Indiana Stands Strong!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

After suffering an array of threats against themselves and their families, their property, and the well-being of their state, members of the strongly Republican dominated state senate in Indiana yesterday stood strong and gave the Trump administration a one-finger salute as that body turned down the new congressional maps that had been ordered by the White House.  In the end the vote wasn't even close.  The Indiana State Senate voted the measure down 31-19.

Not only did members suffer threats of violence and harm from random nut jobs, they also received an aggressive amount of political pressure from individuals and organizations outside of their state, with Donald Trump and JD Vance being two of the more prominent bullies.  In the hours before the vote was taken a posting on social media by the right-wing "Heritage Action" subtly reminded Indiana state senators and voters what was at stake:

"President Trump has made it clear to Indiana leaders:  "If the Indiana Senate fails to pass the map, all federal funding will be stripped from the state.   

Roads will not be paved.  Guard bases will close.   Major projects will stop.  These are the stakes and every NO vote will be to blame."

The Trump administration has apparently not yet taken ownership of those sentiments, but should those punitive acts begin occurring, their genesis will certainly not be shrouded in mystery.

The new maps in Indiana would have stripped the Indianapolis area of its representation in Congress by attaching parts of the city to surrounding rural districts, and the two Democratic congressmen from Indianapolis would have likely lost their seats.   One of those two Democratic seats also belongs to the state's only Black representative in Congress.

The Trump administration put pressure on several states to redraw their congressional maps in an effort to keep GOP control of the US House nexxt year.  Trump ordered the Missouri legislature to redraw its congressional maps to eliminate the Democratic seat covering most of Kansas City, and the Missouri State Legislature  quickly complied.  (Missouri citizens are fiercely fighting back against Trump's interference in their state's politics - and it will likely be overturned by a vote of the people.)   But Indiana showed far more determination and resolve to maintain their state's sovereignty than Trump's bootlickers in the Missouri Legislature were able to do.

Nobody likes bullies, and Indiana had the cajones to stand up to the biggest, meanest, and nastiest bully of them all!

Salute, Hoosiers!  Well done!

Fishing, Lies, and Penance

by Bob Randall

(Editor's Note:  I hadn't heard from Ranger Bob for awhile and was starting to grow concerned, when I received an email from him earlier this week letting me know things were fine - he had just been away fishing. Bob went on to describe his fishing weekend with friends in his typical humorous fashion.  I asked if I could share the email here for others to enjoy, and Bob agreed.  For those of us who can't visit one of Missouri's beautiful state parks this fall, we can live vicariously through Ranger Bob!  Thanks for sharing, old friend. - Pa Rock)

On the Montauk State Park fishing trip of December 5,6, and 7, four of us had a great time.  On Saturday morning I returned to the location I had successfully fished the previous afternoon below the rearing raceways.   If you're familiar with the area, it is downstream of the old historic mill.  Fishing a soft hackle fly in the stream between the river and the rearing area outflow, I used the same method of swinging a soft hackle which might have mimicked any of the common aquatic insects in their emerging stages.  I have listened to a professional fly fishing class which cost me nearly $150 (what the heck, it's my birthday present to myself), about swinging nymphs.   He swore that most fish are caught within 15 seconds of the swing, and when your fly reaches the end of the swing (I call it the dangle) it's time to recast to a quartering downstream position.  I never caught any fish on the swing.  I caught all of those on Friday afternoon on the "dangle."  Sometimes I had to let it sit at the end of the swing for a minute or so and then all of a sudden: bam!  A strike.  The nice thing about a "dangle" strike is that you let the fish set the hook itself.   You can lollygag, watch birds, other fishermen, water conditions, or even daydream and let the fish set the hook for you.

Back to Saturday morning.  Using the "dangle" technique, I caught a fish right off.  Another cast, recast, and then I caught a lunker that put up such a fight that it broke my fly rod! .........................

As I wrote that previous sentence, I could hear my dad's voice from when I was about ten years old., telling me not to lie.  I recall that he looked at me sternly and said, "Don't lie.  I don't like liars."  So in obedience to Dad, I admit that I did not catch a lunker that broke my rod.  I caught a tree.

