Crowley Stories Inches Towards Publication

Crowley Stories inches towards publication!  

The custom cover has been completed.  I've been around enough to know that it won't be universally loved (what is?).  I love it, so, it's what it's gonna be!

There are some minor problems with the interior formatting, and the back cover'a copy is missing a word (my bad), and I have to get them an author's photo.  But when those problems are fixed, we're ready for the next phase!

My goal is to be ready by September's Waygreen event, or, at worse, October's.  Wish me luck!  If you're local and want me to save you a signed copy, let me know!

This book will be more costly than the first.  It is taking quite a few more dollars to produce, and that will have to be reflected in the cost.  Given all that, it will still be cheaper than many other similar books.

Keep watching this blog for more details!

The Tremendously Winning Tariff Wars: Saturday Political Soap Box 189

Are tariff wars a good thing or a bad thing?

Although it can be essential to have tariffs in your economic arsenal, and they sometimes may be necessary, it seems to me to be foolish and stupid to use them like Elmer Fudd blindly scatter-shotting into the woods, damaging friend and foe alike.

All we're doing is triggering off multiple rounds of retaliation, rounds that are hurting more and more American workers and consumers.  Product costs soar, factories shutter, manufacturers move, and international relationships are destabilized.

American farmers are getting the brunt of it.  Some nations are simply choosing to get their agricultural products elsewhere, creating new supply lines that cut us out.  When Trump's hissy fit war is over, they may just decide to keep those suppliers for good, rather than deal with the US and its mad king.

When they announced the 12 billion dollar bailout for agriculture, I don't think they quite got the reaction they were expecting.  Granted, agriculture receives a lot more subsidies than many others in society (without the squealing cries of socialism), but I think this time they really didn't like the solution.  They would rather have stable, dependable markets than a temporary hit of government cash.  Also, keep in mind that only a very tiny percentage of American agriculture are small farms; most of it is large agribusinesses.  And for those enterprises, 12 billion dollars is a spit in the wind.

It's also a mystery as to why we're attacking democratic allies as much or more than the autocratic rulers that you would think that America would be standing against.  But not in Trump world.  The president is free with ragging out the Prime Minister of Canada (a country where have trade surplus), and lavish praise over the likes of North Korea's Kin Jung Un and Russia's Vladimir Putin. 

I'm not a devoted globalist or free trader.  There does need to be some protection, some tariffs that help protect the interest of American workers.  But neither am I an American Firster, willing to raise such walls and barriers that it simply winds up isolating us.

We don't need to live in a world that creates divisions and competitions that wind up enriching some nations and impoverishing others.  We do live in a global economy, a shrinking world where what happens in one part of the Earth affects all the other parts.  If we want to achieve a better economy for us, we need to achieve a better economy for all.  Our corporate interests shouldn't be rushing to whatever parts of the world will provide the cheapest labor.   We shouldn't be like President Trump, with virtually all the products he and his daughter being hypocritically made overseas.

When we make trade deals, we should not just be striving to make conditions better for American workers, we should making conditions better for the workers in the country we are trading with.  Because only when we pull the whole world up, will we make things truly better,

Christians believe that the gospel message is not meant for nation states.  Time and again in the Gospels, he was bringing the message to outsiders, people who caused the Pharisees and even the disciples to gasp.  There are no barriers to the concept of loving your neighbor.  Many other faiths express something similar.

I believe, perhaps naively, that this tariff war will end soon.  A minor trade deal will be made with the European Union or similar group, and President Trump will declare victory and move on to something else, something he can tromp on in a rage, with huge crushing Godzilla like steps.  Maybe he'll return to the NFL, treating civil protest rights as something he can autocratically shut down.  Maybe he'll accelerate making Iran into the new boogeyman.  I mean now that North Korea and Russia have moved from the Axis of Evil to best buds, what's left?  Gotta demonize somebody.

The American economy is strong.  It can survive a lot of mismanaged monkey business.  At least that's the theory.  I guess, over time, we'll find out how much it can really take.

See You Tonight at the Elect Greg Meet 'n' Greet at KD's!

Come meet the courageous candidate that's going to flip Georgia House District 178! 

Greg O'Driscoll is an everyday, hardworking American, who wants to go to the State House to represent YOU and not the special interests!

He'll represent regular farmers, not agribusiness.

He'll stand for the working man, not the large corporate donors.

He'll support your child's school needs, not those who are looking to make a quick buck off of private and charter schools.

He'll work to make the environment livable, siding with those who suffer from polluting effects (like coal ash) instead of the polluters.

He'll be what you need most in Atlanta - someone who represents YOU.

So, come out tonight and meet YOUR representative, Greg O'Driscoll!

