Stardate Jan. 20, 2025. Remember how in past times, people would talk about how a special effort was needed in "the new year" to get the year right on your checks? The talk seems to have all but disappeared: we write paper checks so rarely now. So many more systems are automated now. We do not have to think as much to stay on top of things.
Speaking of not having to think as much, we have decided to have Trump take over for a new term as president. Do you sense any real joy in the air about this? Don't you in fact sense trepidation? Shouldn't you start asking yourself how we came to this place: a person with so many obvious liabilities being able to ascend to these heights again?
Give a person power and you'll see his true colors. As an entertainment personality, Trump could be seen as popular. He was harmless. He and his professional entertainment handlers could cook up an entertainment product and a persona that could get attention/eyeballs. Cute, yes.
"Getting attention" for Trump has now morphed into something so totally different.
People can be fooled by the entertainment world. You are naive if you do not see that. Consider the height of "reality TV" (when "TV" was still really a thing) and how we learned the shows were quite contrived and scripted. Well they had to be. Can't you see or understand? I guess I could. Trump's popular persona was carved out by such means.
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| "Meme" coins |
There is a chance that the law will eventually catch up to him. But it seems unlikely now. He (or should I say he and his lawyers) have been breathtakingly adept at dodging all the bullets.
And what will now be the consequences for our America? We have some answering to do out here in western Minnesota. We elect a congressperson who is absolutely joined at the hip with Trump. She is full-fledged MAGA. And her main challenger was actually someone to the right of her: Steve "Life Begins at Conception" Boyd. Well, that's who we are now.
"I don't celebrate rapists" - AOC on why she isn't attending inauguration today.
And you wonder why my headline accents the lack of joy? Happens to be on MLK Day too.
Layer of "fog," cold
On this morning of the start of a new week, a thick haze was again seen over the landscape. A repeating phenomenon. Just plain ol' fog? If not, what? The government experimenting with something?
I am relieved by the extreme cold for one reason: it might cut down on the wildlife we'll see come spring. I'm thinking of one particular menace: skunks. Oh and your basic field mice too. I have contracted with Braness Pest Control and I now have peace of mind with quite the number of bait stations out and around. Should have done this a long time ago.
Never had a problem with mice inside the home, but the basement has seen an occasional intrusion and it's just not acceptable.
A prolonged cold snap might eradicate a lot of the unwelcome critters.
For the first time last year in early summer, I saw skunks out by the biking/walking trail, even in daylight. A mink crossed the trail in front of me. But skunks are a unique menace. If not for the obvious problem associated with them, I think a mother with her young ones are about the cutest thing in the world. A family scampered right by me in my back yard last June. Strangely unafraid of me.
And, I think the basic temperament of skunks is very agreeable. But you know what might happen when they get agitated.
We romanticize the wild world too much. I think Walt Disney was responsible for that when I was young. Otters! The Walt Disney show made otters seem so lovable. You don't want to get bit by one when you're out swimming. This must happen in swimming holes that are fairly wild, best to avoid in the first place. As a rule of thumb, stay off the ice in winter. We lost a well-known former Morris pastor recently because of the peril of ice. Just don't take the chance.
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| First Lutheran Church |
Speaking of the late pastor, yesterday was Sunday and my church of First Lutheran had its "financial meeting." I had thought this was our "annual meeting" but I guess they are two separate things. So the annual meeting lies ahead for next Sunday. Kind of a trial to experience both because they are, well, boring.
Yesterday we heard talk yet again of how First and Faith ought to consider blending more. I was surprised at one point to hear a speaker suggest there are "theological differences" between First and Faith.
Really? My one response is that the two are both in the ELCA. Doesn't that say it all? After the meeting I talked to a long-time well-known member of our church and asked him about that. He said there might be some difference in relation to the issue of - maybe you guessed it - "gay rights." And maybe First Lutheran has at least a slight "rep" of being too receptive to it? Really?
I know gay rights has had a cataclysmic effect on Lutheranism. BTW what is Lutheranism? I prefer to just think in terms of "Christianity." Martin Luther was a contemptible anti-Semite whose language contributed to the holocaust. And we choose to honor him?
First Lutheran of Morris has gone from being this pillar of propriety and conformity to a stigmatized place with the "liberal" tag attached. And maybe Faith Lutheran has tried to stay a little to the "right" of us? But I don't really sense that. If you are right-leaning at all, get the heck out of the ELCA and join the MAGA herds. They are the ones who have now given us Trump again. Heaven help us all.
My final warning about Trump: "Beware false prophets."
During the very cold time of mid-winter, school sports gets us through. We have to feel concern now about the MACA girls basketball program. The program has a long history with too many prolonged futile periods, I mean real futile. I almost can't believe we're back there again. Do we need to hire an outside consultant or what? If so, then our administration isn't doing the job.
In one sense we are in much better shape than we used to be. There was a strange sort of philosophical roadblock at one time. It was a combination of the "academic"-oriented crowd and sheer social cliques. And it appears to be gone now, paving the way for the proper road to take. Alas, nothing in sports is ever guaranteed. Is our current problem in GBB "systemic?" Well if it is, we really have to hold administration to account. I know little about the coach.
I thought under Henrich the program was stagnating. But that was nothing compared to what we've seen at times this season. The margin of defeat has extended way beyond reason. And now this morning, an "in the know" friend of mine who I see at DeToy's Restaurant says "they're losing kids too."
I'm afraid there might have to be intervention too. There used to be a UMM-centered element in this community that would ridicule those who were bemoaning performances by sports teams. The UMM crowd or "NPR crowd" thought sports advocates were rather Neanderthals. That has died off just as UMM itself is rapidly showing signs of dying off.
The UMM-based intelligentsia once went on a full-bore attack against yours truly. Well, yours truly is still standing. As they say, "living well is the best revenge." And my only problem now might be skunks.
Addendum: How about Neal Hofland as a popular and easy-going caretaker coach just like Bud Grant when Grant came back to the Vikings. Remember?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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