The Taliban, who are now ruling in Afghanistan, recently issued an edict ordering all women to cover their faces in public, i.e., go back to wearing the full burqa.  This is a giant leap backward for women’s rights in that country.  Why is that relevant to those of us who live half a world away in the United States of America, the ‘former’ beacon of freedom and democracy?  Just like the women in Afghanistan are under attack, so are the women in this country.  I find it interesting that in most of these countries that are so intent on restricting women’s rights, the laws and edicts restricting those rights are most often issued and enacted by men.  It begs the question, “Why are men so afraid of women?”  I’ll leave that question for another day.

After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, there was a huge backlash against Muslims in this country and against the religion of Islam.  I would venture a guess that most people who rail against Islam do not understand that it, like Christianity and Judaism, is also an Abrahamic religion and believes in some form of the Old Testament, Moses and previous prophets.  Muslims believe that Mohammed was the true prophet.  Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the true prophet.  And in Judaism, they believe the true prophet has not yet arrived.  The fact is, there are probably more similarities between these three religions that differences.

However, what most people focus on and the words they associate with Islam are ‘jihad’ and ‘sharia’. ‘Jihad’ is defined as, “a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as religious duty.”  ‘Sharia’ is defined as, “Islamic law based upon the Koran.”  After the events of 9/11 and certainly witnessing the atrocities committed by ISIS under the guise of ‘jihad’ for Islam, it is somewhat understandable how people confuse ‘Islam’ and ‘jihad’ and are under the mistaken impression that all Muslims are violent extremists, when the fact is, most Muslims are peaceful people.

In addition, many if not most people in this country believe that all Muslims are intent on instituting ‘sharia law’ in this country.  Certainly, when Muslims are elected to public office such as Rep. Ilhan Omar, accusations always surface regarding sharia law.

What has become apparent to me over the last few years and particularly, during the last week after the leak of the Supreme Court draft opinion about Roe v. Wade, is that this country is under attack from the religious right. There is a ‘jihad’, if you will, underway right under our respective noses.  Think about it.  Just make a couple of word substitutions to the definitions of ‘jihad’ and ‘sharia’ and it sharply brings into focus what is happening in this country today.

The United States definition of ‘jihad’ is:” a holy war waged on behalf of Christianity as religious duty.”  ‘Sharia’ is defined as, “Christian law based upon the Bible.”  And there you have it.  That is exactly what is happening in this country today. 

Now, before everyone gets up in arms, understand that in the same way that not all Muslims are violent jihadists, not all Christians are right wing ‘Christian jihadists’.  But in the same way that different Muslim sects, have radically different interpretations of Islam, so do different sects of Christianity have radically different interpretations of Christianity. 

Unfortunately, there is a very loud, vocal group of right-wing Christian fundamentalists who are being coddled and pandered to by the Republican party of Trump, with the intent of enforcing ‘Christian sharia’ on the entire country.  Virtually all of the restrictions being enacted by Republican legislatures around the country stem from fundamentalist Christian beliefs – abortion restrictions, prohibitions against same-sex marriage, laws prohibiting doctors from treating transgender children, potential prohibitions against contraception.  There is no scientific rationale for any of these things and, in fact, the science argues against all of these.  They are simply based upon an interpretation of Christianity that a minority of people in this country are trying to force upon everyone.

So, the next time one of these right-wing, Trump Republicans starts railing against jihadists and sharia law, I suggest we all tell them to look in the mirror because the biggest threat to this country right now, is not from a group of external Islamic terrorists, it’s from home grown, pseudo patriotic religious zealots who are waging their own jihad to install ‘Christian sharia’ as the law of the land for everyone. 

As we approach Mother’s Day, most would agree that being a mother is an often-difficult job, particularly for those women who also work part or full time or those women who are single parents.   Even stay-at-home moms have their own set of challenges.  I don’t think anyone would disagree with the statement that being a mother is challenge, no matter how ultimately rewarding having a family is.  It’s also a huge commitment to become a mother.  “According to a study conducted by The United States Department of Agriculture, the average cost of raising a child from birth through the age of 17 will cost $233,610”.¹ 

One would logically think that the decision to undertake such a challenge and commitment as motherhood is a decision that should be made by an individual or a couple within the context of their own circumstances.  However, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, per the leaked Supreme Court draft decision, that decision will, in some parts of the country, be made by the government.  Are the women in this country no more than breeding stock?

Keeping with the theme of irony and hypocrisy that seems to permeate the current Republican party, I looked at the teen pregnancy rates by state in this country.  What is immediately apparent is that these are all bright red states with the exception of New Mexico.   These are also the same states that are most likely to limit access to comprehensive sex education and contraception to teens (and everyone else). 