Today at 6 PM - 8 PM

KD's Cafe
504 Elizabeth Street
Downtown Waycross

A chance to get to know and discuss the issues with Greg O'Driscoll, the candidate for GA State House District 178 (Pierce and Brantley County, western Wayne and southern Appling Counties, and Waresboro in Ware Co.)

Blog Post #1789

So, this is what it comes down to.

I'm using Ireland as click bait.

Don't worry.  I'm not going into a political rant.  Although, given the times, I really shouldn't ever rule that out.

Last night, I didn't take any Ibuprofen PM.  I didn't use Melatonin.  We had three dogs back with us, as Cocoa Bear was disturbed by the weather or air pressure or something.  All of this should have led to very little sleep.

But, although it took me a while to fall asleep, once I slept, it was pretty solid.  I slept through the night when I usually wake multiple times.  And upon getting up, I am much less groggy than I typically am.  I have a headache but am otherwise fine. 

I will experiment again with sleeping without inducements.  We'll see.  I hope it works.

Why do I difficulty sleeping?  Well, one, I'm old.  The older you get, the less sleep you need.  Two, I need to lose some weight and get more comfortable with my body.  Three,  my schedule is erratic.  Sometimes I have to get up early, sometimes I don't. Four, it's very difficult not to stress bout Trump.  The world is in a real mess, and I don't know how we're going to get out of it.

Whoops.  Political rant?  Sorry.  Hard to avoid nowadays.

I am in the withdrawal phase of my personality.  I just want to break off and take care of myself and my family.  But organizations I work with still beckon, so I have to compromise and stay minimally engaged. 

I'm not a hermit, but sometimes just being home sounds really cool.

I'm taking a look at this, and I'm not really sure what title to give it.  How about Blog Entry #1789?  And that's for real.  My quality may suck, but whoo baby!  I gots me some quantity!  That must be up there as far as blogs go.  Now if I only had traffic acceleration to go along with it.  I'm stuck at around 3,000 views a month.  Doesn't seem to vary much. 

Oh, well.  At least I'm persistent.  That's gotta for something, right?

OK.  Maybe not.

Sigh.

Triple Treat Weekend

What a weekend!

First, we travel to Athens and take part in a tour of the University of Georgia, one of Benjamin's leading contenders for college next year.  This time, we got to listen to one of their young students take us and highlight many of the places that make UGA unique.  Benjamin also got to ask lots of questions.

The answers we got were positive, and UGA remains in prime contention.  It is the biggest school he is considering, and the farthest away. 

Second, Alison and I were fortunate enough to be able to use Doug's season tickets and see Atlanta United perform at Marcedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.  This was Alison's first professional soccer game, and she loved it! Not only did Atlanta win, but we also witnessed an MLS record, with Josef Martinez scoring a hat trick  (3 goals in one game) for a record-setting 6th time!  No other MLS player has ever that many hat tricks!

Thirdly, we attended the engagement party of Doug and Paige.  Remember, faithful readers, we witnessed Doug's proposal on our Ireland trip!  We got to meet some of their friends, and Paige's wonderful parents.

That is just a brief summary of a super weekend.  I am trying to get back into the hang of writing, as my schedule has been somewhat a jumble, and I'm still trying to get over some of the problems with my most recent post about remembering our time with Jeff & Vijaya, the celebrity couple we spent time almost two decades ago at Pogofest.

I'm starting to hit another snag, in that I'm going to be needing to get around a lot earlier the next month, as I should be starting my workday earlier.  Leisurely mornings will be fewer for a while.  This will affect the blog some, but fiction writing a whole lot.  It's hard to get a good rhythm going. 

Have a good day!

T. M. Strait

Brushes With Celebrity: Our Time with the Smiths

I haven't spoken to or seen too many celebrities in my life.

I live fairly sedately.  I rarely go out of my way to see anybody, much less anybody famous.  I can hardly believe that people I know want to talk to me, much less somebody well known.

I once went to a comic book convention with two of my sons, back in the 1990s, and we waited a long time in a line to see one of the more well-known comic book artists of that era.  When we finally got to see him, it was a very sterile experience.  We were rushed along by security, he signed something my sons had ready for him, didn't even look up at us, and we were pushed out.  It had all the emotional resonance of stamping a rubber chicken on an assembly line.

Later, we waited in a much shorter line for someone less well known, but a favorite of our family, Jeff Smith, the creator of the Bone comic book, an all-ages fantasy that was sort of a cross between Disney Donald and Scrooge McDuck adventures, and Lord of the Rings.  Even though the line was shorter, it took a very long time to see Jeff Smith.  That's because he was taking his time with each person.  When we finally saw him, it took him very little time to break down my shyness barrier, and make me and my sons feel comfortable.  He talked to you as a real person and was even willing to do a quick sketch.  Up until that time, it was the best celebrity experience in my life.

Several years later, Jeff Smith popped up in my life again.  He was the honoree at Pogofest and was inducted into the Okefenokee Area's budding Cartoonist Walk of Fame.  Alison and I were designated to help Jeff and his beautiful wife, Vijaya, at their Pogofest booth at the fair.  Somehow we stayed with them for most of the rest of the trip here, including an after party with other famous cartoonists, breakfast at Huddle House, and a trip to the Swamp Park.  He drew pictures for all the members of my family.  By the time they left, we were very good friends.

I did not follow up.  I let them live their own lives and did not pursue a friendship after.  I've always wondered if that was a mistake, but that's what it's like with us introverts.  We don't often take the initiative.

You may not have heard of the Cartoonist Walk of Fame.  That's because not too many years later, the whole idea was abandoned.  Pogofest became Swampfest, a much smaller event that took place in April, encompassing about a block of downtown.  What was a national event became a small downtown festival.

I don't know the ins and outs as to why Pogofest was abandoned.  There may have been business and/or political reasons.  I've heard all sorts of rumors over the years, but nothing I could assert was definitely true.

I do know that before I moved into this area, Pogofest was the one and only thing I knew about Waycross.  And I think that was true for many others.  So, it is rather sad to me that it is now gone, vanquished into the recesses of area history.

I would love to see the return of Pogofest.  It may be too late now.  Fewer and fewer even remember the Walt Kelly cartoon set in the Okefenokee Swamp.  It would be great if more would try to restore the memory of that clever comic strip, alive with humor and relevant social satire.  But restoring it may be beyond the capacity of anyone, especially an introvert like me.

I miss the Smiths and all their cartoonist friends.  For a brief time, Alison and I pierced the celebrity veil and connected on a personal level.  For a fleeting instant, celebrity came to Waycross, and we found them just like us.

May the Cartoonist Walk of Fame live again.

UPDATE:  There has been some confusion about my memories of the Swamp Park visit.  Did we go to the Swamp Park?  There is someone else with strong memories of the Swamp Park visit, and I don't think they include us, for both the public event (which Alison and I were definitely not part of it) and a private event the next day.  My own memories aren't very strong of the interior of the park.  My strongest memories are of taking pictures for them and with them on the road outside the park, and of Jeff drawing pictures for us on a picnic table outside the swamp.  Did we take them there and not go in?  Neither Alison and I are sure.

Here is one of the three drawings that Jeff Smith did for Alison and me.  The other two were done for my sons, Greg and Doug, and they have those. Our pictures with them were from before call phoanes, and I'm not sure where they are.

No, it's not as elaborate a picture as he may have done for others, but for us, it was extraordinary and treasured.  The question isn't whether Jeff and Vijaya bonded more with others, but that they did bond with us, about as much anyone can, given our introverted instincts.

Finally, I'm not sure Jeff & Vijaya referred to themselves as the Smiths.  They used different last names in most of the public material they have, Jeff Smith and Vijaya Iyer.  They are married but may have chosen to keep their surnames, at least in public material. 

All Dare Call It Treason

On July 13th, the case of  Russian interference was closed.  The Mueller investigation, with its new indictments of Russian officials and the paper trail that supported it, locked in that Russian interference did occur.  The case against the Trump administration was strong but implicit, and not yet direct.

Monday's press conference closed the case on Trump's involvement.  Given opportunity after opportunity, Trump continued to choose the dictator Putin over his own country.  He did not defend his own intelligence community. 

He spent the first part of his trip trashing the European Union and NATO.  It wasn't just the press conference, it was the whole trip spent in service of a foreign dictatorship.  The press conference just made it crystal clear to all what many of us have known for years.  Trump's behavior is treason.  He has sold us out to Russia.

But we don't have to accept it.  We don't have to blindly follow him off the autocratic cliff.

We have to take off our partisan pants and come together to take care of this, including Congress. ESPECIALLY Congress.

Congress needs to act immediately:

Pass legislation to protect the Mueller investigation.

Reach out to NATO, the European Union, and other countries not yet possessed by dictators, that despite the President's vile ramblings, we support them 100%.

Put the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court on hold, or at least get a public pledge that he will recuse himself on any questions that relate to the Mueller investigation, or the President's power to pardon himself.  A traitor to this country should not get to select Supreme Court nominees whose primary purpose is to keep the treasonous in power.

And they need to compel the President to surrender tax returns and financial information to find out what his level of financial entanglement is with the Russians.  THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.  The American people need to know.  We have a right to know!  Whether it is by investigatory committee, or by a vote of the Congress as a whole, it is now a matter of patriotic duty and national security interest that this be done.  And done NOW

No more partisanship.  Republicans and Democrats must band together and show a united front.  Or all may be lost.

To paraphrase what I heard Rachel Maddow say last night on her top-rated TV program:

Usually, when we have a national security crisis, we look for the President to lead us. This time, the President IS the national security crisis.

Me again:

We have met the crisis.  The crisis is him.

Let's do something about it.

While we can.

Case Closed: Saturday Political Soap Box 188

I tell everyone that I want some bad guys to do a bad thing.

Later that day, the bad guys do the bad thing I asked them to do.

Am I culpable in any way?

Don't think too hard.  It's not a trick question.

Yes, I am complicit.

That's where we're at now with the President of the United States.  On July 27, 2016  candidate Trump, in a news conference, asked the Russians to hack into Hillary Clinton's emails.  Within hours, that's exactly what Russian military operators were doing.

The case is now closed.

The dots are now connected.

All Mueller has to do now is paint the complete picture, so thoroughly that only the most rabid Trumpeteers will still be advocating for the treasonous orange con man.

Are we finally twirling toward the end of this national nightmare?

We should be.  The last election should be null and void, with the American people getting an unprecedented do-over.

But probably not.

What should happen and what will happen are likely two vastly different things.

We need more and more people woke. 

Those who have remained in Trump's camp, can I finally count on you supporting America and democracy?

Are you woke yet, all my theatre friends, particularly those from the Anne Frank cast?

Are you woke yet, my fellow parishioners from Grace Episcopal, a church well known for its tolerance, love and community spirit?

Are you woke yet, my co-workers?

Are you woke yet, my Bridgeport Michigan classmates?

Are you woke yet, my beloved Pierce Countians, who voted over 85% for the Russian backed narcissist?

We need you woke.

We're running out of time.

And So It Begins

And so it begins.

Alison took our boy to school yesterday afternoon.  He was gussied up as purty as he could be.  It was time, whether we were ready or not.  It was time for Senior pictures.

But wait!  School was still almost four weeks away.  Were we ready for this?  Our little boy's last year of high school?  Of course, he's not so little anymore.  He's a couple inches taller than his Daddy now.  I'm not entirely sure when that happened, but it did.

Ready or not, here it comes.  He has an intense year of courses ahead of him, including courses that will gain him college credit.  He also has a year where he hopefully can fit in time with friends, and some of his favorites interests, including theatre, art, and role-playing games.

As the year goes on, I'm sure he'll become increasingly independent, driving and earning money for school.  And then there'll be prom and graduation.  And then there's college.  And we'll see less and less of our son, as he begins to blaze his own path in the world.

We are already plunging into the maze of college applications.  We have narrowed it to three schools, the closest one still almost two hours away.  We're going to try to get whatever scholarships we can, including Hope.  The diminishment of the Hope Scholarship over recent years has been one of the saddest facts of life in the state of Georgia.  It's one of the most significant things that really helped Georgia stand out as a special place to raise a family. 

In talking with financial aid people in college, it really is an intimidating Rube Goldberg style system.  You not only have to be a good parent, but you also have to be an expert negotiator of paperwork and bureaucracy.  You can do everything right, and still wind up with a mound of debt that may haunt you and your child for decades to come.  It's really stunning to me how many Americans put up with this complex system of paying for an increasingly expensive college system instead of advocating for something simpler and more affordable.  And by college, I include all post-secondary educational experiences, including technical colleges and apprentice programs.  Does everyone need to go to a university for advanced degrees? No, but in today's world, everyone needs to get an education beyond what is offered in high school.


Yes, financing school is not easy.  But things aren't going to change dramatically in the next few years, so we are going to plunge in, and do whatever it takes.

It's not easy being a parent knowing your last little birdie will soon fly out of the nest.  And it's not enough of a consolation to know that even though soon our son will not be with us full time, that we are gaining a hobby room.  Although come to think of it, I do have a few ideas.

It's not the end of our relationship with our son.  The bonds of love and caring are strong, and I'm sure will see him many times in the coming years.  We'll share his excitement with college achievements, his new career, and maybe further down the road, marriage, and grandchildren.  We'll be there to celebrate and to comfort. 

It's a new phase.  A little scary, but exciting too.

Our little boy is not so little anymore.  Let the Senior year begin!

Benjamin at the gates of the University of Georgia, one of the three colleges we're considering.

Back to Work Boss-A-Man Blues

Boss-A-Man is none too pleased.

I am heading into a period where I will be working in accounting more than usual.  I will be working a lot in July, and virtually full time in August, working on a significant audit the firm does each summer.  I can only work so many hours based on Social Security earnings limits, and I've tried to measure out my hours so I would have this time available.

Boss-A-Man, whom we call my "retirement dog" because we got him around the time I began my semi-retirement, would much rather I stay home with him.  Well, my canine friend, I echo that sediment.  Unfortunately, economic realities what they are, I'm going to have to go in.

