The Curtain Comes Down (Sort of) Quietly on 2022

 

by Pa Rock

Septuagenarian

As I write this, it is just before daylight on the final day of the calendar year.  2022 is coming to a close and the New Year of 2023 is waiting patiently in the wings.  Today will mark my personal 75th New Year's Eve as a breathing resident of the Planet Earth.

The final week of this year was a rough one with all of the winter storm deaths in the Buffalo, New York, area - 37 at last count - and other calamities about the country and the globe - and particularly Russia's on-going war on Ukraine..   Lots of people, of course, expired over the course of the year, as happens every year, and a few were close friends and relatives of mine.  All will be missed by someone.  

Overnight news icon Barbara Walters passed away, as did former Nazi Youth and Catholic Pope Benedict XVI.   Walters was a formidable newscaster and interviewer who helped to push the boundaries for women in journalism, and Benedict will be best remembered as the first Pope in six centuries to resign from office.  We all deteriorate with age, and it would be good if we all could learn from Pope Benedict's example and begin sharing or passing on some of our duties and responsibilities as we age.

Tonight at midnight on the East Coast an enormous glass ball made of Waterford Crystal and LED lights will drop in New York City to mark the end of one year and the beginning of another.  It is a tradition that goes back more than a century when the publisher of The New York Times initiated it to bring attention to his publication and to the piece of real estate - Times Square - named in honor of the famed newspaper.

Over the years several other major American cities have gotten into the act of dropping something significant to mark the official passage of one year into another.  Although I lived in the "Valley of the Sun" (Phoenix and its environs) for several years, I seldom made it over to Tempe.  But the city of Tempe apparently has a New Year's tradition to honor its Hispanic heritage.  The city has a display of a large tortilla chip dropping into a big bowl of salsa.  That comes with a party ten blocks long and four blocks wide - and two fireworks shows!

A hog is dropped in Fayetteville, Arkansas - safely, I am assuming - at the stroke of midnight.  Woo pig sooie!

And, in, Key West, Florida, a city that I have visited on a few occasions, there are two "dropping" traditions:  One is the island's official New Year's celebration which features a six-foot Queen Conch shell dropped six meters onto the roof of the famous "Sloppy Joe's" bar and grill - and the other is an unofficial celebration at a local gay bar where a ruby slipper carrying a prominent drag queen is dropped to mark the arrival of the New Year.   It is doubtful that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will be in attendance at either event.  

If you would like to locate a nearby New Year's Eve "drop" to attend this evening, the internet site "Wikipedia" has a listing of many special "drops"celebrating the event throughout the country and listed by state.

But whether you witness something being dropped or not, have a safe evening and a wonderful New Year!  (And please do not party too loudly, because I will probably be asleep!)

Happy New Year from Pa Rock and Rosie!

Trump Threatens Third Party Run: Bring It On!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump is becoming the gift that just keeps on giving - for Democrats, that is.

Trump, who has already announced as a Republican candidate for President in 2024 - and is the only announced candidate in either of the major parties at this point, has threatened in the past to run as a third party candidate for the office.  In 2000 he made noises about resurrecting Ross Perot's old "Reform" Party and running as their candidate, and not too long ago he reportedly told Ronna Romney McDaniel, the national chair of the Republican Party, that he was considering a run as an independent.  Ronna replied that if he did that, Republicans would "lose forever," to which Trump responded, in typical narcissist fashion, that he did not care.

But Trump ignored his instinct and declared as a Republican.  So far his campaign is receiving a tepid response from at least a certain element of the GOP hierarchy, and some polls suggest that the party faithful are more enamored of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis than they are of Trump, a clear indication that Trump's brand may be going stale.

This past Wednesday a column appeared in the right-wing journal, American Greatness, which suggested that if Trump does not get the GOP nomination in 2024, he should take a page from Theodore Roosevelt's playbook, an ex-president who ran as an independent progressive "Bull Moose" candidate in 1912 and not only cost incumbent GOP President Taft the election, but actually came in ahead of Taft and placed second in the general election - which was won by Democrat Woodrow Wilson.

If Trump were to enter the race as a third-party independent, many suspect that the results would be similar to those of 1912:  the GOP candidate would place third, Trump would come in second, and the Democratic nominee would win the race.   And, in a rare moment of truth, Trump is already on record with his remark to Ronna Romney McDaniel saying that he does not care if the GOP loses or not.

When the article in American Greatness came out on Wednesday, Donald Trump liked it so much that he posted a link to it on his Truth Social account, a move that was certain to have at least tweaked most of the GOP bosses - and undoubtedly enraged several.

Trump considers the Republican Party to be his personal plaything, and if it does not operate exactly as he thinks it should, he will smash it and play with something else.  That seems to be similar to the logic that he used when he was President of the United States and was obfuscating the content of his private meetings with Putin.

Donald Trump is a creature from the Republican swamp, and they are going to have to figure out how to deal with him - or put him down.  Things will get ugly.

A third party headed by Trump?   Do it, Donnie, do it!

The Ozarks Fall into Winter and then Melt into Spring in Just Over a Week!

 

by Pa Rock

Farmer in Winter

Winter officially arrived a week ago yesterday, according to the calendar, and then to prove that it had begun, a week ago today the temperatures plunged from somewhere in the forties all the way down to single digits, and an icy snow blew in which kept the ground crusty and white for the next several days while the Arctic wind blast prevailed

But that was then, and this is now.

Yesterday the temps began rebounding and most of the snow and ice melted.  Today all of it is gone, and as of noon, the temperature in southern Missouri was a warm and breezy sixty-four degrees Fahrenheit.  It almost feels like spring has arrived, but lo, the calendar says that will not occur until late March!

Today my only excuse for not hopping on the mower and mulching all of the fall leaves to smithereens is that it looks and feels like it could rain.  If the rain has not happened by tomorrow, and if the calamitously nice weather continues, I will surely be forced to reunite with my mighty mower and get to mulching.

Rosie, who has been  hunkered down inside for too long now, and who really resents being carried outside to do her business, is rejoicing in this exceptionally nice weather.  She was outside a few minutes ago and insisted on taking an expansive tour of the yard, revisiting many of her favorite potty spots.  Rosie is definitely ready for spring!

I haven't looked at any of the bulb beds yet today, but the weather is so nice that there are probably little green shoots starting to peek through the barren ground.   It is supposed to only be in the fifties tomorrow, but then back in the sixties on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  By then the daffodils may be a couple of inches high, and the trees are likely to be budding out.  

Of course, all of that greenery will stall out and probably die when the next cold snap hits - and it WILL get cold again!

But for today the weather is unseasonably nice, and I have some outdoor chores awaiting my attention!

So, hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to fill the bird feeders I go!

George Santos Prepares to Add to his Resume

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

In the age of Donald Trump it should not be surprising that another serial liar could be successful in running for office.  In 2020 a 32-year-old Republican by the name of George Santos ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives from New York as a Republican and lost by a narrow margin to an incumbent Democratic congressman - only when absentee votes were tallied.  Two years later George Santos ran for the same seat and beat his non-incumbent Democratic opponent by eight percentage points.

