We have a woodchuck for a neighbor. He showed up yesterday afternoon. I watched him (her?) with binoculars for a few minutes, but when I went to get a camera it ran back into the woods.

Watched some YouTube videos about trekking poles and found out all the things I was doing wrong. It was interesting, and I may incorporate them into my morning walks at home. I do need to make an effort to get down to the bridge on CR 210 to get some elevation change in my walks. We don't even have stairs in our house! Maybe the treadmill at the gym will do as well.

We're going to attempt Buttermilk Falls next week. I say "attempt," but I should say "do," because once you start, you have to either finish or turn back right away. Buttermilk was the park where we had Mitzi's son-in-law go get the car, because we weren't going to attempt to hike back up.

We'll do the same thing we did for Treman, hike up the gorge trail first, while we're "fresh," and down the rim trail. Get the hard part done first. We'll bring some snacks along too.

Sixty-seven and obese isn't exactly a recipe for success, but if we could do Treman, we can probably do Buttermilk.

Mom's in the hospital in up in Albany or Troy. Not sure where Ellis Hospital is. My sister the nurse works there, so that's good. Her new Apple Watch detected two episodes of her heart rate being only 30 bpm. My youngest sister took her to urgent care and they did some tests and decided she should be observed overnight and referred to a cardiologist. Apparently there's a slightly elevated tropin level, and some indication of bigeminy, a kind of arrhythmia.

We're heading to the Farmers' Market in Ithaca in a little while, and a little boat excursion on the lake. Weather seems to be improved, as the sun is shining this morning for the first time in a couple of days.

Well, that's probably more than enough blogging for one day. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and not dwelling on the unfolding terror around us.

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Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:52 Saturday, 6 July 2024

Japanese beetles are an invasive species that I often see when we're here in New York. They are photogenic, with their color and metallic sheen; but they're pests. This was on the Cornell campus. I brought along the little Panasonic Lumix LX7.

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Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:04 Saturday, 6 July 2024

The other morning, Mitzi and I went and wandered through the Henry A. Smith Woods. The kids and the younger woman were just coming out of the woods as we arrived. The older woman and the dog were walking along the road, and I gather the kids wanted to pet the dog. Perhaps the two women know each other, I don't know.

I seldom take pictures of people intentionally. I had the Stylus 1s with me, so this is at a comfortable distance with the 300mm effective focal length. I just found it charming and colorful, and it's one of the nice things about visiting here.

The woods were very nice as well.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 06:53 Saturday, 6 July 2024

We took a walk on the campus of Cornell University yesterday, and this photo caught my eye. In Florida, Gov DeSantis and his white supremacist lackeys have banned such efforts at diversity, equity and inclusion. They don't want anything to interfere with their efforts to uphold and maintain white christian supremacy in Florida. The people reflected in this sign are "others" in Florida. "Special interests," because we're all supposedly "already equal."

Florida used to be two states, one for the privileged and the other, simply ignored. Now the other is attacked, demonized, and targeted. This is the result of the steady rightward drift of the Republican Party of Florida. A dynamic that was set in motion by gerrymandering, where the politically ambitious must run as a Republican to attain elected office; and in a state of closed primaries, the election is decided in the primary where the most motivated voters are the most extreme ones.

In a primary, the way to win is to be more "Republican" or "conservative" than your opponent. This drives the entire party further and further to the right. It becomes more and more extreme. Issues are reduced to culture war matters. Genuine problems and challenges are ignored, or placed in a culture war context, which is why Florida's statutes now omit any reference to the words "climate change."

All people possess the potential for cruelty, violence and hatred. It has generally been the role of good leadership to move people away from those tendencies. In Florida, Republicans lead citizens toward them. Lead them astray.

Anyway, the sign leapt out at me because it was refreshing. A center that offers resources for who aren't members of the white, christian majority, or plurality. I'm not certain of the demographic makeup of Cornell. I don't know how well the university performs this function. I just know it wouldn't even be permitted in Florida.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 06:27 Saturday, 6 July 2024

I wrote the title to the previous piece after watching Heather Cox Richardson, who, as I wrote before, is my new North Star. And then I forgot to write about it. A "Biden moment," perhaps.

She said that people had been writing to her, asking what they can do. She tells them to, "Do what you do best." She's doing media hits.

