Today Greenland, Tomorrow Mt. Rushmore!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Several days ago in a blog posting entitled "An Imperial Presidency?" I discussed the President-Elect's noises about the US acquiring Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal.    The United States either buying or seizing control of Canada is little more than an hallucinatory pipe dream.  Canadians are an independent people who would never submit to US ownership, and especially an ownership engineered by that particular US politician.   The Panama Canal, too, seems like it would take a lot more diplomacy and effort than a notoriously undiplomatic person such as the incoming President would ever be able to muster, and Panama and much of the rest of the world would also have a very strong interest in maintaining the situation exactly as it already is.

But Greenland seems to be the real target of the land grab hysteria that the next administration is trying to foment.

In a television appearance on Sunday, Robert O'Brien, a former National Security Adviser in the in-coming President's first administration and a shameless "yes man" for his former boss, made his case for the US controlling Greenland.  O'Brien said that as climate change progresses and the planet warms, Greenland would become a major transportation route south from the Arctic to the North America, making it strategically more important.  O'Brien argued that with Denmark, the country that oversees Greenland, facing down Russia in Europe, it would likely be incapable of defending Greenland.   O'Brien posited that the US would have to step in and protect Greenland - and the US should not defend Greenland for free.  Hence, it should be sold to the US so that we could adequately protect it as a part of our country.

O'Brien also posited that since the native population of Greenland is closely related to that of Alaska, it should be merged into one state with Alaska.

To some extent, the United States is already protecting Greenland.  The US has had a military presence on Greenland since World War II, and Thule Air Force Base - which, as of April of 2023, is now called Pituffik Space Base - is still operational and now run by the US Space Force.

It is doubtful that the new President is overly concerned with the threat of Russian aggression against Greenland when he clearly isn't bothered by Russian aggression against Ukraine.   The more likely motivation for his strong interest in acquiring Greenland is simply its immense size, and size is very important to the man making all of the noise.  Greenland is almost 9,000 square miles larger than the entire area of the Louisiana Purchase, and it's addition to the United States would be the largest US land acquisition in history - and, no doubt in the new President's eyes, would elevate him in historical stature at least up to the level of Thomas Jefferson.

Today Greenland, tomorrow Mt. Rushmore!

It's all about him and his legacy.  Since he will never achieve greatness by donning a military uniform and rushing off to lead his nation in a war - like Volodymyr Zelensky - his next best option is to bully a small European nation into betraying a trust and selling off a huge chunk of its kingdom to a raving egomaniac.

He understands the art of bullying and making deals, and that would make the large man with the tiny hands and bad combover a truly great American, you betcha it would!

A Man of Peace has Passed

 

by Pa Rock

There have been few people in the history of the world who did more to promote peace, understanding, and basic human rights than former President Jimmy Carter and his equally active and involved wife, Rosalynn.  Rosalynn passed away in November of 2023 at the age of 96, and Jimmy Carter died yesterday at the couple's home in Plains, Georgia, at the age of one hundred.  

The Carters were married for 77 years.  In addition to having the longest marriage of any First Couple in US history, Jimmy Carter is also the only former President of the United States to reach the century mark, something he achieved this past October 1st.  President Carter had been in hospice care since February of 2023, and he had remained alert and communicative throughout that time.  One of the goals that he stated to his family this year was to stay alive long enough to vote for Kamala Harris for President, something which he was able to do.

Jimmy Carter, a former governor of Georgia (and peanut farmer, and Naval submarine officer, and nuclear engineer) was elected President in 1976 by defeating incumbent President Gerald Ford at a time when the nation was still reeling from the Watergate scandals.  After serving only one four-year term and being encumbered by some heavy political obstacles like soaring inflation and gas prices -  and Iran taking 53 Americans hostage for more than a year, Carter lost his bid for re-election to Ronald Reagan.

One of the high points of the single-term Carter administration was that he was able to broker a peace deal at Camp David between Israel and Egypt.  The secret negotiations at the American presidential retreat took twelve days, and the Camp David Accords, as the agreements were known, were signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.  President Carter signed as a witness to the Accords, and they went on to form a long-term basis for peace between the two nations.  Begin and Sadat received the Nobel Peace Prize for their commitment to the process and the deal.

But it was after the Carters left the White House that the couple achieved their greatest humanitarian successes.  Jimmy Carter has been noted by many as the example of the level and kind of public service that a former President could provide.  He and Rosalynn set a very high bar for former First Couples with their efforts to eradicate deadly diseases, end hunger, ensure democracy, and provide affordable housing to those in need.  President and Mrs. Carter were both still working at building 'Habitat for Humanity' houses into their nineties.

Carter said of his faith and how it impacted his dedication to others:

"My faith demands - this is not optional - my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try and make a difference."  

Both Carters lived that creed.  He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 while serving as an extremely active "former" United States President.

Jimmy Carter, even with just one term as President, was one of the central political figures of my lifetime.  He had been elected President just before my middle child, Molly, was born, though he had not yet been inaugurated.  He was President when I began teaching - and a couple of years later when my youngest, Tim, was born.  I also had the privilege of seeing Jimmy Carter in person at a bookstore in Phoenix during President's Day weekend of 2009 where his was signing his latest book:  "We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land."  Carter wrote more than thirty books in his "spare" time after leaving the White House.

Jimmy Carter was a moral and honest individual who never shied away from giving bis time and talents to help others.  The world is a far better place thanks to him and Rosalynn and the countless individuals that they inspired.

May they both be at rest in well-earned peace for lives well lived.

Costco Gets It Right

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Being nosey by nature, I am never bashful when it comes to asking questions about things that interest me, and, as a retired public educator and social worker, one thing that always has my attention is the general mood and job satisfaction of the people in the service industry who deal with me as I shop.  So I ask questions.  One of the things I often ask is "How do you like working here?"  That question stirs nods or shrugs, and usually simple responses like "The job is fine," or "It pays the bills," but sometimes it is a lot more revealing.  There is much that can be learned about the culture of a business by an employee's casual response to a simple inquiry.

And I don't like to spend my time or money in businesses where the employees are not appreciated and valued by management.

Two businesses where I continually hear good things from the employees regarding management are Trader Joe's and Costco.  Both offer good pay and benefits, and both have a vibe of being staffed by a contented workforce.  On a recent trip to a Costco in the Kansas City area I asked a man who was working at the checkout how he liked his job.  He looked up, smiled, and said matter-of-factly, "My insurance is better than yours," and then added, "This is a great place to work."   His answer came across as frank and honest.

There has been an ugly social movement in this country over the last few years to do away with efforts to insure and increase levels of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within American educational institutions and businesses.  The move from the political far right is an overt effort to roll back social and economic advances by minorities over the past several years, often due to intentional policies that promote DEI.  Opponents of DEI claim that the policies that allow for those advances discriminate against the people who have traditionally benefitted from past patterns of discrimination - people such as straight white males.

This year a right-wing "think tank" called the National Center for Pubic Policy Research came out with a generic proposal for activist shareholders to put before the boards of various corporations in an effort to get them to roll back DEI policies - and many corporations quickly caved to that political pressure.  Walmart and John Deere, as just two examples, began abandoning their past efforts to create a more diverse  workforce.

But when the activists targeted Costco, they encountered a corporation with both a heart and a backbone.  Costco's board of directors encouraged their shareholders to vote against the shareholder-generated proposal to do away with their DEI safeguards.  The Costco board reasoned that a diverse workforce made for a better working and shopping environment, and my own nosey and highly informal research would tend to back that up.