Everything was coming up roses for the young congressman-elect who was now thirty-four and set to be sworn into Congress in January as part of the new Republican majority.  But then last week The New York Times decided to take a deep dive into the background and resume of George Santos, and what the major newspaper-of-record for Santos' home district found proved to be most alarming and spawned a series of stories that have paraded across the headlines of several news cycles.

The Times found that through his resume and various press releases young George Santos had perpetuated an overly-bold series of outright lies about his background.

When the story broke last week The New York Times highlighted statements that George Santos had made regarding his educational background - that he had attended New York University and was a graduate of Baruch College in New York, saying that the newly-minted congressman had not appeared to have attended either of those schools.  The newspaper also noted that Santos had claimed to be a former employee of both Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, but that neither banking and investment group had any record of him ever being employed in their organizations.  

Santos has claimed during the campaign that h owned thirteen properties, but those claims, when checked, also proved to have been false.   He apparently owns no property, and was, in fact, living with his sister at the time of his election to Congress.  It also looks as though he has been the subject of two eviction proceedings and had at least one outstanding check that bounced.

When the Times story broke Santos at first tried to take some high ground and played the part of a striving young politician who had been smeared by the establishment press - and his lawyer even talked of lawsuits.  But this week in an interview with The New York Post Santos abruptly changed course and admitted that the had committed the political sin of "embellishing" his resume.  Santos changed his story from having "worked" for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup to simply having "liaised" with them through another company that he had worked for - and said his comments about employment with the banking giants simply represented "a poor choice of words."  The congressman-elect also told the Post that did not graduate from Baruch College or any institution of higher learning.

Santos told WABC Radio in New York that "a lot of people overstate their resumes, or twist a little bit."

George Santos had also mentioned in his campaign that his grandparents were Jewish refugees who had fled Ukraine during the Second World War.    Now he is saying that he is himself Catholic and that he had heard that his grandmother had been Jewish and had converted to Catholicism.  He said that he had referred to himself as "Jew-ish" during the campaign based on what he had heard about his grandmother.

And there appears to be more.  Just about every statement that the congressman-elect has made is being dug up, dusted off, and examined in the harsh light of reality.  Reporters are even looking into the citizenship of Santos, the son of Brazilian immigrants who possibly is also the owner of an apartment in Rio de Janiero.   The more they dig, the more they seem to find.

Santos has apologized for "embellishing" his resume, but seems set on taking his seat when the new Congress organizes next week.  The fact that he managed to get elected atop a mountain of misinformation speaks volumes about the extreme lack of due diligence that the GOP showed in vetting its congressional candidates - as well as a terrible effort at opposition research on the part of the Democratic Party.  Both major political parties clearly dropped the ball with regard to George Santos.

There are already calls from members of both parties for the House Ethics Committee to begin investigating George Santos as soon as the new House session convenes.  But with their razor-thin majority in the next Congress, it seems unlikely that GOP House leadership would be complicit in any formal activity that could end up formally removing one of their members - even one as dubious as George Santos.  It looks as though the man may have successfully lied himself into a secure and well-paid two-year gig.

It will certainly look good on a resume!

Never Lean Out of a Russian Window

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The elite of America's business and political communities can normally expect to live full and productive lives and then pass away at some ripe old age in the lap of extreme luxury.  But in other countries a life of wealth and privilege does not always end so well - especially in Russia.  Russia's wealthiest and most powerful individuals seem to have a penchant for dying suddenly, especially from swallowing poisons and mysterious toxins - and from falling out of the windows of tall buildings.

The modern history of poisonings in Russia goes back a century ago when the fledgling Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was still under the control of V.I. Lenin.   Lenin had his people set up a secret lab to develop special poisons that would be colorless and odorless and easy to administer - and most importantly, would love no traces of having been used.   Ironically, rumors persist to this day that Lenin himself died as a result of a poisoning ordered by his eventual successor, Joe Stalin.

In 2004 Ukrainian politician Viktor Yuschenko, who was running for president of Ukraine and favored a policy of Ukraine integrating into Europe and joining NATO, was poisoned with a large amount of dioxin - an act attributed by many to the Russian government which supported his opponent in the presidential election.

Two years later, in 2006, Aleksandr Litvinenko, a former officer in the Russian FSB security office who had taken asylum in England was poisoned and killed in a London sushi bar.  The substance used to kill Litvinenko was later determined to be polonium-210, a radioactive material.   A British government inquiry ten years later ruled that there was "strong circumstantial evidence of Russian state responsibility in the poisoning and death of Litvinenko.  

A former Russian colonel who had been convicted by a Russian court of treason - and his daughter - had fled to England where they were poisoned in 2018.  Sergi Scribal and his daughter, Yulia, eventually recovered from that attack which occurred in the English town of Salisbury.

Then, in August off 2020, Alexi Navalny, a political opposition leader to Russian President Vladimir Putin, became ill on a domestic flight in Siberia and was later determined to have been poisoned.  After being hospitalized in Germany, Navalny eventually returned to Moscow to continue his work in opposition to Putin, and he was promptly arrested on a parole violation and is currently serving time in a Russian prison.

And there have been other incidents of poisonings as well.  Sometimes they have been successful, and other times they have failed.

Falling out of a high window, however, is not so likely to fail.

Last week on Christmas Eve, Pavel Antov, a Russian politician who had been critical of Vlad Putin regarding the invasion of Ukraine, fell from his 3rd story hotel window in the city of Odisha, India, where he had been taking part in a tour.  Two days earlier a friend of his and fellow Russian tourist had been found dead in his room in the same hotel form a "heart attack."  The friend, Vladimir Bidenov, was found in bed surrounded by empty wine bottles.

In September of this year, Ravil Maganov, the chairman of a Russian oil company that had criticized the invasion of Ukraine, died in a fall from a 6th floor hospital window.  

In December of 2021, Yegor Prosvirnin, the founder of two nationalist websites in Russia, died when he fell out of the window of a residential building in the center of Moscow.  He had been openly talking about a possible civil war in Russia and the collapse of the Russian Federation.

Two months earlier, on October 19, 2021, a Russian diplomat died in Berlin when he fell from a window at the Russian Embassy.   German Intelligence sources reported that they believed the man had been an undercover agent with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).  The victim was also thought to be the son of the deputy director of the FSB.

Alexander Kagansky, a Russian scientist who was working on a COVID-19 vaccine was found dead with a stab wound after falling from a high-rise apartment in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.

Two Russian doctors who had protested working conditions during the height of the pandemic died when they fell from hospital windows in April and May of 2020.

And finally, a Latvian-American investment banker who had reportedly amassed a fortune working in Russia and was a known critic of Vladimir Putin, fell to his death from a luxury apartment in Washington, DC, in July of 2020.    The banker, Dan Rapoport, was a former business partner of Segri Tkachenko, who had fallen to his death from a high-rise apartment in Moscow three years earlier.

