Lowell Erdahl

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Rev. Lowell Erdahl died Dec. 14 at age 90.  He was very well known in Minnesota.  Details were in the Dec. 19 Minneapolis Star Tribune, which can be read here: Lowell Erdahl obituary Dec 19 2021.

Lowell Erdahl, with his twin brother, Arlen, at a Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers event Nov. 15, 2009.

My particular connection to Rev. Erdahl was in the area of peace and justice.  As his obituary states, “throughout his life he was an advocate, champion and leader for peace and justice.”  He “walked the talk”.  Lowell joins a long list of peace and justice leaders who passed on in recent years.  Their legacy is now the responsibility of those of us for whom they were mentors.

Those active in the movement for peace and justice will likely recognize the names of some of Lowells colleagues who have passed on.  These are leaders I came to know personally.  My apologies for any inadvertent oversights of others who I missed.

It’s our turn, and our children generation, to carry on.

R.I.P. in the last 20 years :   Lowell Erdahl, Hank and Dotty Garwick, Joe Schwartzberg, Lynn Elling, Leslie Reindl, Mary Rose Goetz, Mary Lou Nelson, Mary White, Don Irish, Lyle Christianson, Veryln Smith, Wayne Wittman, Bob Heberle, John Braun, Tom Atchison.

Your additions to this list are solicited.

Best Wishes at this Season

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This morning the Friday morning regulars at the next table had completed their Bible study and were visiting.  One lamented that the news was all “politics”.  That’s true, of course.  We – every one of us – is “politics”.  And we can’t, and we mustn’t, avoid it.  But it is Christmas time….  

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Three thoughts come to the surface to end this year.

“You Raise Me Up”: Dec 15 brought one of those “forwards” that is truly extraordinary.  Below is the text accompanying the  4 minute video filmed on a street in Maastricht, Holland, for Netherlands public TV.

“The incredible story of Martin Hurkens…

For 35 years, Martin Hurkens made his living as a baker.Though he’d always dreamed of being a professional opera singer, he didn’t have the money to stay in music school. So, he sang while he baked (much to the delight of his customers).

Then one day, Martin lost his job with nothing to fall back on.  So, Martin took to the streets of Holland.   He’d place his hat down and sang his heart out, hoping for any donations he could get.

In 2010, Martin entered a reality TV talent show called “Holland Has Talent.”

…And what do you know – this aging singer came in first place and was thrust into the spotlight.

In the incredible video below, Martin returns to the very streets that gave him the confidence and faith he needed to pursue his dreams.

Though his recording career took off after he won the competition, it’s as if these passers-by hear his perfect tenor voice for the very first time.

As Martin belts out the classic contemporary hymn, “You Raise Me Up” a stunned crowd gathers around him, wandering up to place money in his hat.

Enjoy this video, here.”

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A Christmas Gift:  Back in 1985, June Johnson, then a teacher at Bigfork High School, wrote a wonderful memory of an early career experience in a country school in North Dakota.  Here it is, in pdf form: Chips from the Northern Branch

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The Station:  Back in the day when Ann Landers was a must-read, she published, at least twice, a marvelous short essay on living a life entitled “The Station”.  I saved both.  Perhaps you’ve seen the writing, perhaps not.  Here it is, brief, and very worth your time: The Station001

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Finally, I highlight once again the marvelously decorated tree across the way from our house.  Extra special thanks to Laura and Kyle  Kubes for the unique gift of the season:

Nov. 30, 2021

COMMENTS (more at end of post):

from Bob:  Thanks for sharing this, and do have a Glorious Christmas Season.  Your old friend and colleague.

from Leo: Merry Christmas and a Blessed and Happy New Year to you and your Family….

from Jermitt: WONDERFUL.  THANK YOU.

from Christina: Dick, thank you so much for sending your “ending a year” blog. We read each of the articles and we’re so touched. That Ann Landers article so good that I want to pass it on to each of my kids.

from Molly: Molly regularly provides favorite pieces of poetry, and this is her offering at Winter Solstice: 2021 Winter Solstice poetry

 

Reflections at Sixty

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Today, hats off to Uncle Frank Bernard, who, at age 26, was beginning his 7th year as a sailor on the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941.  And to his shipmates as well who also went down with the ship.  (I had the privilege to meet Frank in person, just five months before his death at Pearl Harbor.  I was only a year old, but no matter….)

Frank Bernard USS Arizona, undated

Happy Holidays!

Three years ago Dec. 4, 2018, they wheeled me in to ‘slice and dice’, and I came out some hours later the proud owner of a new aortic valve in my heart, compliments of a bovine, to whom I’m forever grateful.  60 years ago at about this date I finished the last class for my college degree.  There’s a lot of water under that bridge, somewhere around 21,000 days in all, “practice” at being an adult!

