The perfect song for the 12^th Annual Solstice Story.

Pablo Cruise Find Your Place in the Sun

Winter Solstice  2017, Dec 21st, 10:27AM

Sunrise:  7:48am  Sunset  4:34pm

Yuck, 8 cold, freaking hours and 46 stinking minutes!

Compared to:

Summer solstice sunrise: 5:26am Sunset:  9:03pm

Hot damn, 15 hrs and 37 min’s of glorious sunshine!

You know what? I’m tired of fighting this battle every year. I’m sick of rejoicing in the long, languid days of summer and then plunging into a pit of despair during the interminable, numbing short days of December. You might say that I’m sort of like a dull male dog (is “dull male” an oxymoron?) heading to the veterinarian of seasons: life is great; see the nice doctor lady, wagging tail, get a doggy treat . . . and then, well, you know, suddenly you’re wearing the head cone of winter shame. Ugh. 

So, just move to FL full time, you might say, and quit complaining about winter, you whiner!  Ah, but grasshopper, you misunderstand me. I don’t want to die of heat prostration in the summer and freeze my ass off in the winter. Also, I don’t want to pack up the dog and Mrs Dear Leader and drive  back and forth across the country like a Sun-possessed Tom Joad. No sir, in my dotage I want some kind of consistency. I want dependable days and nights, somewhere that the solstice is a non-factor!

You say, “Dear Leader, that’s just crazy talk, there has to be a solstice.” I know, I know, the sun revolves around the earth, the days get longer and then they get shorter – blah, blah, blah. (What, you thought the earth rotated around Sun? Ha! that Copernicus guy was just an early elitist, a so-called “expert” - fake news! - trust me on this.)  Anyway, I’ve got  the real news for you.

Look at this:

Summer solstice Sunrise:  6:12  Sunset:   6:19

Vernal Equinox:                6:17  Sunset:   6:24

Autumnal Equinox:           6:03  Sunset:   6:10

Winter Solstice    Sunrise: 6:08   Sunset:  6:16

Just about 12 hours of splendid sunshine ALL THE FREAKING TIME!

And all you gotta do is  . . . move to Quito, Ecuador! (Well, you could always move to Nairobi, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur too, I guess, but I’ve been to Quito and it’s only one time zone a way.)  Then there’s this: Retire to Quito, Most Beautiful City in So America. Even better, a martini is only like a buck and a half!

So there you have it, problem solved.

Okay, there is one little detail – telling Mrs Dear Leader about my plan. But I’m sure you’ll agree that she will think it’s a great idea too!

Be sure you check out this song as well - not only is it still a great tune but you get to see what 40 some years does to a guy. In my case, I can just look in a mirror (and thankfully I haven’t aged at all.) 

Pablo Cruise What You Gonna do?

PS
In next year’s epistle plan on hearing me complaining about being bored because every day is the same. . .

Jun 20^th, 4:44PM

This cannot possibly be true! Damn it, don’t tell me that it’s already the freaking summer solstice again. I don’t want to hear that we are already beginning that downward spiral to the depths of winter. Wasn’t it just a few short weeks ago that we were peering into the gloom at 4PM on a winter evening? That we were high stepping through snow and slush cursing both the darkness and the cold? And now after a few short weeks of sunshine, shorts, flip flops (and yoga pants), after this brief respite we are already heading back to that cold dystopia?

We are? I asked you not to tell me that!

I know I should be a man and just embrace the so-called theater of seasons but I can’t. Call me a liberal but I just can’t stand the injustice of it all – I’m a victim, I tell you! Life is hard enough just dealing with the aches and pains of getting old – and trying to get a good senior rate at golf courses – but the inequity of also being teased by a few days or weeks of nice weather and then dropped into the hell that is winter in Minnesota just seems . . . poopy.  

  

Okay, I will do my best to man up under this unfair burden and try to get through to the winter solstice which, of course, starts this whole unbearable cycle again. I warn you though that it will almost certainly include departing the area along with the birds, ducks, geese and other intelligent creatures. I will go where the only kind of ice anyone has heard of is that which one finds in a good martini – and not associated with the word “black.” Where sliding is associated with a boogie board on the beach and jump starting is what is done to geezers whose pace makers have seized up. I will survive.

