837. A generational end.

Of all of the brothers and sisters of my grandparents, my earliest memory of any of them is of Aunt Virginia Lee Lewis Sharp, my maternal grandmother's youngest sister, who passed away this morning in Bokeelia, Florida, where she and her family have lived since the 1970s. As I was growing up, she was a constant presence when we visited my great-grandparents' farm on Old Louisville Road in western Franklin County, usually in the kitchen and making sure every one was fed, but especially her dad, my great-grandfather, Robert Lewis, Sr.

Of my four grandparents, I never met any of the siblings of my paternal grandfather, U. G. Noble. I know he had two brothers, Robert (or R.G.) in Millington, TN, and James (or J.G.) in Bakersfield, CA. I also know he had two older half-sisters, Helen and Louise, who were twins. I believe he had two much older half-brothers who were also twins. As he was the youngest of all of these siblings, and he was born in 1906, I presume they are all deceased.

My paternal grandmother, Grace Lee Noble, had one sister, Mary Lee Hiner, who I remember as an very elegant, well-to-do lady. Aunt Mary, who I believe lived in Shively, died in 1981.

My maternal grandfather's siblings were all well-known growing up. My grandfather, Dan Hockensmith, died in 1983. His closest brother Milford (of Frankfort) died in 1990; sister K. Lorraine McKnight (of Nashville, TN) in 1991, his step-brother Luther Raymond Crutcher (of Crestwood) in 1995; sister Anna Louise Roberts (of Louisville) in 2000; brother William (of Springfield, MO) in 2010; sister Mildred Smith (of Clarksville, IN) last October; and youngest brother Lee Roy (of Paducah) in December.

My maternal grandmother, Vivian "Tommie" Lewis Hockensmith, was from a large family and I was close to most of her siblings. We visited my grandmother's family often growing up, mostly in Frankfort, but also in Lexington, Lawrenceburg, Versailles, Shelbyville, Bagdad, Waddy, Graefenburg, Alton, Switzer, Stamping Ground, Bridgeport, and most points betwixt and between. I have many cousins - second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cousins, removed and so-forth, some of whom I actually know - all through Franklin, Anderson, Woodford, and Shelby counties.

Of my grandmother and her siblings, in order of birth, Henry died in 1995, my grandmother in 1976, Robert, Jr. in 2008, Frances in 2017, Billy in 2018, Charlie in 2016, Elbert "Egg" in 2017, Lura Edith in 2013, Harry (who died as a child) in 1931, Dorothy Ann in 2012, Virginia Lee today, and Jimmy Carroll late last year. My mother and her uncle Jimmy, who were close in age, grew up together and were very close. Of those who grew to adulthood, my grandmother died the earliest at the age of 59 in 1976. There were some interesting characters among the Lewis family - businessmen and women, politicians, farmers, teachers, and engaging story tellers.

Today draws a close to the generation of my grandparents' siblings. I have wonderful memories of all of them, and I miss them.

Jimmy, Virginia Lee, Walter (Virginia Lee's husband), Lura Edith, Glenda (Jimmy's then-wife), Garnet (Lura's husband), great-grandfather Robert Lewis, Sr., Sarah (Elbert's wife), Elbert, Frances, my grandmother Tommie, Dorothy Ann, Jake (Dorothy Ann's husband), Joann (Billy's then-wife), Virginia (Henry's wife), Billy, Henry, Garnett (Charlie's wife), Charlie. Missing: Bob.  Sadly, with the exception of Aunt Glenda, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Jake, everyone in this picture, which was taken in 1975 I believe, is deceased.

836. Schools closed tomorrow due to Covid.

 

Jefferson County Public Schools have just announced schools will be closed tomorrow, Monday, January 10, 2022.  Schools will move to home school NTI on Tuesday and remain in the NTI through Friday, January 14, 2022.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 9, 2022.

835. The Obituary of Darryl T. Owens

Darryl T. Owens

Louisville - Darryl T. Owens was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1937. He grew up in Fort Hill and recalled those days fondly. Stressing religion, family and education, his mother Dorothy Minter Owens raised a son who quietly became a giant as a civil rights leader, public servant and a man of many firsts.

Owens graduated from Central High School and left Kentucky to earn a bachelor's degree from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. There he pledged the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. and forged lifelong friendships.

"At Central State, we were lucky because everyone was invested in our success," Owens said while receiving a lifetime achievement award from the University. "They pulled our coats when they needed to. My friends and I joke about writing a book 'I am glad they didn't mind their own business. ' Our business was their business. They knew how hard the world would be and they knew that we were the ones who needed to go out into the world to make it a better place for less fortunate black people."

Go out into the world he did. Owens was accepted into Howard University Law School in Washington, DC where he earned a Juris Doctorate degree in 1962. Owens returned home to Louisville where he opened his law practice in 1965.

