02-27-2023 - Dangerous Rail Crossings, Political Stuff, Thoughts About Golf, and of course, Another Shooting.

 

Brightline Letter Published

Yes, the Palm Beach Post did publish my letter, the one that appeared in the last blog posting, about the danger presented by the grade crossings on the tracks traveled by Brightline's high-speed trains.  I had pointed out that they printed four earlier letters on this subject from me all of which fell on deaf ears. In fact, they went me one better and referenced a fifth letter that I had not mentioned.  They captioned my latest letter, ‘Overpass ideas along FEC effectively derailed.’  Very clever!  And correct, too. Too bad only about 88,000 readers read the Post on weekdays.  

Why did I write that nothing will be done, despite my letters, those of others and even the Post’s caption agreeing with that?  The reason is that a majority of Floridians do not recognize the danger right before their eyes. Proof of that is their repeated election to State offices of candidates pledged to positions that are not in that majority’s best interests!  

Here's the sentence with which I closed my letter: 'The combination of Brightline, increased freight traffic, and the location of the FEC tracks add up to a disaster waiting to happen.” 

JL                  

                              *  *  *                          

Political Stuff:  DeSantis, News Sources, and a Question for You (and Ron)

I am not particularly worried about Ron DeSantis getting the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, or if he manages to do that, about his getting elected. 

In my opinion, the American public, at least those that vote, are smarter than the residents of Florida, who are easily swayed by right-wing emotional appeals to their fears and their historic bigotry.  Many retirees to Florida come from States where progressive ideas supported by a majority of voters prevailed and with which they personally opposed.  

But still, it is important to actively oppose such foes of democracy who pose as its savior, as DeSantis does.  To give an equal voice to proven liars is wrong!  And that must be fought.

Sometimes, when I view right-wing news articles forwarded to me by those who have been suckered into believing them and passing them on, I note the sources being quoted.  They are never credible media organizations or real newspapers.  They are always sources with credentials acceptable only to the far right and those who know no better. 

Here’s a question:  Would you, dear reader, consider replacing your primary family physician with Florida’s Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo?  I would wager that even Florida’s present Governor would not.  And I would bet that his kids are vaccinated, something Lapado discourages.  

JL                  

                              *  *  *                         

Another Day, Another Shooting

It’s clear that the killer of three in the Orlando area the other day had no particular agenda or motivation and was probably suffering from an undiagnosed mental disorder as most mass killers turn out to be.  Nevertheless, three innocent people are dead, including a TV reporter who was reporting on the first murder from its scene, to which the killer returned, and was murdered. 

The bottom line is clear.  The availability of guns in this country must be curtailed.  The gross misinterpretation of the Second Amendment by the Supreme Court in 2008 must be corrected.  Florida’s pathetic Republican-controlled State legislature is actually working to increase their availability and to allow anyone to carry a gun, no questions asked.  When in session, these puppets of the governor redefine ‘craziness’ on a daily basis.

Anyone who votes for any Republican legislator in Florida is an accessory to these latest murders, as well as to the Parkland and Pulse massacres.  Unfortunately, most Floridian voters, for a variety of reasons, fail to see the connection between mass killings and legislation passed in Tallahassee.

JL                  

                              *  *  *

 

The Honda Classic, Our Local Major Golf Tournament

Watching the Saturday round of the Honda Classic, it became clear to me that the sport of golf compromised itself when it allowed the almost unlimited presence of temporary grandstands surrounding the greens on the course’s key holes.  I’ve attended several Honda Classics over the years but never were there so many temporary grandstands all over the place.

In the past, I have enjoyed moving with the crowd from hole to hole to try to get as close as possible to the action, be it on a green, a fairway, or at the tee.  On those occasions where I had a grandstand seat, all I watched were golfer after golfer attempting to solve whatever challenge the green in front of me presented, and nothing more. It’s not unlike a seat at a football game where all you could see would be the ‘red zone’ from the twenty-yard line to the goal line, and nothing more of the field.

On the final hole on Saturday, golfer Chris Kirk with a two-stroke lead over his nearest competitor on that day's round, drove over the green with the ball nestling behind a sandbag stored at the base of the temporary grandstand, not many feet from the green itself.  Removing the bag and just leaving the ball where it lay did not give Kirk enough room to swing the club even an inch, because of its proximity to the grandstand.  I suspect, were the grandstand not there, the ball would have traveled a few yards further away from the green. 

The officials granted Kirk what in golf is known as ‘relief’ since his predicament was not part of the challenge a golfer faces in playing a golf  course, but instead, was caused by the tournament’s placement of the grandstand, which by following Rule 16 of the Rules of the USGA, constituted an ‘abnormal course condition.’  He was given the choice of several adjacent locations from which to hit the ball and received no penalty. Two strokes later, he putted the ball into the hole, and his lead for the day was preserved.