Any seasoned fly fisher will tell you that when you get hung up, you should pull the line with your hand, not by trying to rip it away with your fly rod.  I knew better.  I gave a swift and strong sideways jerk with my rod, trying to get the fly free.  My rod snapped.   At nearly a $300 value, my pride and joy of fly fishing was destroyed;

Oh, the feeling of shame!  I experienced anguish, disgust, embarrassment, mortification, and self-blame.  It morphed into rage.  I said some very bad words.  I finally got my line free, but not so much the fly.   The fly still ornaments the tree limb in a gloating display of taunting evil.  I hate that fly!  I hate that tree even more!

What's a guy to do?  I had not brought a spare rod because I was trying to save space.  I could maybe rent a rod from the park store.  Wait.  My fishing buddy is a hard core angler and he knows not to leave home without a spare rod.  He is so good he even had a spare spare.   Two spare rods!  I eventually got back to fishing and caught seven more that afternoon.  I missed at least three hours of life's precious moments of fly fishing.

As penance for my indiscretions, I offer the following advice to any reader who is fool enough to care:

1. Never try to rip a fly loose from a snag with your rod.  Grab the line with your hand and pull straight back until it becomes free or the weakest part of the leader breaks.
2. Never go fishing without a spare outfit.
3. If you don't have a spare outfit, find a fishing buddy who always brings a spare.
4. Telling a lie about the size of a fish you actually caught or got away is different from telling a lie about how you broke your fly rod.  A really good fish story transcends honesty.  (Failing to admit that you fell in the river is a lie of omission.   That's another story.)
5. If it crosses your mind that I should stop fishing, bite your tongue, and don't speak to me again.
6. Life is better when you fish.
7. Finally, I offer you a mathematical formula for successful fly fishing:  fewer trees = more fish.
8. Finally, part II:  Keep your lines tight, mend your line when necessary, adjust the line for a proper drift, read the water before you cast, don't walk behind a fly angler when he or she is casting, catch and release requires you to return a live, healthy fish to the water.  KEEP THEIR GILLS WET!
9. Finally, part III:  It is better to fish before you die than to die before you fish.
10. Finally, final:  I step down from my soapbox a wiser, more equanimous man.

Missouri to Enact Gerrymander in Spite of Citizens' Initiative

by Pa Rock

Missouri Voter (of the pissed-off variety!)

The GOP dominated Missouri Legislature pushed through a gerrymander of the state's congressional districts in September at the command of Donald Trump.  The elderly entertainer's White House staff told him that with some devious juggling of congressional district lines in Missouri, one more Democratic seat in Congress could be eliminated and gifted to the Republicans.  The fact that particular seat was held by a black man only served to make the change even more appealing to Trump and company.

The GOP Missouri Legislature rushed to do Trump's bidding and eliminated Kansas City's voice in the next Congress.

Several court challenges were filed, and there was also a citizen's movement organized to fight the injustice through an initiative (petition drive) to stop the new gerrymander law from going into effect.    It will take about 110,000 valid signatures of Missouri voters to place the question on the ballot in 2026, and yesterday a group called "People Not Politicians" turned in 691 boxes of signed petitions to put the measure on the ballot and let the voters decide if they want the gerrymander or not.  The petitions contain about 305,000 signatures, enough to make it very likely there will be plenty which are valid.

The Secretary of State for Missouri, a Republican named Denny Hoskins, is now in charge of going through the petitions and verifying the signatures.  Once he is done, if there are the number of valid signatures required, Hoskins will put the matter before Missouri voters.

In the past when petitions were submitted that would change or stop a law from going into effect, the law was put on hold until after the signatures were counted and the follow-up election - if there was one -  was held.  Hoskins, however, said that on advice of his own attorney and the state's attorney general, another Republican, he would not halt the implementation of the gerrymander and that it would go into effect tomorrow.

That high-handed maneuver by the state's Republican Party will be heading to court as well.

I live in Missouri, I vote in Missouri (every election), and I understand the basics of Missouri politics.  The Republican Party in my state resists democracy.  They are still smarting over voters lifting the GOP's abortion ban in the state a couple of years ago - and before that voter's rejecting the "right to work" legislation passed by the state legislature.  The Republican Party in Missouri is even trying to change the "initiative" process in Missouri to ensure that voters are never again able to change the will of the GOP legislature.