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These days I typically leave the house before sunrise, and November 30 I was greeted by a newly decorated tree across the street:

Nov. 30, 2021

I hardly ever rhapsodize about lawn decorations, but this tree spoke to me, symbolizing the season.

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For a number of reasons, 2021 has not been a “normal year”.  I have some recommendations for you this season and forward:

  1.  Ken Burns has partnered with PBS and others to form a new web presence.  I encourage you to at minimum visit the new site, Unum (as in E Pluribus Unum, “out of  many, one”), explained at Ken Burns home page.
  2. John Noltner has just published (September 2021) his third book, “Portraits of Peace, searching for hope in a divided America”.  There are 31 short chapters, each about 6 pages, each generally about one person John interviewed somewhere in the U.S., each chapter deserving of personal reflection and discussion in such venues as book clubs. A bonus: John uses these chapters to reflect on his own experiences basically when the 2008 recession forced him to change his well-established career.  Check out the book, and John’s website, here.  The website has much information of value.
  3. I happened to be watching TV on November 21 when the news shifted to the tragedy around a parade in Waukesha WI, in which 5 were killed and 48 injured.  For a long while, all that was known was that a red car was involved, and that the driver was in custody, but unidentified.  I will always remember the law enforcement official – the resident expert – commenting several times on why people do such evil things.  As I recall his mantra, the usual back-story reasons in the aftermath most often comes to be one or more of the following: Greed, Power, Hate, Revenge or Escape.  Of course, usually we immediately transfer this diagnosis to the alleged perpetrator.  It occurs to me that a good exercise for each of us at this season is to reflect on these words as they might apply to us, individually, now or at any time in the past.  It may be a bit uncomfortable, but, I think, useful.
  4. Finally, in looking through some archival material this fall, I came across a booklet from June, 1955, a commencement address at Hamline University in St. Paul.  The speaker, John Cowles, was taking a stab at predicting the future for the graduates.  Cowles, publisher of the newspaper that today is the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, was 56 years old, a graduate of Harvard many years earlier, and predicting the year 2000, which would be about the future retirement age for most of the graduates.  Here are his interesting remarks: John Cowles Hamline June 6 1955.  How do you see 45 years from now (2066) in our U.S. and world, when today’s college kids are about retirement age?  This isn’t an idle exercise in these unsettled times.

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Here’s my most recent photo.  At right is college grandson Parker, my birthday kin kid, albeit 62 years younger.  In background, hardly visible, is Cathy, and at left is Grandson Ryan.  Photo by my daughter and Parker’s Mom, Joni.  Thanks and Merry Christmas.

Thanksgiving 2021

COMMENTS (more at end of post):

from SAK:  Many thanks for that especially the address by John Cowles to the graduating class of 1955.

He got some things right (population explosion, dwindling resources, communication watches . . .) &, as he himself predicted, got other things wrong! I think it was Niels Bohr who said “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future”.  What I really liked was his warning about a possible nuclear war. Feels like we are closer to such catastrophe than at any time during the past few decades. He declares himself an optimist at the end of his address – I wish I myself could be as optimistic. Perhaps he would have toned down his optimism had he also predicted the climate crisis & the growing tensions between the US & China as well as the internal divisions poisoning so many countries.

Still I liked his address so much I converted it to a Word document – not as easily done as one would think assuming all the technological advances that he predicted!

Towards the end of his speech, he said:

“I hope that those of you who share my belief that the attainment of universal, enforceable disarmament is the most pressing problem of the second half of the 20th century will spread the doctrine with missionary zeal. I hope that those of you who are not convinced will continue to study and ponder the problem, always keeping in mind the alternatives.”

Surely the alternatives are too horrendous to contemplate but instead of universal, enforceable disarmament we have an escalating arms race with ever newer gadgets like drones, hypersonic missiles & cyber warfare. Friedrich Schiller got it right: “Against stupidity the very gods themselves contend in vain”.

Most of us will remember John Lennon’s Imagine (“Imagine all the people living life in peace” etc) well I also remember that the same John Lennon was shot dead on  December 8th, a day like today, and for no good reason.

But this is a special season & I have put up a few decorations & intend to be Merry!

Merry Christmas & a much improved New Year to all,

Two Unions Mature

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In a few months I’ll note the 50th anniversary of becoming a full-time teacher union staff person (March 1972).  This post is a personal reminiscence.  Another with a similar emphasis will follow on or about December 7.  The above photo was taken Nov. 30, 2021.

I’m getting on in years, and back in February I sent an e-mail to about 40 former colleagues from my teacher union career (1972-2000) inviting them to reminisce about the union years, up to and including the year that the Minnesota Education Association and Minnesota Federation of Teachers merged (August 31, 1998).  This was an important event, now nearly a quarter century old and the subsequent organization, Education Minnesota, seems to be functioning very well today.