Russian "justice" seems to be swift and lacking in an appeal process.  For American tourists heading to Russia, especially if they have ever spoken unkindly of Vladimir Putin or critically of the war in Ukraine, it might be best to stay in hotel rooms located on the ground floor - and only consume food and drinks from snack machines.  Just sayin' . . . 

The Darker Side of Christmas

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Yesterday in this space I touched on a couple of "feel good" stories of Christmas, tales which serve to remind us of what the holiday season should be about.   That posting mentioned Jonathan Werner, a Boy Scout who raised over $11,000 and then used that money to buy Christmas gifts for 600 children who are in foster care in his home state of Minnesota.   I also wrote about Reverend Randy Fikki and his "radically inclusive" Unity Southeast Church in Kansas City, an organization that, under Reverend Fikki's direction, provides a wide range of services to the area's poor and needy citizens - services that include life basics like food and shelter.

But good people doing good things for others were just some of the things that were going on in the United States of America on Christmas Day.  There were also some darker, seamier tales that made the news before the day was over.

My congressman, a Republican by the name of Jason Smith, sent around his weekly email newsletter on the evening of Christmas Day.  It would have been a wonderful opportunity for Jason to extoll the virtues of helping others, especially over the holiday season, but, as near as I could tell, Jason only mentioned Christmas one time in his lengthy email, and that was in the form of a complaint about Christmas and Christmas travel being more expensive this year - a circumstance that he was quick to blame on President Biden.

Curiously, Rep. Jason Smith did make room in his taxpayer-funded newsletter to brag on the 2017 GOP  treasury giveaway to billionaires and corporate America - what was officially and misleadingly titled "The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" something that disastrously skewered the economy toward benefitting the ultra-rich and did more to bring about this "expensive" Christmas than all of Biden's spending actions combined.  Is it any wonder that almost all of Jason's media appearances are on Fox?

Early on Christmas Day there was some sort of attack on three power substations around the city of Tacoma, Washington.   Those terrorist attacks left thousands without power on an extremely cold day.  The attacks came after recent similar assaults occurred at six power substations in Oregon and Washington, and not long after two power substations in North Carolina were disabled by automatic gunfire.  The FBI is investigating all of these attacks on the public electrical grids, but so far no arrests have been made.

Perhaps instead of whining about the public release of Donald Trump's tax information, Rep Jason Smith and his 534 other members of Congress  (including 100 senators) should be focusing on real threats to America - like armed insurgents attacking US infrastructure in an attempt to inspire rebellion!

And at the absolute bottom of humanity's food-chain this past Christmas holiday weekend was Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott who thought that the worst cold weather siege of the year would be a great time to send three busloads of migrants to Washington, DC, and dump them at the home of the Vice President on Christmas Eve.  Abbott's political stunt has been decried by many as being steeped both in racism and in cruelty.

So while the Christmas season is a great time for shining lights on the needs of humanity, never forget that there are always some out there who are busy unscrewing those light bulbs and trying to keep all of the good things in the world for themselves.

Hate, violence, racism, and cruelty should have no place at the table on Christmas - or on any other day for that matter.   

Scenes of Christmas

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Christmas Day, 2022 - and the ground surrounding my small farmhouse in the Ozarks is actually white - the first "white" Christmas that I ever remember.   It hasn't actually snowed since Thursday - a day on which the temperature took a sudden and dramatic dip into the single digits and blowing snow set in across much of the area.  The ground where I reside had an accumulation of only one or two inches of snow, but it has ben so bitterly cold ever since Thursday that the snow has remained.

This morning as I went stumbling outside at dawn in order to take care of the farm's three resident pets, the temperature had reached double digits - 10 degrees - and before the sun sets early this evening the forecast is for temperatures as high at 29 degrees - with temps in the sixties by the end of the week!  Clearly we are into some heavy climate change if temperatures and conditions can vary that much in just a week.

At least we are being exposed to some new weather terminology.  Blizzards have, it seems, been upended and replaced by "bomb cyclones!"

But, hey - it's Christmas!

As someone who spent many Christmases collecting and wrapping gifts for children in foster care, an often underserved population, particularly at holiday time, I would like to give a special shoutout to Jonathan Werner, a 12-year-old Minnesota boy scout who spent the past several months selling popcorn and chocolate-covered pretzels across eight Minnesota counties in order to raise money to buy Christmas gifts for children in foster care and those residing in abuse shelters.  Jonathan's father had been in foster care as a youngster, and through his stories, Jonathan decided that helping to make Christmas a happier and more joyous experience for children in foster care would be a worthy endeavor.

Jonathan sold $53,000 worth of confectionary merchandise to his fellow Minnesotans and cleared a profit of $11,300, a wad of cash that he could have easily banked and put toward the purchase of a hot car in a couple of years.  But that's not who Jonathan was.  He had raised the money to buy gifts for children in foster care, and that's how he spent it - six hundred gifts which were distributed among kids whom Jonathan did not even know.

Jonathan told a local television station that he just wants to make kids happy for Christmas and let them know they are loved and appreciated.  His ultimate goal is to grow his project to the point where he can purchase a Christmas gift for every child in foster care in the entire state of Minnesota.  (I'm betting that he meets that goal!)

Jonathan Werner, you rock!  Merry Christmas, sir!

And then there is Reverend Randy Fikki and his "radically inclusive" congregation at their "Unity Southeast" church at 3421 E. Meyer Blvd., in Kansas City, Missouri.  They rock, too!

At a time when many "Christian" churches close and bar their doors when their buildings aren't in use for religious services, Unity Southeast took the opposite approach and opened their worship building as a warming center for the homeless and even brought in cots in the evenings so those without shelter could have a warm place to sleep.

The non-traditional Christian church offers a wide variety of community support activities ranging from hosting a "metaphysical" Bible study, a prayer circle and a "sound healing drum circle," a weekly "Narcotics Anonymous" session, a "zoom" course in miracles, and a monthly grocery give-away.

On the church website, the non-traditional Christian church describes itself thusly:

"Unity Southeast in Kansas City is a progressive New Thought spiritual community that emphasizes personal growth, living consciously, and making a positive difference in the world.   Ours is a vibrant, open, and affirming, diverse community that includes people of different ages, races, religious backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities."

The church also describes itself as being a sanctuary for "Christians with Questions."

In these troubled times when many of the world's sanctimonious elite seem to cloak themselves in a theology of accumulation and consumption, it is refreshing to think that there might still be some brave souls out there who are focused on the actual works and teachings of Jesus Christ.

It's Christmas - and baby it's cold outside.   If you have blessings which can be shared, right now would be a wonderful time to do it!

Ancestor Archives: Helen MACY PEARMAN's Favorite Christmas Story

 

by Rocky Macy

Helen LaRhea MACY PEARMAN was not an ancestor of mine, but she was a close relative and very good friend whom I am choosing to include in this family chronicle.