On Sunday, Kirk became the final Honda Classic winner (next year, there will be a new sponsor) in a playoff against Eric Cole, both of whom were tied after eighteen holes of golf.  The Rule 16 ‘relief’ he received on Saturday didn’t affect the tournament’s final results but what if that had occurred on Sunday, when it might have?

In any event, the people who run these lucrative golf tournaments should move their grandstands further away from the playing area where they clearly can constitute ‘abnormal course conditions.’ 

JL                  

                              *  *  *

           

Email Alerts:  If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do.  And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted.  (You can pass those email addresses to me by email at             jacklippman18@gmail.com . )

 

Forwarding Postings: And of course, please forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it. 

If you want to send someone the blog, exactly as you are now seeing it, with all of its bells and whistles, you can just tell folks to check it out by visiting https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com or by providing a link to that address in your email to them.

There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it too!   Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible.  If you click on the envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, (it looks like this:  ), you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses, along with a comment from you, each of which will receive a link to the textual portion only of the blog that you now are reading, but without the illustrations, colors, or variations in typography.

Either way will work, sending them that link or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting.  Again, I urge you to forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it. 

                  
       Have a nice day.

02-22-2023 - Deaf Ears, Meacham on 'Soul,' and the Gauntlet

                         * * * 

We Just Don’t Listen – Deaf Ears

Last week, a freight train derailment in Ohio caused a possibly dangerous release of toxins into the air and water in the area.  The State and the Norfolk Southern Railway attempted to manage the situation initially, but ultimately the Federal government via FEMA stepped into the situation.  It is still news worth following in the papers and online.  Coincidentally a letter appeared in the Palm Beach Post about dangerous railroad crossings that drew the following response from me. 

“The letter the Post published on February 18 urging overpasses at major FEC crossings will fall on deaf ears, just as the letters from me that the Post published on 4/20/2014, 10/19/2014, 7/22/2016, and 2/22/2022, have. The Norfolk Southern derailment in Ohio ought to serve as impetus to do something, but it won't.  The combination of Brightline, increased freight traffic, and the location of the FEC tracks add up to a disaster waiting to happen.” 

I will let you know if they publish it (which I doubt they will do).

JL                  

                          *  *  *

Soul, Values, and Grace

In his 2018 book, 'The Soul of America,' Jon Meacham defines the continuing struggle for that ‘soul’ between our 'better angels' as listened for in Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, and the ever-present forces of evil in our country. The latter won't go away, so the rest of us must continue to strive to be on the side of our 'better angels.' 

Meacham, who has had a great influence on President Biden, has defined ‘soul’ in a number of ways.  In August of 2020, Vanderbilt University where Meacham teaches, published this brief summary of his views about the definition of ‘soul.’

'Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Professor of the American Presidency at Vanderbilt University, implored Americans to embrace “the best parts of our soul” and let history “be our guide” during a nationally televised speech for the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.

 

Meacham defined what he refers to as the “soul of America,” a reference to the title of his No. 1 New York Times best-seller from 2018. “Humankind has long viewed the soul as the vital center, the core, the essence of existence. The soul is what makes us ‘us,’” he explained. “In its finest hours America’s soul has been animated by the proposition that we are all created equal and by the imperative to ensure that we are treated equally.”

 

He added, “From Harriet Tubman to Alice Paul to John Lewis, from the beaches of Normandy to the rending of the Iron Curtain, our story has soared when we’ve built bridges, not walls, when we’ve lent a hand, not when we’ve pointed fingers, when we’ve hoped, not feared.”

Meacham also invoked the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “From Jamestown forward, our story has become fuller and fairer because of people who share a conviction that Dr. King articulated on that Sunday half a century ago,” he said. “‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ Bending that arc requires all of us. It requires ‘We the People.’”

Meacham, a frequent national speaker, delivered the eulogy at former President George H. W. Bush’s funeral in 2018. His biography of the late civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis, His Truth Is Marching On (Random House), will be published Aug. 25.

Meacham participated at the Democratic National Convention in his individual and personal capacity. His appearance does not constitute an endorsement or support for any political candidate by Vanderbilt University.’

Some narrow this definition of ‘soul’ down to what one’s values are.  From a religious viewpoint, this can be taken to mean values directed toward achieving a state of ‘grace.’ 

