Cut down by a guy from "enchanted citadel?"

I feel affinity with the late Xana (kxly image)

So a doctoral candidate is the murderer? Holy academia, Batman. We can't take potshots at the enchanted citadel because nutcases exist everywhere. Us human animals never cease to surprise. 

Technically the case is not over. There is the "presumption of innocence." But this egghead doctoral candidate looks to be slam-dunk guilty. 

What a roller coaster we have been through in the last six weeks. True crime junkies have gotten satiated. Instead of a roller coaster, we might suggest those swirling cups on the midway. Making you dizzy. Convoluted to the max, yes, and I doubt the arrest will reduce the amount of attention. 

My eyes bugged out when I saw headline about the arrest. I had just come inside after doing some roof-raking. I wonder what ladder companies pay for liability insurance these days.

I wonder how the late Larry King would have latched onto the case. Because surely the case had/has the desired ingredients for his CNN show. An hour nightly, right? In his prime for the O.J. trial. 

Larry's show would look a bit quaint now. It had a show-business-y feel at times. A touch of pretentiousness. The Internet had not yet descended on all of media to create a new complexion. A better complexion? Yes. It is a given that the new media have excesses. But we the consumers must strive for wise discretion. 

Larry King (wiki image)

(A young Larry King could get prickly or rude with callers who wasted his time. He mellowed or was told to mellow later.) 

 

Transfixed us, or many of us

Looking back over the last few weeks, so much of the speculation re. Idaho seemed tantalizing. The problem was that there was a void of known facts. We had the dead bodies of four of the most quintessential college youth you could ever come across. That fact has helped fuel the worldwide interest. The four were a perfect microcosm, maybe not of all college youth but of a conspicuous type. Social animals you might say. 

Let's get frank here: it was the "in" crowd for youth ages 18-22. I'd venture to say you could not find a better example. So, what kind of judgment to make of them? Many youth that age might aspire to be just like these four. I mean, who could not envy them? If you were one of their peers, you might be envious of what kids would call "popularity." This is something that young people are keenly aware of.

 

Through lens of being young

I am being age-specific in my analysis. I'm speaking from the perspective of kids, only a portion of whom can exude the kind of image of the "Idaho four." Am I suggesting something negative about the four, like maybe they would have been "stuck up," perhaps? "Stuck up" is the kind of finger-pointing we'd hear from the young. Being insecure is a common frame of mind for such souls. It's understandable: you do not have your footing in real life yet. It's an incubator. 

You see certain kids who are the most attractive, having the most fun, bonding in strong terms. So then you'd feel a little resentment. Add to this the huge factor of "Greek life." I have thought for years that colleges should discourage the existence of Greek life. I am tempted to equate it somewhat with "Lord of the Flies." 

What is the point of it? Bonding? Cannot bonding exist just fine among natural friends? With a wide network of friends? College friendships are pretty transitory. They are fulfilling and then we all just move on. The idea is to move on to the real world adult responsibilities. Which, I feel, ought to be the ideal from when a person turns 18. Why not? So many years of schooling leading up to the high school diploma. Economics commentator Peter Schiff asks, "isn't a high school diploma supposed to mean something?" There is such a strong suggestion that college is essential, at least for those who aspire to the really good life. We need to retire this notion, I feel. 

Young people should take genuine pride in their high school diploma, use them to sell themselves for meaningful employment. This way station called college seems peculiar in many respects. We seem to want to "sell" college to our young people. And then we get into the racket of evaluating colleges, sometimes on criteria that seem pretty frivolous. Colleges promote various amenities. They sell their sports teams as symbols of their importance, even though sports has no connection to the true purpose of post-high school education. And sports caters to the broader population anyway. 

We now know that University of Idaho has the odd "Vandals" nickname. And, college football entertainment can devolve into a troubling display of alcohol-drenched excess. 

 

It's not in the script

And what to do on Saturday night? Or Friday too? Look at how the four deceased Idaho kids were "hanging out." There was a bar of course: The Corner Club, the name of which is etched in infamy now. The "food truck" was there to cater to those hanging around as late as possible. Accomplishing nothing. Just losing sleep, perhaps setting themselves up for a hangover. And then they'd laugh about that. 

Books will naturally be written about the "Idaho four" case. We'll read about how this particular cast of characters interacted. And when all is said and done, the murderer is this insane person who is out of their orbit. 