I don't know what I do best. Anybody driving ships in this campaign? It's difficult for me to even know what my "best" is. Should I send all my available money to campaigns and PACs? The stakes are that high. I'm not there yet, but I'm struggling with it.

Some say that one of the ways to help with the climate crisis is to talk about it. I certainly do that enough here.

I don't know.

But I do know it's a question we all need to be asking ourselves. How can I help? What is "my best." And how do I do it?

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 09:34 Friday, 5 July 2024

I don't watch live cable news, but I've been browsing many of the YouTube channels. I watched Biden's address at his 4th of July barbecue. I think I understand what's going on when he speaks. It's somewhat like when I try to write in handwriting. My brain gets ahead of my hand and I start writing a word that's five words ahead of where the last word ended.

Now, he did forget Belleau Wood. Maybe I would too. He knows he's in the spotlight, so there's the pressure not to fuck up, which doesn't help in his circumstance. He reaches for a word, can't find it and realizes he has to move on and not be seen struggling to find it. It's hard.

I also watched the Hawaiian governor, whose name I can't recall, talk about meeting with Biden and I liked what he had to say. But I also watched a CNN panel on growing interest or movement toward Harris. That Biden is almost certainly "fine," right now, but he's not going to get "better." That we're going to experience more slips, more awkward moments.

This is unprecedented in our history. If we go by precedent, incumbents who don't run again, their replacements lose. Humphrey in '68. Not a large data set.

There's the campaign infrastructure. If the party changes candidates, all that has to get rebooted. Harris is the logical choice because she's largely been vetted before, but it'll all be rehashed again. She will at least have had the experience of enduring it once before, and it's less likely to throw her off her game. She knows how to respond already, it's in muscle memory. There's less media frenzy.

Likewise, I think the campaign infrastructure should be able to pivot to Harris relatively smoothly, though I'm certain she'd bring in her own senior staff and advisors, and how they get along with the remaining Biden people is a question. I think the stakes we're facing would make most of them fall in line pretty quickly.

I don't see Joe presenting well. I think he's fine cognitively, but the duties of the office are demanding enough, add to that the pressure of a campaign and the fact of his age and I just don't think he will be able to assuage people's fears that he's too old.

A Harris candidacy does flip the script on the age issue. We're still saddled with the border and the perception of the economy, but now Trump is the "too old" candidate.

I don't know if Harris can pull together the same coalition that Biden drew. It may depend on her choice of running mate. It's a question. I think she'd mobilize women perhaps more, or with greater enthusiasm than Biden, but I think most of them would be voting for Biden anyway, so it's marginal. But these races seem to be decided on narrow margins. Though we can't forget the absurdity of the Electoral College.

I don't think Joe should resign and give Harris an incumbency. If he steps aside as a candidate, I think he should continue to run the country and address the nation as the president about the stakes of this election. I think, without the pressure of campaign scrutiny, he could be an effective communicator regarding the danger represented by Trump.

We are in uncharted waters. I still believe that many people calling for Biden to step aside are doing so for self-serving reasons. I think if he does decide to withdraw his candidacy, that Harris is the only logical candidate to replace him. I'll support whoever the nominee is, but the sooner we get this resolved, the better.

Whatever chance we have to navigate the turbulent waters facing this civilization and our children and grandchildren, it is with leadership that at least tries to embrace humane values, that exhibits empathy, that is inclusive and not divisive.

This will be one of the most consequential elections in the history of the United States, certainly since Lincoln; maybe Roosevelt given that Lincoln saved the union while Roosevelt perhaps saved the world.

Who knew we'd live to see such times?

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Originally posted at Nice Marmot 08:58 Friday, 5 July 2024

And I'm not talking about an officer in the PRC navy.

Anyway, took that the day before yesterday. We spent most of yesterday hanging around the house. We visited a local apiary with a unique retail store in the middle of a field. Mitzi browsed the merchandise while I chatted with one of the owners about beekeeping, something my Uncle John did and I helped on occasion.

This is not a pleasant vacation. When we often read of feelings of "existential dread," it's almost a cliché. It feels all too real now, underscored by an overwhelming feeling of powerlessness.

