MACA girls drop 3AA-North affair to Litch

First a quick PSA: The Morris Meals on Wheels is looking for drivers. Consider helping your community. They are located at the former senior center. You may call 589-2951..

 

The MACA girls made a very strong upset bid at the opening of the 3AA-North tournament. It was quarter-finals night on Saturday. The post-season always brings a special kind of anticipation. Unfortunately for the Tigers, their tournament presence was confined to one game. Yes, we challenged third-seeded Litchfield pretty well. We trailed by three at halftime. Alas the two halves ended with MACA still behind by three. The sixth-seeded Tigers bowed vs. the Litchfield Dragons 45-42. 

Meredith Carrington attempted a '3' at the end that would have tied. It did not find paydirt. So the curtain comes down on the Tigers' season of 2021-22. All these games helped make the winter seem shorter, right? The winter was quite trying for us all. Today it's February 28 as I write this. March ought to supply a reprieve, knock on wood. 

We close out our season with a 9-17 record. I kinda thought we had a little more talent than that. Oh well, now it's on to spring and a chance to see how much more progress can be made with the softball complex. Last fall would have been a better time to make progress with that. Can you imagine how muddy that place is going to be for a time? 

The Litch Dragons advance in girls hoops with a 19-8 record. Now they'll go on to face New London-Spicer which is usually a juggernaut in girls hoops. 

Carrington and Maddy Grove were top scorers for the orange and black on Saturday: totals of 14 and 13 points respectively. There was a drop-off after these two, so we see Cate Kehoe with seven points, Sydney Dietz and Kaylee Harstad each with three, and Lilly Knobloch with two. Grove and Kehoe each made one 3-pointer. 

The top Litch point producer was Maggie Boerema with 20. Greta Hansen and Izzy Pennertz each put in eight, Morgan Falling had five and Ryanna Steinhaus four. The Dragons made no 3-pointers. Boerema and Pennertz were rebound leaders with ten and eight respectively. Steinhaus and Falling each had five assists. Steinhaus had two steals. 

So we played even with the Dragons in the second half. The second half had been a sore point for the Tiger squad in previous games. That's understatement really. So, that bugaboo did not emerge on Saturday, but it was a case of coming up just shy. 

We can cite the game's earliest stages as problematic. The kmrs-kkok site informs us that the Tigers missed their first eleven shots. That was a bugaboo. But we most certainly got on an even keel after that. We assumed the lead early in the second half. But Litch kept pace. The lead would change hands regularly. There were also six tied scores! Suspense reigned. Carrington had her shot at the buzzer that was no-go. 

I wasn't at the game so I don't know how decent a shot try this was. Anyway, it was no-go and the host Litch fans could breathe a sigh of relief, as their team had survived a stiff challenge.

 

Wrestling: Three Tigers to state

The state tournament is the cherished goal of all Minnesota prep wrestlers. I once visited the state tournament in my role with the Morris newspaper. The atmosphere is electric. It surpasses everything previous to it. In this respect I found it similar to track and field. You get to state and it is a truly big-time atmosphere. 

Do I miss those days when I attended? Sometimes. 

Our 2021-22 MAHACA wrestling team has three in the coveted state circle. They ascended with their accomplishments Saturday at Redwood Valley, site of the 3AA tournament. Congrats to Ethan Lebrija, who garnered No. 1 at 132 pounds with his hard-fought 8-7 decision over Dylan Louwagie of Marshall. 

Congrats to Davin Rose who was tops at 138 pounds as he pinned Treyton Card of Buffalo Lake-Hector at the end. Congrats to Caden Rose who prevailed in the "true second" match at 145 pounds. Caden won by fall over Luke Hoag of Buffalo Lake-Hector.

 

Boys basketball: Tigers 91, BOLD 72

Friday was Senior Night for the MACA boys hoopsters. What a night it was, from the standpoint of offensive productivity: 91 points by the orange and black. 

Both teams shot well in first half play. Halftime arrived with MACA holding on to a one-point edge, 45-44. BOLD did put up stiff resistance. The scoreboard revealed a hard-fought affair until midway in the second half. At that point, the Tigers got red-hot with successive made shots! The Warriors slumped at the same time. So we built up a scoreboard bulge of 26 points. 

The success built our won-lost up to 22-2. Yes we're a juggernaut. One regular season game remains, versus Melrose. 

BOLD is having a quite good season: 17-7 in W/L coming out of Friday. Their Cole Visser scored 14 points. Jack Gross and Ryan King each put in 13. Maxwell Marks contributed ten. 

OK let's hone in on the Tigers' stats. Jackson Loge added another chapter to his notable prep career: 32 points on 13-of-23 shooting. Brandon Jergenson scored 15 on six of ten. Again, I hope fans are not chanting "let's go Brandon." Durgin Decker put in 13 points on near-perfect 6/7 shooting numbers. 

Tyler Berlinger and Cole Wente each came through with nine points. Then we see Thomas Tiernan with seven, Toby Gonnerman with four and Ayden Schmidgall with two. 

Our team shooting stats were 38 of 67, 57 percent. In 3's we were 8 of 21 with two players each making three: Jergenson and Loge. Wente and Tiernan each succeeded once from 3-point land. In freethrows we were 7 of 13, 54 percent. Loge had three makes to lead. 

Loge accounted for 13 of our 33 rebounds. Five of Loge's boards were offensive. Jergenson and Loge each had seven assists of our team total 25. Three Tigers each had two steals: Decker, Berlinger and Tiernan. We turned the ball over seven times. Loge was quite the presence around the basket - so what's new? - and he blocked eight shots. Berlinger got his mitts up to block one.

Getting caught up

Is apology necessary? Some people might laugh at me for thinking "possibly." I of course am no longer under any "obligation" to report on Tiger sports. I'm an unattached journalist at this phase in my lifelong investment in doing this. I'm happy to do it, and just like anyone else who would do the same, I cannot profess to be perfect. 

I am getting older and developing some eyesight issues. No way could I function with the local newspaper anymore. We are in an age now in which any parent or fan who wants to nit-pick the writing need only type a little email and "click." Congrats, you've ruined the writer's whole day. 

People complain about how certain sports beats are "prioritized" in the paper. That is simply never-ending. When I left the Morris paper, the editor had presented me with multiple pages of single-spaced directives, one of which stated that UMM was No. 1 priority. I could not take that seriously. I mean, the UMM athletes are almost completely out-of-area, although I'm pleased to learn that recently, we've seen a refreshing change. I have been alerted about women's basketball, for one thing. 

