tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53084285771623555622024-02-18T17:39:28.284-08:00Urinalism and other stuffTim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-52455805215423352842023-05-26T08:39:00.000-07:002023-05-26T08:39:07.881-07:00Bit Parts<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">In the first three episodes of Gilmore Girls, note the harpest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alex Borstein.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-18758286452123491032023-05-11T09:17:00.000-07:002023-05-11T09:17:38.136-07:00Just Take the Trolley<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">The City of Omaha has approved a $440 Million project to
build a trolley system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its’ boosters
and planners say the system, which will be tied to a new Mutual of Omaha
skyscraper in the city center, will be a substantial catalyst for development. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The city’s consultants say it will pay for
itself through tax increment financing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Warren
Buffett says it’s a “mistake set in concrete.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to The Oracle of Omaha you are better off to invest in bus
system improvements than put all your money in hard-wired rails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be
honest, I am not certain who is right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But here is a story for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Me and my friend P.M. were recently driving home from Florida and at the
last minute changed our route (to avoid the usual I-95 mess), so that we would
overnight in Charlotte. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Standard
procedure is to scan the internets about an hour out from our destination to find
lodging and food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our goal is always a
clean, moderately-priced motel, not too far off the route, and near dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For dinner we had our eyes on a place called
the Aria Tuscan Grill, but conceded in advance that the Grill was too far off
the route and concluded we would have to find an alternative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we
arrive at the motel (actually a conference center affiliated with UNC) and
discovered it is in easy walking distance of a trolley line that connects the UNC
with downtown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So down town we went.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was a cold and rainy night but the walk to the station
was only three of four city blocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
ended waiting out in the bus shelter for about 15 minutes and boarded a modern,
clean train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of our fellow
passengers, a student, suggested we get off at the arena station, as that would
provide a good chance of finding a good place to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Hornets were playing that night so the
city center was crowded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Who knew they
had an NBA team?)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we strolled around the arena in one
direction, and then reversed and strolled a few blocks in the opposite
direction and there, just two blocks from the trolley, was Aria Tuscan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The restaurant was packed but there were seats at the
bar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The menu looked excellent and was
definitely more than what we might normally spend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there is a prime rule about vacation…
enjoy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Might have been the best meal
ever that was not just barbeque.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> A good time was had by all. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On the subject of trolleys, I am still agnostic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-29582390493066181442023-05-03T08:30:00.001-07:002023-05-05T07:47:28.025-07:00Is This AI at Work?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Or does USA Toady need smarter writers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know the corporate publishing world no
longer sees a need for editors (because they can't afford them), so let me suggest that they just hire smarter
writers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Toady publishes a book
section in which they provide a picture of covers of five newly published books
along with a two-paragraph summary of the work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This week, the headline says: “Novels by Minka Kelly, Sunny Hostin: What
to Read this week.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Problem is Ms. Kelly’s
book is not a novel, it’s a memoir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
would think someone who edits a book section in a major national publication
would know the difference. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A related note for the writer from a Friday Night Lights fan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lyla
Garrity was anything but a “spoiled teenager.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her father was an overbearing drunk and philanderer, the love of her life
suddenly became a paraplegic in a football game, and his best friend was available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a little help from Jesus and the Coach’s
wife, Lila held it together just fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing
spoiled about Lyla. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-82937908447413722802023-04-30T12:21:00.003-07:002023-05-06T07:53:47.016-07:00 The Arc of History Bends Towards Justice. <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; line-height: 19.26px;">B. Traven comes to mind today because of an article in today’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/30/world/americas/brazil-land-occupation.html">NYT</a></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> that documents the seizing of unused land from rich Brazilians by the Landless Workers’ Movement (LWM). Active for about 50 years, LWM settles whole villages on fallow land, creating an opportunity for poor people to grow functional farming communities from scratch.</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">
<p class="MsoNormal">Best known for <i>The Treasure of the Sierra Madre</i>, Traven was a revolutionary whose radical works included a series of six books in what is known as The Jungle Books, which track the lives of indigenous Mexican wage slaves in the years leading to the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) The fifth book of the series, <i>Revolution of the Hanged Men </i>describes
a rebellion in a debtors labor camp where mahogany was harvested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> In a nutshell, t</span>he rebellion succeeded, the workers freed themselves,
and the people marched away in search of Land and Liberty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The LWM has been operating in Brazil for some 40 years and
has been surprisingly successful, given the long history of inequality and political suppression. As LWM's leaders point out, "Occupation is a
process of struggle and confrontation." <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>LWM’s leaders, who call themselves “militants,” have organized hundreds of
thousands of Brazil’s poor to take unused land from the rich, settle it and
farm it, often as large collectives. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Imagine
this happening in the USA.) <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even under Brazil’s former fascist president, Jair
Bolsonaro, there were about 15 successful land occupations undertaken per year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the first four months of leftist leader Luiz
Inácio Lula de Silva's presidency, which started January 1 of this year, there have been 33 occupations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This poses a dilemma for Lula de Silva, a longtime
movement supporter, who still has to deal with wealthy landowners and
corporations, while maintaining the confidence of his unlanded base. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The LWM can demonstrate some significant achievements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Communities it has built support some 2,000
schools educating children who would never otherwise have an opportunity to get
an education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the Times highlights
one community that has been legally recognized since 2016, where 227 families,
each owning from 20 to 35 acres, share tractors and plows, and grow organic
fruits and vegetables for themselves and for market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /></span><p></p>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-13950521942212852932023-04-30T08:21:00.002-07:002023-04-30T08:21:43.939-07:00<p> THAT ROCK N ROLL MUSIC</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I’m still a fan of American Idol, but I often fast-forward
through many performances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually, if
the choice is some modern pop operatic hit from Adele or Sea or Pink or Ed Sheeran
and nearly anything modern country I can’t tell one song from another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all sound alike to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gimme that old time Rock n Roll, or Motown,
or Rhythm and Blues or outlaw country or Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am seldom entertained by whatever passes for
music to today’s boppers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now comes Ed Sheeran’s lawsuit over Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It
On to confirm my observations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sheeran
told the court that the songs at issue have “almost identical” chord
progressions and added "Most pop songs can fit over most pop songs." <span face=""nyt-franklin",serif" style="background: white; color: #777777; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #777777;"> </span><span style="color: #777777; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-85222007380554156782023-03-21T07:12:00.000-07:002023-03-21T07:12:33.210-07:00<p> </p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Don't Let It Get Your Goat!</span></p><p>You can't pick up the sports page these days without reading about the GOAT. Tom Brady or Michael Jordan or some other person deemed to be the Greatest Of All Time. That usage does not square at all with my recollection of the word goat, which historically has meant: </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;">"<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1d2a57; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700;">a </span><a class="query" href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/person" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none;" title="person">person</a><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1d2a57; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700;"> who is </span><a class="query" href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/blame" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none;" title="blamed">blamed</a><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1d2a57; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700;"> for </span><a class="query" href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/cause" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none;" title="causing">causing</a><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1d2a57; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700;"> a </span><a class="query" href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/failure" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none;" title="failure">failure</a><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1d2a57; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700;"> or </span><a class="query" href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/defeat" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none;" title="defeat">defeat</a><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1d2a57; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700;">, </span><a class="query" href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/esp" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none;" title="esp">esp</a><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1d2a57; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700;">. in a </span><a class="query" href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/team" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none;" title="team">team</a><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1d2a57; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700;"> </span><a class="query" href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/sports" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none;" title="sports">sports</a><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1d2a57; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700;"> </span><a class="query" href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/competition" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none;" title="competition">competition</a><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1d2a57;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><b>." </b></span></span></span></p></blockquote><p>This definition comes from the Cambridge English Dictionary, which seems to be one of the last places where that use is still recognized.</p><p>Any internet search will tell you ... frantically but emphatically... the term means greatest of all time, and it has always meant GREATEST OF ALL TIME. It is almost as though there has been a concerted effort to wipe the original offending word (which by the way, is only a short step away from the widely used scapegoat) from the language. Are the publicity flacks who were responsible for throwing the term all over Tom Brady suddenly afraid that the THE GOAT will read a dictionary? Or have the sports writers awakened from a bad dream in which they actually had editors who demanded to know why they were calling Brady on his game? </p><p></p><p><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1d2a57;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-42032058037229156862023-03-18T08:32:00.004-07:002023-04-26T08:38:20.943-07:00<p> </p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Reporting by Press Release</span></p><p>Just to prove that statistics are good liars, the Democrat and Chronicle (hereinafter known as the DnC) had a big front page article about how New York leads the nation in death by house fire. This seems true enough. We have 45 dead to date this year, followed by Indiana with 29, Pennsylvania and Georgia with 25 each. Impressed? Well, that is one statistic. </p><p>They make you study statistics in journalism school... not that I ever went to journalism school... but after working it out with my calculator, I can tell you these headline grabbing numbers are comparing big potatoes to small potatoes, if not apples and oranges. The better statistic, deaths per 100,000 population, tells us Indiana should lead the list, with .426 house fire deaths per 100,000; Georgia is next with .231. and New York third with .227. Pennsylvania is fourth with .194. So, when you get the numbers right, you are deprived of their headline grabbing quality.</p><p>The truth is that the entire story is a gift from the Firefighters Association of the State of New York (FASNY, AKA the firefighters union or the union), and required little more journalism than rewriting the FASNY press release. The union was announcing a lobbying campaign to get more state money for hiring and training fire code inspectors and promoting code enforcement. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I support more money for code enforcement and better pay for all public employees. I also pray daily for better journalism. </p><p>There is a much bigger story here that would take a lot more work than Steve Lieberman, the reporter, who works for the Rockland/Westchester News Journal, part of the USA Network (which includes the DnC, has had time to invest. That is possibly because Rockland/Westchester is something like the DnC which once had an editorial staff of hundreds, and how counts its' reporters in the lower two digits, and ost of them are sports or food writers. </p><p>There is a bigger story here. That lack of code enforcement and training? Local budgets squeezed to the point where government is practically useless. Is there a housing shortage? Why, because owner-occupied housing is being rapidly replaced by houses converted into single room occupancy rentals, forcing more and more people into fewer and fewer spaces? And how does that relate to increased rents? (Hint: a four bedroom house rented as an SRO can generate at least $2,400/month.) Does the code enforcement force the closure of what little housing is available? Is it possible to build new housing that can be rented to meet the needs of people who have no money? </p>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-81254885176346543992020-11-21T09:56:00.001-08:002020-11-21T09:57:08.799-08:00SOME MORE BOOKS FOR YA<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">A long time ago I was in the information business in
Washington D.C. on a more or less freelance basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had
a lot of casual friendships with people in who were sometimes good for
information and as often just good to have a beer with. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was this guy Smitty who worked for a
very important big law firm and sometimes had a information to share <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sometimes was interested in what I knew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We met at the usual K-Street watering hole after work and
after about the second beer Smitty always made the same<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>little obligatory speech... "I
don't<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>know<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>if<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
ever told<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you this," he would say,
"but<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm black."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
he told<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>me the first time<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I noted certain facial<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>features that might be construed as
black,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but in fact I grew up with Italian
kids who had darker complexions and more arguably "black"
features.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still Smitty's family, which
had a close association with the civil rights movement, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was one that could have "passed" and
chose not to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Respect. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Three books<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on the
subject of passing:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sinclair Lewis, <u>Kingsblood Royal</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Published in 1947, this scathing satire caused
something of a stir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not unusual<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for Lewis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In this novel, Neal Kingsblood is <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a successful Minnesota businessman who discovers
he is<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>descended from a famous American explorer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is not bothered by the fact that his
ancestor is<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>black, and the can't stop
