RIP My Brother Tom

 

My Brother Tom passed away on Monday, June 17th.  He had been in poor health lately, as I determined from our weekly 
2-3 hour Sunday phone calls.  

As those who have read the "my brother Tom" posts here know, Tom had an opinion on everything and could talk for hours on many subjects.  He taught me so much in the short two months that we became reunited after a 40 year absence.  I will miss him.

His sister in law penned this about him this morning:

To all who know my brother in law Tom Chapman

He sadly passed away Monday

Services haven’t been confirmed yet.

He certainly was a great guy. He was my sister Diane’s partner in crime until her passing .

If you wanted to just talk, Tom was your man. Well educated and kind. Respiratory therapist for over 40 years at Lawrence General and Lowell General.

I will surely miss our chats which could go on for hours and cover many topics.

Rest easy Tom you’re with your beloved.

I am heartbroken and will miss our weekly chats. Rest in Peace, big brother.

Tom on MLB Betting

 

Major League Baseball banned a 24 year old player for life over charges that he placed bets on games that this then-team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, just weeks after a player for the NBA's Toronto Raptors received a similar punishment for a similar offense. 4 other players were suspended for a year for betting on games that their team was not involved in.  These stories break the heart of any true sports fan, whose interest in any sport is based upon love of the sport, rather than the betting opportunities a particular sport might offer.  Major sports leagues have to be absolutely merciless when it comes to regulating gambling activity.  No second chances.  If you don't believe that a contest is honest, it just becomes another form of professional wrestling; suitable only for 8 year olds. 

I don't care about the players.   They made their beds and they have to lie in them, next to their angry wives.  These guys make good money for playing a kid's game, albeit at an extraordinarily high level.  For those suspended for the year, it won't be too bad.  Most enjoyed ample signing bonuses and should be able to get by for a year, but for those who bet on games that their teams were involved in; well, their toast..No more first class travel and hotels. No more major league meal money, ($117.00/Day).  No more 'Road Meat', that most enjoyable perk wherein pretty girls clamor to have sex with you just because you're a pro athlete.  After you get yourself banned for life, your own wife won't even sleep with you.  Most likely, she'll divorce you and take whatever money that you have left. And your kids...:(

These people are addicts.  They bet because they have to, not because they want to.  They live for that rush.  For these folks it's compulsive gambling.  For others it's alcohol, or sex, or drugs.  Some like to diddle kids and others eat until they grow to the size of a zeppelin.  Even shopping can be pathological.  Addiction comes in many forms and, in order to treat the patient effectively, you have to address the underlying cause of the addiction, not just the symptoms.  The therapist has to take a holistic approach.

Tom on the "Great Divide"

 The Great Divide in American Politics is not between Republicans and Democrats, although one could make a case that that it is.  The two major parties are hardly philosophically monolithic.  The Democrats are split into a Progressive element that favors group  over individual identity, which I realize is a gross oversimplification, but I'm not in a mood to get bogged down in the weeds this morning. 

The truth is, (and I've frequently made this point), Progressives are humorless scolds who will reject any initiative that is proposed  by a 'Straight White Male, however virtuous that initiative might be, yet will celebrate any cockamamie theory put forward  by a POC or LBGTQ activist.  Examples include folks such as Pramilla Jayapal, Elizabeth Warren, Ro Kahanna, and the formidable Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

  
The other wing of the Dems represent what might be called the 'Traditional', or 'Moderate' element of the party. These are the more down to earth Democrats who tend to believe in what might be described as 'American Values', (at least as compared to their Progressive brethren).   Think Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi,Seth Moulton and Adam Schiff.
 

 This wing of the Party used to  be made up of the so-called 'Lunchpail Democrats': principally men, who worked in the factories and mills that made America into an economic powerhouse.  But many of them fell for the siren songs of anti-labor activists who whispered into the ears of Ronald Reagan and convinced him that unions and the workers who made America great were somehow less important than the lawyers and other social parasites who work at cross purposes to the very real needs  of ordinary Americans.  They have been replaced by female voters who understand, as many male voters fail to do, that a robust social safety net is essential  for America to thrive, rather than merely exist.

Whatever philosophical differences exist among the Democrats, they manage to Get Things Done, at least in comparison to their Republican colleagues.  The divide in the once Grand Old Party might be more  accurately described as a schism, which is normally a theological term, rather than a political one.  But I do think that the term does accurately describe the current reality show that is today's Republican Party.

The rot that transformed today's Republican Party from a typical opposition party in a Democratic Republic into the misbegotten collection of conspiracy theorists and fabulists that they are today, requires more time than we have available.

There has always been the whiff of an anti-government cabal about the GOP that has waxed and waned over the years, but the roots of today's nihilistic Republican Party can be traced to Ronald Reagan and former house Speaker Newt Gingrich.   While there has always been a rift between the so-called 'Country Club Republicans', and their more populist  brothers; and the differences between these wings of the GOP were largely class-based. 

The country club republicans were largely based in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, with tendrils reaching into the old Western Reserve and along Lake Michigan, while the more populist part of the party could be found on the South and West. 

This is an oversimplification, but, as the wise lady said: "It's good enough for government work".  Over the past half century, most of the country club types have been run out of the party, along with anyone who demonstrated a willingness to "...reach across the aisle...", and make common cause with the opposition to work on behalf of the American people. 

Bit by bit, the ideological bomb-throwers have taken over the party, as evidenced by their propensity to make life difficult for the various GOP party leaders, particularly in the House, where they've dispatched John Boehner, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy, and nearly did the trick with Mike Johnson, with only the willingness of House Democrats to intervene on his behalf keeping him in the Speaker's chair. 

The wild card in all this is the 'Trump Factor', which causes otherwise relatively moderate republicans to quake in fear of a primary challenge by some tin foil hat wearing challenger who never did stop believing in fairy tales, (such as the one in which Donald Trump won the 2020 election). 

There are signs that the fractures within the House GOP caucus will tear it apart in an orgy of fratricidal bloodletting.  As an example of what I'm talking about,  consider Rep. Bob Good, (R-VA), who has endorsed a primary challenge to Rep. Don Bacon, (R-NE), for being insufficiently "conservative".  

