Category Archives: 2024 Trip to South West United States

Twisted Inspiration

2024 Trip to South West United States, Domestic Terrorism

Travelling to the United States and living here for a few months is a very interesting experience. Can there be any more interesting place in the world?

The FBI  released an interesting report on terrorism in the US during the Hamas/Israeli War. The Director of the FBI Christopher Wray told the American Congress that the domestic terrorist threats have changed in the US since the October 7th terrorist attack on Israel. The threats have both increased and are coming from several different directions since that horrid attack.

 

As a result of the violence in the Middle East, threats of violence have increased in the US to a whole new level. Wray said “our most immediate concern is that individuals or small groups will draw twisted inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks here at home.” Most of the threats are against the Jewish community.

 

I have been critical of both Israel and Hamas, but all terrorists threats against civilians in North America are despicable. This is particularly true when they are fuelled by racist, ethnic, or religious hatred.

Canada has also experienced increased levels of hatred. The added hatred is of course piled on to existing anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in Canada and the US. There are many worrying signs in both camps. A man was arrested in Houston who is accused of studying bomb making and posting on line about killing Jewish people. A 6 year-old Muslim boy was stabbed to death, allegedly, by his landlord who was enraged by what he saw in the Middle East. A student from one of America’s elite universities, Cornell, threatened to kill Jewish students. Hate is once more being stirred up everywhere. Why is that? Why are Americans and Canadians so quick to hate and respond violently? Why  do they find it so easy to pick on scapegoats?

Seamus Hughes, an expert on Extremism, from the University of Nebraska had some interesting things to say in the subject. He said, “when you look at the plots and the individuals arrested, they are almost pedestrian in nature. These are average citizens that are drawn into an online environment that encourages them to commit these acts.”

We know even not to ignore such threats. They are real.

“Once again, as Hannah Arendt said, evil seems banal. Dull. Almost boring. No big deal. Ho hum. Ordinary people are committing to do heinous acts. It was scary in the 1930s, just before and during the rise of extremist groups such as the Nazis. It is scary now”.

 

We know there are foreign actors in North America, including Hamas, ISIS, Al Qaeda, and Hezbollah, among others, but according to CNN “the biggest threats are individuals radicalized to action by extremist rhetoric and manipulation.”

And of course, again we are all being fed misinformation about both Israelis and Hamas. Each group is fighting each other and the lies. And we are the battleground.

And average ordinary people are the terrorists.

 

Are Texans not full of Shit?

2024 Trip to South West United States

 

Most of the Texas wayside rest areas are without any form of toilet.  Every other state of the Union I have ever seen had toilets at most of their wayside rest areas. In fact, was that not the main point of them.  Where else could people go to attend to urgent personal business? After all, Texas has hardly any trees. Are people expected to “go” in the widen-open spaces?  Or are Texans in denial that they are full of shit.

 

Texas is one of the richest states in the US and it at least along I-40 which we travelled. Apparently toilets are provided in other areas of Texas, but I can’t say I have ever seen any and I-40 is a major link between east and west. By now I have travelled down quite a few of their highways.

Is it true that one of the richest states in the US can’t afford toilets for its citizens and visitors? If this is not a sign of serious decline what is?

All My Friends are Hookers

2024 Trip to South West United States

 

In Hooker Oklahoma we stopped for lunch and noticed we could have bought a T-shirt that read: “All my friends are Hookers.”  This could have been an interesting souvenir to bring back to Steinbach. Given my first name that might have been problematic. The city is named after a cattle foreman John “Hooker” Threlkeld who came there in 1873.  Interesting also that his first name was John. It’s a good name of course, but has some uncomfortable connotations. But “Hooker” and “John” together amplify the weirdness. The small city (town by my standards) had embraced the weirdness by making their city motto “It’s a location, not a vocation“. As of 2000, there were 1,788 people calling Hooker home. I don’t know how many Johns they have.

Liberal Kansas

2024 Trip to South West United States

 

When we stopped for gas near Liberal Kansas we stopped at a tiny town with a tiny restroom. It was a small gender neutral with a toilet and a urinal. Everybody should be happy. The urinal was very small and very low to the ground, making it precarious for old men. But thankfully it actual had footprints painted on the floor to make it precisely clear where the men and boys should stand to attend to business. Helpful guidance I suppose. Is that really necessary? Of course, what do expect from  a town called Liberal in the heart of Kansas?

 

Joe Bob Outfitters: Equipped for Armageddon

2024 Trip to South West United States, guns

 

As we were driving down interstate 70 in Kansas heading west, where Sara, our GPS was leading us, we saw a huge roadside sign advertising “Joe-Bob’s outfitters,” beside a huge graphic of an AR-15 assault rifle.  Do Americans need automatic rifles to hunt deer? Or ducks? Are they such poor shots? Or are they scared that the deer will attack them? Or did they want to be ready for Armageddon?

When I arrived in Arizona and had more time, I asked Professor Google what Joe Bob’s was all about. It was not a traditional outfitter where a business would supply us for hunting or fishing. I would outfit us for guns. And it was easy.

I could order an American Tactical AR-15 MilSport RIA 5.56, 16″ Barrel, 60rd – 10″ M-LOK Handguard. And amazingly I could order it online and it would be shipped in 24 hours!  So If someone  gets ticked off he or she  can get revenge in about a day. And all it costs is $498.

American money of course.