It's like we can all see what's coming, it's horrible, and there's nothing we can do to stop it. Because, well, life goes on. That is, until it doesn't anymore.

There are genuinely horrible people who are looking forward to taking power in January, and who are telling us all the things they're going to do, which are frightening. What is absolutely terrifying, though, are all the things they're going to do that they're saying nothing about now.

What I find perversely encouraging is that the larger planetary crisis will swallow the political one. In some ways, it'll be a pleasure watching these selfish, mean and bitter people grapple with something they don't understand as it robs them of all the wealth and power they will briefly control.

The suffering inflicted by nature will be on a far greater scale, if nearly as inequitable.

We can be certain that there will be large-scale geo-engineering efforts undertaken, confidently sold to us by tech bros, which will fail spectacularly and yet offer some perverse satisfaction in watching them do so, assuming I live that long.

Anyway, enjoy your summer. Probably the last one you'll be able to.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:28 Friday, 5 July 2024

I can think of no better day to decide. I just donated $1000 to Joe Biden. Can I afford it?

Can I afford not to?

Do what you can. Do your best.

The rest isn't up to you.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 09:34 Thursday, 4 July 2024

The stakes are incalculably high.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 09:09 Thursday, 4 July 2024

I had never heard of James Henry Hammond until I read Erik Larson's The Demon of Unrest. Then he turned up in Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood, by Colin Woodard.

Most recently, he was mentioned by Heather Cox Richardson in her June 30 Letters From an American blog post.

Hammond is an especially despicable figure in the dark history of the Confederacy. Apart from being an enslaver, he sexually abused his nieces. We know this because he wrote about it extensively in his diaries.

It's just interesting to me that such a figure would come to my attention with such frequency in a short period of time. Perhaps not so interesting considering that both Unrest and Union deal with the Civil War.

But Hammond's views represent a strain of American thought that has existed since the founding, and which continues today. Hammond was a member of the planter class, the wealthy elite of the South. Like many successful men, he married into it.

Hammond and others openly rejected Jefferson's claim that "all men are created equal." That view lives today.

Equality and democracy threaten the status and the privilege of the elite. FDR's New Deal created a new role for the federal government, to guard the equality and dignity of all Americans, against the predations of the elite, the monied class. Ever since it was created, the wealthy and the elite have been trying to roll it back and tear it down.

Gerrymandering is a cancer on democracy, where politicians choose their voters instead of the reverse. Gerrymandered states turn into political monocultures, where the policy views drift further to the extremes because elections are decided in primaries where only the most motivated voters turn out and reward the candidate who embraces the "purest" views of the radical fringe that turns out in proportionally greater numbers in primaries.

Demagogues thrive at both extremes of our political parties. The kinds of people contemplated by Thomas Paine when he wrote:

“A government of our own is our natural right: And when a man seriously reflects on the precariousness of human affairs, he will become convinced, that it is infinitely wiser and safer, to form a constitution of our own in a cool deliberate manner, while we have it in our power, than to trust such an interesting event to time and chance. If we omit it now, some [dictator] may hereafter arise, who laying hold of popular disquietudes, may collect together the desperate and the discontented, and by assuming to themselves the powers of government, may sweep away the liberties of the continent like a deluge.”

Democracy is messy. It can be slow to arrive at consensus. It involves compromise and concession. It confounds the impatience and ideological certainty of the extremes. At that makes it a liability they would happily do away with if they could.

If our democracy is to survive, and that is very much an open question as I write this, we must end the plague of gerrymandering. Monocultures make environments vulnerable to disease and parasites, in ecology and politics.

I just bought Heather Cox Richardson's Democracy Awakening. I'll read it on Kindle while I'm on vacation. I hope it will offer some comfort. Seems appropriate on Independence Day.

Last night I tried to stream Netflix's new Eddie Murphy Beverly Hills Cop movie. For whatever reason, which I don't know or understand, I was unable to send it to the tiny TV here via AirPlay.

