disneyland and Disney World.  She obviously does not know much about Dolly Parton!

Okay, Dollywood is no longer actually owned by Dolly Parton, but it is her name on the park and she is still a driving force in its operation and its commitment to the health, happiness, and education of its employees - and Dolly has been a proponent of LGBTQ rights for a long damned time - since before it was "cool."  

Disney has earned the ire of extreme conservatives recently when it expressed opposition to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's attack of LGBTQ rights with the state's new "Don't Say Gay" bill which seeks to keep discussion of gender out of the state's elementary schools.  Pullman, in her attack on Disney, said,:

"Even setting aside their recently revealed support for destroying human happiness through sexual chaos, Disney's products reflect a lifestyle that doesn't reflect my goals for family life."  

Pullman added that she did not agree with "the greedy commercialization of the Disney brand."

So much for hyperbole.  

If Ms. Pullman thinks that her outdated moralistic posturing will be more welcome in Pigeon Forge than it was in Orlando, she is in for a rude awakening.   Mickey wasn't having it, and Dolly won't either!  

(But send your followers to Dollywood anyway, Joy.  They might just learn something about tolerance and have fun while they are at it!)