Following are my own personal recollections of my teachers union, first MEA, then Education Minnesota, from 1972, when I joined staff, till 2000, when I retired.  Included are a few other recollections, note particularly those of colleague Stephanie Wolkin. Education Minnesota Alumni Reminiscence (5) At pages 40-43 are listed nearly all persons who were staff of the merged unions before and through the year of merger, 1998.

If you were part of either MEA or MFT in those years, or know some one who was, especially one who was active in the Unions, you or they may find these recollections of interest.  Additional memories are solicited.

SOME PHOTOS

MEA MFT Education MN – It required a tremendous amount of compromise to finally bury many years of competition between the two teacher unions.  The photo of the MEA was taken at the single time the professional staff went on strike against its employer, the state Union.  I happened to be President at the time, and I’m one of the two people pictured, beside my colleague Dave, who’s the one looking at the camera.  Strikes happened.   But except for a single year, 1981, they have always been rare.

MEA PSA ca 1979 – PSA was the professional staff union for MEA staff.  As one can quickly note, we were mostly young people – from our 20s through 30s.

MEA SoWashCo Conv April 1999 – My staff passion/preference was working with family-school-community partnerships, a priority of the Association.  This was one such assignment, at the end of my career, in the school district which later became my present home.  Here is the program booklet for the evening of the conversations themselves: Community Conversation 1999

MEA Staff 1995 & 98 – The staff met frequently, and in general worked well together.  The professional staff was generally approximately 50 staff.

 

Rule of Law

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Recently we’ve been flooded with important cases relating to the rule of law.  I’d name a few, but for certain I’d miss somebodies important one.  Take your pick.  They’re all important, and they all demonstrate how complex “law” is in a country of 330,000,000 people and a long history of some sense of democracy.

In the even you’re interested in “law” generally, even if not part of the legal community, I have a resource you may at minimum simply like to browse.  Perhaps something within will peak your interest.

Some time back I was browsing some potential archival materials for an organization I’ve long been part of, now called Citizens for Global Solutions (CGS), previously called United World Federalist Association (WFA).

The group was founded in the wake of the founding of the United Nations in 1945.  WFA first organized in 1947; it changed its name in 2004.  Its focus has always been on the need for a system of laws in which a diverse national and global society can at least function without going to war, or dictatorship.

In a box I found a 52 page pamphlet published in 1959 by the American Bar Association, as a series of ideas for discussion of the American legal system at the time of Law Day, proclaimed by President Eisenhower in 1958.  (In 1958, the U.S. population was approximately 181,000,000, slightly more than half of todays population.  Neither Alaska nor Hawaii were states in 1958)

I pdf’ed the booklet, which is presented here in four parts (my scanner was being irritable).  But all the pages are there, and I invite your taking the time to take a look.  Here are the pages. (cover – 17) Law Day Am Bar Assoc 1959; (pp 18-24) Law Day (2) Am Bar Assoc 1959; (pp 25-43) Law Day (3) Am Bar Assoc 1959; (pp 45-52) Law Day (4) Am Bar Assoc 1959.

The booklet is written for a general audience, for use in local events.  My favorite short essay is “Law in Treehouse World”, p. 49.

How are things the same in today’s world, compared with 1959?  How do they differ?  And what difference does that make?  These and many other questions are worthy of exploration.

POSTNOTE:

Coincident with my idea of forwarding this booklet, a good friend, a retired Priest and long-time activist Harry Bury, sent to me and several other friends his summary view of contemporary issues.  I simply submit his writing as his thoughts, food for thought and debate.  His thoughts are shared with his permission.

I have two issues that I observe seem to be ignored by politicians and
the media. I wish you would respond to each, if you would be so kind.
1) There are evil people in the world and to keep them from continuing
to do evil we perceive society needs to threaten punishment or administer 
punishment. We justify our behavior by calling it justice.
I believe punishment and the threat of it are not justice but vengeance.
 Moreover, they do not work. Recidivism rate throughout the world is
 about 80 percent. Many times people come out of prison, moreover, and
 commit even greater violence because they were violently treated in
prison or by the Justice System. Most wrongdoers do not change their
minds but look for better ways to get what they want without being caught.
I suggest we consider that there are no evil people only good people who
do evil things, believing what you and I call evil, they consider good things
 to do. In other words, I do not believe that wrongdoers are evil and
need to be punished, but good people who are mistaken and need to be
educated, rehabilitated, restored, and reconciled. They have been socialized
to have different values from that of society through no fault of their own.
In addition, to encourage people to change their minds, when it comes to,
for example, racism or unbridled nationalism, kindness works far better
than punishment. Processes that focus on developing empathy and
compassion, not through lectures, but through experiences, tend to be
far more effective. I believe the same in terms of acts of murder and rape.
( See chapter 11, The Story of Effective Justice for Lawbreakers in my book, An
Invitation to Think and Feel Differently in the New Millennium).
Hence, lets change our Justice System to do away with punishment with its
violence and replace it with the goal of changing minds and behaviors
through kindness and understanding. Hence, not blaming the wrongdoer
but understanding that the wrongdoer was taught different values from
that of society and needs to learn new values through being treated 
with kindness and understanding.
2) A second issue for me is the dualistic thinking that both the Democrats and
Republicans practice. ( Either/Or thinking, Black or White, not ever non-dualistic
thinking, which is grey and sometimes referred to as compromise, when it comes
to abortion.) The Dems seem to want to kill the fetus and the Republicans want
 to punish women who choose to have an abortion and others who assist them
in doing so, such as doctors. They refuse any other considerations apparently.
I suggest non-dualistic thinking. Namely one that makes it so wonderful for
 pregnant women to give birth that they would CHOOSE to do so because it
 is so clearly in their self interest and that of the child, not only financially
 through university but also emotionally. Society would treat her with honor
 in bringing another child into the world, whether she is married or not.
As a result, abortion clinics would go out of business for lack of business, if they
 exist only to administer abortions and not serving other female health issues.
The above are two issues in which I do not see adequate media or political attention.
I am asking you to address them both, since you are kind enough to ask me for my
opinion.
With Gratitude,
Fr Harry