To be honest, it's all I can do to try to obtain and process sports news from the whole kaleidoscope of local teams, without getting put under a microscope for how I "prioritize" them. So I left the paper under duress, probably should have left earlier. I was having the screws turned on me. Upon leaving, I breathed a sigh of relief that I had made as clean a break as I did. To this day I have flashbacks, and I have to wonder why so many people have to become so ugly when following corporate's wishes. 

It's not as if Forum Communications was a success here. I remember pleading with Sue Dieter at one point about how we should just "try to enjoy life." Seems like a radical suggestion, eh? She is no longer at the paper. I wonder if the Anfinsons offered her a position. If not, why not? She had extensive news-editorial experience from the radio station. 

Might her personality be an issue? I once heard from someone who had an acquaintance who was at the radio station when Sue was there. This person reported "there was a lot of shouting." I'm just repeating what I hear. Does this account sound credible to you?

So I'm getting caught up with Tiger sports with today's blog post. I got distracted pretty severely for several days last week: it was the news that UMM had an executive chancellor who actually had her office in Crookston. I had no idea. I guess the University has wanted to "protect" us from this fact. So it's condescending on the part of the U. 

I had to dig in and try to get details for the purpose of sharing online. The cat was let out of the bag by KFGO Radio. I wonder what's coming down the road for UMM. The thing that has always saved us here in Morris is our physical campus - that's how we got UMM in the first place. The state has a pretty substantial investment here. 

I wonder if we might look at our mission getting pretty seriously tweaked. Is that bad? Not necessarily. Not at all. Maybe we will in fact be "Crookston-South." Will the Crookston person be speaking at our graduation this spring? The cover-up is over, so we might as well have her come here and meet the community. She's Mary Holz Clause. I'm sure she's a terrific person.

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

Boys crush Lakers, girls fall to Lakers on Wed.

High school basketball on Wednesday? Such is the nature of re-scheduling. What a winter we have been through, such long stretches of unrelenting cold, unusually persistent winds. 

What about the understanding that Wednesday is "church night?" Isn't that sort of the gentlemen's agreement? I'd like to see Wednesday be open for school activities as much as any other day. Why not? It would create some breathing room for getting more humanities events worked in. Let humanities take over the evening now and then. When I recently attended the jazz band concert, there was a girls hoops game in the gym. 

All the activity was nice to see, definitely. But maybe we shouldn't have to concentrate so much in four nights of the week. Make it five. And Saturday is not off-limits at all. Seems there are more Saturday games being played than in an earlier time, and not just makeup games. 

Wednesday as church night would seem to present some serious issues in the year 2022. That's because of Christianity being so aligned with politics, especially out here in greater Minnesota. Religion is always a matter of opinion, naturally. But I hate to see the alignment of Christianity with conservative Republican politics, especially the kind of politics that props up Donald Trump. These people have been rooting for Putin, or at least they did for a while, until they began to feel some embarrassment. The embarrassment of ignorance. For a time they just wanted to echo their cult leader, Trump. 

Is there any hope for our society now? A case can be made that the U.S. is nearing the "end of empire." You don't care? You had better start paying attention. 

For a time I had a small "Kamala" sticker on the back of my car. I began to feel concerned about that, so I put gray tape over it, matches color of my car. I do believe there are some local Democrats. But we have to step lightly. 

Basketball action of Wednesday had the Tigers crushing Minnewaska Area 61-29. You'd have to yawn if you were there as a fan. I'd prefer taking in a music concert. But the fans were enthused, undoubtedly, as their team improved to 21-2. 'Waska was left at 3-20. 

I'm reporting the score and other stats from the "Maxpreps" site. The kmrs-kkok website coverage has the score reported as 61-22. Maxpreps has MACA outscoring the Lakers 30-8 in the first half, 31-21 in the second. You get a final score of 61-29 from those numbers. Let's go with 29 for the Lakers, would let them feel a little better. 

The orange and black had two double figures scorers: Jackson Loge with 12 points and Sam Kleinwolterink with ten. Thomas Tiernan was on the cusp of double figures with his nine. Then we see Tyler Berlinger with eight points and Cole Wente with six. Continuing: Toby Gonnerman 4, Durgin Decker 4, Max Lietz 2, Daniel Travis 2, Trey Hunt 2 and Brandon Jergenson 2. My first time typing Max's name - welcome. 

Loge scored his 12 points on four of six in shooting. Kleinwolterink made five of seven. Our team numbers in field goals were 26 of 48. In freethrows we were six of nine with Loge having four of the makes. Our total rebounds were 23 with Loge capturing eight (one offensive). 

Jergenson had four of our 15 assists. Three Tigers each had two steals: Berlinger, Wente and Jergenson. We turned the ball over nine times. Berlinger and Wente each blocked a shot. 

We put up some bricks from 3-point range: the team stats were three of 14. Tiernan had two makes, Wente one. 

No double figures scorers for the struggling Lakers. Here's their list from the West Central Tribune: Damon Uhde 7, Andrew Mrnak 5, Hunter Kostelecky 4, Hunter Kloos 3 Cade Olson 2 and Tate Reichmann 1. Kloos and Mrnak each made a '3'. Ethan Quelle led in rebounds with four. Uhde had three steals.

 

Girls: Minnewaska 52, Tigers 46

The visiting Lakers showed poise at the freethrow line down the stretch to get the upper hand versus our Tigers on Wednesday. Yes, another Wednesday game. We were defeated 52-46 at home. The Tigers did surge in the late stages to get the deficit whittled down to three. This was within the final minute, but our momentum waned. 

'Waska's  girls are doing much better than their boys. The Lakers were 16-9 coming out of this game. Our Tigers had 9-16 W/L numbers.

Meredith Carrington buoyed MACA with her team-best 17 points plus five rebounds. Sydney Dietz put in eight points. Kaylee Harstad came through with seven points and six boards.

Maddie Thorfinnson led the Lakers with 18 points while Brooke Kolstoe had 14. These two were complemented by: Sydney Dahl 9, Addy Randt 5, Megan Thorfinnson 4 and Addyson Kath 2. 

Mattie T. made two 3-pointers. Kolstoe had seven rebounds. Megan T. had three assists and four steals. Kolstoe and Dahl each had two blocked shots.

 

An unusual week

Sorry if I've gotten a little behind in reporting on the Tigers. Games reviewed here were on Wednesday, so Saturday for posting does not seem unreasonable, does it? It might be, just a bit, due to the rapid pace by which games are played. 

I have been distracted this past week by the need to "dig in" to the story about the extent to which our University of Minnesota-Morris is partnering with the U of M-Crookston. It is coming as a stark surprise to many of us. 

