Category Archives: Politics

Politics, US History

Kleptarchs and Kakocracy

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Have not written much about the kleptarchs running our kakocracy. I did have an insight I want to share. Its about the. orange round one.

If he were a king, his actions would be unremarkable. OK, a medieval king. His self-dealing, his erratic policies, his vengeance seeking. All monarchical and all justified by the power a monarch has. From Gemini: Greek Roots. It combines monos (meaning “alone,” “only,” or “single”) with arkhein (meaning “to rule” or “to lead”).

Yet this would be King Donald finds himself not in a monarchy, but a democracy. Demos, Greek for people. The people lead, not an old TV star.

So we have a spectacle. A monarch struggling to break free of the people and rule alone. A blue tsunami will not push Dopy Don back into a presidential role. Neither will Democratic investigations or public opprobrium.

The Dems, rather than focusing on payback (justly deserved) should start passing legislation aimed at affordability issues: cost of diesel, the Iran War, inflation. Show the demos that they’ve been heard and that we’re on their side.

 

Elk Run, Friends, Judaism, Politics, US History, World History

Ginny and Janice. Rabbi Jamie.

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Yesterday. A flurry. Ginny and Janice came. Their usual work ethic. Opened about half the boxes in my living room. Books on shelves horizontally. I look forward to organizing them. Lot of action.

Rabbi Jamie came by. We talked about his Alaska trip. The final days of his sabbatical. The Top of the World highway. Rough enough it shattered his rear window. Hearing and seeing a Golden Eagle launch itself into the air. Visiting Wrangli-St. Elias National Park which some compare to Switzerland. Except the park is bigger than Switzerland!

Also talked about the why of my move to Elk Run. Safety. The shock of pneumonia, then rehab. How weak I remain.

Asked him about his talk I missed, Judaism After Gaza. His main point: American diaspora Judaism shaped its post-holocaust self through Zionism focused on a safe place for Jews. Israel. And expected it to be a liberal democracy.

It was. For awhile. Of late its right wing factions have turned it into a dominant military power willing to exert itself through hostile, brutal acts in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Iran.

Its actions have divided American Jews. That division and how it plays out over the next few years is Judaism After Gaza. At least in the U.S. Not clear what it will be like.

Later, beef stir fry over rice. A quiet evening.

Politics, US History

Working Knowledge

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Finished “Shop Craft as SoulCraft” last night. An interesting book on a topic that has long puzzled me: why don’t trades people, people who work with their hands get more respect?

The author, Matthew Crawford, has a Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Chicago. Crawford directed a think tank for five months before quitting to become a motorcycle mechanic.

The key idea in Shop Craft lies in practical knowledge gained through labor with one’s hands. Fixing a motorcycle or a leaky faucet requires constant attention to recalcitrant bolts and poorly plumbed kitchen sinks. Yet the end result, a vroom as a repaired motorcycle leaves the shop or a faucet restored to its function, guides the work from diagnosis to completion.

I like Crawford’s insistence on knowledge earned in direct contact with the soil, a block of wood, or an electric panel. I also take his point that knowledge workers (he doesn’t like this phrase) are as vulnerable as assembly line workers in Henry Ford’s auto plants. AI makes it so.

I don’t take his point that hand work has superior knowledge because it comes from direct encounters with the material world. I don’t think he does either since the book dotes on Heidegger, references Plato and Aristotle.

When I ate lunch last week at Elk Run, Miguel set me at a table. Marsha, a 90-year old former elementary teacher, talked about her husband, an industrial arts teacher. To give his students an education in the building trades he had them build houses. There are several in Evergreen. When I asked her if this project still existed, she shook her head, “Not anymore.”

The general decline in shop classes, vocational training serves no one, while it underlines the gap between manual labor and knowledge work in the eyes of our culture. I believe it should not be so.

Commentary on the news, Family, Politics, US History, World History

Disruptions

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Resonance. Vibrations. JFK in Dallas. Martin Luther King in Memphis. 9/11.

I was sick, resting at home, and reading Le Morte d’Arthur. I know. There it was, the open Lincoln convertible with Jackie holding a slumped over JFK. Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald. The Texas Book Depository. I watched until my eyeballs went dry.

Later, LBJ. Model Cities. The Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. Then, sadly, Vietnam.

King on the Lorraine Motel balcony with Abernathy. James Earl Ray. A bullet severing King’s spinal column. Abernathy cradling his head. MLK had come to support striking sanitation workers. I loved this, seeing King make a turn toward economic justice issues.  He had also recently come out against the war in Vietnam.