“Here are the 10 states with the highest teen birth rate:²

1. Arkansas (30 per 100k)
2. Mississippi (29.1 per 100k)
3. Louisiana (27.8 per 100k)
4. Oklahoma (27.4 per 100k)
5. Alabama (25.6 per 100k)
6. West Virginia (25.2 per 100k)
7. Kentucky (24.9 per 100k)
8. New Mexico (24.4 per 100k)
9. Texas (24 per 100k)
10. Tennessee (23.7 per 100k)”

Here are the 10 states with the highest poverty rates as of the latest Census data:³

1. Mississippi: 20.3% of population lives below the poverty line
2. Louisiana: 19.2% of population lives below the poverty line
3. New Mexico: 19.1% of population lives below the poverty line
4. West Virginia: 17.6% of population lives below the poverty line
5. Kentucky: 17.3% of population lives below the poverty line
6. Arkansas: 17.0% of population lives below the poverty line
7. Alabama: 16.7% of population lives below the poverty line
8. Oklahoma: 15.7% of population lives below the poverty line
9. Tennessee: 15.2% of population lives below the poverty line
10. South Carolina: 15.2% of population lives below the poverty line

There is almost a one-to-one correlation between the poorest states, the states with the highest teen pregnancy rates and the states with the most restrictive abortion laws.  How can anyone look at this data and think overturning Roe v. Wade is the solution to anything?  Logic and facts clearly have no place in these discussions.

To emphasize this point even more, yesterday I read a column by Alice Stewart, a former Republican strategist, and sometimes contributor to CNN, in which she used the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade as a justification for why she voted for Trump. 

“As a pro-life social conservative, I received my fair share of criticism for supporting Donald Trump for president,” says CNN’s political commentator Alice Stewart. Looking past the “mean tweets and online insults”, she instead focused on who Trump appointed to the Supreme Court. Some, says Stewart, accused her of “making a deal with the devil” by supporting Trump. “But I held my ground, and now my patience is being richly rewarded: we have a Supreme Court with a majority-judicial philosophy that reflects my views on Roe v. Wade.” Stewart says that Trump “said and did a lot of things I didn’t agree with, but I voted for him to be my president, not my pastor.” Stewart is “unapologetic about supporting a pro-life candidate who talked the talk, and walked the walk”. The forthcoming Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade “underscores the wisdom of that decision”.⁴

So here you have an intelligent woman who, in spite of the fact that the majority of Americans do not want Roe v. Wade overturned, in spite of the fact that Trump tried (and continues to try) to undermine democracy in this country and in spite of all of the economic evidence that overturning Roe v. Wade will be a disaster, is so myopic about this issue that she makes the statement “my patience has been richly rewarded,” when referring to her support for Trump. 

I guess in the future, if someone else comes along and does everything they can to undermine democracy and turn this country into an authoritarian regime like what is going on in Hungary, as long as that person panders to the pro-life crowd, they will support that leader regardless of what other damage he/she does to this country. 

Happy Mother’s Day!

1. The Cost of Raising a Child From Baby to Age 18 – No Medical Exam Quotes
2. Teen Pregnancy Rates by State 2022 (worldpopulationreview.com)
3. U.S. Poverty Rate By State In 2021 (forbes.com)
4. ‘As a pro-life conservative, I’m being richly rewarded for voting for Trump’ | The Week UK

I am convinced that most people believe that the current uproar surrounding the leaked draft of the Supreme Court decision regarding Roe v. Wade is simply about abortion rights.   Nothing could be further from the truth.  Surely, abortion rights are at the center of this current controversy.  However, once you start to peel the onion, the stakes are so much greater if this decision is allowed to stand.

One of the big arguments being used by the opponents of abortion is that Roe v. Wade is an overreach of the Federal government and the decision about abortion related laws should be done at the State level, i.e., another invocation of the concept of ‘States rights’ that we hear constantly from the Republicans. 

The concept of ‘States rights’ dates back to the days of slavery.  The constitution was ratified in 1789 and strengthened the Federal government but two amendments, the 9^th and 10^th, tried to make some distinction between the Federal government and state governments.  The 9^th amendment states, “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people,” and the 10^th states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”¹

The issue of States rights really blew up over the issue of slavery and ultimately led to the Civil War.  The southern states refused to recognize the ability of the Federal government to have a voice about the issue of slavery in their states.  They seceded and the result was one of the bloodiest conflicts the United States has ever been involved in.  Ultimately the Confederacy was defeated and the United States remained intact.  However, the issue of states rights has never really gone away.

The 14th amendment was ratified in 1868.  It has five provisions.  The first states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”² You might remember that during the Trump presidency, many Republicans railed against this provision and wanted it modified or repealed as a way to deny citizenship to immigrants.

Another clause in the first section states, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” This greatly expanded the civil and legal rights of all American citizens by protecting them from infringement by the states as well as by the federal government.² 

Finally, the “equal protection clause” (“nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”) was clearly intended to stop state governments from discriminating against Black Americans, and over the years would play a key role in many landmark civil rights cases.²

The second provision of the 14^th amendment repealed the ‘three fifths’ clause in the original constitution which said that votes by black men only counted as three fifths of a vote and basically guaranteed the right to vote for all men over 21, regardless of race.

The third provision “gave Congress the authority to bar public officials, who took an oath of allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, from holding office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution.”² (Think about this in light of the events of January 6^th!!!)  Section four of the 14^th amendment prohibited payments of any debts owed to the defeated Confederacy.  Section 5 simply states, “Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.”

