We took Dora to the ASU Farmers Market again this morning and, as usual, were mobbed by people who wanted to pet her and hold her.
I scribbled the breeder’s URL, name and phone number onto a Sam’s Club receipt I found in my pocket to give to a woman who is looking for a puppy. I hope she ends up with one of Dora’s brothers.
The coffee is free this morning, thanks to Starbucks’s offer of a free 12 ounce coffee for an empty bag of their coffee. Now that we have a real Starbucks in town, I may never throw one of their bags in the trash again.
If I were a hard core ideologue, I would be very conflicted about patronizing Starbucks. They have gone on record as encouraging patrons with permits to bring their guns when they come for coffee, but their CEO recently proclaimed he doesn’t want your business if you don’t support same-sex marriage. What’s a pro-Second Amendment Catholic to do? I just come for the coffee, not the politics.
I’m itching to blog about the circumstances surrounding Maria’s departure from the Sun, but the timing is not right. Stay tuned.
Dora discovered this afternoon that she is big enough to climb into the big rubber water tub we keep on the patio for dog watering.
The inducement was a half of a bag of ice that we no longer needed since we got our icemaker fixed. I dumped it in and she went after it.
That’s why she looks kinda wet here.
It's only play fighting, but those little teeth are still sharp. Jack doesn't seem to mind when Dora is feeling full of herself.
When the folks at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago turned the U-505 into an exhibit, they cut doorways at either end of the port side of the hull so visitors wouldn't have to clamber up and down ladders.
They made paperweights of varying shapes and sizes from the steel that was cut away and sold them at the museum gift shop.
I bought this one in the winter of 1957-58 while on a junior high school field trip. It measures 1"x1½"x1½" and weighs 9.3 ounces.
Hans Goebeler, who served on the U-505 from its first voyage to its capture, wrote a history of his experiences titled Steel Boat, Iron Hearts. After the war, Goebeler moved to the U.S. and settled in Chicago to be near "his" boat. He would occasionally give guided tours to lucky museum visitors and also organized several reunions of surviving crew members.
Goebeler died in 1999 of lung cancer.
Hans Goebeler on the deck of the U-505 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
If I had my druthers, I’d be somewhere in Utah right now, sipping on water from my CamelBak and looking forward to a good dinner and a pleasant night’s sleep in Twin Falls, Idaho.
I would have already called in my reservation to the newly renovated Motel 6 and dinner would be a block up the street at Jaker’s Bar & Grill. I’ve been there a couple of times before and know a good thing when I see it.
It’s about 700 miles from Chateau Balough in Alma, Colo. – a full day’s ride, but all of it on the superslab with little to do but twist the throttle, listen to XM-Sirius satellite radio, pay attention to the traffic around me and wait for Twin Falls to show up.
Tomorrow’s ride would take me 574 miles across the high desert of central Oregon to the BMW MOA national rally in Salem and a rendezvous with dozens of my BMW riding friends from Indiana and here.
Instead, I’m hunkered down at home trying to figure out ways to avoid spending money until we can get a new revenue stream going. Today’s project is switching our home phone over from our cable/internet provider to MagicJack. I’d prefer to dump the land line altogether, since we use our iPhones for almost everything, but MagicJack is cheap – way cheaper than the $30 a month we pay now.
This is the 51st anniversary of the first day I woke up with an Indiana learner’s permit in my wallet.
Which is a roundabout way of saying I began the path to my first driver’s license on my 16th birthday, which was 51 years ago yesterday. I completed driver education at Delphi High School and got my license on Aug. 16. We left the next day on vacation in the family’s 1960 Ford Galaxie, with me at the wheel most of the time, driving through New England and returning through Canada. I got my first motorcycle endorsement when Indiana created the requirement in 1980.
God only knows how many million road miles ago that was. I know I have more than 300,000 BMW motorcycle miles behind me, so my total miles driven and ridden have to be in the millions.
I bought my first car – a 1965 VW Beetle – on Aug. 1, 1966. Since then I’ve had an English Ford Cortina, Pontiac LeMans, VW Karmann-Ghia convertible, Mercedes Benz, two Cadillacs, Mercury Topaz, Chevrolet Chevette, Nissan Sentra, Honda del Sol, Buick LeSabre, Subaru Forester, Lexus RX330, Kawasaki KE175, Kawasaki KZ650, BMW R50/5, BMW R100RS, BMW K100RS, BMW K75S, and BMW K1200GT – 14 cars and seven motorcycles.
The English Ford was the worst by far – shoddy construction and poor design. It’s hard to say which car was the best – the Benz was old but elegant and smooth as glass on the highway, the ‘94 del Sol still runs like new and is great fun to drive, the Forester has been rock-solid reliable, and the Lexus is by far the most luxurious.
I’ve loved all of the motorcycles, maybe the ‘91 K100RS the most since it gave me more than 160,000 miles of smiles, but I still have a soft spot for the ‘81 R100RS, since it was my first real sport tourer and opened up a whole new way of life for me. The K75S, which will be 20 years old in February, is still a blast to ride because it’s so light and nimble. The GT, which turned 10 this year, continues to be a comfortable ride, decked out as it is with XM-Sirius satellite radio and Garmin Zumo 550 GPS.
“What would you like for your birthday breakfast?” Maria asked this morning.
I thought for a moment and then my mind focused.
“Corned beef hash and eggs,” I said, “but I don’t think we have any hash.”
“I’ll bet they have some at Dollar General down the road,” she offered.
