SUNDAY FUNDAY AUGUST 22, 2021

 SUNDAY - FUNDAY

AUGUST 22, 2021

INTRODUCTION:

We’re more than halfway through August.  I have dreaded August for being so *^&$#@ hot, but maybe not quite as hot this year.  And, we have had rain.  I’ve been parking my car under some trees and I think I’ve been getting some sap on my windows!!!  

Many of us have grandchildren heading back to school.  It is going to be another interesting year for students and education.  (and, no, I’m not going to start the mask/no-mask discussion - but the governor who seemed did have vaccinations does have COVID (I assume a mild case).  

HISTORY:

I’ve been personally reflecting on the international situation.  We bombed Japan to end World War II (on August 6th and 9th, in 1945).  We got caught in an expensive war in Afghanistan and seemingly the withdrawal plans were not as good as we hoped.  I also reflect on the leaving of South Vietnam and people crowding onto airplanes to get out of the country as the United States withdrew.  (I know some of our bridge players were in Vietnam, but and not sure if they were there for the last days). 

August 22, 1969 - The American pop-rock duo Zager and Evans end a six-week run at the top of the charts with their ponderously titled single “In The Year 2525." It would be their one and only hit.

And, the first two stanzas:

Lyrics
In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find

In the year 3535
Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies
Everything you think, do and say
Is in the pill you took today

August 23, 1989, as punishment for betting on baseball, Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose accepts a settlement that includes a lifetime ban from the game. A heated debate continues to rage as to whether Rose, a former player who remains the game’s all-time hits leader, should be given a second chance.

August 24, 1947.  Helen and Woody White welcomed their son into the world at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids Iowa.  (And, now some 74 years later, their ‘son’ is Karen White)

August 25, 1944. After more than four years of Nazi occupation, Paris is liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division. German resistance was light, and General Dietrich von Choltitz, commander of the German garrison, defied an order by Adolf Hitler to blow up Paris’ landmarks and burn the city to the ground before its liberation. Choltitz signed a formal surrender that afternoon, and on August 26, Free French General Charles de Gaulle led a joyous liberation march down the Champs d’Elysees.

August 26, 1920. “The 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, is formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution. The amendment was the culmination of more than 70 years of struggle by woman suffragists. Its two sections read simply: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” and “Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

August 27, 1976 - The United States Tennis Association bars transgender athlete Renée Richards from competing in the U.S. Open as a woman, stating she must pass a chromosomal test. Richards fails the test, sues the USTA, and wins the right a year later to compete via a New York Supreme Court ruling.

August 28, 1968 - At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, thousands of Vietnam War protesters battle police in the streets, while the Democratic Party falls apart over an internal disagreement concerning its stance on Vietnam. Over the course of 24 hours, the predominant American line of thought on the Cold War with the Soviet Union was shattered.

NATIONAL DAYS

August 22

National Surgical Oncologist Day

National Be An Angel Day

National Bao Day

Never Bean Better Day

National Tooth Fairy Day

National Pecan Torte Day

August 23

National Ride The Wind Day

National Sponge Cake Day

National Cuban Sandwich Day

August 24

National Maryland Day

National Peach Pie Day

National Waffle Day
National Karen White Day

August 25

National Park Service Founders Day

National Whiskey Sour Day

National Kiss and Make Up Day

National Secondhand Wardrobe Day

National Banana Split Day

August 26

National Got Checked Day *

National WebMistress Day

National Dog Day

National Women’s Equality Day

National Cherry Popsicle Day

August 27

National Pots De Creme Day

National Just Because Day

August 28

National Thoughtful Day

National Red Wine Day

National Power Rangers Day 

National Bow Tie Day

National Cherry Turnovers Day

Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day

JOKES

Why couldn't the bicycle stand up by itself? It was two tired!

Wanna hear a joke about construction? I'm still workin' on it!

What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta.

How does a lawyer say goodbye? I'll be suing ya!

What made the tomato blush? It saw the salad dressing.

What did the buffalo say to its son when he left? Bison!

Why do vampires always seem sick? They're coffin.

What musical instrument do you find in the bathroom? A tuba toothpaste!

Which state has the most streets? Rhode Island.

How do astronomers organize a party? They planet.

Why do bees have sticky hair? Because they use a honeycomb.