Guys are now having to eat their words, words spoken about certain individuals whose names got in front of the public. When I first saw this Jeremy Reagan fellow on TV, I wanted to say "oh no, guy, don't do that, don't speak to the cameras." He became a member of the cast of characters just by speaking to media in a helpful, forthright way. (BTW my "TV watching" is done via YouTube now.) 

Tons of speculation about Kaylee's ex. Also, the fellow last name of Showalter. 

"Adam" - the first name stands alone. The police chief. There are several others whose names will fade, collateral damage in a sense because nothing good came of having their names associated with this story.

 

The famous pose of the four deceased

A microcosm, they were

There are kids like the Idaho hour in college towns all across the U.S. Any of the countless could meet this kind of misfortune, have their faces left in our memory. Years from now I'll be able to place the Idaho four, be able to remember each specifically. 

The glamorous one has stood out: Kaylee. I know women have the right to present themselves any way they want. Kaylee went out of her way to make a sensual impression on the opposite sex. Look at some of her posed photos. Permit me to be more raw: such girls induce erections in junior high boys in a way that can disturb the boys. 

Don't be offended by that, it's fact. Do the girls know the effect of this? I would discourage girls from presenting themselves this way. 

Madison was very cute in her own way. She was more slender than Kaylee. As I keep examining videos, Xana has come to appeal to me. More of a "girl next door" appeal. 

The lone male was Ethan, seemed like an agreeable guy. 

So now the four have made an indelible impression on us. They are the "in crowd" for college purposes. And yes, a part of us can be turned off by this, but that's mostly from the youthful perspective. 

 

"Popularity" not ethereal

A circle of "popular" kids develops in any student population. Some of us can be confused about how such a circle comes to be. It just happens? Oh no. So once I heard an interesting analysis of this. When you think about it, it makes total sense: the most popular kids are the ones who best understand that their behavior has consequences. You might say this is the basic definition of maturity. 

The most responsible, self-aware kids are in the best position to go out and make a difference. While the rest of us are inclined to just follow along. 

The four Idaho kids had such unbounded energy, a taste for fun, letting their hair down. But they were getting ready to take the next stop in life. Looks like Kaylee and her boyfriend had the typical transitory college romance. It runs its course. We'll never see how the Idaho four would have fully blossomed into adults. They are frozen in time, in our memories, as these wonderful-appearing college youth. 

 

Re-think college

But we must ask: how essential is this way station phase of life, this college period? To what extent will we stay amused with the reckless aspects of that life, the partying, late hours, loud music etc. To what extent should we begin to rein in young people like this? Should more of them stay home with their parents in the years immediately following high school? A trend like this seems to be happening anyway, a reflection of the cost of living. 

Look at the videos of the partying in Moscow, Idaho, the police bodycam footage from noise complaints. Couldn't the young people have realized on their own that their choices were bothering people? These are "smart kids." What do they feel they are getting out of the gratuitous debaucherous behavior? Why do police have to straighten them out? And the kids appeared to have a dismissive attitude toward the police. 

What do the parents think, the parents of the kids who show up on the video? 

Moscow ID, home of the U of I "Vandals." The what?

Wouldn't the parents prefer that their sons and daughters just come home and live with them? Go to church on Sunday? I have suggested that the Idaho incident be considered a wakeup call for college parents. If this is true, then it is belated.

"So sorry," Xana says to an officer who shows up for another noise complaint. Really? "Sorry?" They were not.

Damn the food truck outside the Moscow bar in the thick blackness of night. 

Why? Why the need to be hanging around so late, to be lingering outside a friggin' bar? Too many young kids aspire to this kind of behavior. Yes, "peer pressure." It is a cycle that has got to stop. 

Kaylee, Madison, Xana, Ethan, RIP. 

Maybe I can say hello to Xana in heaven if that's where I go. I almost feel I know her from the videos.

 

Addendum: I had thought that "enchanted citadel" was a term more commonly known and used. I became familiar with it from author Edwin Newman who was also the NBC news broadcaster. He wrote books in the 1970s. Newman referred to "some enchanted citadel." I took this to mean the pretentiousness of academia. Upon checking, the term has not been used as much as I thought, though it has gone beyond Newman.

