Star Trek's "Errand of Mercy" was pacifist

The Star Trek episode "Errand of Mercy" came out in 1967. Kids like me who were transfixed by the series got poised to watch the show on March 23, 1967. They say 1968 was the year when this nation came apart at the seams with conflict and cultural transition. But 1967 was more than a precursor year - for example, Vietnam was totally a hellhole by then. How blessed it would be, for me, if our biggest problem was the Minnesota Twins getting edged out for the American League pennant by Boston at the very end!
"Errand of Mercy" was episode #26 of the famous original "Star Trek." Lest there be any doubt, the series steadily plants itself as an American artistic classic, not just a pop culture classic. It takes time to appreciate these things. We didn't adequately appreciate the series in its early days of syndication. It seemed passe, little better than the rest of the swamp of TV programming at the time. And syndication meant it might be seen in the afternoon which we all remember was a "dead zone" for TV. You'd see Flintstones cartoons or the Mike Douglas talk show (with guest Totie fields, perhaps). Nothing against any of the professionals who gave us afternoon TV in the '70s and '80s - they just had to create a homogeneous product.
Today the Star Trek episodes appear often on cable channels like BBC America. It comes across now as having significant artistic merit. Something about the TV landscape - more "niche" programming - accentuates that now. We're not so quick to sniff at TV shows, not like in the days when we'd hear the term "boob tube." Remember that?
 
A statement about conflict
A scene jumps out at me in "Errand of Mercy." The episode was significant because it introduced the Klingons with John Colicos playing "Kor," their leader. I was almost charmed by the original Klingons who seemed basically human, i.e. like us. It seemed their bark was worse than their bite. We heard about bad things they might do, but saw little if anything of it.
What about that gripping scene (in my mind) in "Errand of Mercy?" Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Kor are cornered by aliens who they are having a hard time understanding. Suddenly they are aware that the apparently passive, innocent and vulnerable "Organians" aren't so weak after all. Suddenly with a threat upon them, Kirk and Kor seem kin. They seem bonded. I'm intrigued how they communicate like they have shared interests, like they're almost brethren! The talk of conflict between them does not disappear. But again I'll say that the violent trait of the Klingons seemed mostly that: talk. We get the feeling that the Federation can be just as confrontational with their impulses.
I am going to make the bold suggestion here that a subtle anti-war statement was being made. The year 1967 was a little early for overt anti-war statements to be made, right? People had to step lightly, and people in the arts know how to do that. Here we see Kirk and Kor stand side by side as if they suddenly feel a need to react together. The message: The Federation and the Klingons were not as dissimilar as we might be led to believe. The two sides are quick to cite the tired old reasons for war - "you cut off our trading routes" etc. - that lead to so much needless bloodshed.
The heroic aliens of Organia were pacifists. They proclaimed that the Federation and Klingons would someday find peace but that in the meantime, too many people would die. Prophetic?  Today the U.S. has normalized relations with Vietnam, the nation created after the North Vietnamese finally overran the South, going city by city in the mid-1970s and leaving the U.S. virtually humiliated, seeking to escape with those depressing scenes of helicopters leaving rooftops so frantically. What did our warlike tendencies do for us in the 1960s? It created hell and caused cynicism for a generation of America's youth.
So here was Star Trek in 1967 spinning a story in a prophetic and symbolic way, subtly suggesting that us humans can be total fools with our warlike tendencies. The gentle Organians possessed the wisdom.
 
Background of the plot
The planet Organia is presented as non-aligned (for the purposes of conflict) near the Klingon border. The Enterprise crew believes the population of the planet to be primitive. The Enterprise attacks and destroys an approaching Klingon vessel. The script is careful to have the Klingon vessel opening fire first! Hey, we cited the Gulf of Tonkin, right? The Gulf of Tonkin was a prevarication.
Kirk and Spock beam down. Sulu is left in command of the Enterprise. Ruins are seen in the distance. The environment is an illusion created by the Organians to provide familiar points of reference for visitors. The Organians are unconcerned about the Klingon threat. They don't seem to view the Federation people any different than the Klingons. We're all just barbaric to them. Kirk and Spock try to conceal their identities.
I loved Colicos as Kor. He comes upon the scene with an air of authority, almost triumph. Kirk and Spock attempt some guerrilla action. Finally the Organians allow Kirk and Spock to be arrested. Spock of course has the ability to resist the Klingons' "mind probe." The Organians free Kirk and Spock from confinement. Kor orders the execution of 2000 Organians. We don't really see this of course. ("Bark is worse than their bite.") The Organians act undisturbed. The Federation people and the Klingons are left baffled and here we see the start of the apparent bonding of the two sides.
The Federation and Klingon fleets are getting into the position for war. Kirk and Spock try to rouse the Organians into resistance. They are able to capture Kor. Finally we see the truth about the passive Organians. They are not humanoid at all. They are advanced incorporeal beings. They incapacitate both sides in the burgeoning conflict. They impose a peace treaty which of course both sides find objectionable!
Kirk says to Kor that the impending war is going to have to be called off, whereupon Kor delivers the most memorable line of the episode: "A shame, Captain. It would have been glorious!"
This is the episode where Leonard Nimoy as Spock says "pure energy," a line later pasted into the song "What's on Your Mind? (Pure Energy)," from the group Information Society. The song got to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Nimoy got a "special thanks" in the song's credits.
 
