Tuesday, July 18, 2023
In bed at 10:40, up at 4:45. 57℉, high of 76, AQI=26, Good. Wind WNW at 6 mph, 2-7/13. Sunrise 5:28, sunset 8:27, 14+59
LTMW this morning at a plethora ("A plethora?") of wild turkeys. One big Tom is pecking away at seeds on the ground right outside my window while across the street, a small flock of hens are strutting along with a plethora (A plethora?) of chicks all around them. Wonderful sights.
Repairers of the Breach, finally. On my third attempt, I was able to drop off a lot of good clothing at Repairers of the Breach. I emailed them and was told to come to the back door which I did, avoiding the construction on Vliet Street. Most of what I delivered today was Tom's clothing donated by Micaela after a heart-aching sorting process and zoom call with all 4 children. My delivery mission reminded me of the kinds of things that Tom and I would talk about, stuff that I wouldn't talk about with other friends. Another lossSome observations: (1) It's hard to bellieve how very bad the streets are in that inner city neighborhood, the worse I've seen. Sure sign of no political power at City Hall. (2) Because of miles-long backups on I-43 northbound, I took the lakefront home. Still cleaning up after all the festivities for Harley Fest, etc. Many tents still up south between Bradford Beach and Veterans Park. Cleanup also going on at Cathedral Park after Bastille Days. Milwaukee is a very exciting place in the summertime for those who can get around and enjoy all the activities and festivities. (3) Road construction is going on everywhere, all along the I-43 corridor but also on many city and suburband streets. It really slows down traffic, many backups. (4) I tuned into AM talk radio for a traffic report on I-43 northbound and got none but did get an earful of conspiracy theories about the Left's plan to throw Trump in jail before he is convicted of any crime in order to ensure that Biden wins the 2024 election. Some 'expert' interviewed on WISN assured the audience that the chances of this occurring "are greater than 50%." The hatred (and conspiracy theories) propagated on these shows is boundless and the listeners eat it up. I was reminded, of all things, of two speeches I read the other, one by Henry Clay and the other by Daniel Webster, about what came to be known as the Compromise of 1850, a compromise on the spread of slavery to Western territories that temporarily delayed the Civil War. The war began in 1861 but it was clear from the speeches of these two great compromisers that talk and thoughts of the war was everywhere in in the air. I do not think that it is paranoia to believe that political violence is inevitable. I confess to some fear about the consequences of today's news that Jack Smith has delivered a "target letter" to Trump in connection with the January 6th grand jury investigation. I see a bad moon a-risin'. I see trouble on the way.
More thoughts on cluster bombs. World War II ended (to the extent that any war ends) 78 years ago. On May 26th of this year, a large, unexploded bomb from World War II discovered in the Polish city of Wroclaw forced the evacuation of 2,500 residents. The 550-pound bomb was found near a railway overpass in the city in southwestern Poland during construction work. Unexploded bombs from WWII still cause problems from time to time across much of Western Europe. In February, authorities said a bomb of the same size as the one found in Poland had exploded in an "unplanned" detonation in Great Yarmouth, England. Last summer, amid Italy's worst drought almost since WWII, the country's longest river, the Po, ran so dry that a once-submerged 1,000-pound bomb from the war came into view. It was destroyed about 30 miles away from where it was found, but not before about 3,000 people living nearby were evacuated so military experts could safely defuse the device. On May 2 of this year, Hawaii officials were advising beachgoers to be careful after the military discovered six unexploded mortars and grenades around popular beach areas on the east side of Oahu. The military used the areas for aerial bombing and training activities around World War Il, leaving behind munition that could detonate if disturbed. I read and think about these recurring stories of unexploded munitions jeopardizing civilian populations decades after the munitions were dropped or fired and I think of the scene in The English Patient in which Juliette Binoche's Indian lover defused a "dud" bomb dropped while the war was still ongoing. In Vietnam, UXO is the acronym for unexploded ordinance which was scattered over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia by U.S. bombers in the Vietnam War, at three times the volume of ordnance dropped in World War II. Southeast Asians died, as recently as 2018, by stumbling on unexploded weapons or unwittingly picking them apart for scrap metal. In June 2019, staff at the U.S. Congressional Research Service (a department within the Library of Congress) sent legislators an analysis of the $400 million the U.S. has spent on UXO clearance in Southeast Asia (in addition to the millions spent on dioxin/Agent Orange cleanup.) It said cleanup will probably involve several more decades and casualties. I think of how benighted I and my fellow Marines in the TAC Center were about the real consequences of all the bombing missions we kept track of back in 1965 and 1966. How detached and uncaring we were as we went about our deadly business.
In light of all that is known about unexploded ordinance around the world, and especially all that we know about the lethality of cluster bombs to children and other civilians, how could Joe Biden have authorized the use of these American-made and paid for weapons in Ukraine? Answer: because the 'good guys' are running out of conventional artillery shells. And because the Ukrainians will use the cluster bombs on what it claims as its own soil endangering its own children and its own civilians. Does this make any sense? Does anyone truly believe the "dud rate" claimed by the Pentagon for these weapons? Does anyone wonder what country will pick up the tab for cleaning up unexploded bomblets in future years IF Ukraine ends up regaining the lands now held by Russians in Donbas and Crimea? Who is picking up the tab in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos? If the Ukrainians do NOT regain lands lost in Donbas (and Crimea), will the place become a 'no man's land' with mines and unexploded ordinance spread all over the terrain? Regardless, we know the weapons are being deployed and used for only one reason: the West/NATO/Ukraine have run out of ammo. The Ukrainians have been shooting off the shells faster that US and Western countries can replenish their stocks. Without ammo, the counter-offensive cannot be waged. Without a counter-offensive, the Russians cannot be defeated which is to say, cannot be driven from the lands they have seized illegally by aggression. Which is to say, the West and NATO will lose and Putin will win, if not all of Ukraine, at least Crimea and the Donbas. If more civilians and children need to be killed to avoid defeat (whatever that means), it is simply a cost of doing (war) business. So it goes.
Republican AGs and Out-of-State Legal Abortions; Fugitive Slave Act. Rachel Maddow reported last night that 19 Republican attorneys general in Red States have written a letter to Joe Biden opposing his plan to provide some federal protection of some sort to women leaving a state where abortion services are illegal to obtain them in a state where such services are legal. These AGs take the position that they are entitled to request and recieve from providers in other states what would otherwise be private medical information about their female residents who seek abortions in those other states. Why does this remind me of the Fugitive Slave Act and the abominable fugitive slave clause in our 'sacred Constitution'?
Poland, A Green Land I have started reading and enjoying this novel by Aharon Appelfeld.
Drawing and painting noses. Very hard, like hands and fingers. The nose on the last painting of Camille is horrendous. I wonder if I can improve on it without messing up the entire painting.
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