*****

MORE JOKES:

I'm on two diets. I wasn't getting enough food on one.

 

A cold seat in a public restroom is unpleasant. A warm seat in a public restroom is worse.

 

Apparently RSVP'ing to a wedding invitation "Maybe next time, "isn't the correct response

 

Don't irritate old people. The older we get, the less "Life in prison" is as a deterrent.

 

Have you ever listened to someone for a minute and thought, "Their cornbread isn't done in the middle."

 

Aliens probably fly by earth and lock their doors.

 

"You will hit every cone on the highway before I let you merge in front of me because you saw that sign 2 miles ago like I did."

 

I asked my wife if I was the only one she had ever been with. She said yes, all the others were nines and tens. Give it a minute...

 

I really don't mind getting older, but my body is taking it badly.

 

It turns out that being an adult now is mostly just googling how to do stuff.

 

I miss the '90s when bread was still good for you and no one knew what kale was.

WRAP UP!!!

I’m getting musical.  This summer, I’ve played with a Brass Quintet.  Yesterday, I played in a “Back to School” neighborhood party.  Our featured song is “Rubber Ducky” from Sesame Street (played on the tuba).  Then tomorrow (Monday) starts rehearsals for the Williamson County Symphony Orchestra, and Tuesday is the new Central Texas Orchestra.  At this stage, I think I can play in both, but we’ll see.

And, for you adventurous types, on Tuesday, August 24th at 1:30 p.m. the Georgetown Fire Ants Granny Basketball team takes on the Harker Heights Old Glory team in the Georgetown Rec Center - in a scrimmage.

And, a birthday.  What will being 74 years old mean to me?  (It seems like I’m busier than ever (although I know I’m not!!).  

BLESSINGS!!!  LOVE WINS!!!

Karen

SATURDAY STORY - AUGUST 21, 2021

 SATURDAY STORY - AUGUST 21, 2021

This is a work of fiction, starting in the year 2008 in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Math had always been easy for Nita.  She had learned to multiply two-digit numbers by two-digit numbers in her head by sixth grade. As math got more abstract with algebraic equations, it seemed like her brain worked three steps ahead of her pencil.  Calculus?  Not a problem!!  Differential equation?  Still not a problem.  In her junior year at the University of Nebraska, she had first bumped into trouble with topology.  But, after running at the student gym, the concept of “nearness” (the heart of topology) came into focus. Probability and statistics came way-too-easy almost too boring - she loved the abstract rather than the formula aspects of statistics (until she learned that the formulas were really derived from calculus).  

The real difficulty came at graduation time.  Dr. Pam Johnson wanted Nita to go on in math and do graduate work and become a professor.  Nita had aced all of her math classes and did math tutoring in the math lab as well as on her dorm floor.  

Nita grew more and more frustrated.  She loved math, she loved college, but at age 22, it was time to move on.  With her minor in computer science, she thought maybe getting a ‘real’ job might let her apply her math.  Dr. Johnson sat with Nita over coffee twice a week as they talked over potential plans.  Dr. Johnson had connections and colleagues literally all over the globe.  

But, Nita came from a Nebraska farm family.  Her family owned big corn, soybeans, and cattle farm near Central City - about an hour west of Lincoln.  Like many farm kids, she raised animals in 4H and showed them at the county and state fair. Math came easy, but to move to New York City and take an awesome position with Citibank, Chase-Manhatten, or another big financial firm knocked Nita out of her comfort zone.  

Dr. Johnson tried to get Nita to see her potential, but Nita saw herself as just kind of lucky in math, and not a big deal, although Dr. Johnson saw her as a real rising star.  Dr. Johnson did convince Nita that working for Berkshire Hathaway could be a good move.  It would be about two hours from Central City, and an hour from Lincoln.  It also complicated Nita as her girlfriend, Emma, still had many years to go as a Pre-Med student.  The probability that Emma could go to the University of Nebraska Medical School in Omaha after graduating with her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry made Omaha a reasonable location.  (And, Nita loved Emma, but that could fall apart at any time - just like any romantic relationship.)

Graduation came, the family gathered and helped her move to an apartment not far from Berkshire Hathaway.  She had a car, but she could save money for graduate work by walking to work.  

