Adventures In Recycling

Early in my career, I worked on a large project with consultants from a well-known firm, a company whose name started with A. After the Enron scandal, Company A rebranded to a different name which also starts with A.

Company A was leading the project, so we worked side by side with their people. I sat in a room with three of the A consultants, collegial young fellows who enjoyed talking about sports and sharing movie quotes. We got along pretty well; they invited me out for drinks a few times.

Another consultant from Company A was young lady named Holly. Holly’s desk was elsewhere on the floor, but she stopped by our room frequently. One of the guys was her boyfriend.

In our room, not far from my desk, was a recycling bin for papers. One day, Holly threw trash from her lunch into the bin. I mentioned to her calmly and politely that the bin was for papers. Trash should be tossed elsewhere.

There was a tense silence in the room. Holly didn’t acknowledge my comment. No, “Oh, I didn’t realize that.” Just silence.

Boyfriend didn’t take this well. For the next hour, he raided file cabinets all through the building, bringing back ream after ream of paper which he threw violently into the recycling bin. He’d disappear for a few minutes and return with more paper. Slam! Right into the bin!

When the bin was stacked to the top with what must have been fifty or sixty pounds of paper, Boyfriend brought two coffee pots from the cafeteria and dumped the coffee into the recycle bin. It was a huge mess. None of the paper could be recycled.

I can only guess at Boyfriend’s intentions. Perhaps he thought that he was teaching me a lesson for daring to criticize his squeeze. It was the most unprofessional behavior I have ever seen.

Every time I see an ad for Company A, I still think of that guy. “Hire us. We’ll run your project, quote ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ all day long, and if you criticize us, we’ll act like angry toddlers.”

Let's Solve A Puzzle!

Let’s solve a puzzle! Here are the clues.

1. The administration deported hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers to a country that is not their country of origin. This seemed random. Why would they do that, and why were these people given no due process before being shipped off to a foreign prison?

2. The president signed an executive order ending birthright citizenship. This seems frivolous, as it’s a right guaranteed in the US constitution, but the supreme court has already ruled against provisions in the same amendment. They could do it again. They used this case to ban federal judges from issuing nationwide injunctions. When a president issues an illegal order, it will be more difficult for the courts to block it.

3. After numerous legal battles, the supreme court ruled that the president does indeed have the authority to deport people to random countries.

4. The president publicly threatened to strip Americans of their citizenship and deport them. This raises the stakes considerably. Now, in addition to deporting non-citizens to random countries, they want to extend this practice to US citizens. If the high court rules that citizens can be stripped of their citizenship, this will not only be possible, but it can be expedited.

5. The bill recently passed by the congress massively increases funding for immigration agents and detention centers, a.k.a. concentration camps.

6. Project 2025 suggests that the US population should be limited to 100 million. Currently, there are 350 million US citizens. How are they planning to reduce the number to 100 million? 

The logical conclusion is that the administration, at the behest of Project 2025, plans to reduce the population of the US dramatically through all available means, including denaturalizing and deporting citizens.

Political Violence

When DJT came down the escalator to announce his political career ten years ago, I notice two things.

1. His wife was in front of him on the escalator

Every gentleman knows that the woman must be ABOVE the man on a staircase, so he can catch her if she stumbles. When a couple descends a staircase together, the man goes first. Trump flunked Man School.

2. The campaign was defined by demagoguery

DJT immediately launched into a series of unfounded smears about immigrants from Latin America, calling them criminals, rapists, and drug smugglers. Later he would claim that Latin American countries were emptying their prisons and mental institutions and sending “the worst of the worst” to our country.

Immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than US-born citizens, but Trump and his supporters in right-wing media have perpetuated the myth of the “dangerous immigrant” as a way of scaring their base into supporting his authoritarian policies.

The Irony is that there’s a real problem in Latin America that Trump failed to mention: political violence. Run for mayor in Mexico, and a drug cartel will probably try to kill you. It’s dangerous to be a politician in Latin America.

And yet, the lasting legacy of the Trump presidencies is political violence:

- The siege of the US Capitol on January 6

- Speaker Pelosi’s husband attacked in his own home

- Democratic politicians shot in Minnesota

- Two attempts made on DJT’s life

- Arson at Tesla dealerships

- The plot to kidnap the Governor of Michigan

- Arson at the PA Governor’s Mansion on Passover

- Cars ramming crowds in New Orleans, Charlottesville, et al.

- A mass shooting at the July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois

Harsh rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and demonization of the other have brought us to this point. How will we find our way back to sanity?

Random Thoughts - 20250507

Random Thoughts - 20250507

My name is Daniel. I’m 185 centimeters tall. I’m one of the people who graduated from my high school. My zodiac sign is among my twelve favorites, but I’m guessing that yours is, too.

I prefer the Jim Phelps version of Mission: Impossible to the Ethan Hunt version. Stunts don’t add to the story.

The Naked Gun is one of my favorite comedies despite the fact that no one gets naked, and despite one glaring casting issue.

I like to travel, but I’ve never been to Morocco. I have nothing against Morocco; a trip there just hasn’t risen to the top of my to do list.

