The impossible demand

The scope of human history is vast.

Well, at least in human terms. In geological terms, it is tiny, just 0.04% of the age of our Earth.

But we are humans, not rocks, so the 2 million year history of genus Homo is vast to us.

We originated in Africa, by the chance gift of evolution. (Or God’s will, or God-directed evolution, or just plain old evolution – makes no difference to this saga).

We were all black, because the intense tropical sun demanded it.

Then some of us broke off, looking for greener pastures. Some migrated east, some to the north. The differences in diet and available sunlight resulted in yellow and brown and white skin tones. Our differentiation had begun, thanks mostly to the accidental tilt of the earth’s axis.

But differentiation, mostly now political, has run amok, and we are attacking ourselves like ravenous cancer cells. It is an ugly scenario, as if we had forgotten our common humanity and obsess on which political party holds the true path to happiness. Attack follows counterattack, then pivots to a fresh assault. There is no sense of common goals, and we can’t even discuss different ideas.

“Censorship is the height of vanity,” said Martha Graham, a pioneering American dancer. Indeed, censorship is the suppression of ideas that you don’t like, even if you are wrong.

“I have seen gross intolerance shown in support of tolerance,” stated Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an English poet. Intolerance is the handmaiden of censorship, suppressing unpopular ideas.

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary,” an observation by our fourth president, James Madison. Boy howdy, was he right. Because we are not angels, we need government to demand the equal and just treatment of the individual by the crowd.

Here is just one more.

“If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.” This powerful expression of free speech was uttered by John Stuart Mill, the nineteenth century English philosopher.

All of this wisdom flies in the face of what is occurring in our nation, on our college campuses, and in social media and broadcast media. The hard battle lines of intolerance have been drawn, prisoners taken, and survivors virtually drawn and quartered. It is not a pretty sight.

Here is an allegory.

Imagine a beautiful ballerina who has been striving for many years to master her art. Since a young child she has performed in recitals and, though none were perfect, showed continuing improvement. Now as an adult she is performing in public venues, showing great art but still striving for flawlessness. Not perfect, but darn well approaching it.

Now consider the span of our own country. Settled originally by Asian immigrants 20,000 years ago, then more recently by Europeans in the early 1600s. The land witnessed wars between settlers, wars between tribes, wars between settlers and tribes, and finally a fair amount of peace. We had developed a constitution, a bill of rights, that envisioned a perfect country, a great white light on the hill. Something to strive for.

We are still striving. We are not perfect. But we have come a long, long, long way on that road.

Those who destroy statues and want to rename buildings are demanding instant perfection. Those who demonize early figures are requiring that our country not only be perfect now, but had also been perfect in every stage of its evolution. Nothing else will satisfy their demands, impossible since the past can’t be altered.

But that is like attacking our aspiring ballerina because her current performances are not perfect. And further, demonizing her because every recital stretching back to second grade was not perfect as well. Every single one.

There seems to be no recognition of and appreciation for progress, of improvement. Of movement toward that shining light over 250 years. 

And that is deeply discouraging.

Enough. It’s time for reasonable people to come together and reason. And the heck with the rest. They are fools.

In Praise of Powerful Women

The Harvey Weinstein episode is quite ironic. Famous for producing movies which feature sex, sexual assault, and rape, he was dethroned by allegatons of sex, sexual assault, and rape. He used his powerful position in Hollywood to demand favors from aspiring actresses on the legendary casting couch. This is despicable and unforgivable behavior. We shall return to Mr. Weinstein.

Your columnist was raised in a household full of strong women. A mother who could do, fix, bake, grow, or cook anything that you could imagine. Who directed choirs and played beautiful music. Who broached no disrespect. Who expertly wielded a willow switch to command the attention of her nine children, five boys and four girls. Our sisters were equally strong, intelligent, and capable. In our family, the takeaway to us guys was: don’t mess with the women!