‘Grace’ has many meanings, but many consider it the receipt of undeserved blessings.  That so many of us do not listen for the chords of Lincoln’s ‘better angels’ supports the idea that America’s blessings are ‘undeserved.’ (Isn’t this the basis of why Roman Catholics go to Confession and why Jews ask for forgiveness on the Day of Atonement?).  

That is all the more reason why we should cherish these blessings of which Meacham writes.

JL                  

                         *  *  *

Take Up the Gauntlet

Florida’s governor seems to think that oft-criticized right-wing targets such as Critical Race Theory, the 1619 Project, as well as efforts to achieve equality (as stated in the Declaration of Independence) through ‘inclusion, diversity and equity’ are bad things.  Even if you agree with him, it is wrong and un-American to try to remove the ideas they contain from availability to the public.

He has supported efforts to ban books from Florida’s public schools, weaken those schools by diverting tax money to private educational alternatives, and put pressure on the State’s institutions of higher education as well.

He has thrown down the gauntlet. 

His appointees and most elected Republicans blindly fall into line behind him. He discourages public awareness of these issues by making being awake to them, being ‘woke,’ some sort of illegal, if not subversive, activity.  These are the actions of despots throughout history.  DeSantis has falsely tried to make the expression 'woke' into a pejorative word.  Too many Floridians have bought this lie.

None of this is surprising because during his three terms in Congress, DeSantis was part of the right-wing Freedom Caucus which today includes those such as Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Greene, and Paul Gosar.  He is no better than they are. 

It is necessary for thinking individuals and businesses in Florida to take up that gauntlet and not permit the governor to successfully use it to appeal to the ever-present foes of democracy in Florida and elsewhere in the nation.

Remain politically involved.  Fight for voters’ rights, Support Democratic candidates. Oppose restrictions on abortion.  Support stricter gun control.  Make phone calls.  Write postal cards.  It was done in 2020 and 2022.  It must be done in 2024.

Take up the gauntlet.

JL                  

                       *  *  * 

·        Email Alerts:  If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do.  And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted.  ( You can pass those email addresses to me by email at             jacklippman18@gmail.com .

Forwarding Postings: And of course, please forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it.  If you want to send someone the blog, exactly as you are now seeing it, with all of its bells and whistles, you can just tell folks to check it out by visiting https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com or by providing a link to that address in your email to them.

There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it too!   Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible.  If you click on the envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, (it looks like this:  ), you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses, along with a comment from you, each of which will receive a link to the textual portion only of the blog that you now are reading, but without the illustrations, colors, or variations in typography.

Either way will work, sending them that link or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting.  Again, I urge you to forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it. 

                       

       Have a nice day.

02-18-2023 - Chaucer, Balloons, Immigration, Equity, and Guns

 

                               *  *  * 

Wonder why we’ve stopped searching for the remains of two of the ‘objects’ we recently shot down from out of our air space? Could be that an official translation of the Chinese lettering seen on the last sighting of the one shot down over Lake Huron has finally been made and it read, “Happy Birthday, Mei!”  (only kidding, but I couldn't resist adding it to the blog.)

JL                  

                               *  *  *                    

The Problem with Chaucer

The following fictitious letter (I made it up) was inspired by critic and writer Joan Acocella’s article (The Marrying Kind) in the February 13/20 issue of the New Yorker magazine. It was addressed to Governor Ed Sitnas at his office in the State House.  Please remember that this letter is pure fiction.

Dear Ed:

Excuse my addressing you by your first name, but I feel entitled to because of my efforts on my local school board to carry out your policies.  Philosophically, we are kin.  But getting to the point, my daughter, Hildegarde, is a junior at the State University where she is an English Lit major with a minor in Women’s’ Studies.

On a recent visit home, I had occasion to see one of her assignments. She was studying the works of the thirteenth-century writer, Geoffrey Chaucer, specifically his ‘Canterbury Tales,’ in one of her courses.

Chaucer

 The prologue to one of the tales he recounted, that of the ‘Wife of Bath,’ was quoted in some detail in the assignment, and it absolutely shocked me.   This woman, apparently a creation of the writer, in addition to mocking the institution of marriage,  described her lustful sexual appetite almost to the degree of it being pornographic, something that should not be a part of my daughter’s, or anyone’s daughter’s, education at a State-run college!

I urge you to see what you can do to remove the works of this Chaucer fellow from the libraries and coursework at our State colleges and universities.

Sincerely,

(Name withheld)

JL                                         

                                               *   *   *   *

The Immigration Crisis -  New York and Elsewhere

The immigration crisis is not just on the Southern border.  Florida and Texas are not the only places funding transportation to move immigrants elsewhere.  It may be out of the headlines, but this problem has not gone away.