Owens devoted his life to public service and civil rights. As an attorney, political candidate and government official, he broke racial barriers by becoming the first African American to gain recognition on many fronts. He pounded on doors to assure access for those who had been left out and—once inside—worked to ensure that those rights endured.

From 1965 to 1969, Owens served as the first black assistant prosecutor of the Louisville police court. Ultimately, he would become the first black assistant Kentucky attorney general and the first black president of the Legal Aid Society. Owens served as NAACP President, Louisville branch from 1970 to 1976. He also served on the University of Louisville Board of Trustees, the Louisville Urban League and local and state government advisory committees.

He served as a juvenile court judge in 1980 and served as the trial commissioner of Jefferson County Court. He was a member of the Kentucky Workmen's Compensation Board and, from 1976 to 1983, Owens was instrumental in obtaining government grants to assist chronically ill patients, the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), the Big Brothers program, homeless programs, vocational educational programs and various parks in Kentucky.

Owens was the first African American elected to the Jefferson County Fiscal Court. For 21 years, he served on the Jefferson County Fiscal Court representing C District. Then in 2005, he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives to serve District 43. Owens also became chairman of the Judiciary Committee during his time in the House. He introduced important expungement legislation. House Bill 64 included language to help ex-felons get jobs by expanding offenses that can be expunged and making it easier to remove felonies from their permanent record. Owens sponsored another bill to help reinstate voting rights for former felons.

He was a strong believer in the transfer of knowledge to future generations. One of his mentors was Georgia Powers, the first African-American and first woman elected to the Kentucky Senate. "In the olden days, if they had a meeting, everybody showed up," Owens once told an interviewer. "We showed up and we marched. We had leaders who we trusted. Young kids now don't understand the sacrifices that others have made so they can do what they do. That's our fault. We haven't told the story."

"Dedra and I always thought our father was bigger than life," said Debbie Owens, his oldest daughter. "Even during his illness, he had an ability to build relationships - doctors, nurses, techs and caregivers. They all loved him. He never lost his sense of humor. We laughed and loved until the very end."

He is survived by his wife Brenda Lucien Owens, daughters Deborah Owens (Ferguson Evans) and Dedra Owens of Washington, DC; stepson Desmond Sweatt and sisters Patricia Herring of Cleveland, Ohio, and Leslie Tucker of Phoenix, Arizona.

A viewing service will be held on Monday, January 10, 2022 from 3:00 to 6:00 pm at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage located at 1700 West Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Louisville, KY 40203.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at 10:00 am at St. Stephen Baptist Church located at 1008 South 15th Street, Louisville, KY 40210. Live streaming of the service will be available on St. Stephen's website www.ssclive.org.

Masks are required for attendance at both events.

The family welcomes donations for the Darryl Owens Memorial Fund, in lieu of flowers . Checks should be mailed to the Central State University Foundation, P. O. Box 64, Dayton, OH 45401-0064. Donations can also be made directly by visiting www.centralstateuniversityfoundation.com

W.T. Shumake & Daughters Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

Copied from the Courier Journal.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 8, 2022.

 

834. Senate Bill 3 from the 2008 General Assembly - the Filing Deadline, the opposite of this year's House Bill 172

The first piece of legislation to make it through both chambers of this year's session of the Kentucky General Assembly had nothing to do with the budget or healthcare or education or clean drinking water or highways or coal severance taxes or even pensions.  We can only hope that our legislators will eventually address these important topics at some point during the 2022 Regular Session.

No, the first piece of legislation to pass both houses and advance to the governor's desk, and one which he has already signed into law, was House Bill 172 moving the filing deadline from today to January 25, 2022, solely for this year.

Kentucky's regular filing deadline for elective office has for several years now been ridiculously early, falling on the first Friday of January at 4:00 p.m.  It has moved around over the years.  This current temporary move under HB172 is closer to the last Tuesday or last Friday in January, both of which have previously served as filing deadlines.  Many years ago, from the 1970s to the 2000s, it was in mid-March.  

But, as mentioned, the current deadline is the first Friday of January, unless, as what happened today, the General Assembly moves it for their own purposes.  Or, as in the case ten years ago, the courts move it, as Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd did moving the deadline for some offices to January 31, 2012 and others to February 7, 2012.  The reason in both this year's move and that of a decade ago was the late passage of the House and Senate (and Congressional) boundaries for the elections, redrawn after the decennial censuses.  As of this writing, those new lines have been presented, but not passed.  The new lines for judicial circuits, which haven't been redrawn in decades, have been passed to my understanding.  In other words, the dates must be moved due to the late actions (or inactions) of the members of the General Assembly themselves.