The Kansas City and St. Louis urban areas - and Boone County where the University of Missouri is located - are the state's three Democratic strongholds, and Republicans are constantly on the lookout for ways to manage those areas and control their voting power.  The latest affront to democracy in the "show me" state (the gerrymander) not only deprives Kansas City of a congressman who will be attuned to the voters' needs of a major American city, it also strikes a strong racist chord by denying the state and Congress itself of fairer representation for a racial minority.

And racism is a big part of the gerrymander movement, both nationally and in Missouri.

The Game Changer

 

by Pa Rock

Decrepit Typist

Being old, I have many aches and pains and medical conditions to occupy my time and conversation.  Of late, the top of that list has been "balance issues."  I have had two falls over the past five years that have each resulted in a broken arm, and four or five other falls that should have had serious consequences but instead just resulted in pain, discomfort, and an increased fear of falling.  Aging has also made my bones more brittle and my joints more resistant to movement.  When I sit for several minutes and then stand, I sound like an adolescent kid banging on his first drum set!

I had a hard fall on the driveway a couple of weeks ago which should have broken some bones but fortunately did not.  I used Ibuprofen to stave off the first round of pain, but after that just let nature run its course.  A week after the fall I was barely able to walk, but kept hobbling on because, being retired or not, there are still things that need to get done.

My Dad was stubborn and pig-headed, too.  Sixteen years ago he was an eighty-five year old landlord out delivering Christmas gifts to his renters on Christmas Eve when he slipped on a frost-covered porch, took a hard hit to the head, and still managed to drive himself home and function for the rest of the day.  Dad was in Missouri, and I called him that evening from my home in Arizona like I did late every afternoon.  He told me about the fall, said he was alright, but going to bed early.  He called an ambulance later that night and died in the hospital before daylight on Christmas morning - from old age and the effects of a fall.

I have not done the research, but nevertheless I would venture to guess that we generally tend to reflect our parents lives in our own, and that we can expect to live roughly the same length of time as they did, though maybe a little longer due to improvements in medicines and medical care, and that we are likely to expire from the same causes as our parents.

Hence my concern with fallling - that and the fact that balance is becoming more and more of an issue.  

The outlook has been gloomy - but today things seem brighter, and it is because of the new mattress that I mentioned in this blog yesterday.     I had ordered new mattersses for my son and I prior to Thanksgiving, and they both arrived yesterday.  Last night I slept better than I had in a very long time, and I awoke ready to be active and get things done.   Most of my aches and pains were gone and I even felt more secure in my balance.  Nick said his sleep had been better as well.

Today the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I have twice the mobility that I had yesterday.

If life is giving you signals that the race is about over, consider getting a new mattress.  It might be a game changer!

New Mattress Arrives

 

by Pa Rock

Plodding Typist

This morning as I was still pondering what to write about in today's blog posting, two  middle-aged fellows arrived in a pickup truck with mattresses that I ordered a couple of week ago.  After they had taken mine back to my bedroom and gotten it situated on the bed, one of the men commented on a chess set that I have set up on an end table in the bedroom.   The set and the board are ones I purchased fifteen years ago while living on Okinawa.  They are unique.

One of the men complimented the chess set and asked to take a closer look.   As he examined the pieces, which are made from a heavy metal, he began talking about his love of the game and how he had been an avid chess player in high school and had gone to the national high school chess championships three years in a row - where his best game had garnered him 10th place in his third year of competition.

Being an old high school teacher myself, I was very impressed with that achievement and said so.  I asked if he had attended one of our local high schools, hoping to learn more about the local cultural scene.   The man, who is of an age now to have children of his own in high school, said that he had gone to school in Alabama.  Sadly, he said, things like chess were not much of a priority in the local area.

But they are, or at least "were," in Alabama?  That shot some of my favorite misconceptions right in the ass!

So now I am in a funk over he way Missouri's backwater state legislature has turned its back on public education by steadily defunding our schools and keeping teacher pay at miserably low levels as a way of insuring that Missouri children are denied access cutting-edge math, science, and computer science and technology - as well as a broad exposure to the arts and humanities.  Instead our state legislature spends it few weeks a year in session figuring out ways to to divert more and more of our tax money and state revenue into religious schools that nourish right-wing politics and ferment hate.