The people running UMM would say "it's no big deal," I would argue because "it's no big deal" is so entrenched in Minnesota vernacular. Nothing is really a "big deal." Except I guess the weather, and for that we always make accommodations, n'est-ce pas? 

It is legitimate to wonder if UMM might be losing some of its autonomy within the U system. The Crookston chancellor has the "executive chancellor" title in connection with UMM. Huh? I wasn't prepared for that. It blared over KFGO Radio and from other places last week. So I had to check into all that. 

Not sure what firm conclusions are to be made at this time. I never automatically buy a "party line" that is meant to just calm the populace. You must remember, I'm a Watergate-era journalist. 

Today (Saturday) I have posted again on the Morris-Crookston topic, as I have discovered extensive background from the UMC website. Crookston has been not at all reserved in reporting about all this. They've in fact seemed proud of it, whereas the word has been suppressed here in Motown. I might employ my brainpan to conclude that this is because Morris might be getting the dirty end of the stick? I'll say this: If the Crookston chancellor, Mary Holz Clause, could get the UMM Jazz Festival up and running again, I'll raise a toast to her. Shall we call her "Mrs. Santa Claus?" Crookston is way up north. Here is the permalink to the post I have up today on "Morris of Course":

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2022/02/umms-relative-autonomy-may-be.html 

 

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

Juxtaposition of UMM and U-Crookston

It's 6:30 p.m. here as the sun slips past the horizon. It leaves a pink glow to the west. The chill persists. People must be getting disheartened, even if they are not up-front about it. Oh to get some nice fresh air with a lengthy walk. We are indoors continuously. 

So, KFGO Radio was a companion for me for part of the afternoon. Big news out of North Dakota: a new president at NDSU. The type of news that gets reported often in the state's media. So, North Dakotans learn that one of the two other finalists was "chancellor at University of Minnesota-Morris and Crookston." 

In another place it was "Crookston and Morris." Having heard the report from more than one media outlet, I realized it could not be a one-off mistake by KFGO. 

KFGO has quite the wide reach, great credibility. Is more objective on news and political matters than WDAY. WDAY caters to the MAGA crowd - it's a common thread. If a news report embarrasses the Republicans, WDAY will race to get the talking points from the GOP on the matter. GOP can give us a snowjob on anything, if I might use an apt weather-based metaphor. WDAY has a guy at the mike in the morning with such a fake laugh. It's enough to make you want to switch away. 

Speaking of switching away, I wrote an email to Mike McFeely a while back stating that any recitation of the "Sanford" name made me want to switch. Mr. T. Denny of course likes to have lots of stuff named after him. High-interest credit cards have been good to the old coot - selling them, that is. Sanford has been in the news for untidy reasons of late. His money probably gives him an out. 

Thanks for reading this far, and now I'll complete the story about what crossed the airwaves today. Is it true? Was this person at Crookston really a dual chancellor? Was she serving both Crookston and Morris? Because that was not my understanding. We have Janet Schrunk Ericksen with the reins here, a nice and brilliant person - expertise with "Beowulf" and you can't beat that - and I thought she was full-fledged in charge. Maybe not on a permanent basis, but still. 

Administrative matters can get muddy. I remember having breakfast at McDonald's once with a local attorney who was aware of my reputation of being inclined to be critical of school administrators. He said "you probably grew up in a household where you overheard talk about (those people) being clueless," he said, paraphrased here. 

Might that be true? Academic people look out for their own turf, let me just say. 

As for the Morris K-12 public school of the 1980s, let's just say it had "slippage" (a word that the late Edwin Newman had fun with). 

So, KFGO Radio tells us that an NDSU finalist was "chancellor at Morris and Crookston." Wow! Right away I recalled a conversation of just a couple weeks ago with a long-time UMM employee. Bumped into her at Caribou Coffee where recently, incredibly, coffee-making equipment has been breaking down. At Caribou Coffee? Evidently. Yours truly and this friend pondered UMM's future. She said talk has been heard of UMM possibly entering into a "collaboration" with Crookston. 

It's a little disconcerting IMHO, since we're the "jewel in the crown," the unique experiment of a small public liberal arts college. Not sure we'd be a natural pairing with anyone else out here. Unless maybe. . . 

Well, maybe change is in the works for UMM as it could be for any post-high school institution. Change is such the norm now in our digital age. Of course it isn't necessarily bad. But if UMM were to retreat from its hardened position of the "small public liberal arts college of excellence," well my goodness, Jack Imholte would roll over in his grave. 

My father was never quite so wedded to the whole liberal arts thing. So maybe I heard some of that talk too. But he sure put oomph into his work. He might have become a little jaded by the time I came into the world. I know his serious music composing was done by that point. So I was never around him to absorb all that. He never encouraged me to do it. 

Let's proceed with my adventure of today, absorbing the sudden news of the shared chancellor thing. A trumpet fanfare please: I was able to verify through good sourcing that the KFGO report was accurate. I shortly discovered the same wording on the KNOX news site article. 

I communicated with a well-placed source in connection to UMM (or UMN if that's the more precise reference). I wish I could quote him further but he suggested I not. 

What appears to be rock-solid true is that my journalistic brethren at KFGO and KNOX reported with validity. So the Crookston individual is technically at the top of UMM's food chain also. Janet Ericksen has her very nice title too. You know how administrative jockeying can get a little, well, inscrutable. Maybe the head U of M president is really where it's at. 

The humorist Art Buchwald once wrote a book "Getting High in Government Circles." 

We may not have all the facts but there's basis for whispering or speculating. Might a new entity be born that couples Morris with Crookston? What all ramifications might there be, of that? I suggest the entity be called "Way Out West." Where you can hear coyotes at night. 

And on the subject of wildlife, did you know that "Bizon" with the "z" sound is the correct pronunciation for the NDSU mascot, while the "s" sound is suggested for the animal? I researched this because I have written a song about North Dakota.

The new NDSU president is David Cook. The Crookston individual is Mary Holz-Clause, described as "acting executive chancellor at Minnesota Crookston and Morris."

Cook succeeds Dean Bresciani.

This is a breaking story! Here is an email that just came in as I'm about to proofread:

 

Who can you/we talk to around here to get a better answer? Aren’t you buds with Jan Erickson and Michelle Behr? Tell them you’ll withhold future donations unless you’re made privy to this situation. I wonder what it means in the big picture. This isn’t like a couple rural public schools sharing a superintendent as I’ve seen occasionally – there’s a bit of a distance between Morris and Crookston for a comfortable collaboration to happen, one would think. I’m Facebook friends with a woman, former Morris resident, that teaches at UMC. I wonder if she knows anything.

