Primary Election

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Tuesday is the Minnesota Primary Election.  Lots of interesting information, including candidates, here.

You will note that the DFL (Democrat) ballot includes 15 names; the Republican only one, even though at the time of filing there were at least two other national Republican who expressed an interest in challenging the incumbent.

Today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune, on the front page, announced that the local Catholic Archbishop had sent a letter to diocesan Priests which basically (my opinion) prohibits Priests from voting in the primary as they will have to declare whether they are Republican or Democrat.  I am lifelong Catholic, and I’ll be at Mass on Sunday, as usual, so I know the drill.  The topic won’t come up, I’d guess.  We have one Priest who I respect a lot.  I don’t know where he lives or how he votes.  So be it.

(We tend to know where the current Catholic hierarchy in the United States stands, and while there won’t be partisan signs on their residence or office lawns, we basically know how they collectively lean, and its not in the “D” direction.)

We used to know that, too, during the good old days when Priests and Nuns, while not encouraged to participate were not prohibited from doing so, either, in things like anti-war demonstrations and declarations, or civil rights marches and on and on.  But that was in days of old.

I’ll vote on Tuesday.  This is the first time in a long while that there has been a presidential primary in Minnesota.  I suppose the legislature decided they wanted to be included in Super Tuesday for some reason or other.  (Before, we would do a presidential preference poll at the caucuses.  It wasn’t sexy, but it worked as well as having a special election.)

But, what am I to say?

See you at the polls, I hope.

*

Some additional words on Tuesdays Precinct caucuses.    I wrote very briefly on the caucuses on Wednesday: “Last night was precinct caucus night in Minnesota.  I attended as I always do”, giving the floor, then to my first wife, Barbara’s, excellent high school essay in 1960 on “I Speak for Democracy”.

Personally, I was very favorably impressed with the Tuesday caucus. I always attend these community meetings, and what most impressed me with this meeting, and I told the others such, was that new people were  facilitating and participating this year, including high school students.  Our conveyor said she was originally from India; in other ways we accurately reflected how I perceive our Precinct in our suburb.  There were only 17 of us in the room, which was somewhat lower than last time, but this was the first time that there was no presidential preference poll (see primary election above).

Precinct caucuses are not academy award gatherings: they are town meetings, albeit set up separately for Republicans and Democrats and others.  (The Republican caucus was at another high school in our town, and there were other caucuses held in other areas for what I consider minor parties, like Legalization of Pot, or such.).  Nobody is required to come; and there is no mandated outcome, at least at ours.  We’re at a time of transition in our country, and it is time for the young and under-represented to take over (and, likely, to make their own mistakes, as we did and have).

Of course, there was some grousing – I read a negative letter in the Wednesday Star Tribune from someone who  felt negatively about what I viewed as positive.

The same day, my friend Norm, who is a Democrat like me, and who occasionally “crosses swords” with me (or me with him), wrote his own opinion, which I share below, and with which I generally agree, though if I didn’t agree, that wouldn’t make any differences.  We need more conversations about who and how we elect the people who represent us.

Thanks Norm.

from Norm Hanson:  I [attended] as well, Dick, although I also feel that precinct caucuses may well soon go the way of the dinosaur without the need for the crash of a meteor to speed their demise.

The non-presidential election year caucus in 2022 may well be better attended if there are some state office races in serious contention.
If not, there will no doubt be fewer folks in attendance than there were last night.
Fewer and fewer states are retaining their caucus systems so maybe they have lost their usefulness in the eyes of many and ae becoming a thing of the past.
Clearly, Minnesota’s participation in the Super Tuesday voting next week has taken most of any remaining luster from the precinct caucuses.
To be fair, precinct caucus attendance had dropped off considerably for many years until presidential straw voting opportunities were offered and later given some weight in the national delegate determination process.
I mean, how long has it been since any precinct caucus attendee had to walk to Iowa in support of a cause or candidate?
For that matter, how long has it been since most precincts elected their full allotment of delegates to their senate district or county unit conventions? 
I do know that some have had contests for the delegate slots that have often been resolved without having to walk to Iowa, “I will agree to be an alternate.” or something like that.
On the other hand, I did enjoy my time at the my precinct caucus last night in spite of the small attendance  especially when thinking about the crowded caucus nights of many past years.
I saw and visited with a few old friends, met some new folks, heard some resolutions presented and defended including a couple of Kooky ones at least from my perhaps limited view of the world but not from the viewpoint of the presenters, of course.
We were only able to fill about half of the allotted 42 senate district convention slots for our precinct as not all of the 26 or so folks present wanted that status.
I am concerned that lack of interest let alone attendance occurred at several precincts in our senate district at least that will result in a poorly attended and fairly meaningless senate district convention.

 

 

 

“I Speak for Democracy”

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Today is son Tom’s 56th birthday.  His Mom, my wife, Barbara, died in 1965 at 22, when he was one.

Last night was precinct caucus night in Minnesota.  I attended as I always do.  I’ll write more about this later in conjunction with an unusual Primary election which was set up by MN law in 2016 for 2020.  Do participate in that election.