She was right. We needed a gallon of milk anyway, so I donned my Firstgear MeshTex motorcycle jacket, fired up the K75S and savored the sunny 79 degree weather the two miles down U.S. 49 to the Dollar General where I found lots of Hormel Corned Beef & Hash.
A half-hour later, I was sitting down to this repast, complete with cowboy china and a mocha cappuccino.
My 68th birthday is off to a splendid start.
We took Dora to the ASU Farmers Market this morning for socialization and to, well, let people admire her.
And they did. She got petted and cooed over and held by several people, including this boy whose mom knows Cowboy, the mini Aussie who was Jack’s best buddy in puppy school a year ago.
We loaded up on a dozen roasting ears for $4, $5 worth of tomatoes and a seedless watermelon for $3.50.
We had some of the corn for an early lunch and decided the corn from another stand, selling for $5 a dozen ears was probably more tender.
After lunch, I rode the K75S down to pick up the mail and a bag of Dollar General ice. The ice maker in our Whirlpool refrigerator has crapped out and the middle of an Arkansas July is not a time to be without ice. I have a call in to the appliance repair guys and I expect to hear from them on Monday.
BTW, the speedometer on the K75S continues to perform flawlessly.
Ordinarily, I would be packing and loading my bike this evening, getting ready for an early departure for the West.
My plans envisioned me riding to Topeka, or maybe Salina, Kans. tomorrow, then on to Tim and Linda Balough’s lovely Rocky Mountain chateau in Alma, Colo. Sunday.
The rally ends on Sunday, July 21 and I planned to ride up to Portland for a few days with my son Sean, then down the California coast to Big Sur, before heading back east across the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas to visit my son Steve and his family. From Vegas, it’s a day’s ride to Albuquerque and another day’s ride to Oklahoma City where I thought I might drop in on a high school classmate. I’d take my time about leaving OKC to let the rush hour play itself out, then cruise east through Fort Smith and Little Rock, arriving at home sometime in the afternoon.
That was the plan, anyway.
But I crunched the numbers this week and came to the cold hard realization that the capricious, cowardly, baseless firing of my wife blew my riding season into the weeds.
I made a similar ride three years ago and my expenses averaged $50 a day. They would have been considerably more if I had not spent several nights enjoying the free hospitality of friends and relatives.
I have much to say about the way Maria was mistreated, but I’ll save it for later. Suffice it to say that in the two weeks since she was fired, she is less stressed, better rested, and generally more happy and relaxed than at any time since we moved to Arkansas six years ago. She noticed this morning that she’s losing weight – down a blouse size since June 26.
So my grandiose riding plans, that included the European Riders Rally in May and the BMW RA rally in June, have come to naught. All I have to show for 2013 so far is Daytona. All I have to look forward to is the back-to-back Return to Shiloh and Falling Leaf rallies in October.
In the meantime, I’m cleaning out my closet and selling unused riding gear on Ebay.
Ron in Texas (on the BMW MOA Forum) advised me that the speedometer cable has brown and yellow wires and lives near the rear brake fluid reservoir.
I pulled off the right side cover last evening and found it right where he said it would be. Examining the contacts, I found lots of dust and crud.
There were thunderstorms about last night, so I postponed my test ride until this morning.
I noticed the speedometer needle wavering a few times en route to the post office. It never dropped to zero, but it looked like the connection wasn’t all it should be.
After I collected our mail and put it into the right saddlebag, I pulled off the right side cover, undid the connector, then reconnected it, making sure it was as well-connected as I could make it.
Then I went for a 50-mile ride on Crowley’s Ridge, up to Paragould and back. The speedo needle was rock solid the whole time.
I am guardedly optimistic that I have fixed the problem without resorting to an expensive repair bill at a BMW dealership.
The speedometer on my ‘94 BMW K75S has been acting up – dropping to zero and staying there when I hit a bump. So I turned to the BMW MOA online Forum for answers:
Me: The speedometer on my '94 k75S is malfunctioning. If I hit a bump, the speedo needle drops to zero and stops registering speed or odometer mileage until I hit another bump. The tach remains unaffected. Does this sound like anything I can fix, or is it a case for a BMW certified tech?
Any diagnostic ideas?
Ron in Texas who rides a K75RT: Do the turn signals self cancel when the speedo is inop? If so, the final drive sensor and the connector near the rear brake resevoir are good. If not, the connector near the res. is probably poor. Both times my speedo quit, it was a dirty connector.
If this doesn't fix it then check the connector that goes into the instrument pod.
Doug in British Columbia who rides a K100RS: A tip I got from this forum when the speedometer intermittently quit working on my 91 K100RS was to "remove and replace each of the fuses several times." To this day have no idea why that worked, but it has for several thousand miles. Even the mechanically challenged (like me) are capable of trying this trick, along with the previous one, before we start handing over the bucks. May be that a questionable contact with a fuse is moved by bumps in the road to cause your speedo to quit (or again start) working.
Let us know how this works out.
Me: I removed and replaced all fuses, then went for a ride on a bumpy road.
I hit a bump less than a mile from home and the speedo dropped to zero, then revived briefly, then crapped out again.
I rode for a couple of miles with the right turn signal on and the needle on zero and the signal never canceled itself. On the return trip, the speedo revived and another check of the turn signal cancelling showed it was working properly.
Sooooo...
It appears the problem is at the rear end of the cable.