If it isn't broke, don't try and fix it.

Costco is doing the right thing by continuing to focus on having a diverse and inclusive workforce.   It makes for a better work experience and a better shopping experience.   Speaking as a straight white male, we have been at the front of the privilege line long enough.  It's time to share the wealth and open the doors of opportunity for all.

Immigration Flare-Up Fractures MAGA World

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Earlier this week the President-Elect, a boisterous supporter of the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, announced that an Indian-American by the name of Sriram Krishnan would be the Artificial Intelligence (AI) adviser for the White House in his administration.  No sooner had that pronouncement left the elderly politician's lips than Laura Loomer, a right-wing journalist and close associate of the in-coming President, criticized the move, citing concerns over "foreign influence" in government.  Others of the nativist American stripe quickly joined Loomer's dissent.

The attitude from the extreme MAGA wing of the Republican Party did not sit well with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the two men that the President-Elect has named to head his new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) - and who will certainly have a great deal of "influence" in the new administration themselves.   Musk, a native of South Africa, is now a naturalized US citizen and Ramaswamy was born in the United States to Indian nationals who were not US citizens at the time of his birth and thus has "birthright" citizenship as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.  

Both men, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, took to social media to defend the temporary use of H-1B visas for skilled workers, particularly in the tech industry, for critical, hard-to-fill positions.  But right-wing critics weren't going to let that go unchallenged.  Journalist Ann Coulter countered that what the tech companies were really seeking was cheap foreign labor and that the recipients of the H-1B visas were little more than "indentured servants."   There were also posted arguments that the tech companies should be hiring American labor and train them to do the tech jobs.

Elon Musk, a man who does not take well to being challenged, referred to the MAGA extremists who were opposing the immigration of tech labor, particularly from India, as  "contemptible fools."   However, he almost seemed to be strengthening Ann Coulter's argument as he elaborated in a tweet yesterday:

"Investing in Americans is actually hard.  Really hard.  It costs money and time and effort to make a person productive.  It's a short term loss.  It's much easier to bring in skilled workers who might not do quite as good a job, but will work for a fraction of the cost and be happy just to be here."

The immigration controversy between the extreme MAGAts and the DOGE bros is still raging today.  Will the Republican Party modify its intolerance and welcome, or at least tolerate, immigrants who help to boost some segments of the economy, or will they be firm in their resolve to drive and bar diversity from our shores?

At some point Big Daddy is going to have to waddle in and take charge.

The Pay-to-Play-and-Pray Presidency

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Elon Musk went to Mar-a-Lago, supped with the King, bent the knee, kissed the ring, dipped his nose deep into the royal diaper, and coughed up over a quarter of a billion dollars to help the portly and elderly politician retake control of the greatest country on Earth, the one that Elon had chosen for his own home base several years earlier.  The $277 million (or more) that Elon had donated to the GOP presidential campaign was not an outright gift - it was more of an investment.  He was buying influence and access to the person who he thought could best serve his interests in the White House.   Elon was taking care of Elon.

Money is the "lifeblood" of politics and it also is a very concrete way of showing respect, admiration, veneration, and adulation - and the incoming President enjoys the hell out of being respected, admired, venerated, and adulated.  It just does not get any better than having the world's richest man fuss and fawn over you while stuffing your pockets with cash!

Elon wasn't able to just write a check and hand it to the candidate.  Congress has established limits on campaign donations by individuals, so his money went in the campaign in a circuitous manner through political action committees - but behind all the legal garble and subterfuge, it was coming from Elon, and the King of Mar-a-Lago knew it.   Now Elon has a perch of prominence in the royal court - bought and paid for - as it prepares to move back into the White House.

Lesser billionaires watched Elon buy his way into a position of power in the new administration, and many of them are choosing to buy their own bit of prominence, or protection, as well.  The election is over, but they are feeling the urge (which is emanating from Mar-a-Lago) to join in the giving fest, and they are choosing to do that by writing checks to help with the inauguration festivities.  There is no cap on the size of donations that individuals or corporations can make to the inauguration. and the King, who set the record for. inauguration money collected with his first inauguration in 2017 ($107 million), is strongly encouraging his richest subjects to donate bigly to the 2025 inauguration - and this time $150 million (a new record) has already been collected.  

Oh it will be a fine inauguration, one fit for an Emperor!  (But alas, his title will just be President - for now.)

The soon-to-be President is openly soliciting donations to his inauguration, big ones.  Anyone who donates a million dollars will receive six tickets to events associated with the grand celebration.  The tickets will get the wealthy donors into a black-tie affair at which many important people will be present including the King new President, into a candlelight dinner with the President and his Lady, and into a reception with new Cabinet members.  Access, influence, access, influence, access, influence!  It doesn't get any better than that, and all just for a measly million!

Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, Ken Griffin, and other oligarchs have lined-up and dutifully paid their million-dollar tributes, as have corporations like GM, Ford, Toyota, and Uber.  Ford has even donated a fleet of vehicles to help with the big celebration.  The money rains down like manna from heaven, and President-elect gloats, raises his arms, and declares euphorically that "Everybody wants to be my friend!"

It's either that, or everybody's afraid not to be his friend!

For those who would like the opportunity to pray with the incoming President, (and honestly, who wouldn't?), one of the inaugural activities will reportedly be an interfaith prayer service on the day before the inauguration, and for just $100,000 good Christians, like the man himself, can pray with, or perhaps to, the next Chief Executive of the United States and his Lady.  There is no word yet on whether the service will include a breakfast buffet or not.

If Jesus would like in on that action, he will need to show up with his own collection plate!

There can be little doubt about which segment of America will have the ear of the next presidential administration.   It won't be us, it will be them.   Money talks, buddy - loudly!

An Imperial Presidency?

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Size matters to a man like the next President of the United States.  Whether it is the square-footage of his penthouse apartment, the enormity of his plane, the length of the shore-line at his Florida resort, or the acreage of his golf courses - size matters.  To him, the measure of a man's success is how high he can pile his assets.   Size matters.

As the wobbly King of Mar-a-Lago prepares to return to the White House and the world stage, his thoughts seem to be focused of the size of his grand domain, and he is making noises about expanding the United States into an empire - with, no doubt, an imperial presidency.   Still weeks away from regaining his prized berth aboard Air Force One, the large orange politician is already stirring the diplomatic waters by intimidating several of our international neighbors with not-so-subtle threats of annexation.  

At a recent dinner at Mar-a-Lago where suitors of the once-and-future US President come to openly grovel for attention and favor, our nation's in-coming leader blithely told Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, that the US could annex his entire country as our fifty-first state, and then to add salt to that wound, he began referring to the highly respected Trudeau as "governor."  In a Christmas post on social media yesterday that appeared to be an entreaty to the Canadian people for his absurd proposition, the President-elect said:  

" . . . if Canada was to become our 51st state, their Taxes would be cut by 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World."   (All of the misplaced capital letters are his.)

The once-and-future US President also tried his hand at interfering in Canadian politics to help achieve his aim of taking over Canada.  He said that he had encouraged former professional hockey star, Wayne Gretsky, to run for Prime Minister of Canada, but Gretsky had declined.

(Canada is larger than the United States by 1.6 %, yet we would limit them to only being one state?)

A good number of Canadians are bilingual and speak both English as well as French, and chances are most of Canada's residents, Wayne Gretsky included, also recognize malarky when they hear it.