 

Addendum: I share further on this subject for my Thursday morning post on "Morris of Course." I invite you to read with permalink:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2022/02/crookston-based-chancellor-has.html 

 

Janet Schrunk Ericksen

 

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

We persist in the abyss of winter, 2022

"Snirt" (image from aljazeera)

The movie "Fargo" certainly presented exaggerated stereotypes. The movie was right on in conveying the dreary nature of winter. It showed us inhabitants carrying on as best we could, living life as though we might be oblivious, whereas most certainly the opposite was true. 

Ah, scraping the windshield. Can't remember if "car clumps" were depicted, those annoying dirty half-snow, half-ice things that get just behind your car tires. The movie showed how sometimes when you're walking over snow, the snow will support your weight until suddenly it doesn't. We have all experienced this, how suddenly your leg will go down. 

I made it to town the other day on foot, going south from where I live along the non-maintained U of M road that has been there for time immemorial. One change: it no longer connects to the highway. You'll come to the east end of the relatively new service road. It's the road where Greeley Plumbing is. 

One merely has to navigate a slight incline to get onto the service road. A lot of snow has been pushed there. I'm sure this coming spring - I do believe spring will eventually come - that place will be exhibit 'A' for "snirt." 

Look out for "snirt" this year, the combo of snow and dirt of course. Over the weekend we already saw some arrival of that. But it didn't last long, as a new snowfall has covered it up. And it's supposed to snow worse tomorrow (Tuesday). 

Oh! Tomorrow is 2/22/22, isn't that interesting? You might say it's "Twosday." Hmmm. Also consider: This century alone has had a couple "Onesdays," 1/11/11 and 11/11/11. Plus, eleven other months with repetitions such as 1/1/01, 6/6/06 and 12/12/12. We'll hit "Threesday," 3/3/33, in eleven years, and "Foursday" eleven years after that. 

The significance of all this? No idea. Did you know that "God" spelled backwards is "dog?" No apparent significance there either. 

My previous blog post gave some attention to Sharon Martin's dog "Goldy." The brightest, most heartening sign of spring is to see Sharon with "Goldy" out along the biking/walking trail to the east of town. 

 

Almost like quicksand

More on my saga of walking into town from the north: OK, so I get to the end of the service road, where piles of snow get pushed for snow removal. It's a little daunting to navigate there. Yes, my "leg went down" as I sought to walk up the incline. Suddenly I realized that extricating myself was going to be rather difficult. I likened this situation almost to quicksand. I'm now age 67 and maybe have to acknowledge a little loss of strength from my hearty middle age. 

I did in fact extricate myself but it was after some somewhat tense moments. 

I came up with a strategy for dealing with the spot: get on "all fours" and spread your weight out. 

Why was I "trekking" like this? It was because I had to pick up my car from Heartland Motors after an oil change. It was the day when we had "white-outs" coming and going. I was going to grab a quick bite to eat at McDonald's before going home. Then a "white-out" hit. You know the feeling, you Minnesotans, when a white-out arrives. I suddenly wondered if I'd even make it home. Where to stay? Where to park where my vehicle would not get towed?! Morris is pretty sensitive about that. 

Well, the white-out abated in fairly short order, so I got home, breathed a huge sigh of relief after getting car in garage and closing the door. More white-outs were coming that day. What a life in Minnesota. No exaggeration from the movie "Fargo" on that. I did not particularly like the whole movie, too many disturbing aspects. 

 

Inflation is real

Since I have dropped the "McDonald's" name here, let me share that I have noticed pretty steady price inflation there. Will they abate? Seems not to have bothered customers much yet. The drive-through line amazes me, sometimes backed way up. Aren't people concerned with exhausting gas while in these lines? So I'm 67 and and when I was young, there was no such thing as "drive-through." People left tips in restaurants with coins, hard coins! Seat belts were not mandatory. Schools did not have to contract for "security." 

Is inflation going to start a panic soon? One has to wonder. Will civilization start to break down? I watch people come in and out of Willie's and I'm reminded of the famous quote: "The majority of people lead lives of quite desperation." (Henry David Thoreau)

  

Addendum: Just got back to the house from walk downtown to get sustenance at Willie's. Avoided the farm field this time. Roads are bad and that includes being icy and slippery. Wind a factor also. I wanted to consider a stretch of highway for getting into town. The wind would have been easier to take, entirely at my back. The stretch would be from Armory to Homestead or maybe even to Pizza Hut. I'd be walking facing traffic naturally, completely legal.

The problem is that I would still risk being accosted by a Morris police officer. This has happened to me before during bad winter weather. And it is extremely unnerving these days being confronted by cops, no matter the circumstances. I mean, with news reports rolling in quite regularly about aggressive police behavior, cops making mistakes or whatever. Getting shot after being pulled over for having air freshener hanging from your rear-view mirror. So it's very scary and discomforting. 

I wish to take no undue risks. So I just don't walk on highway shoulders anymore. 

Residents of Northridge Drive cannot get to town "as the crow flies." We're across the field from Homestead (formerly Gibson's, formerly Pamida, formerly Shopko).

Today I got a nice little meal at Willie's, less than $10, consumed it at the "cafe" there and walked home. May not be able to drive tomorrow. Could walk into town again in morning. Will avoid the highways. I don't want to get shot or anything. The cops have "qualified immunity." That, plus they can be arrogant bastards. They are extremely dangerous.

Ten dollars seemed like so much more money when I was a kid.

 

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

So far, so good with our Morris school

I shared with a teacher friend of mine about all the unrest centered on "CRT." The unrest goes beyond pure CRT but those are the initials that capsulize the issue. Ironic, because pure CRT is really not taught in many places. Let's call the initials a "buzzword." It is shorthand which of course people always appreciate. Simplified to the point where it really becomes misleading. Such is the nature of the country we inhabit. 

Yes, I do drone on about the annoyances of the Americans who call themselves "conservative" today. There has to be reasonable pushback against these folks now. A trait generally associated with conservatism is that it has a wellspring of emotion rather than demonstrable fact. You cannot dispute that, can you? And it's not as if emotions are worthless. But we all need to pause and take a deep breath, here in the year 2022. 

The pendulum has been known to change directions. That is in fact the norm. But, so is the norm that we cannot predict the future. My late father always said "analogies are dangerous." This is why I sometimes cite "Godwin's Rule" in my writing. That was then, this is now. Pundits talk about the inflation of the 1970s. The specter or reality of inflation is looming right now. But this is not the 1970s. Culturally we have moved quite a distance away from that, from the pre-digital times of the Big 3 TV networks with their "gatekeeper" news shows. To the present where the "media" is a ridiculous free-for-all. 