Freedom Maintenance Engineer

2024 Trip to South West United States, Freedom

 

When we were leaving Salina Kansas at the spectacularly early time (by our low standards) at 7:45 a.m. we had breakfast in the room provided by the hotel where we saw a heavily bearded man who looked a lot like a 60s hippie.  He was wearing a T-shirt with the words “2022 Freedom Maintenance Engineer” written on the front. This phrase puzzled me. Does he really believe in freedom or is he one of the Trumpsters more than willing to give up his freedom to follow the ravings of their  spiritual leader-Donald Trump? Or was he like the Canadian Convoy truckers who believe freedom means they can do whatever they want? Or was he like the  Covid refuseniks who believed they had the right to gather in public places such as churches when public health experts warned this would permit the virus to spread wildly?  Or was he like members of aHome Owners’ Associations like the one we lived in at San Tan Valley Arizona  where residents believe freedom means allowing the association to make a vast array of rules on everything about their home, from colours, to plants, to siding materials in order to ensure as much boring homogeneity as possible so that it is very difficult to find the house you are staying in?

In modern North American society freedom has a thousand faces many of which bear no resemblance to each other. Or to real freedom for that matter. There were words on the back of the man’s shirt that I could not read because he passed by me too swiftly. That sucked because I might have gained some wisdom. I felt I might have learned something. As it stood I could only speculate.

I  like Kris Krisotopherson but freedom really is more than word for nothing left to loose.

 

Better Thinking Needed on the Border

2024 Trip to South West United States, Critical thinking, Immigration and Refugees

 

Around the breakfast table in our hotel in Salina Kansas, we watched the ubiquitous Fox News channel since it seemed to be permanently selected at every hotel in the American Midwest. We have found from our friends that winter in Arizona, this is the land of Trump. Trump believers are everywhere. As a result, we learned that there was massive illegal migration at the border. 300,000 people from around the world were trying to get into the US across the Mexican border. By no means were these only Mexicans. Particularly at the Rio Grande, where the US was unable to build a wall,” hordes of people,” according to Fox were trying to cross illegally. Fox does not acknowledge that some of these people have the legitimate right to make asylum claims.

We also learned from Fox that many of the illegals were using false ID papers to pose as minors so they could stay with their families. Fox always emphasizes that the “Illegal immigrants,” as they call them all, cannot be trusted and should be feared. Every time I watch Fox, they are filling Americans with fear about the “hordes” at the border. This is very effective at stoking the fears of Americas. In fact, every side in the immigration disputes arouses fear about the others. Every side in the debate—and there are many—pitches an implicit ideology. For example, that migrants are scary or that people who think borders should be controlled are racist bigots. Life is more complicated than that.

Fox also claimed that 700,000 illegal immigrants get full medical benefits to which ordinary American working people are not entitled. I have heard versions of this story many times.  Immigrants, illegal or not, immediately get more rights than Americans. I have also heard on CNN that this is not true. Where is the truth? Sometimes truth seems very illusive, particularly in heated debates. What is not in doubt however, is that such news fuels hate against immigrants.

This does not mean that we should reject all media. We need good journalism and there is lots of it out there, though, of course, there is also much fake news. That does not make everything fake news as Trump and his Trumpsters often suggest. It does mean that each of us must use our skills of critical thinking and judgment to weigh the evidence in favor of or opposed to these narratives. Fox also claimed that in many states immigrants, even illegal immigrants, get ‘instate tuition’ rates unlike most non-residents? Is that true? I don’t know.

Both Republican and Democrat administrations are to blame for the problems on the border, though, of course, each side blames the other. The Republicans have not wanted to spend any money to solve the problem. They don’t want to “waste” money on paying to adjudicate asylum claims at the border so they drag on interminably. The result is that asylum seekers often wait a decade to have their cases heard while they live in the US as undocumented visitors. During this time, they often create families, making immigration issues even more complicated.  At times, the Democrats would not pay any serious heed to controlling the border. Sometimes it seems ike they even welcome the true illegal immigrants at the border. Though Barack Obama, of all people, was known as the “Deporter-in-Chief, the position Trump longed for. Underfunding of border facilities has made it impossible to deal with the large numbers that have been appearing and help to present images that scare people in America.

Just like we must look critically at the miracle cures for a legion of ailments that are offered by Fox advertisers, we must look critically at claims they make about immigration, one of their favourite issues. Are there really that many miracle cures out there? Is it true that everyone who appears at the border is untrustworthy? All sides in important public issues such as immigration, must use critical thinking to weigh the evidence and arguments. As well we must not do what Trump says he does—i.e. trust his gut. The gut really doesn’t do much effective thinking. Neither do hunches, feelings, or guesses.

Better thinking is what we need to tackle all important social issues, and too often, that seems in very short supply.

Again things don’t work

2024 Trip to South West United States, Decline of the west

 

In Salina Kansas given that it was New Year’s Eve all restaurants closed at 8 p.m. Sadly, Chris and I had been celebrating our own quiet New Years after the day’s drive with a Kahlua and milk. In fact, Chris was celebrating so much after the first drink she failed to notice the next one had no milk! As a result, I could not get a hot meal and had to subsist on the cold food from the Truck stop. Apparently this was a result of being New Years Eve.

I met a trucker there who was also looking for a hot meal. He found a hot dog that looked like it had been on a rotisserie for about half the day and was sufficiently appetizing to him. I bought a candy bar and pop. The two of us looked glumly at each other and shared condolences. The trucker then old me “nothing seems to work anymore.”  “Yup” I nodded.

That about sums up the US these days. And Canada too. Often it seems decline is setting in. Not the greatest New Year’s Eve celebration.