Next there is the incoming President's long-standing fixation on Greenland.  Someone during his first administration apparently showed him a map of Greenland, and when he saw how big it was (836,300 square miles - or over a third the size of the continental US), he had to have it - so much so that he posited the idea of purchasing it with funds from our national treasury - a.k.a. "other people's money."  But Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory with special status within the Kingdom of Denmark, was not for sale.

Earlier this week, the Danish government coincidentally announced it was increasing defense spending for Greenland.   (Take that, America!)   The in-coming US President says that we need the country for "security" purposes, and the free spirits on the internet are saying that Elon Musk needs it for the rare minerals contained in the land buried beneath the ice.  Surely the head of government efficiency is not pushing for a major US incursion abroad just to line his own pockets!

And finally, the in-coming President is rattling his saber about taking the Panama Canal and placing it back under United States control.  The canal, which was constructed largely by the United States in the early 1900's, was controlled by the US up until the latter part of the century.  President Carter signed an agreement in 1977 giving control of the canal to Panama, and it was formally transferred in 1999.  That agreement has continued to be a sore point with American conservatives of over the ensuing years.

The President of Panama, who has enjoyed a good relationship with the United States until now, has said clearly that the Panama Canal is not - and will not be - for sale.

The next administration is still several weeks out from taking office, yet its leader has wasted no time in angering foreign governments and once solid neighbors with bold threats about encroaching on their sovereignty.  These forays into demented diplomacy along with an assortment of oddball appointees to run our government makes it seem as though the major thrust of the incoming administration may simply be chaos.

We are going to need leadership, Mr. Trump, not a pack of jackals and grifters tearing the country apart to see what they can pocket for themselves.  The size of your legacy will not be measured in acres or dollars or grand palaces.   Your true legacy will be the amount of effort that you put into helping others and making their lives better.   That is where size really will matter.

Christmas Thoughts

by Pa Rock

It's Christmas morning in the Missouri Ozarks, but there isn't even a hint of sunshine, much less snow.  The word is "rain,"   It rained, nice and slow, most of yesterday and last night, and it is still coming down light and steady today.  The ground is soaked, many of the low water bridges are under water, and if the volume of falling rain were to suddenly increase, we could be in a real mess.

But the mess and the muck and the mire are extreme trivialities compared to the hardships that many are facing this Christmas.  We have homeless people living on the streets of America, today, on Christmas morning.   They're out there wrapped in blankets, if they are lucky enough to have blankets, and clinging to their pets, or their children, for warmth.  They are on the streets of Kansas City, Salt Lake City, and New York City - and most small communities, too.  We try to keep them hidden, but their presence persists.  They are always with us.  

Today a few will score a free meal courtesy of some club, or church, or other assemblage of do-gooders, but tomorrow, after Christmas has passed, they will be back digging in dumpsters in hopes of surviving off of the table scraps of those more fortunate.  Tonight the lucky ones will sleep in public shelters, or jail cells, or cars, and those less fortunate with curl up on subway grates, or in covered doorways, or under makeshift tents created from garbage bags and duct tape.  Most will awaken to more of the same tomorrow, and some will not awaken at all.   

People will simply lie down and die on the streets of the United States tonight.

And the suffering stretches around the globe.

Russia is bombing the hell out of Ukraine's power plants today, leaving millions of Ukrainians to try and survive without electricity - heat and light and refrigeration - and in some cases even water.  Children in Sudan are literally pulling grass from the ground and eating it in an effort to stay alive, and the families and children of Gaza, regardless of what political leaders would have us believe, have been enduring the ravages of famine for months.  An entire people are being exterminated and starved into extinction while the world looks the other way.

And while the world collapses into chaos, I sit in my warm home, far removed from the ravages of real life, cussing the rain.

If governments won't move to end hunger, homelessness, and poverty, the people must step up and do it for them.  Choose a charity that will help others, and support it vigorously in the new year. 

Let's all do our part - and then some - to make the world a place we can be proud of on Christmas Day.

Happy Holidays! (2024 Edition)

 

by Pa Rock

Merrymaker

Christmas Eve.  Rain off-and-on in the Ozarks today,  a forecast of rain off-and-on for Christmas Day and the rest of the week.  "I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas!"

2024 has been my year of travel.   The sojourns began in June with a very long drive from my home in southern Missouri, north to Winnipeg, Manitoba, across Canada to British Columbia, south to Sandpoint, Idaho (one of the most scenic communities in America), west to Salem, Oregon, to see grandchildren, and back to Missouri across the western and central US.  Highlights included getting hopelessly lost in Calgary, Alberta, during evening rush hour, visiting with Cousin Joyce in a beautiful spot overlooking Lake Pend Orielle in Sandpoint, visiting with five of my six grandchildren, driving around and across Yellowstone National Park on a very stormy afternoon, traveling through the Wind River Canyon in Wyoming, and getting home to my little dog Rosie.

The second trip was a train excursion from Kansas City to Chicago in July to attend a workshop of a new musical stage production that involved  the writing talent of my youngest son, Tim.   It is based on the film, "The Brass Teapot" starring Juno Temple and Michael Angarano, which Tim wrote.  I stayed at the historic Drake Hotel in Chicago where mobster Frank Nitti once had his office and where Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe spent part of their honeymoon.  My niece, Heidi, who lives in Chicago, showed me around the Windy City like I was a visiting VIP!

By October I was back into the American travel rut of flying.  Late that month my college friend from the 1960's, Carla, and I went to New York City where we saw several Broadway shows in just a very few days, and I was in the audience for part of New York's 36th Annual Festival of New Musicals where I saw another performance of a segment of "The Brass Teapot" - on a real New York stage!  Tim's family was in town for the big event, and my grand-niece Lauren, who is a student at Barnard College of Columbia University, was there, too.  Lauren is involved in theatre at Columbia.

My final trip was another flight, this time from Kansas City to Salt Lake City where I spent a week doing some family research at the renowned Mormon Library.  It was a productive trip, and I managed to catch up on some much needed sleep.  Made it home yesterday, just in time for the holidays!

Travel by planes, trains, and automobiles.  There ought to be a movie in all of that someplace.

Right now my only travel plan for the upcoming year is a car excursion to Oregon sometime in the spring.  Forewarned is forearmed, Molly!  If anything big happens in Tim's professional career - and several things could this year - I will be there for those also.  I don't need an invitation - I just push my way in!

"Pa Rock's Ramble," (pa-rocks-ramble.blogspot.com), my daily blog which turned seventeen last month, still limps along.  I had always promoted it on Twitter, but withdrew from that platform when it was taken over by a billionaire who seemed intent on making it a refuge for right-wing nut jobs and Nazi wannabes.  The blog readership dropped precipitously after I left Twitter, but I recently joined Bluesky (@parock23.bsky.social) and it is once again starting to climb.  Bluesky is a much better neighborhood than what's left of Twitter.

Rosie is doing well, but getting older.  She turned ten last July and now is about my age in dog years.  Rosie has some serious clouding of the eyes and vision issues, but she can still hear a mouse fart in a thunderstorm.  We also have another canine in our lives now, too.  Gypsy, a very large pitbull/bulldog cross, showed up at our house last December and decided to stay.  She is the sweetest dog ever, and is always happy to share anything that he has with little Rosie - even her food bowl!  Our household is rounded out by my oldest son, Nick, who lives here and works in town.  Over the past few years Nick has taken over much of the mowing and the labor involved in living on a large rural acreage.