Her first two weeks on the job were mostly spent learning the business and learning what job she would do at Berkshire Hathaway.  They did have Warren Buffet on video welcoming them to the company, but she didn’t get to see him in person (yet).  

She launched herself into her work. Financial analysis challenged her with various new formulas and processes.  The derivatives were largely worked out on computers, but Nita and her team would do various confidence interval tests for best fit and then extrapolate many factors like treasury bonds, inflation rate, consumer confidence, some ratios from China, Germany, India, and the United Kingdom thrown in for good measure.  Suddenly her statistics became very real in this world.

As the new person on the team, Nita spent time with each of the team members in team building and relationship building.  Although Berkshire-Hathaway functioned as a top company in Omaha Nebraska, corn, soybeans, pork bellies, and cattle futures that were traded didn’t stand tall in fields like back home but were almost abstract ideas like the topology and abstract algebra she had taken.  

*****

But, like any novice, and particularly with a super-smart novice, Nita caught on.  Six weeks in her boss called her into his office to congratulate her work.  She went out for beverages once a month with her team.  Emma joined her a couple of times when her schedule allowed. The hour drive between Lincoln and Omaha flew by.  That stretch of Interstate 80 had extra lanes.  (And, many nights Emma stayed over, and there were weekends when Nita went to Lincoln).  

She got a few emails from the alumni office - subtle reminders to support her institution - and she did.  She also got encouraging notes from Dr. Pam Johnson - also subtle reminders about graduate study.  As the end of the year rolled around, Nita heard rumors that Warren Buffet would show up someday.  And, then it happened. Warren Buffet walked through her department with her manager and gave out Christmas/End of Year bonuses.  As her boss and Warren stood before her, her boss lavished praise upon her and she blushed deeply.

Warren Buffet (the Oracle of Omaha) listened to her boss’s comments he looked her over.  He didn’t know all the people of Berkshire-Hathaway but did like to know the productive ones.  He nodded during her boss’s comments and then added “It sounds like your a great addition to the team Nita.  Welcome aboard”!!!

*****

A week later she got an email from Warren Buffet’s personal secretary (only 67 years old as compared to Warren’s 78 years).  Warren wanted to meet her for coffee in his office on Tuesday, January 21.  Almost immediately, Nita’s head split open - what should she wear, what should she say, how do you address one of the richest men in the world?  Could she say “Hi Warren, how’s things?” Nita laughed at herself for thinking such a casual thought.  The email said that Nita, her boss,(Art VanDeWater), and his secretary (Carol)  would be together.  Nita remembered some of the thoughts about meeting one-on-one with a male boss with the possibilities for inappropriate actions (even if that male boss had passed the 70 years of age level and felt peace at knowing there would be others in the room.  

She took a break and called Emma.  “Hey Emma, guess who I’m going to have coffee with next week?” 

Emma guessed almost correctly - “Warren Buffet and Bill Gates?” (Buffet and Gates were great friends).  

Nita corrected her - “no, just Warren, his secretary, and my boss.  How much money should I ask him for?  A million?  A billion?”

Emma laughed.

Nita said, “I’ll talk more tonight. Love you, babe”.

*****

Nita tried to get information from Art VanDeWater, her boss, but even he hadn’t been in a lot of meetings with the widely recognized Warren Buffet. She did relaxing exercises - like “What is Warren Buffet going to do with me? Fire me?” Her mathematical, logical self knew a CEO never fired people.  She settled on what seemed to be a reasonable answer, he wanted to get to know his new employees and since her boss had praised her, he wanted to get to know her.

Nita and Art were on the top floor of the Peter Kiewit building ten minutes before their meeting.  The corporate office suite came off as tasteful without being gaudy, or ostentatious to Nita.  A receptionist, (the name tag said “Tracy”) greeted them.  Tracy commented, “I would normally offer you coffee, but since you are having coffee with Mr. Buffet today, I will refrain.”  There were current magazines around the reception room - Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and even the Omaha World-Herald.  A credenza held about fifty magazines, including one that Nita recognized that her father read, the Farm Journal.  Nita knew that Berkshire-Hathaway had investments in many fields including agribusiness.  Omaha had five Fortune 500 companies, ConAgra, Union Pacific, Mutual of Omaha, Kiewit Construction, and Berkshire-Hathaway.  