 

Addendum No. 2: I wrote the first draft for this post before learning of the arrest. I think I still came through OK with the post. I try to keep up with my "true crime" brethren. My, what is "Jonny Lee Riches" going to do now? He got his "15 minutes." To give him credit, he gave us a good feel for what Moscow, Idaho, is like. Good luck, Jonny.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Many Christians feel emboldened again w/ Trump

(WLOX image)

Has the time arrived for all good people to begin to resist the Christian faith in America? Is it that bad, that toxic, that insane? I could never have imagined in my younger days saying this. 

We now read about the Christian pastors who lead the new nationwide organization "Pastors for Trump." The idea is to get "evangelicals" fired-up once again to assert themselves in upcoming campaigns. The focus is on the former president. But that fellow has a great many on his coattails. Where he goes, so many will follow. 

Don't something like 60 percent of Republicans still think favorably of the ex-president? So you cannot simply dismiss him, or be amused at my pronouncements here. A part of us might want to think it's "old news." But remember how Trump rose in the first place? Remember how it started with his "escalator ride" that happened to be downward? 

Week by week the realization sank in that "this guy has currency." He went beyond being a novelty type of sideshow. Little by little the conservative skeptics from early-on started getting in line. Then they became serious supporters. Trump fed the news cycle every day. Then he eked out his presidential win in 2016. The asterisk would be that he actually lost the popular vote. Try pointing that out and Republicans will pounce on you: "There are reasons for the electoral college." But the Democratic candidate still got the most votes. 

In 2020 the advantage of the Democrat was too much for the electoral college to nullify. How much more damn evidence do you want of Trump's damaging influence on the country with his actions on January 6? Should the judgment be prima facie here? 

In the old days of the gatekeeper media, wouldn't an attempted insurrection with violence be treated like an abomination for the ages? We would not have had to wait months for a committee to be formed. The American people would have felt consensus. Is the well being poisoned more and more as we speak? 

Am I correct in saying that the Judeo-Christian ethic is the foundation for the American legal system? And by extension our whole way of life? I mean, this was a given when I was a kid. Christianity was about loving and showing charity to all. Politics was a largely separate sphere, it really was. I'm old enough to remember that. 

 

(image from american prospect)

Men of the cloth

Trump has given his blessing to the "Pastors for Trump" organization. Are these men of the cloth so proud as to show such intense reverence to the ex-president? They must be. The organizing pastor reported that once Trump gave his blessing, "our registration members just spiked." 

"I will embrace Christian nationalism," this activist pastor name of Jackson Lahmeyer said. You might be able to guess he's from the southern region of the U.S. He's from Oklahoma. But there is no Mason-Dixon Line in connection with religion and its stance with politics. Maybe the northern region could counteract some of the toxic stuff. But look at the Dakotas, populated I'm sure with fine citizens who'd call themselves "Christian." Seems you only need an 'R' by your name in order to win elections there. Look how Jason Ravnsborg got elected attorney general in South Dakota, and how that state's governor seriously entertained the thought of having Trump's face added to Mount Rushmore. 

This is the America of 2022? It's a time when religious devotion overall is dropping, when the term "nones" has entered our popular vocabulary. "Nones" are people with no religious affiliation. They check the "none" box in surveys when asked about religious affiliation. Maybe the rejection has a lot to do with how the faith has become wedded to the most extreme politics. IMHO we can assume that. 

 

Taking the pulse

How is my church of First Lutheran doing in Morris? To be frank, I think not very well. It was a waste for us to even try to have Advent services over this past holiday season. Hardly anyone showing up. It wasn't that many years ago we'd have a soup supper in the fellowship hall before the Advent service. 

There should not be two ELCA churches in Morris. I fear that in a few years, one might not cut it either. 

Seems the people who remain most committed to this thing called Christianity have bastardized the gospel. Young people are being exposed to Christianity in a way that makes the faith almost morally suspect. I mean, to join hands with Donald Trump? To make Trump essentially the face of the faith? 

 

A famous/infamous pose (wikipedia)

A woeful dereliction

We all might have been rescued from this, if momentum had built in the corridors of power for Trump to be charged legally in some way, shape or form. We have been tortured by news stories that seem to scream at us that Trump is legally culpable. Time drones on. We wake up to the same commentators in the media saying the same things. 