I'm fine, too, even if my vision is going the way of Rosie's, getting up and down and walking is a lot harder, breathing takes more effort, and my old ticker seems to beat to its own out-of-sync rap song.  The upside is that I didn't break a single bone this year, and my hearing is fine when people speak up and don't mumble!

But age infirmities aside, I'm still here and kicking.  My life is going well, and I hope that yours is, too. Have a very merry Christmas and and a wonderful New Year!

Much love from

Pa Rock  

(and Rosie - and Gypsy - snd Nick)

Air Travel Sucks and then You Die

 

by Pa Rock

Dissatisfied Flyer

Last Sunday when I flew from Kansas City to Salt Lake City via Delta Airlines, I gave that company some props because they furnished a nice assortment of juices, eggnog, and cookies at the gate prior to our very early morning departure - and the plane left right on schedule.  I was impressed and said so, even though I was (am) righteously still pissed over the price of the round-trip airline ticket that they cheated me out of  back during the pandemic.   The ticket hung around in cyber space for awhile before being cancelled and not refunded by the company.

But, I am a magnanimous person and was quick to compliment the company on their exemplary service last week.   Now I would like to take it all back.

I flew back to Kansas City from Salt Lake City today, again on Delta, and this time it was a rolling horror show - absolutely the worst flying experience that I have ever endured.  My ticket was purchased and paid for around four weeks ago, and my son checked me in as soon as that process was opened.  Yet when I got my seat assignment it was as though I was their least valued customer.  I had been placed in Zone 8, the last group to board, and my seat assignment was a middle seat of the last row of the aircraft - back just in front of the latrines.  There were only five people left behind me as I boarded - a man and his wife and three small children, and when I got to my seat there were only five empty seats left - the row of three in front of me and one on each side of me.  Obviously I was not going to sit between a parent and their child, so I graciously moved to the window seat - even though there was no window on the last row of that particular aircraft where I sat curled up against the  curved wall of the plane for the duration of the trip.  And to frost the cake, the air vent for my seat didn't work.

I had given the corporate gods at Delta seventy dollars (thirty-five each way) extra to check my one bag, and I am sure that it traveled far more comfortably in the cargo hold than I did in the plane's rumble seat.

I have said it before, but this time I mean it - no more flying for this angry customer - ever.  somebody else can hav my seat  in the flying cattle car - and they are welcome to it!

Arriving at Kansas City's relatively new airport did nothing to improve my attitude.   The gate where our plane de-boarded was about a half-mile from the baggage claim, and if that is an exaggeration, it is only by inches.   When I finally made it to the parking garage, after collecting my big bag, another formidable hike, the lot's one elevator was out of service.  The last time I had been in that airport, in July of 2023, that same damned elevator wasn't working then either.  Hey Kansas City, fix it or turn it into a gift shop!

Here is an interesting fact about the airport in Salt Lake City.  The more than forty food vendors in the airport charge "street prices" instead of the criminally high prices that most other airports charge, including Kansas City.  A fair price for airport food - what a concept!

Molly and company, Pa Rock will be out to see you in Oregon in the spring - and I will be driving again.  I I just don't have the strength or patience to fly!

Some day all the oil and gas will be gone and the airlines will finally be forced to release their stranglehold on American public transportation.   I wish that I could be around to see it happen, but for the time-being . . . 

Keep them doggies movin', rawhide!

The Sun, She Rises

by Pa Rock

Hater of Airports

It's a little before 8:00 a.m. and I am finally past security and in the bowels of the Salt Lake City Airport.  So far today i have gotten up, organized, finished packing, checked out of the hotel, sat in the cold for half-an-hour waiting on the tram and then got on the wrong one - and nearly fell off for my trouble, got on the right tram and eventually got to the airport.  Here I managed to get in two wrong lines before finally stumbling into the right one, and now I am safely parked at an airport Burger King waiting on the Second Coming or a flight to Kansas City - whichever comes first.

I hate airports and flying.   Human beings should not be subjected to the indignities of air travel.  I also hate health insurance companies, dealing with pharmacies, pop-up ads on the internet, and the evangelicals in the Missouri Legislature who want to spend my tax dollars to send their kids and grandkids to religious schools.  There is more, of course, but I don't want to come across as too negative this early in the morning.

Happy holidays!

Time to Get Packing!

 

by Pa Rock

Weary Traveler

It's Saturday afternoon and my week in Salt Lake City is careening to a close.  Tomorrow morning I will check out of my hotel which borders on Temple Square and catch the Green Line Tram to the airport.  My flight is at 10 a.m and I should be back in Kansas City by 1:30 in the afternoon.

It has been an eventful week in some respects, but there were a few fizzles along the way.   I learned, for instance, that my ability to get around on foot had decreased markedly during the six years since I was last in the capital city of Utah, but, on the upside, this time I became very proficient at using the tram system.  

One of my "goals" this year was to watch the weekly rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the Tabernacle (something I enjoyed six years ago), and I even went there early in the week to make certain that I had accurate information about the event.  A couple of very nice older Mormon volunteers told me that it would be Thursday evening at 7:30.   I showed up at the appointed time and was swept into the Tabernacle by masses of people who were entering and leaving and strolling around the beautiful outdoor holiday lights.  Once inside two more volunteers told me that there was no rehearsal this week because of the large and extravagant multi-choir performance - community and school groups -  that was happening next door.  I could, if I so desired, get on the waiting list for the possibility of a ticket to that.  I declined.

I did stop and drop two dollars into a can beside a very cold panhandler on my way back to the hotel.   He was sitting on the sidewalk wrapped in a couple of ragged blankets - next to his faithful dog who was also bundled up against the cold.   My feelings of grandiosity were quickly tempered, however, when a lady stepped up next to me and handed him a folded bill that looked like a twenty.  "Merry Christmas," he said to each of us.

I don't understand why there is such extreme poverty in America.  I just cannot comprehend how people wind up sitting on sidewalks on cold winter evenings, begging for survival, in the heart of the richest nation on earth.

On the plus side of the equation, my week in Utah did include some real positives.   I finished a couple of small writing projects which have been in the hopper for too long, and I slept soundly every night - and now feel rested for the first time in a very long time.  The trip was worth the expense just for the physical rejuvenation effects alone.

And I also had some positive results with the library research.  "Family Search," the library's new name, is under the control of a group called Family Search and appears to be a part of the Mormon Church.  Family Search maintains a site on the internet that is very similar to Ancestry.com, the place where I maintain my "official" family tree.  Six years ago I opened a free account with Family Search and made just a very few entries in a family tree which I started at that site.  My tree had grown a massive amount over the past six years with information that Family Search had collected from my personal research at that site, but also through the research of others who had connections to my tree.

Early this week I took a long and detailed look at my family tree at Family Search, expecting to encounter many errors due to sloppy research by others, but, for the most part, the information in that tree seemed to match the one which I have done completely on my own at Ancestry.com.

But I did come across one branch where I felt my information was better than what had been affixed to the Family Search tree, and I sat down with one of the many library volunteers to discuss it and to learn how to challenge information on the tree.  Our conversation and some subsequent work together led to my most significant find of the week.    Together the very nice lady and I managed to unearth a probate document that had been filed in Ohio in 1892 that not only added to my knowledge of my great-grandfather, whose family past even his children were unaware, but also showed that the information in the Family Search was accurate.  I now know quite a bit more about this particular ancestor than I did when my plane landed in Salt Lake last Sunday.