But the divide in the GOP caucus isn't a matter of the degree of conservatism evinced by any individual member; rather it's the degree to which they are willing to pledge fealty to Donald Trump.  

The Republican Party, at least in its current incarnation, is not at all conservative in the sense that the term has been historically understood.  A more appropriate description might be to call the GOP the "Radical" Party.  Another accurate descriptor might be to call it a Cult of Personality centered around The Donald; God's Messenger.  But he's nothing of the sort.  He's just a fat, old, grifter with a flatulence problem.  I think the House will revert to Democratic control in the fall, because so many of those in the House GOP caucus appear to be certifiable.

Vonshitzenpants and Alzheimer

Donald Trump did sit down for an interview with Time Magazine that was released yesterday morning and what he says doesn't particularly surprise me, but the prospect of a Trump Restoration is begining
to concern me.  Mr. Trump, never the sharpest knife in any drawer, is beginning to show signs of cognitive decline which, when you take into account the fact that his daddy, Fred Trump, suffered from Alzheimer's Disease, (AD), and according to the National Institutes of Health, advanced age and familial history are thought to play a significant role in the development of AD.  That aside, the plans that he has for the short term future of this country are disturbing, to say the least.

Tom on Those Pesky Student Protestors

It'll be interesting how these increasingly confrontational battles between witless students and the agitators that care nothing for the plight of the Palestinians who find themselves caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.  As these protests metastasize, it becomes increasingly clear that this is about the "Perfidious Jew".  They employ the dog whistles of 'Genocide', and 'Colonialism' that only ever seem to be applied to Israel, and nobody else.   I always thought that we were better than that...

 

Tom on a Trump Victory

 Truth be told, I almost think that what America needs is a Trump victory in 2024. 

Sometimes a person just needs an emema.   It'll hurt and embarrass you, but you'll be 'aces' afterwards, (that one I got from my late wife, The Fabulous Missy).

Let America see that The Mighty Oz is, like any good magician, a master of illusion and misdirection; adept in the use of smoke and mirrors. 

But they'll soon find that illusion is no substitute for competence, and when inflation goes through the roof because of Trump's 'crackpot' economic theories, and the interest rate on a new mortgage hits 12.5 %, they won't be able to blame Joe Biden. 

 When your 15 year old daughter finds herself in the 'Family Way', because the law wouldn't allow her to get a refill for her birth control pill scrip, and she just was a silly girl trying to keep hold of her pig of a boyfriend the only way she knows how,  you can't blame Joe Biden. 

When the number of cops who die in the line of duty goes through the roof because even mental patients and wife beaters have a Right to Bear as many arms as they please without regard to their suitability to do so, it won't be a glib Joe Biden offering thoughts and prayers to the 31 year old widow and her two toddlers whose husband was gunned down by an angry co-worker for reasons that nobody can understand. 

The Muslims from Michigan who try to bring what remains of the Lebanese and Gazan families so sorely afflicted to new homes in the land of opportunity, Uncle Sugar will slam the door in their faces.  

Black folks who gather together to protest the senseless murder of some unlucky kid  whose only offense was "Driving While Black" could well find themselves gunned down by National Guardsmen who are. only "following orders''.  Think that they'll have PTSD? 

Biden will be enjoying his retirement by the time that happens...or will he?  The politician who doesn't buy into the 'Trump is divine' trope, may well find himself entangled in ruinously expensive legal proceedings designed more for intimidation than in seeking justice. 

And you have to wonder how long it will be before the "Trump Re-Education Camps", which will find its mission statement to sweep up dark-skinned hispanics, (regardless of legal status), expanded to include homosexuals and Jews.  

Tom on the History of Political Protests

 I've been saying for some time that this year has certain similarities to 1968.  While there have been neither assassinations nor urban rioting, (It's only April), political discourse today is as poisonous as it was back then.  Your debate opponent is not misguided or reading the tea leaves differently than you might: She's evil.  And it's not one party that's guilty of such venomous invective. People tend to talk AT each other, rather than TO each other.  And, as if that wasn't bad enough, many of these dimwits seem to be incapable of any original thought.  Republicans hurl insults at Democrats that they first saw on a bumper sticker on some rattletrap of a pickup truck or some Fox News or Wall Street Journal comment section frequented by people with serious anger management issues and a taste for complicated conspiracy theories.  Democrats are just as bad, if not worse.  Whatever you might say about Republicans, many of them have not lost the ability to laugh.  People actually seem to enjoy themselves at Trump rallies.  Democratic gatherings are dour affairs where nobody ever smiles, every 'microaggression' is the political equivalent of a Mortal Sin.  :Progressive tend to view people as members of discrete"identity" groups, rather than as individuals, and their first impulse is to venerate the   group over any individual.

Since the late 60s, the identities of the offenders may have changed, but their foolish ways are familiar to anyone who remembers those fraught times.  One of the defining issues was the constant demonstrations.  Many of these demonstrations were against the Vietnam War, others were in support of the forces of Law and Order.  Pretty young women burned their brassieres as a protest against the patriarchal state, and long haired lads burned their draft cards in protest against the unpleasantness of the Vietnam Conflict.  Blacks protested racism and Southern Whites beat them like the proverbial 'Red-Headed Stepchild'.  Sometimes these packerhead even killed them and tossed their bodies into nearby swamps.  

Now the protests are taking place on college campuses nationwide.  This new wave of protests have been fueled by the Israeli-Hamas War.  While the majority of protesters are sympathetic to the so-called Palestinian 'Cause', most are just ignorant Muppets.  But some are malevolent towards Jewish students, who are conditioned by history to take such threats as promises.   And the Palestinian sympathizers have taken to establishing 'camps', on the grounds of some universities, including Columbia and Yale.  When those institutions took action against the protestors, (who had ignored repeated requests to leave), They were detained and processed, and many faced suspensions and loss of their dorm rooms and access to the university dining halls and other facilities. Some of these kids feel that they should face no consequences for their disruptive behavior, but a reckoning is long overdue.  For too long, militant progressives have exercised a 'heckler's veto' over appearances by those whose views on particular issues are insufficiently PC.  No university should ever tolerate this sort of behavior.  If you disagree with a speaker's viewpoint, whatever it might be, the way to deal with is to test your viewpoint in the marketplace of ideas, (NB: The term is a simplification in the dissent in the case Abrams v the United States, (1919) by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr..  Two men were convicted under the Espionage Act for the heinous crime of distributing anti-government pamphlets.  Holmes asserted that, absent an imminent threat, even seditious writings were worthy of First Amendment protection; that ideas should be debated, not met with a long term in prison.  Abrams and his co-defendant got 30 years in prison). 