Not being a mechanic and not even sure what I'm looking at when I examine that part of the bike, is this something I can disconnect, clean and reconnect myself or is it beyond my meager abilities?
(I'd be grateful if someone could provide a photo of the connection in question.)
Most well-traveled Hoosiers know there is a WWII German V-1 “buzz bomb” on display on the Putnam County courthouse lawn in Greencastle, Ind.
It’s the real deal, the world’s first real cruise missile, captured by the U.S. Army at the end of the war in Europe and shipped back to the States for study. Frank Durham and the Greencastle Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars acquired it and it was dedicated as a war memorial on Veterans Day, 1947 with a plaque listing Putnam County soldiers, sailors and airmen who died in WWII.
It’s the only V-1 on display that I knew of, until today.
One of the guys who posts on the World War II Buffs Facebook page pointed out that there is a U.S.-built V-1 replica on display in Milford, Ill., a short distance west of the Indiana-Illinois state line between Danville, Ill. and Watseka, Ill. It’s 105 highway miles northwest of Greencastle.
Officials at Chanute Air Force Base in nearby Rantoul, Ill., offered the Milford Legionnaires their choice of a large bomber or the V-1 replica. The bomber was too big to haul home, so they settled for the V-1.
The GPS coordinates, in case you want to go look at it, are:
N 40° 37.653 W 087° 41.873
The name V-1 is short for Vergeltungswaffe (vengeance weapon) 1.
Sitting here the other evening while Maria downloaded free country music from the public library website, it occurred to me that I have come home - to the South.
The longer the culture war between the effete snobs on the Left and the normal folks on the Right continues, the more Southern values resonate with me.
I don’t want to go hunting, but I love that it’s something my neighbors do as a matter of routine. Even though Arkansas is considered a Democrat state, most of the people here have conservative values and are more like the Dixiecrats of the 1940s and ‘50s than the socialistic Democrat party of today.
I love that the spark of Confederate rebellion and state’s rights still flickers and may be fanned into flame here someday.
I’m not talking about the right to hold slaves, I’m talking about state’s rights as articulated in the 10th Amendment that simply 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.
Folks around here still believe in local government and local control and regard the ever-expanding power of the Federal government with apprehension and suspicion. Damn that Interstate Commerce Clause and its increasingly perverse interpretation!
I like living in a neighborhood where everyone owns guns and we’re the only ones who don’t have a pickup truck. Yet.
And I like the values espoused in country music.
I never imagined I could love living in Arkansas, but I’m damned if I don’t.
There are things about Indiana that I miss – the fall colors, the excitement of May and the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, the breaded tenderloin sandwiches and sugarcream pie, and my lifelong friends – but I never want to live through another Indiana winter.
We don’t get many visitors from Indiana here because we’re not close to any Interstates and we’re not on the way to anywhere.
But the cost of living is lower here and northeast Arkansas continues to be a curious little pocket of prosperity. And we know and like more of our neighbors than anywhere we’ve lived before.
After six years of living in Arkansas, I like it enough to say I don’t see myself ever leaving.
There’s a saying in the South that there are two kinds of Yankees. Yankees are Northerners who come and then go back home. Damn Yankees are folks like us who stay. Just call me a Damn Yankee.
Jack continues to impress me when it comes to the way he treats little Dora.
Jack got a beef bone a couple of days ago and was happily gnawing on it under the chaise lounge on the patio.
Naturally, Dora wanted a piece of the action and tried to take it away from Jack.
Jack administered a stern correction in the form of a growl and a snap.
Dora yelped and limped away crying before flopping down on the grass about 15 feet away.
After about a minute, Jack got up, walked over to where she was lying, nuzzled her and then lay down next to her to share his bone.
Dora had her three-week checkup and vaccinations this afternoon and Dr. Jon Huff pronounced her healthy and hookworm-free.
She gained four pounds in the past three weeks and is up to 9.5 pounds.
Here she waits for a treat from Maria while we hang out in the examining room.
I had a routine checkup with my doctor this morning and also got a clean bill of health, so it was a good day all around.
Jack is disinclined to share his bone with Dora, but he drops it when he’s offered a water bottle. Dora seizes the opportunity, but her victory is short-lived.
Austin and his fiancé Megan and Megan’s parents, Mike and Kim Gill, and their four happy little dogs left a few minutes ago to drive home to Indianapolis, via Mr. T’s for booze and Lambert’s in Sikeston, Mo. for lunch and throwed rolls.
It was the most company we’ve entertained in the nearly six years we’ve lived here and we had a wonderful time.
I was inspired to pull out most of my Third Reich collection last night, including the two big boxes full of flags. Austin helped me display them.
In most circles, STFU means “shut the fuck up,” but at the Tenant Farmers Museum it stands for Southern Tenant Farmers Union.
The museum in Tyronza was the last stop on our historical tour this afternoon as we showed Austin and Megan and her parents Mike and Kim some of the sights around our part of the state.
Then it was down the road to find Johnny Cash’s boyhood home near Dyess. The home is managed by Arkansas State University and the address and GPS coordinates are listed on the Arkansas.com web site. We followed the GPS directions and ended up on a county road miles from the Cash home.
My stepson Austin Dunbar proposed to Megan Gill last night at the fireworks show right after the National Anthem. He figures the National Anthem is "their song" now. She said yes, of course.
Engagement champagne.
Eeeeek! A naked bike!
I’m at Grass Roots BMW Motorcycles in Cape Girardeau for service on my ‘03 K1200GT in anticipation of a ride of a few thousand miles later this month.