 

The Beatles adventure

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POSTNOTE Nov. 28, 2021:  Last night I finished viewing part 3 of “Get Back”.  I highly recommend taking the time to watch the entire eight hours, in three parts, on Disney Plus.

All of the filming was in about one month in early 1969, almost entirely the Fab Four, all in their mid-20s: Paul McCartney (b 18 June 1942); George Harrison (29 Feb 1943); John Lennon (9 Oct 1940); Ringo Starr (7 July 1940).  A very few others, such as Yoko Ono, take part, but it is the boys show, much as I described part one, below, ending with the roof top show in London.

Give yourself a bit over 2 1/2 hours per segment.

Minnesotans: The Beatle’s appeared once, live, in the Twin Cities, at Met Stadium (now Mall of America) in Bloomington August 21, 1965.  There are several internet references.

I didn’t attend, but I know one then-teen, Catherine, from next door Richfield, who did. She remembered there was so much screaming that no one could hear the songs!  This was a very rough time of transition in my own life: my first wife’s funeral in ND was July 29, 1965, and I returned to a new life in Anoka MN with our 1 year old son about August 10.  August, 1965, remains a blur in my memory bank.  I was working at a part-time job at Lincoln Del in St. Louis Park at the time, and know from a paystub approximately when I returned to work.  I am forever grateful to the folks at Lincoln Del for their help at that time.

At the end of this post is a snapshot I took of Met Stadium, where the Beatle’s appeared, as it was being demolished in May, 1985.

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Yesterday (Thanksgiving) was a very good family day at daughter Joni’s home in Apple Valley.

Last night I made it a special priority to watch Part One (of three) of the Beatle’s 1969 retrospective, “Get Back”.  I am going to watch all eight hours (only on Disney Plus).  A local review was in the Minneapolis StarTribune this morning: Beatles.  Roger Ebert reviews the entire film here.  This is a look at history as it was being made, in the raw.  I found it gripping and personal.  It is a choice I was happy I made.

I found “Get Back” to be a celebration of committees, personal and otherwise, that make any society functional.  Yes, the movie is about a marathon committee meeting of the Beatle’s in 1969, with all of the characteristics of any committee on which any of us have ever served.  This may seem a recommendation to pass it up.  Not so.  I found it extraordinarily gripping, much of it on a bland sound stage in England with hardly any audience but the participants, laughing, arguing, on and on.  Any reader has been there, done that many, many times.  Without committees, and tedium, and, especially, disagreement, society wouldn’t function.  Dissonance with a goal of resolution most often leads to positive results….

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Personally, I’m just one person who likes music who inadvertently got an early introduction to the Beatle’s during an extremely difficult time in my life – the fall and winter of 1963-64 in northwest Minnesota.

I won’t bother you with the personal story; there are regular readers of this blog who were near bystanders at the time, which happened in the 6 months between discharge from the Army, President Kennedy’s assassination, and the birth of my oldest child, Feb. 26, 1964.

The ‘snip’ version: I was driving by myself between Grand Forks ND and Hallock MN sometime in the Fall of 1963 when the AM radio station played the first Beatle’s tune I had ever heard.  I don’t remember the specific tune, but I’ll not forget the setting: a long lonely country road in the middle of nowhere in the Red River Valley of far northwest Minnesota.

Fast forward a month or two: we invested about $100 in a 9″ black and white television – time payments of maybe $10 a month.  And on February 9, 1964, I watched the Beatle’s on that TV, when they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York City.