Friends, winter is coming (for you Game of Thrones fans) so be strong.

See you Dec 21st  

Memorial Day 2017 – The Last Full Measure . . .

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. 

Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

Memorial Day, is at hand, that special day in May when many of us journey to the community cemetery for services. We gather to hear speeches and prayers commemorating our loved ones and friends who had served their country so faithfully. 

Winston Churchill once famously said, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few” when talking about the Royal Air Force fighting the German Luftwaffe in WWII. This could equally be said for all those now lying beneath the flickering flags. Special tribute should be paid, however, to a small, elite group of fallen heroes: those that died in combat. While millions of us have served in the military over the years, a tiny number – far less than one percent - of our comrades have made the ultimate sacrifice in combat, allowing the rest of us to carry on with our lives. 

This reality is even more stark when put into actual numbers. In the 20^th century, and so far in the 21^st, we have lost something over 600,000 men and women in combat. The vast bulk of the deaths occurred for the “good wars,” (if there is such a thing) WWI and WWII. Then there were the so called “bad wars” – or at best, dubious wars – like Vietnam and Korea, that make up most of the rest of the deaths. That leaves the unlabeled but questionable Iraq and Afghanistan, the longest wars in our country’s history - and still going – as well as our many “police actions” around the world making up the final several thousand souls. 

Think about that: soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines roughly equal to the population of Minneapolis and St Paul bore the burden for all the deaths in combat in all our modern wars.

"I was a part of the war in Vietnam,

I went as an eager curious young man,

And came back home, jaded and weary

For I learned more that one year

Than most will ever learn in a lifetime.

I saw reality, and it was ugly,

                                         I experienced truth, and it was bitter."                                        "To a College Class" Curtis D Bennett,  Vietnam Vet and Poet  

In light of there sacrifice, the easiest thing in the world for the rest of us to do is go to a cemetery once a year, say some prayers, sing some songs and lay flowers on the graves of loved ones. The more appropriate but much more difficult thing is to understand why those loved ones repose there in the first place. Our first and most sober duty then should be to remember that they lie there because our government decided that they should fight and die for their country. No, that’s not exactly right. More correctly stated, they are there because WE, the people, decided they should fight and die for us.

It won’t make their sacrifice and loss any less painful but when put that way perhaps we can assume some small share of the burden.

Countries have asked – demanded? – that their young people fight and die for thousands of years and there’s no reason to believe it will change any time soon. For their sake, then, and for the sake of future Memorial Days, remember to choose wisely when you send your sons and daughters off to war, be sure it is a cause for which YOU would die.

                                Twenty-four hours a day they walk the line  

                                 Living up to the reputation. 

                                Assuming the swagger, the hard line,                            

                                 Their casual indifference to death.                                                                                     “Young Men” Curtis D Bennett 

The photo of me was taken circa 1973 while on a C130 gunship mission in SEA. A couple years later - okay, over 40 yrs later - a photo was taken of my son, Eric, while he was crew chiefing an HH53 Pave Low Special Ops helicopter in Iraq in 2004. Mrs Dear Leader was taken by the similarity of the pose and, well, him and me so she had this composite picture made. We are in debt to you, dear.

Rest in peace, comrades, your watch has ended.

D Roger Pederson    

Retired Military Officer     

Vietnam, and various other "police actions" vet

                            “When a Father Leaves for War” Hunter J Fowler, Son of Iraq vet and poet

There’s a little boy standing by the fence with a flag in his hand 

 He’s sad and confused; he doesn’t understand.

 He watches his daddy turn and head up on the bus. 

He watches him go and doesn’t make a fuss. 

“Why does it have to be my daddy?” he thinks to himself. 

Then he thinks back to the pictures on the shelf 

Of his daddy dressed in a suit with white cap,

But he doesn’t know why daddy’s going to Iraq.

Is Minnesota Ready to Become a Cold Florida?