Recently I’ve been visiting with Barbara’s high school classmate and friend, Larry Gauper (both VCHS 1961).  In the course of an e-conversation, on February 23, Larry recalled when he and Barbara competed in the “I Speak for Democracy” annual competition.  His writing follows, and after that is the actual paper that Barbara wrote on the topic in 196o-61 at Valley City High School (which I have sent to Larry).  The words are their own; the interpretation is left to the reader.  They took their work seriously.  (Here’s an on-line article featuring a winning submission in the 1961 era,)

Larry Gauper, Feb 23, 2020, with his permission:

“One of the last times I interacted with Barbara was when we both competed for the VCHS competition in the Voice of Democracy essay/oration contest. Tina Steinborn, our English teacher, asked all of us to do an essay based on the criteria for the contest. We didn’t have to go any further and nearly all of her students stopped there. But Barbara and [I] truly went the extra mile.  We were then asked to report on a Saturday morning to record our essays on the school’s reel-to-reel tape deck. This is how the district and state events wanted submissions, via a tape recording. After Barbara and I finished recording our individual essays, the judges listened to them. Barbara and I waited for their verdict, as we sat in the hall outside the judges room. We were then invited in and I was named the winner. Her essay may indeed have been better than mine, but I was used to recording into a microphone.  Since [my] sophomore [year] I worked on the air at KOVC [radio Valley City] and we were now starting our senior year. Plus, in those days, a male voice on tape earned a few, albeit undeserved points. This was a cruel way to do this contest, exacerbated by the fact only two of us were competing. I remember Barb’s disappointment, expressed in tears. I had a hollow feeling about winning, certainly not celebratory. I overcame this when I went on to win the district and state competition and left Hector Airport [Fargo] for my first plane ride – to Washington, DC. How Barbara would have enjoyed that achievement in what was to be her very short life.”

Here is Barbara’s two-page typewritten Essay, transcribed exactly as written

I SPEAK FOR DEMOCRACY Barbara Sunde, English 12, 1960-61 Valley City (ND) High School

I stand upon the hill of darkness, and as I walk down the hill, I come upon a city with brilliant lights.  The city’s name is Democracy.  Democracy contains four sources of power which array the city with dazzling light.

The first power is named Freedom.  From this power come the lights from the very heart of the city.  The lights come from the people.  And when I say “people” I mean a definite type of people.  I mean people who possess hearts and souls.  People who want to think their own thoughts, worship in their church, their own Divine power.  For if these freedoms are taken from people, their lights shall fade away, and the heart of democracy shall be extinguished.

The second power is that of Independence.  As I witnessed the lights it produced, I saw that it especially applied to me.  It brought to mind a quotation by [Thomas] Moore.  “Better to dwell in freedom’s hall, with a cold, damp floor and mouldering wall, Than bow thy head and bend thy knee in the proudest palace of slavery.”

Perhaps born in poverty…but I am the richest person on this earth, because I have my freedom and independence of thought.  An independence which enables me to make the most effective use of my personal abilities.  Independence is a source of choice.  And even my poverty leaves choice.  I can use my God given talents and initiative to gain the wealth of the world, or I may remain in this poverty by my own choice.

Truth, too, is a power within the city.  And without truth I would not have my beliefs.  I would not be able to formulate opinions on the world in general.  Nor would I be able to give reasoning to others for the way I believe.  People who know the truth can set the thoughts of others, they can influence the world in general.  They can live their lives according to truth and all that is right and, according to how they feel within their heart and soul.  Indeed, the light of Truth shines brightly within the city.

The lights surrounding the city are produced by the power of justice.  For the justice is justice by the people.  What could be more fair than the judgement you yourself would give?  All fairness reigns and give a peace to the city.  It is in this peace of mind that I live in the city.

Yes, I live in the city of Democracy.  As I freely, think, so do I freely speak.  As I privately worship, so do I openly worship.  And these things do I do with a knowledge of truth, with a feeling of independence of thought, and with Freedom imbedded in my very soul.

The city was built long ago, and one may know that it took much turmoil and struggle.  I was not a part of this, but through a grace of God, I find myself living within the city.  My pride and joy are infinite for the individuals who struggled that there might be such a city.  That there might be for others, freedom, truth, justice, and independence.  That there might be for others, a democracy.

Perhaps my city seems a bit symbolic and not really an application to real life, but there is nothing more real to me than the democracy I live in.  For my democracy is a city.  Democracy does contain four powers. But these powers can turn people to dazzling lights, and make them into individuals and not just a general class called people.  I am an individual.  In freedom is my life.  In independence is my hope for the future.  In truth lies my right and my reason to believe as I do.  In justice lies my peace with my countrymen and my peace with God.

In Democracy lies my life, and this democracy allows me to say with all my heart, “I thank you Lord.”

Caucus

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Tomorrow (Tuesday Feb 25) is caucus night in Minnesota.  I will be there, as I have been to many caucuses over the years.  Next week will be Minnesota Primary Election.  I’ll participate in that, too.  That is a much more recent addition to the political menu in Minnesota.  We shall see how it works.  (Complete information for Minnesota can be viewed here, at the Minnesota Secretary of State website.)

Every state has its own system of selecting candidates for state and national office.  (QUICK QUIZ:  jot on a piece of paper the names of all of the elected representatives you know, from the most obscure city and county positions, to the President of the U.S.  Do this strictly from memory.  Do you know where their office is, and how to contact them?  Grade yourself.)

I’ve been to a lot of caucuses.  (They seem a lot like a “town meeting” in the northeast.). In a sense, caucuses  are basically community meetings of people with a similar-political party persuasion.  Mine happens to be Democrat, but there are Republican and other caucuses as well (check the Secretary of State link above).

In Minnesota we are organized by Precinct.  I never remember mine, (it is P-5 in Woodbury).  The State DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor) website is helpful in finding the Caucus location.   In my case, the local Senate District 53 organization has set up a process to register on-line, which I have done.