At one minute before the meeting time, Warren Buffet came out of his office and invited Nita and Art in.  At a conference table for about eight people sat Carol Psensik, and Mr. Buffet invited Nita to sit between Carol and his seat at the end of the table and asked Art to sit opposite Nita on his left hand.  

“Wow”, Nita thought, “Not only am I in the office of one of the richest men in the world, I’m sitting between him and his executive secretary and opposite my boss - who hasn’t been in the office before.  What is going on?”

Mr. Buffet asked Carol to help with the coffee.  Nita did drink coffee but liked cream in it. Art drank his coffee black, and Carol prepared a cup for Mr. Buffet and one for herself.  Nita figured Carol knew how they liked their coffee.

Now with the coffee in front of them, Mr. Buffet started.

“Nita, this is kind of an unusual meeting, even for me.  I’ve been running some ideas through my brain and with my board of directors for some time and then we met briefly and Mr. VanDeWater described you as a math whiz.  When I get an idea, and then some confirmation, I tend to act on it.”

Warren Buffet went on a long presentation about artificial intelligence (AI), and where he saw AI being applied in business.  

“Computing is getting to be more dependable.” nodding to Carol, he added, “Carol and I have been through enough computing both positive and negative over the past years.”.  Carol gave a little chuckle.  

“There is coming a day, someday, where robotics, artificial intelligence, and business are going to take off and we don’t dare behind the curve.” He stopped to sip his coffee.  He added, “I like my coffee hot and once I get going, I can talk forever and it cools off.”  (This time Carol’s chuckle reverberated much louder).

Then he took what seemed to be another direction. “Nita are you familiar with the concept of Skunkworks?”  

Fortunately, she knew a little of the term - basically a small project of a business to develop new ideas and products.  Nita thought of John Kennedy’s BHAG - “big hairy, audacious goal” to put Americans on the moon and how that must have started as a skunkworks.

Warren Buffet continued.  “I want to develop a skunkworks for artificial intelligence as it applies to agriculture.  I had read your resume when you started her (I read all new hire resumes), and what impressed me was your math skills.  I really hadn’t figured in your farming background until I actually met you that day a month ago.”  He stopped and looking directly at Nita asked “Did you really show cows as a 4H project?” 

That caught Nita off guard, but gathering her composure said “Yes”, and then getting bolder went on “Yes, I showed cows throughout my high school days in 4H.  I served a term as 4H President of our local chapter.”

This time, Warren Buffet chuckled.  “So Carol we have a math genius who knows how to muck out the stable.”  At this, Nita blushed.  Here she sat next to one of the richest men in the world talking about shoveling manure (or BS) out of a barn.  This meeting bordered on amazing.

“So, let me get to my point.  I want to have a skunkworks group look at artificial intelligence and specifically towards applying AI to agriculture, and the future of agriculture.  I don’t want you to spread it around too much, not like that manure you used to spread, but you will be working on this special research project for me.” Everybody in the room laughed as he talked of spreading manure.

“I’m just starting to create the team.  We had an agribusiness group but I really don’t want them to be part of this.  They look at agriculture from around the world in the short and medium-term  as part of our investments portfolio”.  On a short tangent, the weather in Argentina really can affect the agriculture investments market and we must be on top of all the news.”

“I have a call in to Max Reuter at ConAgra.  I want one of his young lions on the team.  We are hiring a person just finishing her doctorate in computer science at Iowa State University, whose dissertation focused on artificial intelligence. Plus some five or six research associates can get you whatever information you want or need.  My CTA, chief technology administrator, will get you whatever computing power you need and whatever software and peripheral resources. 

Turning to Art VanDeWater, he said “Art, I know you have a rather full plate with your current department, but I need an administrator for this team.  I think Nita is maybe still a little young to head up such as team, but she did lead her high school 4H group.” Nita blushed deep red this time.  And Warren Buffet smiled so sincerely at her that she thought she might faint.

Looking back to Art, he added “You and I can talk about somebody in your group that might be a good choice for an interim team leader.” Art nodded.

Looking to Carol, “Can we arrange for another meeting next Tuesday about this time.”