I'll do what I can to keep my writing projects moving forward.  The blog may suffer a bit, but, you know, I've already got some 1600 blog entire.  So, there's still plenty to choose from if you want to browse.

I'm getting a little exhausted by Facebook, but it still is about the only place I get page views from.  I have failed to make The Strait Line its own destination or to get many people to bookmark or to follow.

I've enjoyed being home more the last couple of months.  I'm sure Boss-A-Man has enjoyed me being home more. It's going to be difficult to shift to greater time in the coal mines.

Sleep well, my little friend.  I'll be home soon.

Circadian Monday Musings

There is a major disruption of Circadian rhythms.

Well, not necessarily sleep, although that is sometimes a struggle.  I mean in the days not having consistency, so it makes it hard to establish a routine. 

Some days I go to work early, in the morning hours.  Some days I go to work later, more towards the afternoon.  Some days I don't go at all.

Some nights I have evening meetings or am practicing for a play.  Some nights I get to stay at home.

Sometimes my family is home with me.  Sometimes they are not.  Right or wrong, I find it more challenging to write when they are home.

I had no idea, in moving to semi-retirement, that it would be so hard to set a new routine, or how much a creature of habit I had become.

This blog was founded on me carving out writing time early in the morning, and consistently building up a habit of writing every day, even it was only thirty to sixty minutes.  I used to get up about 5:15 in the morning to accommodate that, and still be ready to leave for work around 7:30 to 7:45.
Now I sleep in until 6:30.  Sometimes I walk, so I don't get started writing until after 7.  Then I have to decide what time, if any, I'm going to work.  I first do my blog writing, if there is time.  Then I take a look if I have any time for writing on fiction projects.

Too many days I decide I don't have time. Fiction writing requires more time.  It requires you to be in the right mindset to do it, something that I often find difficult.

The semi-retirement was supposed to give me the time to more consistently get in the fiction writing mindset.  It has failed to do that. 

This is nobody's fault but my own.  It's a combination of a lack of a consistent routine dolloped with a hefty dose of laziness.   Mentally, even though it's a reduced amount of time, I still dwell too much on work.  At first, I was frustrated that I still had to spend so much time on it, particularly during tax season.  Currently, I have become more accepting of it, but it's still not addressing my Circadian problems.

I'm not giving up.  I'm going to still do what I can to rethink and then conquer these problems. 

I have to refocus my head on adapting some sort of schedule, and prioritize things so I can get more creative stuff sone, and move closer to the time it can substitute for the income I get from accounting work.

Yeah!  I can do this!  I just need to.... 

Crap!  I forgot!  I'm a week or two away from working on the summer audit, which will mean a lot more work hours up through Labor Day.  And then the community theaters begin new seasons.

Oh, well.

Supreme Solutions: Saturday Political Soap Box 188

Oops!  Sorry - wrong Supremes!  Anyways, now that I've got your attention, maybe you can look at the rest of the blog.  - , Your friend, Misleading T. M.

The norms are not the same.

For better or worse, how we select, nominate and confirm Supreme Court Justices has changed.  The selection criteria have narrowed and become more partisan. 

For selecting a nominee, jurisprudence and experience are no longer factors. Demonstrated fealty to a political agenda and age has become more critical.  President Trump is working from a list that has been preselected by a conservative organization that has been pre-vetted for their loyalty to a specific agenda.  They are also looking at young nominees, in their thirties and forties, to take advantage of the fact that the Supreme Court is a lifetime appointment, and ensure the dominance of the current political dogma for as long as possible.

Once nominated, the Congress makes no pretense about looking at general qualifications or giving any weight to the President's preferences.  There is no longer a sixty vote threshold to avoid a filibuster, so if the President's party controls the Senate, they will vote in the nominee regardless of qualifications or extremism.  If the President's party does not control the Senate, then the nominee may not even get a hearing, as was done to President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland.  This is not a rare exception.  This is the new norm.

Without having to win votes from the other political party, nominees will become more extreme and hyper-partisan.  The Supreme Court will become less dependent, judicious, and impartial.  Instead of being an independent and co-equal branch, they will become more beholden to the President and Congress, and whatever special interests dominated at the time they were selected to serve.

If you are in alignment with Trump's agenda, you may think this is a wonderful thing.  But politics are not a constant.  The worm turns, alliances shift, partisan control varies.  And with lifetime appointments, how often a President gets to appoint nominees may differ.  You never know.  A future President Bernie Sanders, or someone very much like him, may be able, through chance and circumstance, to appoint five or six judges

I don't know if we can ever go back to the more polite, congenial way we nominated and confirmed Supreme Court justices.  The acceleration of our divided partisanship shows no sign of abating.