talking about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The USA has a hard and fast rule on blackness. One drop of blood is enough, and it pertains in Minnesota as much in Crackertopia. I</span>t doesn't take long before our hero begins
to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>suffer <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the consequences. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Philip Roth, <u>The Human Stain:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A college professor has been passing all his
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he makes a politically
incorrect statement in a classroom and the students conclude he is a
rascist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Karin Tanabe, <u>The Gilded Years, </u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A novel based on the true story of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anita Hemmings, the first black woman to
graduate from Vassar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-73787839687524398242020-11-04T11:04:00.000-08:002020-11-04T11:04:09.404-08:00INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I wrote the
previous post on Wednesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, the
day after election, the nightmare is real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The GOOP could hold on to the Senate and the White House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The House majority is diminished and we are
losing seats where we thought we were safe. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I apologize
for the grim projections of last week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing worse than taking credit for<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>bad news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a world where
killing the messenger is a thing, I should kill myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried very hard to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>brighten my mood over the weekend and nearly
succeeded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I saw a clip on Facedbook
of the presnut on the campaign trail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>getting Harry Truman vibes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Giv'em
Hell Harry!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The presnut on the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>campaign trail, adoring crowds screaming
love and devotion and Kill the Liberals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then there was the all-too effective advertisement for the presnut running during the Bills
game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It showed Biden in a speech from
his law and order days talking about the crime bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Protect grandma and put them all in jail
forever. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The commercial left no doubt
who the people getting locked up were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thousands of black people, especially black men, watch NFL games every
week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truth, if I were black I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>don't know if I could have brought myself to
vote for Biden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a hard time talking
my privileged white self into it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This commercial took some of the glow off the
weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I</span>t seems to have done what it
was intended to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We won't win
another election until we either get a lot smarter or the GOOP turns the world
into a shitpie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's likely the later will
happen before the former. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-81658736938556962102020-10-29T13:48:00.001-07:002020-10-29T13:48:45.752-07:00A Dark and Stormy Night<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">The election comes on the heels of Halloween. It's beginning to have a Sleepy Hollow feel to it. It has driven me morose, kept me away from writing here. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>have
not watched the TV news in years and since the death of RBG I have automatically
deleted NYT Alerts and WAPO politics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now I read only features and science news, Dear Abby and the still all-too
occasional story of another murdered black person. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I voted yesterday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Stood in line for 25 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
four days of early voting more than 44,000 votes had been cast in Monroe County
(8 percent of the total vote).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition,
71,000 absentee ballots had been returned,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>more than 52 percent of the total absentee ballots that had been mailed
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Massive turnouts are good but I keep
asking myself, how many red hats in those long voting lines? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There are about 192,000 Democrats registered in Monroe
County and 126,000 Republicans. Right leaning fringe parties, like the
Conservatives, 8,000 members; and Independent Party, about 20,000; exercise influence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
are 110,000 voters with no party affiliation (we call them blanks), who are
true independents and unpredictable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Left leaning parties, Greens and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Workers Party have about 3,000 votes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By rights if everyone votes, Democrats win handily in the
national election.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Monroe County is a
donut community... all the black people live in the city and all the white
people do not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Local elections, particularly
in the suburbs, are dominated by the GOOP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So maybe Biden wins Monroe County... a big
deal because no Democratic Presidential candidate has done so in forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a big deal as, win or lose Monroe County,
New York will vote for Joe Biden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So who
cares really about the Presidential election here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We have one national race of consequence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the 27th Congressional District <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nate McMurray, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is a moderate Democratic <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is running for the third time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
narrowly lost in 2018 to a GOOP candidate who was under indictment for insider
trading on information available to him as a congressperson. That guy, Chris
Collins, was convicted, had to resign and is now seeking a COVID get out of
jail free card.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a special election
last June, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nate narrowly lost to another
GOOP millionaire, also named Chris. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now
he is running <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>against Chris No. 2
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can Nate win?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2016 the NY Assembly district included in
the congressional district <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>elected a dead,
indicted GOOPer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the dead guy couldn't
exactly hold the office, he was replaced with a candidate who<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was demonstrably senile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You be the judge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Still my big worry is how many of these early voters mobbing
precincts nationwide wear red hats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
many have tasted the presnut's kool aid?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Walter Wallace, 27, father of seven children, a black man <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in Philadelphia with mental health issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gunned down by police.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
family called 911 for help and Walter was carrying a knife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Killed in front of his mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She says the police laughed at them. These
stories cannot be ignored! and now <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they
serve as fodder for the presnut's campaign... background as he travels the
country spreading his disease and whipping fear and loathing into a toxic
froth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will he carry Ohio and Pennsylvania?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Florida?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Terrifying to think of four more years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am preparing for<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
worst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br />Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-64101005381131689062020-08-25T05:32:00.002-07:002020-08-25T05:37:32.228-07:00<p><br /></p><p></p>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-23190820649702157572020-08-24T09:07:00.003-07:002020-08-24T09:08:26.519-07:00<p> <span style="font-size: x-large;">The Lesser of Two Weevils</span></p><p>On the first night of the Democratic Convention I tried to
watch it on the ABC feed provided free by Hulu (I don't have TV, just streaming
on Hulu or Netflix or Prime).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
talking heads immediately annoyed me beyond watching so I turned it off...