Rudy Giuliani should have had hell to pay by now. And if that ever happens, he'll be in a state where he will plead medical hardship - we'll hear about alcohol abuse and some level of dementia. The president's lawyer! And the media will by and large talk about it so matter-of-factly. 

The media people have made incredible hay with Trump-ism. They're happy putting in their hours, essentially telling us all we're sheep because we don't just rise up and assert our voices. 

The extreme Republicans are in fact letting their voices be heard: no inhibitions there because they give the impression of walking hand-in-hand with Jesus Christ. I'm starting to think this whole abomination cannot be reversed. Leading to what? Heaven help us. Trump defied good sense in 2016 in an incremental way. So no one can say it won't happen again. We are lemmings. 

 

What about this Santos fellow?

Maybe the worst sign is that we are letting go of the Judeo-Christian ethic. My God, we once had the presumption that all good people embraced that. I went through school considering the ethic to be the bedrock. Now I'm 67 years old. It seems almost like "Twilight Zone." And I'll be 68 in late January. So today I'm reading about this nationwide "Pastors for Trump" organization that now has Trump's official imprimatur. So the ranks are swelling, its leader says. So we just read about it and shrug? Is that all? 

Exhibit 'A' for how we have rejected the Judeo-Christian ethic: this Republican Congressman Santos of New York. It's not even "alleged" he made up stuff in his bio. In the old days there would have been an instinctive reaction to this. He'd have to resign. Top Republicans evidently knew all along his stories were hogwash. They reportedly just laughed about it, did not publicly comment. Because, they needed power. 

This reflects the whole "transactional" ethos that has come to the fore in America now. Its rise was led by Trump, the most transactional human being you could imagine. He got sex from Stormy Daniels. She got money. On and on it goes. And "Christians" are propping him up again all across America. 

Jackson Lahmeyer, "Pastors for Trump" (facebook)

Lahmeyer has proclaimed "Alex Jones did nothing wrong." The "evangelicals" are at it again. Will it be 2016 redux? What will become of America? Will the time come for all good people to turn on Christianity? To proclaim Christianity as some pathology to be extinguished? Go ahead and tell me, "Lahmeyer doesn't speak for all Christians." 

True I suppose. But remember the reassuring words we got in 2016 about how Trump would end up just a novelty candidate, good for laughs maybe. Little by little the menace grew. And it's growing again. Trump has huge support in our Stevens County. Our new congressperson Michelle Fischbach voted against certifying the 2020 election results. We must answer for this.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Nasty weather upon us for Christmas 2022

"So this is Christmas," as John Lennon sang. I don't think George Harrison ever wrote a Christmas song. I know he wrote one for New Year's. So it is now Christmas of 2022. Weather has been hellish here in the Upper Midwest. 

Every blizzard is distinctive in a certain way. This one needed a few days to really build up a head of steam. An atmosphere of gloom took over, even worse than what we could expect around Solstice-time. All my life I have heard about "seasonal affective disorder" but never felt I had it. Seems that this year I have the symptoms. 

Is being alone for Christmas a factor? This is my fifth Christmas in such a position. It helps that I didn't even consider travel plans for this holiday season. No matter what plans you might have had, best to just nix them in light of the weather. Those who can just hunker down and stay home are blessed. 

I never considered putting up the colored lights for the 2022 season. I never brought up my small artificial Christmas trees from the basement. Such things are superficial for celebrating the season, of course. I have some nick-nack stuff like a Nativity scene that I could have put up too, on the piano. Not this year. Maybe again in the future. I am blessed by stable health. 

The weather continues to deliver an onslaught as I write this, the morning of Christmas Eve Day. I was told as a kid that some people open presents on the Eve, others the next morning. Stockings on the mantle were optional. 

 

All join in?

As kids we were encouraged to see Christmas as a universal. We put on programs at school that reflected this. We wanted the kids from non-Christian families to just join in, feel a joyous spirit. 

With time we got the message that Christianity is not a universal thing - our attitudes should be adjusted. Celebration is not compulsory. 

I felt the revision got extended too far when I covered an elementary school concert for the paper, and there was a song about Kwanzaa. Not necessary. We can dispute just how genuine or sincere that observance is. I think it began in a protest spirit when that kind of attitude had more traction in our culture. I have since read that its promoters have shifted, as they now want everyone to be happy regardless of your faith. 

