Assumption Abbey Fruitcakes

 

by Pa Rock

Holiday Muncher

Last year I ordered a fruitcake made by the monks of Assumption Abbey in Ava, Missouri.   I had heard of their holiday product for years, and decided to give it a try.   The two-pound cake was moist, robust, and delicious - so good, in fact, that I ordered another one this year.  It arrived last weekend while I was in Kansas City, and I eagerly cut into it upon my return home.  Now I believe I have started a tradition!

Some people scoff at the mere idea of fruitcake, as if it is common and beneath their standards - but those snooty souls have obviously never experienced a fruitcake like those that the monks in Ava make.   Their cakes are so rich and delicious, and imbued with the spirits of the season - both figuratively and literally.  One slice and I am docile, two and I am probably napping!

Thank you, Assumption Abbey, for continuing to make the holidays more special and joyous!

Holiday Shopping with a Member of Congress

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

A loud white woman who currently serves in Congress from a rural district in the Deep South recently spoke to a group of young Republicans in New York City.   The congresswoman, who is not necessarily known for her mental prowess, but believes herself to possess a quick-and-ready wit, nonetheless, could not let the evening in the Big Apple go by without exercising her killer sense of humor.  While speaking to the budding fascists, the GOP House member cut loose with a tirade on modern times by declaring that two particular items designed for the enhancement of sexual experiences were readily available at the major retailers, Target and CVS.

 

(I deliberately chose not to name those items in this posting because of my deep sense of public decency and a level of personal piety that far exceeds that of the vulgar and oafish congresswoman.  But they are relatively common items which have sometimes been used to describe various members of the Trump family and administration.)

As an occasional shopper in both Target and CVS who has never come across either of the items that got the congresswoman so excited, I decided to investigate.    I navigated to each store's on-line site to explore a bit more thoroughly.  A search of both corporate websites revealed that neither had merchandise labeled by the exact words that the bawdy-talking congresswoman used, but entering those terms brought up related items like "personal" massagers.  None were of the realistic nature of items which (I have heard) can be purchased in sex shops.  Perhaps the congresswoman had gotten overheated just thinking about all of the sin that is possible with things like personal massagers, and she let her imagination run wild!

But, whether a pair of major American retailers are openly trying to compete with the nation's struggling sex shop industry or not, just making the claim and using some saucy labels makes for a rollicking political speech and can help usher in an energetic night of youthful exuberance in Gotham.

I'm sure the congresswoman's words aroused some of those youngsters to go out and at least try a few formidable feats - because she is, after all, such an inspiration!

Hartzler's Gay Nephew Speaks Out

by Pa Rock

Missouri Citizen Journalist

Vicky Hartzler, a former high school home economics teacher who left the classroom nearly thirty years ago to pursue a career in politics, has been an extreme right-wing GOP member of Congress from Missouri's 4th congressional district since 2011, but she is currently serving her final days in the House.  This past year Hartzler succumbed to her political ambition and gave up her safe House seat to run for the US Senate to replace retiring Senator Ol' Roy Blunt.  Hartzler had the support of Missouri's other US Senator, Josh "fleet-of-foot" Hawley, who campaigned with her, but she still could only manage a second place finish in the GOP senate primary.

But not to worry because rumors abound in the "show-me" state that Hartzler will run for governor of Missouri in 2024 in a primary election that will likely pit her against Jay Ashcroft, Missouri's current secretary of state and a scion of a very prominent political family in the state.   (Ashcroft is the son of the only sitting United States Senator ever to lose re-election to a dead man.)

As someone who is undoubtedly busy plotting her political comeback, Vicky Hartzler still looks for the cameras when she enters a room in hopes of connecting with the rubes back home.  Earlier this week she was part of a gaggle of GOP Representatives who spoke out against the "Respect for Marriage Act" as it was on the verge of passing the House.  When it was Miss Vicky's turn to speak, she enhanced her performance with a quivering voice and some tears as she extolled her colleagues to vote the bill down.  Hartzler's issue with the legislation, which did eventually pass the House, centered on the part that enshrined the right to "gay marriage" into federal law.

(Jay Ashcroft, Hartzler's likely main opponent in the upcoming governor's race, is also on record as being opposed to the "Respect for Marriage Act," and he recently made headlines when Senator Blunt declined to take a telephone call from him on the matter.  Blunt voted in favor of the legislation.)

Hartzler said that her priority was to protect people who believe in the "true" meaning of marriage.  She said that it was "Christians" and not the LGBTQ Community who were under threat in the US, and that the government was trying to "silence" religious people.  She had her homophobic schtick in good working order and ready to trot out for 2024's Missouri gubernatorial campaign.  It was hillbilly theatre at its finest.

But Vicky Hartzler's 23-yar-old nephew, Andrew Hartzler, is less cynical than this tired old typist.  Young Andrew, who is himself an "out" gay man, said that he believes his aunt is sincere in her homophobic beliefs and not just putting on a show for the cameras.   Andrew, who came out to his parents when he was fourteen and to Aunt Vicky this past February just as her US Senate campaign was cranking up, went on TikTok with a video talking directly to his Aunt Vicky and telling her of his desire not to have the family name connected with hate.  His video was powerful, and several news sources rushed to interview the young man to get him to expand on his views.

In that video to Aunt Vicky, Andrew said:

"It's more like you want the power to force your religious beliefs onto everyone else, and because you don't have that power you feel like you're being silenced.  But you're not.  You're just going to have to learn to coexist with all of us.  And I'm sure it's not that hard."

Andrew Hartzler's personal story is quite compelling.  After he told his parents nine years ago that he was gay, they promptly shuttled him into a "conversion therapy" program to try and "cure" him of his gayness.  It didn't work.  Then, when he was ready for college, Andrew's parents sent him to Oral Robert University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, apparently with the hope that being trapped in that homophobic milieu would provide the cure.  But while at Oral Roberts he met other gay students.  Eventually he was identified as having gay behaviors and the "university" placed him in a conversion therapy program which apparently backfired and strengthened his resolve to live life as God had made him.

Andrew Hartzler is now part of a federal class action lawsuit against the US Department of Education for funding schools, like Oral Roberts University, which discriminate against LGBTQ students - while his aunt still looks for the cameras so that she can sob over the injustice of people like her nephew having the right to marry the people they love.

It's the twenty-first century, Vicky.  Perhaps it's time to quit worrying about who others marry and what they do in the privacy of their own bedrooms!

Sinema Tries for a Hail Mary

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

In a surprise move yesterday that appears to be a "Hail Mary" effort to save her US Senate seat as well as her political career, Krysten Sinema changed her party affiliation from "Democratic" to "Independent."  Sinema will be completing her first six-year term in the senate in 2024, and has not officially said whether she intends to run for re-election or not, though this sudden change in labels would tend to indicate that she is trying to maneuver into a position and a narrative that would make her more re-electable.

Senator Sinema, whom many regard as more of an actual flake than her predecessor in office, Republican Senator Jeff Flake, has been a very controversial figure in the Senate.  While the former college professor managed to vote with her party ninety-seven percent of the time, those times that she chose not to support the Democratic positions were always memorable.   She and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia were regularly seen as using their positions in an equally divided Senate to wield more power than they would have had in a chamber that was not so evenly split.

Senator Sinema, for instance, had angered many Democrats with her vote that singlehandedly stopped legislation that would have raised taxes on big investors.  In what many saw as a quid pro quo, she has received nearly a million dollars in campaign financing from private equity investors, hedge fund managers, and venture capitalists who benefitted from her vote.

In January of this year Sinema and Manchin voted with all Republican senators to stop a Democratic move to end the filibuster on a significant piece of legislation.  The move by her and Manchin killed the effort and kept the Senate from being able to advance major voting rights legislation.   The move to save the filibuster also insured that Sinema and Manchin's single votes would remain pivotal. The executive board of the Arizona Democratic Committee censured Sinema for that vote.