Wishful thinking
Would that the gentle Organians could prevail over Earth's hostile forces in the 1960s. Would that they could disarm everyone. (Would that they could help the Twins win one more game, LOL.)
The year 1967 was a hellhole for America's young men who were susceptible to the draft. We can too easily forget.
Kudos to Gene L. Coon for writing "Errand of Mercy" which sought to point out how warring sides are really both a reflection of the worst in us.
A footnote: John Colicos played "Judge Flood" in the series "Gunsmoke" and became the last character to be shot and killed in that series.
Star Trek gave us lessons on a lot of fronts. Another example is from the episode "Miri" which I write about on my companion website, "Morris of Course." I invite you to click on this permalink to read my post inspired by "Miri." Thanks for reading. - B.W.

http://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2017/12/star-treks-miri-sends-message-to-us.html

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Maddie Carrington makes seven 3's in win!

Tigers 69, Melrose 62
Maddie Carrington outdid herself Thursday night (12/21) in GBB play. Surely all the Carringtons will feel the festive Christmas spirit to the max. We wish that circle still included Laura.
Tiger GBB standout Maddie made seven 3-pointers in a road victory. The success was at Melrose. The orange and black made the trip down I-94. On the way home, they could savor their 69-62 win over the Dutchmen. The win was our sixth. Melrose came out of the night at 4-4.
Riley Decker had a fine long-range shooting eye just like Carrington. Decker made three 3-pointers and Malory Anderson made one. That harvest of 3's really made the difference. We owned a 34-24 lead at halftime.
Carrington topped the orange and black scoring list with 27 points. We had two other double figures scorers: Anderson with 18 points and Decker with ten. I'm happy to see my occasional waitress at DeToy's, Jordann Baier, in the scoring mix with four. I'm also happy to see Carly Wohlers of the noteworthy Wohlers clan, with whom I've made trips to Nashville TN, also score four. Liz Dietz, Alexis Pew and Jenna Howden each scored two.
Rebound leaders were Anderson (10), Dietz (7) and Wohlers (6). Dietz had four assists to top that category. Anderson stole the ball five times and Decker had four steals.
Melrose's top scorer had 27 points just like our Maddie Carrington. Maikya Luetmer scored 27 for the Dutchmen. Ashley Rademacher was a force for the Dutchmen with 17 points. These three Dutchmen each scored six: Cassie Klaphake, Courtney Wensman and Madison Dufner. Klaphake made two 3-pointers. Rademacher collected 12 rebounds. Luetmer dished out seven assists. Klaphake stole the ball five times.
The Tigers carry a 6-3 record forward.
 
Boys hockey: Prairie Centre 8, Storm 4
The Storm put the puck in the net four times but it wasn't enough in a game versus Prairie Centre. The first period was telling as the Prairie Centre skaters shot out to a 5-2 advantage. The scoring cooled the rest of the way.
The wild first period story began with Cole Crosby scoring at 3:42, assisted by Andrew Bick. Ian Gould made the score 2-0 at 4:46 with assists from Preston Sorenson and Andrew Custer. Seth Deters put Prairie Centre up 3-0 with his goal at 7:41, assisted by Hudson Pung. Then MBA got on the board with a Zach Bruns goal assisted by Jack Riley, at 8:27.
But PC seized the momentum back. Hudson Pung scored with a Deters assist at 9:27. Deters scored with a Hunter Fletcher assist at 9:50. MBA got the last goal of the period: Hunter Gades got the puck in the net assisted by Bruns and Riley at 10:11.
Each team scored a goal in the second period. Cody Wolbeck scored for PC with assists from Bick and Sorenson at :57. MBA's Bruns scored with assists from Mike Halvorson and Riley at 3:05.
The third period scoring began with a shorthanded PC goal by Fletcher assisted by Crosby at 5:02. Riley of the Storm scored with a Bruns assist at 12:59. Prairie Centre got the night's last goal, power play style, as Deters put the puck in the net with assists from Fletcher and Gould at 14:09.
Chase Engebretson was our goalie and he had 41 saves. His goalie rival was Isaiah DeFoe who turned away 28 shots. This prep hockey contest was played on December 21 at Prairie Centre.
(I wonder if Andrew Custer is a descendant of you-know-who.)
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Melrose (with an Olberding) beats Tigers by 3

Melrose 51, Tigers 48
Melrose stayed unbeaten at the expense of our MACA Tigers Tuesday (12/19). The Dutchmen climbed to 5-0. Our MACA boys led by three at halftime, 30-27, but lost that advantage in the second half. Our record dropped to 2-3 as we fell in the 51-48 final at home.
The Willmar paper keeps referring to us with the initials "MCA." They have done this for a long time. The initials should be "MACA" of course. When I'm scanning the subheads in the sports section, I have to look twice to notice "MCA" because I'm really not looking for it. Apparently the Willmar people feel they are more wise in their judgment, so they write "Morris/Chokio-Alberta." There is a right way and a wrong way to do everything.
I don't know if it will happen in my lifetime, but maybe we'll go back to plain old "Morris High School" again. It would simplify things. Those old small town identity issues aren't what they used to be. Today we all just answer to distant corporations anyway.
The Tuesday loss came in spite of four Tigers scoring in double figures. Jackson Loge, a player now being hyped by the Morris newspaper, scored 13 points. He was joined in the double figures circle by Cam Arndt (12), Tate Nelson (11) and Jaret Johnson (10). One other player scored: Kyle Staebler (2). The stat report in the Willmar paper has "NA" for three-point shooting. Why is this info not available?
Arndt snared eight rebounds to lead in that category. Loge and Johnson each had five rebounds. Arndt dished out four assists and Johnson had three. Nelson stole the ball twice.
Three Melrose players stood out in scoring: Reegan Nelson (16), Traeton Keaveny (15) and Damon Van Beck (10). Preston Keaveny scored five points and Tim Arnhalt had three. And hey, there's an Olberding in the scoring list! That makes me feel sentimental. Nicholas Olberding scored two points in his team's win. A past superstar for Melrose was Mark Olberding who went on to a pro career. He was spectacular. He's my age.
Wait a minute: the three-point shooting stats for Melrose are reported! The game was played in Morris. I assume the Morris coaching staff was responsible for calling in? What's up? Traeton Keaveny made three 3's for the winning cause. Van Beck made two long-rangers, and Arnhalt and Preston Keaveny each made one. Nelson led the Dutchmen in rebounds with seven, while Van Beck and Preston Keaveny each had five. It was Preston leading in assists with five. Nelson stole the ball four times.
 
Tigers 57, Lac qui Parle 31
A rare Saturday game had the Tigers matched against Lac qui Parle at LQPV, out in the middle of wilderness or so it seems. After the Lac qui Parle and Minnewaska schools got built, in a time when small town emotions could be so extreme on these things, the legislature (according to legend) proclaimed "no more cornfield high schools." But we have LQPV and 'Waska as a legacy.
The Tigers downed the Eagles of Lac qui Parle Valley pretty handily, 57-31. Both teams are around .500 in the early-season. Our defense applied the clamps firmly in the second half. The Eagles were held to nine points!
We do have three-point shooting data from this game. Jaret Johnson made two 3-pointers while these Tigers each made one: Tyler Reimers, Jackson Loge, Tate Nelson and Connor Koebernick. Camden Arndt didn't make any 3's but he was team-high in scoring with 15 points. Johnson was right behind with 14 points and Jackson Loge had 10. The rest of the list: Koebernick (8), Reimers (3), Nelson (3), Kevin Asfeld (2) and Kyle Staebler (2).
Setting the pace in rebounds were Arndt (8), Johnson (6) and Loge (5). Arndt had six assists and Koebernick had four. Nelson and Koebernick each had three steals.
Lac qui Parle had no one in double figures scoring. Austin Bonn and Ross Olson each scored eight points, and Braiden Kittelson had six. These four Eagles each scored two: Caden Bjornjeld, Isaac Gades, Thomas Daniels and Maverick Conn. Evan Benson added a point to the mix.
 