Interestingly, it wasn’t until 1925 that the Supreme Court ruled in, Gitlow v. New York, that the provisions of the 14^th amendment were applicable to the states as well as the Federal government. The Gitlow decision marks the beginning of the incorporation doctrine, which extended the scope of speech rights and, later, most of the Bill of Rights.³

The equal protection clause of the 14^th amendment has been the linchpin of many landmark Supreme Court rulings over the years: Brown v. Board of Education (desegregation); Griswold v. Connecticut (use of contraception); Loving v. Virginia (interracial marriage); Roe v. Wade (abortion); Bush v. Gore (contested election); McDonald v. Chicago (gun rights); Obergefell v. Hodges (same sex marriage).²

The Voting Rights act of 1965 was passed as a result of the authority conveyed to the Federal government under the 14^th amendment – and the Supreme Court, under current Chief Justice John Roberts, gutted that decision which has resulted in the current spate of voter restriction laws being passed in Republican-controlled states.

If you look at the above list of landmark cases based upon the 14^th amendment you get some sense of why this draft ruling leaked from the current Supreme Court is so controversial.  This is not solely about abortion.  There is a whole list of dominoes that are poised to fall undoing decades of court precedent regarding the rights of American citizens. If this Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade is allowed to stand, it will just be the first of many rights to be taken away from Americans.  

Americans in this country need to wake up before it is too late.  The country is rapidly becoming a country that will be ruled by white, fundamentalist Christians and a few very wealthy people unless people can really come to grips with what is really going on.  That’s not hyperbole – that’s fact! 

Welcome to Gilead!  (If you don’t know what that means, I once again suggest you read, The Handmaid’s Tale – we are well on our way!)

1. States’ Rights & The Civil War | HistoryNet
2. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fourteenth-amendment
3. https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/80/gitlow-v-new-york

One of the Merriam-Webster dictionary definitions of ‘irony’ is: “the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning.” This word seems particularly relevant today given the constant talk from the Republicans and conservatives about ‘freedom.’  The same dictionary defines freedom as: “the quality or state of being free: such as; a: the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action.”

We saw the Republicans beating the drums of freedom and personal responsibility loudly during the pandemic with respect to wearing masks and vaccine mandates.  How many times did we all see signs carried by protesters with slogans like, “My body, my choice?”  The science clearly showed that wearing masks and getting vaccinated were effective at slowing the spread of the COVID virus and helping to protect people.  However, in spite of the science, the Republicans screamed about freedom and wanted people to be able to make decisions (to not wear a mask or get a vaccination) that could adversely affect the people around them and the community at large.  I guess that kind of ‘freedom’ is OK.

In the paper this morning I read an article describing how some states are enacting laws to provide refuge for transgender students and their parents who have been displaced or are under threat due to laws being passed in Republican-controlled states.  In Texas, Governor Gregg Abbott has directed state agencies to consider placing transgender children in foster care.  A judge has temporarily blocked these investigations but just think about that.   The government that cries ‘freedom’ from the rooftops is actually considering ripping children away from their parents based upon some warped sense of what is the right and wrong way to raise a child.   That is not freedom – that is tyranny.

That is but one example of what is going on.  Yesterday I talked about the disaster looming on the horizon if Roe v. Wade is overturned per the leaked document from the Supreme Court.  I guess all of the people who were carrying the signs “My body, my choice” with respect to masks and vaccines must believe that ‘freedom’ is a different kind of ‘freedom’ than allowing a woman to make a decision about her own reproductive health.  It’s crazy.  The decisions about masks and vaccines can affect many other people.  A woman’s decision to get an abortion affects no one else in the community.   What the hell?

One can only conclude that the Republicans and conservatives are not really interested in creating an environment and a country where people are truly free to make their own decisions regarding their personal lives, i.e. Who they marry, whether or not an abortion is appropriate in their given situation, how to raise their children, whether or not to use birth control, or whether or not to marry someone of a different race or religion.  They are really interested in controlling the citizenry. 

No one should forget that when this country was founded and the pilgrims first landed here, they did so because they broke from the Church of England.  And why did they break from the Church of England?  After the Church of England broke away from the Catholic church, “every British citizen was expected to attend the Church of England, and those who didn’t were punished by the state. [Bolding is mine] One group of farmers in Northern England, known disparagingly as the Separatists, began to worship in secret, knowing full well that it was treasonous”.¹

This country was founded on the concept of religious freedom and individual liberty.  What is going on now is taking us back 400 years!  That’s not hyperbole, that’s fact.  We are now faced with the prospect of the government, who screams ‘freedom’ out of one side of their mouth, enacting laws to interfere with each individual’s freedom to live their live as they see fit.

What’s next, will the Supreme Court put an end to ‘separation of church and state’ and we’ll all be once again obligated to attend church because the government says we have to.  If you think that is too far-fetched, just look at what is going on in Hungary where Viktor Orban is creating an illiberal democracy and has hijacked the term Christian democracy in what is now authoritarian government.  Many of the Republicans are following his lead.  Just look at what is going on with Governor Ron DeSantis in Florida.²

The bottom line is that the Republicans are more interested in controlling citizens than in creating an environment to allow everyone to live in freedom.  It is apparently a lot easier to stoke culture wars, than to try to solve real problems such as the adverse impacts of climate change (drought, heat waves, wild fires), growing income inequality, a poor excuse for a healthcare system when compared to other wealthy countries and a declining education system.  “Republicans fiddle while America burns.”

1. https://www.history.com/news/pilgrims-puritans-differences
2. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/4/28/23037788/ron-desantis-florida-viktor-orban-hungary-right-authoritarian

Once again, I feel compelled to speak out.  The latest revelations from the Supreme Court are beyond disturbing.

If you haven’t read Margaret Atwood’s book, The Handmaid’s Tale, or seen the television series based upon that novel, I suggest you do either, or preferably both.  The document purportedly leaked yesterday from the U.S. Supreme Court drafting a majority opinion resulting in the overturning of the landmark decision, Roe v. Wade, legalizing abortion in the United States 50 years ago, is a major step down the path towards a society such as that brought to life in Atwood’s novel.

If this decision becomes a reality, it will be a disaster for this country on many different levels.  I am willing to bet huge sums of money that many of the people who are supportive of this decision and believe that it will be a ‘victory’ for the pro-life movement, will be surprised and ultimately come to regret this reversal as the ‘law of unintended consequences’ takes hold with a vengeance.

First, a little background.  There are currently about 600,000 abortions performed in the United States every year¹.  Although the figures vary, there are about 100,000 to 150,000 adoptions that take place in the US every year².  You don’t have to be a mathematical genius to recognize the disconnect, i.e., do the math.  So, the first question has to be, what happens to all of these ‘extra’ babies that will be forced to come to term?  There is no way the number of adoptions will increase to close that gap.  Who is going to take care of them?

Should the United States start the Department of Baby Care?  Or, I guess given the current trend, this responsibility would fall to each of the states.  Ironically, the conservatives who are championing the overturn of Roe v. Wade, are the same people who tend to want to reduce social welfare programs.  So, again, I ask, who the hell is going to take care of all of these babies?  Do the math!!

And, of course, just like after Prohibition was enacted when the 18^th Amendment was adopted, a black market will develop to facilitate abortions.  Anyone who thinks this won’t happen is a fool.  Black market and criminal enterprises arise any time there is a profit to be made when things are outlawed or unreasonably restricted.   People involved in these enterprises will occasionally be caught, prosecuted and jailed.  Given that the United States already houses more people in prison than any other country in the world, I guess we’ll have to build more prisons.  Maybe we can build separate ‘abortion prisons’! 

Although the pro-life movement seems to care so desperately for babies, it’s apparent that they don’t give equal weight to the value of women’s lives.  It is a given that women will die from back-alley and illegal abortions.  Again, anyone who doesn’t believe that will happen is a fool.  If a woman who already has a couple of children gets pregnant with another child that her family can’t afford, tries to have an illegal abortion and dies, who will care for that family?  The law of unintended consequences at work again. 

Beyond the immediate and devastating effects on women and families, the issue on the table is much bigger than this decision.  If this court is willing to overturn a legal precedent that has been in place for 50 years, what is next?  Will they next outlaw same-sex marriage?  Will they outlaw interracial marriage? If some, or all of these decisions are left to the states, will some states just outlaw birth control entirely.  Everyone seems to think things like this could never happen in the good ‘ol United States of America, a beacon of freedom and democracy, but there is absolutely no doubt that there are states where such discussions are underway.   Where will it stop?

The Republicans have often railed against ‘activist judges’ who legislate from the bench and here we are with a slate of conservative judges who are doing exactly that.   If these justices are willing to overturn 50 years of legal precedent, what else are they capable of?  The entire credibility of the Supreme Court is on the line.  If this decision becomes a reality, the Supreme Court will be viewed as a partisan tribunal versus an apolitical adjudicator of complex legal issues.  And, remember, in virtually every country that started as a democracy and ended up with an authoritarian leader, one of the first things that happened was stacking the highest court with partisan judges. 

I recently read a book, Principles for Dealing with The Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail, by Ray Dalio, in which the argument is made for why the United States is in its declining phase.  If this decision is allowed to stand, it will just kick the country further down that curve.  If anyone is naïve enough to think this decision is solely about abortion, I would argue, you are very, very wrong.  This decision is about the future of democracy in the United States and it appears that the conservatives will take us yet another step towards the abyss of authoritarianism.

1. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-11-24/us-abortions-may-be-inching-up-after-decades-of-decline
2. https://connectedbyloveadoptions.com/us-adoption-statistics/

Yes, I know it’s gross.  I call this ‘Frankenknee’.   In spite of the grotesqueness of this, my recovery is going quite well.  They pulled the 40 staples out of my leg a few days ago and now I’m just left with a large scar, swelling and some stiffness that I am working on with PT. 

I had a nice chat with the medical folks when they pulled the staples out of my leg to get a better understanding of what they found and what they had to do to fix me up.  I was very lucky.  It could have been much worse.  The broken part had kind of floated off and taken refuge in another part of my knee so they went on a small ‘Easter egg’ hunt to find it and extract it.  That partially explains the massive scar.   Fortunately, they didn’t have to remove any of the cemented-in titanium parts.  They just had to replace the spacer and apparently, they tried a couple of different ones until they found one they liked.