The degradation of education by public officials from the White House (what's left of it), to the state house, to the county court house makes me very, very sad.  Out country and our future are being ravaged  by immoral greedheads and religious hucksters who want to control every aspect of our lives and ensure the masses have groups on which to focus their hate (immigrants, gays, socialists, Blacks, Jews, whatever), and are too busy hating those they want to keep down that they ignore their economic oppressors who pose the real threats to their health, safety, and financial stability.

Chess?  America don't need no stinking chess.  It might foster the ability to think and to strategize.  What America needs is a vengeful white God and an elite white (and straight) master class that will do our thinking for us.

But on the flip side, at least I have a new mattress.  Maybe it's time for Grandpa to go take a nap and restore his equanimity.  

Minnesota Has It Going On!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Trump was on a tear last week in his cabinet meeting on Tuesday against Somalia, Somalian immigrants in the United States, certain politicians in Minnesota, and even the state of Minnesota itself.  I wrote about some of his remarks in this space shortly after they burst from his mouth like an explosive case of diarrhea, but the things he said were so disgustingly vile and offensive that they merit further examination.

Trump's cabinet meetings, which occur infrequently, are, like his rallies, known for being long and boring.  Not only are the cabinet secretaries crammed elbow-to-elbow at the long oval table which barely fits into the room where it is used, they also have to sit patiently while each takes a turn fluffing and stroking the raging narcissist who sits at the center of the table.  

But the cabinet secretaries are just the warm-up acts, the real show, as with any Trump event, focuses on the Big Kahuna himself, and Trump, who always proves to be incapable of following a script, can be expected to bounce around to a variety of topics as various things flit acorss his tired old mind - and then drone on, and on, and on.

Trump was apparently in the midst of disparaging Afghan immigrants at last week's meting when he suddenly changed lanes and began dumping on Somalis who live in the United States.  As I noted last week, he referred to the country of Somalia as "garbage," and said the Somali immigrants to the US should go back to where they came from - to a country with "no laws, no water, no military, no nothing."   

During Trump's xenophobic and racist, diatribe, his singled out the state of Minnesota for its acceptance and defense of more that 80,000 immigrants from Somalia.  He bragged about sending ICE agents (uninvited)  to Minnesota to begin deporting the Somali's whom he labels as either gang members or people who sit at home defrauding the state's welfare system.  Trump also used that cabinet meeting to attack Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a native of Somalia.  He said, at his presidential best:  "Ilhan Omar is garbage.  She's garbage.  Her friends are garbage."

On Thanksgiving Day on a lengthy social media post, Trump had also attacked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz with regard to the Somalis in his state.  Trump called Governor Walz "seriously retarded," again very presidential - by Trump standards.

There have been several indicators in the news this weekend which suggest Minnesotans have taken their farm gloves off and are fighting back against the rampant xenophobia an racism oozing from the sewer lines beneath the White House.  As I mentioned in the earlier post, Governor Walz shot back at Trump's remark about him - the one where he called the Democratic governor "seriously retarded,"  with a simple four-word rejoinder, "Release the MRI file,"  a reminder to America that the presidential doctors have at least some medical concerns about their primary patient.  (Trump claims to not even know the reason why an MRI was administered during his second "annual" physical examination for 2025.  That statement in itself could be an indicator for the reason for the MRI!)

Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar also issued a very simple, yet damning, response to Trump's attacks on her.  She said of Trump (a known associate of Jeffrey Epstein), "His obsession with me is creepy.   I hope he gets the help he desperately needs."

The mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the two largest cities in the state and the places where most of the Somali immigrants reside, have expressed strong support for their cities' immigrant populations - and Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara issued a warning to police officers under his command that if they observe ICE agents using undue force, he expects them to intervene.   The chief said that if any of his officers fail to act when they observe ICE overreacting with people they are questioning or detaining, they will lose their jobs.

Donald Trump may roar like a mighty lion (when he's awake), but the powers that be in Minnesota are roaring back.  They are fostering and protecting a diversified population where all people are seen as equal and all are openly included and encouraged to participate in that vibrant society.

Minnesota is going places - while Trump has the country in reverse and is sleep at the wheel!