So I chose a movie from my own library. I was looking for something light, but selected Darkest Hour, without giving it much thought. Perhaps I knew subconsciously it was what I needed to see. More so even than a comedy.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:04 Thursday, 4 July 2024

Heather Cox Richardson:

But just as in the 1850s, we are now, once again, facing a rebellion against our founding principle, as a few people seek to reshape America into a nation in which certain people are better than others.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 06:57 Thursday, 4 July 2024

Skip the MSNBC part if you wish and go to the two veteran officers, now lawyers, as they discuss the grotesque obscenity perpetrated by the Supreme Court. We are in for a world of trouble.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 06:36 Thursday, 4 July 2024

I wasn't planning on giving money to political campaigns this year. But I've been slowly leaning toward changing that position. I'd hoped to begin putting aside money for my kids.

But I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

The conservative majority of the Supreme Court is corrupt and has violated its oath. It has displayed gross contempt for the honorable service and sacrifice of America's veterans. It has elevated the office of president, without constitutional basis, to an imperial one, unaccountable before the law.

It's up to us, through what remains of our democratic process, to rescue our republic.

And until such time as the shooting starts, ordnance means money.

I just donated $500 to VoteVets.org. I will donate more as the means and opportunity presents itself.

I'm asking you to consider doing likewise.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 13:47 Wednesday, 3 July 2024

I don't read many pieces in the news that seem to begin with criticizing Biden and demanding he drop out of the race. I find all that rhetoric self-serving. People posing as sage political savants. It's too late for all that and the Democratic Party will destroy itself trying to identify a new ticket.

There are some things I read that I find, if not reassuring, at least make me feel less alone.

David From in The Atlantic seems like a voice of reason. Stuart Stevens, whose book, It Was All a Lie, I read and kind of enjoyed, channels some of my frustration with the Democratic Party.

And I find Heather Cox Richardson has become my North Star.

I hope that this grotesque obscenity redounds on both the Supreme Court and Donald J. Trump. I hope that veterans' organizations around the country recognize the open and brazen contempt the court has shown to veterans and service members by making their oath meaningless. I hope that announcing this gross obscenity during the Fourth of July holiday renders its faithlessness and contempt in bold relief to every person who has raised their right hand and taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution that Clarence Thomas and Samual Alito have chosen to wipe their asses with.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:25 Wednesday, 3 July 2024

The emotion I'm struggling with the most is the title of this post. Mitzi and I were talking this morning and she speculated that this Supreme Court and its "decisions" will spark more "self-sorting" in America, with red states getting redder and blue states, well, less red.

The problem with self-sorting is one that I criticized Michael Bender, a professor at the University of North Florida who runs a political poll, for when he made a generalization that people tend to move to states that more reflect their values.

Florida is two states, one for the privileged and the other is ignored. Professor Binder was speaking of the former and committing the sin of the privileged regarding the latter. Poverty in Florida is a life sentence. Poor people can't afford to move. The kind of people moving to red states aren't exactly known for their generosity. Florida is defined by its policy of malignant indifference to the suffering of others.

Although that indifference has turned to open hostility toward those living on the margins of society.

Mitzi and I have spoken before of buying property in New York. More accurately, Mitzi buying property in New York. Although my navy pension and Social Security make me firmly among the privileged, I don't have the means to own property in two states.

I've been trying to save a little money this year. I hadn't planned on making any sizable donations to political campaigns. I thought I might try to amass a small sum to pass on to my children when I'm gone, though I think the opportunity for that has likely passed. I think now I'll look around and see where my money might best serve what remains of our democracy.

We have a narrow window to save the republic. If we can soundly defeat Trump and repudiate Trumpism and neo-fascism in November, install unambiguous if not commanding Democratic majorities in both houses of congress, we can reform the Supreme Court, and reduce the corrupting influence of The Federalist Society.

But it's a narrow window, and I'm not optimistic. I think America is on the verge of becoming a fascist autocracy like Hungary. I have to recall that I must "do my best, and the rest isn't up to me." And perhaps among my best actions is sending resources to those people still fighting for democracy in our nation.

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Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:03 Wednesday, 3 July 2024

I recalled that Treman was challenging, but we hadn't done the whole thing in years. I told Mitzi that when we got back to the car I was going to write a note about our experience so we wouldn't forget the next time, if there ever is one.

When we discussed making the hike, I suggested that we do the gorge trail first, as the rim trail was likely to be "easier." Three years ago, at a different gorge, Mitzi's daughter and son-in-law were with us. After hiking down the gorge we had the two young people hike back up the rim trail to collect the car and come down and get us. We had looked at the rim trail and it began with a long series of steps and said, "Nope!"