I asked what would have happened if they would have had to replace any of the titanium hardware (which they were prepared to do) and the doctor just kind of smiled and chuckled at me and said, “You don’t want to know – it’s pretty brutal.”  I’ll take it.  Like I said, I was pretty lucky and the recovery is going well.

I am trying to reconstruct my plans so my motorcycle trip to SoCal in July is back on. I should be able to get back on my bicycle (and my Harley) sometime in May so I should be good to go for my bicycle trip on the San Juan islands in September and Portugal is looking like it will now happen in November. 

I was watching the election in France with great interest because if Marie Le Pen would have won the election over Macron, I would seriously have rethought my plans to explore Portugal as a place for a long-term stay.  Fortunately, Macron won so we’ll see what happens in another 5 years.   And, of course, with Elon Musk now owning Twitter, that will likely just accelerate the craziness and decline in this country.  I would bet huge sums of money that Trump will now reappear on Twitter! 

All things considered, perhaps Pitcairn Island (Mutiny on the Bounty fame) might be a good place to settle!! 

Since I’m a bit bored given the inclement weather and given that I am supposed to still be ‘taking it easy’ after my recent knee surgery, I thought I’d write a blurb here to let the few people who read this know that I am still alive and to provide some comments/recommendations on some books that I have read during the last few weeks prior to and after my surgery.

First the surgery/recovery.  This was my third knee surgery.  The first two were planned.  The first was a full knee replacement due to wear and tear and arthritis.  The second was arthroscopic to repair some tendons and clean out some areas of my other knee.  This last was due to a rare traumatic injury in which I actually broke the spacer between the two titanium parts of my original artificial knee.  The orthopedic doctor expedited my surgery because my knee was somewhat unstable and they didn’t like the idea of parts floating around inside my knee.  They even scheduled it for an hour and a half longer than a normal knee replacement surgery because they weren’t sure what they were going to find once they got in there.

All of that said and as ugly as that sounds, even though the surgery was just 11 days ago, it is by far the easiest recovery I’ve had.   I was in the hospital for one night.  I used a walker for one day after I got home.  I used a cane for a couple of days after that and that poor cane is now feeling lonely and abandoned.  I actually got on my stationary bike trainer today and pedaled (slowly) for about five minutes.  And tomorrow, they remove the line of staples running about 10 or 11 inches down my leg.  (My leg looks a bit like ‘Franken knee’ with all of the staples in it!).  And the pain has been minimal.  I’ve taken nothing stronger than Tylenol.  My leg still swells up and I have to wear compression socks for the next month or so.  Ice packs are my new best friends.   My physical therapist thinks I’m some kind of freak because this isn’t supposed to be this easy.  Oh, well, I’ll take it.

I have had lot of time to read over the last few weeks since the original injury so I thought I’d just pass along my list and comments in case anyone is looking for some really interesting (some would say controversial) books to read.

First up is, “A Hundred Little Pieces on the End of World”¹ by John Rember.  It’s a relatively short book which is a collection of essays tackling the very subject it says, ‘the end of the world’, due to climate change and other adverse forces at work, but it is superbly written with great wit, droll humor and exquisite writing.

Next up, “The 1619 Project” edited by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Nikole Hannah-Jones.  This book grew out of a series of articles originally published in the New York Times Magazine regarding the history of race in America.  (The year 1619 was the year that the first slaves were brought to America).  It became very controversial along the lines of Critical Race Theory.  Conservatives got all riled up and started passing laws against teaching things like this in curriculums.  So, since I like to form my own opinions as opposed to listening to some talking head on TV, I decided to read the book.  (In the same manner that I read the Mueller Report from cover to cover).  I would recommend this book to anyone.  It blew me away.  I learned a lot.  I found it fascinating, and it just blows my mind why there are those who believe this information should not be taught in schools.  It didn’t make me feel bad or guilty after I read it, it just made me feel a lot more prepared to discuss and understand topics like race in America. 

The people who are so against reading and teaching material like this remind of a football coach who only wants his players to watch the game films from the games they won.  Everyone would agree that is nonsense and that they players are going to learn the most by watching the films from the games they lost.  We haven’t done a great job with race in this country.  We can’t solve the problem and get better if we just sweep it under the rug.  The controversy over this is ridiculous!

I then read, “Gunfight” by Ryan Busse.  Busse was an executive at Kimber Firearms for many years.  (He actually lives here in Montana).  It’s basically how the NRA became so radicalized and became such a potent political force in this country.  It was truly a scary book.  Busse is no longer in the industry and is now on the other side of the fence trying to help enact reasonable gun control laws.  (He agrees that no ordinary citizen needs an AR-15 assault rifle!)