Then, with a high school buddy, into the Marine Corps. You would think that a male bastion, but there were many strong female figures even in those early days. Gunny  Beardon, who shared her expertise on programming computers and her guidance on how to deal with idiots. Her philosophy was wise and her insights into human nature profound. She was a strong role model, and the Corps was full of such women.

And today the Marine Corps continues to value the many contributions of women. In this year alone, two major “firsts” have been achieved:

·         In April the first female Marine, Second Lt. Lillian Polatcheck,  graduated from the Army-led Basic Armor Officer Leaders Course and she is also the first to lead a Marine Tank Platoon.

·         In September, a female Marine Lieutenant (whose name was not made public) completed the grueling Marine Infantry Officer Course in Quantico, Virginia. She is now serving with the First Marine Division in Camp Pendleton, Calif.

It is essential to realize that these women fully met the criteria and demands of their training. There were no special dispensations nor softening of requirements because of their gender. This is extremely important for one reason only: combat Marines operate in lethal environments and they deserve to be led by fully qualified officers. This is serious business, and any type of “affirmative action” which promotes an unqualified officer will result in dead Marines.

But that is not what happened. The key point here is that these particular women, and many more to come, are fully the equal of their male colleagues.

Even more encouraging, while the Marine Corps is being singled out as a particularly successful example, the other services are all on similar tangents. The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard are all gratefully accepting the service of strong, capable women in roles previously reserved for men.

An excellent example of this is former Air Force Colonel Kim Campbell, who won fame as an A10 Warthog fighter pilot in 2003 for nursing her heavily damaged aircraft back to base after delivering close air support. Her Distinguished Flying Cross citation reads, in part: “Captain (at the time) Campbell's professional skill and airmanship directly contributed to the successful close air support of ground forces from the 3d Infantry Division and recovery of an A-10 with heavy battle damage.” This is one capable, serious officer who, by the way, happens to be a woman..

Let’s return briefly, however distasteful it may be, to Harvey Weinstein. He was a power broker in the fantasy world of Hollywood. As a result, he wielded power over women who aspired to success and fame. He abused that power to fulfill his own sick desires over a period of many years. It is good that that is all blown up.

Speaking of fantasies, here’s one. Let’s put Harvey Weinstein into a Mixed Martial Arts fighting ring with any one of the aforementioned female warriors. Odds are, he would learn a grim lesson about real power.

Do you want to be happy when you are older?

If you chat with a member of our oldest generation and ask what makes them happy in their dotage, you will get a few very common responses. Someone to love and share experiences with. Freedom from debt and a little money to spend on travel and trivia. But by far, the most frequent answer is “health.” Without your health, it is very difficult to remain happy.

As we age, there are a number of afflictions which may trouble us. Heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, dementia, and more are common confidantes to the elderly.

To some extent, we are victims of pure chance, playing the genetic lottery. Unfortunately, the odds of “winning” this lottery are spectacularly greater than winning the Powerball.

But there are some lifestyle things we can do to promote a healthy body and significantly reduce the risk of debilitating disease. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have a plethora of information on diet, exercise, accident and fall prevention, and other excellent advice calculated to improve your health and happiness. Your tax dollars at work: https://www.cdc.gov/aging/aginginfo/index.htm. And here is an important thought. If you are young or middle-age, and the infirmities of the elderly seem remote to you, now is the time to head them off. Good habits while young will pay great dividends later, much like saving for retirement in a 401(k).

But for this brief moment, let us focus on diet. Healthy eating can greatly reduce the incidence of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and even reduce cancer rates. Along with quitting smoking and regular exercise, diet is the most important thing you can do to promote a healthy lifestyle.

Here is the awful truth. The American diet is terrible, and it’s driven by the marketing of restaurants and agricultural trade groups and huge food companies. Their goal is to get you to buy their wares, your health be damned.

Fifty years ago we went out to eat far less often. We ate much less added sugars and salt. We bought simple ingredients from local stores and prepared fresh meals. We may have even gardened and canned and consumed our own fresh produce. But in the interest of convenience, we have turned over the reins of our health to those driven only by the bottom line of profit.