This brings me back to Senate Bill 3 from the 2008 General Assembly.  Then-Senator David Williams, someone with whom I rarely agreed, introduced a bill which would have moved the filing deadline to the last Tuesday in April and the Primary to the first Tuesday after the third Monday in August.  I completely supported Senator Williams's proposal.

It would have moved all of the filing and campaigning until after the General Assembly had done its annual destruction in Frankfort and while the destruction would still be fresh in the minds of the voters.  As it is, a session ends sometime in March or April and all is forgotten in a few weeks and then we have a filing deadline immediately after the holidays.  Also as it is, Kentucky's filing deadline is the first in the nation and the period between the filing deadline and the actual primary and election is longer than any other state in the nation.

While this year's move is for this year only, the General Assembly should take a long hard look at moving everything until later in the year as Senator Williams proposed fourteen years ago.  He was right.  Perhaps Secretary of State Michael G. Adams could take this up as a cause.  He seems to have some gravitas within both parties and elections are the province of his office.  

Hope springs eternal.

Happy Orthodox Christmas.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 7, 2022.

833. A Snowy Day in Louisville - the view from First and Main

Photo by SamHunterPhoto

Downtown Louisville earlier today, looking west on Main Street. This is the point from which Louisville's addresses are numbered. The view is west on West Main Street. To the right is north on North First Street. At the bottom-center-left is southbound South First Street and at the bottom right corner is looking back eastbound on East Main Street.

All of these points begin as the 100 block with even numbers on the west and south sides and odd numbers on the east and north sides. Most, but not all, of Louisville's streets conform to this numbering system.

The north-south divide extends westward along Main Street to the Ohio River (including some blocks where Main doesn't exist and streets divide in the middle of a block). It extends eastward back to the railroad crossing where E. Main becomes Mellwood Avenue, then follows the CSX Railroad Old Road subdivision to Frankfort Avenue, then follows Frankfort Avenue and Shelbyville Road to the county line.

The east-west divide extends northward on First Street, in theory, to the Ohio River, although River Road not does comport to the system. It extends southward on First Street to the old City Limits line at Southside Drive and Strawberry Lane, where it then becomes irregular, sometimes following the CSX Railroad mainline, while at other times following Third Street Road, and at other times following the CSX Railroad Henderson subdivision line.

The most obvious bastardization of the block numbering system is the 100 block of Outer Loop, which runs for just over one mile, from Third Street Road to just east of New Cut Road. There are also several streets which skip large sets of blocks. Dixie Highway skips the 5400-6400 blocks. The west side of Preston Highway skips the 3500-3900 blocks. Shelbyville Road skips the 5100-7300 blocks. Westport Road skips the 4900-7300 blocks. Highland Avenue skips the 1600-1900 blocks. Taylorsville Road skips the 4800-8900 blocks. Mellwood Avenue skips the 2000-2100 blocks. There are several others.

Finally, for many years a road existed connecting W. Manslick Road with New Cut Road in the Fairdale area. It had been built by the Commonwealth when the Jefferson Freeway, later known as the Snyder Freeway, came through in the late 1970s. There were no developed properties fronting on it and it went unnamed and unaddressed for many years. Eventually, it was developed with warehousing and later a hotel. That posed a problem - what to call it. It seamlessly went from New Cut to unnamed to W. Manslick. Lord knows we didn't need yet another Manslick Road in Jefferson County and New Cut jutted off to the south where it met - you may have guessed - one of our several Manslicks. Eventually the Fiscal Court changed the name of the New Cut which jutted to the south to Old New Cut and let the road continuing south toward Fairdale be known as New Cut.

Someday I'll talk about Old Shep.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 6, 2022.

832. On the passing of State Representative Darryl T. Owens

My friend Darryl T. Owens passed away yesterday after a long illness.  He was 84.  For many years he represented me in the General Assembly as the 43rd District State Representative.  He had previously served as a member of the Jefferson Fiscal Court for "C" District.  I've known Darryl for thirty-eight years and supported him in nearly every one of his elections, the exception being when he ran for Mayor of Louisville in 1985.

Darryl is mentioned in more than a dozen posts here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River at Milepost 606. You can search his name in bar at the top left of the blog and go read about our various interactions.  He was a firm yet fair person willing to do almost anything for anybody, especially if it meant taking on authorities.  He loved addressing inequalities and working to solve them.

Among the entries herein is one dated March 2, 2013, where I have posted an address I made to the Kentucky Democratic Party State Central Executive Committee on a number of topics, one of which mentioned the work of Rep. Owens.  I have copied the pertinent paragraphs below.  I've also included a link to his bio on the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights website.  It tells much more than I can say in one post.