I left home at 6:03 a.m., stopped for a leisurely breakfast at the McDonald’s at Exit 80 on I-55, and rolled in to the Grass Roots parking lot at 9:05 a.m. I’m having them install a Gerbings heated clothing wiring harness, connected directly to the battery, so as to avoid a repeat of the blown fuse I experienced earlier this year when I set out for Daytona Beach Bike Week.
Austin and Megan are en route to Arkansas from Indianapolis this morning and I expect to be home in time to welcome them. If not, Maria is there and she can let them in.
The 150-mile ride up here was uneventful and the temperature remained in the mid-60s all the way. I started out under a cloudless sky, staring into the rising sun from Paragould to I-55 at Hayti, but found myself under thick clouds after less than 10 miles of interstate. It got a little chilly and I even turned on the heated handgrips for awhile.
The zipper has broken – ripped away from the fabric – on my First Gear Kathmandu pants which is annoying but not critical. The pants have a rain gusset at the fly and a velcro closure, so the pants are still serviceable.
Sammy Terry, aka Bob Carter, who hosted Saturday late-night scary movies on WTTV in Bloomington and Indianapolis from 1962 to 1989, died yesterday at American Senior Communities. He was 83.
He opened his show – called Nightmare Theatre an later Shock Theater – dressed in a cape and skull cap as he emerged from a coffin.
In real life, Carter owned and operated the Family Music Center music store on North Shadeland Avenue in Indianapolis.
I thought his act was somewhere between silly and stupid, but I think my sons watched him.
Three days after her departure from the Jonesboro Sun, Maria won a first place award for a general interest column at the annual Arkansas Press Association convention.
Hers was the only entry from the Sun to win a first place award.
She sent me a copy of the column to proof back on Feb. 3, 2012 which remains in my email folder. The version that ran in the paper may be been slightly tweaked, but this is the essence of her award-winning work:
By Maria Flora
Freddie Coggins and his coon hounds had no more than started hunting Jan. 16 when a man in a truck ran over Trixie.
It was a customized white truck with large tires and may have been a Dodge. And if you see it, Freddie would appreciate you telling police. He’d seen the truck before in the neighborhood of Craighead Roads 955 and 954 where he and the dogs were hunting that night, but he doesn’t know the driver. And it was dark when Freddie whooped him, but he thinks he’s seen that boy before.
Freddie said he didn’t get the model and license number because he wanted to get to Trixie, who had crawled off into a ditch when the ruckus broke out — three against one, with Freddie the victor if you don’t count poor Trixie.
“It looked like her whole back end was broken,” he said. It was Trixie’s first birthday.
“It was just a kind of a bad night of hunting,” Freddie said. “I had just turned them loose not five minutes before.” They got back in Freddie’s truck when the fight was over and went off to tend to Trixie’s wounds. No coons lost their lives to Freddie that Monday night.
It was after 7 p.m. and dark, Craighead County Sheriff’s Deputy Aaron Davis’ reported.
Freddie said he didn’t realize Trixie was in the road when he saw the truck speeding toward him. “The guy was driving way too fast. I was flashing him my (spot) light to slow him down,” Freddie said.
After the driver ran clear over Trixie, Freddie waved for him to stop and was, no doubt, behaving a little aggravated. But what happened next surprised him.
“He got out and got in my face and jumped on me,” Freddie said. The driver in his early 20s smelled like he’d been riding around and throwing a few back.
“It was unbelievable. The guy runs over your dog and wants to fight,” Freddie said.
Now, the young men in my office doubt some of Freddie’s account of what happened from this point, but my money is on the 46-year-old man whose dog was just run over and who was just attacked, compared to some drunk 20-somethings. If you doubt it, run over an older man’s hunting dog and please tell me what happens next.
In Freddie’s case, we have his word and a police report and nothing from the bruised dog abuser. So I’m going with Freddie’s account, which is pretty entertaining. I called him myself last week.
And I’ll tell you up front I’m having a good time with this story. You’ll have to decide yourself if it was really a 2x4 board that hit Freddie, or if the second boy whacked him with something else at hand, but after talking to Freddie, it’s clear something deliciously fun took place, and the deputy recorded an injury that looked like Freddie was hit by a 2x4. So you can fill in your own blanks and substitute one detail for another if you want because it went quick and in the dark, and details can get a little fuzzy. These stories tend to grow with the telling, which is half the fun.
But Freddie’s account goes something like this:
The first young man got out of the truck and took a swing at Freddie. “And I set to wailin on ’em.”
At some point a second young man got out of the truck and came at Freddie. “I didn’t know there were any more in the truck,” Freddie said.
“Somebody hit me with a two-by-four, and I set to wailing on ’em. He never did hit me again, but I beat ’em down into the road.”
Freddie had the two on the ground and was still kicking and stomping when he saw the truck cab light come on and a third young man starting to get out.
Freddie told the boy he’d get what his friends got if he stepped out of that truck, and the boy said “yes sir” and stayed put.
In a bit Freddie told the third boy he could scoop up his friends off the ground if he wanted to, which he did. And they drove off as Freddie went to see to Trixie, who he was sure was dying of her wounds. And he called police to report the assault that turned upside down Freddie’s aggressors. The deputy confirmed something had happened to Freddie, and Trixie.
Freddie took Trixie to the vet Friday because she was still passing a little blood, but she’s expected to be just fine, he said. But she’ll probably be shy about trucks now.
Freddie hasn’t seen that truck again, although he’s still watching. He’d like to let police know who they are. “But,” as he put it, “they still got a lesson.”
We later learned that Trixie had to be put down because of her injuries and that arrests were made. The local postmaster told me that Freddie liked the column so much he had it laminated and carries it around with him.
In case you weren’t inclined to read the entire transcript of the interview by Chris Mathews of the soon-to-be Pope Francis, here are the most pertinent quotes:
“Look at the nature of power. In Europe first and now in America, elected men have taken it upon themselves to indebt their people to create an atmosphere of dependency. And why? For their own selfish need to increase their own personal power. I've been a keen observer of the effect this has on the people, especially the poor. They are very good at creating poverty where there is no reason to explain it. My job is try to alleviate poverty and if that means to oppose the cause then I will not be Pope.”
“I mean that poverty is part of the natural condition and that is bad enough. But my task is to prevent the aggravation of this condition. The ideology that adds to the poverty must be denounced… No more poverty than God originally intended in the fall from Grace.”
“No buyer, or seller either, enters into any exchange against his will. It is the nature of the economy. Man is frail, and he makes mistakes and sometimes is greedy and they enter into exchanges that don't help them. Sometimes they become poor, but they made choices. There is nothing the Church can do except try to educate people to become good consumers. Chiefly, for me, it is an education solution on that side. And the Church has more schools around the globe than any other faith. I say teach the people to save their souls, and also teach them how not to become poor. And now not to allow the government to trick them into poverty.”
“Friend, you are a socialist and your friends are socialists. And you are the reason for 70 years of misery in Russia, and Europe now is seizing in pain from your policies. You believe in the redistribution of wealth and it makes entire populations poor. You want to nationalize everything and bring every human endeavor under your control. You destroy a man's incentive to take care of his very own family, a crime against nature and nature's God. You want social control over populations and incrementally you are making everything against the law. Together this ideology creates more poverty today than all the corporations you vilify have in the history of man.”
“People being dominated by socialists need to know we don't all have to be poor. Some poverty is part of our being cast out of the Garden of Eden. But look at the empire of dependency created by Hugo Chavez. Promising them, tricking them into worship of government and his very own person. Giving them fish but not allowing them to fish. If a fisherman does develop a talent today in Latin America; he is castigated and his catch stolen by the socialists. He stops.”
“Sure, there is voluntary poverty that is virtuous. Many understood the nobility of making themselves independent of the fleeting things of earth. They are distractions from our pursuit of the truth. I have no problem with this. I only oppose involuntary poverty.”
“Friend, I've been studying America this month, before the Pope chose to resign. You must not have fear at speaking the truth. It is for the salvation of souls and the recovery of Thomas Jefferson's people. America must not fall to the new painted communism. Even the low information voters don't want America to be sold into slavery. I pray they cast out the money changers in their government! What manner of government is there that condones sin? Abomination upon abomination --giving monies for the murder of children, giving monies for the murder of the elderly! You are an American. Your government, my child, has been infiltrated by men of sin.”
“The truth can be painful. You look angry; do you want to stop or ask a question? But you have created a new type of state, the so-called welfare state. This has happened in order to respond to the needs of the politically created poor. However, intervening directly is depriving the original society of its responsibility. Families escape responsibility in the welfare state. And churches even escape responsibility. People stop giving to charity and see every poor person as the government's problem. I am a Catholic priest and there are no poor for me to take care of, they are made permanently poor and the property of the politicians.”
It is clear why the interview was never broadcast. ________________________
CAMERA ON / BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
MATHEWS: Welcome Cardinal.
BERGOGLIO: Thank you. Happy to speak with you.
MATHEWS: Well, let me get into it directly. Last conclave, you were almost elected Pope. Can this happen again?
BERGOGLIO: What? That I will almost be the Pope, again?
MATHEWS: No. Will you be the next Pope?
BERGOGLIO: Friend, I'm only jesting with you. I understand the question. I will not be the next Pope.
MATHEWS: Why not?
BERGOGLIO: I chose not to. God has someone else in mind I'm certain.
MATHEWS: But you would take the job if it were offered.
BERGOGLIO: I think not.
MATHEWS: Why not.
BERGOGLIO: I believe I'm too embroiled in the secular fiasco. It is a spiritual job and I'm a soldier. Look at the nature of power. In Europe first and now in America, elected men have taken it upon themselves to indebt their people to create an atmosphere of dependency. And why? For their own selfish need to increase their own personal power. I've been a keen observer of the effect this has on the people, especially the poor. They are very good at creating poverty where there is no reason to explain it. My job is try to alleviate poverty and if that means to oppose the cause then I will not be Pope.
MATHEWS: But you are worried you would be a spend thrift pope?
BERGOGLIO: Friend. Where did you go to school?
MATHEWS: La Salle College High School in Pennsylvania and
BERGOGLIO: And after that?
MATHEWS: College of the Holy Cross.
BERGOGLIO: They told me you were Catholic. Once elected, the Pope is by virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the Pope is preserved from the possibility of error. God would change any spend thrift politician into a responsible Pope. I'm just saying I'm not that man.
MATHEWS: So what is your job?
BERGOGLIO: My job is to ask you why are men creating poverty??
MATHEWS: What do you mean?
BERGOGLIO: I mean that poverty is part of the natural condition and that is bad enough. But my task is to prevent the aggravation of this condition. The ideology that adds to the poverty must be denounced. I have and this is the reason I will not be Pope. I have a saying for myself, No more poverty than God originally intended in the fall from Grace.