Addendum: I'll again share the old tale of how "Valley" got put in the Lac qui Parle Valley name. It was all political, owing to those old small town sensitivities. "Lac qui Parle" had been the name of the area's wrestling program and it was headquartered in Madison. So when the new school was proposed, there was a concern that calling it "Lac qui Parle" might hint that Madison was special! How quaint. So the name of the new entity got tweaked and we had this "Valley" created.  I was doing newspaper writing during that period of hyper small town sensitivity, and it was not pleasant. It was foolish. "The tail wagged the dog" in connection to Starbuck getting so much push in creating Minnewaska, a school that could not be built one foot closer to Glenwood than to Starbuck, and people were ready to get our their rulers. Today, I don't think Starbuck people ponder these matters at all.
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Carrington nails three 3's in 49-46 home win

Tigers 49, 'Waska 46
Fans at the home gym enjoyed a 49-46 win by the girls basketball Tigers Friday. A deadlocked score at halftime gave way to a three-point advantage by the Tigers in the second half, 26-23. The success was against Minnewaska Area. We upped our record to 5-2. The Lakers came out of the game at 3-4.
Click on the link below to read about the girls' 66-44 win over Montevideo. This post also includes two recent boys basketball losses. The post is on my companion website, "Morris of Course." Thanks for reading. - B.W.

http://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2017/12/maca-girls-get-fourth-win-66-44-at.html

  

Maddie Carrington helped make the difference vs. Minnewaska with her three-point shooting. As she often does, she led the orange and black in this department. She made three from beyond the 3-point line. Riley Decker made one long-ranger.
Maddie topped the scoring list with 19 points while Malory Anderson complemented her nicely with 14. Decker put in five points. Also scoring were Carly Wohlers (4), Liz Dietz (3), Jenna Howden (2) and Kylie Swanson (2). Dietz was tops in rebounds with nine while Anderson snared seven. Carrington and Decker each dished out three assists. Anderson was the steals leader with eight while Carrington had six.
Ellie Danielson was a scoring force for the visiting Lakers with 23 points. Her long-range shooting eye was most reliable with four 3-pointers. Emma Thorfinnson was second high with 14 points. Three Lakers each scored three: Rachel Erickson, Hannah Hoffman and Kendra Kuczek. Kuczek and Hoffman each made one "3."

What Art Schlichter tells us
Art Schlichter! The man became a pathetic example of compulsive gambling. But was it just a case of a sad human failing? The former Ohio State and pro quarterback is profiled on "American Greed" on CNBC. Was greed really his weakness? His life fell into a cesspool of pathetic behavior.
So what are we to conclude? Before concluding anything, be aware that the famous QB had 17 documented concussions. Now I view him in a whole new light.
Defense attorneys are learning how to use a background of head injuries in defending a former long-time football player. The solution might be for our society to phase out the sport. Schlichter discovered football because his public school, what should have been a benevolent influence in his life, dangled football as an activity offering for him. He became a hero which I suppose caused him to put up with the injuries. And the rest is history.

Keeping an eye on D.C.
The Republicans appear on the verge of getting through their tax cut bill, what they call "the middle class tax cut bill." I would argue this is not a reasonable conservative approach. It is radical. It is radical in the sense that there is a risk of upsetting the apple cart. If the economy is already in good shape, as President Trump claims it is, why employ a drastic change?
The stock markets march to new highs. Yet the Republicans push a tax cut bill that could have ramifications beyond anyone's taxes being cut. And of course the "middle class" part is just posturing, just a massaging of the English language.
They say the Republicans want to push this bill only so they can show they "got a win." Is this how legislation should be accomplished? They say the Republicans are being manipulated like marionette puppets by the "donor class" of Republicans. Are the rest of us going to sit back and shrug, in effect?
The great American middle class was created by World War II. It has had a long run. Ironically the "middle class tax cut" being promoted by Trump and the Republicans could expedite the end of this phase of U.S. history. The rich will get richer.
The horrifying scenario would be a tilt like what we saw in 1930s Germany. An even more disturbing scenario would mirror what happened with the French Revolution. Who's to say that an all-out economic catastrophe wouldn't sow the seeds for what we saw happen in France? And if tens of thousands of people massed outside the White House, who's to say certain political leaders wouldn't be delivered to them? The military leaders aren't going to order the deaths of so many people. Simply to protect themselves, they would cooperate with the assembled masses, right? File this away. It could happen.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Please listen to my Christmas song for 2017

This is my fourth year writing a Christmas song to share with friends and the public. My 2017 song has a topical and timely air. It's inspired by the challenges being faced by the souls in Puerto Rico. It's called "See the Light Puerto Rico." The singer is the wonderful Debra Gordon of Nashville TN. Thanks again to the Frank Michels studio of Nashville. I invite you to listen with this YouTube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaqIMb_uwqw

 