Here is part of my speech to the KDP SCEC:

On a different matter, and in the other house of the General Assembly, I am also concerned and dissatisfied.  Two days ago, the Kentucky House, in the name of religious freedom, passed a law which subverts the gains Kentucky and a few - very few - of its local communities have made with regard to civil rights protections for lesbians, gays, and others.  In the name of religious freedom, which I would call religious preference, something forbidden by the United States Constitution, our House passed a law by an overwhelming vote – seven Democrats voting no and the balance of the Chamber in favor – which could strip away discrimination protections in the name of religious freedom.

Two attempts were made by my representative in the House, Darryl Owens, to amend the bill, one passed and one was not called for a vote - both in the name of protecting the gains made in civil rights over the years, and especially in the cities of Vicco, Covington, Lexington, and Louisville.

Each of these bills now head to the other Chamber where both will likely be passed. Each bill needs work and if passed as written I would hope Governor Beshear would give the General Assembly more time to think through their votes by vetoing these horrible pieces of legislation.

Here is the link for the KCHR website for Rep. Owens bio:  Biography of Darryl T. Owens

Darryl leaves a large legacy of work behind and will be missed.  Please keep his wife Brenda and their family in your thoughts.  Rest in Peace and Power, my friend.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 5, 2022.

831. Republicans and their crayons

 

There's not a lot to say here.  The GOP has full control of Kentucky's legislative and congressional redistricting for the first time in history.  They've controlled the senatorial redistricting since 2000, so the two parties have been agreeing not to screw each other too badly for the last two redistricting efforts.  Prior to that, back to 1964, the Democrats had had full control.  Needless to say, paybacks are hell.  

One friend, Clayton Brown, commented that a drive along I-64 from Lexington to Louisville would take you through five of the six congressional districts, from the 6th to the 1st to the 4th to 2nd to the 3rd.  The 1st is the interesting one.  It begins down on the banks of the Mississippi River in Fulton County, about 300 miles to the southwest and runs to Franklin County and the Forks of Elkhorn Creek.

Redistricting is one of my favorite subjects and I may have more to say at another time.  First we need to get the crayons away from the Republicans.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 4, 2022.

830. What's in a Zero?

The New Year should necessarily involve making new choices, taking new chances.  

Most of you all know my drink of choice other than Red Wine - Ale-8-One.  I've been drinking Ale-8-One since some time in 1978.  Here's a paragraph taken from a post made on this blog on December 2, 2007, after a drive out in the the commonwealth:

"Ky 169 leads to KY 33, which is South Main Street in Versailles, the county seat of Woodford County. I was anticipating stopping at a little corner market in Versailles which for years has boasted an Ale-8 vending machine, 12 ounces for 50 cents or 75 cents of the Kentucky based soda in little green bottles.

The vending machine has stood in a small nook of that building for as long as I can remember. It was there last year when I attended the funeral services for my aunt Margaret Collins, the former governor's mother-in-law. This I know since I stopped and bought a bottle. But, upon arriving in downtown Versailles, the little green bottle vendor was gone. Utter dismay."

So there I was a few days ago, New Year's Eve to be exact, in the soft drink aisle of the Lower Brownsboro Kroger, pondering both a purchase of my beloved soft drink as well as the pounds I had added over the holidays and it was at that point I spied the "Ale-8-Zero" six pack of bottles.  And for the first time since 1978, I chose something other than the Ale-8-One.  I picked up the six bottles of Ale-8-Zero in the Christmas packaging - maybe it was Holiday packaging - and decided to check it out.

As of today, a few minutes ago, I've finished the sixth of the six bottles.  However, I had decided by the second bottle on New Year's Day that this new product wasn't all that bad.  Actually it isn't a new product.  Rather, it's an eighteen year old product recently rebranded with a new name.  Diet Ale-8-One was introduced in 2003.  I've avoided it for eighteen years.  It was rebranded as Ale-8-Zero on February 2, 2021 and took me just under eleven months to pick up a six-pack.

On New Year's Day, on the Ale-8-One Facebook page, I made the following comment about their diet soda:

After drinking Ale-8-One religiously since 1978, yesterday I bought a six-pack of Ale-8-Zero. It's 97% better than I was expecting and 98% as good as the original. I have some decisions to make in 2022.  

It really is pretty good.  I think I'm going to stick with it.  I'm completely surprised.

  

Also, Happy Tenth Day of Christmas!

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 3, 2022.

829. January's New Moon

The first New Moon of 2022 arrives very shortly, at 1:34 p.m. EST.  New Moons hold power according to some, especially the power of renewal, appropriate for the second day of a new year.

So, light a candle, make a list, start a ritual, start anew.  It's time.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 2, 2022.

828. 2022 - A New Year. Hopefully a new commitment.

Happy New Year's Day! New Year's Day, for most of us, tends to fall in the middle of the actual year in our minds, which in the U. S. of A. runs from about Labor Day to about July 4th (or honestly, to about the next Labor Day).