Being a Blithering Racist is Cool Again

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The US has always had more than its share of racists, but over the past few decades they had quietly begun to disappear from public view.  They were still with us, but just staying out of sight in the privacy of their homes and clubs, and avoiding the harsh glare of public scrutiny.   But with the ascendancy of Barack Obama to the White House, race again became a topic of concern and debate, and proved to be fertile ground for fomenting a race-based political response to Obama.  Donald Trump emerged to reclaim the white supremacy political mantel, and enthusiastically fanned the embers of racial unrest until he managed to reignite the old fire that had consumed generations of Americans with its smoke, and rage, and hate.

Now, being a blithering racist is cool again.

I heard two seemingly unconnected stories on the news this morning, but upon closer inspection it was obvious that racism was the underlying factor in both.  The first, a domestic story, noted that the Trump administration has changed a policy that allowed free entry to America's national parks on certain federal holidays, two of which were the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday in January, and "Juneteenth" or June 19th, which honors the emancipation of America's slaves.   Both of those holidays are of special significance to the Black citizens of America - and the Trump administration had decided they no longer merit a free day in the US National Park system.   

But, in a stunning display of narcissism and showing people who's boss, the Trump administration did add June 14th - Trump's birthday and also Flag Day - as one when people could get into the parks free.

The other racist outrage, this one performed on the world stage, happened yesterday when the Trump administration issued a new national security strategy paper that portrays our once staunch European allies as weak based on their migration and free speech policies.   Trump's national strategy paper suggested European countries were opening themselves to "civilizational erasure," something which sounds like it was lifted straight out of a Jim Crow hymnal and smacks of the racist "great replacement theory."  Trump's strategy paper is also seen as supporting the nationalist political movements which have been destabilizing European politics and sovereignty.

Just two bits of racist drivel fermenting in the West Wing, but add to that the steady drumbeat of eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) from the American lexicon and all government agencies and programs, bringing back Confederate names and statues, returning culturally offensive names to professional sports teams, gerrymandering black voters into multiple districts to dilute their political power, denigrating  and slandering black politicians, referring to poor black immigrants from poor black nations as "garbage," and on, and on, and on . . . and the racism is so in-your-face that it is not possible to look away.

Donald Trump has done this to America, and he seems very proud of his achievement.  He has made racism great again.

Somalis ARE NOT Garbage, Diversity IS a Strength

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

This past Tuesday at one of his rare cabinet meetings, Donald Trump, who was in the midst of castigating Afghan immigrants, suddenly switched gears and began disparaging Somali immigrants.  During his tirade Trump referred to Somalis as "garbage" and said they should go back to where they came from -  Somalia - a country that Trump describes as the worst on earth with "no laws, no water, no military, no nothing."

Trump also gets off on railing about Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a Somali immigrant who represents Minnesota in Congress.  Omar is one of several Democratic politicians whom he likes to refer to as "communist," a popular political slur from the 1950's when Trump was in elementary school.

Later his administration announced that it was expanding its war on immigrants in Democratic-led states and cities by sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents into Minnesota, the home of 86,000 Somali immigrants.  The Somalis will be the focus of ICE activities in Minnesota.

The mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul - the area where most of the state's Somali residents reside - are standing by their immigrant citizens as is Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota. 

The nationally known humorist, Garrison Keillor, is a native of Minnesota and is one of its better known native sons.  Keillor currently lives in New York City, but remains solidly connected to his home state.  In his internet column today Keillor discusses arriving at the Minneapolis-St Paul airport this week and the difficulty he was having struggling with his three suitcases.  Keillor, who is 83, said that he managed to get the attention of a Somali airport worker pushing a luggage cart  who immediately came to his rescue.  As they traversed the busy airport, the entertainer struck up a conversation with his helper and learned that over a thousand Somalis are employed at that facility.  (Trump likes to depict them as either being gang members or sitting at home drawing welfare.). 

Keillor refers to Trump's on-going false and negative depictions of Somalis as "racist slander," and race does seem to be a determining factor in whether this President deems particular groups of immigrants to be of value to our country - or social leaches and terrorists.   In January of 2018 during his first term in office, Trump showed his preference for white immigrants when said he would like to see more immigrants from Norway - while disparaging immigrants from Haiti and much of Africa which he referred to as "shithole" countries.  Donald Trump's own family is heavy with white immigrants - including his mother and two of his three wives.

But Somalis are "garbage" in Trump's worldview - all Somalis - even the one who rushed to help an 83-year-old man ferry his luggage across a crowded airport.