Another discovery that I made this week as I was researching at the library was that the library was printing large (24" X 36") family tree charts and handing them out to individuals.  They were in full-color and I assumed would be quite pricey.  On Thursday as I was visiting with another library volunteer regarding another problem, I asked about the charts.  It turns out there were 9-generation fan charts - and I have several lines that go back nine generations and even further - and it also turns out that they were free, one to a customer -  and we printed mine right as I sat there!   It was gifted to me in a sturdy cardboard tube for a safe flight back to Missouri.

(For my Missouri kin, a nice poster frame would be a very appropriate Christmas gift!)

Time to get packing - literally!  It's been a very good week in Salty City!

Two Daddies - and We Ain't Seen Nothing Yet!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Billionaire do-badder and tight crony of the in-coming President, Elon Musk, has been in the news this week as he forcefully moved to derail a plan to fund the government for three months.  House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, had worked tirelessly to piece together  the proposal that Musk blithely dismissed.    Johnson, who barely has control of the House, even on a good day, had to work with Democrats to bring a plan together that he hoped would draw enough votes from both parties in order to pass.  Musk, who has no official role in government other than apparently playing step-and-fetch-it for wobbly King of Mar-a-Lago, did not like the plan that Johnson proposed and said so.   He encouraged Republicans to vote it down.

The once and future President who had been relatively silent on the matter (for him), suddenly appeared to have been sidelined by his country club guest, and now felt that he had to get into the fray for his own ego if for no other more substantive reason.   He and Musk helped push Speaker Johnson into offering up a "Plan B" bill that offered far less to average citizens - yet cost even more than the original plan, the plan that Co-President-elect Musk had swiftly tanked.

Last night that plan failed when all of the Democratic Representatives voted a resounding "hell no," and 38 Republicans ignored a threat from the other in-coming Co-President (the orange one) to primary them if they voted against his approved plan for keeping the government open past midnight tonight.

Now Musk and his political partner are saying that the government will just have to shutdown and stay closed until the new President(s) is/are inaugurated on January 20th.  They are also begging the general public to remember that Democrats brought this crisis upon the country - but most Americans are smarter than that.

There is talk on the internet today that perhaps there is too much leadership coming from the Republican Party and that Americans may be confused as to who is really in charge and what the party's agenda actually is.

Is the billionaire who actively and obscenely purchased his way into a position of influence running things, or is it the guy from Florida whose name was actually on the ballot?  And if we do wind up with de facto Co-Presidents, will it make for enhanced leadership - or just more chaos.  So far the "chaos" horse seems to be leading by a couple on lengths.

Speaker Johnson is likely to lose his gavel when Congress reorganizes on January 3rd.    That opens the floor to another Republican meller-drama like the one we witnessed fourteen months ago when Johnson was finally elected (out of desperation) as Speaker.  Good times!

Some are even suggesting that Elon Musk should be elected Speaker of the House - since the Constitution fails to stipulate that the Speaker has to be an actual member of the House.  Elon might be a good choice for that position since he would be able to quickly reward members for backing his favored legislation with something much more lucrative than committee assignments or good parking spaces.

Or perhaps Mr. Moneybags would prefer to be the shadow President, because as John F. Kennedy famously said, the presidency "is where the real power is."

But is America ready for two Presidents - one who wages war on the poor with wild, false claims of improving government efficiency - and the other who golfs by day and posts blithering nonsense by night?  Can we survive in a household with two egomaniacal daddies?

It's Friday, December 20th, and the federal government could shut down tonight and remain closed for at least a month.  For those who think we can function without a federal government, get ready for a big surprise.  It's going to be a long and very hard row to hoe.  And then to try to emerge from a month of no operational government and be faced with two father-figures who are each trying to run the household for their own benefit.

To quote Colonel Kurtz, "The horror!  The horror!"

Or, to misquote Bachman Turner Overdrive, we probably "ain't seen nothing yet!"

Gosar's CRap Poll

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

I haven't lived in Arizona in over ten years, and when I was there I never lived in Paul Gosar's congressional district, but somehow I landed on his email newsletter list,  I should ask to have my name removed from the list because Gosar and I agree on absolutely nothing, but some depraved part of me gets a kick out of his never-ending fount of nonsense.  The right-wing extremist Republican is often hysterically funny when he solicits comments from his readers and then skewers them unmercifully for their views.

This week Congressman Gosar was banging on about the proposed continuing resolution to fund the government up into next March, something he is quick to let his readers know that he vociferously opposes.  But, he would also like for his readers to give him some props on his position by answering a poll on the matter that Gosar and his staff have prepared.  Gosar's poll is biased to the point of being comically deranged.

He begins with an explanation of the continuing resolution, one that expresses it clearly through the congressman's own point of view.  Here is his introduction to the subject:

"Shortly, Congress will vote on a 1,547-page continuation resolution (CR) to fund the federal government until mid-March.  I personally think the CR is chocked full of a bunch of garbage that I cannot support.   It's more big government, more massive spending, includes a pay raise for Members of Congress, and is loaded with Big Pharma giveaways.  Do you agree with me?       Before I cast my. vote, I want to hear from you.  Do you think Congress should pass the CR?"

And for those who are still unclear as to how to vote following that sterling introduction, Gosar drops a couple of more hints in the way he prepares his ballot, first with the title, and then with the wording of the choices:

"CRapnibus

_____  Yes.   I want more spending and government.

_____  No.   It's a loser for the American people.

--------  Unsure"

Congressman Gosar is probably going to get the answer he is begging for, but he won't get it from me.  He clearly is not truly interested in what his constituents think if he has to tell them what to think.   It's actually disrespectful.

Occupy Mars, Elon, or Repatriate to South Africa

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The world's richest human, Elon Musk, seems to be attached, at least at the wallet, to the incoming President.  Musk, a native of South Africa who allegedly began amassing his obscene fortune while living in the US on an expired student visa, donated somewhere north of $277 million to the President-elect's presidential campaign, making him not only the largest individual donor in this year's election cycle, but also giving him near total access to the man who will be controlling the government that pumps so much money into Musk's businesses.

And the incoming President, a man who takes care of himself first and then spreads the leftovers from the feast around to those who bolster his ego and his bottom line, rewarded the cagey billionaire with an appointment to head a new White House-centered effort to weed out waste and inefficiency in government.  

Elon will have the ear of the Big Man with the long red tie when it comes to cutting programs and eliminating positions.   Many fear that he will propose cutting programs and benefits to the working poor and those on fixed incomes, such as retirees, while keeping in place or enhancing those that feed into the bloated corporate welfare system.

There will be several billionaires directly involved in our government during the next administration, but none will have anywhere near the proximity or level of access to the boss that Elon Musk seems to be currently enjoying.

But it is still December and while Elon is busy fetching drinks and giving foot-rubs at Mar-a-Lago, Congress (well, some of Congress) is trying pass a continuing resolution (CR) to keep government open.  Without the CR the government will shut down this Friday night - just five days before Christmas, laying off thousands of federal employees during the holidays and interfering with untold amounts of government services.

Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, has put forth a resolution that will keep the government operational for three months at which time the new administration can handle the mess, but Johnson, a Republican, is facing stiff opposition from his own party in Congress and will need a lot of Democratic support to get his plan enacted - and he may not be able to come up with enough votes to keep the government operational.

Enter Elon Musk, a man who believes he has just purchased a presidency.  Elon issued an opinion today stating that the CR should be rejected and Congress should pass no more bills until his President takes office on January 20th.   That would be a full month of the federal government being shut down.  Elon could certainly live with that, but could we?