Puerto Rico has this unusual status of being a "U.S. territory." Isn't there some way the island could join the rest of us as a full-fledged state? We welcomed Hawaii and actually had a president, Barack Obama, come from there. Perhaps the storm that ravaged Puerto Rico could be viewed as a challenge. Instead of increasing defense spending, maybe our government could roll up its sleeves for re-building Puerto Rico.
The island could be developed in a way that maybe we could finally put the welcome mat out for being a state. Maybe the logistics are too daunting. But it's a nice thought, right?
My Christmas song is inspired by the star of Bethlehem. You'll see a Nativity image on the YouTube screen. And BTW let's acknowledge Gulsvig Productions of Starbuck for getting my songs online. If you have any media transfer work to be done, contact the Gulsvigs.
Our family lived in Starbuck for a few months when coming to the Morris area in 1960. We lived next door to the Samuelsons. They referred to our residence as "the Nelson cabin." They had a collie dog named "Rexall," named for their drugstore franchise. Many years later I'd get re-acquainted with Donnie Samuelson when we both ran 10Ks. I still remember the laundromat with the stuffed animals! In Morris we'd get a business with the same reputation: Benson Drug with Carl Benson as the owner.
 
Let the light inspire
My song suggests that the light of the original star of Bethlehem might bathe the suffering people of Puerto Rico, that they might find divine strength and inspiration from it. The Nativity story has always appealed to me. The peace and tranquility appeal to me. One of my past Christmas songs is about the Little Drummer Boy, specifically the Rankin-Bass TV special about the Drummer Boy story. Did you know the Little Drummer Boy is not in the Bible? The TV special always made me misty at the end.
As a kid I'd have to make sure to watch the special at the announced time on TV - there were no VHS tapes yet. That was the nature of TV then: you'd better be sure to watch a certain show at the appointed time. If you missed it (or had to take an extended bathroom break during it), you might figure you're out of luck for ever seeing it. Isn't that something? In those old days we talked about "re-runs." For some reason, the "first run" of any show had special prestige as if subsequent re-runs (or the whole summer viewing season) were quite second-rate. Today our seemingly boundless TV universe is packed with programming that is quite re-cycled. We don't judge it as being old or stale. We just choose what we want to watch, and it might be a Star Trek episode from the late 1960s on the BBC America channel.
The original Star Trek will live forever. How on earth could that show have ever gotten "cancelled?" Remember the Saturday Night Live parody of when Star Trek got cancelled, with Elliott Gould as the network executive? His vehicle appears in the window of the Starship Enterprise. Someone asks "what's that?" The answer was "a '68 Chrysler." I remember the actor playing "Sulu" stammered on one of his lines. The skit concluded with a totally dated line, a mystery to today's young generation if not 95 per cent of the public. The Captain Kirk character recites "Live long and prosper," then gestures with his fingers and says "promise." That was a takeoff on the Promise Margarine commercials that William Shatner did on TV.
The original Star Trek TV series has never been replicated properly in all the other franchises of the concept. The show fell off some in its quality in its last year due to budget restraints, but that final year was a blessing in that enough episodes got "in the can" for the show to later go into syndication. And the rest is history: Star Trek in syndication! It sure lasted better than "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea."
I hope you take the time to listen to my 2017 Christmas song, and to feel the warmth of the Nativity spirit.
  
A favored holiday for me
I much prefer Christmas to Easter. Easter is an uplifting time only in the sense that Christ ultimately triumphs over his torture and crucifixion. I hate the Good Friday portion of the whole Easter thing. Is it because of Mel Gibson that we now get so much emphasis on Christ's torture? I hate it: the seeming sadism aspect. I hate it so much, every spring I write a blog post that suggests I'm an atheist. Essentially I'm not an atheist because I do believe in a creator. Maybe I'm spiritual in the same sense as the Ojibway Indians.
Well, now's the time to slow down and let the benevolent spirit of Christmas settle in. Let's hope the people of Puerto Rico can get past their adversity. I certainly think this would be better accomplished with a Democratic president rather than Donald Trump. I greatly admire Carmen Yulin Cruz, that valiant mayor of San Juan. Maybe she should have been Time Magazine's Person of the Year.
The nature of the media today makes it hard for any new Christmas song to break through as a classic. We had much more of a shared culture before. I suppose there were "big shots" determining what Christmas songs would be popular and famous. But why did they anoint "Jingle Bell Rock" that way?
 