Tom on the Spring Primary Season and More

 

If this is spring, it must be the primary season. This week's crop includes the race to fill out the remainder of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's term in California.  The primary includes 9 candidates and the frontrunners are Tulare County Sheriff Mike Robidoux and State Assemblyman Vince Fong, both Republicans.  The final election will take place in May. Bakersfield is part of Kern County which, in turn, is part of the Central Valley, and tends to vote conservative. 

But the race that seems to be getting everyone's attention is the race to compete for the chance to take on incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio.   The candidates are Bernie Moreno, a Cleveland area car dealer, Matt Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians, (the MLB baseball team formerly known as the Cleveland Indians), and current Ohio Sec. of State Frank LaRose who bollixed last year's referendums on abortion, not once, but twice.  Moreno has a bit of a "Gay" problem of sorts. Back in 2008, an account was created on a Gay dating website named "Adult Friend Finder'', and a personal ad seeking "...men for 1 on 1 sex..." and "Young guys to have fun with while travelling...". The email address was one used by Moreno, and the physical address was a Florida residence owned by his parents.  This little tidbit only became public Thursday evening.   While I wouldn't normally comment on a candidate's sexual orientation, the fact that Mr.Moreno is rabidly anti-gay makes him fair game.  Moreno is carrying Donald Trump's endorsement into Tuesday's primary.  I 'm guessing Dolan wins in a close one, only because voters generally have no use for hypocrites.

While on the subject of Mr. Trump, it appears that his considerable legal expenses may be affecting his ability to raise money for the general election campaign.  Mr. Biden has somewhere in the vicinity of 155 million dollars cash on hand, while Mr. Trump has but 40 million dollars, (that's not including the 10 million dollars that came in during the 24 hours following the State of the Union Address).  The Democratic National Committee is hiring staffers and building out their ground game in the battleground states, while the Republican National Committee is rent with infighting, such as we see in Tuesday's GOP contest.  I mentioned the 'October Surprise" that hit Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno above, (NB: An 'October Surprise' is an end of campaign occurrence that unexpectedly appears and is damaging to an opponent's candidacy, such as the disturbing  allegations that I noted earlier).  It doesn't help Mr. Moreno that both Gov. Mike DeWine and former GOP Senator Rob Portman, a moderate Republican, have endorsed Mr. Dolan. 

One of the issues that some GOP big donors face is whether the monies that they are being asked to contribute to the Trump cause will be used to mount a spirited campaign against Mr. Biden, or will be pissed away on his stupendous legal expenses which, over the past 2 years, have totalled 76 million dollars.  These large donors didn't get where they are by being stupid, (although My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell might be the exception that proves the rule), and backing Trump's campaign is one thing, while paying his legal bills are quite another. 

Ah well, it could be worse.  I mean he's broke, he's under indictment all over the map, and it appears that his head is going to explode at any moment.  He could be that guy who was bitten by a Gila Monster the other day.  The Gila Monster was the pet of a 34 year old Lakewood, (Colorado), man and apparently the beast bit him on the hand, (for 4 minutes, no less).  It took the guy a couple of hours to seek medical attention and he was just barely responsive when paramedics arrived.  Despite the best efforts of the medical folks charged with treating him, he  passed away from what I believe to be renal failure.  The Gila Monster was brought to a facility that focuses on lizards at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley Colorado.  The Gila Monster is a sluggish creature, although it is venomous.  A veterinarian back in 1899 stated that anyone who was stupid enough to be bitten by the slow moving reptile probably deserved to die:)

The very same day, I read the story of Albert the Alligator, a 14 foot, 750 pound blind 34 year old creature who was seized by authorities from his 64 year old owner the other day.  The creature lives in a swimming pool on the property of his owner in Hamburg, New York, which is just south of Buffalo.  Why anyone would want to have such creatures as pets is beyond me.  Normal people who find themselves hankering for the company of a pet usually get themselves a dog or a cat; possibly a songbird or a Guinea Pig.  But alligators and Gila monsters? No thank you...

Tom on the Next Big TrumpTrial

 March, like February, promises to be an eventful month, for any number of reasons.  There's the NCAA Men's and Women's intercollegiate basketball tournaments, which always seem to be full of dramatic storylines and athletic derring-do. 

Politics always offer its own dramatic storylines, from the upcoming "SuperTuesday '' primary, (March 5),to the continuing demonstrations of why Congressional Republicans are unfit to govern. (Biden impeachment farce as exhibit #1: GOP refusal to address the so-called 'Crisis on the Southern Border as exhibit # 2 because the addled Mr. Trump would rather use it as a wedge issue in the November election  than take steps to solve it, with the inability of the House majority  to pass any sort of budget, leaving the brave people of Ukraine to: "Twist, twist slowly in the wind...",  [to steal a now forgotten line from former Nixon White House Counselor John Erlichman], as Exhibit # 3).  But the event that I'm looking forward to is the Next big TrumpTrial, which begins on 23 March in Manhattan.  It's the first of Mr. Trump's trials that are criminal, rather than civil.  It's the oldest of the Trump indictments and many say that it's the weakest.  It's the so-called "hush money" trial which, on the surface is about a payoff to a strippper, but upon closer inspection, involves the sort of cheap and tawdry tax fraud for which Mr. Trump has become notorious.  This is the case brought by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, and is scheduled to be heard by Justice Jose Merchan, who has the reputation of not tolerating nonsense in his courtroom.  Mr. Trump is a difficult client who is often his own worst enemy, and his new team of lawyers will be hard pressed to keep him in check.  Smart people know what they don't know, while stupid people imagine that they know everything that there is to know.  