Caucuses and the resulting Conventions and Candidates are imperfect which, in my opinion, renders them authentic representatives of the reality of our society.

The Minnesota Caucus, in my opinion, is the essential meeting if one wishes to make a difference.  It is participative, open to citizens who live in the district, and are in turn subdivided into gatherings by Precinct, in which the business of the caucus is conducted.

No, they aren’t necessarily interesting.  No, they aren’t always well organized, and messy.  Yes, they can be boring, and frustrating.  The rapid proliferation of ever-more advanced technology can be as much a curse as a blessing.

On the other hand, out of these caucuses come the rank and file delegates to later conventions which ultimately have the responsibility of endorsing candidates for state and national office, and the assorted Resolutions which set the philosophical direction of the political party.  All of this starts with the Caucus, and the first question which might be asked of someone complaining about “politics” or “government” in a democracy, is “how did you participate?” which does not mean voting.  In our system virtually 100% of the time the successful candidates for all offices, have been endorsed by a party structure that began with caucuses.

Of course, I recommend that you attend and participate in your caucus.  You’ll meet some nice people.  Likely you’ll meet candidates for local offices who you may not otherwise would meet, or get the first round of literature for this election season.

See you at the caucus.

As time goes on I will write frequently about politics at this blog.  Check back once in awhile.  Easiest to go to the home page, which will tell how to access all posts for a given month.

POSTNOTE, from Joyce: An excellent political analysis piece on Convention.

 

Politics

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February 19, I was watching Family Feud, a favorite escape.

For those unacquainted, family feud teams compete to guess how 100 persons answer questions on topics familiar to most everyone of us.  One of the questions host Steve Harvey asked this night: “What is one species you wouldn’t mind to see extinct?”  One of the popular answers, though not the top was “Human/Politicians“, ranked among other favorites, like “mosquitoes”.  People we love to hate…

As luck would have it, shortly after this show was the Democratic debate in Las Vegas.  I lasted only 15 minutes into the debate.  This night seemed to be ‘diss your opponents’ night.  Life is too short.

The incessant ‘debates’ in our contemporary political world seem not on substance.  They’re an exercise to accumulate viewer points at somebody else’s (a competitors) expense, featuring  Gladiators – politicians – whose weapons are words.

Personally, the debates reflect more on the audience – ourselves – than on the combatants.  Just another marketing opportunity for many, not just the politicians.

“WE, THE PEOPLE”, ARE POLITICS, nobody else.  If we don’t like what we see in the candidates, we don’t like ourselves.  Every candidate needs to get voted in, and they need to attract our votes.  In effect, we get – and we got – and will get – exactly what we deserve to represent us.

Personally, I have paid little attention to the debates, and so far I’ve made no contributions to individual candidates.   I’ve been clear that when the dust settles, and the Democrats have decided who to endorse, I will support their endorsed candidates at all levels.

There is now huge difference between the two major U.S. political parties.  The distinction between the parties is far greater than it has been in my lifetime, in my opinion.

We are a nation of 330 million people.  There is no one who can satisfy all our demands, or even most of them.  Personally, I am looking at someone moderate in demeanor and outlook – it matches the reality of my own career, where my daily job involved, imperfection, including my own.  I represented people in a union of diverse members.  Nothing was ever as it was portrayed at the beginning.  All were good people on all sides.  All were flawed including, as I mention, myself.  Nothing was, to use a lawyer’s favorite word: “clear”.

Politicians are no better or worse than any of us, individually and collectively.  They do have an impossible job, and it surprises me that people even choose to run for office.

Since early on, a favorite for me has been Amy Klobuchar, my local U.S. Senator for the past 14 years who has demonstrated, by the strength of her electoral victories that she represents well diverse constituencies.

Does this mean that she is who I will vote for?  No.  I’ve made my declaration above.

At minimum, I think our individual responsibility, at minimum, is to at the very least know who our many representatives are, from local to national, and then to vote well informed.

Nov. 11, 2020, we’ll know what we did to, or for, ourselves and our future.

Earlier post on this topic, here.

53-47

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Related post:  Jesus, here.

Today we stayed after Mass for a talk by a founder of a national group called “Better Angels“, which bills itself as “a working alliance to depolarize America”.  There were about 75 of us in attendance, and it was a very stimulating hour with Bill Doherty.   We’ll join.  I encourage you to check out this organization.

A couple of hours later, ready to take on the tread mill at the fitness center, I saw the presidential motorcade do a lap at the start of Daytona 500.  It was a fast trip from “depolarize” to “win-lose”.   I much prefer “depolarize”.

EVERYONE loses in “win-lose”, as even the ‘big guy’ in the lead car at Daytona will discover, sooner or later.

I have a great deal to say, here, but it will probably come over the next few days.  Check back once in awhile.

For certain, if you’re in Minnesota, participate in your precinct caucus on February 25, and the Presidential Primary on March 3.  Details can be accessed here.

Do check back in a day or two or three….

NOTE about “53-47”, the headline.  This was the vote on virtually all of the motions proposed at the U.S. Senate Impeachment hearing of the President some weeks ago.  At minimum, it symbolizes that the U.S. is basically, now, two countries, at war within ourselves.  Our Civil War was over the notion of two countries in what is now the United States.  Division doesn’t work very well….