An apple, but not close to the tree?
My late father was a prolific composer of music. He never encouraged me to try to develop that craft. He wanted to teach me hunting and fishing. I follow my own drummer as a songwriter now. I invite you to locate my YouTube page and listen to my other songs there.
By writing topical songs, I'm assured of getting a decent audience for many of my songs. That's because people do Internet searches with key words related to the various topics I've written about, like the Armistice Day blizzard of 1940. If I were to write a simple relationship song, it would be hard breaking through to get listeners. I actually have one such song: "It's Been So Long."
Regardless of what I have recorded, I love the process of creating poetry and lyrics. My straight poetry is shared on my blogs like my poem about the 1962 New York Mets or baseball player Rusty Staub! (Wasn't "Rusty" the name of a kid character on the old Danny Thomas TV sitcom?)
Merry Christmas to all in this mild winter of 2017. Climate change?
We share the Christmas spirit in this atmosphere of trepidation caused by the Donald Trump presidency. We celebrate it in the atmosphere of suddenly elevated concern about sexual harassment. The whole "patriarchy" is being called into question. Is Santa Claus a part of that? I remember fondly the times I photographed Lois Smith as "Mrs. Santa" when I worked for the Morris Sun Tribune newspaper.
My most famous photo might have been of Laura Carrington joining Gary Findlay at Gary's victory celebration at Sunwood Inn, marking his election to the state legislature. Laura had previously been a Democrat! We miss Laura. She had no aversion to sharing her political views. I miss covering the various Christmas-related events around Morris, including Santa's arrival in Donnelly! And to all a good night.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Our $ gift to UMM is now perpetually endowed

Martha and Ralph Williams by the piano at home

Dad at his alma mater, U of M-Twin Cities, in 1946. War is done!

Mom in her well-known "gait" across campus, on behalf of campus P.O.

Our family does not celebrate Christmas like it used to. We're down to two: Mom and I. The relatives with whom we were close are nearly all gone. We used to celebrate primarily with my uncle Howard (Dad's brother) and his wife Vi of Glenwood. They had no children. They were wealthy but lived in a frugal way, almost as if we'd never come out of the Depression. None of that hindered their happiness.
Gifts of material things are no longer important to us. Our dining room table is adorned with two little Christmas-themed figurines that cost me a dollar at the recent Senior Bazaar. The figurines promote an atmosphere that is fully satisfying to us both. A few years ago we began attending the Christmas Eve service at our church, something we should have done all along. Church is in lieu of the many traditional things we once did for Christmas: the tree, the gifts etc. Our family does not need more "stuff."
As far as giving is concerned, we accomplished this most thoroughly with our financial gift to UMM music. We have actually improved on that gift since I first announced this on my blogs. It started out as a "quasi-endowed fund." I never really felt comfortable with the word "quasi." I was made aware of the perpetually endowed fund option. This would require more money of course. But we went ahead and did it.
So our fund will now be endowed in perpetuity, lasting until our sun turns into a red giant. By then maybe we'll be ready to have UMM transferred to a planet in another galaxy. The perpetual option seemed necessary to me. My father graduated from the U of M-Twin Cities. He taught for a long time at the U's St. Paul School of Agriculture in St. Paul. I was in my preschool years when Dad taught in St. Paul. I have warm memories from that phase in my life.
Then we came to Morris and UMM. I remember vividly UMM's "circle drive" in our first days here. Music concerts were at Edson Auditorium. They seemed to be well-received there. My father's biggest claim to fame turned out to be his men's chorus. He had creds in all areas of music. He led a jazz type of dance band when in college: "The Campus Nighthawks." He arrived at the name when purchasing some music stands that already had the "CN" initials. How about that? Jazz and big band music was pretty male-dominated then, but they had a female singer.
My father directed the original UMM orchestra which put out a vinyl record. As the only music faculty member in year one, he of course did everything, so he directed the band.
Our gift to UMM specifies choir as a priority - Dad was a prolific choral composer. He ended up in a long and well-enjoyed retirement, while Mom ended up working at UMM further. My mom was a bookstore employee for a time and then became supervisor of the campus post office. She was known for having wonderful rapport with the student workers there. She got the Martelle Award one year. I was poised on the grass with my camera for that (at graduation).
We are delighted to make our perpetually endowed gift to UMM, which means we're up to $25,000. My dad would say: "You can't take it with you."
I'm really not sure what kind of future UMM has. Music is a nice little refuge in academia because it is non-political. We hear a lot about political strife at UMM, the righties vs. the lefties, gay vs. homophobes, atheists vs. Bible thumpers etc. I have written in the past that the institution should work to tamp down all the political venting. I have suggested "that's not what the students are here for." Maybe it just can't be avoided.
Can UMM continue to thrive as it puts liberal arts on the traditional pedestal? We hear about colleges across the USA having to trim their liberal arts priority.
Maybe UMM can overcome through sheer superior reputation of its offerings. We want to root for this if practical. But let's keep in mind that our revered local campus has gone in and out of phases before.  It was once an ag school. It's hard to predict the future with certainty.
But we hope for leadership that is infused with wisdom. Close your eyes and hear the old "UMM Hymn" in your heads.