In the summer of 2020 while Biden was trying to pass a massive infrastructure bill, Sinema took three weeks away from her $174,000 per annum Senate job to do a paid internship at a California winery for $1,117.40.  Of course while she was there she also found time to fit in a big fundraiser for her campaign in nearby Sonoma.
 
Sinema is regarded as somebody who likes to be noticed.    Not only did she attract headlines by straying from her party of some key votes, the senator became equally well known for her unorthodox clothing choices and behavior, leading some to speculate that she was trying to draw attention to herself and was treating the Senate as a never-ending style show - or even a masquerade ball.  In March of 2021 in order to make her vote against a $15 an hour minimum wage amendment to President Biden's corona relief measure even more memorable, she highlighted her vote by standing and giving a "thumbs down" gesture. That callous hand sign toward America's working poor was little more than another way of flipping them the bird!

In addition to her overt behaviors which were sometimes at odds with national Democratic priorities, Sinema earned the wrath of Democrats back home in Arizona over her failure to actively campaign for her colleague, Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, and the Democratic candidate for Arizona governor, Katie Hobbs, in the recent November general election.   Both of those candidates went on to win their elections even with Sinema just sitting idly by on the sidelines.

A recent poll in Arizona showed her lagging significantly behind Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego in a potential race for the seat Sinema currently holds.   It was becoming clear that if she ran for re-election as a Democrat, the incumbent senator could - and likely would - lose the Democratic primary.

But as of yesterday morning Krysten Sinema is no longer an official Democrat.  She is an Independent who says she will continue to caucus with the Democratic Party - like Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine - though she seldom attended Senate caucuses in the past.  If she does not caucus with Republicans, the Democrats will still maintain an actual majority in the Senate - something that is critical in the control of Senate committees.  She also expects to keep her current committee assignments.

So now Senator Sinema no longer has to worry about losing in a primary.  Her way forward to win the upcoming election is to hope her presence on the ballot will induce the Democrats not to run a candidate against her and risk splitting the party - and that she hopefully can beat whoever the Republicans put forward - much as Senators Sanders and King manage to do in their states.

Arizona, however, is not peaceful New England - and Ruben Gallego is already fundraising off of Sinema's desertion of the Democratic Party and giving a strong impression that he has made up his mind to get into the race.  It's likely to be a wild race, and if the Republicans nominate a candidate who is not crazy - not a "given" in Arizona - the Democratic Party could wind up losing a Senate seat that it had worked so very hard to capture.

Thanks for nothing, Senator Sinema.   The loss will be on you!

KC Rep's Production of "A Christmas Carol" Shares the Joy of the Season

 

by Pa Rock

Traveling Fool

Rosie and I are safely back in West Plains following our two-day excursion in the Kansas City area.  Not only did we get to visit with Olive and Sully, and their foreign exchange student sister, Ella, from Beijing, China, and Tim and Erin, I also got to go with the group (all except Tim who had to work and Rosie who could not score an invitation) to see the KC Rep's wonderful yearly performance of Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol."    Each year there are a few minor changes, but the overall story, of course, is timeless and remains the same.

We began taking Olive to see "A Christmas Carol" when she was four, and she is eleven now.   During the COVID year (2020) it was presented on-line, but otherwise, I believe that last night was our seventh year  of being there - and Sully's second year at the show.  We always order early in order to get good seats right down front, and with the elaborate sets, the London fog rolling off of the stage, and the cast occasionally strolling into the audience as a part of the performance, it feels as though we are right there - on the cobblestone streets of London during the Victorian era.

"A Christmas Carol" by the KC Rep is always a very magical production!

This year, as with last year, the artistic director of the show, Stuart Carden, came into the audience before the performance to talk about the play, and this year, as with last year, he stopped in front of our family group for his discussion which was primarily aimed toward helping the young people understand some of what they were about to see.   Mr. Carden's comments helped to make the show more accessible to those who had never read the novel or seen the material presented on stage or on film before.  (And even this old-timer and audience veteran learned a few things!)

It was a great night for sharing Christmas joy.  Thank you, KC Rep, for continuing this very fine holiday tradition!  

Fogbound in the Hills

 

by Pa Rock

Traveling Fool

Rosie and I find ourselves in Roeland Park, Kansas, this overcast morning where we are visiting at the home of my son and his family.  We are here for the annual Macy family outing to see the KC Rep's production of "A Christmas Carol."  We have been bringing Olive to this show since she was four - with one year off for the pandemic - and she is eleven now.  Last year we brought Sully for the first time and he sat  mesmerized through the magic of the show.  Lots of carolers on stage and roaming through the audience in beautiful costumes, frighteningly Dickensian ghosts (one of which is on a very tall pair of stilts), and, of course, the wonderful story of Christmas across the social classes in Victorian London.  We always have good seats right down front, so close to the action that we are often in the London fog as it comes rolling off of the stage.

This trip has been marked by fog, so tonight's won't be quite as unique.  It was foggy here earlier this morning in Roeland Park, and yesterday while we were heading west and then north, I drove through a thick, pea soup fog from West Plains more than a hundred miles until just past Springfield.  I maintained a moderate speed and drove with the lights on, but many other drivers did not.  Cars without lights pose a danger on foggy days.

I remember one of my first driving lessons.  It was early evening and a fog was on the ground.  My dad was at the wheel and said "I want to show you something."  He explained that he had his "dims" on and we could see twenty-five feet or so down the road.  Then he switched on his "brights" and suddenly everything was lost in the fog.  He told me to always drive with the "dims" on when I was traveling through fog.

Today's newer cars have their lights set on dim, but some of the older models do not.   Sadly, many of the people cruising the highways also have their brains set on dim and don't bother with lights at all. 

Watch out for them!

Another Florida Deputy Fires Another Unloaded Gun

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

A couple of days ago I wrote about an intoxicated Florida deputy who was at home teaching his son how to clean an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and supervising multiple minor children when the rifle fell from a television tray and discharged as it hit the floor.   A girl was seriously wounded in the incident and was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery and extensive care.  That deputy said after his arrest by co-worker deputies, that he thought the weapon was not loaded.

 

Yesterday there was a story about another “accidental” shooting by a sheriff’s deputy in Florida.  The young man had been playing video games with his roommate who was also a deputy with the same sheriff’s office.   After they had ended their game, the first deputy was clowning around with his service revolver which he, too, thought was empty. He aimed the gun at his roommate and pulled the trigger.   A round discharged, hit the roommate, and he died.

 

As many state governments rush to see which can have the absolute fewest restrictions on gun ownership and the carrying of firearms, some are doing away with requirements for gun safety training for people who want to carry guns in public.  Surely this laissez-faire attitude toward gun safety training hasn’t spread into our policing agencies.

 

Or is gun safety training one of those “woke” policies that right-wingers like Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis hope to eradicate?

 

Always assume the gun is loaded.  I learned that as a child, Governor DeSantis, and never forgot it.  Florida could at least be teaching, and re-teaching, that very basic gun safety principle to those whom it entrusts with safeguarding the public.

Was North Carolina Terrorism Another Deranged Attack on Drag Queens?

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

This past Saturday evening about 7:00 p.m. much of the electrical power suddenly went out in Moore County, North Carolina, leaving about 45,000 rural North Carolina electric customers (homes and businesses) in the cold and dark.  One thing the sudden power outage did not do, however, was to stop a scheduled drag show event in the town of Southern Pines.  When the lights went out, the three-hundred-and-fifty people who had showed up to see the show in defiance of spirted community protests against it, pulled out their cell phones, hit the flashlight mode, and let their little lights shine on the stage - and the show went on!

While the big show was going on as scheduled, local authorities were racing about trying to find the cause of the sudden massive blackout.  They soon ascertained that two local electrical substations had been "shot up" by gunfire.    State investigators and representatives of the FBI have been brought in to investigate this criminal act that has left so many in the dark and cold.  So far all that has been revealed about the on-going investigation is a general belief that the attackers "knew what they were doing," indicating that they had a level of familiarity with the operations of the unmanned substations, and a general sense that the attacks were conducted by multiple individuals - as gleaned from investigators' regular usage of plural pronouns in describing those responsible.

