Remember "An Inconvenient Truth?"

I sit in the comfort of my air-conditioned room, hiding from the bright sun, and gloomily read the 10-day forecast.  North east of us, residents might experience a rain storm.  We’re not supposed to be so lucky.  It’s supposed to be hot, humid and miserable all next week.  Our front windows face west, so every afternoon I have to close the drapes to keep the sun from beating in.  We have special drapes that are made to reduce the hot sun’s rays.

It seems that each year, the summer gets longer and hotter.  TB’s been looking at the lawn, wondering if he’ll ever have to mow it again.  We haven’t had much rain to keep the grass growing and green.  It’s mostly dried up brown stuff and some kind of crab grass.  I water my flowers less frequently than I have in years gone by because of the potential of the aquifer’s level falling too low.

Imagine!

Today I saw Dan Rather’s newsletter about “An Inconvenient Truth”.  It was a film and book by former Vice President Al Gore.  He knew his stuff and was right on the money with his predictions.  I remember being concerned when the film was released 16 years ago.  I also remembered the first Earth Day in 1970, when we were all supposed to be more conscious of taking care of the Earth.  We didn’t do it in the 36 years between 1970 and 2006, and Gore warned of dire consequences if we didn’t start addressing climate change sixteen years ago.

Of course, nothing was done.  Oh, people like my husband and I tried to conserve and recycle but legislators didn’t  do anything about the environment until now – and maybe it’s too late.  They were under the impression that Americans didn’t care about the environment.  Maybe we were at fault for that belief.  We didn’t make enough noise.  We were too busy being concerned with work, raising families, and the economy.  Maybe even if we had spoken up, Big Oil and other polluting corporations would have paid the legislators to keep postponing doing anything to help the Earth.

All that is changing, and it’s because the weather has become wilder and more unpredictable over the last few years.  I remember four seasons as a child.  Now there just seems to be two, summer and winter, with short days or a week of spring and fall.  The summers have been unbearably hot with multiple and prolonged heat waves.  Winters have been ridiculously mild.  I can’t remember the last time we had a good snow storm.

How do you feel in a heat wave?  It affects me negatively now that I'm older.  I get very fatigued and cross.  Even with the air on, the house gets hot inside because of our energy in-sufficient windows.  Any outdoor activity has to be done before the sun comes up.  Katie Couric posted an article about how extended hot weather affects us here and abroad.

I believe all the wild fires in the west and all the flash flooding/heavy downpours across the country finally inspired Congress to pass a bill President Biden could sign to address climate change.  It doesn’t go far enough, of course, but it’s the first major piece of environmental legislation in years and years.  It’s a start.

Now, as uncomfortable as I am here in New Jersey, it’s hotter than Hades in the West.  Next week, in celebration of Labor Day and that week, temperatures there may go up to 110 degrees.  I know it’s usually warmer in the western states but isn’t 110 close to what temperatures would be in Death Valley?

There have been incidents of flash flooding and other problems caused by torrential rains recently.  There is no potable water in Jackson, MS.  I guess you could say it was a perfect storm of an aging infrastructure that was never fixed properly and a sudden onslaught on heavy rain.  Residents are told not to drink the water.  The National Guard is supposed to help get drinkable water out to the communities in Jackson.  So far it's been an epic fail.  They haven't been able to supply all the water that's needed.  People waited for like 2 hours in the hot sun for a case of water and the National Guard quickly ran out.  It's freaking summer, people, and it's HOT.  Those people need more than a case of water!

Other states that experienced devastation after exceptionally heavy rainfall recently were Missouri, Kentucky, and Illinois.

It’ll probably get a lot worse before it gets better in spite of the environmental piece of the Inflation Reduction Act.  It’s going to take time to implement.  It’s a shame because we sure need to do something NOW.   

Semi-Fascists

 

Last week Thursday, President Biden finally called out the Rethuglicans, calling them “semi-fascists.”  Of course, the Rethugs and GQP went berserk, whining about how awful it was for the President to say such a thing about them.  Of course, they forget all the names and insults they’ve thrown not only at President Biden but Democrats too.  I think the Rethugs “doth protest too much.”

They’ve proven again and again and again that they are, at the very least, “semi” fascist.  Frankly, I’d call them full-blown.  You need look no further than what some of these characters have said and done.  Most recently, it was Senator Lindsay Graham, who went on Fox News to announce that if 45 was charged with anything, there would be rioting in the streets.  Maybe it was incitement; maybe not.  Definitely, though, it fits in with fascist SOP.  They use threats of violence to keep people in line.