 

Helen was born on October 13, 1915, to Walter “Jack” and Ethel Blanche (NUTT) MACY in Newton County, Missouri.  She passed away on April 12, 2007, in Neosho, Newton County, Missouri.  (Helen’s obituary states that she was born on October 13, 1917, but she is noted in “Macy Family,” a book by Betty Tuggle BELL which Helen helped to edit and put together, as being born on October 13, 1915 – an entry that she no doubt made herself or approved.)

 

Helen and my father, Garland Eugene MACY, were double first-cousins.  Her mother, Ethel Blanche NUTT, was a sister to my father’s mother, Hazel Josephine NUTT, and Helen’s father, Walter “Jack” MACY, was a brother to my father’s father, Charles Eugene MACY, a situation which made for a very close-knit group of cousins.

 

Helen and I were good friends, and our friendship was strengthened during the early 1990’s when I was going through a personal rough patch and Helen gave me several weekends of sanctuary in her home. She was a charming hostess who went above and beyond in seeing that my needs were met while I was a guest at her place.

 

I remember Helen as being a wit and a storyteller who had a remarkable memory for tales involving the MACY family.  She told me once that as soon as she had graduated from high school she took as job as a waitress at a small café in Neosho.  It turned out that the café sold beer in addition to food, and that as a part of her new job she had to serve beer to the customers.  “And wouldn’t you know it,” she laughed, “on my first day of work as I was busy serving beer and food, who should walk in but Grandfather Macy!”

(That would have been her grandfather, and my great-grandfather, William Stephen MACY.)

 

In addition to knowing a wealth of family history and having a wonderful collection of family stories, Helen was also a social butterfly in the Neosho.  Her late husband, Vince PEARMAN, had been a deputy with the Newton County Sheriff’s Office, and she and Vince were well known throughout the area.   One time I had a pair of tickets to a formal banquet in Neosho that was honoring several prominent citizens.   I had been forced to purchase the tickets through some now long-forgotten social obligation, and really had little interest in going – and no date.  I asked Helen, just on a whim, if she would lik to attend with me, and she readily accepted.

 

We sat at a small table with Fred and Sue Clark who owned and operated the city’s largest funeral home.   Fred and Sue were both well acquainted with Helen and enjoyed conversation with her throughout the evening.   While we were there many other local dignitaries stopped by our table to chat with Helen and exchange pleasantries.  I remember thinking that with the wide variety of people whom she knew, my cousin would have made a wonderful local politician!

 

Helen passed away in 2007.  My father and I stopped in to see her not long before she passed.  She was living in a very plush apartment in a care home in Neosho and was very frail.  My father asked her if she knew us, and she said, very delicately, “Why yes, I believe I do.”  She looked at my dad, “You’re Garland,” and then at me, “And you’re Rocky.”   And we settled in for a very nice last visit.

 

I thought of Helen this summer when I was cleaning out a shed at the farm and came across a newspaper clipping about her.   She had entered a writing contest with the Neosho Daily News in which readers told a favorite Christmas story – and Helen’s entry had come in second! The story was in the form of a personal reminiscence for her grandson, Michael Wolfinbarger.   It is a funny and sad Christmas tale that reminds me of O. Henry’s classic story, “The Gift of the Magi,” in which a young married couple each struggle to make the other’s Christmas special, and in the process create an awkward situation that ultimately makes the holiday even more memorable than it would have been otherwise.  Here is Helen’s Christmas story of the first Christmas that she and Vice spent as a married couple:

 

 

“My Favorite Christmas Story”

By Helen Pearman

Neosho

Age 74

 

“The hissing and crackling flames in the fireplace were frolicking with the zestfulness of youth, slowly becoming glowing embers fading away.  The cozy warmth wrapped iself around my grandson, Michael, and I, as we sat there lost in thought.  Soon he would enjoy, with the love of his youth, Kathleen, Christmas Eve in their first home.

 

“Listen, Michael, to this story of what was to have been our first Christmas Eve.   Your grandad and I were married in the summer of 1935.  Missouri had endured hard times in the 1930’s.  Jobs were scarce;  the pay was $1 a day.

 

“Your grandad and friends went to California to seek their fortune, not gold in “them thar hills,” but gold hanging from the trees – golden lemons and oranges to earn $.35 an hour.

 

“Early one morning after a heart-breaking farewell with my family, my cousin and I were on our way to California for Christmas in his newly acquired big Nash.   It had seen better days, but we were impressed with its elegance.

 

“My first trip, so exciting.   Every state had a beauty of its own – the pages of my high school day geography coming alive.

 

“Evening found us ready for some sleep.  Opening my suitcase, I found a Bible from my daddy – probably cost $.50.   Never was there a gift so fine.  Between the pages was a letter from my mother.  I do not remember, Michael, what she wrote, but I quietly cried myself to sleep deep in the heart of Texas.

 

“Early morning we were on our way again.  We are not so impressed now with our Nash.  We changed that word to depressed.  Every time it stopped, we had to push it to get it started.  Slurp, slurp, its favorite drink was oil.

 

“In due time, at 10:00 on Christmas Eve, we drove onto the streets of Glendora, Calif., cradled there in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, sparkling with holiday lights.  Each beam seemed to send out a special welcome.

 

“Quickly we found the Gem Apartments.  With my heart pounding, I rushed up those stairs to knock on our friend’s door.   Their welcome smiles changed to a painful look saying, “Young lady, your dear husband has gone to Missouri for Christmas.”

 

“I hung my head to hide the tears.  Out there on those wide open plains rushing down that endless ribbon of highway, in the night, two sweethearts who yearned for the sweet togetherness of their first Christmas Eve, had met and passed, unbeknown to each other.  Lo and behold – they were rushing along in opposite directions!

 

“We had other Christmas Eves in that beautiful city.  In time we made our home in Missouri, sharing 45 Christmas Eves;  our 45^th was our last.

 

“Tonight, Michael, as we watch these lively flames and then the dying, glowing embers reflecting life itself, my prayer is that you and Kathleen be blessed with a long lifetime of Christmas Eves, ever realizing that ”until death do us part” is life fully fulfilled.”

 

(Helen was seventy-four when she wrote that piece and entered it in the Neosho Daily News contest.  That is the same age that I am now – just one more connection to my very special double first-cousin, once removed.  I still think of her often.)