As of today power has been restored to about a third of the customers, and the remainder could take several more days to be brought back on-line.   Duke Energy, the owner of the substations, is saying that the repair and replacement costs for the damaged and destroyed equipment will run into the millions of dollars.

One line of inquiry that police have apparently been following is that the attacks might have been a result of the drag show that evening in Southern Pines.  The upcoming drag event had been a contentious community issue for days, and on Saturday during the day a large group of people opposed to the show gathered across street from the venue where it was to be held to protest what one local religious school labeled as an attack on children. 

(The new Republican fear-mantra, now that Critical Race Theory has faded from view, focuses on drag queens - referring to them as "pedophiles" who are "grooming" children.  Texas is about to pass a law banning children from drag shows, and Florida - of course - is threatening to follow Texas down that rabbit hole - all the while ignoring things like funding education, making adequate health care available to all children, or protecting children from school shooters.    Many connect the recent gay nightclub shooting in Colorado Springs - where a drag show was part of the evening's entertainment - with the uptick in right-wing fear-mongering over drag queens.)

A local woman in Moore County who had recently been a psychological operations officer in the US Army until she  got in hot water with the military for leading a group to the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021, and who had been active in community protests against the upcoming drag show, posted the following on social media after the power went out:

"The power is out in Moore County and I know why."

Needless to say she was soon visited by deputies from the local sheriff's office where she apparently said the "why" was God's opposition to drag shows.  She said in a later post that she told them "God works in mysterious ways, and that she had then used the opportunity to tell the deputies about "immoral drag shows " and the "blasphemies screamed by its supporters."

The local sheriff indicated that his department's interview with the local activist failed to turn up any connection with the damage to the electric substations.

But it remains an interesting coincidence:  the local power supply was attacked and put off-line just as the curtain was about to go up on a highly contentious community event.  It is a coincidence that seems likely to draw further scrutiny as the investigation continues.

It's good to know that the FBI is on the case.

Belated Birthdays: Willow and Judah

 

by Pa Rock

Proud Grandfather

I have used this space for years to talk about my children and grandchildren on their birthdays, and by doing that I was setting myself up for failure because I was bound to eventually forget one of them.   That has finally happened, and to make matters really bad, I missed TWO instead of one.  Pa Rock is old, very old, and he really regrets missing the birthdays of Willow, who was eleven on November 30th - and her brother, Judah, who turned thirteen two days later on December 2nd.  Mea culpa.

I did get birthday cards out to both of those wonderful grandkids on time.    This year I went with horse-themed cards because I know that they both like horses.  The cards should have arrived at their home in Oregon with time to spare.

Willow is in fifth grade and enjoys the finer arts.  She draws and paints, has mastered the ukulele and now is learning to play the clarinet.  She is in band and studying under the same band teacher who taught her oldest brother, Sebastian, how to play the saxophone.   Willow is also the family pet person and has been the main caretaker for the family's three cats - a mama and her two grown kittens - as well as the ever-faithful "Pixie," the family dog.  When Willow and her family visited me here at The Roost this summer, one of the things that she had fun doing was catching lightning bugs and putting them in a jar.  There aren't any lightning bugs where they live in Oregon.

The lightning bugs are gone now, but when I see them again in the late spring I know that I will think of Willow - and smile.

Judah surprised me this summer by how much he has grown, and yes, thirteen is a "growing" age.  When they were here he seemed to be interested in everything he encountered.  Judah enjoys activities at the computer, and if I had a question about how something works, he would be the grandchild that I would seek out for advice.

Judah is far more suited to navigate these modern times than his bumbling - and forgetful - old grandfather!

Happy late birthdays, Willow and Judah.  Just because I got busy and let them slip by unnoticed does not mean that I don't love and think about you every day - because I do!  

And I miss you.   

Democratic National Committee Moves to Castrate Democracy

 

by Pa Rock

Lifetime Democratic Voter

In a move clearly designed to allow President Joe Biden to dominate the nomination process for 2024, the Rules Committee of the Democratic National Committee voted on Friday to follow Biden's recommendation and shuffle the order in which states will choose their favorites for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.  Biden wants South Carolina to hold the first-in-the-nation Democratic primary, and the committee voted to go with his recommendation.

South Carolina represents Joe Biden's comfort food, his mac-and-cheese if you will.  It was the state that pulled Biden forward and essentially clinched the nomination for him in 2020, and Biden would like to begin there next year so that he can come roaring out of the gate.  But bringing South Carolina forward, along with some other important states like Michigan, Nevada, and Georgia, knocks the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary out of their traditional spots at the front of the process - and Democratic voters in those states are not happy about the indignity being imposed on them by their party.

New Hampshire has a law on the books which declares that their primary will always be the first in the nation, but the DNC has moved to head that off by imposing punishment on states which jump the line and hold their primaries ahead of the DNC favored states.  States that fail to follow the DNC directives will lose half of their delegates to the national convention - and Democratic candidates who campaign actively in those states will be "punished."  Democrats have also empowered their party chair, Jaime Harrison, to take any other "appropriate steps" to implement the new order.

(A heavy hand with a big stick is always a fine way to display and enforce democratic principles!)

The entire Democratic National Committee will vote on the new primary voting order when it meets in early 2023.  If everyone gets in lockstep with the party king and king-makers, the first-in-the-nation Democratic primary will be held in South Carolina on Saturday, February 3rd, 2024, followed by Nevada and New Hampshire on Tuesday, February 6th, and Georgia a week later on Tuesday, February 13th.

New Hampshire's two Democratic senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, are both righteously pissed, and Joanne Dowdell, a member of the Democratic National Committee from New Hampshire, stated bluntly that New Hampshire has a law on the books mandating that their presidential primaries will always be first, and "we (New Hampshire) will not be breaking our law," which, translates into the vernacular as "We will be going first!"

(Here's the answer to the problem, for anyone who cares:  A system of three regional primaries where the eastern states all vote one day, the midwestern states another day, and the western states on yet another day - and the order of voting will rotate each election cycle.  Within three cycles each area of the country would have the important and influential role of going first one time.  And, candidates would not have to rush all over the country, willy-nilly like fleas hoping around on a dog, but could focus their efforts on one particular section of the country at a time.  It would save time, energy, campaign dollars, and airplane fuel - and it just makes too much damned sense!)

I'm certain that Democratic Party Chair Jaime Harrison, who was at the rules committee hearing, and the influencers in South Carolina who seem to be dictating just how democracy will work (or not) within the Democratic Party - don't give two rips about what a lifelong Democratic voter in rural Missouri thinks about all of their machinations - but I will tell them anyway.

This Democratic voter will not be cowed by political bullies who want to arrange the process to meet their own ends.  By the time my state has its primary, late in the process, the candidate has always been decided and my friends and I are encouraged to show our party loyalty by getting on the bandwagon.  Well, pee on that!  When the Missouri primary finally rolls around, I will be voting for the person whom I believe is best qualified and most able to do the job.   And, as someone who is beginning to understand the infirmities brought on by aging, I also will not be voting for anyone in the presidential primary who is over the age of seventy - period!

Changing the rules in order to benefit one particular candidate is a castration of democracy, and enforcing the new rules by threats of reprisal sounds an awfully lot like the authoritarian operating policies of the party that we are working to defeat.

The Democratic Party must be better than that.

Bill Dobbs: A Most Excellent Sendoff for an Exceptionally Good Person

 

by Rocky Macy

Cousin

Today's posting is going out late because I have been on the road.    I was in southwest Missouri yesterday evening attending a funeral service for my cousin and good friend, Bill Dobbs, and drove back from my sister's home in northwest Arkansas this morning.  

Bill's service was a most excellent sendoff.   It was highlighted by a very moving video presentation which was created, scripted, and narrated by one of his sons-in-law, and a tribute from a minister who not only conducted the service but had also been a lifelong friend of Bill and his wife, Karen.  The program, in its entirety, revealed the man and comforted those who loved him and were there to mourn his passing.  