This was my first hike with trekking poles. I wore the Cotton Carrier G3 on my chest with the E-M1X on it. It's a large body for micro four-thirds, and it does obscure your view at your feet. If I hadn't had the trekking poles I doubt I could have completed the hike, and I'm certain I'd have fallen on more than one occasion.

The hike was glorious going down into the gorge. New York has had a decent amount of rainfall, I haven't checked, perhaps more than "normal" due to our new climate, so all the falls were running with impressive torrents for early summer. The temperature was low to moderate, I think the most I saw on the hike was 78°F and the humidity was relatively low, so sweating actually worked to cool our bodies. I could feel the salt on my face at the end of the hike though.

I took a bunch if pics, too many probably. I'll post some on Flickr, though perhaps not this morning. "Seen one waterfall, seen 'em all."

We rested awhile at the upper falls and then started back down the rim trail. I'd forgotten that it begins with a steep descent on a seemingly endless set of stairs.

I found that in descending, I had to extend the poles a bit. Figuring out what length to set them at was a bit of trial and error. Ascending or walking on more or less level terrain, 49 inches was about right. I could essentially keep my hands low at my waist and just use my wrists to swing the poles forward. Going up, I could put a pole higher on a step or steep part of the trail with my arm remaining low enough to actually give me some assistance.

The trails are studded with roots and rocks and I almost turned an ankle a couple of times. I worried about Mitzi, but she's been using poles far longer than I have.

The image above shows the elevation profile for the gorge trail, hiking up to the upper falls. The rim trail isn't identical, but it is easier. Before we set out on the rim trail, I asked ChatGPT if it was easier than the gorge trail. Here's what it offered:

In Robert H. Treman State Park, the Gorge Trail is generally considered more challenging than the Rim Trail. The Gorge Trail runs closer to the creek and features a series of steps, bridges, and steep inclines, providing closer views of waterfalls and rock formations. The Rim Trail, while still moderately challenging, tends to have fewer steep sections and more gradual inclines, making it a bit easier for hikers compared to the Gorge Trail.

I used the Activity app to record both hikes. The gorge trail took one hour and forty-nine minutes, and expended 635 "active calories." Average heart rate was 136 bpm. The rim trail took one hour and 27 minutes and expended 545 calories, with an average heart rate of 138 bpm. The difference in time is confounded by the amount of time I spent taking pictures on the gorge trail. The increase in average heart rate may be due to fatigue.

While the grotesque obscenity was much on my mind yesterday, prompted often by seeing people in the water and thinking that rules are for chumps in America, I did enjoy the beauty of my surroundings and the pleasant sounds of birdsong and rushing water.

I think the effort I expended hiking the trail would have otherwise been spent in anger and anxiety, and the hike was a far better experience.

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Originally posted at Nice Marmot 06:33 Wednesday, 3 July 2024

We hiked the gorge trail and the rim trail at Robert Treman state park today. It is described as being a "moderate," hike. I found it to be very challenging. I was exhausted when I went to bed before nine this evening, but now I find I can't sleep.

While we were hiking at both Treman and Taughannock, we saw people in the stream beds, or in the water, though the rules of the park specifically say to remain on the trail. But in America today, rules are for chumps.

I saw Heather Cox Richardson on the NewsHour yesterday evening. This ruling by the Supreme Court has been foremost in my consciousness ever since I learned of it. Again, I am dumbfounded that we seem to be so accepting of the overturning of one of the foundational principles of our country, our republic, which "Republicans" are always so eager to constantly point out, is not a "democracy," a "democratic republic."

This grotesque obscenity of a ruling has simultaneously reconciled two pernicious claims of the Republican Party.

The first is that, by making the office of president above the law, we may now have only the 2nd Amendment as a guarantor of our liberty.

I have never accepted that argument. It was the rule of law, that guaranteed our liberty, as imperfectly as that has been realized in our more than two centuries of existence. Imperfect, because it often failed many of our citizens, but perfectible, as we have striven to make real the vision proclaimed in the Declaration Of Independence, that "all men are created equal."