In King’s place Ralph Abernathy, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, and John Lewis carried on his work, but MLK’s gravitas and personal power died with him.

Then. Look at this! What? I saw, along with millions, the hard to grasp scene of a passenger jet plowing into the World Trade Center. At first my brain had trouble accepting that scene as real. Later on fire, smoke, people plummeting to the ground. Flight 93. The Pentagon.

Bush’s declaration of a war on terror. Forever wars. Afghanistan. Iraq and Kuwait. Shock and awe. Twenty-five years later: Iran, Lebanon, Gaza all roiled up in the aftermath of 9/11.

Personal: Joseph. A freshman at the University of Minnesota. Pre-med after two trips to Guatemala with his step-mother/second mother, Kate.

A complicated emotion surged through him mixing pride in his adoptive nation and anger, yes, but more, surfacing a warrior  spirit perhaps prefigured in his skiing, his running. He felt the powerful call of a patriot determined to protect his country.

Soon he had visited a recruiter, switched his major to Astro-physics/Physics, and turned himself toward the military. Twenty-five years later he’s in command of Cobra Squadron on Osan AFB in South Korea.

assisted Living, Commentary on the news, Family, Fourth Phase, Health, Politics, Shadow Mountain

Sad News

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Gloria Steinman. Dead. She taught me so much. Through her writing and organizing, but more through the women she inspired. The ones I knew well.

It’s been a sad couple of weeks: Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and the actor who voiced Optimus Prime. Figures who stood out: music, quirky acting, Transformer movies, and now feminist organizing. Even the idols of our youth are mortal.

I have, since early seminary days, considered myself a feminist. Gratitude to Gloria Steinman, Betty Friedan, and others who pushed second wave feminism onto the national stage. The personal is political.

 

More sad news. When Carol, my p.t. person from Mount Evans Home Health Care, came yesterday, she told me they were being shut down as of September 30th. That leaves us mountain folk with no access to in home physical or occupational therapy. Would have made my recovery much slower, especially when I was just out of rehab and very weak.

There is still physical therapy up here, but getting to it requires a car, a driver, and sufficient mobility. Many cannot meet those criteria. A rural life problem. Not unique to us, rather shared by people who live far from urban centers. Health care for any who live in spots where economy of scale works against them. A tragedy. At the most personal level.

 

Robin and Connie spent three hours packing books yesterday. Move preparation. Had a guy come up yesterday to inspect my roof, too. More sad news, I’ve got to replace my roof on the house and garage. Making it worse. Not enough hail damage. Meaning this will be an out of pocket expense. Yikes.

Ruth and Gabe will finish pulling books on Friday. They’re coming up to be with me on the anniversary of Jon’s death in 2022. This is the hard date for them. Ruth in particular since she found her dad dead on his basement couch.

I’ve not gotten word on when his yahrzeit will be remembered at Beth Evergreen, but they will probably come up then, too. Say kaddish with the worshippers.

 

Melissa now makes me a hot meal every weekday evening. A real treat. Last night. Hot sausage with baked beans and coleslaw followed by a baked apple dessert. Until a week from Friday.

Gutters get cleaned today. All windows washed on Monday. With new roofs? What a fine sight to see.

 

Fourth Phase, Health, Politics, Shadow Mountain

Such a fine sight to see

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Tired of dealing with an uncooperative gut. Constipation. Hard to get regular. Water torture. Never lets up. Always I need to go. I need to not go. Only comfortable position lying down. Since April with occasional break throughs of normalcy. Don’t understand why I can’t resolve it.

Affects sleep. Get up to deal. Head to bathroom, back to bed. Maybe not returning to sleep right away. The two together? A recipe for feeling down. World is too much with me, late and soon.

When it came time yesterday for my Buphati appointment, I couldn’t do it. Realized I have not been on the stairs since returning home. Also, transition from car to office. By walker. Oxygen levels held steady by my new Inogen, Portable oxygen concentrator. Which I have yet to use. Too much. Canceled. New appointment with Christina two weeks from now.

Cancer. Bah, humbug.

Robin comes today to get started on clearing out the house for the final time. We’ll discuss what goes with me. Her long experience will prove useful.

Talked with Matt Bachus yesterday. (realtor) We agreed I need to have a clear understanding about Elk Run costs over against my available income and other resources. Nothing with him can advance without it. After next week’s annual review.

Dopy Don and the Islamic Republic of Iran. What a fine sight to see. Golden wig. Golden toilets. Prayer mats and mosques. Oh, my Allah!