Bill was a devoted family man.  He and Karen had been married forty-nine years and had four grown children, many grandchildren, and even a few "greats."  He was also a lawyer who until his retirement just a couple of years ago was the prosecuting attorney of McDonald County.  He was very well known and respected throughout the community,  and as a mark of that respect, the current issue of the local newspaper had an extensive article about his life at the top of the front page.

My mother and father both came from large families, and some of their siblings went on to have large families as well.   As a result, I had many cousins while growing up.  My mother and Bill's mother were sisters, and they each broke from the norm and just had two children.   Those two sisters and their husbands also became business partners when they were young and built and ran a truck stop and service station on busy Highway 71 near Goodman, Missouri - and each family had their home on property adjacent to the business.  Consequently my sister and I spent several years of our younger lives living within walking distance of our cousins, Bobby and Billy.  So of all of our many cousins, we obviously knew them best.

I was the oldest of the four.  My cousin Bob, was one year younger than me, Gail was almost two years younger than Bob, and little Billy came along four years after Gail.  I remember well the day Bill was born.  It was in November and I was in first grade.  Being a kid, and especially being a very young kid, nobody told me much of anything, and I certainly did not know that I was about to get a new cousin. When I got off of the bus that day Gail, who had just turned four, came running to meet me with the news that "Aunt Christine has gone to the hospital to get a baby!"  That was news to me because until that time I didn't know that babies came from hospitals!

But my experiences with Bill Dobbs did not end when my parents sold their share of the business to his parents a few years later and we got into the tourist business in a nearby town.    We had plenty of contact as adults, far more than I had with any of our other cousins.   Bill was a "mountain man" re-enactor and brought his gear and his stories to schools where I was the principal to put on shows and demonstrations for the students - an activity that the kids loved!  And then later when I worked in child protection for the state, Bill was the Chief Juvenile Officer for the local circuit court,  and he and I would often be involved with the same troubled families.  

It is very hard to believe and realize that Bill has now gone on.  He was only around for sixty-eight years, but in that time he and Karen created an extensive and loving family, and he left an indelible imprint of kindness and generosity on a community that he called home for almost his entire life.

Bill Dobbs was an exceptionally good person.   I felt privileged to have known him, and honored to have been his cousin and his friend.

Intoxicated Babysitter Tries to Clean his AR-15

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

An inebriated individual messing about with an AR-15 assault weapon while caring for multiple minor children.  What could possibly go wrong?

 

A sheriff’s deputy in Florida was arrested last week – the day before Thanksgiving - on a felony charge of aggravated child abuse and misdemeanor counts of using a firearm while under the influence of alcoholic beverages and culpable negligence.  He was later released on $50,000 bond and is currently on unpaid administrative leave from his duties as a jailer with the sheriff’s office.

 

The deputy reported that he was sitting on the couch with his son (age not provided to the public) showing the boy how to clean his (the Dad’s) rifle, an AR-15, when the weapon fell from a television tray and fired off a round as it hit the floor.  The bullet struck a minor girl, wounding her in the hip and abdomen, and requiring emergency surgery and extensive care.  She is apparently going to survive.

 

When other deputies arrived at the scene, they noticed that the suspect had alcohol on his breath, and he was arrested.  The man admitted to deputies that he had had “around six beers.”  The son reported that his dad had had two beers and three mixed drinks consisting of whiskey and lemonade.  The boy also indicated that the mixed drinks were large.  The son told police that his dad drinks daily, including on days when he later has to go to work.

 

The suspect told police that he is familiar with firearms, has never had a gun accidentally discharge before, and he thought that the gun was not loaded.

 

The arrest affidavit stated that the suspect was caring for multiple minor children when the incident occurred.

 

The suspect has entered a written plea of “not guilty.”

 

Of course, he has.

Ashcroft Flabbergasted by Modern Life

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Jay Ashcroft, Missouri's current Secretary of State and a GOP politician steeped in puritanical religious intolerance, is very unhappy with the US Senate's passage of the "Respect for Marriage Act," a bill, which among other things, officially repeals the federal "Defense of Marriage Act" that defined marriage as being between one man and one woman.    The 2004 "Defense of Marriage Act" was ultimately deemed unconstitutional by Obergfell v Hodges, a. US Supreme Court decision in 2015 which held that the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages.

When the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade this past summer, a decision that once again empowered state legislatures to deny abortions to their citizens, Justice Clarence Thomas remarked that perhaps the Court should revisit Obergefell as well, a move that could conceivably allow states to once again begin banning same-sex marriages.  Congress quickly drafted the new "Respect for Marriage Act" in an effort to thwart a potential judicial attack on gay marriage.  The new bill is also crafted to protect interracial marriages, a not-so-subtle pushback at Justice Thomas who is himself a partner in an interracial marriage.

When Missouri's Secretary of State Ashcroft noted that one of Missouri's two Republican US Senators, Ol' Roy Blunt, was supporting the "Respect for Marriage Act," he became incensed and decided to take action. Ashcroft tried to reach Blunt by phone, but was unable to get through, so he issued a letter to the senator reminding him that the Missouri constitution has language declaring marriage to be between a man and a woman (a provision since rendered unconstitutional by Obergefell).   (Efforts to remove the now unconstitutional marriage language from the Missouri constitution have been repeatedly rebuffed by Republican members of the state legislature.).  In remarks about Senator Blunt, Ashcroft said:

"Frankly, I was flabbergasted that he would do this to the people of Missouri.  It is not how he has run.  It is not how he has portrayed himself.  And it is not what the people of this state want."

Roy Blunt, for his part, is retiring from the US Senate and will soon be a full-time lobbyist living and working in Washington, DC.  His days of kowtowing to fundamentalist morons are over - and he likely no longer gives a rip about Jay Ashcroft's opinion on anything.

And Jay Ashcroft, for his part, is struggling to create an electable persona for himself as he jockeys for position to become Missouri's 58th consecutive white, male governor two years from now. 

Praise Jesus and pass the potato salad.

Another Netflix Winner: "Dead to Me"

 

by Pa Rock

TV Junkie

If you are one of the few Americans who have yet to watch the inspired comedy/mayhem series, Dead to Me, the fast-approaching winter season would be the ideal time to hunker down in front of the fire and correct that cultural oversight.  The final season - the third in the series - has recently arrived on Netflix, and the complete series, thirty episodes, is now available to Netflix subscribers.

The series revolves around the emerging friendship of two middle-aged women whose lives sometimes resemble those of a modern-day Lucy and Ethel, and at other times seem more closely akin to Thelma and Louise.  Jen Harding (Christina Applegate) is a recent widow whose husband was killed in a hit-and-run incident one night while jogging.  Her life is already complicated with a full-time job of selling real estate and raising her two adolescent sons, when she meets Judy Hale (Linda Cardellini), a free spirit with a clouded past, at a grief group.  

The story that grows from this seemingly chance meeting represents some of the most clever writing ever to grace the small screen.  The show is a literal roller-coaster plot twists and turns and loop-de-loops with surprises popping up at a breakneck pace.   The situations that Jen and Judy find themselves are often criminal in nature, but they can also be poignant, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, nonetheless.

For nostalgia buffs there is a very brief on-screen reunion in the final season of Dead to Me between the two Bundy women, Peg (Katy Sagal) and her television daughter, Kelly (Christina Applegate), from the hit series of the 1980's and the 1990's, Married with Children.

Dead to Me is superior entertainment framed by good writing and finished out with exceptional acting.   It is a streaming experience that does not disappoint!

I highly recommend this one!

The Kangaroos Are Coming! The Kangaroos Are Coming!

by Pa Rock

Citizen Skeptic

The rural area in southern Missouri that I call home is, if nothing else, gullible as hell!

