Whose America is This?

This will likely be unpopular, but I'm going to come right out and say it--I am appalled at the conditions in the concentration camps being run by the U.S. government along the southern border. 

Image from The Atlantic Monthly article

I chose my words carefully. The camps where the immigrants are begin held are nothing short of concentration camps and that insensitive statement that the conditions there are better than where they came from not only is untrue but also attempts to rationalize that we have deprived them of their freedoms and are not providing them with the basic necessities of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that is the bedrock of our America!

After spending time in these camps, how can we expect these people to have a positive image of the United States? 

An article in The Atlantic Monthly: A Crime by Any Name, spells out the conditions and make a poignant reference. From the article:

Detainees described overcrowding so severe that “it was difficult to move in any direction without jostling and being jostled.” The water provided them was foul, “of a dark color, and an ordinary glass would collect a thick sediment.” The “authorities never removed any filth.” A detainee wrote that the “only shelter from the sun and rain and night dews, was what we could make by stretching over us our coats or scraps of blanket.” As for the food, “Our ration was in quality a starving one, it being either too foul to be touched or too raw to be digested.”

Such were the conditions of the Confederate prisoner-of-war camp at Andersonville, Georgia, where, as the historian James McPherson wrote, 13,000 of the 45,000 men imprisoned “died of disease, exposure, or malnutrition.” The images of the captive, emaciated Union troops are shocking, evoking a form of suffering 21st-century viewers will likely associate with the Holocaust. The images so traumatized the Northern public that after the war, the warden of the prison, Henry Wirz, became one of the only people tried for war crimes. The Swiss-born Wirz was an easy scapegoat for Northern anger, which spared most of the former Confederacy’s military and political leadership.

We can try to turn our backs on the situation and we can try to call the detainees criminals--but convicted felons in U.S. prisons do not live in these conditions.

There is a crisis on the border--it is a crisis of our own doing and now we have to deal with it. But calling it a crisis strips the humanity out of the equation. This is not My America! My America does not have concentration camps where people are caged like so many animals and where children are stripped away from their parents. 

It is time to stop the abuse and fix the problem--and a border wall is not the answer.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Happy 4th

Happy Independence Day!

Along Maryland Route 100
Sunrise
July 4, 2019

It is the 4th of July and we are celebrating the birth of the greatest nation on Earth. I went out and played racquetball early this morning and caught the sunrise along the road. 

As the day dawned I remembered the many 4th's that I have experienced and even been apart form my family in service to this nation. I also remembered two years ago when I was on a cruise during the holiday--and I really enjoyed the celebration. 

Whatever you do today, take time to celebrate and make a promise to make the future better than the past.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Before the Storm

The Pool after the Initial Winds
Elkridge, MD
July 2, 2019

Thunderstorms ravaged the area last evening. Chris and I spent time on our covered deck watching the torrents of rain fall from the wind lashed sky. 

As the winds whipped up, I was discouraged by the numbers of leaves that fell into my pool from the trees. All of the leaves and debris needed to be removed and during a break in the action, I cleared the pool in preparation for additional and later storms during the evening. All-in-all, the storms did not trash the pool in the manner that the could have, but still it seemed that every loose leaf found it way into the pool or onto the pool deck. 

Finally, however, the rains came and the thunder and lightening began in earnest. Chris and I sat on the covered porch with the dogs and one cat and watched the storm. It was impressive to see the sheets of rain falling from the sky. 

I was actually happy for the rain as the ground was getting dry and the soaking will make the fireworks on the 4th of July safer. Our neighborhood lights up on on Independence Day!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Golf Monday

8th Tee Box Looking to the Flag
Carroll Park Golf Course
Baltimore, MD
July 1, 2019

Chris and I did something different last evening to mark the start of July. We took advantage of the great weather and played a 9-hole round of golf. Together!

Chris Working with her Driver
Carroll Park Golf Course
July 1, 2019

Yesterday was supposed to be the best day of the week, weather-wise. It was to be the coolest, in the high 80's, and no rain. And it was!

We had a good time together and we enjoyed playing with two other golfers in what turned out to be an overly extended round due to the slow pace of play by groups in front of us. 

Chris was hitting the ball with more authority and I had a very successful round, except for one pesky hole. We were using the round as a tune-up for the upcoming Troy Whittemore Classic which we will be playing in during the latter part of July. We will need a few more "tune-up" before the tournament. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - July 1, 2019

1. The second half of 2019 arrived this morning as the calendar changed over to July. 

2. I mowed the lawn yesterday. It is not growing as fast as it once was, but it is still growing. I enjoy the green.

Sky over Elkridge
Elkridge, MD
June 30, 2019

3. I once saw a painting in a museum that was blue. Only Blue.  The entire canvass was a single shade of blue. I did not understand the painting at the time. I had an idea yesterday. I looked at the sky and took a picture, it is blue. I now understand.

4. The sun was hot and the pool was a grand place to enjoy yesterday.

5. Ohio drivers near Cincinnati are worse than Maryland drivers. In Maryland, drivers at least give you a warning before they change lanes with a small turn of the wheel to indicate they are coming over. In Ohio, they just come over into the lane, hard! Neither group understands what the lever on the left side fo the steering wheel is for or that it is connected to turning signals.

6. Independence Day arrives this week. Thomas Jefferson wrote about Independence Day on July 4, 1809: "The fourth of July, the epoch of American independence, is a day when the heart of every American must glow with pride and gratitude. No village, however sequestered, no citizen, however obscure, forgets the celebration of the anniversary of his country's liberty! Through all the land, from the shores of the Atlantic to our mountain-tops, the sounds of gratulation are heard; the roar of cannon, and the peal of bells, announce the auspicious morn, and people of every rank hasten with their festive offerings round the altar of liberty." Source:Margaret Bayard Smith, A Winter in Washington or Memoirs of the Seymour Family(New York: Bliss and E. White, 1824), 3:215.