So as you know, we winter – well, most of the winter and apparently not enough of it – in FL. FL is a red state; governor, and both houses of the legislature and pretty much every other government body in the state down to and including dog catchers. Oddly, it is still pretty similar to MN in that it has a LOT of relatively "blue" areas (Like here, areas where most of the people actually live – go figure.) Any hoo, the people there are kind of conflicted just as we are here. For example, the Tampa St Pete area where we stay is desperate for some sort of transit (they are well on their way to becoming a FL version of the nightmare that is Atlanta - ugh.) Everyone knows they need to do SOMETHING . . . yet apparently their aversion to “ big gubmint” solving any problems precludes them from actually proposing or voting for it – so, hey, build some more lanes! (And traffic, of course, just gets worse.)

FL is also the home of the “stand your ground” law which says that if you feel threatened you can shoot the bastard and not be arrested. While we were there, an old guy (retired cop) shot another guy in a theater because the dead guy was using his phone during the previews – cretin, that almost IS a shootin' offense! Turns out that the shooter felt threatened when Mr. AT&T got mad and knocked over the shooter’s popcorn – BANG, problem solved. In the end, the judge ruled the shooter was not covered because the current law requires that the shooter prove they were threatened and he didn’t. Republican solution: change law so that the prosecution must prove that the shooter wasn’t threatened. I kid you not. Not sure if it passed but, well, you get my point, they are very serious about their guns!

Did I mention their public school system? Virtually anyone with any means at all sends their kids to private schools because the public system is so poor. To their credit, they know it and they are trying to do something but when your teachers are terrifically underpaid and universally disrespected it's kind of difficult to turn it around. (This seems to be a common thread among a lot of red states - and some blue ones too - but I'm sure it's just a coincidence.) Any of this sound familiar? 

Now FL is a notoriously corrupt state – and I don’t mean as in Republicans. It has been corrupted and pillaged in a bipartisan way for a hundred years (read any Carl Hiassen book for a hilarious but tragic history.) Thankfully, that is very different from our Minnesota experience.  We are fortunate to live in a state that has a history of trying to do the right thing for the most people most of the time. Republicans and Democrats have battled back and forth here forever – when one starts going overboard they get thrown out and the other guys get voted in – but there was always some common parts of our experience; we are all Minnesotans with common ideas of what it means to be a Minnesotan and not afraid to do what was right for all Minnesotans: good public education, good roads and transportation, helping those most in need like the elderly, (me, me!) the disabled and those fallen on hard times. Because the parties had at least these things in common we have been an island of political civility and good governance. Some may call that liberal but I choose to call it pragmatic (of course I'm also Scandinavian and we know how THEY are!)

But something has changed and I’m beginning to get worried.

Our Republicans are starting to sound like the dummies that run FL, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and a number of others including, god help us, Kansas (check out what 5 years of extreme right wing economic experiment has done there; hasn’t been too great for Wisconsin either.) All fine states I suppose – but there’s a reason that few people will move there no matter how low their taxes are; they just aren’t great places to live. Why? At least partly because of a governmental paranoia; an intense fear that government might actually be able to solve problems that help the people - all the people - and we wouldn’t want that! These states are run by he men (and he women?) who busted sod and lifted themselves up by the boot straps and did it on their own without the damn gubmint interfering! (Okay, that last part was snark for the irony impaired.)

I have no doubt that Democrats need to take some blame - maybe a lot of blame - for this apparent lurch to the right by our Republican friends.  As with the national party, Minnesota's has become arrogant and elitist to an extreme as well. Overbearing political correctness and blatantly ignoring the needs of people who are a natural constituency is seldom a good political strategy. And it wasn't.  

Nonetheless, from transit to the DNR, from health care to education and from protecting hard won rights of minorities and others to the environment, the  Republicans are drifting dangerously close to making us a poor, sad, cold version of Arkansas or many of the other red states that are getting to live the latest great Republican dream of an America . . .  in the 1950’s.  I do not doubt their sincerity, I simply think they are misguided.

The history of America, of humans in general, is progress. Duh, otherwise we’d still be living in caves and driving cool cars with stones wheels! There is certainly room for differences in how to manage or embrace the changes that progress brings – as there should be – but as Thomas Wolfe said 8o years ago, “You can’t go home again.” The past is gone and the future is coming and it could not care less about our political beliefs and petty human squabbles.