A few years ago when my youngest son and a production company were filming a movie in and around West Plains - a film ultimately titled "Lost Child" - a rumor began circulating that Brad Pitt was in town.  I heard stories alleging that he had been spotted sitting by the pool of a local motel and that he had also been sighted dining in one of our town's restaurants.  But when the good folks who were eagerly telling Brad tales were questioned, none of them had actually seen the big star - but each knew someone who absolutely had seen him!   Eventually that nonsense subsided, but there are still, no doubt, a few disappointed folks in the area who believe that they just missed bumping into Brad Pitt at Taco Bell by mere minutes.

Now many of those same people are setting the local area abuzz with stories of kangaroos.  Those in the know are becoming upset about the Missouri Department of Conservation's recent release of eighty-some kangaroos in Texas County, which borders our local county of Howell to the north.  I have heard the kangaroo story several times and, having a skeptical nature, just ignored it.  If kangaroos had been released in Missouri even my major news source, National Public Radio (NPR), would have undoubtedly mentioned it

But yesterday evening I listened to two young men - well, two guys younger than me - talking and becoming seriously angry about that kangaroo invasion that was sure to bring dangers untold to our idyllic country setting.  One of them was even plotting ways to dispose of a kangaroo carcass in the event he had to shoot one - and one was touting a government conspiracy because the kangaroos had been released to protect cattle from predators - but the Department of Conservation had not revealed what predators it was concerned about.

As the paranoia began to mount, I decided that perhaps I should learn more about this strangeness.  It took all of about five minutes of searching on Google to learn the truth.  There was one mention of the story - and it was posted on a Facebook site called "Show-Me Outdoors."   The article was dated April 1st, and read:

"After a long anticipated wait, the Missouri Department of Conservation just released 82 kangaroos in Texas County, MO yesterday in an attempt to deter predators from cattle and natural deer herds, which has been a growing issue in the state. The department is expected to release another 37 kangaroos on April Fools Day."

Missouri's faux kangaroo-release wasn't even original.  News stories from 2017 archived on the internet tell of a release of ninety kangaroos in Wyoming.  Those stories were also dated April 1st!

When the first kangaroo hops down the lane in front of my house, I fully expect that Brad Pitt will be riding it bareback!

Marge Greene Says Trump is "Just Sick" Over the Fate of Insurrectionists

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The GOP Congressional Crackpot Freedom Caucus suffered some minor damage in the recent election:  Rep. Madison Cawthorn lost his primary and will no longer be in the club come January - and Sarah Palin, a natural fit for the group, couldn't manage to parlay her reality show fame into a congressional seat.  But other than those two losses, the rest of the gang will be back and sharing their wit and wisdom with America when the new Congress convenes in January.

But Marge Greene of Georgia, a member of very good standing in the Crackpot Freedom Caucus, isn't waiting.  Greene, who seems to believe that she has the inside track on being Trump's next running mate, has made news a couple of times since her reelection to Congress.  First, she appeared to be doing Trump's bidding by endorsing Kevin McCarthy's move to become the next Speaker of the House.  Greene stated that she would be voting for McCarthy to fill that powerful post.

Of course, with the GOP just holding a bare majority in the next House, McCarthy can only afford to lose a few votes of his own party members if he expects to win the Speaker's gavel, and Greene doesn't represent all of the bitter right-wingers who want to be heard on the matter.  Her close friend, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, is, in fact, not on board with McCarthy and has announced that Kevin does not have the votes to become the next speaker.  

It's going to be an interesting few weeks as McCarthy tries to buy his way into the speakership with promises of plum committee assignments, congressional hearings with political agendas, and legislation to benefit specific members of his party.

 

Marge was more directly supportive of Trump and his upcoming campaign to regain the presidency this past weekend when she made an appearance on Steve Bannon's podcast.  While on that program she addressed complaints that Trump had abandoned the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on January 6th.  She said Trump and his wife were "just sick" over the jailing of the people who had attacked the Capitol.  She said that Trump had not pardoned them at the time because they had not been charged and he did not know specifically who they were.  

(Perhaps he should have asked the wife of a certain Supreme Court justice for a list.)

And Marge declared to Bannnon and his listeners that Trump would pardon those who had been arrested and charged in the matter once he returns to the presidency after the next election.

Marge, Trump isn't going to be elected to another term in the White House, and he has pardoned the last criminals that he will ever pardon. America has moved on, and hell, even the Republican Party has moved on. Ron DeSantis is the new Trump.  Pay attention!

Sweet Aunt Mary

 

by Rocky Macy

Proud Nephew

Mary Olive DAY (MACY) KING:   27 July 1925 - 11 November 2022

I learned yesterday that my sweet Aunt Mary passed away in San Diego on November 11th - Veteran's Day.   She apparently died of COVID and complications related to old age.  Aunt Mary turned ninety-seven this past July 27th, and that was the last time that I had spoken with her.   She was my aunt by marriage - and the last survivor of the relatives and in-laws of my parents' generation.

I don't know where Aunt Mary was born, but she did talk to me once about growing up in Kansas City.  She said that she lived within walking distance of the Nelson Art Gallery and loved to go there and see the exhibits when she was a child.  Mary's family had relocated to Neosho, Missouri, by the time she got to high school - and that is where she met my Uncle Wayne.

Veteran's Day seems an appropriate day for Aunt Mary to have passed because I always associate her with World War II.  She married my dad's older brother, Wayne Macy, while she was still in high school just six months before the Japanese brought America into the world war with the attack on Pearl Harbor.  While Uncle Wayne shipped out with the Army to an undisclosed location, Aunt Mary and her mother, Ellen Day, relocated to San Diego, California.  From that day in 1941 until she died there more than eighty years later, San Diego was her home.

The letters that soldiers and sailors wrote home during World War II were censored so that they could not accidentally divulge strategic military information that would benefit the enemy.  For that reason when Wayne wrote to Mary he was never able to disclose where he was stationed.  But Wayne was a clever young man and he sent Mary a piece of jewelry (a bracelet, I think), which had the name of the jewelry store where he had made the purchase - and the town - engraved upon it, and Mary, who was a clever young woman, quickly located the town on a map of Wales.   Wayne was indeed stationed in Wales where he was driving trucks for the military.

One afternoon several years ago Aunt Mary and I were walking in downtown San Diego near the harbor and she showed me where some of the camouflage netting had hung during World War II to hide the city from Japanese bombers.   She, like her young husband, had had a front row view of the war.

Our family visited San Diego twice while I was a youngster.  The first time was in the summer of 1955 after I had completed first grade, and though I did not know it at the time, our trip was so that my dad could say goodbye to his brother, Wayne, who had been diagnosed with leukemia.   We stayed at their house where my sister, Gail, and I got to know our cousins Janet and Linda.  Janet and I were the same age, and Linda was a couple of years older.

Wayne passed away the following summer, on June 23, 1956.  He is buried in the beautiful Fort Roseccrans National Cemetery on a hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Coronado Island.    Aunt Mary and I visited Wayne's grave one morning several years ago.   It is my understanding that Aunt Mary was to have been buried in the same grave as Uncle Wayne.

My dad was unable to go to California when Wayne died, but he did send their parents to be with their oldest child during his final days.  I remember meeting them at the Greyhound bus station in Joplin when they returned from that very sad trip.

We were back out in San Diego the summer after I completed fourth grade and stayed with Aunt Mary and her girls for a few days.  Mary had remarried to a fellow named Clarence who worked for the post office.  That marriage didn't last long, and a few years later she married Bob King and they were together for several decades until his death a few years ago.  While we were in San Diego that summer after my fourth grade year, one of my clearest memories is of all of us going to a pizza parlor for Janet's tenth birthday - and watching the pizza chefs twirl the dough above their heads.  This small-town Missouri boy was very impressed by that.  I also remember my sister almost drowning in the Pacific Ocean and Clarence pulling her to safety.