coming back late the catch the last half of Michelle Obama.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second night I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>checked in with the NYT feed, which had the
advantage of not<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>being interrupted in
any way by talking heads, except for the common-taters who opined in the
comment section and were easily ignored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Chuck Schoomer bored me into returning to the comforts of ER, so I
caught the rest of the convention by looking up the speeches I wanted to hear
on YouTube.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was not particularly impressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess this is what we have, and I will be
out there, phone in hand, dialing up potential votes for the party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the whole it is not a lot better than
2016.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's hard to sell the sizzle when
there is not a lot of steak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The party is offering the same old solutions to some
problems and will., with a Democratic Congress, spend a butt-load of money on
everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Big priorities will be
infrastructure (who doesn't love construction jobs and big money for Halliburton
and Fluor?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They will fix Obamacare and
maybe lower the Medicare age to 60 (that solves one of my personal problems.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It does not solve the problem of most working
Americans and small business people who make<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>more than the poverty wage and still can't afford healthcare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will not address what has become by now a
national insecurity over the cost of health care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The party version of the Green New Deal is a also a jobs
bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like all Democratic bills it prefers
to throw money at the problem while ignoring the carbon tax, a common sense approach
that has long been supported by thinking Conservatives (as opposed to most of
the Republican caucus).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not that there
is anything wrong with throwing money at the problem, but the current situation
calls for all reasonable measures, not just those that are politically
correct.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Likewise money will be thrown at education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will be the kind of money that prefers
teachers' unions (a good thing) and institutionalized solutions that may not be
so good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charter schools may be put in
their place as solutions that are no better than the people who run them, not
as a panacea... and not as a tool to destroy teacher unions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a bad outcome overall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are still outrageous levels of poverty
and inequality in the black and Latino communities as well as in the cracker
communities... small towns and rural areas where populations are thin, money
scarce, services severely limited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Democratic Party is not solving problems, it's just making itself feel better. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So I'm fine with the party doing what it can, and I'm more
fine with the fact that it is not Trump. We can expect Biden to quickly take
back the bureaucracy and set it straight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fix the EPA, NLRB, Labor Department, CFPB and other agencies crippled by
years of ignorance and neglect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Appoint
some decent judges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, it's just the
lesser of two weevils.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a choice I'd
like to have to make. </p>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-29201742284459679732020-07-26T08:52:00.001-07:002020-07-26T08:56:10.454-07:00The Presnut is Sharper than Doug's Mom!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have been bingeing on ER, a fairly good hospital show from
about 1994 which kick-started the careers of George Clooney and Julianna Margulies and others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may be in the top 10 or so of stuff I have
binged (that list is very long) but I'd say the chances I'll stay for all 15
seasons are slim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still early seasons are
pretty good, particularly for the way they address issues that now demand our
daily attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Episodes touching on w</span>hite male supremacy,
Black Lives Matter, MeToo<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>could have
been written yesterday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>shocking how aware we were of these issues
more than 20<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>years ago and failed to get
really pissed off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (I'm sure black people and women and others were a lot more pissed off that us white men knew.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So last night another episode (Season 4) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ripped from the front pages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doug (Anthony Edwards) flys home to see his
mother who has fallen and broken her leg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Doug, a top emergency room doc from Chicago, thinks Mom' problems are more complicated than a broken leg so he orders a series of tests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In one, Mom is asked to repeat a list of words... She can't do it! I'll
bet our Presnut could!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-63950038779875585542020-07-12T10:38:00.002-07:002020-07-26T09:30:00.467-07:00<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">It Has Got to be More than Pulling Down the Monuments </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One fact of our history... indeed the history of the world ...
is that slavery, and racial prejudice, has happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is not a white person in history who
has not carried a prejudicial view of people of color.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That includes black people and Hispanics and
Asians and Native Americans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There has also
been a history of prejudices against particular groups of white people. German
immigrants in the 18th<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Century, and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Irish immigrants in the 19th Century faced
wide-spread job discrimination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the turn of the
last century it was not uncommon for accepted white people to categorize
Italians along with blacks. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
White people
are not the only people<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>built in prejudice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chinese have long considered themselves
superior to everyone, as have the Japanese, who historically have treated
Koreans the way Americans treat blacks. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the Middle East racial animosity is as powerful as religious animosity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Iran is not just Shiaa Muslem, it is also
Persian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Iraq is Arab.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afghanistan's biggest problem is<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that tribes divide on racial and cultural lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Hazara stand in for black people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In truth,
prejudice is a tribal mechanism that likely dates back to the beginning of
community and the need to be wary of strangers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We need to figure out a way to get over it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Actually owning slaves was common in 18th and 19th Century
America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Numerous of our founding
fathers were slave owners, including Thomas Jefferson, whose writing provided
the foundation for rights and privileges we now insist must extend to all
Americans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most abolitionists, who
insisted that slavery was evil, did not believe that blacks and whites were
equal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>U.S.
Grant married into a slave holding family and owned a slave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also won the Civil War and enforced the
civil rights laws, preserving rights for black citizens till the end of his
administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grant and Lincoln believed black and white Americans would never be able to live side by side in
harmony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lincoln promoted repatriating
black citizens to Africa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grant sought
to annex Santo Domingo (Now the Dominican Republic) as a safe harbor for black
Americans. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bottom line, you
can't make the fact of prejudice, or slave holding a basis for tearing down a
statue. You need something else. Otherwise we would have to
destroy our memories of those who contributed substantially to the foundation
and growth of our nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The founding
fathers did<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not promise a perfect union,
they sought "a more perfect union."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In a sense telling us to continue<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>to get better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are working at it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Monuments and military bases</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So statues ought to reflect actual<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the real world, the people who fought to destroy the United States
are traitors, and should under no circumstances be honored in the public square.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This matter should not be up for debate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are no statues of Hitler left in all of
Europe, and there should be no statutes of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and
other conspirators left in the USA. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Naming military installations after traitors
has never been a good idea.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Racist Politicians</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Politicians who fought for and encouraged slavery throughout
their careers are also fair game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John
C. Calhoun and Henry Clay protected slavery and promoted "state's
rights" (another way of saying "we can abuse anyone we want.")