MATHEWS: Oh.
BERGOGLIO: It is a spiritual choice and I'm a political person. I'm sorry. I know you will make more money from this interview if I'm Pope. Or want to be Pope. But I'm sorry. I can't help you. God has already chosen someone anyway. Right? You learned this in school.
MATHEWS: Yes. Well. Where are you on the issues that matter most, issues about contraception, women priests?
BERGOGLIO: This might be a surprise to you, but I am Catholic. We are Catholic. It isn't an issue and for you to pretend that it is being debated goes against God.
MATHEWS: If you were Pope then you would not change anything.
BERGOGLIO: Certainly God would direct the new Pope to have more compassion for these newly created poor. And if there is any social justice in the Church, the new Pope would have a stern word for the creators of the new situation.
MATHEWS: But you are staunchly orthodox on the issues of abortion, contraception, and same-sex marriage.
BERGOGLIO: I am Catholic.
MATHEWS: You were punished for opposing same-sex marriage in Argentina . You opposed free contraception and the government exiled you. What do you have to say about that?
BERGOGLIO: I am Catholic.
MATHEWS: In the secular world, as you say, you follow the conservative line. You oppose, uh, same-sex marriages, very popular with young people. You are conservative on birth control. Won't that be the doom of the Church, alienating young people who support reality based faith?
BERGOGLIO: Since God created the world, he also created reality. You seem to be arguing that a man can't be Catholic in reality. Son, you are a Catholic?
MATHEWS: Yes, of course. I meant no disrespect.
BERGOGLIO: You don't have to worry about offending me.
MATHEWS: Okay, good. Can, uh, a Pope even be elected if he is pro-choice or pro-love? I mean isn't the election sort of fixed in favor of anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage?
BERGOGLIO: Yes, the election is fixed by God.
MATHEWS: Very witty.
BERGOGLIO: Well, you did ask.
MATHEWS: It is being reported in America that you are against marriage equality. Is that why you feel that you can't be Pope?
BERGOGLIO: God chooses the Pope and God also made men and women different.
MATHEWS: But you are ... a conservative and oppose abortion!
BERGOGLIO: Friend, the expression on your face gives you away.
MATHEWS: I'm sorry, I'm just trying to do my job.
BERGOGLIO: And what job is that?
MATHEWS: I've been sent to interview eight men in line for the papacy.
BERGOGLIO: And I guarantee you that they all oppose abortion. So?
MATHEWS: But?
BERGOGLIO: So, you feel like you need to alienate the eight from the flock?
MATHEWS: That isn't it. How can the church attract young people when it is opposed to abortion and contraception?
BERGOGLIO: Young people are just as attracted to the truth as they are convenience and expediency. So we will call it a draw.
MATHEWS: Doesn't the church need to modernize?
BERGOGLIO: Finally, I've met someone who will advocate publicly painting over the Sistine Chapel with one of the contemporary street artists. Are you sure you support this and in public?
MATHEWS: What?
BERGOGLIO: Forgive me, I was rude.
MATHEWS: Won't the new pope, and don't these cardinals realize what they've gotta do if they want to attract young people to the church?
BERGOGLIO: I am a cardinal.
MATHEWS: Won't the new pope, and don't you and the other cardinals realize what they must do if they want to attract young people to the church?
BERGOGLIO: I've explained the mysteries of the atom to rural young people and also I've explained the Grace of God. And you know what? They can understand both perfectly well. Frankly, I have more trouble with adults understanding both.
MATHEWS: But they have done focus groups; if you want to spread your message you can't have this position that's anti-gay marriage and anti-contraception.
BERGOGLIO: And you treat the church as a political institution.
MATHEWS: So we're not gonna see any kind of change when it comes to things that matter like abortion or gay marriage?
BERGOGLIO: All eight of the men you will be talking to are Catholic.
MATHEWS: Okay, I understand. Let's talk about your controversial stand on poverty.
BERGOGLIO: You want it to be controversial?
MATHEWS: But don't you blame various governments around the world for poverty?
BERGOGLIO: Some. Yes.
MATHEWS: But you refuse to blame corporations for their role.
BERGOGLIO: Okay, they also told me you have a degree in economics. No buyer, or seller either, enters into any exchange against his will. It is the nature of the economy. Man is frail, and he makes mistakes and sometimes is greedy and they enter into exchanges that don't help them. Sometimes they become poor, but they made choices. There is nothing the Church can do except try to educate people to become good consumers. Chiefly, for me, it is an education solution on that side. And the Church has more schools around the globe than any other faith. I say teach the people to save their souls, and also teach them how not to become poor. And now not to allow the government to trick them into poverty.
MATHEWS: And you blame government.
BERGOGLIO: No, I blame the self-serving politicians.
MATHEWS: So your solution to poverty is to change the nature of politics?
BERGOGLIO: Please feel free to broadcast this; I don't want to be pope. Friend, you are a socialist and your friends are socialists. And you are the reason for 70 years of misery in Russia, and Europe now is seizing in pain from your policies. You believe in the redistribution of wealth and it makes entire populations poor. You want to nationalize everything and bring every human endeavor under your control. You destroy a man's incentive to take care of his very own family, a crime against nature and nature's God. You want social control over populations and incrementally you are making everything against the law. Together this ideology creates more poverty today than all the corporations you vilify have in the history of man.