After that I don't remember seeing Aunt Mary or her daughters for many years.  My next memory of her took place in the early 1990's when I was employed as the junior high school principal in Neosho, Missouri.  There was a big reunion going on - a fifty-year affair for students who had gone to the local high school before and during the World War II years, and lots of people were in town.  One afternoon as I was standing in the school hallway talking with one of the teachers, I noticed a very attractive older blond woman trying to open one of the school's heavy exterior doors.  I rushed to help her and as we walked into the building I introduced myself and asked if I could help her.  "Yes, I think you can," she said.  "I used to be your Aunt Mary."  I hugged her and told her that she would always be my Aunt Mary.

That weekend she and she other relatives who were in town for the reunion all showed up at our home, and we had a very nice family visit.

And then it was several more years before we reconnected again.

Janet invited me to Aunt Mary's 80th birthday celebration in San Diego in 2005, but I had just taken a new job as a civilian social worker with the Army at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, and was unable to go.  But my duty location changed a couple of times over the next few years, and around 2008 while I was working at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix, a friend from Missouri and I arranged to meet at the beautiful and historic del Coronado Hotel in San Diego.   While I was there, Aunt Mary and her daughters and I were able to meet for lunch at a really nice Mexican restaurant in San Diego's "Old Town."

The next year, while still living in Arizona, I brought my oldest son, Nick, and his son, Boone, to Phoenix and we drove on to San Diego so that Boone could experience the ocean for the first time.  Aunt Mary met us down by the harbor and she and I enjoyed fresh clam chowder and a nice long visit.

My daughter, Molly, and her boyfriend, Scott, decided to get married in 2008 while I was still living in Phoenix.  Molly wanted to be married on a beach, but it was November and the weather was already turning wintry in Oregon where they lived, so she chose the southernmost beach that she could find in the continental US - the beach behind the del Coronado Hotel in San Diego.  Nick and Tim and Tim's fiancé, Erin, came in for the wedding, and Mary and Janet joined us at sandy nuptials - so Mary had the opportunity to get reacquainted with all of my children.

While I was working with the Air Force for two years on Okinawa, 2010-2012, Aunt Mary and I stayed in contact through occasional letters and phone calls.   After I returned to the states, she came to Phoenix to visit friends of hers, and we spent one morning together there shopping in Glendale and touring an old car show.    We had lunch in the outdoor beer garden of a German restaurant - and then I took her to see my military housing on Luke Air Force Base.   

My sister, Gail (now Abigail), came to Phoenix near that same time and she and I drove to San Diego and visited with Aunt Mary and Janet and Linda at a restaurant on the ocean near La Jolla.  I'm sure that Aunt Mary enjoyed the visit as much as we did because she wrote about it in her Christmas letter that year.

After that we saw each other a couple of times in San Diego, and our final meeting was when my friend Valerie (who was then living in Hawaii) and I met up in San Diego and visited with Mary at her home in the late fall of 2019.  After our visit, Aunt Mary, who was ninety-four, drove us across town, on-and-off various freeways that were swarming with speeding traffic, and somehow managed to deliver us safely to a nice Mexican restaurant where we met Linda and Janet and Janet's husband for dinner.  

Now Sweet Aunt Mary is gone.  In addition to being a devoted wife and mother, (and grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother!), and a wonderful aunt, Mary was also a charming conversationalist with an astounding knowledge of many topics, as well as a poet, a painter, and even a fashion model.  She lived life to the fullest, and I will miss her very much.  May she be resting peacefully on that lovely hilltop overlooking the Pacific, comforted by the eternal pulse of the ocean and the loving thoughts of all who had to good fortune to have known her.

Biden Zeroes in on Assault Weapons

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Hey America, Joe Biden is coming for your AR-15s and those thirty-round clips - and it's about damned time!

Joe didn't actually get specific about AR-15's, the killing weapon of choice for most of the angry young men who go on shooting rampages in America, but he did say that he would be happy to sign a law banning high-powered guns that have the capacity to kill many people very quickly - semi-automatic rifles and pistols that are commonly referred to as "assault weapons."

After a pair of mass shootings this week, one at a gay club in Colorado in which five were killed and eighteen injured, and another shooting at a Walmart in Virginia where seven died - including the gunman, Joe Biden spoke out rather plainly:

"The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick.  Just sick.  I'm going to try to get rid of assault weapons."

Joe had a string of political victories with slim Democratic majorities in the House and Senate during the last Congress.  Can he squeeze through one more significant win before the House switches to a very thin Republican majority in January?  

Time will tell, but those who believe that Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are already yesterday's news may be forced to endure one more big headline.

Time will tell.

It ain't over 'til it's over!

Bambi's Black Friday: The Case of the Headless Deer

by Pa Rock

Country Bumpkin

The daybreak edition of my early morning walk was interrupted  today when I came across the corpse of a large deer lying on the edge of my yard with its feet extending onto the county road.   My first assumption was that it was one of the neighborhood deer that cross the road several times daily and must have had an unfortunate encounter with one of the drug-addled hillbillies who roar up and down the country lane twenty-four-seven.  A closer inspection, however, revealed that the once proud prince of the forest had no head.  It was clearly a case of murder most foul!

I maintain one of the nicer yards in the area, and complete strangers have stopped to tell me that it looks like a park.  But while the yard generally inspires pride on my part and praise from others, there are the envious few who hoard their car trash until they have time to drive by my place and pitch it out the window - and almost as soon as it hits, I am out there with my plastic bags picking it up.  I don't tolerate trash on the yard - even cigarette butts.

But now the stakes have gone up, and the litterbugs are dumping headless carcasses.  I guess for some being drug-addled hillbillies is not enough, and they must must further justify their presence on Earth by also being assholes.  Well, mission accomplished!

I made two assumptions with regard to the deer corpse.   First, although I did not do a forensic examination of the big creature and look for entry and exit wounds, I suspect that it was felled with a shot from a rifle, and as firearms' deer season ended three days ago, it was undoubtedly gunned down illegally.  Second, from its size and from the fact that the head was removed, I am also assuming that it was a male (I didn't check that out forensically either), a buck whose head was salvaged for the antlers.  I guess that I can also assume that the person who left the carcass in my yard either does not care for venison, or that he, or she, already has a freezer or two stuffed with enough deer meat  to last through the winter.

One old fellow - though not as old as me - who was driving by in his pickup truck this morning stopped and told me that someone had dumped a headless deer in my yard.  Yes, I know - I replied - would you like to have it?  He declined and suggested that I call the local office of the state department of conservation and that maybe they would come move it.  I have called three times so far - and no one is answering their phone - and their voice mail has been turned off.    I guess those Missouri state employees are enjoying a nice four-day weekend and do not want to be bothered with my trivial issues.

My next call was to the dispatcher at the county sheriff's office.  That nice lady assured me that she would have the county conservation agent call - and a few minutes later he did.  He was also nice - and informed me that county deputies would be out after while and take the body.

And with that, the case of the headless deer will officially be closed.  

(I don't own a gun, but if Missouri's worthless legislature were to enact a hunting season on litterbugs or body-dumpers, I might invest in one!)

(Postscript:  A county commissioner just showed up in his pickup truck pulling a trailer to get the deer, and even though I have been watching the road from my living room typing window all morning, someone had managed to stop by and take the deer carcass without my seeing them do it.  The commissioner was glad that he did not have to mess with it, and I was glad to have the situation resolved!)

Now the case is closed!

Ancestor Archives: The SREAVES Connection to the Macy's Department Store

 

by Rocky Macy

Happy Thanksgiving, 2022!   

Last year on Thanksgiving Day I used the opportunity of the Biden family's annual Thanksgiving retreat on Nantucket to blog about my own family's connection to several of the original European purchasers and settlers on the island.   This year the Biden's are again celebrating Thanksgiving on Nantucket, and I am sharing some more history of the first Europeans to settle there.

In 1659 a small group of Massachusetts Baptists who were experiencing conflicts with the colony's Puritan leaders purchased a a significant portion of the island of Nantucket from the local governor, Thomas Mayhew, with the intent of settling there the following spring.  That October, however, the troubles that one of the purchasers, Thomas Macy, a cousin of Governor Mayhew, was having with the Puritans began to escalate, and Macy decided that it would be propitious for him and his family to migrate to Nantucket then, as winter was settling in, rather than risk waiting until the spring.