They were a generation behind the founding fathers and their efforts were aimed
solely at preserving the oligarchy at the expense of all citizens, particularly
black citizens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Woodrow Wilson should
have no monuments and his history should be corrected. He needs to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>be remembered for segregating the
federal<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>government and failing to speak
up about the wave of race riots and lynching that swept the nation during his
administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wilson broadly praised
"Birth of a Nation" a movie that promoted racist myths and stereotypes
and honored the KuKluxKlan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It alone set
the stage for incidents of racial cleansing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other purveyors of racism, like Harry Byrd, Senate majority leader who
fought to maintain the southern status quo for decades, should get a second
look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As should a long list of Southern
politicians whose policies recognized the right of white people to lynch black
people and sustained an atmosphere of repression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In middle-school they told you a great deal<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>about the spice trade and how that affected
the Age of Exploration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They told you
nothing about the slave trade, which was at least as prosperous. The Italian
states were especially prominent in the slave trade. Christopher Columbus
was an Italian and was fully aware of its operation. You can forgive him for being a creature of his time, or you can
point out how happy he was to report that the Awawak people in the Caribbean
were so docile that a couple of armed men could control hundreds ... and they made
excellent slaves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His role in history,
and the workings of the slave trade through this period should be exposed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> A</span>s to monuments of Columbus, they are frauds
from the beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Columbus did not
discover America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He discovered
Hispanola.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's the island shared by
Haiti and the Dominican Republic. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We didn't recognize Columbus as a major
hero<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>until after WWI, when Italians
sought to boost their image in the USA by declaring themselves to be
discoverers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Vikings were here
first, as were the Basque, who for many, many years traveled to Nova Scotia to
harvest the Cod that fed much of Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Dried Cod fed the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Monuments and other public honors should recognize real heroes who represent the real ideals on which the nation is founded. Lets have a monument to </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Robert Smalls, an enslaved American who stole a confederate ship that was supplying Ft. Sumpter,loaded up his family and friends and escaped to freedom. He</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> became a captain in the Union Navy. and, after the war, a successful businessman and
politician serving in both houses of the South Carolina legislature. Harriett Tubman belongs on the $20 bill. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">History needs to tell the truth about slavery (that it was mostly harsh and cruel), reconstruction and the return of Jim Crow, and lynching (how many times did the U.S. Congress refuse to address anti-lynching legislation), Incidents of racial cleansing (there is al lot more than Tulsa, OK) discrimination in housing, (barring blacks from government loan programs, the negative and long lasting effects of redlining. </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<br />Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-2228779144526283352020-07-07T08:53:00.001-07:002020-07-07T08:59:52.777-07:00<span style="font-size: large;">Black Lives Matter, Part III</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here are a some more good books to read about black
lives:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Karen Tanabe, <u>The Gilded Years</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a fictional view of the true life story of Anita
Hemmings , a black woman who graduated from Vassar in 1897.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ms. Hemmings was voted most beautiful, worked
as a tutor in Greek to make ends meet <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and was at the top of her class. All the
while<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> she was also </span>hiding her black identity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
beautifully written coming of age novel with a heavy<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>dose of the real truth and nothing but.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Vassar did not officially admit black women until 1944, and did not recognize that it has already graduated a black woman until the 1930s. By then, Vassar has graduated two black women. In 1926, it admitted Ellen Love, overlooking the fact that she was black in honor of the time-honored private school practice of admitting children of graduates. Love was Hemmings' daughter. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Leonard Pitts Jr., <u>Freeman</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pitts is a columnist writing for<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the Miami Herald and syndicated through ArcaMAX.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is
a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>clear-thinking progressive who is
always worth reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is also a
fairly good hand at fiction, having written a handful of novels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I'm planning to order another, a historical
novel about WWII, called<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Last Thing
You Surrender.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Freeman is a man who escaped from slavery
before the Civil War and surrendered the security of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>his Philadelphia home to find his true love,
left behind a slave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's a bitterly sad
romantic adventure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Walter Mosley, <u>Fortunate Son</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moseley began his career as a crime fiction
writer and has since published science fiction, modern novels and self help
(one of the better books on how to write a novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Best advice: write three hours a day.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this allegory, one son is substantially
privileged and one lives the life of Job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Grace F. Edwards, <u>In the Shadow of The Peacock</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I discovered Grace Edwards in the Obituary
section of the New York<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Times a few
weeks ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had just died at age 87, a highly regarded mystery writer who had never crossed my path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This novel, her first, is not a mystery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's a coming of age tale <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that loosely tracks her own life story. This is the story of Celia, whose parents escaped a lynching in their <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>southern home, and migrated to Harlem where Celia is born in the middle of a riot that killed her
father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her mother, Frieda, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>protects Celia with a little help from her
friends, but Celia must decide for herself how to confront <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the real world of white people. </div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-25024495265211114622020-07-03T12:54:00.002-07:002020-07-26T09:29:06.958-07:00<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I Pledge Allegiance to the United States of America</span><br />
<br />
I was in kindergarten when they added God to the Pledge of
Allegiance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The change annoyed me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> First because I had just learned the damned thing, and then because I kept having to pause to add God in the right place. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Then there was the conspiracy theory. </span>In our little town there were Catholics (the
good guys) and Protestants (the bad guys) and I was convinced it was a
protestant plot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like the times they
would try to trick you into eating meat on Friday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Now the protestant God, the one that made you say debts instead of trespasses when they said the Our Father in school, was messing with the flag. I was ever after suspicious of the pledge. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Time passed and I had other issues. The God part because it was about God or not,
and I was on the not side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> This was the s</span>ide of
the First Amendment, I thought, since putting God in the Pledge meant you were