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Presidents Day, Feb. 17, 2020:

Last night we watched part one of the three part mini-series on George Washington (History Channel).  Parts two and three are tonight and tomorrow night.  Judging from part one, the series is worth your time.  Tonight will begin at the time of the Revolutionary War.  Here is an interesting commentary on Washington’s presidency in today’s Washington Post.  Succinctly, conflict has always been part of politics.  But the public, now more than ever, needs to be diligent about the veracity of instant communications.

Right before, Sixty Minutes had a segment on the allegations of the current President about Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election – “CrowdStrike”, “the Server” and such.  “Nyet” is the analysis; a ‘gift’ from the Soviets.  You can watch the segment on line.

We are in the bombardment season of politics, and I recommend paying close attention and full participation .

A colleague at the Retreat I attended a week ago was making a complaint about politicians at lunch.  I responded “we – all of us – are “politics“.  That was all that was said on the topic at that table.

All of the defects of “politicians”, whatever office, whatever party, reside at our doorstep – and to our credit, or our blame.  We elect them, or not, by our vote, or by not voting at all, or voting uninformed.

Thus far we have managed to keep a semblance of democracy in the U,S, for over 230 years, and if it survives, or not, is totally in our court.  Mostly I’m optimistic, but not always.  When political discourse is by twitter, or ‘forwards’, or non-engagement on even the most basic ideas, our country is in trouble.  We have a right to be ignorant, at our peril.

A week or two ago came the first ‘forwards’ of the season, both from friends, who got them from some unidentified other friend – stories passed computer to computer.

The first ‘forward’ was the basic assertion of facts, that weren’t facts in any reasonable context.

For just one example, the first ‘forward’ pointed out for some reason (among other things) how youthful five key actors in the forming of America were.  Indeed, Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay and Thomas Jefferson were young in 1776 (born between 1743 and 1756).  But they weren’t the only founders of America, and the United States didn’t officially come into being until the ratification of the Constitution in 1789, thirteen years later.

If you look at our current leaders at all levels, they are relatively youthful as well.  Politics is not an old peoples game.  At the same time, the U.S. is immensely more complex than it was at the time of the Declaration of Independence.

(George Washington was born is 1832.  Ask Google, “what were the ages of the founding fathers” and it answers back:  “As it turns out, many Founding Fathers were younger than 40 years old in 1776, with several qualifying as Founding Teenagers or Twentysomethings. And though the average age of the signers of the Declaration of Independence was 44, more than a dozen of them were 35 or younger.“)

The second ‘forward’, purports to trash Bernie Sanders with an assortment of alleged facts, without any sources to check.  And so it goes.

As a matter of course, I don’t refuse ‘forwards’ – they are a source of perspective, rarely guilty of having been fact-checked.  Their purpose is usually to incite, rather than inform.  They will bloom like noxious weeds in the coming months.

Our friend, Annelee, who grew up in Nazi Germany (born 1926) offers a pertinent comment on today in America:  “Would it shake up some people and make them ask “Do we want Trump back?? or are we at the point Germany was at in 1933?  for the German people [in 1933] , media was very limited.  Most people didn’t buy newspapers nor did they own radios. I think there were five private business phones in [my home town of about 5,000 people] while I grew up.  The general public had finished high school or trade school.  Few ever went to college.”  

Annelee Woodstrom, has given many speeches on her book, War Child: Growing up in Adolf Hitler’s Germany,  and her facts have stood the test of many audiences.  She lived the life.  Her book has recently been translated into German.

Other recent posts on this topic at December 14, 2019, and January 21, 2020.

POSSIBLE ADDITIONS LATER.  Comments welcome.

POSTNOTE FEB. 18, 2020:  Today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune “Opinion Exchange” page has three excellent Op Eds on the general topic of “socialism”.  They are by Eric Dregni and Steven Backus and the third by David Brooks of the NYTimes.

 

Jesus

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Sunday morning Feb. 9, 2020, at Franciscan Retreats Center, Prior Lake Minnesota

Last weekend I spent at a Men’s Retreat at the Franciscan Retreat Center in Prior Lake.  I’m now a regular there, since 2014, I think.  From Friday night to Sunday afternoon there’s time to reflect.  It is good.

This year, the day before the Retreat, was the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C.  ….

During our Retreat, Brother Bob told us he would be placing some small stones on a table in front of the altar.  He didn’t say what was on each stone.  Before I left, I took a look.  Here are the words I found on the eight stones.

Goodness

Patience

Gentleness

Self Control

Kindness

Love

Joy

Truthfulness

Now you’ve seen them.  What do they mean in your life, today and going forward?

Because I was otherwise engaged last weekend, I really didn’t know much about the prayer breakfast, which made its own news.  The keynote speaker at the breakfast wrote a column which appeared in The Washington Post.  Here it is, worth your time.

Early Sunday came snow – a lot of it.  But it was beautiful, light, flaky stuff, accompanied by no wind, moderate temperatures for this time of year, and bright sunshine.

It had been a great weekend.

Feb. 9, 2020 Franciscan Retreat Center, Prior Lake MN

POSTNOTE Feb. 5:  Arthur C. Brooks (referenced above) published a followup comment in today’s Washington Post.  You can read it here. 

At the Retreat I got a good start on the Wayne Dyer book on Intention, which was recommended to me.  It is excellent.  Check it out.

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day.  I hope you and yours had an especially good one.  We shared the day with our 90 year old friend, Don, who lives across the street; then later went to a wonderful Kevin Kling program, “Love Show, Skyway to Heaven”,  at the O’Shaughnessy Auditorium at St. Catherines University.