And, back to Nita and Art.  “I don’t really want this spread all over.  Just tell people that you’ve been assigned to a new team working on some new directions for Berkshire-Hathaway, which is the truth, but keep my name out of it.  People just seem to go crazy when they hear Warren Buffet is working on a secret project.    

Continuing, “We have a building on Dodge and 78th street that we will put you.  I tried to think of a good name for you, but my brain froze with the name: Farm Artificial Intelligence Location - I didn’t think FAIL conveyed what I wanted”. Another good laugh and the meeting ended. 

*****

To be continued next week!!!

What will Nita do?  Get frustrated working on artificial intelligence and go get her doctorate and become a professor?  Head up the new activity, and become Warren Buffet’s new star?  Work on the new activity only to be driven out by men?  

Since I haven’t written it yet, I’m wondering what will happen as well!!!

LOVE WINS!!!!

Karen

FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2021 - LOVE WINS

 FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2021 LOVE WINS - ELISHA MIRACLES

Happy Friday!!!  I’m not sure my two miracles from Elisha count as “Love Wins”.

Elijah is the more recognized Old Testament prophet.  In the Transfiguration - Jesus is seen with Moses and Elijah.  The concept of these two Old Testament figures is that they represent the Law (Moses), and the Prophets (Elijah).

Elisha (today’s subject) was Elijah’s student.  In 2 Kings chapter 2, Elijah is taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.  But before he was taken up, Elisha asks “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,”.

But, I wanted to look at two unusual miracles of Elisha.

*****

Miracle 1 for today: 2 Kings 2:23-25

From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!”  He turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.  And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

WOW - the boys were taunting Elisha and called him “Baldy” - so Elisha performs a ‘miracle’?  He called down a curse and two bears attacked (mauls) forty-two boys.  

So, if you are being bullied, you can do call down a curse in the name of the Lord.  I’m not quite sure being bald is being bullied enough to have two bears maul forty-two boys.

Does God care that Elisha was bald?  I don’t think so, but that He carried that this particular prophet was being harassed.  Maybe Elisha could have cursed them with a “freeze” - as we did as kids - and gone down the road and the boys could have thawed out, but Elisha could be far down the road by then.

I’m thinking of the parents of these boys.  They lost their sons, and why?  Because the boys insulted a prophet.  Did the punishment match the “crime”?  What do you think?

But, on the other hand, do we have the power to “call down fire” or curse on our enemies?

*****

Miracle 2 for today: 2 Kings 13:20-21

“Elisha died and was buried.

Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.”

Unlike his mentor who was taken up to heaven, Elisha died and was buried.  Some commentators (who do these things) have counted the miracles of Elijah and Elisha and when he died Elisha was one miracle short of twice as many as Elijah (he had asked Elijah for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit).

But, to make the math come correctly, here is one more miracle of Elisha - after his death.  The man they threw into Elisha’s tomb touched the bones of Elisha - and came back to life!!!  

So, yes, Elisha had twice as many miracles as Elijah.  

*****

Does this make any difference to you and me?  In the Judeo-Christian viewpoint does this make our faith stronger?  Maybe.

I sense that if I am walking with God, I can ask for the difficult or impossible things (like miracles).  Does God hear us?  I believe so.  Matthew 7 says “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

John 14:14 adds “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

John 16:24 repeats: “ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

I know a friend that prays (asks) God for close parking places where she is going to shop.  Yes, just a little thing, but seemingly she gets a parking place near the door.  Not a bad thing - not cursing boys by having a bear maul them.   

*****

Is this a case of “LOVE WINS”?  I say “yes”.  God is watching over us - ask, seek, knock!!

Have an awesome weekend - a blessed weekend - a weekend of great joy, happiness, and deep peace!!!

Karen

THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2021 CENSUS CONTINUED

 THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2021 CENSUS CONTINUED

In the picture blue is growth, orange is shrinking.  

Yes, the times they are ‘a-changing.  People move, immigrate, have large families, or small families (or no children).  People get married and people get divorced.  (If you look at the map,

The fabric of society is changing.  Growing up in the 1950s, I didn’t know any non-Christians (although there may have been some, it just wasn’t part of the environment).  We had Christmas concerts - with secular and religious songs.  No businesses were open on Sunday (other than maybe gas stations and restaurants).  My community had whites and blacks, but I really don’t remember any other specific minorities.  At large were the ‘beat generation’ and ‘beatniks’.   (All you needed (in my opinion) was a bongo drum and poetry that didn’t rhyme!!).  There were very few divorces (that I knew about anyway).  “Father Knows Best” and “Leave it to Beaver” were staples in the television world.  