But there are some simple reforms that we can enact that may help, in at least some small way, to balance things out.  And I don't believe they require a new constitutional amendment. However, if they do, they do, and we should make the effort to change the constitution.

First, we should have term limits.  Those limits should be generous, say twenty to twenty-five years, but they should be limited nonetheless.  This means that replacements can be made at predictable times.  Yes, being mortal, there would be other replacements that come up, but overall, the system would be less partisan.

Although it is true that the Supreme Court justices serve lifetime appointments to make them "above" political pressures, that is clearly not what's happening.  Their biases just become fixed in eras where they are less and less relevant.  Some judges hang on too long, even after their physical and mental capacities deteriorate.

A retirement age is another possibility, although that does not take into account that people age differently.  We have ninety-year-olds in our society who are sharper and more fit than some sixty-year-olds.  We could do this, but I'm not sure what age you would make the retirement age.  And you would still have some politicians playing the actuarial game with it.

A second suggestion involves the number of Supreme Court justices.  That number is not constitutionally fixed.  There have not always been nine, for example.  There have been suggestions from some Democrats that the way to correct the current situation is to increase the number of judges when their party takes back power. 

That is a perilous path.  If the Democrats could do it, what would prevent the Republicans from doing it yet again when they retake power?  What's stopping them from doing it now?  This could escalate until we have a Supreme Court as large as the Senate!

I do think the Supreme Court should adjust over time, but it should be based on the country's population, and the volume of cases considered.  A precise measure could be legislated that takes future changes in the Supreme Court and makes them due to controlled criteria.


I don't know if this can be fixed entirely.  I do understand the system can't stand as it is.  We are losing the independence of another branch of government, moving further away from what the founding fathers envisioned.  Something has to done.  Term limits and controlled changes in the number of justices may be only a partial cure, but it is a check. 

It may not be enough to replace the civility we've lost.  But we have to start somewhere.

Checkpoint: Flash Fiction Friday

Always with the checkpoints.

If you wanted to make it to work and be on time, you had to leave a half hour earlier than you used to.  And now even that was getting iffy.  My employers were understanding, but they also docked the pay for being late.

Today was no exception.  I had tried alternate routes, but they were not foolproof.  One time I tried it and wound up behind a very slow-moving checkpoint, manned only by one agent, who moved with the speed and self-assurance of Barney Fife.

But today, just past the intersection of Cedar and Church, I found myself in a line of vehicles so long I could barely see the checkpoint.  Just some flashing lights maybe two blocks up.  I disconnected the podcast I was listening to.

I quickly made sure I had everything I needed.  Car registration and proof of insurance?  Check.  Birth certificate copy?  Check.  Proof of citizenship?  Check.  Voter registration?  Yes.  Party identification card?  Oh, crap!  That was going to be needed.  Where was that?  I squirreled to the very bottom of the glove compartment, and there it was, underneath the Honey Dew Cafe menu.

It was taking forever.  I felt the docked dollars piling up.  My heart beat faster.  When I was still four cars away, I saw a man out of their car, frisked, and then led away, another agent taking the car, presumably to impound.

My mind swirled.  My mind swam in a dark pool of fear and apprehension.  Nothing new.  Since the change, I've swum there many times before. Every time I'd see someone taken away, the fear would burst forth anew.

After another twenty minutes, I had finally reached the checkpoint.  The fear was real.  I tasted it, its rich feel overwhelming my senses.

The agent asked for my documents, in the exact order I anticipated. He inspected each and handed them back to me.  Maybe it was going to be all right.

But I wasn't released.  He asked for something new, something I had not foreseen.  He wanted my cellphone.

I handed him the phone, not sure what he was looking for.  I was careful to only use the texting for work-related activities or to inform my wife when I was headed home.

But that was not what he was looking for.  "Sir, I see you listened to a podcast recently."

I was confused.  "Yes.  I set it at home.  I didn't touch my phone while driving."  At first, the new cellphone use restrictions had gotten a lot of people, but many adjusted, particularly as the consequences grew more grave.

"Sir, it's the podcast itself.  It's an unauthorized podcast from an NPR station in Massachusetts."

This blindsided me.  "It's...a cooking show.  THere's no harm in that, is there?"

"Anything from NPR is forbidden."

"I - I didn't know.  How long has that been true?"

"The advisory council ruled on it last week."

It was hopeless.  I couldn't keep up with these changes.  Why had we not moved to Ontario when we had the chance?  Now he would haul me out of the car, and I would be at a reorientation center for who knows how long.

Instead of asking me to step out, the agent kept my phone.  "Since it is a relatively new change, I'm just going to confiscate this phone.  You'll need to go to a qualified dealer and get a new phone.  It will be up-to-date with enhanced access limitations so you won't have to worry about the new restrictions."