I digress? Let's get back to my teacher friend. Is it OK if I say she's Sharon Martin? I went to high school with the oldest of the Martin children, Edith, the one who didn't hang around here much after her graduation. The Eul family of hardware distinction was ditto: the oldest child, Mike, in my graduating class like Edith, was not destined to stay in Morris. Destiny took "Edie" and Mike away. Whether it was to greener pastures, they will have to judge. 

I asked Rob Eul what Mike thought of the Eul's Hardware era ending here in Motown. Rob indicated that Mike had other priorities, just as he obviously did after graduating from high school. 

Edith was a class speaker for our commencement. It was during the "deconstructionist" or contrarian era for young people, in which the norms demanded they be unconventional. So Edie was surely up to that task. She invoked the old character of "Caspar Milquetoast." She advised us against following that example. 

So I asked Sharon Martin about all the tumult in U.S. education now, with the self-styled "conservatives" of today rocking the boat with so much unpleasantness. We never could have predicted this when I was high school age. Back then we looked upon conservatives as being fundamentally dull, staid, stodgy. So we got frustrated with them when we had trouble persuading them about the folly of the Vietnam war. That is such an old and forgotten issue now. 

Conservatives have re-invented themselves today in the image of this crazy person named Donald Trump. We cannot assume that this movement will ultimately wake up and smell the coffee. We'd love to assume there's always a happy ending, with good triumphing over bad. We got that with Watergate. And who were the heroes with Watergate? Oh my, newspaper writers! Can you believe it? So I got on board with that profession. 

Today, newspaper writers just do whatever it takes to keep their jobs, as they no longer feel their oats at all. Not like in the '70s. I can be sort of a vestige of that because online, I can write any way I prefer, can share whatever world view I prefer. However, the media is so "fragmented" today, it can blow your mind. My reach as a writer is limited, I acknowledge that. However, I do feel I offer some meaningful enrichment from time to time. 

Today I can report that Sharon Martin has encouraging words about our Morris school system. The "crazies" of the political right have not yet infiltrated with their screaming histrionics. Those are my words, not hers. 

Shhh, don't tell anyone. We don't want the local "conservative" crowd getting any ideas about how they might start showing up at school board meetings to be horribly disruptive. We learn now that teachers are leaving the profession because of the pressure coming down. A teacher does not dare even suggest anything in class that could hurt the feelings of "white people." Or, to offend any kids' religious beliefs, even if said beliefs are random and stupid, like interpreting the Bible literally. How can a science teacher even function under these circumstances? 

The conservatives of my childhood were characterized to a large extent by not wanting to rock the boat, just take it easy and ensure orderliness. Order was so important to them. But today? "Conservatives" are striving to set fire to things, figuratively speaking. They'll fire a superintendent who is obviously a basically good and competent person. This is happening, like in suburban Denver CO. 

Sharon Martin

So Sharon tells me our local school administration "has the backs" of the teachers. Teachers for their part are just "presenting the facts," she says. All of this is wonderful if it holds. If it holds. . . It could change. There is definitely a hardcore conservative element among us here in Stevens County, the Bible-toters, Trump-ites, anti-vaxxers. We should be whistling past the graveyard. 

Now that this blog post is up, I hope Sharon is pleasant as usual when I see her along the biking/walking trail this spring. Oh how we look forward to the turn in the weather! Sharon will be with her beloved dog, "Goldy."

Click on permalink below to read the post I wrote several years ago, based on Edith Martin's MHS graduation speech from 1973. The headline is "Graduation reflects tenor of the times." Thanks.

http://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2012/04/graduation-reflects-tenor-of-times.html 

Addendum: Do not think you can "protect" or shield kids from certain ideas or ways of interpreting history. Heavens! As an adult I discovered two different Civil War magazines, devoured many articles in both and learned just about everything I know about that conflict. It does not matter how it was presented in "school."

 

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

Girls shake their recent second half woes, win

MACA girls basketball got things turned around Tuesday to defeat the Lac qui Parle Valley Eagles at the Eagles' court. Score was 54-47. Winning was a relief because the Tigers have had problems sustaining a top-notch effort. They have had a problem with second half collapses, to be blunt about it. Their Friday and Monday games were unfortunately in the "collapse" category. I cover those games on my companion blog, "Morris of Course," and you can read with this permalink. Thanks.

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2022/02/a-hex-in-second-half-whatever-maca.html 

 

OK, now on to a more upbeat story. This time our fortunes actually improved after halftime. Way to go, coach Henrich. And way to go Tigers. The score was tied at halftime, 25-25. This time around we held off the opposition the rest of the way. So we won by the seven-point margin. 

Have we found a solution to the second half woes? We own a 9-14 record now. Beating the Eagles was a feather in the cap as this team is quite far above .500 (at 18-6). 

Maddy Grove was a standout with her 13 points and eight rebounds. Meredith Carrington was a factor with 12 points and seven boards. Kaylee Harstad put in 12 points. Then we see Sydney Dietz with nine and Cate Kehoe with eight. Cate came though with eight rebounds and six assists also.

Boys: Tigers 77, Montevideo 64

I wish the West Central Tribune would knock it off with all the "future Augustana player" or "Augustana recruit" references to Jackson Loge. What matters now is that Loge is an MACA Tiger. College can wait. Loge was a force on the basketball court on Tuesday with his 34 points. Indeed, we lived up to our lofty state position with yet another win. We have only lost once. 

Another bothersome thing that I associate with the Willmar paper: the way they always refer to us as "Morris/CA." It is simply inaccurate. Maybe they have made the judgment that "Morris Area Chokio Alberta" is unwieldy or illogical, I don't know. Maybe they'd even be right about that. It misses the point. We are Morris Area Chokio Alberta or MACA. 

Personally I'd like to see "Morris High School" take over as the reference for all our sports teams. We'd go back to the old days! It is understood that Morris pulls in students from a wide radius. The "little" towns are not as identity-conscious as they were in a bygone time. Many have become bedroom communities and they just don't care, outside of appreciating that their towns are quiet and safe. 

I am old enough to remember when the community of Cyrus was highly parochial and assertive with its image. That attitude grated on a lot of us. Nothing against Cyrus at all, but it is a satellite town. I'll take that over St. Cloud, where reportedly there are gangs. In the old days, the problem with St. Cloud was that there were too many Catholics! I guess I'm just kidding on that. 

Fans at Tiger Center saw their team assume a 46-38 lead by halftime Tuesday. We outscored the T-Hawks 31-26 the rest of the way. Presto! We got win No. 20, score of 77-64. 