“Walking In Memphis” is one of my favorite songs. I haven’t been to Memphis either. Occasionally, I imagine walking there and writing a song about it.

I didn’t care for broccoli or lima beans when I was a kid, but I’ll eat them now. I like most vegetables, but I’m not vegan. If you are, I’d prefer not to discuss it.

I watch lots of news, but I don’t spend time thinking about the price of eggs. I can’t remember the last time I bought one. It’s difficult to imagine needing twelve of them.

I once saw a UFO while driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I was driving. The UFO was flying off to my right, heading in the same direction but faster. It was daylight, but no one seemed to notice. Noticing things is a lost art.

I’m fairly open-minded, but I believe that authoritarianism is universally awful. I doubt that anyone would be able to convince me otherwise.

Good people die too soon. Bad people have a long shelf life. I don’t know why that is, but it complicates history.

The Chinese zodiac is also based on the number 12. That strikes me as an unlikely coincidence.

Lies

The pat exaggerations

That shape the way we live

The blame and accusations

We’re oft prepared to give

Convenient excuses

We store on private shelves

The most corrosive lies

Are the ones we tell ourselves

The Era Of Political Corruption

What bothers me most is not that our government is about to be led by a convicted criminal, a corrupt and vengeful authoritarian who threatens to abuse power and prosecute political rivals. Dangerous scoundrels have been involved in politics since the dawn of mankind.

What bothers me most is not that a plurality of the electorate voted for this scoundrel. People are routinely convinced to vote against their own best interest. The propaganda that makes this possible is more prevalent today than ever before.

What bothers me most is that all of the controls that were meant to prevent corruption and the rise of authoritarianism have failed.

Impeachment is neutered by partisan loyalty.

The rights afforded to protect criminal defendants have been exploited to further criminal gains. 

The justice system was hog tied by an endless stream of appeals and delays.

The Fourteenth Amendment and the Emoluments Clause have been deemed unenforcible.

The judicial branch, corrupted by deep pocketed interests and a lack of ethical accountability, made a series of absurd and unprecedented judgments for the sole purpose to render one criminal defendant in particular above the law. It’s as though they wrote an extra article of the constitution to protect him and he alone.

The rule of law has been reduced to a quaint slogan.

This is what bothers me most, because it’s difficult to imagine how we can undo the damage. The precedents that have been set in recent years are highly toxic to a healthy and thriving democracy. It’s going to require a groundswell of political will and a complete recalibration of the principles of political ethics and criminal justice.

In the meantime, brace for an onslaught of damage to rights and political norms as self-serving oligarchs and right-wing zealots take control of the reins of power.

Snowflakes

The 2025 presidential inauguration will usher in a new era of masculinity in U.S. politics, an era of bold, manly men who run inside and hide when the weather gets cold. Some might call them snowflakes.

Deportation Fraud

Trump: We will have the largest deportation in history!

Trump voters: That’s what we want! Mass deportation!

Musk: But I need foreign workers in my businesses.

Ramaswamy: Me, too! Americans are too stupid to work at my company.

Trump: That’s great, guys! We’ll keep the H1-B visas so you can hire cheap labor and drive down wages for American workers at the same time. Win-win!

I Long For Free Time

I long for free time

Calm and

Unstructured

Fertile

Uninterrupted

Time to think

Reflect and dream

Time to feel

And breathe and heal

Time for good books

Good food and good friends

Time to dabble

With no clear ends

Time to create

To shape and to form

Time to imagine

Things out of the norm

Time to discover

And prioritize

To look at the World

With a fresh set of eyes

When I find

Such time

When it’s free

And it’s mine

I savor it

Treasure it

Indulge

The pleasure it

Promises

So generously

I dive in

Right away

Like I’m eating

Two-thirds

Of a fresh-baked

Rhubarb pie

With scoops

Of sweet ice cream

Dripping slowly

Down

The rough-cut sides

Of its deliriously

Delicious slices

© 2024 Daniel R. South - All Rights Reserved

The Mockingbird

I had a chance to see ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ at a local cinema last month. I know the story, having read the book, and I’ve seen the movie on television, but viewing a film on a large screen leaves an outsized impression.

The child actors gave marvelous performances. We see the story unfold through the eyes of children, a viewpoint that makes the attitudes and behavior of adults seem particularly gruff and puzzling.

The story is bitterly tragic. It doesn’t shy from depicting gross inequities and despicable attitudes. It must have made a powerful impact when it was released at the height of the civil rights movement.

A haunting conclusion is that a system of justice is only as just as the people who administer and participate in it. Despite high ideals and heroic acts, some people are systematically oppressed while others get away with grotesque behavior. This remains as true today as it was during the Great Depression.

When elusive justice is finally served, it comes in unexpected ways. The tide finally turns against those who once got away with everything.

Finally, never discount the good will of neighbors, even those who seem strange and distant. We’re all in this together. In the darkest moments, people you never knew you could count on will rise to meet the challenge.

© 2024 Daniel R. South - All Rights Reserved