Traditionally I call on my cache of old postcards found at the Busch farm where my mother grew up.  There are 163 in all, mostly received from abut 1905-1915.  This one is not a Valentine theme (there are many of those), which I think it appropriate this year, for many reasons.

early 1900s postcard to the Busch farm, Berlin ND

 

Going to Retreat

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Shortly I leave for what has become an annual event: the Men’s Retreat at Franciscan Retreat Center in Prior Lake MN.  I asked a staffer how many years I’ve attended.  He checked, every year since 2014, except 2015, which I missed.

I missed 2015 because earlier in the week my Uncle Vince died in North Dakota at 90.  I was Vince’s ‘go to’.  The prior weekend I’d been there, and we all knew the end was near.  So is life.

Now it’s five years after Vince’s death.  Knowing him as I did, I wonder how he’d be in the wake of the events in the last week or so.  He was conservative, no doubt,  but I knew him well, a long, long time, and his notion of conservatism would be severely challenged.

The three day retreat is truly a godsend.  There is plenty of quiet time; no television; discouragement from having mobile devices of any kind.  You can read, walk (depending on conditions), pray.  Mostly we are by ourselves, on purpose.

I think Vincent would like that solitude.

This weekend has another nostalgic piece for me.  Last year I was two months out from heart surgery, and my first weekend out was the retreat.  My friend, Clarence, who had recruited me several years earlier gave me a ride – it was too soon for me to drive myself.

We had a particularly rich ride, out and back, time to reminisce about this and that.  About a month after the Retreat, Clarence was diagnosed with inoperable cancer, and some time later told a few of us the diagnosis.  Clarence was ‘no drama’ – he continued life as usual, with gradually increasing limits.  He ushered till he no longer could come to church.  When he died in the early fall, at 88, he had a truly grace-filled exit; and a deserved celebration of his life at his funeral.

So, Vince and Clarence are my heroes, particularly for this Retreat weekend.

I’ll taking along the book, “The Power of Intention” by Dr. Wayne Dyer.  It was a gift from Annelee, our 93 year old friend.  Look it up.  She said, for certain look for the 2010 edition, if you can get it.  The content is the same, but the art is phenomenal.

Back after the weekend.

Have a good one.

 

Auschwitz, et al

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Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day.  Today Minneapolis Star Tribune has an excellent opinion piece on the topic.  You can read it here.

In the Spring of 2000, we were privileged to be with a group of Christians and Jews who visited a number of Holocaust sites, together.  It was an extremely powerful two weeks, including Tabor, Terezin, Czech Republic; Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland;  and the concentration camp  of Schindler’s List, Plaszow in suburban Krakow.

The day we visited the Birkenau death camp happened to be my 60th birthday.  We received permission to walk the one and one-half miles between Auschwitz and Birkenau, (Auschwitz-Birkenau001 called Auschwitz II click to enlarge; note rail spur identified in the photo at lower left).  The intensity of that walk along the railroad tracks of death is impossible to describe, concluding with a very somber memorial service between the remains of the ovens, which were at the end of the rail spur within the camp).

May 4, 2000, approaching entrance to Birkenau.

Memorial observance between two of the four crematoria at Birkenau May 4, 2000.

 

Birkenau May 4, 2000

Birkenau May 4, 2000

It would not be appropriate to stop simply with the horrendous atrocity against the Jews.

Over history are endless atrocities against “others” not deemed desirable.

The Armenian genocide comes to mind; the virtual elimination of Native Americans; Rwanda, and on and on and on.  The institution of Slavery.  Labeling of Muslims.

We always seem to seek identification of some “other” to diminish or even eliminate, less worthy than ourselves.

*

Yesterday, just on a whim, we went to Oscar nominated film, Jojo Rabbit, whose preview and title was intriguing, and were my only background for it.

Take the risk to see the film, and allow your self to think beyond the comedy.  It is a movie with a message for us all, on this Holocaust Remembrance Day.

POSTNOTE:

We have a dear friend who grew up in Hitler’s Germany – she was born in 1926, and has lived most of her life in the U.S., marrying a GI in 1947 who she met when his unit liberated her town.  Her book, War Child, is her remembrance.  Her parents refused to belong to the Nazis.  Her Dad was drafted as a road engineer and died somewhere, probably in Russia, sometime after Christmas 1944.  They don’t know where he died….

She demonstrates the complexity of this issue today, 75 years later.  Her town in WWII was about 20 miles from Flossenberg, but it wasn’t until the very end of the war when prisoners were marched by their house that she knew there was one of the horrible camps nearby.  This was before free and open and mass communication, such as we are now accustomed to.

 

The Senate “Trial”

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SEE JANUARY 31, 2020, ADDITION BELOW.

Prior post on this topic, here.

This is written as a rough draft, and will be published as such.

Quite often at this space I have written about events I considered important before they actually occurred – trying to put my own “spin” in the mix before, rather than during or after their occurrence.

Such is an upcoming event which begins procedurally this afternoon: the trial of Donald J. Trump in the U.S. Senate.  I know as much or as little as anyone about what will actually happen.  If I was able to be the fly on the wall anywhere, it would be at a civil gathering of uninvolved lawyers, expressing their opinions with each other about this crisis….