Let's pore over some stats. We were 31 of 53 in field goal shooting, 58 percent. Loge was a monster contributor on this night: 15 of 19 in shooting! Thomas Tiernan made five of eight shots and posted 14 points. Brandon Jergenson put in nine points on three of nine. Also scoring: Cole Wente 7, Tyler Berlinger 6, Durgin Decker 2 and Toby Gonnerman 2. 

Tiernan, as he so often is, was a key shooter from three-point range. He made four of seven. Jergenson and Loge each made two 3-pointers, and Wente made one. We were nine of 25, 36 percent, from 3-point land. I'm trying to get back in the habit of writing "3-point land" again. It's charming, right? 

Loge went to work at the freethrow line to sink five of six. He was sure pinpoint on Tuesday. Jergenson had our other made freethrow. We were six of nine. Loge vacuumed the boards for 12 rebounds, three offensive. The team total was 24, five offensive. Jergenson was sharp with his passing to rack up nine assists. We had 24 total assists. Tiernan had two steals of our five total. Our turnover total was 11. Loge blocked three shots and Gonnerman blocked one.

 

I invite you to compare my coverage of the Monday and Tuesday MACA hoops action with what you see on the Morris newspaper website. Am I out of bounds in saying that the sports part of the paper's website is just overloaded with UMM to an annoying degree? To add insult to injury, the best source of UMM sports coverage is UMM's own website anyway. The newspaper has someone paid to do sports.

 

Valentine's Day 2022: non-event

Yours truly came very close to making a Valentine's Day gesture with a woman. Let history record. I was strongly inclined for a time - you might say I had my heart set on it. And then: fear. I have done an excellent job all my life of protecting myself from the substantial risks involved with coaxing a special relationship with an opposite-sex person. 

Did my risk-aversion win out again? Looks to be the case, and I'm not completely proud about it. I wasn't certain if the female would welcome it. I think the odds were better than 50-50 that she would. But there was no way of knowing for sure, alas. 

So now I'm at least content in knowing that she isn't going to come after me with a rolling pin. Do young people even know what a rolling pin is any more? Or has that gone the way of hot water bottles on your forehead after a "night on the town." Remember the old comic strip "The Better Half?" The guy would be sitting at the breakfast table in his white sleeveless undershirt with water bottle on his head. 

What lies ahead for me? Safety only? I guess "relationships" are all about risk. Will I ever place my toe in the water? Look what happened to Jeff Zucker at CNN. And to his significant other. There's a headline in front of me now: "Ex-CNN  Executive Allison Gollust fires back at Parent Company WarnerMedia: An attempt to retaliate against me." See where love gets you?

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

We're seeing parallels with something awful

So it has come to this. A headline this morning on "Mediaite" says "Jim Jordan says Trump 'right on target' with statement suggesting Clinton campaign operatives should be executed." 

I have studied history well. Thus I have had concerns about parallels one might sense between Trump-ism and the Nazis. Obviously one must use caution with such fears or conclusions. On several occasions I have cited "Godwin's Rule" as sort of a guardrail with such things. Generally speaking, back off from citing the Nazis when commenting on contemporary phenomena. It can be a turn-off because it seems extreme, sensational. 

So, often when I cite my Nazi-based concerns, in the next breath I advise to be mindful of "Godwin's." It pains me now to see the situation has advanced the way it has. But I have feared this for quite some time. At first many of us are aghast when hearing of a new Trump absurdity. Such stories have flowed on and on, now reaching the point where we learn of Trump flushing toilets to get rid of documents. Can this be real? 

In an earlier time we would have said "no." We would have been skeptical of any prediction of such a president coming along. We would assume a minimum level of class and decorum, considered it a prerequisite. 

Something drastic has been happening to the American psyche. Germany of the 1930s slowly slid into this type of situation, where surely Germany's own citizens had to know nasty stuff was happening. But they deferred to their leaders. Are we simply deferring to ours now? 

But, Donald Trump is an "ex" president. He seeks to wield clout as if he's still numero uno. Problem is, the media takes him seriously when he does this. So we see at the top of the "Mediaite" site now, the breakthrough story of how Trump-ists might begin taking lives. And is anyone going to stop them? 

We might theorize that Jim Jordan has had his head slammed on a wrestling mat too many times. This is no time for levity, though. Levity has helped us deal with the Trump crowd for a long time: the fodder for late-night comedians etc. Do I even need to look for the humor connected to the toilet-flushing story? It's almost so tailor-made for SNL, it won't be funny. I don't have TV now so I cannot watch the "Cold Open" at the time it's first presented. But I often catch this stuff later on YouTube posts. 

Early in Trump's presidency, he talked about how a certain individual should be charged with "treason." We should not be loose in throwing that word around. "Loose" is Trump's middle name. Decorum out the window. The standards are supposed to exist for a reason. If all this has now broken down, is the U.S. on the skids with its position in the world? I hope that's not a rhetorical question. 

Were the Germans really aware they were on the road to ruin, leading up to 1945? No, they were deluded. And now we have the ultimate flim-flam man, Trump, promoting delusion leading to this: serious speculation on whether Democratic political operatives should be "executed." The penalty for treason, incidentally, is "death." 

We need some opinion leaders in America to start up now and condemn the inflammatory speculation. We need to condemn it before such thoughts get translated into action. It can't happen here? Wasn't that the name of a Sinclair Lewis book? "It Can't Happen Here?" The whole point is that it can. 

Sinclair Lewis

Here's a reminder that Lewis was from Sauk Centre. Might the memory of him be fading a little? He has gotten a little maligned through history: biographers a little too inclined to deconstruct. 

Jim Jordan has been annoying through all of the Trump circus since it came to town. He reminds me of the "general" character in "Mars Attacks" after the aliens shrunk him way down and the pitch of his voice went up, to where he was "yapping away" like an excited small dog. That's Jim Jordan now, and what a relief it would be if we would all just start laughing at him. 

Liz Cheney wants her party to just wake up, shake off its inhibitions/fears and just come forward and say what they've been saying in private. Trump is a disgrace and annoyance. Let's get back to serious politics and problem-solving, done in a sober way and with participants being respectful. You really need me to tell you all this? Really? 

The toilet story and all such stuff diverts our attention from real issues like whether the Federal Reserve (central bank) is going to bring down this country. Trump when president tried pressing the Federal Reserve to implement negative interest rates? First of all, the president is never supposed to try to influence the Fed. That's just the way it's supposed to be. And Trump didn't respect that? Should not we be concerned? 

Negative interest rates might mean you'd have to pay a bank to have a savings account. In a normal world, savers get paid some interest. 