Now, that vision is rendered meaningless. The Supreme Court, an unelected, unaccountable body, some members of which have now been unequivocally shown to be corrupt to their core, has pissed all over Thomas Jefferson's words.

One man is above the law! One man is unaccountable to the law. And they willfully committed this obscenity with the knowledge and example of Donald J. Trump and January 6th, and had the incomprehensible temerity to suggest that the dissenting justices were relying on "extreme hypotheticals," to characterize the nature of this decision.

January 6th was no hypothetical.

The second isn't specifically a Republican claim, though they are now all irrevocably stained by Donald J. Trump and this court's faithless decision. It is Donald J. Trump's disgusting and pernicious belief that America's service members and veterans are "losers" and "suckers," as has been documented repeatedly by men of greater honor and integrity than Donald J. Trump and his "MAGA army" of bootlickers and sycophants.

The Supreme Court has not only pissed on the words of Thomas Jefferson, they have pissed on the graves of every American who made the supreme sacrifice, laid down his or her life, gave "the last full measure of devotion," in service to our nation to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

Apparently, none of us who swore that oath really understood what we were getting ourselves into. Only those solons in fancy robes and free RVs, who have never worn the uniform of our nations armed forces, knew the real truth.

This "decision," this grotesque obscenity perpetrated on the American people and a government that has been an imperfect beacon of liberty for more than two centuries, by unelected and unaccountable, corrupt ideologues, demagoguing from the bench, has made every sacrifice empty. Meaningless.

Every scarred body, every mangled limb, every damaged psyche borne by America's veterans is now a joke. Donald J. Trump was right, we were suckers. There was nothing in it for us. The Supreme Court has made everything we believed in empty. Meaningless.

May God damn these faithless sycophants, and may their immortal souls burn in Hell for all eternity.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 01:25 Wednesday, 3 July 2024

We've seen a bit of wildlife here at the VRBO. Two fawns wandered into the yard yesterday evening. One seemed a little concerned or curious about the hammock I put up between two trees. (Always look up before hanging a hammock.) This morning, a skunk wandered into the yard, and may be under the deck outside the kitchen door. I hope not though.

Hiked Taughannock yesterday. Easy two-mile hike to the falls and back. Spent a little time at the overlook before heading down. Weather was beautiful yesterday.

I mentioned I'd lost my St Johns Riverkeeper hat, so we stopped into the Cornell shop at the Ithaca Commons. I mentioned to the woman checking me out that my mother's brother, Henry, was enrolled at Cornell, but left school early during WW II to join the Army Air Corps and died in a training accident. (Part of his plane fell off.) She gave me a 20% discount, which was unexpected and very kind.

I really don't understand what's going on in our country. I think I get the dynamics, but it still feels unreal to me. It's bad enough with the climate crisis and all the other environmental and resource challenges we're facing, but this just seems like the worst. But, just gotta keep breathing. "Tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide will bring?"

Anyway, nice marmot...

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 08:58 Tuesday, 2 July 2024

She's not talking me off the ledge this morning.

Ironic that we've lost the Republic during the same week that we declared our independence from kings.

Like climate change, the fire that has engulfed spaceship earth and now threatens the life support system, I fail to understand why we are just taking this lying down.

Ron DeSantis routinely fired democratically elected state attorneys when he's unhappy with them. Florida's Supreme Court has said he has the authority to do so.

The only way I see out of this is for Trump to be defeated in November, and a Democratic majority elected to both houses of congress.

The Supreme Court must be reformed. Term limits. Add two or more additional seats. Rules for how vacancies are filled.

Of course, that would be litigated before the Supreme Court, so who knows what they'd do. Probably find it unconstitutional.

America has fundamentally, and possibly irrevocably, changed.

Not just because of Donald J. Trump, he was the ideal instrument, but because of a sustained effort by a fascistic element of America that loathes democracy.

They've succeeded in overturning the Constitution.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:21 Tuesday, 2 July 2024

"Everyone involved in that crime could be prosecuted."

Could be prosecuted.

Who does the Justice Department work for? Whose "official" acts are unreviewable by the Justice Department? Any prosecution could be delayed, forestalled, ended, just not brought, by a "loyal" Attorney General.

And if he was insufficiently loyal?

"You're fired."