Over the millennia, different cultures have begun the year at what would now be considered "days other than New Year's Day." Most of those celebrations are tied to a New Moon, a Full Moon, an Equinox, or a Solstice. Later religions created their own holidays and Holy Days around those same days. Thus we get the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah tied to the Passover which is related to both a New Moon and an Equinox. Christians mark our most important day, Easter, by the first Full Moon after the Vernal Equinox. And the Bible tells us that the death and resurrection of Christ happened during the week of the Jewish Passover. So there's potentially a double calculation involved, which then requires church synods to "set the date" for the Resurrection much as they did for Christmas.

Nations have created their own laws as to when the New Year begins although January 1st has come to be accepted as the most universal date. Until 1752, the British Empire used March 25 as the beginning of the New Year, which seems like an arbitrary date. Some earlier Roman kingdoms used the birthday of the Emperor Caesar Augustus, the great ruler during the times of the Pax Romana, which coincided with much of the life of Christ, as New Year's Day. Emperor Augustus was born on September 23, a singularly important day in my life, and one often associated with the Autumnal Equinox.

As my regular readers know, this page marks the Full Moons as well as the Equinoxes and Solstices. Full Moons are a monthly occurrence and the words "moon" and "month" ultimately derive from the same linguistic root, -me-, meaning "to measure." Other words in that family of words include meter, dimension, meal, menopause, Monday, commensurate, and the musical metronome.

Pictured is the calendar for this year's Full Moons, the first of which will mark another important date in my family, my brother's 60th Birthday.

Happy 2022.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 1, 2022.

827. Wynken, Blynken, and Nod - no, Lauren, Junior, Ted, and Andrew

Last week was a series of misfires for at least four American politicians. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, R-CO3, and a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, featured herself posing in front of a small arsenal of guns, was quoted saying we weren't "meant to rewrite parts of the Constitution" somehow forgetting the Second Amendment is, in fact, an amendment - a rewrite.

Then there's Donald Trump, Jr., who, while trying to defend one Texas politician during the Texas ice storm and energy debacle, misidentified another, implying the governor of Texas, Greg Abbot, is a Democrat. Rest assured, Junior, he isn't and we wouldn't have the incompetent fool on our side. Maybe Junior needs to study up on his list of governors. Presently among America's governors, among the states 23 are Democrats and 27 are Republicans. Among the territories, three are Democrats and one is a Republican. The Puerto Rican governor's party, while not a part of the Democratic Party, is affiliated with it.

The Texas politician Junior was trying to defend was the Canadian Cuban Senator Rafael "Ted" Cruz, who can now add Cancun to the list of descriptors ahead of his name. While Texas was frozen due to the ineptitude of its political system with regard to energy regulation, frozen to the point of people dying, Ted and his family decided to skip town and cross the border (and then some) for some "fiesta y siesta" in sunny Cancun, Mexico. The escapade was quickly brought to the attention of most of America and, with the exception of diehard Trumpers, frowned upon. Cruz has changed the details of his trip twice but is making up for it with a lengthy set of photo ops of him carrying bottles of water and boxes of sandwiches in well-staged events across Texas, coming to the rescue of the people he was elected to serve, long after President Biden had declared an Emergency at the request of Governor Abbott, and long after rescue and support efforts were well underway by his 2018 opponent, Beto O'Rourke, as well as over $4M of support being raised by Congresswoman AOC, of The Bronx, NY, while he was south of the border. Cruz is a very poor excuse of a public servant.

Finally, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has been one of the Democratic darlings of the Covid-19 pandemic, has lost his lustre over allegations concerning both the lack of proper reporting of nursing home deaths during the pandemic and some systemic racism in the vaccine delivery since vaccinations have begun. Both the FBI and the U. S. Attorney's Office are reportedly looking in on Cuomo's actions. People have forgotten that Cuomo, who most assuredly won on his father's name, came under attack in his 2018 Primary from actress and activist Cynthia Nixon as being the "Corporate Candidate." In a 09/10/2018 post on my page, just ahead of the Primary, I mentioned that while I didn't expect Nixon to win, that she was hoping to bring out new voters, voters she had been appealing to from the Left side of the Democratic Party.

Let's hope this week is better for everyone.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, February 21, 2021.

826. McConnellian.

Linda Blackford, writing in the Lexington Herald-Leader, uses the word McConnellian, writing

"McConnell's vote to acquit, shortly followed by a fiery speech denouncing Trump is McConnellian hypocrisy, coming right after his next best in saying he couldn't convict Trump after his presidency was over when he delayed the trial until his presidency was over.  That's a lot of contorting."

What a great adjective. Until now, there hasn't been a good word to fully describe the betrayal of Mitch McConnell to Kentucky, the memory of Henry Clay, the U. S. Senate, and the United States. Now we have one.  It occurs to me that "McConnellian" sounds remarkably like "Machiavellian." 