All eyes should be on the Fed now, rather than on Trump's toilet-flushing or other such stuff. Execution? Maybe some people are floating this shock stuff to get people's attention away from the economy and inflation. Because you have to consider: the size of interest rate hikes being weighed by the Fed now, won't be nearly enough to blunt inflation. Nope, sorry. So then what? By even experimenting with such tiny hikes, the U.S. stock market bubble or house of cards could be destroyed. 

And to raise interest rates enough to have a chance to stop inflation? Good chance that would kill the stock market, and no way in hell our politicians are going to countenance that. So, what to do? Pray? And in the meantime, elevate talk of executing one's adversaries? This became reality in Hitler's Germany. 

Trump and his offensive language and behavior just rolls on. The headlines continue with each passing day. He never gets pushed back. This kind of thing happened to Germany too, mid-20th Century. 

If Hillary had been elected, she would have been a mainstream, decent, respectful person who would have left the Federal Reserve alone. 

When history books get written? People speculate so much on this. But I really think the turning point for America, downward, was with the 2008 "financial crisis," and how it just got "papered over." No proper solution at all. We may all be hurtling toward a terrible outcome because of that. But with executions? I absolutely will not rule it out, based on the pattern established to date. 

Merrick Garland might be executed for failing to use his office to "go after" Hunter Biden. That's the kind of world we're in now. 

Oh, to go back to the days of Bob Dole and George Mitchell. Boring. But Nirvana compared to now. 

And to think it was the "evangelical Christians" who gave us Trump in power. 

It is Sunday today and I am staying home from church. It's getting ever harder for me to square Christianity with all that is going on. Without Christianity, we would have been spared the Trump presidency. Does Trump himself live up to any Christian ideals at all? Isn't he rather the antithesis? Maybe he's the devil. Maybe even I will be executed before it's all over. 

So Valentine's Day is tomorrow (Monday). I can celebrate it only in theory, not in practice. I am just like the lead male character in the '80s movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy." Remember? Any time the guy got around a "nubile female," he lost all coordination, might trip over his own shoelaces, couldn't put a sentence together. That's me. I can actually be dangerous in these situations. 

Prescient book we must heed, by Sauk Centre's Sinclair Lewis

 

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

What loss? Tigers show superiority again

MACA worked to crush any left-over bad taste from the loss to Osakis. The Tigers worked to absolutely pummel Benson on Thursday night. They shot out to a 37-22 lead by halftime. And then, finished up business with a 37-14 second half advantage over this opponent with the "Braves" nickname, clearly inappropriate for the year 2022.  

So we won 74-36. 

Click on the permalink below to read about the MACA girls' wins over Paynesville and Benson. This coverage is on my "Morris of Course" blog site. Thanks. 

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2022/02/maca-girls-defeat-benson-and-paynesville.html 

 

So it was another night of watching Jackson Loge at the top of his game: 24 points. He made 10 of 17 shots from the field. Brandon Jergenson was a standout once again with 20 points on 8 of 11. Toby Gonnerman crept into the double figures circle with his ten (a pinpoint five of six in shooting). 

Other Tigers in the scoring column: Sam Kleinwolterink 5,  Durgin Decker 3, Tyler Berlinger 3, Kyle Fehr 3, Ayden Schmidgall 2, Trey Hunt 2 and Cole Wente 2. As a team we shot 30 of 49, 61 percent. In 3's our numbers were four of 15, 27 percent. Jergenson connected for two of those. Loge and Fehr made one each.

The freethrow story was 10 of 22, 45 percent, with Loge having three makes. Our rebound harvest was 32 with eight of them offensive. Loge had eleven total rebounds and three offensive. Decker and Kleinwolterink each had four boards. 

Jergenson had five of our 18 assists. Berlinger and Wente each had three steals. We turned the ball over nine times. Loge blocked two shots and Kleinwolterink blocked one. 

The chink in our armor from the loss to Osakis hasn't diminished our state standing. The kmrs-kkok review of the Benson game announces we're ranked third, yes pretty rarefied air. When the post-season starts, though, all the teams are 0-0! The Tigers are 7-0 in the WCC. Benson languishes at 0-7 in league. 

The MACA overall won-lost mark now is 18-1. I hope our fans are not chanting "let's go Brandon" for Brandon Jergenson.

 

Wrestling excellence in Quad

The home fans were delighted to see MAHACA vanquish its three foes in the home quadrangular. We beat Minnewaska Area 37-36, West Central Area 36-33 and Border West 52-20. 

Grayson Gibson was a standout on the mat with his major decision, a win by fall and a straight decision. Davin Rose won by technical fall and a pin. Dallas Walton and Tyce Anderson each posted a major decision and a pin.

 

Public schools' future

This is serious, as there may be storm clouds hovering over the very future of our public schools. This is because of the immense pressure coming down from Republican politicians - sorry to make this sound partisan but I'm just stating facts. It's all part of the battle being waged by today's Republican Party with the tone set by their leader, Donald Trump. 

The battle is being waged vs. "woke" ideas that might be suggested by public school teachers. A proposed bill in Oklahoma would allow a parent to sue for $10,000. How many of you would consider a lawsuit if you could possibly get $10,000? Probably a great many of us. A student might be "offended" if a teacher presented subject matter that the student thinks contradicts his religious beliefs. 

Couldn't a large semi truck be driven through this measure, such is its ambiguity? I checked yesterday and found that the definition of "woke" is evolving as we speak. It is broadening. Tucker Carlson of Fox News has pushed the term out there, relentlessly.

All of this is done in concert with Trump. Trump just hovers over everything, in spite of what we are learning every single day about his incredible misdeeds and abject stupidity. He would get a majority of votes in Stevens County including from all the Apostolics, if he were to run again. Many of us are losing hope he will ever be indicted. 

Perhaps behind closed doors, powerful people in Washington D.C. including Merrick Garland are discussing about how a legal move against Trump, of any kind, might cause a violent rebellion all across America. I would like to see the authorities just give it a try. You might be surprised just how accepting Americans would be, for our legal process to pull levers. Is Trump really worth committing a rebellion for? Why? 

I place my greatest hope in the women of America. They just want to see life proceed on, with peace and stability, temperance and love. Women are nurturers, men are destroyers. 

So, will the new GOP anti-woke push cause public schools all across America to shut down? Lawsuits would drain the schools' insurance resources. But don't we need our public schools to survive, just to have sports? 

Yesterday I put up a post on "Morris of Course" about Maggie Haberman's new book about the Trump absurdity. Yes, this is the book that includes the toilet-flushing episodes. Must-read, eh? I invite you to click on permalink below to read my book review/analysis. Thanks.