Lastly, I read “The Changing World Order; Why Nations Succeed and Fail” by Ray Dalio.  Dalio is one of the founders of Bridgewater Associates, one of the largest hedge funds in the world.    This book takes a very macro perspective in looking at the rise and fall of countries over several hundred years and tries to use various metrics to model these events.  He argues and presents data to show that all countries go through cycles of rising and falling.  For example, there was a time that the Dutch were a very powerful nation and the Dutch guilder was the reserve currency used broadly around the world.  They were replaced by the UK and the pound became the world’s reserve currency.  The UK was replaced by the USA and now the US dollar is the world’s reserve currency.    He argues and shows that the US is now on the downslope of one of these cycles and the Chinese are on the upslope.  If nothing changes, the Chinese renminbi will replace the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency at some point in the future.   There was a lot to think about in this book.  It was a bit of a slog but I thought it was worth the effort.

So, if you’re looking for a little ‘light’ reading, here’s the list.  I did manage to watch some TV and some good movies along the way as well.  It hasn’t all been heavy reading.   In any case, I’m ambulatory once again and on the mend.  I’ve already started replanning my trip to Portugal and it looks like my motorcycle trip to SoCal in July and my bicycle ride in the San Juan Islands in September will be good to go (assuming I can keep from hurting myself again!!)

1. A Hundred Little Pieces on the End of the World, John Rember, 2020, University of New Mexico Press
2. The 1610 Project, A New Origin Story, edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones, 2021, New York Times Company
3. Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America, Ryan Busse, 2021, Public Affairs
4. Principles for Dealing with The Changing World Order; Why Nations Succeed and Fail, Ray Dalio, 2021, Avid Reader Press

Yesterday I was lamenting about the havoc wreaked upon our neighborhood due to the actions of one selfish individual and about the changing political landscape here in Montana.  I guess I am not alone.  This morning I read the article below about Sandpoint, ID which appears to be undergoing a bit of a metamorphosis .  Northern Idaho has always been Conservative but it appears it is moving even farther to the right.

I am very familiar with Sandpoint, ID as my parents lived in Coeur d’Alene, ID which is only about 50 miles away.  I actually stopped in Sandpoint for a bit on my motorcycle trip over to the Coast last summer.  As I was riding across the panhandle of Idaho, the political tone of the area was quite apparent because the landscape was replete with large signs for Trump and the NRA!  I do remember when Sandpoint, ID was a place of ‘the timber industry and hippies’ as stated in the article below.  Unfortunately, it appears that it is now becoming a political sanctuary for gun-toting, extremists.   I wonder if anyone else sees the irony in the fact that many of these people are very vocal about liberal ‘sanctuary cities’ and they are now creating their own ‘sanctuary’, albeit on the other end of the political spectrum. 

These days, you could substitute any one of a number of Montana city names into this article and it would be equally as accurate.  The landscape is changing – and not for the better.

“Realtors to conservatives living in liberal areas: Try Idaho SANDPOINT, Idaho (AP) — Linda Navarre moved to Sandpoint, Idaho, from Cleveland in 1978, when the town consisted of people in the timber industry and hippies “and they all got along.” Now she barely recognizes the small resort community near the Canadian border that is quickly growing as people disenchanted with big city life move there. Many are conservatives fed up with liberal politics in blue states. “The division gets wider and wider,” Navarre said, adding many of the new arrivals are changing the civility of the community. “My concern is there are so many people who are not nice.” Sandpoint is a four-season resort town built along the shores of scenic Lake Pend Oreille. It had 7,300 residents in the 2010 Census, but grew 21% in the decade to about 8,900 in the 2020 Census. In addition to the natural beauty, “people come here because it’s a red state,” said longtime resident Gail Cameron, 67. To capitalize on that trend, a growing number of real estate companies are advertising themselves to people on the right, saying they can take them out of liberal bastions like Seattle and San Francisco and find them homes in places like rural Idaho. Sandpoint-based Flee The City is a consortium of four businesses which specialize in selling property to conservatives in northern Idaho and western Montana. The company calls itself “a real estate firm for the vigilant.” Flee the City has partnered with a company that provides “sustainable homes design with integrated ballistic and defensive capabilities.” Todd Savage, whose Black Rifle Real Estate firm is part of Flee The City, said in a brief email exchange that his business is booming, thanks to “insane” left wing politics. One of the bigger players among right-leaning real estate companies is Conservative Move, based in a suburb of Dallas. Founder and chief executive Paul Chabot said blue states have only themselves to blame for driving out conservatives. “People are tired of out-of-control crime and forced masking,” Chabot said. Idaho has been the fastest growing state in the nation for five years running, growing 2.9% in 2021, mostly from in-migration. But the influx of people to places like Idaho has made it harder for some long-time residents. People struggle to find housing in Sandpoint, with many houses sold the same day they are listed, after bidding wars, Cameron said. Many of those homes are converted into vacation rentals, which tightens the market for people who live in the area, Cameron said. Carolyn Knaack, associate director of the Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper conservation group, has lived in town for a year. She said the confluence of the coronavirus pandemic and politics “has created a divisiveness among folks.” “I’ve been applauded and belittled for wearing a mask,” she said. “I have friends who refused to get vaxxed.” Savage was asked if it was desirable for people to segregate themselves by political ideology. “I don’t agree with the term ‘segregate,’” he wrote. “Folks simply ‘vote with their feet’ relating to issues such as crime, taxes, homeschooling, gun laws, mask and vaccine mandates, Orwellian laws and out of control tyranny in the sanctuary states.” Not everyone is a fan of what Savage and conservative realtors are doing in Sandpoint and elsewhere. Mayor Shelby Rognstad, a Democrat, worries real estate firms that serve only conservatives “pushes Idaho more and more into a playground for extremism. “It doesn’t bode well for our sense of community here,” said Rognstad, who is mounting a campaign for governor. “It’s a challenge to civility.” Barbara Russell, who lives in nearby Bonners Ferry, Idaho, expressed similar concerns. Bonners Ferry feels like it’s been overrun with white nationalists, said Russell, who owns a dance studio in the town of 2,600 residents. “What they are doing is preparing for war,” Russell said of new arrivals, who often carry guns when in town. “New people are moving in and they go to City Council meetings and tell people who grew up here to go back to California,” Russell said. “They are selling fear is what they are doing.” The National Association of Realtors does not keep records of if any of its members market themselves by political ideology, spokesman Quintin Simmons said. And not all real estate agents are members of the Realtors. So it’s tough to determine if the trend of targeting conservative customers is widespread. The Western States Center, a human rights group based in Portland, Oregon, is keeping an eye on right-leaning real estate firms, said member Kate Bitz. “It’s just the latest of several waves of politically motivated relocation to the inland Northwest,” Bitz said.”