Then there’s Governor Death Santis in FL.  He’s the guy that went into covid-denial overdrive and then out of left field into the subspace.  He fought with Disney (and lost) over his “Don’t Say Gay” law.  Not only are teachers and students not allowed to talk about different sexuality and genders, the original had teachers ratting kids out to their parents.  Definitely trying to turn teachers into secret police and dropped like a hot potato (I hope).   He went after corporations that would give classes regarding critical race theory with a law called Stop Woke Act.  Fortunately, I recently read a judge stopped him in his tracks there.  Even before SCOTUS betrayed us on Roe v. Wade, he was championing legislation severely restricting access to abortion.

Robert Reich wrote an opinion piece about whether this guy is a fascist and got some heat for it.  What I found most interesting was Reich’s explanation of the difference between an authoritarian and a fascist.  They’re about the same but a fascist is filled with hatred toward one or more groups.  Death Santis definitely has it in for people who are other than straight, deliberately targeting and hurting LBGTQ kids especially.

The whole formerly respectable GOP has become a hateful Rethuglican/GQP organization.

Governor Abbott in TX does not like immigrants.  Rethugs there call people trying to escape poverty and gangs further south “invaders.”  His response to the Uvalde mass killing was just appalling.  He didn’t go to any of the funerals.  Most of the children and teachers killed were not white.  Abbott doesn’t particularly care for women either, apparently.  A tale of two women: one, a woman that learned that not only would her baby not survive, she might die too.  She needed an abortion but wasn’t allowed one so she had to go out of state.  Apparently, TX was ok not only with her baby dying soon after birth, but her too.  The other example is of the woman who started to have a miscarriage when she was 18 weeks pregnant.  After losing so much amniotic fluid, doctors weren’t hopeful the baby would survive—but they were not allowed to perform an abortion even though the woman could and did become very ill with an infection.  This nightmare goes on in other red states with outlawed or severely restricted abortion laws.

Oklahoma has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country.  They also don’t like their students to learn about diverse people and sexualities.  They have joined FL, TX and other red states banning books.  Recently, they fired a teacher whose crime was to provide a link to a library that would loan a banned book to any student in the country. 

I know that white supremacy is alive and well in the “Christian” nationalists, extreme right wing militias, KKK, Nazis in America and other outrageous groups but this completely floored me:  Mississippi appeals court upholds an old Jim Crow law that would keep Black people from voting.  WTAF?  The case will be appealed up to the Supreme Court but who knows what will happen there?  After all, conservatives are in control and they all seem to be TFG supporters.

We all know HE is a fascist.  He is filled with hatred, only having love for himself.

This is why it's so important that every Democrat of voting age VOTES this November!  We want to save our democracy. 

 

Killers of the Flower Moon

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON BY DAVID GRANN

Here is another book I saw offered on an eBook list. I was attracted to it by “the birth of the FBI” and was interested in learning more about it. I have always had an interest in true crime stories. I got a lot more than I bargained for. In the 1920s, there was a mass murder of Osage indigenous people in Oklahoma. When I began reading, I thought I was going to be in for another very heavy book as I learned things I never knew before.

I knew that indigenous people were cheated out of and forced off their land. The Osage people in Oklahoma were no exception. They were given what was thought to be a crappy area but turned out to be a place that made them millionaires. They’d been given a massive oil field to live on and once the oil was discovered, they began leasing to drillers. They began to receive large incomes from the successes of the oil wells. Of course, the success of the oil wells drew all kinds of people to the area, good and bad.

It wasn’t too long before some began to be annoyed at Osage prosperity and began to scheme ways of cheating them out of their royalties. Some of the plots were so soulless it would chill your blood to read about them. Most of the time, a white would marry an Osage and in this way would gain control by becoming a guardian to his or her spouse’s royalties. That happened because another way the Osage would be deprived of their rights was to declare them incompetent, incapable of managing their finances. That was true no matter how educated they were.

In the early 1920s, several Osage were murdered. Many others began dying mysteriously of sudden illnesses. Local authorities didn’t seem particularly interested in investigating and so the tribe appealed to the newly formed Bureau of Investigation. The first investigators weren’t successful, meeting several dead ends and blockades. The director was replaced with a young J. Edgar Hoover, who decided to assign a former Texas Ranger, Tom White, to the case. Instead of choosing among the newer agents, White picked a team of characters who would blend in well with the community in and around the oil wells.