We've lost the republic.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:12 Tuesday, 2 July 2024

With regard to the "Seal Team Six scenario"...

“If the secretary of defense does it, and whether it’s successful or not, everyone involved in that crime could be prosecuted save for one person — the person who ordered it,” Becker said.

That is his opinion. It won't be resolved until a court weighs the facts of the case. The President of the United States is the Commander in Chief of the United States Military. The armed forces of the United States are a part of the executive branch of government. The members of the military are sworn to obey the "lawful orders" of the president and the officers appointed over them.

The Supreme Court has said that the law does not apply to the president in the conduct of his official duties, and that is supposedly somehow enshrined in the Constitution, which the members of the military swear an oath to uphold.

The president himself cannot perform the missions and tasks of the military, that's why he has a military. He orders them to carry out those missions and tasks. Posse Commitatus Act? Literally no longer applies to the only person with the power to violate it.

Add to this that this president, or any future president, can fire defense secretaries and combatant commanders until he finds one who will obey his orders. And he won't have to go far to do so

Add to this the legal jeopardy officers and enlisted members of the military place themselves in when refusing to obey an order, the "lawfulness" of which is now utterly in question.

This is a disastrous decision in every dimension. Utterly incomprehensible. A power manufactured out of whole cloth to facilitate creating an autocracy in the United States of America, by unelected, unaccountable demagogues.

This should keep everyone up at night.

It did me.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 06:38 Tuesday, 2 July 2024

I don't recognize my country anymore. It has let me down before, but I believed in the institutions. I never thought the Supreme Court would weasel its way to making a president into a king. There is no way this decision does anything but promote more turmoil and bad faith.

Perhaps Biden should exercise his newly granted authority in creative, albeit "official," ways.

I never liked the "Seal Team Six" scenario. Service members are only bound by oath to obey "lawful orders." This raises the very serious, very legitimate question of just exactly what a "lawful order" is today.

I never imagined the Supreme Court as chaos agents. But if your agenda is to overthrow democracy, I guess it makes sense.

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Originally posted at Nice Marmot 18:13 Monday, 1 July 2024

We arrived at our VRBO rental yesterday afternoon. We took a little detour out of our way to Binghamton to tour the Phelps Mansion Museum. It was well worth the extra effort. There used to be a row of mansions on that street, but Binghamton never had the kind of economy that supported the degree of wealth that could support the maintenance and upkeep of large, elaborate homes.

This one survived because a women's group bought it as a clubhouse, and largely maintained it as constructed for a century. They did install some modern plumbing and a "modern" kitchen, and added an addition with a ballroom, but the interior details remain as the house was constructed in 1870.

They did make one sad mistake. In 1940, they discovered the rooftop cistern was leaking into the third floor, and they had the entire third floor removed. Since then, the museum has added a facade that recreates the exterior appearance of the third floor.

It's a tragic story, Mr. Phelps had a run of bad luck with regard to spouses and children dying. It's possible that the house may have contributed in some fashion with toxic materials. Asbestos, for instance, was used to add a sheen to wallpaper at the time.

I didn't bring a camera in with me, and made do with my phone. My cameras were all packed up in the car. I'm not thrilled with what I got, but I'll post the least bad ones on Flickr.

Mitzi loves the rental. I'm ambivalent. We can't park immediately adjacent to the house, so unloading the car involved carrying a couple of large, somewhat heavy plastic boxes down a stone paver path with steps. I discovered that it was easier to walk on the gently sloping grass instead of the pavers.

We are surrounded by trees. There is a fairly open area of sky, so I may get some star trails. But no shots of the Milky Way arcing above the horizon. There's a fairly wide stream flowing next to the property, and there are a couple of Adirondack chairs down there, overlooking it.

A lesson we have repeatedly failed to learn is that we should bring some of our own cookware, knives for instance. We're going to create a small box of essentials. I lack an 8" skillet here, so I can't make my usual breakfast, which I was looking forward to after a week of eating breakfast at restaurants and hotels.

The house is comfortable with large windows overlooking the yard and the trees. There is some view of the stream, though nothing that would make a photo.

I'm trying to decompress after more than a week of driving, visiting, sleeping and not-sleeping in hotels. Mitzi is planning, planning, planning and asking for my input when I just want to be still. At home, I'm usually up for more than an hour before she is, and I have that time to kind of get my day oriented. Here I'm trying to remain polite and composed.