Don't worry America.  ICE will be relentless in its crusade to rid our land of it's foreign-born baggage handlers, hotel maids, landscapers, roofers, farm workers, military service members, hospital techs, teachers, computer techs, scientists, and all of those other freeloaders whose biggest crimes are looking different from real (white) Americans, having the ability to speak more than one language, and maybe practicing a religion that is different that the one the government seems to think we all should be supporting.

(Of course, the great national cleansing by ICE will not affect Elon and Melania.)

Donnie, some Americans speak garbage, you, for instance, but ethnic and racial groups of people are not garbage.  Diversity is a strength, despite what you and people like you would would force us to believe.

Lighten up, buttercup.

Acclaimed Novelist Daniel Woodrell Dies

 

by Pa Rock

West Plains Typist

Nationally acclaimed author Daniel Woodrell passed away at his home in West Plains, Missouri, last Friday, November 28th, at the age of seventy-two.  His wife, Katie Estill-Woodrell reported that his cause of death was pancreatic cancer.  Woodrell had suffered from colon cancer more than a decade ago and defeated that malady.

(Do you know what elevates an author to the rank of "acclaimed"?  When he is eulogized in obituaries in The New York Times, the New York Post, the Washington Post, Variety, and other national publications - that's what!)

Daniel Woodrell was born on March 4, 1953, in Springfield, MO, and had lived in West Plains since the mid-1980's, a place that he and his wife liked and decided to call home.  He grew up in Springfield in southwest Missouri, and moved with his family to Kansas City during his adolescence.  He didn't like life in Kansas City and moved on by joining the Marines at the age of seventeen in 1970.  He was stationed in Guam where he learned about "pacifism" and had his mind opened to a broader world.

Woodrell graduated from the University of Kansas at Lawrence in his late twenties with a bachelor's degree in English, and he went on to attend the famed Iowa Writers Workshop where he earned a master's degree.  He published eight novels, most of which were set in the Missouri Ozarks and the most famous being Winter's Bone which was made into a movie starring Jennifer Lawrence - and garnered the young actress her first Academy Award nomination.  When Woodrell completed the novel Give Us a Kiss in 1996, he coined the term "country noir" to describe it, and that appellation has since been adopted for the genre of writings focused on the hard lives of America's rural impoverished class - a genre in which Daniel Woodrell was very much at home.

By moving to the Missouri Ozarks, Daniel Woodrell was able to enmesh himself in the world about which he was writing.  In an interview with Esquire Magazine in 2013, the author mentioned being "tormented" by his "tweaker neighbors," a not uncommon happenstance in the Ozarks.  When he penned stories of the hard lives in rural southern Missouri, such as the characters depicted in Winter's Bone, Daniel Woodrell knew the personalities, circumstances, and lives of his subjects.

The late celebrity television chef, Anthony Bourdain, called Daniel Woodrell "the best writer in America."  Bourdain brought his television show to West Plains in 2011 to spend time with Woodrell collecting and preparing local foods.  They skinned squirrels for pot pies and spent time on the Current River gigging for suckers.  It was during that expedition that Woodrell fell from the boat and broke his shoulder.

Daniel Woodrell told compelling tales that captured the hard-scrabble life and culture of the contemporary Ozarks, and he was able to that by becoming a part of that community and culture - and experiencing what he wrote about.  I've read several of his novels, and they all ring true.  Woodrell's passing leaves a void in the genre of "country noir" that will be very hard to fill.

Rest in peace, good sir, and thanks for sharing so much of yourself with others while you were here.

Hegseth Underbusses an Admiral

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Every year new words emerge through popular usage and gain entry into our daily vocabulary.  The big on-line dictionaries entertain us toward the end of the year with their selections of the best of the new words.  Last week the Oxford English dictionary announced that "rage bait" was its word of the year. (Rage bait is something posted on-line with the intent of angering others and getting reactions.)   The Cambridge dictionary went with "parasocial," a one-sided relationship where one party feels an intimacy with another party who may not even be aware of the party of the first part - such as between a fan and a celebrity.

Dictionalry.com  chose "67," (pronounced"six-seven") a term signifying vagueness and indecisiveness and used by people to show they are "in the know" or part of an elite group which understands such vague lingo as"67."   Collins dictionary chose "vibe coding," a software development practice that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to generate, refine, and debug code based on natural language prompts.