Tom on Bird Behaviour

 I'm saddened to report the death of Flaco The Owl, an escapee from the Central Park Zoo last year who became a favorite of New Yorkers of all stripes.  Reports indicate that this marvelous bird met his end when he collided with a building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  Reqiscat in Pachem, Flaco:)  

Here's a video on Flaco

Birds have the capacity to inspire us because they often escape from captivity because they simply want to be free. One of the most famous birds ever to make his home in New York City was a red-tailed hawk named Pale Male, who lived to the ripe old age of 33, (1990-2023).  He outlived at least 8 mates and any number of offspring over the course of his long life.  Pale Male finally died from renal failure, essentially old age.

Here's a link to a story about Pale Male's passing: 

 

Birds seem to enjoy being free to go about their business, whatever that business  might be.  Peregrine Falcons have established their nests on tall office buildings in every corner of the US where such buildings exist, and humans seem to enjoy watching them squabble over who is going to sit on the eggs produced by the lucky couple, (90% of all bird species mate for life but, as anyone who has ever been married knows all too well, spouses often disagree about any number of things).  We know this because where large birds like falcons, hawks and eagles establish themselves in an urban setting, rather than some tall cliff in Alaska or in a similarly remote area, cameras that monitor the goings on in the nests of these avian superstars soon follow.   We like to watch the gestation and birth of these birds and, once hatched, we follow their growth and development as avidly as if they were our own close relatives.  Through the magic of remotely operated cameras, we can watch these creatures being fed pre-chewed and partially pre-digested food by their parents which, while disgusting on its surface, is little different from the way that human infants are fed, except that human parents use rubber nipples and tiny spoons to feed their young.  Birds must deposit food in a form that is easily utilized by their fledgelings, so the deposit is made directly into the throats of their babies. who probably imagine that their food magically appears in their mouths.  We watch them develop and grow.  We exalt when they embark on their first flight, usually with mom or dad flying close support...just in case. Red Tailed hawks are fairly common hereabouts, and I used to see adults escorting kids as they wobbled across the afternoon sky.

When I was working in Boston, there was an incident where a male falcon, (a tiercel), was stepping out on his mate, (known as a falcon), for, presumably a younger and cuter falcon.  All of these birds lived high. up on the facades of tall buildings in Boston's Financial District, so when the two females began fighting over this tiercel who was "...torn between two lovers...", it was quite a spectacle.  The two females went at each other in the skies over Boston for much of the afternoon.  While the details are dim, I think that the interloper was driven off to points west.  The winner was the original mate.  The thing that stuck with me was the fact that the tiercel spent the time while the two falcons were fighting, killing pigeons and feeding the combatants.  Apparently, he didn't seem to care who won, because he fed both combatants equally.  

Some birds adapt well to urban environments.  Parrots and parakeets find each other and establish colonies that thrive nicely.  There was a colony of parrots that established themselves in the vicinity of Telegraph Hill in San Francisco, and a colony of parakeets set up housekeepim\ng in electrical transformers in the general vicinity of Kennedy Airport.  The truth is that many birds are smarter than we once gave them credit for.  Crows, in particular, can fashion rudimentary tools from bits of twigs, work in teams, and think strategically.  The story I use to describe the intelligence of crows involves 2 crows, an otter, and a tasty fish.  

The otter catches the fish and prepares to eat it.  One of the crows lands in front of the otter and motions as if it's going to steal the otter's fish, whereupon the otter drops the fish and prepares to do battle with this greedy and opportunistic crow.  Just as the battle is about to start, the second crow lands just behind the otter and gives the otter a vicious peck to its sleek bum.  When the otter turns to face this new threat, the first crow grabs the fish and the two crows fly off into the great beyond, presumably to enjoy a well-earned fish dinner:)   I know people who aren't able to game plan like that. 

Tom on This Week in drumpf

 I read an interesting story in the NY Times today that Trump branded properties are trading at a discount to other similarly situated properties, both in the codo and the rental markets.  The studies were conducted by academics whose methodology seems sound.  One of the studies went out of its way to be sure of comparing:  "...apples to apples...'''.  The example used in the article compared a 3 bedroom condo in a doorman building that bore the Trump name with a similar building that didn't have the Trump brand, but was similarly sized and appointed.   The Trump branded dwellings traded at a significant discount to the unbranded buildings.  In one study, the discount was 23%, and in another study, using slightly different methodology, the discounted value was 17%.  I think that this comparison surprised most folks.  It certainly surprised me... 

Trump unveiled a new line of gold "Never Surrender '' sneakers for $400 the pair at the Sneaker.com convention in Philadelphia the other day.  According to the story in the 'Guardian", the room in which Mr. Trump's announcement took place stank of weed, and Mr. Trump was booed by many, who tended to skew younger than his usual audience.  Also being touted on this new website are bottles of "Victory '47" cologne and perfume at $99 a bottle.  God only knows what it smells like.  I can only imagine that the perfume smells like a common nightwalker after a hard night's work, while the male cologne smells like an old man's testicles.  If I'd read about this in 'The Onion', I'd think that it was a joke.  But, alas...

Mr. Trump may have inadvertently triggered another legal problem for himself, because if you examine the gaudy and overpriced high-top sneakers closely, you'll notice that the sneaker has a red sole, in keeping his 'Red, White and Blue' theme, (Don't forget the gold, for all things Trump must contain some gold).  Red soles on  footwear produced by the designer Christian Louboutin are a trademark that has been robustly defended by lawyers in the employ of Mr. Louboutin.  Since anyone who has ever seen me in the flesh knows that I am no slave to fashion, I had to check one of my trusted websites, FashionLaw, for guidance. What I found was that the iconic red sole on Louboutin footwear is protected under the legal concept known as "Trade Dress' ', a concept that is based in design, rather than function.  Put simply, you can't trademark a shoe, but you can trademark, (as is the case here), some unique aspect of the shoe that is an unmistakable identifier, such as Louboutin's red soles.  Trade dress can be anything, from the characteristic appearance of children's clothing to the design of a tonic bottle, (While you can't chaim trade dress protection for the contents of a bottle of Coca-Cola, but you can't claim trade dress protection for the universally identifiable borrl that it comes in). Even such mundane products as insulation can be protected by trademark trade dress laws.  Owens-Corning. one of the largest players in that. industrial segment, sought and received trademark protection for the characteristic pink color of its insulation products some years back, (you may recall seeing ads that featured the cartoon character, 'The Pink Panther' as the Owens-Corning product.  Sad to say, I live for this sort of thing:)    

Godspeed, Mr. Navalny (Tom on Navalny)

 Activist and anti-corruption crusader Alexi Navalny, a long-time thorn in the side of Vladimir Putin and the thieving oligarchs who have looted that sad nation until just gnawed bones and regurgitated gristle remain.  Details of his death are scant and whether he was killed by a fellow 'Zek', or he fell out a window, as Mr. Putin's opponents are wont to do, doesn't really matter. Mr. Navalny was brave in a way that is difficult for westerners to understand. 