 

Family, Fourth Phase, Health, Politics, Shadow Mountain, Weather +Climate

Heat

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Final entry from my bed in room 103. Back into the stream of daily life without periodic checking of my vital signs, room service meals, and therapy with Margaret, Jenny, and Britinni. Though I’ve had a good experience I’m ready to leave rehab.

Still boggles my mind that I was at home on June 30th, then in the E.R. on July 1. In this hospital bed or that one until today, twenty seven days later. Must have been serious.

Joe and Mary worked hard over the weekend getting things ready for me. I’m excited to see what they’ve done.

We’re making a to go order from the Lazy Butcher for a homecoming meal. Barbecue, burgers, lots of Southern side dishes. Conveniently close to my doctors where I have to go for a bone strengthening shot after I leave here.

Joe has also arranged a tour of Elk Run assisted living at 3 pm. It will be my first time there. Elk Run is not far from the Life Care Center and is behind the synagogue. Their location in a place I know well matters to me.

 

Elsewhere the world is on fire. Wildfires make regular front page news. Trump gets mad at Canadian smoke and slaps on tariffs just because he can. Spain and France have major fires approaching Madrid and Bordeaux. Heat. Hotter.

Dopy Donald can’t find a path out of the Chinese finger puzzle he’s created for himself in Iran. I hope he finds something because this war is a plague on all of our houses.

 

Far Right, Health, Politics, Shadow Mountain, Weather +Climate

Quiet Days

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A slow day. As Saturdays can be. Moderate temperature, slight breeze, sun. I like quiet days. Especially after the excitement of my self-engaged head gashing.

This Sunday, and most of the next week, has similar possibilities. Only out of house: Tuesday 9 am CT scan and Friday’s 11:30 suture removal.

Beginning to have serious conversations about my future on Shadow Mountain. My goal? Stay right here. There are various ways to get there, not sure what makes the most sense yet.

 

Oh. George. Orwell. Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission which proposes that the separation of church and state is “…a legal error…” (W.P. June 26, 2026)

Look on his works, ye mighty, and despair.

Family, Health, Jefferson County, Politics, Shadow Mountain, Weather +Climate

Through the Looking Glass

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Day three post fall and gash. Wound gets cleaned today. Not sure how I’d do it by myself. Maybe Ginny.

Reverberations. Can I handle myself alone? Just me and my life alert medallion? I think so, but some doubt now. Don’t like that.

Melissa provides a cushion I needed and still need. Mary, too, but she’s leaving late July, going back to winter in Melbourne. Tara and Arjean will be here right after until late August. After that, back to the old ways.

Investigating.

Flash flood. Bear Creek, Evergreen and Kittredge. Wednesday night. There are state installed flash flood warning signs in Kittredge: climb to higher ground. Took out private bridges, sent logs rushing downstream, flooded basements. Hwy. 74 closed overnight.

Like Minnesota the West has weather that can kill you, too. Flash floods. Wildfire.

Texas to require bible reading in public schools. Trump’s inaptly named Religious Liberty Commission plans to work against the separation of Church and State. Vance compares himself to Nixon. Iran and U.S. trade strikes after peace document signed.

We have fallen through the looking glass. Red-pilled and angry.

Health, Politics, Shadow Mountain

Shameless

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Chose not to go down the hill for a CT scan of my head. To check for a brain bleed. Too many scans of late. No problematics. Could have been otherwise.  An emotional rather than a rational decision.

Surrounded by love. Ruth held me in her lap, holding a towel against my gash. Bled profusely as head wounds do. Mary and David helped me (lifted me) to my feet. Ruth and Mary called my clinic which got me in right away. 10 minutes from home.

Wound cleaned, hair around it clipped. Waited until Anna, a p.a. came in. She did a thorough exam for neurological effects. Head wound = possible brain bleed.

The lidocaine would feel like “stinging bees,” she said. Ha, I thought. I know what they feel like from my beekeeping years.  Pretty close, except for one which exceeded expectations. Mary says she, Ruth, and David watched Anna work. At the back of my head and numbed. I waited. No real pain afterward. Later the other parts of my body that hit the tile hard declared themselves. Achy. Some low level pain.

I crawled into bed and went to sleep.

More appreciative now of my Life Alert medallion which would have come to my aid had I been alone.

Old age can be tough. Keep yourself in shape.

Looking forward to three medical intervention free days.

I see Vance trying to rehabilitate Nixon! The deep state took him down. Yeah, right. If by deep state you mean: independent journalism (ironically the Washington Post of yesteryear), the FBI, Congress, and the courts.

Shameless. All of them. Enemies of truth, justice, and the American way. Villains of Superman Comic equivalence.

Quiet summer days. What I want.