I debated about posting this today but I decided to just so that I can remind myself to never again serve on an HOA Board again.  If anyone ever tries to talk me into serving on a Board again, I hope I go back and read this as a reminder of why I should not do it.  I think I’ve paid my dues and served my time.  When my current term is up in January, I’m done.  Not to mention, this whole episode coupled with the current Montana political climate has just made me think the right decision for me is to embark on a new adventure somewhere else.

When I first moved to Bozeman almost 4 years ago, I expected to be here a while and enjoy my retirement.  The country around here is beautiful and it is a great place for hiking, skiing, bicycling, and all kinds of outdoor activities.  There are many great restaurants and bakeries.  And, of course, there is the state’s largest university, Montana State University, which adds a whole interesting dimension to the area.  Although real estate is certainly no longer affordable for many (the median price of house in Gallatin Valley increased 45% in the last year alone!), I moved here at the exact right time and have a nice house that sits on an acre of land.  It all sounds idyllic so why in the world am I thinking about leaving?

I have toyed with moving overseas for a while, initially just because I thought it would be fun.  As the political climate in this country continued to deteriorate under Trump and in the time since his defeat with the continued propagation of the ‘Big Lie’, enactment of voter suppression laws, etc., my desire to leave has continued to accelerate.  Montana turned bright ‘red’ after the last election and shows no indication of changing any time soon.  Unless something unforeseen happens, Montana will soon join the states that enact severely restrictive abortion laws, enact laws against trans-gender students, enact voter restriction laws to essentially prevent almost any Democrat from winning any more state wide elections, ensure continued reliance upon coal as an energy source, and enact more laws to allow the killing of wolves, grizzlies, and everything else that moves.

All of that is certainly weighing upon my mind as I consider what to do.  But lately, I’ve come to realize the toll this last tenure as president of the HOA has taken on me.  It has really made me want to leave this community.  The bottom line is that I just no longer want to live here.

As I discussed in my last post, we (the HOA) are involved in a lawsuit with a resident who blatantly built a duplex on her property in clear violation of the HOA Covenants and the County regulations.  As a result, we have incurred legal fees and are in the position where we need to raise the dues from $20/year (!!!) to $20/month.  While that is a significant increase, we are still talking $20/month from people who live in homes worth $700,000 to $800, 000 or more.

At a community meeting we had this past week to vote on this increase, it was the best attended meeting in anyone’s recent memory.   We have 75 homeowners and there were 64 at the meeting either in person or represented by proxy.  The person being sued actively tried to rally support to defeat this fee increase.  My personal belief is that she believed that if the HOA did not have the funds to continue the litigation, the HOA would give up and she would win by default.   The fact is, the fee increase passed by a 2 to 1 margin.  But the way this issue has polarized the community is extremely disheartening.

I know this whole thing is totally insignificant in the context of what the maniac Putin is doing in Ukraine, but it is just a micro-example of how one person, who is acting solely with self-interest can wreak havoc on a neighborhood or a world. 

We have been at the lawsuit for a year and a half.  We have been through legal discovery where we on the Board had to spend many, many hours responding to requests for relevant documents. We were involved in a series of depositions where three of us sat for hours of legal questioning under oath. We went through a court mandated mediation where four of us on the Board spent an entire day trying to hammer out a deal to end this and at the end of the day, we signed the terms of any agreement and the opposing party walked away.  Frustrating to say the least.

We are now awaiting a decision from the judge where he will either make a ruling from the bench or set a date for trial.  In either case, the opposing party has said that if they lose, they will appeal the decision to the Montana Supreme Court.  All of this means, the road ahead will not be pretty no matter what happens.  If the HOA loses, it will be open season in the community and more multi-family dwellings will begin to appear which will change the entire character of the neighborhood.  If we prevail and the defendant appeals, this will drag on for at least another year or more.