Elon probably sees a long-term shutdown as being a nice fit with the austerity measures that his new, freshly created, position with the government will entail.

Of course he does.

Give Americans a good taste of hard times, and then when he and his sidekick, Vivek,  really start slashing it won't be such a shock to the system.

A billionaire buys a position in government where he can promote his own self-interests while curtailing programs that only help normal people - things like education, health care, housing, and social security - the social safety net - and we're supposed to be fine with that?

Not at my house, we aren't!

Occupy Mars, Elon - or at least go home.  If you want to be a political player, go play in South Africa.  I hear that Pretoria is lovely this time of year!

The Man Who Damned Near Never Returned

 

by Pa Rock

Stranger on a Tram

I left the library early today and took the tram to the center of Salt Lake to try and find a reasonably-priced lunch and buy a few groceries to bring back to my rooms.  The tram ride was only a few blocks and I got to where I wanted to go without incident - though when I got off I still had three or so blocks to go on foot.  (And the blocks in Salt Lake City are insanely long, with avenues so wide that I cannot get across before the lights change.  Some pedestrians literally sprint across the busy streets.)

Old man, hobbling along while struggling to keep his blue jeans pulled up.  Walk a hundred yards, sit on a bench to catch my breath,  get up and walk another hundred.   Eventually I made it to the mall food court and from there took a tunnel beneath a major street and came out at the multi-story grocery and deli.  Thirty minutes later with two bags of groceries, I exited the store via a different door and facing a different direction from the way I had entered.

The double grocery bags had paper handles, so I had a pair of grips in each hand - and my right thumb was hooked through a belt loop to make sure that I didn't accidentally flash downtown Salt Lake City.  It took quite a bit of walking - twenty minutes or so - but eventually I came across a tram stop.  One arrived in less than five minutes, and I managed to get aboard - so far, so good,   But the car that I entered was crowded and I had to go up a step and then a ramp to take a seat in an elevated section at the back of the car.

These SLC trams are automatically controlled without drivers, so there is no one to hold the train if a traveler is having trouble getting to the door.  I stumbled toward the automatic doors when the tram arrived at my stop, but reached them just as they were closing.  A very nice lady stepped up and told me that I could get off at the next stop and quickly catch a ride back to my stop.  This time I didn't take a seat but hung onto a pole right in front of the doors.  When we arrived at the next stop, the lady came up to me again and pointed out where I should stand.

I carried my grocery bags right to where she had directed me and stood and waited.

But, the areas where the trams stop are very lengthy affairs, and the trams are shorter than their boarding zones.  The next tram was only three cars long, and as it passed by I was quickly aware that it was not stopping - at least not stopping near me.  When it finally did stop, the last car was about thirty feet up the tracks from where I was standing.   I moved as fast as I could, carrying my bags and struggling to keep my jeans from falling down - and got to the tram just as the last car's doors were closing.  

Curses, foiled again!

Not surprisingly I was starting to hear the refrain of the Kingston Trio's "Man Who Never Returned" in my head.    Would I ever see my hotel room again - or Rosie - or my little home and piney acres in the Ozarks?

I finally made it on the third try.

Charlie was a nickel short on his MTA fare because of a rate increase that he hadn't known about - and the conductors would not let him off of the subway without the extra five cents.

"Well did he ever return, no he never returned

And his fate is still unlearned 
He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned!"

 

Molly Files, All Smiles at Forty-Eight

 

by Pa Rock

Proud Papa

My only daughter, Molly Miranda Macy Files, turned forty-eight yesterday (December 17th), and her father forgot her birthday.   Molly, my excuse is that I am out-of-state and completely lost track of time - and I am so sorry!

(I have backdated this post to December 17th in case someone tries to find it someday.)

Molly is a "stay-at-home" mother of three who is on the road more than most over-the-road truckers.    The kids are all teenagers, and somehow she and Scott manage to get everyone to school, practices, events, work, and the hundreds of commitments that confront modern families.

Molly arrived on a cold December day at a hospital in Joplin, Missouri.  Her visitors on that first day included her maternal grandmother, Aggie, and great-grandmother, Sofia Wiederkehr Doerpinghaus - and her paternal grandparents, Garland and Florine Macy.  Molly's grandmother Florine went on an on about "our baby's beautiful red curls."

Molly has always been an independent spirit, and in the late 1990s she moved to Phoenix on her own where she held a variety of interesting jobs.  That is where she met Scott, who had also grown up in the midwest.   They have lived in Salem, Oregon, for more than fifteen years.

Molly, happy belated birthday.  I hope that your big day was special and that you were able to sit for awhile, catch your breath, and bask in the love of your family.  Enjoy the chaos of an active family because it goes by far too quickly!

I will see you in the spring.

Monday Finds Utah Open for Business!

 

by Pa Rock

Busy Tourist 

It has ben a very active day for this weary traveler as he relearns how to get around in Salt Lake City.  A few observations:  

• People here are very nice, almost to a fault, and when an obvious tourist needs needs directions or help, someone is always quick to step forward and help.  That is especially true at the Family Search Library where the "staff" seems to be mostly Mormon volunteers.  This morning I was having some tremor issues with my hands - and old malady - and a very nice volunteer sat down next to me and started helping with typing and showing me the library's resources and how to access them.  Lola was wonderful!
• There is some obvious poverty and mental health issues in the community, but it is not nearly as apparent as the poor and mentally impaired that I encountered on the streets of New York and Chicago earlier this year.  I stood inside of a store at lunch time while waiting on a tram, and used my time there watching a young man on the sidewalk stop and visit with a woman in a wheelchair who had a small dog resting on her lap and a cardboard begging sign in her free hand.  He squatted down to her level, something new teachers are trained to do, and spoke to her at eye level.  It was obvious they were both engaged in the friendly conversation.  Finally he pulled out his phone and took a selfie that included her and her dog - and then he slipped her a donation.  The interaction came across as cordial and heartfelt.
• I did encounter one young lady with obvious mental health issues.  She was wearing a knee-length fuzzy winter coat with a hood, but she seemed intent on keeping the coat open and revealing her halter-type top and a long portion of bare stomach - on a very chilly day.  I stepped around her and into a "Johnny Rocket's" for lunch, and a few minutes later she entered and sat at the counter.  It was warm in the cafe, but there was no chair back at the counter to hang her coat on, and she eventually decided that her best option was to lay the coat out on the floor - which she did.  The busy waitresses were careful to step around the garment, and no one questioned her or requested that she move it.  Keep the customer satisfied, I suppose.
• There are some large American cities where the public is concerned about running homeless and mentally impaired people off of the streets and out of sight, but Salt Lake City seems to be intentionally showing a great deal of humanity.  The city is basically very clean and neat, and I felt completely safe walking around by myself last night even though, as I hobble along, I am an obviously easy target.
• Salt Lake City. was laid out by Brigham Young who insisted on very wide streets.  I can't get across during a light change, even though I really step it off in a hurry.  Jaywalking is a rarity, whereas in the Big Apple it is a way of life.  There are some rental scooters about, but again it is nothing like the ones infesting Chicago and New York.
• Salt Lake City is clean and neat, even with a great deal of construction occurring.   It is safe and inviting, a good fit for those of us who are past our fighting prime!

Tomorrow, back to the library.  Thursday night I will be attending a rehearsal of the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the Tabernacle.  I did that on my last visit and it was a highlight of the trip.