Please talk to your representatives, both Republican and Democrat, and tell them that we can’t go home, we have to go forward – because that’s where we are going rather we want to or not. 

Uh oh, kind of crappy weather here so time to ponder big thoughts. Crappy but big ones.

My bride recently made a marvelous post about the wonderful Muslim lady from French Guinea who tended her dad while he was in great decline from Alzheimer’s; that’s my inspiration today.

We’re only 10 days into the reign of our man/child king and it is not too soon to draw some conclusions. But first a disclaimer: I have followed Trump for over 10 yrs due to my interest in business and financial stuff (interest in, not skill.) I have disliked him intensely pretty much from the get go. I don’t like his mannerisms, his over-the-top speech and gestures, his preposterous boastfulness (that seems to hide some Freudian issues). Most of all I hate his hair.

You don’t have to be a Trump disliker though (hate is such a strong word) to be getting a little nervous about the dude who is proving to be the same petty, lying sociopath as president as he was as a candidate. Quibbling about crowd size? Claiming hooouuge voter fraud for his losing the popular vote (by more than anyone since 1876.). Puttin’ the lovin’ on Putin, a well-known devotee of democracy (and perhaps a reason not to release tax records?) And making his surrogates go out and lie to support his lies. Nice guy.

All politicians lie, especially presidents so it should be refreshing that Trump is actually following through on his promises. But it’s not because so far, it’s the worst of them. It remains to be seen what he actually does for all the poor saps that got him elected. He has selected a cabinet that seems uniquely qualified to fulfill his promises . . . to gut their respective departments. (Not that there isn’t a good argument for getting rid of some of them honestly.) No, not shrink or improve their quality but to literally gut them. With the important exception of the DoD -  thank god, he got that right - Mattis is a good man. Unfortunately, it appears to have been a fluke or a coincidence based on most of his other selections. This a group that should swim nicely in the swamp!

Building a wall? Truly stupid and a waste of money. Imposing taxes and tariffs? Raises prices for Americans, mostly hurting the folks that voted for him. Swell. Banning immigrants from Muslim countries – except, of course, those that have business ties to his companies. Pretty much unconstitutional. And now word that he may not follow the court order? His chutzpah is breathtaking!

Freedom of the press anyone? ALL presidents hate the press but it’s not the press’ job to be liked, their job is to try and keep the government honest. (And yes, most reporters are dinks.) Are they always good at it? Nope. But now we have a cretin in the office who not only hates them, he wants to destroy them and crush their ability to do their job. His right-hand man (and I do mean “right”) Stephen Bannon even went so far as to say the press should shut up! By the way, Trump has now placed this right-wing zealot on the National Security Council and reduced the role of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff. What could possibly go wrong with that?! (I’m kinda hoping the guy carrying the “football” with the nuclear codes loses the key if Trump asks for it.)

So, yeah, I've come around somewhat to my adult kids' points of view and I’m getting more than a little nervous. And you should be too, especially if you are one of those conservatives who claim to believe in the Constitution. If you aren’t afraid too then you are either not paying attention or you are so blinded by the Snake Oil Saleman in Chief’s false promises that you can’t see the danger this guy presents to the country. 

Obviously it is very early and too soon to panic but it is NOT too early for for Republicans, who basically own the government right now, to get a grip on this guy or they are going to look like the Democrats in a couple years  - or perhaps something even worse. (By the way, have you ever noticed that pretty much every single time one party holds the presidency and Congress they always assume everyone loves their dumbest ideas and immediately try to force them down out gullets rather than things we really want them to do? Every - single - time. Just wait and see what this gaggle does.)

Trump is showing several eerie similarities to another authoritarian who hated the press, bullied businesses and singled out a religious minority and foreigners. (Did I mention he spoke German?) Can’t happen here? Let’s not find out, talk to your congress critters - especially if they are Republican - and tell them to start worrying too.

Speaking of snake oil, here is a very thoughtful article that I read in the Tampa Tribune. It is not just about Trump but about why we poor, sad human beings are such suckers for all types of snake oil salesmen, from cancer cures . . . to making a country great (again.) Give it read when you get a chance.

Snakeoil Salesmen Over the Years