Imagine if the restaurant, agricultural trade groups, and giant food conglomerates were forced to underwrite our health insurance premiums. That, friends, would be revolutionary. The sugar industry would stop pushing added sugars. Restaurants would reduce the salt in prepared meals. Food packagers would increase fiber and reduce saturated fats in convenience foods. And we would all be the healthier for it.

But that is a pipedream. We must be responsible for our own diet.

Here is an idea. Consumer Reports is the monthly magazine of Consumers Union. They accept no advertising and are completely supported by their subscribers. As a result, their findings and recommendations are wholly unbiased. The latest issue of Consumer Reports (November 2017) contains special coverage on healthier eating. It is highly recommended reading. Find it in a magazine rack, a library, or subscribe for online access. This is literally a lifesaver. Here are a few highlights:

1.       A healthy hamburger is possible. It is more colorful, including red onion, tomato, avocado, low-sodium mozzarella, romaine lettuce, and lean ground beef. And, by the way, a high-fiber multigrain bun.

2.       Added sugar is unhealthy and can be safely consumed in very limited quantities – 9 or fewer teaspoons per day (6 for women) compared to our average intake of 17 teaspoons (20 for teens). And it comes from surprising sources – cereal, ketchup, salad dressing. You must learn to read labels.

3.       Too much sodium is bad. Prepared and restaurant foods are loaded with it. Pizza is high on the list. Eat at home more often. Demand low-sodium recipes and prepared foods.

4.       Fats. Conflicting advice has left us conflicted. Truth is, healthy, unsaturated fats (such as olive oil) are vital to health. But saturated, or worse, trans fats, raise the risk of heart disease.

5.       Gluten free diets are a fad based on nonsense. Only a few of us suffering from celiac disease should avoid gluten. High-fiber carbohydrates are beneficial to our microbiome (gut bacteria), and gluten-free diets tend to starve our little buddies. Increase the fiber in your diet.

6.       There is nothing wrong with lean red meat. But treat it as a treat, not a main course in every meal. Protein can be had from fish, chicken, beans, lentils, and other legumes. Eat like a peasant.

Please, educate yourself. This single issue of Consumer Report is a great place to start, but don’t stop there. The CDC, NIMH, Harvard Health, and local councils on aging have an enormous repository of researched, proven advice. Don’t trust your future health to a Facebook fad.

Your happiness in retirement, should you get there, depends on it.

Equifax and our credit-fueled lifestyles

The Equifax hack has caught the nation’s attention. And not in a good way. The private information of 143 million Americans is at risk. Criminals are apt to open credit card accounts or buy new cars in our names. And the immense task of cleaning up the mess rests on us. The anger is palpable and justified. Shall we simply shut down these damnable, incompetent credit reporting agencies?

Very tempting, but first let’s look back at where they came from and what they do.

In the 1800s, credit was very personal. A wealthy manufacturer was known, personally, to his banker and was able to borrow to build a new factory, for instance. Banks, in those days, catered mainly to the rich, and the rich bankers and rich capitalists ran in the same circles: they knew each other.

To us normal folks, credit was more likely to be extended by local merchants. A farmer would borrow from the town’s general store to buy seed, and would repay the loan when the crop was harvested. The store owner knew the farmer personally, and extended the loan based on that intimate knowledge.

In the 1946 classic “A Wonderful Life,” homes were bought on credit based on the worthiness of the borrowers as personally known to the community. (The heartwarming conclusion involved a community inured against making a run on the bank. They trusted George (Jimmy Stewart) because they knew him).

But as we moved into the twentieth century, several major trends grew and entwined. The population boomed. Many more people lived in the cities than on farms. Assembly lines began to create mass quantities of consumer goods. Automobiles. Sewing Machines. Washing Machines. Radios. And many of these items cost more than the typical worker could conceivably pay in one chunk. For instance, at the turn of the 20^th century, the average annual factory wage was $500 while a sewing machine cost $100. So Singer Sewing Machine Co. began offering credit to its customers to enable them to buy a machine on an installment payment plan.