I remained a casual fan of the Beatle’s – I don’t think I ever bought so much as a single record – but when Yellow Submarine came out as a movie in 1969, I was right there with son Tom, then 5 years old, at the theater in Minneapolis.

The Beatle’s, committee that they were, were an immense success.

Take time to check in with Disney Plus.

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November has been an active month in the personal blogosphere.  And there seem to be three more to come – at least, I’ve personally scheduled them – through December 2.  They are as always just me.  Usually something over a couple of hundred at least take a look; quite often a few folks comment, or I add an amendment.

Met Stadium from the right field side, as it was being demolished, May, 1985.

POSTNOTE, Nov. 29:  Sunday night, immediately following 60 Minutes, was a CBS Special – the 95th birthday for Tony Bennett, featuring Tony and his friend, Lady Gaga at Radio City in New York City.  It was phenomenal.  Here’s a couple of snapshots I took of the TV screen:

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga in concert. TV Screen shot.

The live program was August 3.  Artistically it was perfect.  Everyone knew, but there was no mention, of the back story – that Tony Bennett is at relatively late stages of Alzheimers, and except for near perfection in performance, he is handicapped like all others with the disease.  In fact, early on in the program Cathy took a phone call from our friend, Don, who was recently moved from his home across the street to memory care facility.  He had called us by mistake.  He didn’t recognize my wife, who he know very well over a number of years.  That is how life is.  What is normal changes when your memory goes….

What really attracted me to The Beatles was that it was from extensive filming at a distinct period of time involving the band members and others preparing for final concert.  Even in their case I keep in mind that the producer of the film chose what portions of a great amount of raw footage from a month in 1969.  This is the nature of any recorded program.

It was no different for the Tony and Lady show last night.  We only saw the 40 or so minutes selected from all of the filming on August 3.

The final result in both cases was phenomenal.  But there is always a ‘rest of the story’ that we need to keep in mind any time we see or hear recorded presentations.

Then there is the matter of the personal memory bank – our own.  I know what I remember from 1963-64 and the summer of 1965, but how accurate is my memory?  Partially, I was assisted by having kept some contemporaneous paper records in 1965, but nonetheless, I know that my personal recollection are not necessarily accurate.

Nonetheless, the several days viewing The Beatles, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga was very, very enriching.

 

Mask-giving

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Yes, it’s an unusual time.  Have a great day, anyway.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Here is Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation of the first national day of Thanksgiving.  This includes a further history of the day as observed in the United States.  Fr. Jim Kent of the Franciscan Retreat Center, Prior Lake MN, reflected on “The Holiday Season” in the organizations Winter 2021-2022 newsletter: Holiday

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Last week I was invited to a home gathering in a twin cities suburb.  Finally, because of weather and distance, I decided I couldn’t attend, and the next day the host sent this photo of the group:

Home gathering November, 2021

A pre-gathering communication from the host to all of us said: “If you feel more comfortable “Masking Up”, feel free to do so.”  I wasn’t there, so don’t know if the above photo was staged, or the final reality.  I had said to the host beforehand “I’ll very likely ‘mask up’ as I have a medical test…[coming up, and the hospital is] real sensitive about Covid-19 exposure“.  But then I told them I wouldn’t be there.  So…only they know (though the odds are everyone wore the masks.  Minnesota is a current hot spot in the nation for Covid-19.)

Whatever the case, the photo shows a very nice gesture of “Minnesota nice”….

This Thanksgiving, making is not mandatory, but the practice seems to have caught on.  At my coffee shop, I’d guess that most customers come in ‘masked up’.  Of course, sitting and drinking coffee means no mask, but we aren’t crowded in, and most are take-out anyway.

Last week Thursday, at the Minnesota Orchestra, it was basically a full house.  Masks are required, as is evidence of vaccination.  The Orchestra, even the Chorale, were masked.

At Mass at Basilica on Sunday, I didn’t see anyone not wearing masks…and I’m an usher.  The sign at the door strongly suggests masks.

Most people here are now fully vaccinated.  This doesn’t guarantee no infection, but the vast majority of hospitalized Covid-19 patients did not get vaccinated.

I note that social distancing has caught on.  Generally, people in lines give space, where before, it was less likely.

Behavior, by and large, is much more civil than early on in the Pandemic.

It seems we have mostly learned something positive from out of the stress and difficulty of the past months. This is not universal, of course, but it is noticeable to me.

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I’ve spent some time just thinking about recent examples of Thanksgiving I’ve seen or experienced in my own life.  There are many positive incidences, most small, but all very significant.  I recommend this activity as part of your own day.  We are besieged by stories of problems; it is good to remember what is good, as well.

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Finally, Molly sends along some poetry for 2021 Thanksgiving.  You can read it here: Thanksgiving 2021.