Merriam-Webster, a leader in on-line and print dictionaries, has yet to announce their word of the year for 2025, so I decided to speed things along a bit by offering my recommendation.  It is a verb that I saw used on the internet for the first time yesterday, but knew immediately what it meant - and with Trump in the White House it could slip into common usage very quickly.

The word is "underbus," which sounds as though it might be an adjective, perhaps describing a type of road scale for weighing large vehicles, but in the news story I was reading it was clearly used as a verb.

The story where "underbus" was used is still controlling the news cycles two days after it first broke.  It is the one about Trump's "war" on small boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, one he describes as a "war" on narco-terrorists, and an effort on which he is completely focused except when he is pardoning rich and politically-connected narco-terrorists from the same region.

The Trump administration began attacking small boats in the Southern Caribbean and Eastern Pacific in early September of 2025 and quit releasing information on those attacks on November 15th of 2025.  During the time that the administration was being transparent about its "war," they reported 21 strikes on 22 vessels with a dead body count of 83 people.  The claim was continually made by the administration that the boats were transporting drugs, though no evidence to back up that claim was ever presented to the press or the public.

Last week the Washington Post ran a story which said that in an attack on September 2nd, two survivors were seen clinging to debris in the water, and that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered a second strike to kill the two survivors.  The administration response since that story came out has gone from Ramboesque braggadocio about the might of the US and its military, to bickering over legal definitions, and finally to serious underbussing.

Donald Trump, who takes quickly takes credit for anything that goes right or is seen to have strong pubic approval, backed away from the killings when the level of concern from members in both parties of Congress began rising and the public started demanding answers.  Trump decided that he had been unaware of the matter and had left it all with his inexperienced and unqualified Secretary of Defense.   Hegseth roared like a lion for a bit, but as the water he was in began to heat, he underbussed the matter to a navy admiral, and said that poor man ultimately gave the order to kill those evil drug smugglers.  As of yet, the admiral apparently has not passed the blame on to his secretary.

A couple of weeks ago a group of six Democratic members of Congress, all military veterans and/or members of the US Intelligence community filmed and released a video reminding members of the military that they are obligated NOT to follow illegal orders.  The video incensed Trump who used it for political purposes as he referred to those mmbers of Congress as "traitors."  There was even talk from Trump and Hegseth about bringing Senator Mark Kelly, one of the group Trump called "the seditious six," back to active duty so that he could be court-martialed for taking part in the video.

And then the Washington Post broke the story about the murder of the two survivors of the attack on their small boat.    It we are legitimately at war, then the act of killing those two fishermen or sailors could rise to the level of a "war crime."  If we are not at war, those two unarmed individuals clinging to floating debris were murdered.  Either way it will make for a nasty stain on somebody's reputation, and maybe even bring some time in the slammer.

The six members of Congress who reminded members of the military of their obligation to uphold the Constitution and not follow illegal orders have been vindicated.  The buck no longer stops on the President's desk - he was off playing golf and had no knowledge of the incident whatsoever.  The Defense Secretary said he had "moved on to another gig" when the act occurred, so he didn't know about it either.  If you are the lowly triggerman in a war crime - just following orders - you are very likely going to own the entire thing when the underbusing reaches you.

Somebody will ultimately pay for this war crime or murder - maybe - and my money is on the admiral's secretary - unless she has an assistant.

Judah, a Sensible Sixteen

 

by Pa Rock

Proud Grandpa

Today is the sixteenth birthday of my Oregon grandson, Judah.   He was born in Oregon and has lived in the same house all his life, but he does travel.   The family took a nice vacation in California a few years ago, and the entire family - Judah, his parents Scott and Molly, and his siblings Sebastian and Willow - have also been back to see grandparents in Missouri and Oklahoma on several occasions.

When Judah gets interested in a subject, he digs deep to learn as much as he can about it.  He had a strong interest at one time in the HMS Titantic, and during one of the family trips back to the midwest Judah was able to visit the Titantic Museum in Branson.  He also developed an interest in tornadoes and learned a great deal of factual information about Missouri's Joplin tornado .

Judah's mother and sister came to Missouri this year for Thanksgiving, but Judah, who is now focused on weather, elected to stay home with his Dad in Oregon, at least in part because of the weather forecasts in the Midwest.  He did update his mother with weather bulletins while she and Willow were here.