What they alone learned about the cold-blooded plot to murder Osage for their leases and royalties should horrify you. What the author learned on his own conducting his own research years later will increase it. I did appreciate reading the book, learning more history that was never taught in school. Grann’s writing style is compelling and keeps the pages turning. It’s also very emotionally gut wrenching so time is needed sometimes to process it all.

I definitely would recommend the book but, again, it’s not for the faint hearted.

The above is what I wrote for Good Reads and a book group I belong to on FaceBook.  I had a lot of extra thoughts that I'll share here.

First of all, this is another reason we need to have CRT in schools.  Despite what the Rethugs claim, it isn't in the curriculum at public schools and now colleges in some states are afraid to offer thoughtful true-history courses.  I was out of high school before I learned a lot of our sorry history, like how indigenous people were cheated of their land.  Where did I learn it? From James Michener's book, Centennial , and from the TV series of the same name.

As happened with Roots, it was absolutely gut twisting to learn how abominably and cruelly whites treated people of color whether they be Black, Hispanic or Native American.  All of these people have had their rights trampled, their dignity and freedom decimated, and have suffered as a result for years and years.

I don't think it's going to irreparably harm a white child's self-esteem to learn the truth about our history instead of a white-washed version.  Sure, it might make the child uncomfortable and squirm, but shouldn't we all?  This is the kind of behavior that the so-called "Christian" nationalists support: a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant America, just like "the good old days."  Pardon me while I puke.

Do you think not?  Why not start with this.  Then research what red states are doing to disenfranchise the votes of people of color.

This has all happened before.  We silly believers in equality thought all of that was addressed well in the last 50-60 years.  I don't think we of that generation ever thought it could all be undone, just as even more of us ever thought it would be possible for a President to so betray our country.

Pay attention.  Those who pay attention to history note that it keeps repeating itself because too many have their heads in ostrich holes.

Added on: I just learned that Martin Scorsese will be directing a Film version of the book.  It will start Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.  I want to see it for sure 👍

We Are Hawkins

 

If you’re familiar with the popular series Stranger Things, then you know what I mean when I say the vines in the Upside Down grow deep and have been spreading.  If you’re not familiar, let me explain what the Upside Down is and about the vines: it is a place that seems very similar to our world but is sinister and peopled with evil creatures.  The Upside Down has a mind hive and one aspect of its evilness is the vines that grow and spread everywhere.  Hawkins is the town under attack from the Upside Down.

In real life, 45, his cult, his supporters, “Christian” nationalists, white supremacist militias, right wing conservative evangelicals and other extremists make up the Upside Down.  Their corruption is everywhere and easily influenced people fall under their power.  The rest of us are Hawkins, under siege but fighting back.

Another way to look at it is this: is tRump THE anti-Christ?  If he wasn’t so flat out stupid, I might think so as many real Christians have wondered.  But Jesus said that we would suffer through many “false prophets” – many anti-Christs – before THE real thing shows up.  I might be more likely to think Death Santis could be THE one but even he is probably just another of the false prophets.  Could it be Putin?  Possibly.  Jesus also said, by their deeds you shall know them.  It’s very clear now that TFG and all his followers are evil.  Just look at what they say and do.  Who the anti-Christ could be has been on my mind since reading an article in Daily Kos: Is Donald Trump The Anti-Christ?

Most recently regarding TFG, the DOJ has released a redacted affidavit the judge used to sign for the search of Mar-a-Lago by the FBI.  With each release about news regarding all the files tRump stole and hoarded, things just seem more horrifying.  As President, that man never read anything.  He wasn’t interested no matter how much his staff abridged or tried to spice it up.  So why did he take those files, many of which were of the highest security?  One: to use as blackmail.  Two: to sell to foreign agents.  Whatever the reason, they weren’t even secured.  Anyone could have accessed those files. Daily Kos ran an article not long ago wondering who actually packed the files and why?  Who else are involved?  What other “vines”?

Still thinking of those other “vines”, how about the GQP response to all these new evil revelations?  Their response that it sure looks like 45 was a treasonous foreign agent?    First Rand Paul of Kentucky suggested that the FBI planted the files and then called for repealing/doing away with the Espionage Act!