endorsing a God when you pledged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Indivisible is what we fought the Civil War over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God was not. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When you think about it, why allegiance to a flag?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A flag is cloth on a stick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has some meaning, but that doesn't make it
any less a thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Flags are for burning if you are pissed off. </span>If I am going to
pledge allegiance, it<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>must be to
something valuable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something that lasts
and is worth the life and death struggle that the notion of allegiant patriotism
implies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That should be something like
the basic principles the nation is founded on... even though more honored in
the breach than in fact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So that brings
me to the new Pledge of Allegiance<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to
the entire nation, for good reasons.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I Pledge Allegiance to the United States of America,<br />
To the republic of the people, by the people and for the
people<br />
regardless of race, creed,
national origin or sexual presentation;<br />
to one indivisible nation that warrants our right to
the pursuit of happiness<br />
and guarantees opportunity, liberty and justice for
all. </blockquote>
<br />Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-59032592826681235412020-06-24T09:36:00.002-07:002020-07-06T11:22:54.373-07:00<span style="font-size: large;">Black Lives Matter Book List</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
Some stuff to read while thinking about this:<br />
<br />
<u>Uncle Tom's Cabin</u>, Harriett Beecher Stowe. The first popular attempt to depict life under slavery. It's rife with stereotypes and a little preachy, but it is the book that started it all and surprisingly readable.<br />
<br />
<u>Reconstruction</u>, Eric Foner. 600 pages of hard work and real history.<br />
<br />
<u>Contempt of Court</u>, Mark Curriten and LeRoy Phillips Jr., Saga of the first Supreme Court case to defend the rights of a black citizen... sort of. The real issue was whether a Tennessee sheriff was under the jurisdiction of the federal courts and could be held in contempt for failing to abide by a federal court order. The order involved a directive to protect a black man from lynching in 1901.<br />
<br />
<u>Trouble in Mind</u>, Leon Litwack. More than you want to know but everything you should know about lynchings in the USA.<br />
<br />
<u>Lost Battalions</u>, Richard Slotkin. Chronicles two regiments that valiantly fought in WWI. One comprised mostly of Jewish immigrants known as the 77th "Statue of Liberty" Division; and the 369th Infantry Division, known as the Harlem Hell Fighters. One came home to some recognition, the other to lynchings and ethnic cleansing.<br />
<br />
<u>The Children</u>, David Halberstam. The front line troops of the civil rights movement were children. Their leaders were college kids, their shock troops were as young as 10 years old. They stood up to fire hoses and police dogs and the worst the crackers could bring.<br />
<br />
<u>Simple Justice</u>, Richard Kluger. The complete story of <i>Brown v. Topeka BOE.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<u>Blood at the Root</u>, Patrick Phillips. The story of ethnic cleansing in one Georgia County.<br />
<br />
<br />Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-76409900072529897412020-06-22T12:02:00.000-07:002020-06-24T07:48:30.319-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Black Lives Matter</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I have been writing about this subject for several weeks and have yet to have anything to say that is unique or more useful than anything else I have read. So here is the truth. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
BLACK LIVES MATTER. </div>
Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-67774654793773340212020-06-22T07:31:00.002-07:002020-06-24T07:29:55.822-07:00<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Which I Prove Once
Again to be a Nudge</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I was in 10th grade the history teacher, who was also
our football coach, often sent me to the library for some research during
class. That's because he was about to give a lecture and he got
tired of me correcting his version of the record. Nothing much has
changed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On June 4, I got a nice note from Lauren Katzenburg,
editor of the NYT's At War newsletter, promising a correction. She
had written that the Bonus Army had been protesting to get paid money that was
due to veterans. Au contraire, I noted: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> "The Bonus
Army "bonus" was in no way due and payable in 1932.
The Great War Compensation Act of 1924 issued veterans certificates that could
be redeemed for cash value in 1948. The veterans were trying to persuade
the government to redeem the certificates at a discount. "<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I added,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"Thus, the government did not repeatedly decline to pay a bonus
due. Of course, if Hoover had any sense or compassion, he would have paid
up. Putting the money in the hands of spenders would have boosted the
economy. It would also have saved Hoover from his greatest
embarrassment."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But there is more!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On
June 20, I was informed by the NYT that my comment on an article
about the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, an all-black WAC unit, was
accepted. Again, I was just clarifying the record. The
article correctly noted that Harry Truman had desegregated the military in
1948. I added:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> "The
order ending segregation in the military was issued by Truman in 1948. It was
not fully implemented until the Eisenhower administration, 1953 to 1961."<br />
<br />
(Two days later) And speaking of the NYT, this morning I picked up a copy of the Times Sunday Review from June 23, 2019 that I had put aside to read later (and never read). Happened t glance at an article called <u>Stonewall and the Myth of Self-Deliverance</u> by Kwame Anthony Appiah. The article cites a famous SCOTUS decision that placed consensual behavior by adults out of the jurisdiction of the government as <i>Lawrence v. Kansas.</i> Well that caught my eye. The correct cite is <i>Lawrence v. Texas, </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">539 U.S. 558 (2003). Kansas is, of course, the whipping boy of choice for East Coast pundits citing outrageous Bible Belt regulation. </span></div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-5217727118102838742020-06-16T08:22:00.002-07:002020-06-16T08:22:43.718-07:00<span style="font-size: large;">Nice Vacation</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
A week ago I was fairly convinced I had COVID 19. I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>even wrote a blog post headlined, <u>Life With
Covid 19</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's because I had been tracking
my fever hourly for about four days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
had a high of 103.9. and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ranged from
104.5 to 97.6 since May 30, when it<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>first
clocked in at over 102.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Otherwise no<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>symptoms and I had Covid test that came out
negative.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Still, my doctor was convinced, as I was, that I had Covid
19, albeit a mild dose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I had another
test.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they take the test, they take
a long q-tip and shove it up your nose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first time I took it they used a special<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>kit with its own carrying case and device that
looked like a digital thermometer and packed away in its own special plastic
case. The test was administered by a very gentle,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>soft spoken doctor who apologized for any
pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> For the </span>second test I had a battle-weary nurse who used a
very long wooden stick, shoved it way back<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>into my head and rooted around awhile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"Wanna make sure we get a good sample,"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>she said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was definitely aware that
someone had shoved a q-tip up my nose, but I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>also<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>wanted to be sure she got a
good sample.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She put the q-tip into a
plastic sandwich bag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Two days later, negative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So what's caused the fever?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's
a mystery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am back and functional and
a little disappointed that I did not have a mild case of Covid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The average recovery is about two weeks, and
by the time the test result came back I was nearly two weeks in
quarantine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few days more and I would
have been cleared and potentially carry antibodies that would last for a while.