MATHEWS: I've never heard such from a Cardinal. I'm not sure if you are here to help yourself or disqualify yourself.
BERGOGLIO: Please air this interview. People being dominated by socialists need to know we don't all have to be poor. Some poverty is part of our being cast out of the Garden of Eden. But look at the empire of dependency created by Hugo Chavez. Promising them, tricking them into worship of government and his very own person. Giving them fish but not allowing them to fish. If a fisherman does develop a talent today in Latin America; he is castigated and his catch stolen by the socialists. He stops.
MATHEWS: You would be the first pope from the Americas.
BERGOGLIO: He stops fishing. I will not be pope, but yes I am from Argentina.
MATHEWS: And you didn't want to be pope?
BERGOGLIO: God didn't want me to be pope.
MATHEWS: Perhaps he changed his mind.
BERGOGLIO: Ludicrous.
MATHEWS: Okay, I'm sorry. I feel like we are getting off on the wrong path. I'm sorry.
BERGOGLIO: Yes, let's be productive.
MATHEWS: You are a classic conservative Catholic theologian?
BERGOGLIO: Of course there's politics clearly in the Curia throughout the Vatican, but in terms of church teaching, it's not a political institution. It's religious.
MATHEWS: I heard people, in fact, media people, "Is this cardinal, is he a liberal? Is he a conservative?"
BERGOGLIO: Tell them please, he's a Catholic. It's no more complicated than that. Catholicism is what it is. You don't have to believe it; you may not. You don't have to follow it; you may not go to Mass. But it's not up to you to modernize us.
MATHEWS: You see no room for reform?
BERGOGLIO: It's not up to any religion, although some do this, because they want the money. They want the membership. But the Catholic Church doesn't do it. It's not up to them to bend and shape and mold itself to accommodate the shrinking depravity of a worldwide culture. It's to provide the exact opposite. It's to provide a beacon out of depravity, socialism and sin, among other things.
MATHEWS: If pope you would be bad news for the left.
BERGOGLIO: I won't be pope. But I am opposed to abortion. I'm opposed to euthanasia. The pro-choice movement is a culture of death. I oppose the demonic same-sex marriage. I oppose gay adoption on the grounds that it is discriminatory to the child. I was exiled by the Cristina Kirchner government, but I hold no grudge. How is this bad news?
MATHEWS: John Paul II rescued you?
BERGOGLIO: He made me the archbishop of Buenos Aires. Yes.
MATHEWS: And so you feel like you owe the Right some sort of repayment?
BERGOGLIO: There are many values, and many types of people. Perhaps it is my interest in mathematics, but I'm the type of human who is interested most in the truth. God gave me a healthy love for the truth. Loyalty is only a virtue if in support of the truth or another important value.
MATHEWS: Cristina Kirchner said you held a grudge.
BERGOGLIO: Funny, I've never spoken her name. Not once. And it is a battle of ideas not a battle of two or more people. I'm only concerned with ideas.
MATHEWS: She said you refused to speak up for civil rights violations.
BERGOGLIO: As a spiritual leader, I opposed cultural modernization, and so I became a political enemy. I understand politics as well as I do mathematics.
MATHEWS: And the Jesuits, they were eager to cast you out, which they did.
BERGOGLIO: So you are implying that I'm a vengeful priest?
MATHEWS: Do you feel that you need to erase the progress recently made in Latin America?
BERGOGLIO: I say poverty. You say progress.
MATHEWS: Let's talk about poverty.
BERGOGLIO: Sure, there is voluntary poverty that is virtuous. Many understood the nobility of making themselves independent of the fleeting things of earth. They are distractions from our pursuit of the truth. I have no problem with this. I only oppose involuntary poverty.
MATHEWS: That is what I thought you would say.
BERGOGLIO: Why?
MATHEWS: Because you are a capitalist right?
BERGOGLIO: Yes, I think capital is needed to build a factory, a parochial school, or a church or hospital, all. Do you oppose factories or churches or hospitals?
MATHEWS: Of course not but don't you think the capital is sucked out of peoples hands by greedy business types to pay for these factories?
BERGOGLIO: No, I think people agree, through their economic choices, that some of their money goes to build these. Capital building should be voluntary. Only when the politician confiscates their wealth, to build government factories, government schools, government hospitals; only then do the people not agree. Money given voluntarily is legitimate to build with. Money coerced from the people is not legitimate to build with, because it isn't given voluntarily.
MATHEWS: You are opposed to all government?
BERGOGLIO: No of course not. But it isn't the seat of wisdom in any society I've seen in my life. The best government was created by the Americans, in which they admitted that people are endowed by their creator and most of the administration of society was left to the relationship between God and man. However, slowly that has been eroded by the atheists on the left, who would replace man's relationship with God with a new relationship with an opportunist like Hugo Chavez.
MATHEWS: I just found it fascinating that you were willing to stand up to an entire government in Argentina. You were cast aside. Didn't you care about your career?
BERGOGLIO: Yes, there are people who cave to worldly authority. Even priests.
MATHEWS: But you didn't?
BERGOGLIO: No, I changed nothing. How did I have the power to change anything in Church teaching? My opinion? The democrats, seeking votes, only wanted me to change my opinion and legitimize their decadence. I did not, as evidenced by the fact that I was teaching high school math in a small isolated town.
MATHEWS: I'm sorry that happened to you.
BERGOGLIO: Why don't you feel for others oppressed for their interest in freedom.