I read in another newsletter piece that TFG isn’t the source of the rot; he’s a symptom.  He didn’t create the racism, white supremacy, and right-wing extremist groups.  He just brought them into the open by embracing them.  There has always been a sickness in this country; we just weren’t so aware of it until tRump ascended.  Just look now at the governors of Florida and Texas and the fascist laws they are bringing to their states.  Look at the conservative right wing of the Supreme Court—all tRump appointees.  The white supremacist extremists and so-called “Christian” nationalists are openly plotting an overthrow of our government and creating a theocracy which is NOT based on the New Testament.  These groups and what is now the GQP/Rethuglicans have embraced violence as an acceptable way to get their way.

The vines have spread to the police and ordinary citizens.  No matter how many times there has been outrage about police violence against a person of color they have in custody, it just goes on and on.  Civility is out the window.  I just read NBC’s article about covid bullies .  There’s always been bullies and trolls online and off who take perverse pleasure in hurting people.  They didn’t seem as prevalent before.

The tentacles have spread far and wide. 

On the up side, there are enough of the Hawkins residents (us) to keep fighting off the Upside Down’s vines.  We just can’t give up because the Upside Down is a truly terrifying place in which to be trapped.

 

Stop Bannning Books & Teach CRT

 

Yesterday Heather Cox Richardson’s Letter From An American made an impact on me.  She wrote about how education has changed over time and is changing again.  I read the book 1619 so I was aware that enslaved people were legally forbidden to read and write.  Why? Because Nat Turner, an educated black man, led a rebellion that failed but scared the bejesus out of whites in the south.  Over time, freed slaves and their children could go to segregated schools.

Segregated schools stayed in place until 1954, the year I was born.  The Supreme Court decided that segregated schools were unconstitutional, violating the rights of black children and their parents.

When I went to school, I learned about early cultures: Egyptian, Greek and Roman.  As I got older, we learned early European history: the Plague, Renaissance, Reformation.  By high school, we were learning about U.S. History, up to just after the Revolution.  We didn’t learn a single thing about the cultures of history of people living in the US.

Sometimes there would be an event so cataclysmic, we had to discuss it: assassinations of Rev Dr Martin Luther King and Senator Robert Kennedy are a prime example.  We’d talk about the war in Viet Nam, Kent State, and protests across the country.  We’d even dissect songs: did Mother Mary in Let It Be refer to the Madonna or to marijuana?  Was Puff the Magic Dragon a drug song?  What was American Pie really about?

When I was a sophomore, the entire 10^th grade class was housed in what used to be another school.  The reason was the high school had become overcrowded and there was no room for us.  Our English teacher wanted to start a school newspaper for the Annex and I was one of several who wanted to write articles.  The teacher said we could name our paper and we chose Western annexes Rapper. 

We were stunned at the next meeting when the teacher regretfully announced the administrators rejected that name because the initials spelled WAR.  That hadn’t been our intent and we were outraged.  We were forced to change the name to Western annex Wrapper Paper (WRAP).  We were disgusted and disillusioned.

Having gone down Memory Lane, now I come to the present.  About a third of the country is taking education back to the Stone Age, and students face more restrictions than I ever did.  I was able to read any book I wanted for a book report, and I read a wide variety of them.  Some of the books we were required to read in English are now banned in many of these states. 

In Florida, for example, the list of excellent books that have been banned is truly unbelievable.  Apparently, students are not allowed to learn anything that is not WASPy (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) and straight.  God forbid they should hear or read anything to do with systemic racism in this country, about slavery, about indigenous people being cheated of their land, about internment of Japanese-American people during WWII, antisemitism, different sexual identities.  Teachers have to provide a list of every single book they have in their rooms before they’re allowed to access books for the entire class to read.

 

Although one excuse is that children shouldn’t feel “uncomfortable”, the real point is that these states seem to want to be white only, no one else welcome.  I feel sorry for the kids in those states.  They’re going to have a skewed view of the world before they graduate high school.

I can’t imagine being a teacher in one of those states.  I wouldn’t put up with it.  That would be a deal breaker and I would move to a more rational state—especially if I had school age children.  I have been reading about teachers resigning because of these new restrictions.  In FL, the governor is making crazy exceptions to teacher education because there's such a shortage of qualified teachers.  He's allowing people in the classroom who don't have degrees yet. 

I read about what the state legislatures in these red states are passing and what their governors are promoting and I think: are we in the Upside Down?  This looks like my country but it sure as hell is not.  There is a scary evil pervading those states.  They remind me of Vecna’s tentacles and it’s really important we VOTE to stop the spread.