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2022/02/now-its-maggie-haberman-who-seeks-to.html 

 

It is Friday and the weather is hell.

 

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

Reactionary push might endanger UMM?

I shared a warning with a fellow UMM advocate yesterday. Have you followed the news close enough to notice the altered state of the Republican Party, from its traditional outlook? This has been extremely marked. Obviously Trump is the catalyst. But Trump is supposed to be the ex-president. Yet he finds his way to the top or near the top of the news daily. So often, it is with wacky or extreme pronouncements, often with little if any factual backing. We all must be eating it up. 

Even if we find a lot of it to be absurd, we are eating it up. It is slowly transforming the nature of our society, to the point where the reactionary element feels emboldened like never before. 

This Senator Kennedy of Louisiana asks questions in a hearing as if he is the second coming of Joe McCarthy. Our society had a consensus for a long time that McCarthy was a bad guy. Really pretty incontrovertible. Nothing appears to be incontrovertible now, not even the thumbs-down with Jim Crow. The Supreme Court with Trump's appointees, and with the once-conservative John Roberts trying in vain to put his finger in the dike, is allowing Alabama to essentially resurrect Jim Crow. 

Hey, Jim Crow was supposed to be a relic. We all seemed to agree on that for a long time. Incontrovertible. Nothing is incontrovertible now. 

I honestly do not consider it overstatement to note that brainwashing is happening, with Ron Johnson of Wisconsin perhaps exhibit 'A'. Or Devin Nunes who emerged over the last few years as a top Trump toady. Oh but he shares that platform with a great many. They are not humbled. They won't answer directly if they think the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump. Chris Wallace tried getting an answer from Steve Scalise three times on this. 

My fantasy is for someone like Chris Wallace to not let go, to just stay on the air indefinitely until Scalise can cough up an answer of some sort. Or, maybe the pol would just get up and walk out. A critic would way he'd "pout." But you can insult these people from any number of directions and it doesn't matter to them. Because they've been brainwashed. 

The New York Times has a story on Ron Johnson, the point being "he wasn't always like this." I have heard the same observation about Nunes. Joe Scarborough noted that Nunes was once a deservedly obscure congressman who followed the standard Republican line on such things as taxes, but was basically civil. 

Why my hand-wringing on this now? Well, a couple things: for this element of society to continue totally undeterred, to cut slack for the Jan. 6 rioters, to run away from reporters as Kevin McCarthy is doing now, ought to float the specter of a slide to Nazi-level danger. We can all pray that this fear will ultimately be unfounded. At present I feel it is quite well founded. 

Welcoming back Jim Crow? Roughing up a witness at a hearing with Joe McCarthy-esque language, not even veiled? Aren't you all shocked we have returned to such things? Let's not be like the frog in water reaching a boil. We need to snap out of our lethargy which has probably grown out of the day-to-day drumbeat that seems monotonous after a while. 

You all have friends of German ancestry. They aren't stupid, right? Quite to the contrary. But anyone would have to ask himself: would my German friends of today have been caught up in Nazi-ism? You might scream "no." I would demur on that. Nazis were not born as mentally crazed individuals, they learned their dysfunction and became attracted by Hitler's speeches. Like the  Trump rallies of today? What even Fox News does not want to cover anymore? We still see vociferous crowds. 

It is a trait of human nature that people get attracted to powerful figures. They want to ride the coattails and to "kiss up." Hitler had his circle. We have seen people around Trump who obviously should have known better. Ron Johnson should know better. He is not stupid, just deluded, vain and intoxicated some on the entrancing mystique of this fellow named Trump, who for a time in his life mastered entertainment from the TV screen. 

My arguments here have relevance for our U of M-Morris. I'm finally getting to the "local angle" here. I feel it is vitally important. Someday if things go badly, you'll look back and realize I was prescient. Let's pray that scenario doesn't happen. But look how far the Trump train has proceeded up to now. 

Republicans all the way down to the state legislature level are following the lead of the loudest people in their fold. Such as, the anti-vaxxers, Dr. Fauci-bashers and mask scoffers. In other words, decrying the legitimate effort at mitigation in the face of the virus. They decry all this in the name of "freedom." In a normal political environment, we might listen to some legitimate skeptics about the mitigation, because surely there is no "perfect" route. 

The virus posed mysteries for a long time and still does. 

Mitigation is for the purpose of saving lives. I could name one non-vaccinated person in Stevens County who died. Debate on the masking stance is legitimate, but the Trumpian element gets in our faces, as it were, with this stuff. It's emotional and angry and translates to a 100 percent Republican attitude in voting. 

Remember what the Republican Party stands for primarily: to promote the interests of the very richest among us. So much of the other stuff is for deflection, to induce naive and scared folks to get on board. 

There is a very real threat to our U of M-Morris at present: this big push by Republicans now to crush the so-called "woke" ideas. "Woke" didn't really enter our vocabulary until relatively recently. It pains me to give credit to Tucker Carlson for anything, but he probably gave traction to the word. And now the reactionary crowd reacts as if presented with marching orders. 

Let's acknowledge that our UMM really does reflect a "woke" approach to things, if you want to use that word. We should all be in agreement on that. 

Am I comfortable with UMM's approach? Did I say I was uncomfortable? No, that is not my point. I can wrap my arms around UMM anytime. Their intent is good even if a bit overzealous sometimes. It's nothing to rabidly protest against, but we are seeing rabid protests grow against so-called woke attitudes all over the U.S. now. Ethnic studies. Gender awareness. Scrutiny of race-based conflict through history. The scrutiny can be embarrassing for white America. But we must acknowledge facts and history. 

Republicans wish to apply the brakes to that now - no reservations. It takes no prisoners. All this has picked up steam just recently. 

The supposedly moderate new governor of Virginia, this Youngkin fellow, who was supposed to be keeping his distance from Trump - remember? - is now behaving like a front-row Trumpite. Amazing. 

Such is the power of a cult, or of brainwashing. This all happened in Germany once. Heaven help us all. Let's pray for UMM's future. (Or is it "UMN" now?)

Final note: I'm a "white" person but my skin isn't really "white."

 

Jim Carrey's artwork is at left. Donald Trump's personal behavior does not diminish his standing among evangelical Christians. He seems only to get elevated in their eyes. The photo shows Trump with Stormy Daniels. Mention this matter around the Trump people and they'll just shrug. Or they'll be amused at how you think this is a disturbing matter, I mean Trump's morality. I can just imagine the dismissive smile on the face of a friend who subscribes to Trump. "Oh, that's cute." Many young people across America are being alienated from the Christian faith. It is a matter that should concern us all.
 

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