He loved his family and his Rodina in equal measure, and returned to Russia even in the face of repeated asassination attempts. 

He made the fatal mistake of speaking truth to power, for one thing autocrats like Mr. Putin fear most is the cleansing effects of sunshine. 

Like cockroaches and earwigs, autocrats like Mr. Putin flourish best in the dark.  The people over whom they rule suffer, both spiritually and economically.  The longer that the autocrats dominate the economy, the worse that the common people fare, for instead of functioning as a Commonwealth, wherein the resources of the state are devoted to the needs of her people, an autocratic government functions as a 'kleptocracy', essentially a government by and for thieves.  And people doomed to live under the yoke of the 'Big Man' often suffer a crisis of the spirit; a learned helplessness that cripples the soul.

As I was writing this small appreciation of Mr. Navalny, a line from 'Julius Caesar', probably my favorite of all of Shakespeare's plays:

“A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”

Godspeed, Mr. Navalny

Tom on the GOP History

 While Mr. Trump's MAGA shock troops carry with them the air of inevitability, Mr. Trump appears increasingly unhinged, to use Nikki Haley's apt characterization.  A conventional candidate for high office would honor the sacrifices of veterans and their families, especially those who have been injured and killed in the service of their country, but Mr. Trump calls them 'suckers' and 'losers'.  Rather than championing the ideals that America has always stood for, he embraces authoritarian thugs like Viktor Orban, Vladimir Putin , Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping, whie constantly criticizing Joe Biden, but if you look at these respective economies, the US is the only one doing well.  And when the do-nothing House were offered most of the concessions that they sought to alleviate the situation along the southern border, they said NO, because their lord and master wanted to use it as a campaign issue.  These are not serious people.

Today's Republicans remind me of the pre-WWII GOP, who were isolationists who were willing to tolerate the depredations of Germany and Japan, contending that such matters were none of our business.  In order to give aid and comfort to Great Britain, which was facing daily bombardment by the Luftwaffen, President Roosevelt and certain of his aides, notably came up with the "Lend-Lease" program, which allowed the US to give material aid to allied nations under threat from Germany, Italy, and Japan.  We actually provided significant assistance to Britain, France, China and other allied nations, and most of it was repaid or written off.  The 'America Firsters', (as they were known, then as now), Included such luminaries as Michigan Sen. Arthur Vandenburg, (who later saw the error of his ways and was instrumental in developing the postwar order, including the founding of the NATO alliance), Joe Kennedy, (Father of Jack and Bobby and a fan of Adolf Hitler), pioneering aviator Charles Lindberg, ("Lucky Lindy", who also has a soft spot for Chancellor Hitler), and Ohio Sen. Robert Taft, the scion of a prominent Ohio political dynasty who was known as Mr. Republican".  These folk allied themselves with America's enemies of the day, just as today's GOP prefers to bury their heads into the sand and pretend that we live in some panglossian. fairyland where the wolves lie down with the lambs, insead of the real world where the wolves eat the lambs...

Tom on Disturbing Magats

 I read a very troubling story this morning about a fellow who decapitated his own father in the family home, and then posted a video of him, holding dad's severed head aloft, (it was in a clear plastic bag), while going on a YouTube rant about how this action was justified because dear old dad was a traitor to his country.  His crime?  He was a longtime employee of the Army Corps of Engineers.    

  Justin Mohn, 32, was apparently motivated by a hatred of the Biden Administration, the current situation on the southern border with the US and, interestingly, declared himself "Acting President of the United States", under Martial Law.  He was arrested at a National Guard armory armed with a handgun, but did not resist arrest and is currently being held without bond pending arraignment.  He left the bloody machete and the kitchen knife that he used to take his father's head in the bathtub for his mother to find.

This is where the overheated and increasingly violent rhetoric of Mr. Trump and his followers takes you. To a dystopia where disputes are settled with threats of violence and other forms of intimidation and, in the case of already mentally ill folks, to actual violence.  Mr. Mohn is an extreme example of this tendency, but he's not alone. The Anti-DefamationLeague, (ADL), estimates that the majority of 'terroristic events' are perpetrated by those from the right side of the political spectrum.  And while some violence does come from the left, it seems to be directed less at individuals and more toward institutions.  In the past couple of years there have been assaults on peace officers that resulted in the death of the perpetrators.  Ricky Shiffer, a 42 year old Navy veteran from Columcus, Ohio, attempted to storm an FBI  office in Kenwood, Ohio, where the agency's Cincinnati office is located.  The assault took place in the wake of the FBI's service of a search warrant on Donald Trump's residence at Mar-A-Lago that attempted to recover certain documents to the National Archive that Mr. Trump had repeatedly refused to return.  Three days later, Mr.  Shiffer showed up at Kenwood, armed with an AR-15 and a nail gun, and wearing body armor.  From what I've read, the nail gun was supposed to be Mr. Shiffer's 'secret weapon' that would take care of the bulletproof class in the field office.  It didn't work.  After a high speed chase and an armed standoff during which shots were fired at the police, Mr. Shiffer was killed.   For what it's worth,  Mr. Shiffer was also part of the assault on the US Capital on 1/06/21.

In another incident, a man named Craig Robertson. was shot and killed by FBI agents attempting to serve a arrest warrant  on the very angry Mr. Robertson, then a resident of Provo, Utah, who had made what the Secret Service believed to be credible threats against the life of President Biden, who was scheduled to make a trip to Utah a few hours before the incident in question.  Mr. Robertson was a self-described "MAGA Trumper", who had exhibited violent tendencies in the past.