So I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>watched a lot of good movies and
read a couple of good books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nice
vacation. </div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-77323396051329669882020-06-08T07:57:00.000-07:002020-06-08T08:08:38.032-07:00<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Life in Quarantine</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
June 8, 2020</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today my temperature was 97.7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Normal for the first time since May 30.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's when I discovered I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>had a temperature over 102 and got a test for
Covid 19.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn't get the test back
until Thursday, June 4, and it came back negative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A false negative we think.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>have had no other
symptoms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still have a fever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>100.9 as I write this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's been as high as 104.5 and never lower than<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>100 until yesterday when I woke up to
99.5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The morning readings are lower
because I take aspirin or ibuprofen at bed time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm stuck here, more or less, until I get
three days of normal temperature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It's not that bad although I'm getting tired of the routine
and cannot lose the feeling that I'm a burden to the rest of the
household.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are not complaining, and
keep me comfortably fed and watered (sometimes beer). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The good news is no one else in the house is
showing symptoms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hickory, whose health issues (severe asthma) make her the most vulnerable is, normal for her,
driving herself to physical exhaustion. That has a lot less to do with me than
her volunteer job at Keeping Our Promises, an organization she created which
has resettled over 100 Afghan and Iraqi
families here in Rochester. She
has found a new place to store and manage the donated household goods that for
the last three years have taken up all the spare space in our house and garage.
She is getting it all out of here (HURRAH) and organizing it downtown at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RochesterGreenovation/">Greenovation</a>.
Yesterday she pulled a muscle moving stuff she should not have been moving and had to go to the emergency room. (I have
told her to slow down many times, but when has she listened to me?)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hickory has also done her share of cooking and delivering
meals to the shut-in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will, who<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>started his internship last week with a local
custom amplifier maker, fills in shopping and delivering meals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The family shut-in appreciates the delicious
meals. Hickory has done some lunch sandwiches, soups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will and Swillar have cooked some excellent spicy
stir fries, BLTs, breakfast quesadillas and peanut butter and jelly banana wraps. The family is also keeping an eye on Harry and Shirley, which has normally been my job. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I can imagine what hell this would be for my wife the extrovert,
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but for me it's the Life Of Riley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a room full of books and have finished
four light novels in the last week,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>will
probably finish another today. I am plowing my way through Barbara Tuchman's <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>A Distant Mirror</u> (minimum 25 pages/day)
and decided,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>after 50 pages, I don't want
to read <u>Advise and Consent</u> or <u>Lord Jim</u>...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>at least not now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I organized all the books in my bedroom (and
the one shelf in the hall just outside my door) and culled out about <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>20 volumes for the library sale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read the NYT, WAPO, DnC and Guardian daily
and spend entirely too much time on the Facedbook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I subscribed to Curiosity Stream and binged
an excellent documentary on WWI (Apocalypse).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I binged <u>Fargo</u> on Hulu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have watched many movies: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yesterday
alone <u>Clueless</u> and <u>Groundhog Day</u> (I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>had forgotten how much I love that
movie.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is this blog to maintain and... I actually got some
work done for one of my clients. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There must be an end game here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My doctor (who<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>calls periodically) is<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>convinced that this is Covid or maybe Lyme
Disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm going to get another COVID
test and if it's<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>negative we'll<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>test for Lyme and run a Covid antibody test.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the meantime I'm looking for at least four
more days of this RnR here in quarantine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<br />Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-44705600365934130212020-06-05T10:35:00.000-07:002020-06-05T10:35:16.440-07:00<span style="font-size: large;">White Privilege Saves My Ass (again)</span><br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had a cop draw down on me once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a strange situation n a strange day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>had
been in Canandaigua attending, of all things, a rally for George The Moron
Busch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was selling his Medicare Part
D gift to the Big Pharma and since I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was for better or worse the political officer for<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my company, I had gotten an invitation from
the local GOOP mob. How could I refuse?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So after the rally I stopped by my house, which is<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on the way back to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the office, and had lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our road runs directly under Interstate 90
which is the route Busch would<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>be taking to the airport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I am driving
back to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the office, and I notice a cop
car stopped about 20 yards on the other side of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the I-90 overpass blocking the road. He has his flashers on. I slow down and stop between the overpass and the cop <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Next thing I know the cop has jumped out of his car and is
pointing his gun at me and shouting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
distinctly remember shouting back, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a statement which, had I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not been surrounded by my puffy cloud of white privilege, would have gotten me killed. But he just shouted a lot more, still pointing his
gun. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Eventually I got the idea that
Busch was coming this way and this cop was assigned to keep terrorists from blowing up the overpass. There should have been two cops, one on each side, or he should have parked his car on one side and stood on the other, but there apparently had not been a lot of advance planning about this. Which I said, "how the hell was I supposed to know that?"
and he said well his car was there, and I said, but it wasn't on the
other side of the overpass and how the hell was I supposed to know what he was doing? Anyway he didn't kill me and put his gun away but he glowered a lot and let me
pass. </div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-88161980739029337582020-06-03T07:18:00.002-07:002020-06-03T07:19:13.770-07:00<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Is there a punch line here somewhere?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
George "The Moron" Busch was great for
comedy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was his only positive aspect.