 

Helen MACY PEARMAN passed away on April 12, 2007, and her funeral was arranged and handled by Fred and Sue Clark (our dinner companions from the banquet nearly twenty years earlier) of the Clark Funeral Home in Neosho.  The following obituary ran in the Neosho Daily News:

 

“Helen LaRhea Pearman, 89, Neosho, died at 1:30 p.m. Thurs., April 12, 2007, at Spring Hill Assisted Living, following a short illness.  She was born Oct. 13, 1917, in Newton County to Walter Jack Macy and Ethel (Nutt) Macy.  Mrs. Pearman was a lifelong area resident.  She was the first woman ever to be chosen to manage a Sears store, and managed the Neosho Sears store from 1963-1978.  Following retirement from Sears, she worked at Blue Ribbon Real Estate in advertising and public relations.  She coached girls’ softball teams and was instrumental in founding, and coached, the famous Neosho Gidgets girls’ traveling softball team.   She was very active in the Belfast and Rocketdyne Road Churches of Christ.   She loved flower gardening and felt that her love of growing flowers was the best gift her mother ever gave her.   She loved writing letters to her children and grandchildren, and to the Neosho Daily News.   Many of her articles were published and enjoyed by many.  In her retirement years, Helen enjoyed traveling with her husband Vincent in their travel trailer throughout the country.   She loved camping out at area creeks.  When it came to family and friends, Helen was always there to give any type of support that was needed.  She was a loving wife and mother, and was very proud of her family.   Helen was preceded in death by her husband, Vincent Pearman, her parents, three sisters, June Conell, Marilyn Reding, and Barbara Macy;  a brother, Sonny Macy:  and a great-grandson, Daxton Wolfinbarger.  She is survived by four children, Gary Pearman and Lucy Estes, Neosho;  Dianne and Gary McNeill,  Bartlesville, OK;  Darlene and Jim Wolfinbarger, Tulsa, OK;  and Larry and Julie Pearman, Neosho;  nine grandchildren;  Janna an Bob Jacobs, Greg and Kenya Pearman, Craig McNeill, Scott and Valerie McNeill, Jeff McNeill, Mike and Kathleen Wolfinbarger, Kristi and Chris Carter, Matt and Traci Wolfinbarger, and Shelbi and Darrin Widener;  15 great-grandchildren;  and many nieces and nephews.”

 

Helen was buried next to Vince in Belfast Cemetery in rural Newton County, Missouri.  Belfast Cemetery is located on land that was originally part of the old homeplace of her great-grandparents, Charles and Mary Jane (MEADOR) MACY.   In her final resting place Helen MACY PEARMAN is surrounded by many, many friends and relatives -  a circumstance that would have pleased her very much.

 

Rest in peace, Helen, and thanks for being such a good cousin and friend!

 

Cori Bush Shares Some Hope this Holiday Season

 

by Pa Rock

Missourian by Birth and Disposition

Cori Bush, a Democrat representing Missouri's 1st Congressional District, is just finishing her first term in Congress and already, as a member of the infamous "Squad," has managed to stand out as one of the House's more progressive and active members.  Congresswoman Bush - a nurse, pastor, and Black Lives Matter activist - represents St. Louis City and the northern portion of St. Louis County in Congress.  I wish she was my representative, too, because I was dealt a dud.

But I am on Congresswoman Bush's mailing list, and have unilaterally made her my "honorary" Representative in Congress.

This week Cori sent around two emails that caught my attention.  Yes, it is the end of the year, and yes, all politicians and charities are busy putting out one last beg before the calendar year comes to a screeching halt, but I was impressed with Cori's two begs because neither one was intended to benefit her personally.

Cori Bush rose to political prominence as a community activist with a reputation for giving and caring that was largely forged in the fires of her own personal struggles.  (At one point in her life the future congresswoman and her children were living in a car.)   And, as someone whose core political beliefs were formed through political activism, Cori is still immersed in her community, knowing not only its needs, but also the programs and strategies which work to meet those very critical needs.

To that end, one of the emails that Cori sent out this week asked for donations to support the St. Louis Crisis Nursery.  She described that program thusly:

"The Saint Louis Crisis Nursery works to prevent child abuse and neglect by providing trauma-informed emergency intervention, 24-hour respite care, and support to families in crisis. Each year, they ensure that 5,000 children have a short-term, safe haven when their families endure an emergency caused by illness, homelessness, domestic violence or overwhelming parental stress. Unlike many other resources, their services are free and voluntary."

It is obviously an important program and one that this former Missouri Child Protection worker is glad to learn about and will support.

Cori's second email was more of a political beg, but one with an altruistic focus.   That email sought support and donations for an organization called "Justice Democrats" which tries to find and recruit political candidates from the ranks of activists - like Cori Bush - who are already out working hard to improve the lives of their friends and neighbors in the communities that they call home.

The email from Cori Bush and Justice Democrats outlined the political goals of the group.  Here are the eight primary components of their program:

• Medicare for All
• Cancel Student Debt
• Free College
• Big Money Out of Politics
• End Mass Incarceration
• End Mass Deportation
• Green New Deal
• Tax the Rich

Justice Democrats and the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery are both organizations that I can happily support. I thank Congresswoman Cori Bush for bringing them to my attention.

Stay warm and safe this holiday season, and when the opportunity presents itself - share some of your blessings with those in need!

Santa in a Skirt!

 

by Pa Rock

Big Elf

I have had numerous encounters with Santa Claus over my seventy-four years on this planet, but only a few of those were truly memorable.  Many years ago I helped Santa by posing as him in full Santa garb at a local grocery store while a friend snapped photos of Santa (me) talking to kids about what they wanted for Christmas.  A highlight of that adventure was when my oldest on, Nick, who was about two-years-old, climbed onto my lap to discuss his presents - and didn't recognize me!

Another Santa encounter that I remember well was when a friend and I did a holiday tour of Vietnam in 2011-2012.   We landed in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) on the afternoon of Christmas Eve in 2011, and by the time we cleared customs and got into the city it was already dark.  After settling into our hotel rooms, we decided to get out and walk around the city - which had a very Christmassy and capitalistic air about it.  It was there, on the extremely busy streets of Old Saigon, where we encountered Santa.  He was dressed in full Santa regalia and ringing a bell while standing in front of a store that sold high-end luggage and apparel.   Santa was also very, very drunk - and he was having a great time!  It was then that I knew Uncle Ho had failed in his attempt to turn Vietnam into a truly communist nation.  A drunken Santa was an enduring reminder of the staying power of capitalism!

Yesterday I encountered yet another Santa Claus who will be difficult to ever forget.  I had a doctor's appointment in Springfield, Missouri, but arrived early enough to allow for some Christmas shopping at a favorite warehouse discount store.  While there I encountered Santa a couple of times as he was also shopping.   Instead of being a plump, jolly character with long, white, wavy hair and a full beard, this Santa had thin features, no padding, long strands of thin, blondish-gray hair, and a scraggly beard.

But he did have on a Santa cap, so I knew it was him.  He was also wearing a red Santa jacket, a clean white shirt and a red, plaid, pleated skirt.  (Okay, it could have been a kilt - but since he wasn't carrying bagpipes, I decided that it likely was a skirt!)   Anyway, that Santa made a lasting impression - whether he intended to or not!

Today finds me safely back home.  The house in warm and cozy - and Rosie is napping by the heater vent while I write tales of memorable Santas - and the weather outside is just becoming icy.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Stay warm and safe!

Merry holidays from Pa Rock and Rosie!

The Cheech

 

by Pa Rock

Art Lover

As a lifetime appreciator of art who has no artistic abilities whatsoever, I stand in awe of people who can express themselves through mediums like drawing, painting, sculpting, and all of the other myriad of forms of making art.  My mother began painting in her sixties, just a few years before she passed away, and the paintings of hers that I have in my home today are both memories and treasures of her very brief time on earth.  I also have a few extraneous pieces by other artists that I have "collected" over the years from places like fleas markets and garage sales, and while none of those have any quantifiable "value," they are nevertheless valuable and important to me - items which take me out of the daily grind and on to a more serene place.

Years ago when I was teaching night classes for a local community college, one of the text books that I was using had a picture of the painting, "View of Toledo" by El Greco on the inside cover, and I gradually formed an attachment to that wild, dark, and stormy image.  A few years later when a friend and I were in New York City and visiting "The Met" (Metropolitan Museum of Art), I stepped into a small room and was suddenly confronted with the original "View of Toledo" taking up much of the space on the wall that I was facing.  I remember there was a young woman sitting on a padded bench in front of the painting staring at it, obviously lost in its magnificence.  I quietly walked up behind her and stared also.  It was breath-taking, a moment in my life that will be with me always.

Art has power, and El Greco's nighttime image of the small town of Toledo, Spain, was rattling my world more than four hundred years after he had finished the classic work.

Recently I have been reading about an expansion of the Riverside Art Museum in Riverside, California.  The museum has added a building to house the formidable Chicano art collection of comedian Cheech Marin, a member of the legendary comedy duo of Cheech and Chong.  Marin, who is seventy-six and a third generation Mexican American, began forming a deep attachment to Chicano art when he was at the height of his comedy career and in a financial position to purchase any art that caught his attention.  When the Riverside Art Museum acquired a building - the former Riverside Public Library -  that was large enough for a permanent and rotating display of Chicano art, they approached Marin about a possible partnernship to place his collection on public display - and the entertainer accepted the challenge of the venture.  The project opened to the public on June 18, 2022.

Today the project is officially known as the "Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture of the Riverside Art Museum," but it quickly became more commonly known as "The Cheech."  Of course, it did!  "The Cheech" is literally awash in the bright colors and bold lines of Chicano art, I believe that "The Cheech," like "The Met," is calling for me to come visit and immerse myself in its vivid culture and unique identity.

Perhaps this summer.

Show Us Trump's Tax Returns!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The House Ways and Means Committee, one of the more important sub-units of Congress, will meet today, apparently with the aim of reviewing six years of Donald Trump's tax returns, documents that have recently come into its possession after protracted legal moves by Trump to keep them from getting the returns were ultimately met with defeat at the US Supreme Court.  The committee, which is currently under the control of the House Democratic majority, has exactly two weeks to do what it will with regard to those tax returns - because two weeks from today control of the US House of Representatives will be taken over by the new Republican majority.

The press, public, and political world have been trying to get a look at Trump's tax returns ever since he  announced his first run for the presidency in 2016, but the wily politician refused take part in a long tradition of presidential candidates of releasing tax returns.  Trump, who liked to strike a pose as a successful businessman, said that his taxes were under audit by the Internal Revenue Service and that he therefore could not release them - though the IRS stated that it had no problem with Trump sharing his tax information with the general public.

A release of tax information by candidate Trump would have served three important purposes.  First, having never sought or served in a political office before, Trump was largely running on his record as a successful businessman, and what better way to show success in business than with a tax record that could measure that success in a metric that everyone could understand:  dollars and cents.   Second, a thorough examination of his taxes would have served to show indebtedness to foreign governments and individuals, something that could impair a presidency and ultimately endanger national security.  And, third, an examination of tax returns for a presidential candidate or a sitting president could reveal conflicts and potential benefits from proposed legislation - such as the massive tax cuts for the nation's wealthiest corporations and individuals in 2017.

Trump did pose one reveal regarding his tax history during the 2016 debates.  He said that he paid no taxes for several years because his was "smart."  During the first year of his presidency he also said that he would not benefit personally from the massive 2017 tax cut for  the wealthy - and he asked Americans to take him at his word on that.

News articles published in 2020 and based in part on family financial information obtained from a Trump relative indicated that he paid only $750 in total income taxes in 2017 and 2018, and paid no income taxes at all in ten of the last fifteen years due to business losses.  New York Attorney General Leticia James is currently pursuing fraud allegations against Trump and his companies based on claims that he adjusted valuations on his properties based on whether he was using them to obtain loans - in which case valuations were increased, or using them to show losses on his taxes - in which case valuations were lowered.

But Trump successfully fought release of his taxes during the 2016 election cycle, through all four years of his presidency, and on through the first two years of his post-presidency.  Now, finally, six years worth of Trump tax records are under the control of a House committee, and some of his tax records are also in the possession of prosecutors in New York.   But through it all, average American citizens, the people charged with the responsibility of electing the Presidents of the United States, still have not had the opportunity to see Donald Trump's tax returns - to judge for themselves his actual skills as a businessman - his possible indebtedness to Russian oligarchs and politicians, or Saudi princes - and the extent to which he could have personally benefitted off of legislation that he proposed and signed.

But that serious affront to democracy could be corrected today when the House Ways and Means Committee meets to discuss Trump's tax returns.  One thing the committee could do today is to release those returns to the public - before the incoming Congress quickly removes them from the public's reach in two weeks.  Trump seems to be concerned that the committee may do just that.  This weekend he released a statement stating his belief that it is illegal to release other people's tax returns.

There is no word as to whether he was served cheese with that whine or not.

The people who write and enact America's laws - and her tax codes - should be required to demonstrate their fidelity to our laws and our tax codes.  It should not up for debate.

Ways and Means, be tough and do your stuff - show us the Trump tax returns!

Marge Greene Goes to War with Walmart

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

A week ago I wrote about Congresswoman Marge Greene's unhinged wrath over the fact that American retailers had the unmitigated gall to sell personal massagers - items which she referred to as "sex toys" - on the shelves of their stores.  She had vented her spleen on Twitter, citing two giant corporate retailers  as offenders of her very acute sensibilities:  Target and CVS.

Well that was then, and this is now.

Congresswoman Greene has once again taken to Twitter to tell another American corporation what it should and should not be selling to Americans, and again her focus is on personal massagers, and again she is calling them "sex toys" and castigating the world's largest retailer as a "groomer."

(And when a bitter conservative refers to a person or a business as a "groomer," they mean grooming children, not dogs and cats.)

This time Marge has gone after Walmart, and she has her sights set on the Walmart in Dalton, Georgia, which is apparently in her congressional district and therefore her responsibility to supervise.

The erstwhile representative who is, herself, the very model of a Walmart shopper - a loud, privileged white woman who is concerned with what other people are buying - posted the following tweet on Twitter a couple of days ago:

"@Walmart

many of your customers in my district are reaching out to me about sex toys being sold in your Dalton store. They’re extremely upset and absolutely horrified that sex toys are being sold openly right next to children’s toothbrushes! This is grooming."

 

Aside from the fact that there is no direct reference in the US Constitution that gives members of the House of Representatives the specific right or responsibility to police retail sales, it is also obvious that Marge may not know too much about the shopping habits of most Americans.  When children go to Walmart, they head for the toy aisles.  It would be a very strange child who was focused on comparing and selecting tooth brushes, and even if that was to happen, chances are slim that the child would then focus on something designed and packaged to appeal to his or her parents.  The "sex toys" that she is so upset about are presented in such a mundane manner as to be almost invisible except to someone who is focused on finding them.

Then Marge posted this jewel of a follow-up tweet in which she lays down her "demand" to Walmart:

On behalf of my district, I am demanding

@Walmart

resolve this issue immediately. I sincerely hope this is not common product placement in your stores and that the employees responsible will be reprimanded.  

I do not believe this repulsive grooming represents Walmart. 

The loud congresswoman claims to come from a business background, but her understanding of retail sales seems to be limited - particularly with regard to large retail chains.  

Walmart follows an identical floorpan for most - if not all of its stores.  Item placement is studied carefully and it is the same across all stores - at least across stores of similar size.   I know for a fact that several years ago the old store in Bentonville, Arkansas, almost right across Walton Boulevard from the corporate headquarters, was being used as the "layout" model to study placement of products.

And it is parents who generally buy toothbrushes for their children, and it is parents who have an interest in personal massagers, items that Marge sneeringly refers to as "sex toys" - and at least one news source described as "marital aids."

Stand strong, Walmart.  You didn't get where you are today by letting every Tom, Dick, and Karen tell you how to run your business.  Run it your way!

Blasphemous!

 

by Pa Rock

Proud Grandpa

When I visited in the home of the Kansas Macy's last week I found the whole place to be abuzz in preparations for the upcoming school spelling bee.  Granddaughter Olive, who had done well in last year's competition, was bound and determined to come out on top this year.   Much of the time that I was there involved listening to her respond to her parents challenging her with words from her school's official spelling list.  Some of them were tough, so tough that I had trouble even pronouncing them!

Olive comes from good spelling stock.  Her daddy, who is now a professional writer, was once - and undoubtedly still is - a champion speller.  (Although I do remember one unfortunate time when he was in about first grade and was involved in a spelling contest in the school gym.  The word was "to," or "too," or "two," I honestly don't remember which, but Tim was up first and spelled the wrong one.  The next speller chose one of the two remaining variations and was also wrong, so lucky number three got it right by the process of elimination - proving, I guess, that sometimes it is wise to go last!)

And Boone, Olive's oldest cousin, was a spelling machine.  I think that Boone won the grade level spelling bee at his elementary school every year from kindergarten through eighth grade!

So if there is such a thing as a spelling gene, Olive undoubtedly has a great one!

Tim took a long lunch break this past Friday to watch Olive compete in her elementary school's spelling bee.  She was going up against many students to be the school champion for grades four through six.  (Olive is in the fifth grade.)  Tim called me later from the car as he was driving back to work with the news that Olive had won!   He said that her winning word was "blasphemous" and that the whole place broke into applause when she just calmly "rattled it off."  The day was made even more special by her best friend coming in second - and they hugged at the completion of the event.

Wow!  Another champ!  Congratulations, Olive!  The whole family will be rooting for you when you participate in the county bee next February!

We are proud of you!

Molly at Forty-Six!

 

by Pa Rock

Proud Parent

My daughter, Molly Macy Files, lives with her young and very active family in Oregon's capital city (and no, it is NOT Portland!) where she continues to be one of the busiest people on the planet.  Molly and her husband, Scott, have three children - two teens and an eleven-year-old - and they keep the roads hot rushing to-and-from the lessons, practices, competitions, and various school activities that inevitably pull America's over-burdened children is so many directions.   Molly and Scott's lives are so fast-paced and hectic that it is a wonder they can even remember where their children are at any given moment.

Molly is turning forty-six today, a fact that I find staggering.  I used to make it out to see her and her family in Oregon twice a year, but COVID has interfered with my travel to a point that I have only been out there once in the past two years - and Molly has managed to come see me twice during that same time span, once with her entire family!  This year is is definitely Pa Rock's turn to don his traveling cape and head west!

During the past year Molly lost her last remaining grandparent, a sad affirmation of how our lives change and rearrange themselves as we age.  But during that same time she was also able to cast a few lines and reconnect with other family members.  I know that "Aunt Gail" was particularly pleased when Molly and Scott and the kids stopped by her apartment in Arkansas and visited with her and Cousin Tiffany during the Files' family vacation to the Midwest this past summer.

And now Christmas is almost upon us, and I can't even conceive of the joyous commotion that the holiday is stirring in the Files' household!  But I do know that through it all Molly will be a tower of family strength decked out in pine boughs, holly, candy canes, gift wrap, and perhaps even a little mistletoe!

Happy holidays, Molly - and happy, happy birthday!

Trump's Imaginary Trading Cards for the Really, Truly Stupid

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

After much hype about a "major announcement," the big news from Trump World actually broke yesterday afternoon.  Donald John Trump, the relentless grifter and self-promoter, was officially enhancing his image and legacy with trading cards of himself pictured in a wide array of super-hero modes.  The new cards, which aren't really cards at all but digital images of cards that gullible purchasers can pull up on their computers and salivate over whenever the wifi is working, are, as a real American hero - Alfred E. Neuman - would put it, "Just $99 cheap!"  

Yes, for a mere $99 (plus a modest "transaction fee") a fortunate American consumer can have one - just one - computer image of a much slimmer and more fit Donald Trump - with noticeably bigger hands - ready for instant adoration on their home computer or phone.  An imaginary trading card for just under a hundred bucks!  What a deal!

But wait, there's more!

Each imaginary trading card comes with its own NTF - a non-fungible token that serves as proof-of-purchase of a digital asset!  That's right!  Ninety-nine dollars will get you not only an imaginary trading card, but also a token to prove that you own an imaginary trading card!

And there is still more!

People who buy at least forty-five of the imaginary cards - at ninety-nine dollars a pop - will, in addition to  getting forty-five swell non-fungible tokens - also be guaranteed a ticket to attend a gala dinner with Trump in Florida!  (Remember, Trump is a man who fine-dines on Big Macs!)

And there is even a sweepstakes with other great rewards!

Lucky purchasers of the imaginary Trump trading cards will be entered into drawings where they could win a meet-and-greet with Trump, or a 10-minute zoom call with the man himself, or even an hour of golf at Trump Golf Palm Beach.   (How many holes would that be?)

The "initial" run of imaginary trading cards will be just 45,000, with some of the many designs having pre-assigned rarities.  A few, for example, will only be available in very limited quantities - from one to twenty - and the purchasers who are lucky enough to get those should see a quick enhancement of their investment.