Just great.  Now, I needed to go to the expense of getting a new phone.  Where was that going to come from?  We were already operating at the edge of our budget.

I should have been angered at the new restrictions.  I used to care about such things.

Now, I've swum in the enveloping dark far too long.  I could no longer remember the taste of freedom.  Those days were gone.

Now I just needed to survive.

Post Fourth Blues

It was not an easy Fourth of July to get through,

No, everything was okay with my family.  We had a low key day and grilled out, inviting over Alison's mother, Rose.  Afterward, Alison and I watched our new favorite sport played by our favorite team, Atlanta United.  The dogs handled well what little neighborhood fireworks there was.

Family was great.  I feel fortunate and blessed by that,

But it's hard to ignore what is happening to our country.  On a day when we should be celebrating the great diversity of this great land, of our unity in supporting democracy, of our march towards greater civil rights and equality of opportunity, it was hard not to reflect all we have lost in the last couple of years.

Our nation has never been perfect.  We brought many Africans over here in chains, and kept them in slavery, the effects of which we are still struggling with today.  We slaughtered the native inhabitants, in a brutal genocide that was admired by the Nazis, one they strove to emulate in their extermination of European Jews.  We interred the Japanese at the start of World War 2.  We kept treating African Americans as second-class citizens, with many of us behaving like monsters towards them in the Civil Rights era of the 50s and 60s.

But through it all, you could sense an impulse towards greater equality, democracy, and freedom. Things did improve.  Slavery was abolished.  Women obtained the right to vote. Unions helped make work more dignified, and capable of supporting a family, with better pay and working conditions.  Recently, the LGBT community was treated with greater respect, including the ability to marry.

Nothing has been a straight line.  Slavery is abolished, only to see the rise of sharecropping, Jim Crow laws, and the emergence of the KKK.  Native cultures were put in reservations, living in isolation and poverty.  The resentment towards women gaining ground towards equality has created a terrible backlash, including domestic abuse and sexual harassment.  Most mass murdering white men have anger at women as one of their root causes for lashing out.

But still, through it all, you had a sense that things were getting better, that progress towards the vision the founding fathers laid out in the Declaration of Independence was being made.  In starts and fits, you still sensed the nation and the world were slowly but surely becoming better places.  As said in the Theodore Parker quote that Martin Luther King made well known "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."

And now, for the first time in my life, I wonder if that is true.  The last two years have been wearing and frightening for those of us who care about America.  We have watched what is great about America be trampled on and destroyed, day after day.  And with my apologies to those who have valiantly fought and protested, it seems like we are losing, and I don't know if we can recover.  Maybe someday, but not for the next generation or so.

Parents are separated from children, and there are those who make excuses for it, and it fills me with disgust and fear for our nation,  How could so many of us have fallen so low as to accept this?  It is the final straw, that one that breaks the back of my hope.  There are people who are not coming back, people who have completely lost track of our country and its core values, and I don't know if they're ever coming back.

We have a racist President (this is a clear and compelling fact - if you can't see it - well, that is part of why I feel so hopeless right now), who is turning us back on voting rights, housing discrimination, and affirmative action.

We have a climate change denying President, who is not only ignoring global warming but is hell-bent on policies to obliterate it, including the dismantling of basic environmental protections.

We have an elitist, narcissistic President who uses the government for his own profit and gain, including altering the tax code in a way that will increase the income gap in our country.  He pretends to care about workers while busting unions (through recent Supreme Court actions) and eliminating regulations that help protect the safety of workers, and how workers are paid.

We have an anti-immigration President who treats them as if they were animals.  He has no hesitancy in breaking up families, using the tactic as an evil deterrent to those claiming asylum from dangerous countries that are fragile and violent, at least in part from the destabilizing interference from the US for many years,   He has no sense of decency, and is willing to use them as hostages in his struggle to have his useless wall built.

He has no regard for democracy.  He doesn't understand or care about our constitution.  He spits on the free press and calls them enemies of the people.  He praises dictators and sneers at leaders of democratic countries.  Hsi ill-advised trade threatens to destroy the world economy. The taint and smell of Russian influence on him and our electoral process is all over him.

The Supreme Court is solidifying into a force that will value corporate power and the wealthy over the average working person every single decision that they make. All civil rights are in grave jeopardy.  It's n longer a concern as to whether progress will be halted, but of how much it will be reversed and taken away.

I could go on and on, but either you understand this, or you don't.

So, yes.  I had a very hard time celebrating this year.

The arc of the moral universe looks farther and farther away every time I look.

July 4th Floats

July 4th floats.

It's one of those holidays that, like Christmas and New Year's, are celebrated on a fixed day rather than adjusted to a Monday.  It does not always offer an extended weekend.