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, February 14, 2021.

825. The Wolf Moon: January's Full Moon, 2021, in Lower Clifton Heights

The snow is still falling here in Lower Clifton Heights*. There are about 2.5 inches of the fallen flakes on my deck. The snow will eventually come to an end in a few hours and when it does we're in for even more magic in the wintry firmament.

To borrow a few lines from Clement Clarke Moore, "The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow, gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below." That luster will be from the first Full Moon of 2021, cresting tomorrow afternoon at 2:16 p.m., but go out tonight and see the wonder!

It's the Wolf Moon, the most appropriate night of the year to Howl at the Moon!

(* - Lower Clifton Heights. I live in a neighborhood called Clifton Heights, named for the hills above the Clifton neighborhood along Frankfort Avenue and overlooking the Muddy Fork of Beargrass Creek and in the distance, the Ohio River. But I live at the foot of the hill. Leaving from where I live is uphill in any direction, albeit to the west or east not a terribly hard incline but to the north or south, the grade is quite steep, including the driveway of our condos leading back to our carports. Thus I've decided to christen our little section of town, which lies along "Lower" Brownsboro Road, as Lower Clifton Heights.)

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 27, 2021.

824. Another "Antifa" Terrorist and Traitor to America caught in Nashville

Another one of those "Antifa" people, Eric Gavelek Munchel, 30, was arrested this afternoon and booked into a Nashville jail about two hours ago. This is the "Antifa" guy with the zip-ties, allegedly carried to tie people up so they could later be taken to the gallows that had been erected on the Capitol's South Lawn to be hung.

Those of you who continually try to dismiss this aggression against our Capitol as an expression of First Amendment Free Speech are ignoring what is clear to nearly every public safety agency not just in America, but around the world. Those who were in the Capitol illegally, however they gained entry, had as a goal, the overthrow of the United States Government and the murders of Vice President Pence and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among others. The woman who was shot, being celebrated as a martyr by the right, was breaking and entering and had been warned by the police to back away from the door. She disregarded a command from an officer of the law and continued her aggression. She is not a martyr. She died as a criminal and should be posthumously charged.

As I said in a post on Wednesday, and as is becoming very clear, the Trump Campaign assuredly, and possibly several Republican members of Congress, and perhaps the Republican National Committee, coordinated the efforts at the overthrow of America. In a separate post, I suggested that cameras in the Capitol, of which I can tell you there are many, coupled with all the videos posted to Facebook and Instagram, will allow most, if not all, of these terrorists to be caught, arrested, and prosecuted by Federal authorities.

There is much talk about the one single "John Sullivan," an Antifa guy on the inside, who "led the insurrection." Those of you Trump supporters who are pinning your hopes on that single person are going to be greatly and gravely disappointed. He, too, will find his actions captured by the myriad cameras in the hallways of Congress. We'll know what his role was. This was not Antifa. This was the traitor Donald Trump and his family and his campaign attempting to overthrow the government.

Eventually, Trump will be charged with sedition, irrespective of whether he is impeached or removed under the 25th Amendment. Between now and the 20th, all Americans, all across the Republic, need to be fully aware of their surroundings. Trump and his supporters are planning another coup for Inauguration Day. This time the newly re-formed Capitol Police, the District of Columbia Police, the National Guards of the District of Columbia, the States of Maryland and New York, and the Commonwealth of Virginia, all will be prepared to mete justice to any attempts at insurrection and sedition.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 10, 2021.

823. It's going to be a great week in America! Happy 2021.

 

38-3-51

100.305, 321.39, 323.10, 323.12, 323.13

35 Pa. CS 7301 (b).

You might ask, "What are these cites?"

Let me begin by saying starting next week, when the Kentucky General Assembly convenes, the veto-proof Republican-controlled legislature will be taking up 39A.100, which is the equivalent cite in the Kentucky statutes that the above numbers are in the Georgia, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania codes respectively.

They are all cites to state laws approved by their state legislatures granting governors (and in some cases other elected officials) broad (sometimes undefined) extensive authority in times of peril or pandemic. These are the times we are in.

We've been hearing our president (and many of the few supporters he has left) making the argument that the laws under which most of the states conducted their elections, because they were different, amended or altered in their operations by the governors or the officials in charge of elections, somehow nullifies the elections themselves because those laws were not approved by the legislatures themselves.

The stupidity in this argument, and stupid is a word I rarely use but it is most applicable here, is that I am able to cite to Georgia Code 38-3-51; Wisconsin Statutes 100.305, 321.39, 323.10, 323.12, and 323.13; and Chapter 35 of the Pennsylvania Code of Statutes, Section 7301(b), all passed by members elected into the legislatures of the respective states, just as KRS 39A.100 was codified into our Kentucky laws after being passed in last year's General Assembly, all of these granting the authority that the uninformed president and his uninformed supporters say doesn't exist.