New York City is filling unoccupied hotel rooms all over the city with thousands of immigrants with no other place to go.  There are thousands of them so housed at great expense to taxpayers.  The capacity for New York City to absorb immigrants has been far surpassed.  And with the welcome mat pulled away in Florida, too many immigrants set their sights on the Big Apple.

New York City is also providing bus transportation to the Canadian border for immigrants who might be welcome on the other side, not unlike the actions of Governors DeSantis and Abbott in Florida and Texas who are not reluctant to send immigrants northward in that same manner!

Some doubt the newly-elected New York City Mayor’s capacity to handle the problem.  It might be beyond the abilities of his new and inexperienced administration, even with the massive infusion of federal funds I suggested back on January 7.  Mayor Adams was elected with the support of many minority groups who because of their composition, are sympathetic to immigration, which adds to the challenges the city faces.

And meanwhile, the problem continues to fester on our Southern border.

President Biden’s program of vetting a limited number of potential immigrants beforehand from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Cuba, with applications to immigrate being made in advance by computer … before they embark for the United States, works only for those with access to computers and relatives already in the United States to sponsor them.  And the fact that our consular presence in some of those countries is non-existent or minimal does not help.  Stacking immigrants up on the Mexican side of the border is no solution.

We need something better than what amounts to a program designed for the elite among immigrants.  Really being personally in need of asylum from oppression and danger should be the prime consideration, not one’s personal and family resources.

Check out this blog’s postings of December 30, 2022 and January 7, 2023 for my earlier thoughts on this problem.  There is need for a no-nonsense, bi-partisan, national, solution to be made by Congress.  Now!

We must take great care, as a nation composed of immigrants, descendants of immigrants and of those brought here unwillingly, to be very careful about how we dim the ‘Lamp besides the Golden Door,’ about which Emma Lazarus wrote, but we must face up to the necessity of doing it in some measure. With some exceptions, given the opportunity, most people on this planet would rather live in the United States than wherever they presently are, and sad as it might be, we cannot accommodate them all.  

This is not a problem to be swept under the rug.   Executive orders suffice in emergencies, but they should not become official policy. 

Letting this problem simmer without a real solution provides a tool for the racist and white supremacist parts of the today’s anti-democratic forces in this country, which include those who have fought liberal immigration policies since the beginning of the twentieth century.  I repeat, we need a no-nonsense, bi-partisan, national, solution to be made by Congress.  Now!

JL                  

                           *  *  * 

More on Equity

The struggle for EDI, (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) discussed in my previous posting, continues.  (Go back and read it.  I still feel our society can provides room for those dependent on EDI to achieve equality, as well as for those who do not need such a ‘boost’ to attain it, without the former displacing or harming the latter.) 

I note that at a rally in Tallahassee protesting the Florida governor’s efforts to eliminate Afro-American history from State college curriculums and College Board advanced placement courses, one speaker recommended that Black athletes attending State schools (Univ. of Florida, FSU, Florida A&M, UCF, USF, FAU, FIU, etc.) choose to enter the ‘transfer portal’ and continue their education and sports activities at out-of-state institutions that respect democracy more than do Florida’s governor and legislators. This is a good suggestion, but one I suspect will not be taken seriously unless those teams’ ‘star’ athletes start entering the ‘portal’ for that reason.

Florida State Football Players

JL                  

                              *  *  * 

Another Reason for Stricter Gun Control Laws

Nary a day goes by on which you don’t read about (if you still read newspapers) someone being killed by a weapon carelessly left lying around a home somewhere.  Today it was a three-year old tot who knew there was a gun in his parents’ night table, found it, and is now dead. 

Another was found stashed atop the refrigerator in the kitchen by the police.  The parents were out grocery shopping leaving their children in the care of their oldest, age 16.  Oh, yes, the father is a Florida corrections officer.  Draw your own conclusions.  Mine is that fewer weapons in the hands of the public means less opportunity for their misuse when in the wrong hands.

JL                  

                                  *  *  * 

Email Alerts:  If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do.  And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted.  (You can pass those email addresses to me by email at             jacklippman18@gmail.com )

 Forwarding Postings: And of course, please forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it.  If you want to send someone the blog, exactly as you are now seeing it, with all of its bells and whistles, you can just tell folks to check it out by visiting https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com or by providing a link to that address in your email to them.

There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it too!   Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible.  If you click on the envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, (it looks like this:   ), you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses, along with a comment from you, each of which will receive a link to the textual portion only of the blog that you now are reading, but without the illustrations, colors, or variations in typography.

Either way will work, sending them that link or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting.  Again, I urge you to forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it. 

                          
        Have a nice day.