In addition, she sent “some quotes to go with the poetry“:

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.    –Albert Schweitzer

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”  — Albert Einstein

 Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.  ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

‘Sometimes,’ said Pooh, ‘the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.’  ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

My thoughts shimmer with these shimmering leaves and my heart sings with the touch of this sunlight; my life is glad to be floating with all things into the blue of space, into the dark of time. – Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds, #150

COMMENTS (more at the end of post)

from Donna: Happy Thanksgiving Dick,  I loved your post this morning.  I am so thankful to be a member of the Basilica.  Rich and I are part of a Circle of Welcome team from the Basilica and just met the first of three families from Afghanistan.  The Basilica along with Lutheran Social Services are helping them get settled in this country.   America and Minnesota should be so very thankful for this family of 10.  The father of 8 worked with the American Government so they left in August.  He and his wife are so thankful to be here.  I hope to see you soon at church.

from Molly: Thanks, Dick, ours will include a small gathering with our son’s family

May your Thanksgiving be blessed as well.
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from Jim: Aloha Dick I hope you are doing well and staying safe. Things are great here on Molokai as we are quite isolated here on the east end. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving
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from Kathy: Happiest of Thanksgivings all around from my family in Oregon to yours
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from Jermitt: Thanks for the great photo.
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from Paul:  Your optimistic blog on masks is hopeful! It’d be amazing to put some of the contention behind us. Haiti’s a horrible mess and the US continues it’s historically consistent track record of disingenuous behavior to ensure Haiti’s down and out status, that’s a whole coffee discussion on it’s own.

 

“Moderate Democrat” oxymoron?

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Nov. 11 I received an e-mail from someone I’ve known for many years, which included this statement: “I really don’t understand how there can be  a moderate democrat (almost an oxymoron)”.

Every blog I post, here, I self-identify myself as a “moderate pragmatic Democrat” (see at right), and have done so since the first posting in 2009.  My friend has been on the blog distribution list for a long time.

I decided to send this quote to over 20 friends who I’d assess as “moderate democrats” to see if any of them would ‘take the bait’.  Eight did, and they, and myself, comment in these four pages: Moderate Democrats Nov 13 2021.  (Half of the eight are men, half women.  I don’t identify any of them, including my friend, by gender, and the comments are unedited.)

You are encouraged to submit your own comments on this topic.

from Linda: Nice. Glad you’re having some conversation with Republicans.  I’ve found they shout and then walk away if you don’t immediately agree with them.

from John: see comments in Comments section, below

Giving Thanks.

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Next Thursday is Thanksgiving.

Have a good Thanksgiving.

Consider making your own list of the positives that you can think of in your life, this past and most momentous year.

I have a favorite postcard for this day:

This is part of the Busch farm “collection” – old postcards saved by my grandparents primarily between 1905 and 1915.  They were young farmers on never-plowed land when they arrived in the spring of 1905.  Grandpa was 24, Grandma 21.  “Home” in Wisconsin was about 600 miles away, and they were the first from home to migrate.  Such cards took the edge off of loneliness.  This card seems to have been produced in 1904, and probably sent as an insert with a long letter (Here’s a story I wrote about the postcards in 2006.  Here’s the US Postal Service write-up about this means of communication.)

This Thanksgiving post is almost a week early, for a specific reason.

Yesterday we heard the Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Chorale do a wonderful performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 in D minor.  This performance will be live this evening, Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, 8-10 p.m. CST on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR).  Here is the link to MPR.

Here is the program note on the concert both in jpeg and pdf: Beethoven Mn Orch Nov 18 2021.


In the live performance, we in the audience saw the English text of Ode to Joy.  Here is the translation from the original German by Friedrich Schiller in 1785.   Here is an article about it.

Joy, beautiful spark of Divinity [or: of gods],
Daughter of Elysium,
We enter, drunk with fire,
Heavenly one, thy sanctuary!
Thy magic binds again
What custom strictly divided;*
All people become brothers,*
Where thy gentle wing abides.

Whoever has succeeded in the great attempt,
To be a friend’s friend,
Whoever has won a lovely woman,
Add his to the jubilation!
Yes, and also whoever has just one soul
To call his own in this world!
And he who never managed it should slink
Weeping from this union!

All creatures drink of joy
At nature’s breasts.
All the Just, all the Evil
Follow her trail of roses.
Kisses she gave us and grapevines,
A friend, proven in death.
Ecstasy was given to the worm
And the cherub stands before God.

Gladly, as His suns fly
through the heavens’ grand plan
Go on, brothers, your way,
Joyful, like a hero to victory.

Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss to all the world!
Brothers, above the starry canopy
There must dwell a loving Father.
Are you collapsing, millions?
Do you sense the creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy!
Above stars must He dwell

POSTNOTE: I don’t publicize to my list each post I make.  The Rittenhouse verdict has just been announced, and at the conclusion of my post on Rittenhouse Nov. 15, 2021, I will be posting my own impressions as an individual, but not until a little later today.