To me, the world changed in the 60s.  The baby boomers were growing and questioning things.  Rock and roll became “our” music.  We went off to college and listened to Joan Baez and others.  We grew our hair long, tried marijuana, learned to drink, and became adults.  I wasn’t too sure about the ‘real world’ after graduation.  I took my first teaching job basically because I was “supposed to do something” (and being a perpetual college student - while an attractive option - wasn’t going to cut it!!!).

And, America got caught in Vietnam.  It split our nation. (Recently we got caught in Afghanistan in a similar situation). I had friends who served in Vietnam and friends who protested the war in Vietnam.  And, those that survived are now in their upper 60s or 70s now.  We “won” the Space Race and kept track of nuclear weapons in the Cold War.  Then we took in immigrants - Vietnamese and others.  California was bringing in Mexican laborers.  Our graduate schools became the education for the world.  Most technical programs had a larger mix of international students as compared to white Americans.  (Aside, one of my favorite classes was a graduate MBA class with Chinese, Mongolians, Romanian, Caribbean Islands, and other international students.  I even had a barbeque at my best-ever faculty office - on the sides of Sleeping Giant) with this diverse class.)

So, this week, I’ve written about the Census.  I am reflecting back on the ZPG movement of the 1960s.  ZPG stands for “Zero Population Growth”. The web says: “Dr. Paul Ehrlich, a biologist at Stanford University and author of the influential but controversial 1968 book The Population Bomb, founded Zero Population Growth (ZPG) with lawyer Richard Bowers and entomologist Charles Remington.” (http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2019/11/20/a-1960s-population-control-organization-rebranded-in-2002-now-its-recruiting-unc-students/)

It would seem to me that the zero population growth message was heard by White Americans.  My mother came from a family of four children, my father from a family of 11 children.  My wife came from a family of 11 children, and her father was also from a family of 11 children, and her mother was from a family of five children.  

My wife and I had two children; our daughter had two children, and our son had three children for a numerical value of 2.33 (so, my family is going the replacement thing).  My parents had two children, with four children and eight grandchildren - or a 2.00 replacement value).

But, there are countries on the other side: (2019 data)

Niger had a replacement rate of 6.824

Somalia - 5.987

DR Congo -5.819

Mali - 5.785

Chad - 5.689

Of the top 27 fertility replacement rates, all are in Africa.  The highest non-African replacement rate was Afghanistan 

*****

Will these figures prove true?  Will the sub-Saharan African countries continue to have large fertility rates?  Will Eastern Europe dieback because of its 1.7 fertility rate? Or North America because of its 1.7 fertility rate?

*****

Will the United States become a Hispanic Nation in 100 years?  When will Hispanics outnumber whites in the United States?  (And, a tough question - was some of this - directly or indirectly - part of the 2020 United States Presidential Election?) 

*****

And, will the 2020 Census cause Americans to grow closer together - or will it split us farther apart as we argue about redistricting and political maneuvering?

Yesterday, I was having coffee with a friend and I said I was writing about the census and she thought that was probably boring.  As I pointed out the changes, gerrymandering, and political implications she realized that the issue is real.

But, in a very simplistic viewpoint, our lives are pretty simple - we live, we die.  Does it matter?  I hope to have a nicer place to live someday - heaven - but I am not in charge of that decision!!!  (Hurray!!!) 

Tomorrow - a LOVE WINS Friday blog, Saturday, a story, then a Funday on Sunday, and a new topic for next week.  I do enjoy writing.  Do you have ideas for topics or things that interest you?

LOVE WINS!!!

Karen

WEDNESDAY, AUGUSGT 18, 2021 - CENSUS CONTINUED

 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2021 - CENSUS CONTINUED

I’ve been looking at the Census this week.  

From Nebraska TV (https://nebraska.tv/news/local/rural-population-losses-add-to-farm-and-ranch-labor-shortage-08-15-2021)

“Rural America lost more population in the latest census, highlighting an already severe worker shortage in the nation's farming and ranching regions and drawing calls from those industries for immigration reform to help ease the problem.