Unfortunately, no matter what happens, I have just lost any desire to live here.   My house probably won’t go on the market until next year but I’d say there is a very high probability that I will be leaving next year.  Even though there are good people in this neighborhood, the toll this has taken on me just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.  It’s time for a new adventure – assuming WWIII doesn’t start in the meantime.

In 6 weeks, I head for Portugal on my first exploratory trip.  We’ll see what happens.   I don’t know if I’ll end up in Portugal or somewhere else overseas, but I’m pretty sure I’ve lost all desire to live in this community in Bozeman.  When I lived in LA after serving on an HOA board for 5 years, I swore I would never do it again.  I wish to hell I would have stood by the statement. 

Since the news is full of all kinds of info about the ongoing invasion into Ukraine, I decided against writing about that today.   I decided to talk about a small ‘mini-war’ that I am currently engaged in as president of the local Homeowners Association.  Anyone who lives or has lived in a community covered by a Homeowners Association might be able to relate – although I hope not.  However, I thought I would tell this tale as I think it is, in some ways, a pretty sad commentary on the nature of some people.

When I lived in Los Angeles, prior to moving to Montana, I served on the HOA board of the community where I lived for five years as both the Treasurer and as the President.  When I moved to Montana, I swore I would never serve on another HOA board.  If anyone has ever served on a board you probably understand that feeling.

When I moved to Montana, I was approached by the gentleman who was the president of the HOA at that time to welcome me to the neighborhood.  After a while he asked if I would consider serving on the local HOA board.  In spite of my previous experience, I told him I’d consider it.  The difference between situation in LA and the situation in Montana seemed totally different.

In LA, the HOA dues were about $400/month whereas the dues for the HOA in Montana were $20/year.  Yes, you read that correctly, $20/year!!  And, unlike the density and hustle and bustle in LA, in Montana, all lots are at least 1 acre so there is lots of space and it’s pretty quiet.  Given that, I figured, why not?  It would be a good way to get to know people.  How difficult could it be?  Did I make the wrong call!!

The first couple of years were pretty benign.  However, a couple of years ago, a resident started building what is essentially a duplex on their property in spite of many warnings that what they were proposing to do was in violation of the Covenants and in violation of the County regulations, both of which clearly state that only ‘single family residences’ are allowed in the neighborhood.  They refused to stop so, in consultation with our attorney, we had no option but to sue. 

This structure is now complete and has greatly polarized the community.  There is the very vocal, ‘it’s their property and they can do whatever the hell they want’ crowd and then there are the remainder of the residences who detest this monstrosity that has been built in clear violation of the covenants.  I should point out at this point that, in parallel to our lawsuit, there is an investigation ongoing by the County because the permits that were pulled prior to the construction for the building and septic system appear to have been less than truthful.

As a result of being involved in this litigation for the last two years, the HOA has incurred legal costs that have more than drained the entire bank account of the HOA.  Our attorney is basically carrying us although we have secured some personal loans to help with the costs.

Our Bylaws are such that we can’t levy a ‘special assessment’ except for capital improvements but we can, with sufficient support from the community, raise the annual dues.  The Board has proposed increasing the dues from $20/YEAR to $20/month, i.e., $240/year for the next two years to deal with this issue.   We have called a special meeting next Tuesday to vote on this proposal.   Given the reaction from some of the residents, you would think we are asking for each of them to cut off their right arm. 

Keep in mind that the home prices in Gallatin County where we live increased 45% last year.  Each of the houses in this community is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and our request of $20/month has generated emotions amongst some of the residents that just shocks me.  I can understand how people can disagree on issues, but the emotion and polarization surrounding this request of $20/month is shocking to me.  There is also a tremendous amount of disinformation being disseminated by the resident being sued.

This is particularly shocking in light of the fact that we have told the community that voting against this proposal will not erase the debts incurred to date or will incur as this case proceeds.  It will simply mean that the HOA will be in debt for years to come and unable to deal with any issue that arises in the neighborhood.  For example, if someone decides they want baby goats, a pony and roosters (all prohibited by the CCRs), and they complain to the HOA, our response will simply be – sorry, we can’t do a damn thing about it.

The lawsuit is coming to a head.  We are currently awaiting a decision from the judge as to whether he will rule on the case as a Summary Judgment or whether he will dismiss that motion and we will have a jury trial.  We are also awaiting the decision by the County on their separate investigation.

However, in the meantime, we will have the meeting next Tuesday to vote on the proposal to increase the dues to $20/month and see what happens.  All of us on the Board are expecting a very tense and heated meeting.  Fortunately, one of the Board members works for the sheriff’s department and has secured the community room at the Detention Center as the venue for our meeting so there will be armed cops right outside the door of the meeting.  There have been no death threats yet but nothing would surprise me at this point.  It’s truly crazy.

It is just so amazing to me how a flood of disinformation coupled with this request for $20/month has so polarized this quiet little community.  It is just a mini-version of what seems to have taken root across this country.

I don’t want to dissuade anyone from serving on an HOA Board because I believe in stepping up to get involved when you can.  That said, just be prepared.  I certainly never expected to encounter anything like this when I moved up here to Montana.  It is worse than anything I had to deal with in LA.