COMMENTS:

from Jeff: The other day I was driving up Cty Rd 5 from my home to the Cub store, the speed limit is45mph.  there is about a 1/2 mile stretch up a hill between lights… and at the end there is a left turn lane at the stop light with a left turn arrow, one that does not turn to yellow flashing because it is a fairly busy interesection (5 and McAndrews).  I was in the left lane knowing I wanted to turn left at the top of the hill, I was going about 48-50, i.e. a bit over the posted limit. A guy in a small black sedan came up behind me and tailgaited for a few seconds, then when he cleared a car in the right lane, shot in there accelerated to 55 or 60 and passed me on the right and got into the left lane. we were both nearing the top of the hill and the turn arrow was red, however no one was coming from the forward traffic and the guy just took his left on the red arrow.

I don’t think I am a cranky old guy who rants about young drivers (i dont know if the driver was young but guess he was the typical 20 something male).  But really since the pandemic I have noted people speeding much higher than 5 or even 10 mph over the limit, and also alot of crazy driving. The type of driving which makes one think those drivers do not believe the rules apply to them. Or the typical rules are made to be broken crowd.  But I think its more.  The insurrection on Jan 6,  unwillingness to sacrifice in the face
of a pandemic over a few mins of mask wearing….ranting and screaming at people in stores , or in school board meetings or council meetings.   And of course outbursts on planes or in airports, and physical violence as well.    Is this just I’m mad as hell and I’m not taking it anymore?
There are apparently a majority of Republicans who believe the 2020 Presidential election was “stolen”.  They apparently dont mind their state and federal representatives glorifying violence or embracing outright violence. They support unfettered right to bear any type of arms it seems.  They see nothing wrong with military like dressed and armed people with semiautomatic guns walking around anywhere.  And of course Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted by a jury of doing anything wrong in Kenosha.
There is now a precedent being set, that vigilante justice is ok, ok with our legal system, ok with a large part of the population.  And violent language, and threats of violence are become much more normalized.
It all bespeaks a part of the population feeling they are the law, that common sense rules, statutes and regulations  do not bind for them.  They are encouraged to bully and threaten, and even to hunt and kill in the name of self defense, when it is their activity in the first place that creates the situation where they are able to shoot in self defense.
I am gloomy this Thanksgiving and actually I am a dual citizen so I could take my wife and move to Europe.  If I didnt have grandchildren and family here, I would already be doing it. I fear that with a GOP victory in the 2022 mid terms and a change in the House, we will be on the razors edge. I suspect that what used to be the establishment GOP has gotten taken like the German establishment in 1932-33 to the siren song of the neo fascists and nationalists in their party…they will find that they cannot ride the tiger without being eaten.
And this country will likely descend into a confederation of disparate states with very different types of cultures and governments that will not be bound by an overriding Federal govt, because those laws do not apply to “them” in Texas, Mississippi, Idaho, South Dakota.  I truly believe we are headed toward a Hungary type situation here, with the option otherwise a slow burning civil war with violence and mayhem intermittently.
*
Dick responding: We have to adopt a belief that there is a lot of good out there, among ourselves, our neighbors and others we see every day.  The jerks, like the driver (I’ve experienced the same) are certainly out there, but I don’t think they’re any more than a small minority in the whole picture.  If we sit on our hands and do things like not voting at all, we guarantee the results that will bring us to the edge of Nazi Germany and the public attitudes that enabled it – and I agree with Jeff on that fear.  It’s a hard job, but somebody has to do it, and that somebody is all of us.  Just my opinion.

Rittenhouse

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If the title of this post is familiar to you, then this post might be of interest to you.

As I type, 9:30 a.m., Monday Nov. 15, the Judge and the Counsel are having a civil discussion about process prior to closing arguments to the Jury in this most significant trial in Kenosha WI, before the Jury enters the room.  I am not going to opine about whose arguments are most relevant, or, obviously, what the Jury will decide.  I am impressed that the discussion is civil….  The Rule of Law is complex in civil society.  In the end, in this case, a jury of 12 people has to decide.  Once that happens, I’ll amend this post with my opinion, and any readers who wish to express their own at this space.

Earlier this morning came Just Above Sunset, entitled “The Myth of Civilized Democracy”, here.  I don’t recall a single reference to Rittenhouse.  On the other hand, the tenor of the compilation enfolds the implications of violence in our society, as being hi-lited in the Rittenhouse case, specifically.

By no means do I portray myself as ‘expert’ in this or other legal matters.  On the other hand, I probably was advocate in perhaps 75 grievance arbitrations in my career, and proximate to numerous legal cases.  I am thus pretty well informed about the legal ‘dance’, rules of evidence, etc.  And I remain most active in an organization whose founding and existence celebrated the Rule of Law not only in our own country, but its utility in a civil over our entire planet.