Winter storms were on the horizon as Macy, who was 51-years-old, his wife and their five children, and three other adult males and one 12-year-old boy, came ashore on Nantucket on that cold October day.  Although there are no official accounts of their first few months on the island, it is likely that the new arrivals survived the winter living in shelters dug into the hillsides - and with the assistance and generosity of the local Native Americans.

(Nathaniel Philbrick's excellent history of Nantucket Island, "Away Off Shore," has a complete chapter focused on Thomas Macy and his family's migration to Nantucket.  The book has been reviewed two times in this blog.)

This Thanksgiving, with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade providing background noise as I type, I decided to look into the genealogy of the department store's founder, Rowland Hussey MACY, and see exactly how his family is connected to the SREAVES family of Newton County, Missouri.

Even though my last name is MACY, I am not connected to the big store chain through my father's MACY lineage, but I am connected through my mother's SREAVES lineage.   My mother, Ruby Florine SREAVES, was the daughter of Dan and Siss (ROARK) SREAVES of rural Newton County, Missouri.   Dan was the son of Alexander and Mary Jane (ELLIS) SREAVES.  Mary Jane ELLIS was the daughter of William J. and Matilda J. (COOK) ELLIS.  Matilda J. COOK was the daughter of Thomas and Sinai (LEWIS) COOK.  Thomas COOK was the son of John and Hannah (MACY) COOK.  Hannah MACY was the daughter of Paul and Bethiah (MACY) MACY, second cousins who were both born on Nantucket.  (Paul and Bethiah were each great-gxandhilcren of John MACY, who had been just four-years-old when his parents brought him to Nantucket on that cold October day in 1659.)

Paul and Bethiah MACY, and their daughter Hannah MACY, and her great-great-grandson, Dan SREAVES all descended from John Macy, the fifth and youngest child of Thomas and Sarah (HOPCOTT) MACY, the first European couple to settle on the island of Nantucket.  

Rowland Hussey MACY, the founder of the department store which has sponsored the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade almost continually - except for three years during World War II - since 1924 - also descended from that same John MACY.  Rowland H. MACY was born on August 30, 1822 on Nantucket and died on Mach 29, 1877, in Paris, France.

Rowland Hussey MACY was the son of John and Eliza (MYRICK) MACY.  John Macy was the son of Silvanus and Anna (PINKHAM) MACY.  Silvanus MACY was the son of Caleb MACY and Judith (GARDNER) MACY.   Caleb MACY was the son of Richard MACY and Deborah (PINKHAM) MACY.  Richard MACY was the son of John and Deborah (GARDNER) MACY - our common ancestors.

So, my first cousins on the SREAVES side of the family, the next time you watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, do it with the satisfaction and pride of knowing that it is a fine achievement of our family   Rowland Hussey MACY was our 4th cousin, 5 times removed.  (That's probably not close enough to qualify for an inheritance!)  Our children are 4th cousins 6 times removed, and our grandchildren are 4th cousins, 7 times removed from the founder of the famous department store that becomes even more famous every year at Thanksgiving.

Anyone with an interest in any of this is welcome to peruse my extensive family tree information:  "Rocky Macy's Roots, Branches, and Weeds" at Ancestry.com.  It is open to the public, but be alert because Ancestry will try to sell you a membership.  Rowland Hussey MACY is included, but he is out there in the "weeds" portion. 

There are also numerous and extensive genealogical materials on the original European purchasers and settlers of Nantucket Island all over the internet.

And once more, "Happy Thanksgiving!"

'Twas the Month Before Christmas

 

by Pa Rock

Economic Engine

While the rest of the country may feel that it is experiencing an economic downturn, several merchants and tradespeople in my area have had a very good November.  I have seen to that personally.

The month began with my hot water heater going out just as I was preparing to hit the showers one chilly morning.  It took the plumber a couple of days of piddling around before he finally admitted that he could not fix the old one and switched to his Plan B of selling me a new one.  Then, that same week, I managed to damage one of my car tires, and since they were all original with the vehicle, the other three were also in need of replacement.  The local tire dealer had two suggestions, one was expensive and the other was more expensive.  I went with the better one - and he proceded to load me up with a tire protection plan and the added expense filling the tires with something better than air - nitrogen, I think, or perhaps helium or upsidaisium - I really can't remember other than it was a gas meant to keep the tires from losing pressure with changes in the weather.

Earlier this week the microwave quit.  It was seven-or-eight-years-old, so I wasn't surprised at its passing, but I was aggravated that it stopped as my supper was cooking - a delicious Marie Calendar chicken pot pie - which the cat ended up eating.  I bought a new microwave yesterday, just after visiting the courthouse to pay my 2022 county taxes, and then the Department of Motor Vehicles to have the truck tags renewed.

All of that happened in November, the month before Christmas.  December will bring three family birthdays and then Christmas itself, and in January I will begin the process of trying to figure out how much additional money I owe the government in income taxes.  (Musk and Bezos and Trump won't pay taxes, so people like me have to take up the slack.)   And, if I am truly lucky, the Republicans in Congress won't be able to gut Social Security and Medicare for at least a couple of more years.

Life is a struggle, and it doesn't get any easier with retirement!

Legal Weed Coming to Missouri

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The legalization of marijuana for recreational use was on the ballot in five states during the general election earlier this month:  Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota.   The measure failed in Arkansas and the Dakotas, but it managed to pass in Maryland and Missouri.  With the votes to legalize in those two states, a total of 21 states, the District of Columbia, and the US Territory of Guam now have some provisions for the legal use of marijuana for recreational purposes.

The measure, presented as an amendment to the Missouri state constitution,  passed in Missouri with more than 53% of the vote, and did especially well in Missouri's more urban areas.  The measure passed in St. Louis City by 73 percent.  Rural areas generally opposed the proposition, and it failed in my own county of Howell by 68% to 32 percent.

There was a strong last-minute push against the measure by a coalition claiming that it would benefit marijuana suppliers who are already under contract with the state to supply marijuana for medicinal purposes.  Those forces argued that the interests of fairness would be better served by defeating the state constitutional amendment and instead let the state legislature enact statutes which could insure a more equitable distribution of the licenses for growing and dispensing the product.  Voters rejected that logic because chances of the Missouri legislature enacting statutes legalizing marijuana were nil.

The new measure will take effect next February with recreational sales licenses first being provided to the existing dispensaries for legal medical marijuana.  A lottery system for awarding licenses for the production and dispensing of marijuana will be established, and then in September of next year licenses for dispensaries of recreational marijuana will be awarded.  Local law enforcement is stressing that the use of recreational pot remains illegal until February of 2023 - and it will remain illegal to smoke pot in public settings.

The new law will set limits on how much marijuana a person may possess, and it will also allow for a individuals to grow a limited number of plants.  Persons with convictions for (or who are currently serving time for) marijuana possession may apply to have their convictions vacated (except in cases involving providing pot to minors or driving while high), and a six-percent sales tax will be placed on the product to fund the entire operation.

So, come February, smoke 'em if you got 'em.  It will be a new day in the Show-Me state!

Zealotry and Gunfire in Colorado Springs

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Colorado Springs is a city of approximately half-a-million people located south of Denver on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains near Pike's Peak.  According to news reports, the fairly large city was home to only one gay-oriented nightclub, an establishment called "Club Q."  I used the past tense in referring to the club because it is now closed due to a horrific shooting there this past Saturday night.

A lone gunman entered Club Q late Saturday evening carrying an AR-15 assault rifle and a pistol.  He immediately opened fire with the rifle managing to kill five individuals and cause injury to around twenty-five others, some of whom remain in critical condition today.  The shooter was quickly confronted and subdued by two patrons of the club, one of whom grabbed the young man's pistol and struck him with it, knocking him to the floor where he was restrained until police arrived minutes later.