Welcome to Utah: Closed on Sundays

 

by Pa Rock

Traveling Fool

It is 7:00 p.m. Utah time.   I made it safely to Salt Lake City early this morning, leaving the new Kansas City multi-story shopping mall that also serves as an airport at 6:30 a.m. and arriving in the Utah capital promptly at 8:00 a.m. local time - and once there caught that tram which has a downtown stop right in front of the hotel where I am staying.  The tram ride of several miles was only $1.25 with my senior discount, and I learned this evening - after walking to dinner and back - that rides are free all over downtown.  Tomorrow I will use that knowledge to explore!

I flew via Delta, a carrier with whom I am still pissed over the price of a Kansas City to Boston round-trip ticket that the airline stole from me during the pandemic.  But, it is what it is and sometimes I must fly when I would much rather be on a train, and sometimes I have to fly Delta, so I suck it up and fly Delta.

To the airline's credit, they did show up at the departure gate with fruit juice, egg nog, and small pastries this morning just before our flight left - much appreciated - and the flight was flawless, leaving and arriving right on schedule.  Thank you for a pleasant morning trip, Delta.

This has been a record-setting day for walking.  My departure gate in KC was about halfway to Salt Lake City, and the arrival gate in SLC was about halfway back to KC.  Then, after getting settled in to my hotel room, I went out in search of breakfast and put a lot more wear on my comfy sandals.  Utah closes on Sundays, but I eventually found a Starbucks where I was able to enjoy a nice breakfast sandwich and a large cup of milk.  But it was a good long walk from the hotel.

This evening I walked even further to one of the two downtown malls - the other completely closes on Sundays.  Both malls are meandering, multi-level outdoor affairs, and there were very few eating options even in the one that had remained open in defiance of God and the ghost of Brigham Young.  But I finally stumbled into a very noisy Dave and Buster's where I had a messy, but very good, sandwich amid the noise of football games blaring from a variety of big-screen televisions.

My pedometer says I am currently just shy of 14,000 steps for the day.

The hotel where I am staying, The Plaza, sits next door to my research destination, The Family Search Library - aka The Mormon Library.  It, too, is closed on Sundays, but I will be there when the doors open in the morning.  My hotel room is on the backside of the 6th floor and looks out over the rooftop of The Family Search Library.  I also have a nice view of the Utah State Capitol which sits on the side of a hill several blocks away.  I walked to the Capitol building when I was last here six years ago and learned quite a bit about the state's interesting history - which has much of its genesis in my own state of Missouri.

All of today's walking was very tiring.  I suspect that I will sleep well tonight.  It will be nice to experience Utah when it is open for business tomorrow!

Kansas City Holiday Tradition is Back Better than Ever!

 

by Pa Rock

Patron of the Arts

A stage version of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is once again being performed to perfection by the Kansas City Repertory Theatre at the University of Missouri at Kansas City's Spencer Theatre.  This year marks the 43rd time that the KC Rep has put on this fine production.  The Roeland Park Macy's and Pa Rock have been attending since Olive was four - and she is thirteen now!

Each year I leave the theatre proclaiming that the current production is the best ever, and yesterday, as we left a matinee performance, I was back to beating that same drum.  There are a few changes made to the production every year - and the result is that it not only stays fresh, but also keeps getting better and better!

If you are in the Kansas City area and looking for some great holiday entertainment, look no further than Ebenezer Scrooge and gang at the Spencer Theatre on the campus of UMKC.    Performances run through Saturday, December 28th.  The show is so good that you may choose to return year after year - like Olive and Sully and the other Macys - the old ones!

It's a grand tradition with strolling carolers, chained and unchained ghosts, fog, snow, and glimpses inside the shops, and homes, and hearts of the denizens of Victorian England as recounted by one of the world's most beloved storytellers.

Don't miss this show.  You'll leave singing!

Mystery Drones Over the Ozarks

 

by Pa Rock

Nocturnal Watchdog

There have been numerous stories in the national news this past week about mystery drones being sighted over New Jersey, very close to the financial, commercial, and cultural hub of New York City, as well as over a large part of the east coast. Groups of drones have also been reported over Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, with some in close proximity to the nation's capital.   Drone's "the size of cars" were supposedly filmed flying over Bowie, Maryland.  Mystery drones flew in formation over Langley AFB for 17 evenings in October.  Langley is located in an area where the US military has many important assets.

People are beginning to get rattled.  The President-Elect went on his social media platform, Truth Social, Friday night and posted this gem of paranoia and bravado:

"Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country.   Can this really be happening without our government's knowledge.  I don't think so!  Let the public know, and now.  Otherwise, shoot them down!!!  DJT."

There are obviously public safety concerns connected with randomly shooting down drones (especially drones the size of cars) in tightly packed urban settings.

According to an article in Newsweek, the FBI has received over 3,000 reports of mystery drone sightings, most of which have occurred at night, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued temporary flight restrictions in New Jersey over a military base and a Trump golf course where nocturnal drones have been recently sighted.  Thank Allah the incoming President isn't a petty tyrant who would use the military and powers of government to protect or enhance his personal property!

The White House is downplaying the spate of drone sightings.  John Kirby with National Security Agency (NSA) said, "We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat."  He added that it now appears that "Many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully."

The FBI is stating that the drones are not the property of the US military, nor do they belong to foreign governments.  (How do they know that?)

Yesterday as I left West Plains heading toward Kansas City, I listen to a local area newscast which said that lately there have several sightings of mystery drones over southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. In the report on Ozark Radio News, a lady from Gainesville, Missouri,  reported that she and her husband had seen a large group of at least twenty-five near their home.  Area sightings have reached across Howell and Ozark Counties in Missouri - stretching toward Branson, and also in Baxter County, Arkansas.  The news cast quoted another woman who said that some of the drones were as large as cars.

So that's the mystery drone news.  It seems to be real - and spreading - and somewhat somewhat fly-by-night.  Could there be a link to Missouri's new constitutional amendment making the use of recreational weed legal for adults?  Enquiring minds want to know!

West Plains Native Rescued from Malibu Fire

 

by Pa Rock

West Plains Scribe

Renowned comedian and actor Dick Van Dyke was born ninety-nine years ago today in West Plains, Missouri, a small town to which his unmarried and pregnant mother-to-be had been banished to live with relatives until her baby was born. 
 
That’s the official story, the one that Van Dyke himself shared one evening on “The Tonight Show.”   Pearl Clutcher and the old dears from the Happy Daze Retirement Resort out behind the Senior Center  here in West Plains tell a different version.   Their accounting of that happy event is included in our new information booklets that were specially printed for this past year’s “Eclipse” celebration.  Pearl and the girls say that Mr. and Mrs. Van Dyke were living in West Plains nearly a century ago when their first child was born.  Mr. Van Dyke’s business suddenly hit the skids (some say he was a traveling salesman), and the young couple took their infant son and returned to Illinois to be closer to their extended families.
 
The actor’s own version is more interesting and far more likely to be true.  Girls were suddenly moving away to live with relatives forty years later when I was in high school, and probably still are today.  And when they returned a year or two later with an infant or small child, life resumed as if nothing happened.   Nobody gives a rip, except, of course, Pearl and the girls at the Happy Daze.
 
In addition to turning ninety-nine today, Dick Van Dyke has been in the news this week for another reason. The well-heeled entertainer has a home in the hills around the ritzy beach community of Malibu, California, and this week he and others were forced to flee their homes ahead of the advancing Franklin Fire.  (As of yesterday morning that fire was only 7 percent contained.)   Van Dyke had problems getting out and had to be rescued by his neighbors.
 