I've said before in these notes that the current political climate reminds me of the 1850's and the runup to the American Civil War.  If you recall, over 700,000 Americans perished in that war.  I wouldn't necessarily predict a 21st century civil war, but I wouldn't  be terribly surprised if such a thing came to pass. For me, this political climate reminds me of the 1960s, when asassination was a reality, rather than something that one read about in a history book.  If I were a betting man, I'd bet that someone will be assassinated during this year's election, simply because there are too many guns in the hands of too many angry and mentally ill people. 

Tom on Migrant History in the U.S.

 Now that the first wave of primary elections are over, national attention is being directed at the flow of migrants crossing the southern border. 

 House Republicans to tout the HB2 bill, which is a draconian set of regulations that would be dead on arrival in the Senate.  But Senate negotiators were nearing a bipartisan compromise that offered some, but not all, of what  each side wanted. 

Until today.  It seems that Donald Trump has forbidden any compromise because he wants nothing more than to use the migrant flows as a cudgel with which to beat Joe Biden about the head.  Remember that this is the same Donald Trump who promised a wall between the US and Mexico that would prevent illegals from attempting to cross the border; a wall that would be paid for by the Mexican government.  How much have they paid so far?  Nothing.   Mr. Trump is cynical in such a profound way that he puts almost all politicians to shame. 

The nature of the movement north from Mexico and Central America has gotten more global over the past quarter century.  It used to be that the migrants were from Mexico and some of the more. unstable and violent Central American countries,  such as El Salvador and Guatemala.  Some were seeking asylum, but most were men seeking work. They would sneak into the country,  work in agriculture and construction, and then go back home for the winter.  A notable success was the 'Bracero' program that ran from 1942 until 1964.  It admitted temporary workers to the US, initially to mitigate a labor shortage that resulted from the manpower demands resulting from WWII,and were extended for the next couple of decades, because the program served everybody's purposes.  One of the criticisms of the program was that it had the effect of lowering wages earned by Americans, but there have been studies that examined data sets from the period in question and determined that there were no adverse effects on wages earned by native workers. 

Over the years the composition of the migrant flow has changed appreciably.  While it used to be the case that migrants were from Mexico and Central America, an increasing number are from such exotic locales as Russia, China, and Venezuela, to name just a few.  Everybody wants to go to a western country for any number of reasons.  Some are in search of opportunity, others are fleeing ethnic strife, (this is especially true for many African migrants), and others are fleeing the effects of climate change.  Instead of viewing migrants as a lower form of life, looking to displace White Americans, we should look at them as a sort of crop.  America is a nation with a demographic problem: American women are not having enough children.  Our population is getting older, and this is a problem facing all rich countries.  There is opportunity to breathe new vigor inti the American economy here, and we would be foolish to cut off our collective noses in order to spite our faces. 

Mr. Trump reminds me of Phineas T. Bluster, the mayor of Doodyville on the old Howdy Doody show that was a staple of TV whenI was a kid.  The show always kind of creeped me out, because marionettes, like clowns, are intrinsically creepy.  Too many freckles.  Too cheerful.  They all have the jerky movements of someone affected by spasticity.  You get the feeling that if you fall asleep in the marionette's presence, you'll never wake up. 

Whatever Happened to......

 You remember Mike Lindell.  He's the mustachioed dude who used to be a crack addict living rough on the street of St. Paul, MN, (which just this past week inaugurated an all female city council.  It made me think of the MD who did my second amputation.  He had an all female staff of residents and one med student.  They'd swan into my room around 0700, and I'd greet them as the 'Dreamgirls'.  It annoyed the Doc, but made them giggle.  Which is why I did it).  But I was talking about Mike Lindell.  You may not remember him, but I bet you remember his ubiquitous TV commercials for "My Pillow". Diane actually bought a couple of the things, and I have them still.  But Lindell, who turned out to be a marketing savant, also turned out to be a Trump-loving conspiracy nut.  He was a regular guest at Mar-a-Lago and the White House. He believed that the 2020 election. was stolen by crooked manufacturers of voting machines, (Dominion and Smartmatic), an assertion for which he's now being sued by botc companies.  He was ordered by an arbitrator to pay a software engineer 5 million dollars for debunking some cockamamie theory that Lindell had been offering to anyone who cared to listen. The tinfoil hat brigade had him funding all kinds of dubious 'research' into the validity of their favored  conspiracy. theories.  Today, Fox refused to accept his ad buys.  Lindell claims that he was 'canceled' by Fox, but the truth was that Lindell hasn't paid his bills.  He's broke.  Due to his foolishness, he managed to make his personal fortune, once estimated to be 60 million dollars, disappear.

Tom on the "Double Big Mac".

 It seem that McDonald's is introducing a gargantuan monstrosity called a "Double Big Mac".  I'm all for wretched excess, but I'm not sure that I could  open my mouth wide enough to get the thing inside.  Maybe I could learn to unhinge my jaw, like a carnivorous snake.  Those guys can swallow a goat or a large dog whole.  The "Double Big Mac"  contains four hamburger buns, 3 slices of bun, A sesame seed bun on the top, a bun for the middle that; bread on both sides, and a bottom bun), at least 2 pieces of cheese, pickles, lettuce and that cloyingly sweet sauce.

The current obesity rate for adults is 41.6%  and the rate among Blacks and Latinos is higher still, at 49.9% and 45.5%, respectively.  That's not even accounting for the many comorbidities  that are associated with obesity.  The Double Big Mac has 45g of carbs, 46g of Protein, and 43 g of fat.  Yow!   Total calories? 767.  And people who enjoy these gut bombs will probably get a couple of large orders of fries and a 'supersized' vat of some poisonous soft drink.  And this is how we deal with the obesity epidemic?    That made me think about one of those grotesque reality shows that was about a family who were all tremendously fat.  The premise of the show was that this family was going to henceforth lose weight and eat sensibly.  In the first episode , mom, (a nurse and the only person in the family to actually hold a job), brought home supper, which consisted of one of those foil serving pans that you see at church dinners, Bags of rotisserie chickens and styrofoam containers of ribs.  And don't forget the potato salad.  Everyone had their own 2 litre bottle of soda.  The next episode marked the beginning of the new diet.  Mom shows up with a foil pan of green salad.  Everybody looked puzzled,and the daughter began screeching like a rabid fishwife, shouting:  "What is this?  What do I look like, a damned cow?"  Well, now that you mention it.... 