The idea is to relax, but I'm just experiencing more stress. She's excited, I'm a little disappointed.

One good thing is that this is the first place we've stayed at in the region that has genuinely high-speed internet. I'm surprised, but they actually have fiber up here. Perhaps it's the proximity to Cornell, we're just up the road from Ithaca.

The weather has kind of turned on us. It's supposed to clear up in a couple of hours, and it is looking brighter out there, but it's been pretty cloudy since we arrived. Can't shoot stars through clouds.

We'll head out later and do the Taughannock Falls trail. It's an easy hike with a nice view of the falls. That should help clear my head a bit.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:55 Monday, 1 July 2024

Too much media. Everyone knows more than anyone else. Pay little attention to it. Focus on essentials. Breathe.

Focus on this moment. What's "your best," in this moment?

Spent yesterday with Mom. Spoke to all of my siblings. All the local ones came by. Had pizza and strawberry-rhubarb pie. Spoke to my son and my youngest daughter. Did more genealogy with Mom with the screen from the computer projected on the TV.

Mom needed a new Apple Watch. In case she falls. Got her a refurb from the veterans' store. Still pricey. Forgot to do the trade-in application. My brother can do that and use the credit.

Too much media. Breathe. Focus.

Too many pundits.

Focus.

Breathe.

One day at a time. One moment at a time.

Packing up the hotel room. Mitzi's in the pool. Say goodbye to Mom around 9:00. Three hours in the car to Trumansburg.

Fifty straight days of Expert in Quartiles. Never get all the words, but all the "quartiles," every time. It's the little things.

Seem to be missing my St Johns Riverkeeper ball cap. I liked that hat. Maybe in the car?

Read the Washington Post. Too much media.

All our infrastructure was built for a climate that does not exist anymore. This will gradually become brutally clear. A price will be paid for decades of denial and delay.

No one is saying Trump should drop out of the race. Why?

Too much media.

Focus.

Breathe.

Finish packing.

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Originally posted at Nice Marmot 06:36 Sunday, 30 June 2024

I brought along the little Olympus Stylus 1s to Port Ewen. This is shot from my sister-in-law's condo across the Hudson to the eastern bank of the Hudson. The train is headed up from Poughkeepsie to Rhinebeck. My daughter Caitie took that train a couple of years ago when we were staying in Kingston for a week.

Mitzi's key fob has gone dead. I did a little homework while she was calling a Toyota dealer. I have the manuals on my computer. While she was talking I popped my fob open with my Swiss Army knife and showed her I could replace the battery with no trouble. It's a CR-2450, so we'll stop at Walmart before we get to Mom's and pick up a two-pack, and I'll replace both of them.

My brother has asked me to not install the bidet. He wants to make sure they're permitted, and if they are, he says the maintenance staff will install it. That way if there are any issues, they'll resolve them.

Sounds good to me!

The news is not great on the climate front with the reversal of the Chevron decision. So much for "precedent," and "settled law." This is just a part of the right-wing conservative agenda, much of which is outlined in chilling detail in Project 2025.

I don't wish to be apocalyptic, but we're in a lot of trouble. This isn't a singular struggle, but part of a continuum of conflict that waxes and wanes through history. We're confronting very serious threats on multiple fronts, and the political is perhaps the most consequential, because that affects what resources we can bring to bear on the others.

People tire of politics, and I think that's intentional by politicians. But we have to find the wherewithal to engage in the process, to talk to one another about it, to work hard and participate. To do otherwise is to surrender our agency in affecting the course of history, determining our future. It does matter. Saying your vote doesn't count is an expression of fear, originates in fear. It's not reality.

We must believe in democracy, have faith in our ability to shape our destiny.

It's not time to give up, it's time to get up. The hour is late, but it's not too late. Talk to your friends, post on your blog, if you're on social media, well, you shouldn't be. But if you are, don't post from fear. Summon courage, channel it. We're all in this together, even the folks we oppose; but none of the things we value will endure if we surrender to fear.

You're in this fight whether you want to be or not. So stand up and fight, or you'll be letting fear win.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 10:21 Saturday, 29 June 2024