When he left I thought those joyous moments ... <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>an irate Iraqi throwing a shoe at the
President of the USA... would never pass this way again. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we got the presnut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it now the best of times?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Onion tells us that Iraq is preparing to send
peacekeepers to the USA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Andy Borowitz, behind
a picture of the presnut's all-white cabinet meeting, tells us it's a task
force on racism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the memes created
from the photo of the presnut in front of the Episcopal Church holding a bible
have been priceless. Borowitz tells us, "Trump Struggles to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Identify Unfamiliar<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Object."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is one with his famous "pussy grabbing" quote shopped
onto the church bulletin board; one with Matthew 7:15 (beware of false
prophets) shopped in; and my personal favorite, one captioned "take a
prostitute to a hotel<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and get a free
book."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The later has been taken
down by Facedbook, which has no<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sense
of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>humor.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It's irony, of course. The lower we sink, the funnier things
get. At some point you have to ask how much disrespect can a leader handle? "The
President is a Liar" is a good measure. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not Nixon, not even The Moron Busch who lied to
us to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>justify a war that cost trillions
and killed thousands of Americans, was consistently called a liar in the main
stream media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Politicians might call
each other liars... notably that asshole Joe Wilson... but the media has long
been reluctant to do so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To be called a liar by the NYT or Forbes requires a
special<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>relationship with the
truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The presnut, who was given a pass
on this issue during the 2016 campaign,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(what a shock he must have had when they finally began calling him on
his bullshit!) was finally challenged on Inauguration Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember how he insisted he had the biggest
inaugural in history and Kelly Ann Conway postulated the existence of
"alternative facts?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By early spring 2017, the "fact checker" lists had
began... every major news outlet has one. Last month,
Forbes noted, in reliance on the WAPO's list, that the presnut has told 18,000
lies since taking office and, "As of early April, Trump has told 23.3
lies per day in 2020, a 0.5-lie increase since 2019. What’s more, Trump has
averaged 23.8 lies per day since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the
US — another 0.5-lie increase." Hysterical, but true. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Have we hit rock bottom? Apparently
not. Today, GOOP senators are defending the presnut's bible
photo op. "Obamagate," a fraudulent claim that President
Obama conspired against the good name of the President-elect back in 2016, is
still a top priority in the Senate. With the presnut threatening a
military take-over of state policing powers while inciting his well-armed
supporters to riot, have we not had enough? Can we trust that there
will be full and fair elections in November? Can we survive with
this lack of a leader until January 20, 2021?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The 25th Amendment allows for the removal of the President when
the Vice President, in conjunction with the majority of the cabinet or a
majority of either house of Congress, is unable to "discharge the powers
and duties of his office." This can't happen without a
serious conspiracy of the top GOOP leadership, but it is a kindness to state
that the GOOP leadership is a confederacy of dunces. The people who
brought us Sarah Palin and Reince Priebus and the presnut himself are not
going to save the nation. We are all still in free fall. The
bottom is down there somewhere. We should brace for the crash, or try to laugh it off. </div>
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<br /></div>
<br />Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-10729114940371356262020-06-01T11:29:00.001-07:002020-06-01T11:35:34.499-07:00<span style="font-size: large;">I Lost a Friend to Covid 19</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I recently posted The Village Voice obit for my friend Ward
Harkavy who died of Covid 19 on May 17.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I had tried to write about this twice but could not get it
right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept seeing Ward looking over
my shoulder saying, "God, Pryor, that's Bullshit."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ward and I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>worked at the same newspaper (Lawrence (KS) Journal World), but not at
the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was probably a good
thing. Ward was an exacting copy editor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was a fair to middling reporter and knew nothing of style books or spelling or commas. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He was a great and admirable companion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Acerbic, witty, fearless and funny. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Among the first people to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>be banned from the presnut's twitter feed). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We smoked a lot of dope together... one reason
the law school faculty named me most likely to flunk the bar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I did
not.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a small group of wits, ran a
fake candidate (Martin L. Roberts, The Man From Kansas) for<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lawrence City Council.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With another select group, watched a lot of
baseball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During an especially long
meeting on the pitcher's mound one beautiful evening at Royals' Stadium, Ward
informed me they would never allow those meetings in the Jewish Baseball
League.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why? I asked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Time is money,"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he said. </div>
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<br /></div>
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The last time I saw him was in 1986. I was in Tucson for the NCAA Regionals. We toured the Saguaro National
Forest and stayed out late smoking dope under the desert sky. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He talked about the man who shot
up an ancient saguaro cactus, which promptly fell over and killed him. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Karma,
Ward noted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Before there was Google there was Ward. He was an authority on almost everything, and always <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>available any time of the day or night to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>answer trivia questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> His answers were widely respected and settled many a debate. </span>So for a while he never knew when he would
get a call from me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Still, I lost track
of him. Shortly after I moved to Rochester (where for a very, very, very brief
time many years before, Ward had a job as the media reporter) I was looking for some information about Amadou Diallo, and Google took me right
to an article Ward had written for<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I called him up and thereafter we faced booked and Plonskied
and once in a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>while discussed getting
together in the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We never did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just goes to show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You never know. </div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308428577162355562.post-32042701846330801922020-06-01T10:20:00.002-07:002020-06-01T10:20:23.611-07:00 <span style="font-size: large;">Life in Quarantine</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
When we started this Covid shut down I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>made a practice of taking my temperature
regularly, and after a couple of weeks with<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>no issues, I stopped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
Saturday, I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>got to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>thinking about that and took my temperature.
I didn't feel sick, just tired from having missed my nap three days in a row,
but otherwise fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was a little
shocked to discover it was at 102.3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What to do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can
be a serious matter, given that I am a caretaker for a fragile <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>87-year old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I called the Covid hotline and they sent me to the clinic... where they
found my temperature was normal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Defective
thermometer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
administered THE TEST, and told me I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>should get the results in four days (Wednesday at the latest.) In the
meantime,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the prescription is
quarantine.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have no symptoms,
other than<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a fever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (Today its right at 101)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are things to like about this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent all day Sunday reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Havn't had an excuse to do<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that for years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finished <u>The Closers</u>, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Michael Connelly; started <u>1453</u>, Bernard
Cornwell; and started <u>A Distant Mirror</u>, Barbara Tuchman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The
last two I have read before. Tuchman's history of the middle ages starts at about 1453, with the 100 years war.) Also read the NYT and WAPO.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today
I cleaned my room, something needed for a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Things I don't like about it... I have stuff to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>get done that I can't do in my room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hickory (who is also more or less
quarantining) has plenty of stuff to do besides bring me stuff I could get for
myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I feel fine. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do I worry about having Covid 19?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I don't really think I have it. This is just an excess of caution
and I expect to be back to normal Wednesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will keep<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you posted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span>Tim Pryorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18344920321680657965noreply@blogger.com0