I struggle with how to describe this national conflict in which we find ourselves, and the best I can come up with is comparison with a family unit – any family unit.  (The one I’m thinking of is our own, which these days comprises 15 adults.  There are infinite varieties of families in our society and in all society.)   These days it is usual to characterize our country as polarized into two conflicting sides.  Any family can be similarly polarized to one degree or another.  Say one ‘side’ gets control of the other; and say further that a new father enters the scene and sides with the dominant group.  What happens to the family unit?  I would submit it is very unhealthy, and tensions increase.  Dysfunction increases.  This is what we seem to be within in this country.  Add to this power, and all, and we have very serious problems as a society, short and long term.  The dominant one will not remain dominant.

*

Saturday, January 18, was the 20th anniversary of my retirement from a career representing public school teachers.  From this time of year in 1972, till January 18, 2000, my daily job was in the scrum of relationships relating to employees and employers.  My job happened to begin coincident with the first salute authorized collectively bargained teacher contracts in Minnesota school districts, including the first grievance procedures ending with binding arbitration.  Like most of my colleagues, and management administrators and school board members, we were in the ‘Wild West’ – learning new rules and roles as we went along.

I did this for 27 years, so in the passage of time learned a few things.

What is about to transpire in the U.S. Senate, at first glance, is puzzling to say the very least.  Possibly there will be pleasant surprises in a few hours or days, but at the moment it doesn’t seem so.

It is a spectacle quite possibly about to be played out by tweet and second-hand information about only a single side of the story – both sides.

It will be compared to but completely unlike, at least it now appears, the Johnson, Nixon and Clinton impeachments of previous years.

My personal bottom-line, at this point, late morning Tue. Jan. 21, 2020, is that every effort will be made to suppress illumination of the issues to the public at large; and that the public who supports Trump won’t care.  Even from my small perch in labor relations, over many years, things like evidence and testimony were important before judgement was rendered by a neutral outsider, an arbitrator.

In the current case, there appear to be no neutrals (the Senators one side or the other) and from the partisan side the dominant party supports the man accused for no good reason whatsoever.  Mostly, they made a terrible decision to embrace Trump in his run for President; they are threatened with things like being subjected to primary contests, if they act independently.  On and on.

I decided to keep the newspapers from the Impeachment Trial period. This is only the second time I’ve done this. The first was during the period of the 2000 Presidential election. I still have those papers.

POSTNOTE: January 31, 2020, before the debate in the Senate:

Not a word has been spoken in the Senate today.  My prediction, after watching large swatches of the assorted presentations, including the “q&a”: the President will not be impeached; people can watch the Super Bowl unimpeded; there will be a triumphal State of the Union….

There is not a whole lot that needs to be said, especially to ‘mixed company’.  Just some brief observations:

Much ado was made of the fact that 63,000,000 voted for Trump in 2016; I recall no mention at all of 66,000,000, including myself, who voted for Hillary Clinton.  And about 40% of Americans voted for neither, which is shameful, however, most Americans did not vote for Trump.

Secondly, I got to thinking the other day about the spectacle of it all, basically, a lawyer dominated institution (especially the Senate), to a nation where lawyers are, while not a novelty, a distinct minority.  Here’s a good article about lawyers and Congress;  statistics about lawyers in the United States.   Succinctly, 49% of Senators apparently are “lawyers”; about one-half of one percent of adult Americans are lawyers.  In my own family of origin, I know of no one who is a practicing lawyer….

Of course, it makes sense that lawmakers have a strong sense of the law, and being a lawyer is a useful skill in being in Congress, generally.

But this statistic amplifies the absurdity of a so-called “public trial” by television to a public who has at best a television program view of the law.  I don’t need to give examples.

At one point, when I was watching the argument, I thought back to two of the first legal hearings in my career representing school teachers.

The first was very early in my career as a teacher union staff person attempting to administrate a grievance procedure which ended in binding arbitration.  This would have been in 1972.  I hardly knew what arbitration was, much less how to do it.  My client was a teacher, newly minted law school graduate, who was testing his new knowledge of the law with a grievance.  He knew much more about the law than I.  Long story short: we lost.  It was my first experience with things like evidence and witnesses, as well as the fact that advocates have different points of view.  The arbitrator, George Jacobs, knowing what faced him, was very gentle with us, helping us navigate those completely uncharted waters.  I’m ever grateful.

The second recollection was even more memorable:  One of my members was being fired for alleged abuse of unruly fourth grade boys.  The school districts counsel, a prominent lawyer in Minnesota, was summing up with a flourish for his clients, the local school board.  The teacher, he thundered, threw a student three feet across the room.  I’ll never forget it. We all can imagine what three feet is;  the oration suggesting putting an innocent fourth grade boy almost into orbit.

Arguments by respective counsels over, the school board voted 6-o to reinstate the teacher, who had been suspended for the entire year.

The teacher never returned to teaching, anywhere.  That was my first acquaintance with the practice of law.

Of course, I don’t know what will happen today.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be correct.

We Americans will live with the consequences of todays political decision.

Personally, I am grateful that the House voted impeachment and that this “trial” was held.  Everything is now part of the permanent record of this country, and at some point, if we manage to survive as a country of law, future students will be able to read the actual record.

Final comment, Friday evening: The Senate adjourned for the weekend; the decision is essentially sealed.  I watched the proceedings.  This is a sad day, with more to come.

 

A Nation of “Manchurian Candidates”?

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PRENOTE:  Nov. 28, I learned of a malicious hack of my computer.  This seems to have been much more than an amateur gambit.  Hopefully I can learn from this experience, and I want to pass along my own personal opinions, from my own experience.

Much of the following was written on January 20.  This PRENOTE is new, as is the POSTNOTE at the end.  The earlier contents are revised, but retain the original meaning.