What time workers get off for it may float too.  Some workers get the full week.  Alison, at the Pierce County Board of Education, receives the entire week off.  If you worked for the Ware County School Board, you get Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off.  I'm not working full time anymore, but if I were, my employer would grant Wednesday only.  And, of course, there may be some workers, first responders and such, who get absolutely nothing, 

America!  Land of the free and home of the shrinking vacation opportunities!

When our manufacturing base was stronger, some factories would shutter for the week, and our beaches would be crowded to the max.  But the days of the commonality are over.  In many of our great sightseeing spots, there are now more foreign tourists than American tourists.  We just don't travel like we used to.

For those who work most of the week, Wednesday has to be a particularly obnoxious time to take a break.  Work two days, break, then two more days again.  Hardly seems worth it.

Municipalities are all over the map as to when they do fireworks.  Unfortunately, so are my neighbors.  We'll probably have some fireworks off every day this week.  Luckily, my dogs don't seem very irritated by it, but many dogs are, and it's going to be a tough week for them and their owners.  Not to mention anyone who's trying to get some sleep.

Even the Declaration of Independence itself is kind of a floater.  The vote for Independence was on July 2nd.  The text was ratified on July 4th.  Even John Adams thought the date that would go down in history was July 2nd.  It took awhile for John Adams and the early signer to adjust to the day of recognition being the 4th.

Years later, two of the most prominent writers of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, died on the same day  - July 4th, 1826.

It's a great time to celebrate, with family and friends and fellow Americans, whichever days we get to do it.  And these days, with so many of our democratic and civic norms under siege, it's a good time to remember the goals and spirit of the Declaration, and what it was meant to inspire.

From the Declaration of Independence:


We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. 

It took us more than two centuries to extend these rights to everyone.

It has taken us less than two years to start to rescind them and move backward.

July 4th floats.

Do not let your patriotism float.  Speak out now.

Do not let Trumpism deliver the final blow to everything we've struggled to achieve.

To Civil or Not to Civil

It's a tougher call than you think.

It's clearly okay to be intolerant of the intolerant.  You don't need to be accepting of anyone's hatred towards the "other."

But exactly how far do we extend civility?

Is it necessary to be uncivil to the uncivil?

We have an administration that would leave George Orwell open-jawed in its lying brazenness, in its utter disregard and contempt for democracy, in its willingness to defame public and private citizens alike.  How do we deal with it?  Do we answer their incivility with our own?  Should we be stunned that when we strike back, we're the ones called uncivil?

I don't know if what the Red Hen did was right.  I do know that it is within the standards the Christian Reich has set for itself.  If you're rejecting serving gays because they don't match your moral code, then refusing service to someone who is complicit in the destruction of democracy, who lies with unreserved gusto, who is unconcerned with children being separated from their parents, would indeed be within your purview.

I don't know if I would have done that.  I understand that many establishments have a sign up that they have the right to refuse service to anyone, but that is usually reserved for customers that are rude, dressed offensively (or not all), or carrying weapons (okay, I guess that's not true much anymore - thanks, gun nut extremists).  I get queasy when patrons are refused service on their sexual or political status.  We are still too close to the days of the segregated lunch counter.

I am not excusing Sarah Sanders and her atrocious behavior.  She is as complicit in our incivility as anyone in the country (except for the Grand Poobah of hatespeak and intolerance, the Russian influenced narrow electoral college victor, President Donald J Trump.

It might have been better to have gone up to Sarah Sanders and told her that the owner and staff had serious problems with what she and the Trump administration were doing, but that they would do their best to be courteous and kind to her while she was there.  Of course, had they done this, it would have made no impression on Sarah Sanders, and no news headlines would have generated from it.

It fired up the respective bases.  The Red Hen got booked up for weeks to come.  The liberal media cheered.  It's not quite as enthusiastic reception as a business owner got for refusing to serve Vice President Biden during the 2012 election, where the business was turned into a hero and got a spot at the Republican Convention, but it was mostly appreciated nonetheless.


On the other side?  The one crying for more civility?

Yeah.  Not so much.

There have been loud, nasty protests surrounding The Red Hen.  This has included curse words, name calling, and the throwing of feces and garbage.  The owner of The Red Hen has resigned from a Main Street business associations. They have received bomb threats and death threats, and are now closed until July 5th.

This is not a measured response.  It is a very uncivil response.  It is a dangerous response.  It is a scary response.  It is a brown-shirted response.

I don't know the answer.  Is it right to be uncivil to the uncivil?

When the mildest reaction to incivility (please don't eat at my restaurant) is matched with the ferocity of the violently uncivil, I don't know what we're left with.  What happens when civil disobedience is met with uncivil violence?  What are we left with?

Civil war?