These imaginary trading cards are now available for purchase over the internet with two prominent forms of imaginary money:  cryptocurrency or credit cards.  

The private company creating the imaginary Donald Trump trading cards in collusion with Donald Trump has stated that proceeds will not go to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, but I suspect most of us already knew that.

Deals like this won't last long - so rush right out and buy several today!   There may not be food for the table or wood for the stove, but as long as America can sit in the warmth of fake images of Donald Trump,  and overpay for the privilege, we will survive!

God bless us every one!  

Elon, Please Go Away

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

I, for one, have just about had all of Elon Musk that I can stand.  Every day I carefully sort through a gaggle of internet news sites in search of stories that might fit well into this blog.  I check out the pages of the three major US television networks - NBC, ABC, and CBS - as well as MSNBC, and also other places that still let a person browse for free like The Guardian, Huff Post, and Daily Kos.   Recently a friend gave me a subscription to the Los Angeles Times, so I check that out as well.  And all of that site-surfing has led to one inescapable conclusion:  Elon Musk purchased Twitter for his own self-aggrandizement.    

Since the blue bird of Twitter was caught and caged by the greedy billionaire, "news" stories bearing his image and actions have abounded.  We learn daily of his opening the gates of Twitter to the return of right-wing extremists to the platform, of his arbitrary firings of long-term Twitter employees and his disbanding of safety controls and oversight groups within the company, and occasionally we are even entertained with the new boss's own personal tweets - some of which are deeply disturbing such as the one calling for the prosecution of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the man who was relentless in his efforts to save lives during the pandemic.  

We also know that Musk uses his power as the head of Twitter to ban people from the platform who personally aggravate him - such as the young man who figured out how to track Musk's private jet an let the world know his travel destinations.

Musk's machinations as the new head of a major social media platform have exhibited an impetuosity that jumps from childish to terrifying in the blink of an eye as he uses his new power as chief tweeter to try and influence the social, economic, and political life of Americans.   He seems to be in a constant struggle to reshape America into a nation whose primary purpose is the benefit of Elon Musk.

And the face of Elon blossoms through all of the news sites like dandelions spreading across a thousand yards in the spring breezes.

Recently we have learned of some of his cost-cutting measures that sound downright Trumpian.  There were reports in the news yesterday suggesting that Musk is failing t pay the rent for his Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, and that he is considering reneging on his promises to pay severance packages to employees who were laid off or decided to resign after being promised severance pay.

Of course, some of the Elon stories and photos are more upbeat than others.  It was revealed last week that fluctuating stock prices in a couple of his companies - undoubtedly brought on by his erratic business behaviors - have resulted in Musk slipping from being the world's richest person to now merely the second richest human on the planet.

I'll drink to that.

There has also been a wonderful photograph of Musk on the MSNBC news site for the past several days in which he is shown in profile and appears to be laughing into the wind.   In that shot, with his odd jawline and prominent teeth, Elon bears a resemblance to a mule, or a "jackass" as we would say here in the Ozarks.  Perhaps one of his companies should turn that image into a poster.  I suspect that it would be a big seller.

And a story out this morning says that the world's second richest human is now dumping billions of dollars worth of Tesla stock and that it somehow relates to his ill-advised purchase of Twitter.

I will drink to that as well.

So, the long and short of it is that I am growing bored of all of the "news" stories about Elon Musk - even the good news. 

Elon, please go away.  I hear that Mars is lovely this time of year.

A Nation Soaked in the Blood of Innocents

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

I returned to the United States after two years of living and working abroad on July 14th, 2012.  I was anxious to reestablish my working life back in Phoenix and to see how much that sprawling city, and indeed the whole country, had changed during my absence.  It only took a few days for me to learn that things, from a social perspective, were no better, and in fact, were probably worse than ever.

 I had been back in the states just six days when a horrendous mass shooting took place at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado.  A mentally disturbed young man had literally pushed his way into the crowded theatre where people had gathered for a midnight showing of the latest Batman movie.  He marched onto the stage if front of the screen, dressed in full camouflage and carrying multiple weapons - a bold move that most of those seated in the theatre assumed was connected with the show they were about to see.  Then he tossed some teargas grenades into the audience and began shooting - spraying the audience with automatic fire.   Before the assault and panic ended, twelve were dead and 70 others were injured - 58 of them by gunfire.  At that time the victim count (82) was the largest number of any mass shooting in United States history.

Welcome home, Pa Rock.

But this is America, and our potential for senseless violence and carnage literally knows no limits.

On December 14th of that same year - ten years ago today - a shooting occurred that rocked the very moral core of the country, one that Barack Obama described as "the darkest day of my presidency."   That was the day that another mentally disturbed young man kicked the security door in at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and proceeded to gun down twenty first-graders - each of whom was shot multiple times.   Six adults including teachers and the school's principal also died that day, as well as the shooter who killed himself at the scene and had earlier killed his mother at their home.  

Surely, sane people reasoned, this horrendous blasphemy on the soul of our country - twenty dead little children - would finally result in some serious legislation to control the spread of guns, and particularly automatic weapons, in twenty-first century America.  A bill was introduced in Congress to ban the sale of certain types of automatic weapons as well as large-capacity magazines, but even though the measure was favored by the public, it failed in the US Senate by a vote of 40-60.  Another bill was introduced to require criminal background checks for gun sales over the internet and at gun shows, but that failed 54-46 in the Senate because it could not gain 60 votes to meet the filibuster special majority.   A separate bill to limit gun magazines (ammunition feeding devices) to ten rounds also failed in the Senate by the same margin.

The National Rifle Association encouraged "thoughts and prayers" and stressed a need for more armed guards in schools.  More cops and more guards, that would solve the problem.  Since Sandy Hook we have witnessed a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, where seventeen people - mostly students - died at the hands of a young, mentally impaired male while the school's resource officer (security guard) hid, and a school shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, where the school employed multiple police officers, all of whom stood idly by in a hallway for over an hour while the young, mentally unstable male shooter killed nineteen fourth-graders and two of their teachers.  Some of those ten-year-old kids were shot so many times that DNA analysis had to be employed to determine their identities.

Some, like the NRA, say that more armed officers is the answer, when clearly it isn't.  Others say that the real problem is the mental health of the shooters.  They talk mental health while many states are busy rolling back mental health coverage almost as fast as they roll back gun restrictions.  

The genesis of the problem is guns and literally everybody knows it, but no one has the courage to risk their political lives fighting the NRA and the nation's arms industry.  There is no legitimate need for private citizens to own automatic or semi-automatic weapons, and until this madness is reined in, the bloody bodies of young dead children will continue to pile up - like the NRA cash donations to our political leaders continues to pile up.

The right to own a high-powered gun in America is far more important than the rights of small children to go to school in peace and safety.

We all know it, and we all own it, and nothing will ever change.

Goddamn the society that allows children to die on the altar of the gun industry!