Now that the GOP has complete control of the Kentucky General Assembly, and given we have a Democratic governor, they will likely reverse many of the laws they passed in 2020. Republican legislators clearly lack logic.

But lacking even more logic than Republicans in the Kentucky General Assembly is the president and his supporters who make the argument, stupidly, that laws do not exist which allowed the states to conduct last year's elections in the fashion they were conducted.

Fools like Congressman Louie Gohmert, Senator Ted Cruz, and Gov. Ron DeSantis should be tried for sedition, if not treason, against the Republic based on the United States Constitution and cites such as the Georgia Code 38-3-51; Wisconsin Statutes 100.305, 321.39, 323.10, 323.12, and 323.13; and Chapter 35 of the Pennsylvania Code of Statutes, Section 7301(b).

Next week is going to be a great week in America. The Republican Party is going to be seen as the anti-American, anti-Constitution, anti-Rule of Law, anti-Voter, and anti-Election fanatic cult it truly is.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 2, 2021.

822. The First Sunday of Advent, 2020 - the waiting begins, in church and in America

The liturgical season of Advent, a part of the church calendar in many (but not all) denominations, begins todays.  It is a period of waiting.  Waiting, being watchful, and preparing for the birth of Christ on Christmas Day.

As this Advent season begins, America is in its own period of waiting.  Waiting on this interlude between effective presidencies, the current thus far unwilling to concede a clear loss, the clearly successful challenger moving on, preparing for his oath-taking on January 20. 

As to this American advent, the arrival of "Christmas," in this case Inauguration Day, cannot come soon enough, as the current office holder continues day-after-day to issue useless, meaningless, but in some cases harmful statements, knowing the media (on both sides) as well as his followers and those who oppose him are hanging on his every word.  He thrives on the attention.

I've decided we need to stop responding to his every dictum (which, admittedly, is very hard for me to do).  He is the lamest of lame ducks, having lost the popular vote twice (the only president to ever do so) and will be losing the vote of the Electoral College in two weeks.

In a little over seven weeks (and maybe sooner), he'll be a former president and America will move on from him and all of his criminal sycophants and misguided supporters, saving those serving in the Congress.  

Over the next four years, the best thing that could happen for the Democratic Party, whether the party moves left, center, or right, is for Donald Trump to remain the centerpiece and clear leader of the GOP.  He is not just another arrow in the quiver for the Democrats, but the best and most poisonous they possess.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, November 29, 2020.

821. Rudy Strikes Out

The president's third attempt to steal Pennsylvania hit another setback with the judge's stinging rebuke. So far he's attempted to steal Nevada, Georgia twice (with another attempt in the works by the governor there), and Michigan, the latter of which included wining and dining two GOP legislators in an effort to get them to rewrite Michigan law between now and the day the Electoral College is set to vote.

His continued attempted-rigging of the election by baseless court actions to overturn the election and overthrow the votes of a republic is both funny and sad. Funny in that he and his team are so thoroughly incompetent at it; sad in that many Republicans, including most in the houses of Congress, are sitting idly by while the most basic right of the American people, that to elect their leaders, is being jeopardized and bastardized by the highest leaders of their party.

There are lots of reasons I've been a Democrat since first registering to vote in 1978. The actions of nearly the entire Republican Party in this November's election make clear that even as a seventeen-year-old, I made the correct decision.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, November 21, 2020.

820. Smartmatic Machines; Trump's mental instability; Trump's supporters leaning toward treason

Here's the interesting thing about the Smartmatic Voting Machines that allegedly changed votes from Trump to Biden. According to Trump and his gang of lawyers, this only happened in states where Trump lost. These machines are used in 28 states, several where Trump won. Amazingly, the machines worked perfectly there. Only where Trump lost did the machines seem to have problems.

None of those states which Trump won had any problems? Really? None of the states which Biden won big had any problems? Really? All of the problems just happened to occur in the states with close counts. That's an amazing coincidence, almost too amazing to believe. To quote President-elect Biden, "Come on, man."

Here's the bottom line: The president is mentally unstable and may be a danger to himself and certainly to the Republic. Those who support him are accessories to whatever may befall him medically and professionally and are adding to the potential fall of the American Republic, which is akin to treason.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, November 17, 2020.

Between 819 and 820. I intend to start blogging again.

I haven't regularly blogged in a while and it is my intent to do so again.  It may take me a minute to get back in the habit.  I haven't posted a picture in years - literally years.  But, we'll see what happens.  Stay with me.  Thanks.

819. Mary Margaret Mulvihill, Rest In Peace

Mary Margaret Mulvihill passed away the day before yesterday. She is someone who I've known of all my adult life although we haven't always been political friends. I did not know her the first time she ran for elective office, but in her next four races, I did not support her.