What tends to grip me in this case are race, guns and youth.

Rittenhouse has been the focus of the trial.  Here are the three persons killed or injured in the melee in Kenosha.  All of the actors were white men.

First, I am white, 100%.  I have never owned a gun, and have no interest in owning a gun.  60 years ago, immediately after college, I volunteered for the Army Draft, served 21 months, qualified as Expert with the then-standard firearm, the M1, and went through all the other extensive weapons and combat training any military veteran will remember.  I was 20 years old.  I left the service with an honorable discharge at 23 years of age.  I was a little older than most of my fellow soldiers.  My service time came at the beginning of the Vietnam era, and included the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In Rittenhouse, two of the men were killed, and thus cannot speak for themselves.  They apparently were not armed with any firearm.  The third person testified – I watched his testimony on TV.  He had a weapon but testified that when the time came to fire he could not pull the trigger.

Infantry training gave me plenty of background on acting under stress.  It is one thing to have a gun, it is something else to actually use it, especially to kill another human being.  It is something not easily described to someone with no similar life experience.

It is no accident that all of the participants were young men (to me, 37, the oldest, is young!)

For all of history, combatants are largely recruited from among young males.  It is not necessary to go into this kind of history.

In my opinion, guns too often these days are considered as play things, more like video game props, but give the holder an exaggerated sense of power to intimidate others.

Those without weapons are by no means powerless – they are reluctant to use their power against someone with a gun.  Some time back I used with a post this two page article, which deserves your time.

The evil with firearms these days is their use to threaten and intimidate others.  We’ve seen these supposedly armed and dangerous louts on far too many occasions “occupying” state capitols and otherwise.  Rittenhouse is only one of many unconscionable matters constantly in the news.

Regardless of the outcome of this case, there will be repeats where other young men with guns consider themselves immortal.  Those of us unarmed have to learn how to use our own considerable power to change this conversation.

Stay tuned.

Closing arguments are just now beginning – 11:15 a.m. Nov 15, 2021.

November 16 4:25 p.m.

The Rittenhouse matter is with the Jury.  I watched parts of the trial and saw the snips that went with news reporting. The primary audience is the Jurors, whose burden this trial now is.  It will be interesting to learn after-the-fact what happens in the jury room, and what moved them individually and collectively to their ultimate verdict.  We’ll see what happens.

November 19, Noon

Latest breaking news: families have been advised to return to the Courthouse.  Not sure what that means.  I will not comment further until after the verdict is announced.

4:25 p.m. – Not guilty on all charges.  The initial shock will carry on for awhile.  I’ll comment later, perhaps tomorrow.  I think I know what I’m going to say, but I’ll hold on that.

November 22, 2021, late afternoon:  I have watched/listened/read the aftermath, and, of course, last night the tragedy in Waukesha, which dominates the news today.  What I personally have focused on is Kyle Rittenhouse’s age: 17 when he killed the two; and 18 when he was tried and acquitted.

I was 17 for all but the last two or three weeks of high school in 1958.  That doesn’t make me unique, or an expert on being 17.  Everybody old enough to have reached 18 years has experienced age 17.  My personal cohort then was 8 fellow seniors in Sykeston ND.  No matter, any reader should just think back to age 17 and remember what it was like for you, and how it compared with today’s reality.

Kyle Rittenhouse is not yet out of the legal woods.  A civil suit might be in the offing, a la O.J. Simpson.  He might be saved from that because he’s not worth enough to sue, but it could happen.

Now he is a celebrity, and will be a celebrity only as long as he is useful to his handlers and financiers.  When he’s no longer useful, he’ll be discarded.  (I just looked up George Zimmerman, about his life after killing Trayvon Martin…not terribly impressive.)  Rittenhouse better have a Plan B.

But mostly I think of a young man named Francis – who I never knew, but who dropped out of high school in his senior year to join the Marines near the end of WWII.  He wanted to go in.  He didn’t live a year, killed in combat in the Pacific.  But like Rittenhouse, he was 17, and probably full of a sense of immortality when he went off to combat, only to lose his life.

The annals of war are full of young men with similar illusions of saving whatever for whomever.  Then, live or die, most often they are discarded.

Rittenhouse is acquitted, yes, but now he has to live the rest of his life with a reality that he created when he was just 17, and killed two un-armed individuals with a military rifle.

For me, age 17 is a long, long time ago.  I still remember the days even in that tiny town.  One time, some years earlier in that same town, a playmate took a single shot .22 off my Dad’s garage wall, aimed it in the direction of some of us, pulled the trigger and thankfully missed.

The gun was supposed to be unloaded, and it was off limits, and it was just a .22…but it could have been deadly.

Kyle Rittenhouse now has to live the rest of his life within a new reality which he himself created by making a stupid decision to be ‘armed and dangerous’.  And after a while, nobody will give a damn.