Citizen Fetus

One of the rather thin arguments against calling Robert E. Lee a traitor is that to be a traitor, you must first be a citizen. In 1860 there was no legal definition of citizenship in the United States. It's hard to  prove that Bobby Lee was an American citizen, so how can we prove that he was a traitor?

Of course, Lee had served in the American army, and he had sworn the usual oath of allegiance to the United States many times to guarantee his loyalty. In return he had gotten a free college education, a job, etc. 

Citizenship was finally defined in 1868, after the Civil War, in the fourteen amendment. "All persons born or naturalized in the United States   . . . are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." So I did not become a citizen until I was born in Compton, California. Here is something for originalist Republicans to work on. Why hasn't citizenship been conferred on fetuses?  

Covering Wine

Our Sonoma County newspaper ran a challenging headline on the front page Wednesday; they are "Expanding Our Wine Coverage," which may be impossible. It's brave of them to try.

Success!

The American women's basketball team won a world championship against China a few days ago. The women's team is the most successful team we have in any sport. It wins and wins. 

I tried to watch and record the game, but it was not available. I searched. I did find a place that promised to show the game in Spanish, so I recorded that. What I recorded turned out not to be a basketball game.

When I realized that no station was covering the American team, I switched and looked for someone covering the game from China. I did find that, but it cost too much. 

The game was not mentioned on television or in a newspaper here in Sonoma County. If women win a world championship and no one mentions  it, did it really happen?

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Representative

Right now, after tRump has been exposed as an idiotic, irresponsible, childish huckster who would stomp your kitten to death for fun, more than 40% of our voters still support him. Why? What does this tell us about voters?

A fascist has been elected to lead Italy. Elected semi-fascists lead Sweden, Hungary and Russia. What does this tell us about representative democracies? Asking for a friend.

Maury Wills

Maury Wills died this week. And a few months back, Tommy Davis died. The two of them, along with Sandy Koufax, once won three World Series titles for the Dodgers.

Davis twice led the lead in hitting. Wills was the first player to steal 100 bases in one season. He changed the game. The Dodgers' offense consisted of Wills singling, stealing second and stealing third. Then Davis would drive him home. Koufax would pitch a shut out, and the Dodgers would win. 

I'm a Giants fan, but why aren't Wills and maybe Davis in the Hall of Fame?

New Zealand Recruitment

In 2018 the police and other security forces in Germany killed 11 people. In New Zealand they killed one man. In the United States police killed 1,503 people in 2018, and in the Philippines police probably killed around 6,000--the number is approximate. I'd like to focus on the comparison between New Zealand (1 death) and the USA (1,503 deaths). What factors explain the difference?

One attempted explanation is the bad apple theory (bad apples killed 1,503 people). Another theory is that if we retrain the police, they will develop new, gentler personalities and kill fewer people.  

NZ has about one-seventieth the population of America. To be fair, we should multiply New Zealand's one death a year by 70, making the difference a less striking 1,503 to 70.  Also NZ has a commonsense system of gun control. The main difference, maybe, is that the police academies in NZ  won't admit a potential shooter. Shooters get screened out in prolonged testing. For police academies (and Harvard) the old rule applies: what comes in is what goes out. New Zealand hires nonviolent officers. 

 

 

Are Chimpanzees Fascist?

Do chimpanzees, our close relatives, resemble MAGA fascists?

Only in part. Chimpanzees lack religion and capitalist elements, and, unlike fascists, chimps do not reject the Enlightenment.   

Consider this: MAGAts and chimpanzees are bothf    aq extremely traditional. 

For fascists action is beautiful in itself. Thinking is emasculating. Chimpanzees often act without reflection. 

Disagreement is treason for fascists. Chimps seldom disagree with the Leader. 

Fascism seeks unity by exploiting a natural fear of difference. Attacking chimps with strange smells is basic to chimpanzees. 

Chimps will sometimes band together to attack the Leader. Fascists also experience the fear and humiliation involved in being of inferior status. Fascists and chimps may have different ranks and feel a lack of a clear social identity, but they do claim membership in a common, superior tribe.

Fascists and chimpanzees are extremely suspicious of the intentions of other tribes, who are suspected of evil plotting against them.

For chimps pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. Fascists also regard life as a long struggle with enemies for food. Fascists argue that the minorities have too much food, which they will forfeit at the conclusion of the permanent war against everyone else. (How a permanent war can end remains unexamined by chimpanzees.)

Chimps and fascists believe they belong to the best-led group in the world. The different ranks share a kind of shadowy mass elitism. The male fascist engaged in permanent war is a hero in his own eyes. But individuals have no voices. The Leader speaks for all of them. This can result in what Mark Leibovich calls "trickle down idiocy."

So Long, Rasta Charlie

In the newspaper I read an article by Austin Murphy illustrating a mix of human motives. Back in 2005 Santa Rosa, California, commissioned dozens of artists to paint uncolored statues of characters found in the Peanuts cartoon strip created by Charles Schulz. About 70 statues, painted in 70 different styles, were then placed in strategic spots around the city.

Schulz and his family are the pride of Sonoma County.

Artist Maria Krahn painted a tan-colored reggae version of the Charlie Brown statue, most likely because she likes reggae and she has a half-Jamaican daughter. 

The Rasta Charlie was seen in more than one spot but ended up in front of a store in Montgomery Village. It proved a draw for the store and remained there until now. 

Recently a woman filed a  complaint with the corporation that owns Montgomery Village, a huge, somewhat upscale shopping area. The woman stated that Rasta Charlie was racist, just Charlie Brown "in blackface." I  believe she spoke of cultural appropriation.  

On the basis of two complaints by one woman, the corporate  management of Montgomery Village told the store that Rasta Charlie has to go.

Sherman

 "I have never been a politician, and therefore undervalue the excited feelings and opinions of present rulers, but I do think, if this people cannot execute a form of government like the present, that a worse one will result."

William T. Sherman