MATHEWS: Freedom isn't punished anywhere, is it?
BERGOGLIO: Certainly it is.
MATHEWS: In Latin America?
BERGOGLIO: I'm afraid Latin America is lost. The people of the entire area are controlled by a bloc of militant socialist regimes in the region, most prominently Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua. They have a gun pointed at their head. So their heart is now captured. Who will save them at this point?
MATHEWS: So the game is over. Checkmate?
BERGOGLIO: Friend, I've been studying America this month, before the Pope chose to resign. You must not have fear at speaking the truth. It is for the salvation of souls and the recovery of Thomas Jefferson's people. America must not fall to the new painted communism. Even the low information voters don't want America to be sold into slavery. I pray they cast out the money changers in their government! What manner of government is there that condones sin? Abomination upon abomination --giving monies for the murder of children, giving monies for the murder of the elderly! You are an American. Your government, my child, has been infiltrated by men of sin.
MATHEWS: These are pretty radical ideas.
BERGOGLIO: No. Perhaps reactionary. Radical means something different. But a very long time ago, Khrushchev warned, that we cannot expect Americans to fly from capitalism to communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small injections of socialism until they suddenly awake to find out they have Communism. This is what is happening now in an ancient bastion of freedom. How can America save Latin America when they are slaves to the government themselves?
MATHEWS: I'm having a hard time digesting most of this.
BERGOGLIO: The truth can be painful. You look angry; do you want to stop or ask a question? But you have created a new type of state, the so-called welfare state. This has happened in order to respond to the needs of the politically created poor. However, intervening directly is depriving the original society of its responsibility. Families escape responsibility in the welfare state. And churches even escape responsibility. People stop giving to charity and see every poor person as the government's problem. I am a Catholic priest and there are no poor for me to take care of, they are made permanently poor and the property of the politicians.
MATHEWS: I'm not sure this interview is going to work.
BERGOGLIO: You asked and now you will listen, my son. The social assistance state leads to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase of public agencies, which are dominated more by bureaucratic thinking than by real concern for helping people. Needs are best understood and satisfied by people who are closest to them who act as neighbors and parish members to those in need. It should be added that certain kinds of demands often call for a response which is not simply material but which is capable of perceiving the deeper human need. This is not to mention the welfare states excesses and abuses.
MATHEWS: I think we are done.
BERGOGLIO: Wait. If I speak on the ordination of women, on celibacy, on divorce, will you air this interview and my message?
MATHEWS: No, we are done.
BERGOGLIO: Partially what irritates me to the core is the media's inability to look at anything without looking into the cause of the various problems. People are made poor so they will vote for the very candidates that made them poor.
MATHEWS: Have a nice day and thanks for your time.
CAMERA OFF / END TRANSCRIPT
Considering what a wasteland popular music has become – at least from my nearly 67-year-old perspective – it’s a real thrill when I discover music that really lights me up.
Usually, that means something that’s been around for awhile but somehow escaped my notice.
Maria was on the local public library’s website the other night, looking for MP3 songs to download as part of the library’s five free song downloads per week for registered patrons.
She was looking for classic cowboy songs by Roy Rogers, but what she found was a whole other thing – Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings, specifically their “Live at the Sierra Nevada Brewery Big Room” album.
What burst forth from her computer speakers was the most joyous sound I’ve heard in months – New Orleans flavored Delta blues featuring Rogers (the blues musician, not the King of the Cowboys) playing slide guitar like nobody I’ve heard since I stumbled across Sonny Landreth several years ago.
Then it got even better.
They released two albums – Translucent Blues in 2011 and Twisted Tales, just out June 18 – and played several gigs together.
What I’ve heard of the Rogers-Manzarek material knocked me out!
If you like the blues and the Doors you owe it to yourself to check out Roy Rogers, with and without Ray Manzarek.
Dora has been feeling her oats the last few days, playing aggressively with Jack – nipping at his face and fur, yapping and growling.
I caught her yesterday afternoon as she broke cover from her hiding spot in the tall grass to launch an attack on Jack’s heels.
Jack continues to show remarkable restraint in the face of her needle-teeth piranha-like attacks. He really likes her and will put up with a lot before he corrects her.
Dora has been with us a week and she continues to amaze and delight.
Everyone who sees her is captivated by her piercing blue eyes and fuzzy good looks. We took her to the ASU Farmers Market yesterday morning and she was surrounded by admirers who wanted to pet her or hold her.
Jack is clearly in love with her. He pointedly gets between her and any visiting dog – Morgan’s bulldog or Susan’s poodle.
Since Dora came to our house, Jack is showing us a side of his personality we never knew – that of a gentle, nurturing father figure. He plays gently with Dora and lets her chew on his fur and bat at his face with her tiny paws. He offers her has favorite toys and spends a lot of his time trying to draw her into a tug of war.
At the same time, Dora follows Jack around the back yard and when they lie down to rest on the patio, back porch or in the house, they’re always close to each other.
Jack has always been like a Tasmanian devil when let loose in the house – grabbing clothing from the bedroom or anything he can snatch from the kitchen counter and running merrily through the house expecting us to chase him to retrieve his prize.
Now that Dora is here, Jack puts most of his in-house attention on her and is more interested in playing with her than with stealing our underwear.
Dora got the fundamentals of toilet training from his breeder and has had very few accidents in the house – a bonus I would have gladly paid another $200 or so for.
Dora, in short, is a joy and a blessing.