The issue very personally impacted on me, and I think is very serious for any ordinary individual who uses a personal computer.  Since my e-addresses were stolen, you may have been affected.  My instinct is to apologize.  At the same time, I had no way of knowing of this theft.

I hope you read and consider this as it applies to you in your own daily life with a computer.  (Other than personal humiliation, I don’t think I had other losses.)

*

It has been a difficult time since the night of Nov. 28, 2019, when I got an e-letter in junk mail from a Ukraine IP address.  The sender self-identified as a hacker, describing material in possession generated by theft by other hackers of my property.   The writer made a threat if $500 was not deposited in a bitcoin account.  I mentioned this in a late November post, here.

I did not, nor will I ever,  take the bait – no concessions of any kind – and while my frame of mind has varied from day to day in the last eight weeks, there is no doubt that an unknown someone(s) somewhere in the world, somehow identified me as a target to be exploited and damaged.  This has surprised me, as I am only one of tens of millions of ordinary individuals who use computers in daily life.

The fact is: my computer was captured (my term) and my privacy was very seriously invaded within my own home (I do not own or use mobile devices).

Looking back, I can trace the evolution of this invasion of privacy going back probably several years, though it would be pointless to try to make such a case.  (See also the comments at the end of this post.)

*

I thought myself to be more than reasonably diligent about security,  Now I’m sure I wasn’t.

At this point, think the main advice I have for individual computer users is this:  1) assume no privacy.  2) Turn off your device when not using it.  “Sleep” doesn’t mean sleep in our context.   3) When you send something, authenticate yourself; before you open something be reasonably sure that it is safe.  Nothing you do can absolutely guarantee safety. Do what you can to diminish the risk.

Ironically, a column in Jan. 29, 2020, Minneapolis Star Tribune Business section (photo below) highlights the problem.  You can read it here.  It is worth printing out and sharing.  Share this blog with others.

page D8 Minneapolis Star Tribune January 29, 2020

Following is my attempt to tell my story only to encourage your own reflections.  While this is a long post, it will be only a tiny summary of my life in this internet age in which we live.

*

(Jan. 20, 2020): Life for the last eight weeks was emotionally topsy-turvy since I got the note on Thanksgiving night from a polite “hacker”, written in very good American English.  Right before Christmas, 2019, I essentially started over, deleting everything on my computer, getting a new e-address, and reloading (hopefully) only un-corrupted content.  My entire e-mail history was permanently erased. (I haven’t missed it!).

Back home with computer, I discovered this blog was blocked to me.  How could this be?  This is my blog.  It was the first time in 10 years of this blog that I had lost access it.  (It was, and remains, https.)

More work with more technicians.  January 20 I recovered access to the blog – at least to the extent that I could once again post at this space.  (The blog was never really lost, but was inaccessible to me, its proprietor.)

I’m grateful to the techs who did the work to recover both computer and blog.

*

My recent life experience (and contemporary national political issues) has caused me to  think a lot about the old book, then movie, The Manchurian Candidate.  It’s still available, and worth a look.

My opinion: we all have been captured by the ‘telescreen’ envisioned by George Orwell in his 1949 book, “1984“.  We are “brain-washed” constantly, and willingly.

The day I wrote this part of this blog, Jan. 20, 2020, the Minneapolis Star Tribune front page headline “above the fold” read: “Russian trolls tied to unrest in S. America”.   This is no longer a rare contemporary comment about our new world.  An e-mail from a long-time friend ‘across the pond’ the same day said this:  “It’s a jungle out there”, referring to the internet.

Jan. 4: The missing ‘tele screen” (from Goerge Owelll’s 1984)

The Manchurian Candidate?

I will never know who, when or how hackers became interested in or accessed me.  I have no idea where they were when violating my rights.  Fixing such is literally impossible.  Their base of operation was likely my own computer.

I knew that someone, somewhere had been interfering with my computer for several years – I suspected things were amiss long ago, but could not get anyone to pay serious attention.  Security scans came up with nothing, including through Apple itself.

A prime suspect seems to have been very sophisticated and undetectable malware (see above referenced column) which allowed someone to capture and control my computer without detection, even though I had  sophisticated anti-malware protection.

Since most all of us, including myself, have become dependent on the telescreen and those who manipulate media content, we have come to live in what I call “the Wild West”.  We have all become “Manchurian Candidates” in one way or another.  For us, the ‘shining object’ is the ease of technology.

*

Here’s a brief account of my personal history.  (This has been a most useful exercise for me; I’d recommend a similar exercise for yourself.)

I’m old.  “Keyboarding” came to me when I learned to type in high school in 1956.  I have long said that learning to type was one of my most valuable life skills.  I learned to type on a manual typewriter – I first touched an  electric in 1963.

I grew up before television, in a time when cameras meant film which had to be developed.  No instant photography; we couldn’t imagine taking hundreds of pictures a day, as is easily possible now, for anyone.

In college in the late 50s, computers were not on my screen.  I’d guess most of us couldn’t even imagine such things as individual computers, even in 1960.

The first “computer” I actually touched was in early 1983, an early Mac.  My Apple dealer has a 1984 version on display in his store.  Below is a photo of that machine, which looks just like the first one I touched:

1984 Apple Macintosh seen Dec. 2019

I recall that this machine was very intimidating to me, and I was a proficient typist.  It was owned by a teacher colleague.  I recall being worried about hitting the wrong key and deleting everything I’d entered….