I first heard her name in the 35th LD elections of 1976, a three-way contest between her, the incumbent Ernestine Roach, and my uncle, Don Noble. I was 15 years old at the time. Ernestine, who lived in the subdivision behind my high school, won that race. As a note, Uncle Don died in 2005 and Ernestine died seven years ago today. That LD election began my involvement in City of Louisville politics as a "Stansbury Democrat" and put me on opposite sides with Mary Margaret.

My first long conversation with her was in April 1984, on another 35th LD election day, a race she won, in her dining room in North Audubon. She made me precinct captain of H-121 - the old 17-4, my precinct in Camp Taylor. I also came to be friends with her husband, Eamon, an Irishman who came to America in the early 1960s, who passed away in 2015.

Over a long period of time, I came to understand Mary Margaret's role in the formation of TARC, the social justice politics of Louisville and Kentucky, and the stern and effective way she served both in and out of public office, never ever stopping. When I decided to run for 35th LD Chair in 2000, despite a sometimes rocky relationship, I asked her to run with me as my Vice-Chair. (I remember going to Bellarmine's Knights Hall where she was attending a "B" District Commissioner debate with Dolores Delahanty and making this ask. It wasn't easy and she didn't make it any easier, but she did accept and with that acceptance brought together, at least in the 35th, two long-running factions of Louisville's Democratic Party under one tent.) We won that race over two other tickets, both of whom dropped out of the race before the election was held.

In the last twenty years, Mary Margaret has kept up her hard work in every way possible ultimately seeing the election of her son, Patrick, as Councilman in the 10th District, which overlays a large part of the 35th House District. I've mostly interacted with her in recent years through Patrick. Knowing Patrick since his days as a Little Leaguer at Germantown, I've supported him in his races for office, even when some around me haven't. While I haven't been in a district where I could vote for him, I do have property there and he has had a sign on my property in each of his elections. I know Mary Margaret is very proud of his accomplishments.

Mary Margaret has long been part of a group of leaders in Louisville - her, Suzy Post, and earlier this month Sue Speed - that is slowly passing from us and their work and devotion will be deeply missed in the future. May she Rest in Peace. ✝️

818. The Winter Solstice, 2019

When the sun sets tonight, it will end the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

Here in Louisville, sunset will occur at 5:25 p.m. I have four friends vacationing in Key West (Ken, Josh, Bobby, Javier (and I wish I was with them)) and for them the day won't end until 5:43 p.m. My friends in Washington, D.C. can witness the sunset at 4:49 p.m. For a friend I am truly missing who lives in LA, sunset over the Pacific, a wondrous sight, occurs at 4:48 p.m.

Later this evening, at 11:19 p.m. EST, 8:19 PST, our Earth will cross a cardinal point on its annual journey drawing to a close these shortened days marking the Winter Solstice and with it ending autumn and beginning winter. With winter, new light and life slowly reveal themselves back into our world as the days lengthen leading to trees budding and gardens flowering.

Happy Solstice.

817. The Hunter's Moon, 2019

The Hunter's Full Moon arrives tomorrow afternoon at 5:08 p.m. EDT so tonight's view will be great. The moon is currently about 250,000 miles away from the Earth, about as far as it gets. Its furthest measured distance away is 252,622 miles (so far).

The full moon tonight is accompanied by the chance for a frost across nearly all of Kentucky and much of southern Indiana, reminding me of James Whitcomb Riley's poem, "When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock." Go outside and enjoy the lunacy.

Moonrise at the intersection of Dickinson Road and Davis Mill Road, near Trenton, Todd County, Kentucky, this evening, October 12, 2019. Photo by Wayne Addison II. Trenton is in the southwestern part of Todd County, which is in the southwestern part of the Commonwealth.

816. In response to the president refusing to cooperate with the House Impeachment Committees . . . .

Who cares?

The appropriate response to the White House is "Who Cares?" The House doesn't need the White House's permission to proceed, to consider, to investigate, or to vote. Apparently the president has never read the part of the Constitution related to impeachment and its highly likely that Rudy Giuliani hasn't either. Article I, Section II, Clause 5 is very clear on that point. Very clear.

But all this push back makes you wonder. If the call to Ukraine was so "perfect," then what's the problem? If the (12 minute) transcript of the (30 minute) call is all there is then what's the problem? How many of you, being innocent of an accused crime, wouldn't work like hell to get your story out in the news while under oath to clear your name?

Eventually it will all come out, all of his dealings with Putin and the Russian and Ukrainian mob long before he got into politics, long before he decided he needed money to bail out his failed New Jersey casinos, and long before he built not one but two Trump Towers - beautiful towers, no doubt - in Turkey, the leaders of which are no doubt wonderful people with whom to do business, even in times of war.