The census data released last week showed that population gains in many rural areas were driven by increases in Hispanic and Latino residents, many of whom come as immigrants to work on farms or in meatpacking plants or to start their own businesses.

“We’ve struggled on this issue for a long time to try to come up with a more reasonable, common-sense approach,” said John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, which is part of a group lobbying Congress for new immigration laws. Vilifying immigrants "just makes it harder to get there.”

The population trend is clear in Nebraska, where only 24 of the state's 93 counties gained residents. Of those 24, just eight reported an increase in the white population, suggesting that most of the growth was driven by minorities, said David Drozd, a research coordinator for the University of Nebraska Omaha's Center for Public Affairs Research.”

*****

Okay, so the population of the United States is: (a) growing older; (b) becoming more urban; (c) and less white.  What might that mean?

(Yes, this is Karen’s speculation)

AGRICULTURE (the quotation from Nebraska TV suggests that farming and ranching are going into a crisis in terms of labor.  The kids that grew up on farms and ranches are moving into towns for a different life.  I experienced that when teaching at Dakota State University.  I had good students from rural settings who went into computing fields.  Citibank (and others) hired them because they had great work ethics.  As children of farmers and ranchers, they were used to getting up for chores early in the mornings before going to school.  They need the process of seeing jobs through (such as raising 4-H cows or other 4-H projects).  I kidded about my first teaching position that my biggest discipline problem was the kids who milked cows before coming to school (and not cleaning or changing their manure-covered boots!!).  

BUT, who is going to plant the corn, beef the cows, pigs, and livestock. We already object to chicken farming, where the chickens barely see the sun and are raised to go to market quicker.  Farms and ranches already are technology-based. Those expensive tractors beam data back and forth from satellites about field conditions and the “cloud computing” (almost an appropriate name) does the analysis for more (or less) fertilizer or weed killing or watering.  Maybe the day when self-driving vehicles will mean tractors, combines, and farm machinery!!!  

And, many of our food packing plants are already using immigrants.  The packing plants near my son in Nebraska have many Somali workers (as traditional white workers don’t want to work in packing plants - it is “underneath them).  And, Somali workers in Grand Island Nebraska do attract attention.  They want time off to offer their Islamic prayers and have mosques.  That is foreign to the White Americans of central Nebraska.

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Another problem is the aging situation.  With good health care (at least for white people), many are living longer.  That may mean more senior housing, more health care providers for seniors, more assisted living facilities.  Who is going to work those minimum wage jobs in the nursing homes - changing bedpans, and taking care of the old and infirm?

Will Somalis take care of Grandma and Grandpa?  (Maybe not).  Maybe there will be a preference for Hispanic workers in those jobs?  Can robots take care of seniors?  

Will there be more medical personal?  YES - and many will come from non-white backgrounds.  My friend who is having cancer surgery next week is under the care of an Indian-American (not a Native American).  My nurses were almost all not the traditional health care providers my parents had.  

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With the move to urban areas, will those small farming communities die out?  Will there be a doctor for Howard South Dakota?  Will there be grocery stores in Howard?  

And, then you have the urban sprawl issues.  I’m in a suburb of Austin Texas.  Austin is growing so fast that housing has rapidly gotten expensive.  The house we bought for about $190K eight years ago is now comparatively priced at about $500K.  The roads get crowded, the schools are full and there is a need for more schools.

And, the rural areas are consolidating schools.  Can a student in Howard South Dakota get a high school physics class?  Yes, but it might be online from a regional consortium. The Howard District might not have enough students to employ a physics teacher.

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So, yes, America took a census, and (quoting Bob Dylan) “The times they are a-changing”.   This is not the America of 1921 or 1821 but in a whole different era.  

Can we remember “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

(Emma Lazarus - The New Colossus - inscribed on the Statue of Liberty!!!)

And, above all, LOVE WINS!!  Love those Somalis working in the packing plants, Love those Hispanics, Indians (not Native Americans) working in Health Care, love those building the new suburbs and housing all around Austin (many of which are Hispanic laborers), love the Taliban, love the Chinese, Russians, and all.  Do we have any choice but to love?  (Answer, yes, we can hate - but that is like cancer on our soul).

HUGS!!

Karen