About 1987 – I was in my late 40s – my employer began the transition to computers, which essentially were used for word processing and e-mails.  There was no talk of web sites.  We staff members all trained together on the mysterious devices in front of us, beginning with the on-off switch.  It seems amusing now, but at the time this technology was a mystery to most of us.

During that period of time, from 1985-2002, I edited a newsletter for members of a cultural organization, and it wasn’t until about 2000 that there was the first (and only) reference to e-mail address or website.  (The ‘cut-and-paste’ newsletter was published every two months, generally six pages.  Towards the end, the newsletter showed the benefits of word-processing, cleaner layout and the like, but it was not polished in today’s terms.)

In 2000, 20 years ago this month, I retired, and began the adventure of having to deal with my own computer.

Computer was and is important to me.  Communicating “outside the walls” of retirement was my personal connection to the world.  Thus my first website in 2002 included “Outside the Walls” in its name.

The first half of the years to today were with Microsoft products.  In late 2009, I made my first venture into Apple, which is what I still use, and will continue to use; strictly personal preference.  The switch was not due to any issue.  My good friend had Apple and knew an Apple Dealer he trusted.  “Why not…”?  An easy question to answer

As noted, in 2002 I established my first website.  Today I have four, all of them, like this, SSL (https).

I have never had a laptop or iPhone or similar.

100% of my work on computer is done at home.  I thought I was safe with a single device.

*

In the past 20 years,  there have been the kinds of problems experienced, I would guess, by all computer users: viruses, crashes and the like.

The general sequence seems to be: 1) a vulnerability is discovered in a computer, and exploited; 2) the vulnerability infects equipment such as mine; 3) the vulnerability is fixed…and the sequence is repeated, ever more complex and mysterious and thus subject to even worse abuse.

Hackers are not amateurs.  As we know from the news, they are often well-funded and often nationally sponsored, including, of course, the U.S.  They are specialists without borders.  They are one example of todays nuclear weapons, in my opinion (climate change, global pandemics are some others).  Imagine how it would be to see the internet shut down for just your own community.  It would be a disaster.  Likely it already can be done.

There are no borders.  My fraudster demanded money and wanted payment in bitcoins.  I refused.  I had no idea who this person was or where they were.

*

Over the last 20 years, when I have changed equipment I have transferred information from one computer to the next.  It is now possible that I also transferred hidden problems from one computer to the next – I don’t know that.

Because there is a constant search for vulnerabilities, and because the skills related to computer are shared by lots of technologically gifted people who work (or have worked) both within the industry and in criminal enterprises, etc., and some cross boundaries to the dark side, I doubt there will ever be a time when there is absolute security.  I do my best.  I did my best.  I aspire to do better.

We are in dangerous times.  “Manchurian Candidates” is not an abstract concern for the future of our society in 2020.  Each of us are both part of the problem, and the solution.

Live and learn, I hope.

 

POSTNOTE Jan. 30, 2020:

I sat down one day during these two months to jot out things that had happened over the last 20 years in my own computer life.  I had quite a long list of events.  I simply want to point out two examples.

Most recently, right before Christmas, and at the time that I decided to scrub everything from my computer and start over, I happened to be on-screen when a phantom arrow scrolled to the Malware icon, and turned off the Malware.  Such an arrow was not unknown to me: legitimate folks have asked permission to go on screen with me, to help resolve a problem.  The normal protocol is to help me find what needs to be clicked, and I do the work.

Hackers know the technology and don’t ask permission.

My most dramatic example, however, is one I have rarely said out loud, since it is so bizarre.  But now seems a good time to make it public.

I got my first Mac in the fall of 2009.  It arrived and I picked it up, out of the box.  I got the usual assistance, and took the machine home.

Some time later, I was just looking around in my new machine, and happened across the page for media files.

Then and now I rarely use media, other than the normally available items such as YouTube.

This particular day in 2009, there were two items on my computer, and one of them immediately attracted my attention.  It was a short talk by a person I know who had been elected to a Minnesota State Office three years earlier, in 2006.

I didn’t know the politician then, but he and I met right after the 2006 election, since he had agreed to speak to a group of which I was president, and his election had changed his plans so that he couldn’t attend our meeting in person.

He said he’d make a short video that we could use. The person who did the video had preceded me as president of the organization I now represented.  I knew her well.

On an agreed day we met at a community access station in a suburb, and the incumbent office holder  proceeded to make a short, five minute video for our use at our meeting.  It was so well done that there was no need to edit.

In some unknown way, that brief talk that was on my new computer in late 2009, was exactly as I had heard it when I watched him videotape it at the community access station in November, 2006.

It turned out that that at the meeting (which, of course, I had attended),  the video part didn’t work correctly, but the audio was perfect.  I was the custodian of the tape, which the newly elected leader had asked that I return to him, which I did.  To my knowledge there was no copy made by anyone else.

I have always wondered how it was that this 5 minute talk by a then-largely unknown Minnesota politician, which I had personally witnessed being made, and then heard being presented one single time, ended up inside a brand new Mac, where I listened to it once again.  I can’t answer that question, but I’ve always wondered.  The evidence is long gone….

POSTNOTE 2, FEB. 18, 2020:  After the original post (above), I sent the link to the politician, specifically to fact check my assertion which appears directly above, at the end of the original post. This was his comment on Feb. 1, 2020: “I now remember your mention of this very, very odd situation – still a mystery ! Great biog post – all of us have some form of this experience and you nailed it!  Thank you.”  He served two full terms – 8 years – in his elective position, and remains very active in civic affairs.