Dick Van Dyke said that he has been in the path of four previous wildfires and knew what to do and how to get away, but this time, he admitted, he was not prepared.  He said that he has a firehose that operates out of his swimming pool and shoots a 75-foot stream of water.  That is his primary protection against the wildfires.
 
 As the smoke started thickening a couple of days ago, he went to the pool to get the hose working and found that it was lying on the ground tangled - exactly the way mine is lying tangled today outside of my back door today.  Van Dyke said that he was lying on the ground trying to get the big hose untangled when he could suddenly see the flames coming over the hill.  He was crawling toward his car when three neighbors arrived and carried him to his car and then returned to the house where they also collected his wife, Arlene, and all but one of their pets.  After rescuing the family, the neighbors then went to the Van Dyke guest house which was on fire and put out that blaze.
 
Van Dyke credits his selfless neighbors with being heroes.  He said that he and Arlene – and presumably the rescued pets – spent the night at a hotel in Santa Monica, a place where he had been paid to entertain in 1948.  Damage was limited to their small guest house.
 
Also temporarily displaced by the Franklin Fire were a pair of two-time Golden Globe Award-winning actresses, Jane Seymour and entertainment legend Cher.  Cher has also received an Oscar for Best Actress.
 
(I will know I have “arrived” when I can afford to buy a house in Cher’s neighborhood!)
 
Happy 99^th birthday, Dick Van Dyke.  When your big party starts to wind down, take the guests out to the pool and have them help get that hose untangled!
 

Another Road Trip

 

by Pa Rock

Traveling Fool

It seems like I do a lot of traveling, but even so my little car still has less than 60,000 miles on the odometer, and it had around 18,000 accumulated miles when I bought it three years ago - and a very big chunk of the ones that I have put on it since then were from one trip across much of Canada last summer that rolled up over six thousand.  I make several trips a year to see doctors in Mountain Home, Arkansas (a little over 100 miles round trip) - and Springfield, Missouri (a little over 200 miles round trip) - and a half-dozen or so to Roeland Park, Kansas to see my son and his family (nearly 600 miles round trip).  Beyond that, there are stretches of days at a time when I don't even get in the car and go anywhere.

Herman the hermit.

Getting out and about seems to be more difficult as the years pile on.  This year I have pushed hard and am about to make my fourth major trip of the year.  (A major trip is anything that takes me beyond Roeland Park, Kansas.)   Rosie and I are packing today - clothes, research materials, dog bowls - and heading for Kansas early tomorrow where we will enjoy a couple of days with the Macy's of Roeland Park, and then on Sunday I will be flying to Salt Lake City for a week of family research at the Mormon Library.   Rosie will be vacationing with Tim and Erin while I am away - and she will be spoiled rotten and cuddled unmercifully by Erin.

I began this year with good intentions of not flying anywhere, and did manage to make one long trip by car and another by train.   But flying in America is a necessary fact of life because our government refuses to pursue any viable alternatives to cars and planes and oil and gas - and will not until the last drop of fossil fuel is consumed and its poisonous fumes farted into the atmosphere.  

Secretary Pete was such a disappointment.  

High-speed rail now!

I have packed my pick and shovel, and in a couple of days I will be digging up dead relatives with wild abandon - and the political horrors that await us beginning January 20th will be far out of mind.

Stay positive, that's what I always say - and if you can't stay positive, pack a bag and go somewhere!  But just remember if you would like to check that bag and avoid the hassle of dragged it around the airport, it will cost at least an extra thirty dollars.  And if you would like a decent seat, that will be extra, too.

End junk fees now!

Murder in Manhattan! (Episode 5: "The Howling")

 

by Pa Rock

True Crime Fan

The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson took place one week ago this morning on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan.  The victim was shot twice in the back and once in the back of the leg as he approached the Midtown Hilton Hotel, his destination for the morning.  The shooter, later identified as 26-year-old Luigi Mangione of Baltimore, Maryland, managed to escape the scene on foot and then on an electric bicycle before finally catching a cab and making his way to New York City's major bus terminal where he hopped on a Greyhound and fled the city.

Mangione, who quickly became the subject of a nationwide manhunt, was captured five days after the shooting by police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, as he was sitting in one of that city's McDonald's dining on a hash brown and working at his laptop computer.  The young shooter was found with a three-page, hand-written "manifesto" on his person, and his fingerprints have been matched to those at the crime scene.  He is facing some minor charges in Pennsylvania and has been indicted on a second-degree murder charge in New York.  The states of New York and Pennsylvania are cooperating in trying to extradite Luigi Mangione back to New York where he will stand trial on the more serious charge, but the prisoner is fighting the extradition effort.

The motive for the murder seems to have been what one Altoona policeman referred to as Mangione's "ill-will" toward corporate America, and in particular his disdain for the health insurance industry whose business model increases corporate profits when services to customers are limited or denied.  Mangione  seemed to have an interest or fascination with the crimes of the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.  (A copy of the "manifesto" which Luigi Mangione had on him at the time of his arrest is available on the internet homepage of journalist Ken Klippenstein - it is easy to find and an insightful read.)

The thrust of this drama appears to be over, at least until the culprit is brought to trial, probably several months from now.   There is some fallout from the shooting, however, which is still reverberating through society and bears examination.  The shooting resulted in the death of a human being, and that is tragic, but on another level, it tapped into a surprisingly potent current of societal anger at health insurance companies and their perceived lack of compassion and fairness toward their customers.  Literally within minutes of the news of the shooting in Manhattan, social media posts started going up relating very personal accounts of how average people had been mistreated and cheated by their health insurance carriers.  People were attributing the deaths of loved ones to cruel and arbitrary decisions made by nameless bureaucrats ad autocrats hiding in the corporate labyrinth of giant insurance companies.

One meme that blazed across social media after the murder of the CEO of America's largest healthcare insurance provider was "Thoughts and prayers are out of network," a clear slap at a standard health insurance  excuse for denying care and service.  Another social media user posted this piece of insurance-related snark:  "If you would like to appeal the fatal gunshot, please call 800-555-1234 with case #123456789P to initiate a peer-to-peer within 48 hours of the fatal gunshot."

Cenk Uygar, a host on "The Young Turks," may have exposed the root of the public outrage with this post on X last Thursday:

"Shooting the UnitedHealthcare CEO is a terrible thing to do.  It's deeply immoral and solves nothing.  At the same time, 76,000 Americans die every year because of the health insurance industry.   I also mourn for them.  And I don't see any press coverage or concern for their deaths."

The gunshots in Manhattan last Wednesday were ricocheting across America - and insurance companies were having to duck and cover.

Stocks of major health insurers fell an average of six percent during the last week, and UnitedHealthcare (UNH) was down eight percent.

The McDonald's franchise in Altoona, Pennsylvania, also took some public abuse over the part it played in the capture of Luigi Mangione.  There was a sudden onslaught of bad reviews from customers on the internet, some of which referenced totally false things like rats in the kitchen.

Angry people were wanting the world to know that Brian Thompson was not the only victim.

Whether Luigi Mangione had intentionally created a diabolical design to become a folk hero or not, many seemed to be elevating him to that status.  He had been a lone wolf howling in the wind, and long-suffering Americans heard his wails and began seeding the winds with their own painful howls.  Maybe this time they will be heard.