Last summer, while on my annual trip to Oregon, Molly, Willow, Judah, and I rode the train from Salem, Oregon (their hometown), to Seattle, Washington, where we spent three days hitting the tourist stops.  Judah seemed to especcially enjoy the Space Needle, and on the final evening of our trip he and his mother took a walking "ghost tour" of several haunted attractions around Seattle's famed Pike Place Market.  He enjoyed that special activity with his Mom and had lots to say about it when they got back to the hotel.

Judah is a very bright and inquisitive young man.

Enjoy being sixteen, Judah.  It only comes around once, so make it a year you will always remember!

Willow is Fourteen (and a day)!

 

by Pa Rock

Proud Grandpa

My youngest granddaughter, Willow, turned fourteen yesterday, and I feel awful because I let her big day slide right on by.  My flimsy excuse for the oversight is that even though today is only Monday, it still has been a very hard week!  Willow lives with her family in Oregon, and in my defense, I did personally hand her a birthday card and a gift one week ago today when she and her mother were visiting in the Ozarks as part of a special Thanksgiving trip.

Willow will be heading to high school in the fall.  It is near her house and her older brother went to the same high school, all of which should help take the edge off of the experience, and she told me that she is looking forward to the move from middle school, especially the new activities and challenges that high school has to offer.    I know she will make many good friends during the years that she is there.  High school is an exciting time . . . I remember . . . barely!

Happy (late) birthday to you, Willow.   I hope you scored many nice presents.  I also hope you had a good time while you were visiting in Missouri and Kansas.  We sure did enjoy getting to see you and your mother.  Have a wonderful year - and a great time in high school!

Much love on the day after your birthday from Pa Rock, Rosie, Gypsy, and Uncle Nick!

Let's Try "Trickle Up" for a Change

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The United States of America can't afford to help impoverished working Americans, some of whom are holding down two and even three sub-minimum wage jobs, with supplemental food assistance (SNAP), or assist them in meeting skyrocketing health insurance premiums through subsidies, or with rent subsidies, but it can come up with plenty of money to let the billionaire class operate on an almost tax-free basis - with plenty of access to government subsidies.

The sky is the limit for America's billionaire class, while they fight like hell to keep the rest of America shackled in poverty.  That's no way to run a country, or a society, or an economy.  One of the rubs in that approach is that most of the super wealthy make their money through selling goods and services to the masses, and that requires the masses, those on the lower end of the economic ladder, to have the means to make those purchases - a source of income with enough left over from bare survival needs to accommodate shopping.  That can't happen if there is no floor so stop their descent further and further into abject poverty.

I read a review of a new book yesterday that I though summed up this situation well and gave some insight into a compromise between extreme wealth and life in the sewers of civilization - in its title alone.  The book is by Oliver B. Libbly, described as an "entrepreneur, non-profit leader, an a public policy 'thinker.'  Its title is "Strong Floor, No Ceiling:  A New Foundation for the American Dream."  In it the author looks at the current economic situation with the rich inevitably wanting more and more of the economic growth and leaving less and less for those who are already without, many of whom work multiple low-paying jobs to fuel the economic growth that flows into the pockets of the rich.   The rich don't like regulations and anything that puts limits on their growth, and they see taking more from others as a way to keep growing - and that greed cuts into the programs of the social safety net, programs which are intended to provide an economic "floor" for the impoverished.

Libby argues (and again, I have only read reviews and not the actual book) that if there is not going to be limitations on the amount of wealth people can accrue, there should at least be a solid floor beneath the feet of the working classes, enough to ensure survival and an opportunity for growth.

If there is going to be no ceiling, and generally speaking there is not much of one at present, there should at least be a strong floor from which others my ultimately begin to ascend and take advantage of those limitless opportunities.

A strong floor to me sounds like something that guarantees food, healthcare, housing, and education - basics for sustaining life and giving people an opportunity to work and achieve more.  Yes, that will involve some sacrifice on the upper end, and people who have amassed more money than they can ever spend may have to redirect some toward the public good through increased taxes, but in the end they will be helping form a society more capable of feeding the economy and encouraging innovation and growth.

Money will trickle up faster than it has ever trickled down.