Addendum: Mom and I attended the 4 p.m. concert Friday at the recital hall. It was a wonderful concert but it did not go well for us. Mom is not always sharp mentally and she began talking at too great a volume as the concert ended. I was not expecting this. We will not be able to attend any more, and I'm sad about that. I'm glad she got to shake Simon's hand through the course of the evening. The concert was a terrific blending of media promoting the best type of Christmas air. I especially liked the locally produced video.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Malory Anderson scores 20 in MACA win

MACA girls basketball notched its third win in as many games Saturday night at Benson. The Tigers took the championship in the Case IH Tournament. We put finishing touches on that with a 62-34 win over the Knights of West Central Area.
Click on the link below to read about the Tigers' first two wins of the season, over ACGC and Benson. This post is on my companion website, "Morris of Course." Thanks for reading. - B.W.

http://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2017/12/maddie-carrington-makes-3s-in-tigers-2.html
 

Tigers 62, WC Area 34
Maddie Carrington continued making an impression with her three-point shooting. Carrington made three long-rangers. The other MACA "3" was made by Liz Dietz.
Malory Anderson had the team-best point total of 20. Carrington put in 13 points and Carly Wohlers had eleven. Dietz added five points to the mix and Jenna Howden had four. Several Tigers each scored two points: Jordann Baier, Riley Decker, Jen Solvie and Jaden Ross. The list wraps up with Kendra Wevley and her one point.
The Tigers had totally asserted themselves by halftime as they owned a 34-10 lead.
Anderson was the pacesetter in rebounds with eleven while Riley Decker collected six. Decker produced four assists and Carrington had three. Howden and Carrington each had two steals. The orange and black cruised in the second half with a 28-24 scoring advantage. Anderson's contributions in scoring and rebounds suggest she'll be a key contributor as the 2017-18 schedule proceeds. And don't overlook Carrington's sharp long-range shooting eye! All in all, the team has lots of nice attributes to put a smile on coach Dale Henrich's face with Christmas nearing.
 
Now it's Garrison Keillor
I recently wrote a headline for a post recalling how Al Franken came to UMM in a triumphant way to speak at graduation. It now appears that Franken has engaged in some unacceptable behavior toward women. In the current climate, such untoward behavior can bring the equivalent of the death penalty as far as your career is concerned.
No one should get a pass regarding such behavior. Unless you're Donald Trump, I guess.
More recently we've seen iconic Minnesotan Garrison Keillor get dragged into the dubious spotlight. I wonder if these men will have their entire careers wiped out as if they accomplished nothing, as if their eventual obituaries will berate them with the untoward stuff and overlook everything else. What will Charlie Rose's obit look like? That journalist is having past awards taken away. These people did work that actually had a positive impact, that reflected considerable talent. Can't we acknowledge that, and still see to it these men will have consequences for their untoward behavior?
Our culture really has undergone a change. We're somewhat in denial now but there really was a time when the Dean Martin Variety Hour on TV projected our values. Lecherous men were given a pass much of the time. I guess that was a reflection of the "cocktail culture."
A scantily clad woman would come up to Dean and say "I'm having my whole body tatooed with a map of the United States." Then Dean would sing something like "California Here I Come." The audience laughed uproariously. That really was our culture. We tolerated cigarette smoke everywhere. Seat belt use was not mandatory.
Of course it was a cockeyed world because the public mostly sat quiet and acquiescent as the government escalated the Vietnam War. I suppose we have created a better world today. Vietnam couldn't happen again because the media have expanded exponentially from what it was in the 1960s, those days of the Big 3 TV networks.
On the dark side, the new media have been harnessed so effectively by the regressive voices of the extreme right wing of politics. So maybe we won't end up with a better world after all. Maybe the U.S. is sliding toward something like 1930s Germany. It's not far-fetched to think this way. Get prepared. We may be seeing a pedophile going to Washington D.C. as a senator. Is this a bad dream?
We remember both Franken and Keillor coming to our University of Minnesota-Morris. I covered one of Keillor's appearances for the local commercial media. The UMM choir performed my father's "UMM Hymn" for a Keillor appearance at the P.E. Center. I have warm thoughts about Keillor and about Franken. I remember Keillor stepping forward and starting his applause before the choir even let go of its last note of the "Hymn." That song was tailor-made for his show, given its sentimentality.
I guess Keillor and Franken both wear a scarlet letter of sorts now. Let's be careful how harsh we are in our judgments. Man is an inherently sinful creature.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwillyh73@yahoo.com