Here was the problem, though. Singer didn’t personally know their customers. They had to find some other way to determine if they were creditworthy. And hence grew the demand for services from the Retail Credit Company (which became Equifax) and other credit reporting agencies. These firms employed investigators and maintained files on potential customers, allowing the sewing machine and washing machine and automobile companies to make a somewhat informed decision whether to extend credit or not.

And then came the credit explosion in the last half of the twentieth century up to today. Credit cards, secured only by personal integrity, grew rampantly. New cell phone accounts, insurance policies, automobile loans, were all expected to be approved on the spot. The credit reporting agencies were forced to use massive computers to collect, collate, and quickly report credit trustworthiness to lenders who were under the gun to approve a loan within minutes, or seconds in the case of credit card transactions.

And here we are today. For whatever sloppy reason, Equifax didn’t properly secure our data. And we suffer. What to do?

We have decided to freeze our credit rating accounts. This is because we don't plan to refinance the house or buy a new car, open a new credit card, or a new cell phone plan. All of those things require a credit check which would be blocked by the freeze. But we don't intend to do any of them. In any case, a freeze can be removed, temporarily or permanently, at any time if necessary.

It took us about 30 minutes to get all four (yes, four) credit rating accounts frozen. We decided to do it online rather than deal with phone calls or mail. Here are our experiences.

Transunion. https://freeze.transunion.com/sf/securityFreeze/landingPage.jsp

This company insists that you create an online account with them in order to freeze via online request. It took a few minutes. The freeze cost $5 (charged to credit card). Based on which state you live in, you may not be charged a fee. Transunion asked us to create a six-digit PIN which must be used in any future request to unfreeze the account. Write it down and don't lose it!

Experian. http://www.experian.com/news/security-freeze.html

Also $5. Also, could not use our normal browser, it refused to load the site. But we tried Internet Explorer and it worked fine. Also asked us to create a PIN. Write it down.

Equifax. https://www.freeze.equifax.com/Freeze/jsp/SFF_PersonalIDInfo.jsp

The company causing all of this angst didn't charge us anything to freeze our account. Good on them. They assigned a 10 digit PIN to us and we printed it out.

Innovis. https://www.innovis.com/securityFreeze/index

A new kid on the block in credit rating firms, also the easiest to freeze. No fee. They will snail-mail a confirmation (with, we expect, our PIN).

Freezing your credit rating accounts doesn't mean that your personal information hasn't (or couldn't in the future) be stolen. But it keeps the crooks from easily obtaining loans, opening lines of credit, or acquiring new credit cards in your name. This will save you untold grief.

At the end, the credit rating firms inspire our anger, but they enable our credit-fueled lifestyles. Unfortunately, we can’t have one without the other. They are the necessary replacement for personal, intimate knowledge.

But further legislation is possible. The Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 improved things a lot. There is certainly more to do, to protect us and shift burdens to the FCRA companies. Talk to your legislators about this.

And good luck.

We must be prepared to deal with evil, at home or abroad. Else it will deal with us.

An orphaned Rwandan child

“War leaves all children behind.”

A sentiment with which we may all share a great measure of  sympathy. War is a terrible thing and children are often casualties, emotionally if not physically. Photographs from war zones tear at our hearts, compel us to demand the cessation of hostilities. But too often, our demands are unmet.

The unfortunate truth is that we are not all kind, compassionate human beings. There are some number of us who are out and out criminal, possibly thirty percent according to a Wall Street Journal article. Citing a study first published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the study (“Cumulative Prevalence of Arrest From Ages 8 to 23 in a National Sample”, December 2011) found that by age 23, the prevalence of non-traffic arrests “lies between 25.3% and 41.4%.”

The AAP’s finding: “At a minimum, being arrested for criminal activity signifies increased risk of unhealthy lifestyle, violence involvement, and violent victimization.”

Let’s ponder that last bit, violent victimization, and remember that this tendency may exist in approximately 30% of the population.

Now, pivoting quickly to Africa, and back in time to 1994, let’s consider the mass slaughter that “wiped out about three-quarters of the ethnic Tutsi population in the African nation of Rwanda…” (Science News, “Duty Bound Killings,” August 19, 2017). Although estimates of the carnage of this modern genocide range from 500,000 to 1.2 million deaths, “most scholars place the death toll at 800,000.” The dead were indiscriminately made up of men, women, and children. Perhaps these children would have wished for a military intervention (war) to relieve them of their affliction.

Let’s consider, though, how many of the Hutus made up the killing squads? “In reality, only 20 percent of Hutu men seriously injured or killed at least one person during the genocidal outbreak.”

Now we have two estimates, ranging from twenty to thirty percent, of human beings who are willing and capable of visiting violence upon their fellow creatures. Is it any wonder that we must invest billions of dollars in police assets to discourage such violence? And at the national level, these same psychoses exist, with good and evil nations, since nations are only human tribes. And when the evil ones wrest control somehow, such as in North Korea, it is their own people who suffer, and we who are threatened.

And thus the need for a strong military, to discourage the adventurism of evil nations. While we might want to believe in the beauty of the pure, good human soul, it is clearly not universal. We made this mistake in the run-up to World War II, when we and our Allies disregarded the adventurism of the Germans and Japanese. It was our relative weakness that encouraged their boldness.

While tomes have been written by learned sages in hallowed halls, it still comes down to this. If we let you bully us, you will. If we show weakness, you will seek advantage. This is human nature, twenty to thirty percent of which is entirely disagreeable. This applies to individuals and nation states equally, as we are all human.

There are many stories of human goodness. Witness Houston, with volunteers flocking to the rescue, bringing their personal boats and monster trucks to patrol flooded neighborhoods, bringing succor to those poor victims of the storm. Irrespective of race or station in life, they were rescued and were grateful. But those good people are the seventy percent. We must still deal with the thirty. Police are a necessity. A strong military is essential.

We must be prepared to deal with evil, at home or abroad. Else it will deal with us.

Lilian and her beautiful mind

There is so much hate and evil in the world that, when we are presented with a truly admirable human being, we must take note.

A few details in this tale have been changed to protect privacy, but the overall account is completely intact.

Lilian was born in El Salvador, nearly forty years ago. She worked on her family’s farm and attended the local school, but only through the sixth grade, the highest offered in her village. There was another school in a town, a middling distance away, offering higher grade instruction, but Lilian’s family was too poor to send her there. So the sixth grade was her zenith, for quite some period of time.

When I first met her, Lilian was living locally, here in Massachusetts. She was married and had several children. She worked hard at an assembly line job, contributing to her family’s needs.

She had taught herself English and was quite proficient. But her goal was to obtain a GED (General Educational Development) certification, and then to improve her employment situation. She wanted for her children what she was unable to have as a child.

We met weekly at The Literacy Center, where I helped her with mathematics. Other tutors worked with her on science, social studies, reading, and writing. But we worked on math.

Initially, Lilian displayed great ease with the basic operations of  addition, subtraction, and multiplication. We had to work a bit on division, but she quickly mastered the concepts. I was beginning to appreciate how sharp she was.

Fractions were a challenge, but we explored how they worked and I made sure that she understood all of the methods, not just memorization. She worked hard, did her homework, and was never pessimistic. A bright, motivated, hardworking student – what more could any tutor ask for?

Unsurprisingly, Lilian mastered fractions. And then geometry. Algebra. Statistics. Probability. Over a period of eighteen months, she became highly proficient in high school math. Then she received a promotion at work. They had noticed that she had a mind for and the ability to understand and manipulate numbers.

Meanwhile, with the help of her other tutors, Lilian sat for the GED exam and aced it.

I feel that I had a small part in her achievement, but it was only in guiding the intelligence that she naturally possessed. I will never forget Lilian and her beautiful mind, the self-discipline, the hard work, her cheerful do-or-die attitude.

Lilian is an immigrant. She is short, a bit round, and not beautiful in the Hollywood sense. But her soul shines out with the light of a thousand suns. God knows, I would welcome a multitude more of her. And be proud to call all of them fellow Americans.

We would all be the better for it.

Our maritime adventure

A friend, following in the fog.

Southeastern Massachusetts, Attleboro included, is deeply influenced by the sea. Our climate is cooler in summer and warmer in winter than mid-state Springfield due to ocean influences. But we are removed enough from salt water that it doesn’t often enter our minds.

Take last Friday, for instance. In Attleboro, the skies were clear with pleasant temperatures in the mid to high seventies. Strollers perambulated in Capron Park and, with the joggers, enjoyed the blue skies and temperate clime.

At the same time, fifty miles to the south in Block Island Sound, the fog enveloped boats and masked the shores, creating a stark, white seascape. The day was murky and sun obscured.  A fleece was recommended attire in the chill, moist breeze.

That was the end of our summer cruise, in the company of several  good friends, with our boats exploring the waters of southern New England. The beginning was more auspicious, with the same good weather that a fortunate Attleboro enjoyed.

Dutch Island, Rhode Island. Located near the island of Jamestown, and influential in World War II as a German prisoner of war camp, and the site of artillery batteries placed to protect the West Passage from U-boat incursions. Sleeping aboard a boat gently rocking in Dutch Harbor after enjoying a fine fish dinner at one of Jamestown’s finest restaurants. This is the stuff of dreams.

Then a long run to Stonington, Connecticut, past the majestic summer home of one Taylor Swift, in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. A fitting monument to an immense talent.

Stonington was settled early, in 1649, and quickly established itself as a coastal trading center. A well protected harbor was a great asset, and as the years passed, railways and steamships traded passengers in her terminals. Whaling was an important industry and created great wealth until Col. Drake discovered oil in Titusville, PA. Since then the village has retrenched to some maritime services, fishing, and tourism. A lovely place: you should visit. (Yes – accessible by road. Sailboat not required).

Then on to Block Island, Rhode Island. This small, pork chop-shaped bit of land was named in 1614 by  Adrian Block, a Dutch explorer. Lying 13 miles off the coast, Block Island is a special place. On the Nature Conservancy’s list of only 12 “Last Great Places” in the western hemisphere, beautiful Block Island is well worth a visit.

 It is unfortunate that most Bay Staters have never heard of the place, and most Rhode Islanders have never visited.  But perhaps the natives prefer it that way.

Hiking, biking, beaching, relaxing, and partaking of terrific restaurants are all wonderful reasons to visit. Again, no sailboat required, frequent ferry service is available from New London, Point Judith, and Newport.

Which brings us to the crossing, the return. Thirteen miles of open water. Except for Block Island itself in the way, you could draw an uninterrupted course to England, Spain, or Africa. This is open water.

Block Island Sound can be treacherous. From the “History of the Town of Stonington,” 1900, a tragic tale.

“Dr. Silas Holmes of Stonington, Conn… lived in what is now Stonington Borough, and had an extensive practice as a physician in all the region round about. [On] Sept. 12 1790, he was summoned to visit a sick man on Block Island, who sent for him in his boat, which took and bore him safely over to the island, and after he had visited his patient and diagnosed his physical condition, he started with the boatman and craft to return to his home in Stonington, but unfortunately a terrible thunderstorm arose with a rushing cyclone of wind, which lashed the ocean into fearful waving foam, which capsized their boat and filled it with water, which, in spite of all the efforts of the doctor and the boatman, sunk, and they were both drowned.”

Our return was not so drastic. But the fog was thick, and many other boats crisscrossed our path, some recklessly. Luckily, the same technology trends which have given you a supercomputer in your pocket have benefited boaters as well. We were able to touch our destination on a map and, voila, the boat took us there. In the fog, other boats were visible on the same chart, illuminated by radar, making necessary diversions easy to see and accomplish.

Then finally home, to our home port, to our home in Attleboro, and our own bed. Travel is exhilarating, wonderful. But home is special.

Home from the sea.