Tom on Elections (Iowa Caucus Night)

 Elections often have the same inevitability that those old standbys, death and taxes, have long offered.  It's interesting because death and taxes are playing a role in today's festivities.  Taxes are pertinent because Republicans reflexively loathe anything that even hints at being a tax, even as they claim.to be the voice of reason when it comes to fiscal discipline.  I'm dubious about that assertion, because they continue to propose tax cuts for their very favorite cohort of Americans: The Hard working Billionaire plutocrats.  Many of them are too stupid to understand that fiscal salvation stands on a 3 legged stool of: time, (it took decades for us to get into the current mess we face, and it will take just as long to dig our way out of it), a rethinking of our spending priorities, (do we really need to spend a trillion dollars a year on the military? Do we need to lavish large sums of taxpayer dollars on agricultural subsidies, including the ludicrous ethanol subsidies that benefit only Iowa farmers who don't see it as the public welfare scheme  that it really is?),  and increased revenues, (If you want to pay down the national debt, you have to raise the money to do so in an orderly manner.  That means tax hikes.  To think otherwise is nothing more than a case of Magical Thinking).   And Death is creeping around the edges of the DeSantis campaign; licking the place where his lips would be, were he not a skeletal apparition.  

But before any votes are cast, I'll confess that I'm already sick and tired of the campaign. The candidates, have conscripted armies of motivated volunteers, and import  legions of paid staffers who infest every corner of the state, like medieval mendicants beseeching passersby,: crying "Alms for the poor ", and Iowa merchants grow fat on the expenditures of the various campaigns.  They rent cars, buy advertising, and consume meals and liquor as if money were no object.  These folks work hard and play harder, and prostitutes often flock to where the 'action' is, because that's where the money is.  The members of the Fourth Estate: blow-dried avatars of physical beauty and intellectual vacuity who repeatedly state the obvious to an audience of the uncomprehending.  For most of them, campaign coverage is a great adventure, much like those 8th grade field trips to the nation's capital that many of us remember, except that they were children back then and now they're adults with expense accounts and rented rooms. Their spouses are back in DC,  New York, or Atlanta, taking care of the kids and keeping the home fires burning.  You do the math:)

Speaking of expense accounts, some members of the media become legendary for their ability to manipulate their expense accounts to their financial advantage. One such was the legendary Johnny Apple of the NY Times.  He would come up with an outrageous excuse for an eye-popping charge on his expense account.  I recall reading about how he expensed a cashmere overcoat to The Times, claiming that his previous coat had been stolen by ":person or persons unknown", and that since he was at the airport in hot pursuit of a breaking story, the only place that he could find a suitable replacement was at the duty free shop at the airport.  The meals that Mr  Apple consumed on the Times' dime were of the pricey gourmet variety, and those don't come cheap.  

But Apple was probably the best reporter of the second half of the 20th century..There wasn't a big story that he didn't cover, and those he covered, he covered well.  He was most responsible for making the Iowa Caucuses the kickoff to the quadrennial spectacle that the presidential elections that it is today, when he relentlessly covered Jimmy Carter's 1976 trek through Iowa, making him a legitimate contender in the national consciousness.  In a sense, Jimmy Carter owes his presidency to Johnny Apple and The Allman Brothers Band, who pioneered the use of benefit concerts as a fundraising machine. 

After tonight, the circus folds its tent and moves on to New Hampshire.  The merchants and vendors will count their money, the volunteers will resume their mundane lives, and a couple of them will mout campaigns for seats on their local school boards and town councils because, once bitten by the political bug, nothing else will do.  It's showtime and I, for one, plan to watch some football and dine on fishsticks.  Have a pleasant evening...

Tom on Leaving the Old Year and Welcoming the New

 We'va almost made it to the New Year and there are times when I wonder how we made it this far without  having a national nervous breakdown.  Politicians of both parties are competing among themselve to see just how low they can sink themselves in a lagoon filled with animal waste. Some politicians have expanded the definition of family values to include threesomes. and others will have to be screwed into the ground when they die because they're so crooked, (I see you, Bob Menendez). Former Congressman George Santos lent new meaning to the term: "Compulsive Liar", with his florid delusions making him into a latter day Walter Mitty.  Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert demonstrated that even mature women can engage in unseemly public displays of affection.  Girls just want to behave badly, sometimes very badly. A staffer for Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland used a Senate hearing room to manufacture pornography.  But the Lifetime Achievement Award for Spectacularly Bad Behavior goes to Rust Gtuliani, who went from an American Hero to pathetic drunk in the space of 10 years.  He's gone from being a feared bully to an object of ridicule.  Donald Trump invites his many enemies to "Rot in Hell" as his idea of an appropriate seasonal greeting.

The Roman God, Janus, represents the transition from the old year to the new.  Janus has two faces.  One looks back to the year just concluded, while the other looks toward the future.  During this week, the airwaves and the print media  are full of retrospectives of the year just past, as if we hadn't just lived it. The  interregnum between Christmas and New years is kind of a dead zone, where normal life exists in a hiatus.  It's a good time to reflect on the year just past and the year to come. 

That brings us to the subject of New Year's Resolutions.  Some people treat these promises that folks make to themselves as bad jokes, while others embrace the promise of personal  reinvention with the intensity of a recent convert, but the only winners are the owners of gyms and the pedders of home exercise equipment and self-help books.  The gyms tend to serve the near fit and the already fit, as well as men who imagine themselves as a potential Adonis in waiting.  The essential difference between men and women is that men tend to overstate their attractiveness, while women tend to understate their's.  I've never forgotten the kid whose dad operated the old Elpis Bakery in Haverhill.  The kid was something of a galoot who reminded me of the character, 'Flounder' in that classic film about college life, "Animal House".   At one point in the film, the Dean of Students advises Flounder: "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son".  This kid reminded me of Flounder, because he was fat and stupid, (and he had a bad complexion to boot), but I don't know if he drank.  But he did have a license plate frame on his car that identified him as a "Super Stud" .  You can't make this stuff up.  