7. There is something especially enjoyable about taking a nap in the pool on a floatie on a hot sunny afternoon. 

8. History Today. At midnight on July 1, 1997, Hong Kong reverts back to Chinese rule in a ceremony attended by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prince Charles of Wales, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. A few thousand Hong Kongers protested the turnover, which was otherwise celebratory and peaceful. In 1839, Britain invaded China to crush opposition to its interference in the country’s economic, social, and political affairs. One of Britain’s first acts of the war was to occupy Hong Kong, a sparsely inhabited island off the coast of southeast China. In 1841, China ceded the island to the British with the signing of the Convention of Chuenpi, and in 1842 the Treaty of Nanking was signed, formally ending the First Opium War.


Headlines

Fresh protests erupt as Hong Kong braces for annual rally to mark handover - Reuters

Europe's heatwave burns on, but eases from record highs - Reuters

A Family Portrait: Brothers,Sisters, Strangers - The New York Times
‘I have lost hope for my life’: Iranians describe hardships as Trump expands sanctions - The Washington Post

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week


People everywhere hunger for peace and a better life. The tide of the future is a freedom tide, and our struggle for democracy cannot and will not be denied. This nation champions peace that enshrines liberty, democratic rights, and dignity for every individual. America's new strength, confidence, and purpose are carrying hope and opportunity far from our shores. A world economic recovery is underway. It began here.

  -- Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union January 25, 1984


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Footprints in the Sand

As there last day of June deepens, I reflected about my

Chris and I Leave Footprints in the Sand
Carlin Park, Jupiter, FL
June 3, 2019

travels this month. 

I began the month with a trip to Florida to work on the condo there and I ended it by completing a 1,000 mile round trip to Cincinnati to say good-bye to a friend. 

It was a month of contrasts. Sandwiched between the trips was the unsatisfying end to the youth baseball season and the excitement associated with the beginning of Summer.

I found the image in my files and remembered that I took it as Chris and I were walking the beach one day while we were in Tequesta. Much like the month of June, my footprints in the sand were soon erased by the ocean removing any evidence of my visit there except for my memory and of course the image.

And now it is onto July--and the 4th and travel, summer and pool.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

A Visual Feast

In the Maryland Mountains
June 28, 2019

I am in Blue Ash, Ohio, this morning. I am here to attend the memorial service for a mentor and friend. I drove, instead of flying, partly to remember my friend and all of the similar trips that he made by car between Cincinnati and Baltimore over the decades that I knew and worked with him. The last time I saw him he joked that I was one of the two best supervisors that he had during his career, I laughed, because that title was only bestowed to me on paper. We were more colleagues and over the decades that I knew him, I never felt as if I were any more than that. 

Maryland Cloud Covered Mountains
June 28, 2019

The drive yesterday was a study in contrasts. As I rolled into the mountains of Western Maryland, I was a treated to a visual feast. The mountains were clothed with clouds that made it appear as if they were massive water falls at the end of the world. It was stunning and I tried to snap a few pictures to capture it. 

They were beautiful and a stark contrast to the flat landscape here in western Ohio. 

The mountains made the trip exciting and I made really very good time on the road. 

Today, I get to drive the return trip. I hope everything goes well for my travels.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Blue Ash, Ohio

You Are Bothering Me, Why?

Finnegan
Tequesta, Florida
June 3, 2019

Sometimes an image just says it all.

I took this picture one morning while we were in Florida earlier this month. Finnegan's expression just says it all. Here are a few thoughts that come to mind.

What is it you want?

You bothered me, Why? 

Just be quiet and go away!

This better be good!

Go find someone else!

It is an accident that I'm awake, go away and let me get back to my nap.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Orioles Depressing Week

The Orioles have completed another week of baseball. They have played 80 games and are one game shy of the mid point of the season.

The Highs of the Week:

During the week, the Orioles managed to end a 10 game losing streak, but they now have a 3-game streak underway. 

Chris Davis has increased his batting average to .170.

Trey Mancini is arguably the best player on the team and is sitting in the top 10 among hitters in some categories. He survived a potentially serious injury this week and is still playing baseball.

The Lows of the Week:

Sitting at 22-58 .275, there is not a doubt that the Orioles are the most frustrating team in baseball. They have increased their projected losses for the season to 118 during the week. They are 30 games out of first place and 22 games out of the wild card race. 

The modern day loss records of the 2003 Tigers (119) and 1962 Mets (120) are definitely in danger of being broken. The Mets hold the record for most losses in a baseball season of all time!

But, they are my Orioles and I continue to care. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Defender of the Homestead

Finnegan vs. Dolphin
Elkridge, MD
June 25, 2019

Finnegan is our Yorkie. He is smallish at about 5 pounds, but he thinks he is as big as Chewbacca. 

Least evening he defended the homestead from the attack of the pool cleaner. We call it a dolphin. 

The dolphin was doing its job and Finnegan was having no part of it. Seeing the dolphin as the Creature from the Black Lagoon, he dutifully barked at it each time it surfaced to ensure that it remained in the pool and did not try to attack the home. He was very energetic and persistent in his task.

Chris and I finally had to take him inside to restore peace to the neighborhood and allow the dolphin to complete its task in silence.

It is nice to have such a persistent and animated protector around, but in reality I wonder who would win during a direct confrontation? 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD