Friday Homestead Dispatch
Them’s Good Eats
“White trash is a victim of itself. They really believe that they’re like Donald Trump. That if they don’t have everything he has, if they’re poor, it is because they’ve not been lucky. They believe it’s all a matter of luck! They don’t see that it’s the system that has failed them. It sells dreams but causes nightmares, but they still believe that they are dreaming, and that if things don’t go as they wish, it is because they haven’t tried hard enough, and they continue within the same logic, as victims not of the system, but of the other. It’s the perfect trap.”
—Percival Everett
1.
In the spirit of two sides to every story, giving credence to the passions and beliefs of the many people who believe in Fuckleroy, check out editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer Chris Quinn’s editorial.
The facts involving Trump are crystal clear, and as news people, we cannot pretend otherwise, as unpopular as that might be with a segment of our readers. There aren’t two sides to facts. People who say the earth is flat don’t get space on our platforms. If that offends them, so be it.
As for those who equate Trump and Joe Biden, that’s false equivalency. Biden has done nothing remotely close to the egregious, anti-American acts of Trump. We can debate the success and mindset of our current president, as we have about most presidents in our lifetimes, but Biden was never a threat to our democracy. Trump is. He is unique among all American presidents for his efforts to keep power at any cost.
Dahlia Lithwick writes in Slate, "Huge swaths of the public have simply tuned out political outrage on both ends of the political spectrum. Those blinders are why so many prospective voters know so very little about Christian nationalism, as French notes, or about Trump’s legal woes, or even about Trump’s overt promises about what he plans to do if he’s reelected. It’s all just noise at this point, goes the complaint. The challenge for those of us who write about such things is how to punch a hole in it."
It’s up to all of us to punch a hole in the charade that is the Republican party.
2.
For a dose of optimism, check out Simon Rosenberg’s Substack Hopium Chronicles. His post from yesterday says 16 Polls Show Biden Leads, Do More Worry Less. He lists the polls and goes on to say, “Joe Biden is a good President. The country is better off. The Democratic Party is strong, unified and winning elections all across the country. And they have Trump - the ugliest political thing any of us has ever seen.” My take is if folks will actually vote, and 3rd party spoilers don’t feck up the Democrat’s chances, Biden will return for another term. Not that it won’t get ugly along the way…but maybe a certain someone may actually be convicted of one of his 44 federal charges and 44 state charges, all of them felonies.
And one other point of optimism is that employers added 303,000 jobs in March, the 39th straight month of growth. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent.
3.
And in Israel, their parliament has passed a law that paves the way to shut down the operations of Al Jazeera, one of the largest and most influential international news networks in the world. Netanyahu tweeted that “Al Jazeera harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited against Israeli soldiers. I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel’s activity.”
Al Jazeera countered with In an escalating move, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a frantic campaign against Al Jazeera, accusing it of harming Israel’s security, actively participating in the October 7 attack, and inciting against Israeli soldiers. Al Jazeera Media Network condemns these statements and sees [them] as nothing but dangerous ludicrous lies.
Netanyahu could not find any justifications to offer the world for his ongoing attacks on Al Jazeera and Press Freedom except to present new lies and inflammatory slanders against the Network and the rights of its employees.
Al Jazeera holds the Israeli prime minister responsible for the safety of its staff and Network premises around the world, following his incitement and this false accusation in a disgraceful manner.
The network stresses that this latest measure comes as part of a series of systematic Israeli attacks to silence Al Jazeera, including the assassination of its correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, the killing of its journalists Samer AbuDaqqa and Hamza AlDahdouh, the bombing of its office in Gaza, the deliberate targeting of a number of Al Jazeera journalists and their family members, and the arrest and intimidation of its correspondents in the field.
Al Jazeera reiterates that such slanderous accusations will not deter us from continuing our bold and professional coverage, and reserves the right to pursue every legal step.
Can’t happen here, right?
4.
An interesting look at the possible use of geothermal energy offering the promise of endless, 24/7 clean energy that can fill in the gaps of intermittent solar and wind generation in the electricity grid. When we visited Iceland almost a decade ago, it was almost 100% geothermal due to the easier access.
Geothermal capacity could increase 20-fold by 2050, generating 10% of the US’s electricity, according to a recent road map released by the US Department of Energy. Joe Biden’s administration has also funded new projects aimed at pushing forward the next generation of geothermal that aim to make the energy source available anywhere on America’s landmass, not just easy-to-reach hot springs.
Clean energy…it’s what’s for dinner.
5.
My accordion pal Pamela Powers has thrown her hat into the ring to replace Council Member Steve Kozachik's Ward 6 seat on the Tucson City Council. She served Legislative District 9 (LD9) for six years in the Arizona House. Her district included much of Ward 6 and Tucson north of Speedway — from Interstate 10 to Sabino Canyon.
Here’s the letter I cobbled together and sent yesterday:
To: The Honorable Mayor Regina Romero, Council Members Lane Santa Cruz, Richard Fimbres, Nikki Lee, Paul Cunningham and Kevin Dahl, and Clerk of Courts Suzanne Mesich,
I am writing today to show my support for Pamela Powers for the Ward 6 Tucson City Council seat recently vacated by Council Member Steve Kozachik. She has a long background in management, public relations and communications, and is known for presenting videos explaining sometimes difficult issues and how they relate to the general public. It’s what she did in the Legislature and it’s what she would do on the City Council.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Gary Mackender
And for ease, here are the necessary email addresses to copy and paste: mayor.romero@tucsonaz.gov, Ward1@tucsonaz.gov, Ward2@tucsonaz.gov, Ward3@tucsonaz.gov, Ward4@tucsonaz.gov, RichardFimbres@tucsonaz.gov, CityClerk@tucsonaz.gov (I will say that Richard Fimbres’ address bounced back)
6.
In a rare appearance, the Carnivaleros will be playing a short set on the main stage (Jacome Plaza) tonight (Friday, April 5) at approximately 8:30 for the Tucson Folk Festival. The evening kicks off at 6pm with this year’s Stefan George Memorial Songwriting Competition finalists performances, and while the judges are determining the winners, we’ll take the stage for a half-hour of delicious goodness. Karl is out of town so the incomparable Sabra Faulk will be providing bass duties!
On Saturday, April 6, I’ll be performing with Don Armstrong on the North Church Stage at 4pm. And then on Sunday, April 7, the Kevin Pakulis Band will be on the Presidio Museum Stage at 5:30. This means the Sunday Sessions at Borderlands will start at 2 and wrap up at 4:30. Ed Friedland will be substituting for Karl who will be staring into the sky in Texas. See you this weekend!
And now…