Understand the nature of Republicans

Why do we tolerate the so-called Beltway as such an atypical place? It's 1 a.m. as I write this and we're seeing the Republicans do their thing in the U.S. Senate. The bill relating to taxes, whether you call it "tax cut" or "tax reform," has just passed. We see a group of men in their 70s and 80s with white hair, wearing suits and ties, celebrating.
The Senate will not have the last word. There is still time for resistance to build up against the Republican donor class. It is the phantom-like donor class that is pulling all the strings. The elected people just try to weave populist rhetoric to justify these actions. Are people going to wake up? Will my generation of the boomers wake up belatedly to realize what the GOP really does when it has power? Thomas Frank has written a book about this, called "The Wrecking Crew."
Republicans cannot handle the real responsibility of government. They don't believe in government. The boomers are this huge wave of people entering the non-productive (or post-productive), senior phase of their lives. Tucker Carlson of Fox News has described AARP as a far-left political organization. What AARP is, of course, is an advocacy group for people who are going to need government assistance to get through their twilight years, like it or not.
European-style socialism has it right. In America, the problem is that the well-funded right wing uses rhetoric that appeals to so many people. As the impact of this GOP tax measure slowly sinks in, I feel there will be an awakening process. My boomer generation had better realize that as the deficit balloons, Republicans will use that as justification for attacking and cutting Social Security and Medicare. Republicans would love to virtually dismantle those programs. Jeb Bush has said he'd like to see Medicare "abolished."
Republicans push for this stuff and they don't even care what people think of them. The check on Republicans would be for the electorate to wake up and produce what has been called a "blue wave." Simply elect Democrats. Let's push for younger people and more women to be sent to D.C. as our representatives. Let's make that bizarre "Beltway" a place that more genuinely reflects America. John Conyers is 88 years old? Why have we allowed this to happen? Dianne Feinstein is 84 and seeking re-election? Why has it come to this? I'm pointing my fingers at Democrats here. What is it about our system that allows some of these representatives to hold these positions in apparent perpetuity?
Let's push for younger and more vigorous people to assume those roles while the elder folks can go into retirement.
Heaven help us, the boomers and the public at large, if we don't get that "blue wave." Just vote for anyone with a "D" next to his/her name. "Conservatives" with their deep pockets will use their media arms like Fox News to go on the attack vs. progressives. They will use "oppo research" which can make anyone look bad, because we're all human beings who have made various missteps. It is common to hear attacks on progressives in terms of "embellishing his/her resume." The problem is that anyone trying to report on a life story covering many years might misremember some little detail. Look at that guy from St. Cloud who tried challenging Michelle Bachmann. A nit-picking misrepresentation of his background with the United Way was used as fodder for attacking him as a "liar."
I am waiting for the worm to turn. I am waiting for the "blue folks" to be the ones getting the benefit of the doubt on matters like this. Democrats have to learn to be more assertive and to start intimidating the other side, just as the Tucker Carlson crowd has assaulted their adversaries. More people need to recognize the right wing media for what it is. Go ahead, Project Veritas: try to get some video footage that embarrasses the pro-blue crowd. Go ahead because I don't even care - we simply must elect representatives who really advocate for "people" causes and not just cater to the Republican donor class.
Are we awakening too late? I expect to see Star Tribune coverage that deconstructs what the Republicans are doing with their tax bill. I expect to see Star Tribune coverage that reveals what the Republican Party is really trying to accomplish at the expense of the American people. Thank God for the likes of the Star Tribune and the "mainstream media" (so derided by the conservatives).
The mainstream media have actually gone too far in trying to be courteous to the political right wing. When I see Chuck Todd bending over backward this way, I wonder what's really going on in his mind. We are at the point where Republicans won't even allow Democrats to argue in official proceedings that Republicans "only care about tax cuts for the rich," because, Republicans argue, such statements "attack the character" of Republicans. Elizabeth Warren was told to sit down and be quiet when she tried to present an argument against Jeff Sessions as attorney general.
Democrats need to fight back more and not worry so much about courtesy. Is Donald Trump courteous?
Leon Panetta says the current doings in Washington D.C. indicate we may be in decline as a nation, that we are losing our ability to govern ourselves. We could have Hillary Clinton as president governing from the middle. Of course there are aspects of Hillary Clinton that I'm not terribly fond of. But she would have kept alive the basic decorum and dignity of the presidency. She did beat Trump in the popular vote. I resent that she was the supportive wife of a man who coaxed an intern in the White House to perform oral sex on him, in the White House. Bill Clinton could have resigned and allowed Al Gore to take over. Wouldn't Democrats have been relieved for that to happen?
Didn't James Carville chafe at you by constantly talking about how it was "just sex." We seem more enlightened now. Kirstin Gillibrand makes that clear.
My fellow boomers, you had better wake up and smell the coffee soon. Republicans always try to dismantle the New Deal. And now they have all the power.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com