I have learned there is heavy emphasis on food for Kwanzaa. Therefore I would have little trouble wrapping my arms around it! Schools need not feel obligated to acknowledge it. For a time it was a sop to the non-Christian cultures. It was a reaction to the perception that Christianity was this big rolling train in America. Christianity would set the norm. Indeed it did as I recall from my youth. But us kids were never trying to put anyone down. 

 

My family recollections

The wind continues to rumble outside my place on Northridge Drive, Morris. It is 1 p.m. on the day known as Christmas Eve. I grew up relishing the full family spirit including the dog. We had three small dogs over the years: Misty, Heidi and Sandy. There would always be one or two items under the tree with the dog's name. A rawhide bone would be nice for that. The dog could get distracted while we resumed the festivity. 

Christmas Day always had us getting together with my uncle and his wife of Glenwood. My uncle was a banker which always lent some dignity for me as nephew of a banker! It would not have befitted me otherwise. The two Williams families alternated, getting together at our home one year, Howard's the next. This went on with other major holidays as well.

My wealthy uncle never obtained cable TV! He and my father always showed traits of having grown up in the Depression. 

 

A rock for eternity

My uncle and aunt Howard and Vi are gone now. Their resting place is in Glenwood Lutheran Cemetery. There is a big master slab of rock with "Williams" on it. Howard and Vi are buried on one side, my grandparents Martin and Carrie on the other. It's pretty easy to spot the Williams name as you enter the cemetery. You should know that's connected to me! And I am proud. 

Martin and Carrie are represented by small flatstones that are just too modest IMHO. Strangely, Carrie's shows more signs of erosion even though she died in 1949, whereas Martin died too young of cancer in 1933. My father Ralph was still in high school when Martin passed. I have always gathered that Martin's declining health with its struggles was hard on Dad. 

 

Headlines bleak like the weather

Maybe some of the items in the news are depressing me this Christmas season. So much has come out about the misdeeds of Donald Trump and those around him, as they tried to reverse the 2020 election results. Perhaps worse than that, I had to soak in so much of the pro-Trump support that bubbled forth from the Morris area. 

It is a fool's errand to try to point out the danger, the absurdity of Trump, with so many of the people who I know. They can get prickly and nasty in such discussions. All I am seeking to do is to be factual. More importantly, I am trying to point out the inconsistency of MAGA with the Christian faith. Once again, really a fool's errand. Why don't I listen to them? It's sound and fury, noise, sheep dip, emotions, based on God knows what. 

So is the answer to just walk away from Christianity? It is hard to resist that thought. Yet I must weigh it, as I consider the wrecking ball effect of Trump-ism on this nation and its Christian roots. We may be going off the rails. Trump gets quoted saying he'd be receptive to nixing the Constitution, and his pathetic supporters like Jim Jordan respond by saying the orange man was "quoted out of context." That's the fall-back when there is no other rebuttal.

All the Trump supporters who march into your "conservative" Christian churches, please stop and consider that an all-out dictatorship is something that may in the end not work in your interests at all. And when you begin to feel regret, you may find there is no recourse because democracy no longer exists here. You will miss it when it's gone. All I can do is stay on the sidelines and try to comment about it. 

There was a time in Germany when dissenters would be put to death. Remember the name of the Sinclair Lewis book: "It Can't Happen Here." The point of course is that it can. We have a congressperson in Michelle Fischbach who voted against certifying the 2020 election results. We are making our bed. You know what happens next. 

Locally we mark Christmas 2022 with the news that longtime community pillar Helen Jane Morrison has left us at age 101. She was synonymous with the interests of the U of M-Morris. 

Unfortunately we cannot assume it's business as usual for our campus. Some discomfort has begun swirling. There is a major issue with enrollment. A member of the Regents got in a hot mess when he commented about it. I don't think Mr. Sviggum or his Republican Party appreciate that UMM was the launching pad for a big rhubarb. 

Is UMM as a liberal arts college facing an existential question? That realization has begun sinking in with us. 

Christmas of 2022 arrives with the cloud of the unsolved Idaho murders hovering. Maybe that contributes also to the mood that seems less than full for the season. I contemplate the unhinged lifestyle of so many of the college students of Moscow, Idaho. The partying and the apparent debauchery. Might the incident be a wakeup call for parents of college students everywhere? If the kids cannot cool it and behave more civilized, they maybe ought to stay at home for 3-4 years after high school. 