The shooter, 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, was somehow wounded in the shooting.   He was arrested and removed to an area hospital for treatment.  Aldrich was already known to local law enforcement due to a June 2021 incident in which he threatened his mother with a homemade bomb - causing a neighborhood evacuation.  No charges were filed from that incident, nor was Colorado's 2019 Red Flag law activated.

Colorado Springs has a long and troubled history with right-wing religious extremism.  It is the home of James Dobson's "Focus on the Family," and also the United States Air Force Academy, a military institution long known for its fundamentalist Christian leanings.  And while the city may only have one gay bar, it has an abundance of churches, pawn shops, and gun stores.

Colorado Springs was also where a 2015 attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic occurred in which three people (including one policemen) were killed by a lone gunman, and five others (including two more policemen) were wounded.

El Paso County, Colorado, where Colorado Springs is located, is one of a large group of counties nationwide to declare itself a "Second Amendment Sanctuary" to protect what the county recognizes as a constitutional right to bear arms.  The sanctuary resolution was passed by the county in 2019 in response to the state's new (at that time) Red Flag law.   The resolution stated opposition to the Red Flag law by declaring that it "infringes upon the inalienable rights of law-abiding citizens" by ordering police to "forcibly enter premises and seize a citizen's property with no evidence of a crime."  Sanctuary counties and localities often stand in opposition to state and federal gun laws, and they are regarded as purely symbolic with no legal weight.

But while Colorado Springs and El Paso County may be mired in religious fundamentalism and gun-zealotry, the state of Colorado is more open-minded.  Governor Jared Polis, the first openly gay man to serve as governor of Colorado - or any other state in the nation, for that matter - issued the following statement in response to this weekend's shooting:

“This is horrific, sickening, and devastating. My heart breaks for the family and friends of those lost, injured, and traumatized in this horrific shooting. I have spoken with Mayor Suthers and made it clear that every state resource is available to local law enforcement in Colorado Springs. We are eternally grateful for the brave individuals who blocked the gunman likely saving lives in the process and for the first responders who responded swiftly to this horrific shooting. Colorado stands with our LGTBQ community and everyone impacted by this tragedy as we mourn together."

While many in Colorado Springs may see hatred of the already-marginalized as the path to glory and salvation, the people in charge of their state have a more humane and Christ-like view of the world. May they prevail.

Musk Brings the Garbage Back to Twitter

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

"Garbage in, garbage out" is an old business axiom implying that if you use garbage in the creative or manufacturing process, chances are you will wind up creating garbage.  Conversely, quality inputs would be far more likely to create quality outputs.

However, Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, apparently does not subscribe to the notion that using commonsense might benefit his struggling social media acquisition.  He is, after all, the Elon Musk, and he will do things his way, thank you very much.

The old Twitter showed uncommonly good sense nearly two years ago when it permanently banned Donald Trump from the platform after he openly condoned the actions of the insurrectionists on January 6th as they stormed the Capitol and tried to bring down democracy.  When Musk announced that he was trying to buy Twitter earlier this year he made some preemptive noises about allowing Trump back on his favorite social media site, but Musk eventually backed off saying that the matter would be left up to a "special moderation board."    Musk apparently changed his mind last week and decided to put the matter to a special poll on Twitter.

Donald Trump, while promising not to leave his perch on his own "Truth Social," asked his supporters to go over to Twitter and vote for his reinstatement - but even with Trump's overt support, the matter barely passed with just 51.8% of respondents signaling a preference for Trump to return to his former favorite social loudspeaker.

But it was enough for Musk to bellow this morning that "the people have spoken" and announce that he was reinstating Trump's Twitter account.

Boys and their toys!   Elon Musk gave $44 billion for his Twitter toy, and now, mere weeks later, he has almost completely destroyed it.   By all means bring Trump back in, Elon.  If you are going to produce garbage you might as well go for the gold standard!

R.I.P., Twitter.

Rittenhouse is a Symptom of a Very Sick Society

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Kyle Rittenhouse was just 17-years-old when his mother drove him from their home in Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where she dropped him - and his AR-15 rifle which he was not old enough to own, much less operate - at a crowded public demonstration.  Kyle was there to "protect property" from the demonstrators and his presence, along with that of other armed counter-protestors, seemed to be occurring with the tacit approval of the local police.

It was the evening of August 25, 2020, and the streets of Kenosha were filled with people protesting the police shooting of a young black man two days earlier.  The victim of that shooting, Jacob Blake, had been confronted by police following a domestic violence call, and one of the two white officers responding, shot Blake seven times (four in the back and three in the side) as he was reaching into the driver's side of his vehicle.   Blake survived but is now paralyzed from the waist down and suffered several other serious injuries as a result of the shooting.

Rittenhouse, the unsupervised youth whose mother left him at the demonstration two nights later, shot and killed two people - both young men - while he roamed the streets with the mob  - and he seriously wounded a third individual, a man who was there working as a paramedic.  Of Rittenhouse's three victims only the paramedic was armed.

Today Joseph "Jojo" Rosenbaum, who was 36-years-old on the evening Kyle Rittenhouse shot him four times and ended his life, lies moldering in a grave.    During a confrontation with Rittenhouse, Jojo had thrown a plastic bag at the armed youth before being shot.  Rittenhouse later admitted in his trial that he knew Rosenbaum was unarmed when he shot him.  Jojo's daughter is four now, and undoubtedly does not have many memories of the father that the boy from Illinois so callously and deliberately removed from her life. 

Today Anthony Michael Huber is also rotting away underground.  Huber, who had celebrated his 26th birthday just four days before that fateful evening in Kenosha when Kyle Rittenhouse killed him, had been a friend of Jacob Blake's.  Anthony Huber, who was also unarmed, had seen Rittenhouse gun down Jojo Rosenbaum and ran toward the shooter along with several others in an effort to remove his gun.   Huber was carrying his skateboard - as he always did - and he hit Rittenhouse with the skateboard as he tried to grab the boy's gun.  But Rittenhouse managed to fire one shot at the man with the skateboard and hit him.  Huber, after being hit, turned to get away, and then collapsed on the ground and died.

Rittenhouse's third victim was 27-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz, a paramedic who was at the scene with medical supplies.  He was carrying a pistol.  Gaige had moved toward Rittenhouse when he saw him shoot Huber.  Rittenhouse shot him one time in the arm, a shot that took out most of his bicep and has resulted in multiple surgeries and treatments and left the young man in a state of prolonged pain.

Kyle Rittenhouse was able to walk through police lines that evening with his AR-15 in-hand and return to his home in Illinois.

Kyle Rittenhouse was brought to trial in Kenosha in November of 2021 to face several charges, the most serious of which was "first degree reckless homicide" and "use of a dangerous weapon," and he was eventually acquitted of all charges with the jury buying his defense that he had acted in self-defense.

Rittenhouse's mother was never charged for her role in transporting an armed 17-year-old across a state line and leaving him in a dangerous situation.

Over the years since Kyle Rittenshouse killed two unarmed young men in Kenosha and wounded an armed paramedic, he and the shootings have become a cause celebre among gun rights groups, white nationalists, and Republican politicians.   Rittenhouse has traveled to Mar-a-Lago to be photographed with Donald Trump, and this past week he visited the US Capitol where he met with some Republican members of Congress and posed for a picture with Marjorie Taylor Greene - and even openly fantasized about someday serving in Congress himself.

Kyle Rittenhouse, a neglected child who ended the lives of two human beings and destroyed the quality of life of a third, is slowing morphing into a folk hero whose image is being burnished by a society that intermingles guns and violence with religion and government.   Perhaps Kyle is not old enough nor wise enough to own the intentional harm that he has caused to others - but Donald Trump, Marge Greene, and the human garbage that passes for the white (Christian) nationalist, anti-democracy wing of the GOP certainly know the harm that they bring to our nation by glorifying vigilantes and domestic terrorism.

Kyle Rittenhouse is not a hero.   He is a symptom of a very sick society.