Women, on the other hand, are socialized to see themselves as fatally flawed, appearance-wise.    I remember the time that my late wife picked up a copy of the Sports Illustrated 'swimsuit issue.  She was going through one of those periods during which she was a bit heavier than she would have liked, and she reacted badly to those very lovely models, not a single one carried as much as an extra ounce on their frames. When I asked her what was wrong, she expressed her unhappiness about her physical attractiveness. She expressed a desire to be skinny.  I told her that that I'd learned a long time ago that: "If you fuck a skinny girl, you're gonna get hurt:)  I can say with certainty that no man ever asked his partner: "Do these jeans make my ass look fat?".  Ladies who exercise are more likely than men to do their exercising at home.  They buy Peletons and treadmills if they can afford these diabolic devices, or use hand weights and "Glamor Stretchers' if they aren't.  Glamor Stretchers are basically resistance bands that could be used in a million different ways.  My mother had a set of them, and I seem to recall that they came out in the late 1950s.  The human action figure Chuck Norris has an infomercial touting some sort of all in one gym apparatus that you can conveniently slide beneath your bed when it's not in use, and chances are that that's where it will find a home after a couple of weeks.  My favorite device is the 'Thighhmaster', an infernal machine touted by the late Suzanne Somers.  I remember a Howie Carr radio program where one show whose topic was "Bad Valentine's Day Gifts You Have Given". There were some doozies, but the worst call was the fellow who called to admit that he had gotten wis [artner a thighmaster for that special day and could't understand why she was miffed.  His excuse was that she'd asked for one, but I'm willing to bet that she didn't ask for it as a Valentine's Day Gift.   

Back during the days when I had actual feet, my primary form of exercise was walking.  Simple, cheap, and easy on the joints. Now that I'm confined to a wheelchair, I get my exercise from a combination of free weights, resistance bands, and an arm bike routine.  One of the things that's important when you're confined to a wheelchair is upper body strength.  I'm probably not as diligent in that area as I should be, but the work that I did in rehab and since has served me well.  I'm as strong as I've ever been.  

But New year's resolutions are not just  about physical strength and a pleasant appearance.  A good deal of the things  that we resolve to do, (or not do),   in the New Year fall into the category of 'self-betterment.  I suspect that all but the most obtuse folks out there know that all of us have areas that we can improve upon.  We can be kinder to those with whom we come into contact in the course of our everyday lives:,we can love more and hate less.  We can resolve to lead healthier lives, by eating healthier, cutting down on our drinking, and finally quitting smoking.  Americans once had a zeal for self-improvement, and a common resolution is to read and ponder things that may be outside of our comfort zones.  Of course,sometimes the very people who most need to examine and reassess their motivations are the very last people to do so.  But in the final analysis, all we can do is to try and improve our own attitudes.

The year ahead should prove interesting.  There are 3 wars currently ongoing; in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan, any one of which can turn into a regional conflict.  There's a presidential election that promises to be terrifying and entertaining in equal measures; a contest between a man as old as Methuselah and another morphing into an actual Nazi before our very eyes.   Mass shootings increase every year, and there's no reason to think that this year will be any different .

Tom on the Ukraine War

All of a sudden, the Russo-Ukrainian War is heating up.  Ukraine apparently mounted a successful naval operation against Russia's Black Sea fleet, and not for the first time.  The Black Sea Fleet actually reminds me of McHale's Navy.  Then on Friday, Russia launched a massive air attack on Ukraine, utilizing drones, cruise missiles, and anything else in their arsenal that can fly and explode.  In a tit to Russia's tat, Ukraine responded by launching an aerial assault on the Russian city of Belgorod, killing at least 21.  

I know I'm no expert on military matters, but I have read a good deal on the subject over the years.  But even a non-expert can recognize what works and what doesn't.  What doesn't seem to be working is the slugfest currently going on between the Ukrainian and the Russian armies.  The current conflict reminds me of WWI, because of the stalemate that seems to exist and the sheer scale of the casualties suffered by both sides.  Consider:  When the current war began, Russia had an army of about 360,000 troops.  Of that number, 315,000 have been casualties, (the number either killed or wounded).  Ukrainian casualties were about 131,000.  While both of these estimates are just that, I tend to trust them.

During the entirety of this conflict, Ukraine has defied expectations, but the truth is that they're never going to win a slugfest against Mother Russia.  What they need to do is to start experimenting with asymmetric warfare.  Ukraine's dealings with the Russian navy have been more successful than not, and they should do more of it.  I've always had a fantasy of a naval raid on the resort city of Sochi, where Mr. Putin has his billion dollar dacha.  Russian civilians have been largely insulated from the direct effects of war, and Ukranian attacks on Russian civilians may well change Mr. Putin's cost-benefit analysis.  Maybe a bomb being set off in the Moscow Metro would have the effect of concentrating civilian minds on the collateral costs of war.  Perhaps a bomb planted in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg would drive tourists away.  Guerilla campaigns work because they strike when and where an assault is least expected.  Such campaigns demoralize the civilian population, and demoralized people have a tendency to lose faith in their government. 

But is it ever ethical to target civilians?  The overriding urge  to refrain from targeting civilians is commendable,but you have to realize that it's also a fairly recent development in man's long history of warfare. The horror and carnage of the 20th century's global wars gave mankind pause.  The Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928 prohibited the use of war as an instrument of foreign policy and, to my knowledge, has never been renounced, which says a good deal about the effectiveness of the late League of Nations.  WWII ended in the annihilation of two mid- sized Japanese cities in a nuclear inferno, and the incineration of the national capital, Tokyo, were all targeted at civilians, as were the end of war firebombing of German cities like Cologne and Berlin; Dresden and Hamburg.  Casualties from bombing raids during WWII in the European Theatre of Operation is estimated to be around 400,0000.  In the War against Japan, the Firebombing of Tokyo incinerated somewhere around 100,000 souls and left a million people homeless.   And Tokyo was not the only city that suffered from bombing.  After WWII, the international community worked on promulgating a series of so-called 'Rules of War', which were designed to protect civilians.  The term is often used interchangeably with 'Geneva Conventions'.  

To me, if either party to a conflict expects their civilian pop[ulation to be spared being the targets of an enemy's fire, they must, in turn, be willing to not fire on their enemy's civilian population.  Adherence to the rules of war should not be a suicide pact. You can't expect to make war on the civilian population of a foe and then complain when your foe retaliates in kind.  When an enemy spends decades firing rockets at your civilian population, don't complain when they target your's, especially when said projectiles are fired from the midst of civilian populations.