Actually, extended families are becoming rather standard. Economics spurs the trend. Heaven help the high school graduate of today who does not have family connections for getting established. I mean, to "just go out there?" 

Were the kids in Idaho involved in some shady activity to get money? We must re-think our norms in America. One that is ripe for re-thinking is this idea that four years of college is so essential. How about a nice tidy two years instead? And be serious about it while you're there. 

With all that as a backdrop, we can all surely join in saying "Merry Christmas." Or even "Happy Kwanzaa." I'm fine with that, especially with the food!

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Reacting to the Tom West "Dairyland" piece

Tom West

Did you come across the Dairyland Peach commentary on UMM? Shall I assume it commanded your attention instantly? 

We can sense some candor dripping through in this piece. Whatever else the guy lacks in reason - will get to that in a moment - he is willing to be like the boy who says the emperor has no clothes. He surveys UMM's state of affairs in the year 2022, shrugs and then gives a pretty forthright reaction to it all. 

So what I'm suggesting is that he is not blinded by the usual party line talk about the school. Live in Morris for a while and you learn the talk. How to encapsulate it? Start with the word "outstanding." Then get out your thesaurus, list some other like words. 

It is always nice to be "positive." But it ought to be in the eye of the beholder. Any school that focuses on the liberal arts can present itself as being up in rarefied air. How can you knock such instruction? Seems virtuous on its face. 

UMM has been a cog in the local economy, to be sure. So there is an instinctive impulse to reaffirm what the school has historically stood for. So I'm assuming that if you read the December 2 "Dairyland" piece, you were struck by how it seemed so unfettered. In effect, there are problems or issues here and we must not be constrained in how we address them. Such pure logic. I laud this piece on these terms. 

It does go horribly wayward at the start, unfortunately. Another paranoid Republican, this guy seems to be. Donald Trump has taught them well. Constant sense of victimization. It is nearly their brand now. Maybe they can cheer up by collecting the new Donald Trump trading cards from the web. The grifter wants money for this of course. Alex Wagner of MSNBC says all you need to do is "right-click and then copy/paste" with the images. 

All Trump wants with this is attention. I'm helping him right here. 

 

Steve Sviggum

Sviggum's alleged sin

The writer of the Dairyland piece is Tom West. Looks like an old coot. He sympathizes with Steve Sviggum right out of the starting gate. Poor Steve is a victim of "virtue signaling," I guess. Mr. West says all Sviggum did was "ask an impolite question." 

All things being equal, it is best to be polite. So Sviggum should not have suggested that our UMM may have "too much diversity." It's simply asinine, and one needn't be applying virtue signaling to assail it. 

As far as I'm concerned, West is the one engaged in virtue signaling, as in Republicans having a monopoly on virtue - "we're beyond criticism." You know what would shake a lot of these people up? If Trump actually gets charged with something. Or if his top lieutenants like Mark Meadows or drunk Rudy Giuliani get charged. Really, it would cut them down to size, make a lot of us start to wake up. As it stands, Republicans cannot take criticism. 

West says that Sviggum's question re. UMM "gives the political class a chance to do what it does best: signal its virtue (as opposed to solving society's problems)." 

Republicans have been on a tear with trying to solve society's problems, these problems including abortion, pornography and free speech. Mike Lee and J.D. Vance are leading on the pornography front. Lindsay Gramm wants social media companies to be licensed by the Federal Government. He has a reason: social media can hurt young girls. Silly rabbit, regulations always have "reasons" behind them. Part of the longstanding Republican brand is to rail against regulations. Right now they seem pretty charged up for promoting regulations and limiting freedom. 

So Tom West thinks "the political class" (as if that did not also include Republicans) is to be pooh-poohed because they think they are right and the others are wrong. This is the essence of political discourse: one side saying one thing, the other disagreeing. So West would address me with scorn if I simply pointed out that Steve Sviggum was asinine in talking about "too much diversity." 

 

Erred with articulation

Certainly a man of Sviggum's standing could have refined his words better. He could have spoken more in terms of being skeptical of affirmative action or other policies that might be seen as putting a thumb on the scale. That's fair enough, reasonable. But too much diversity? As opposed to what? Well, as opposed to what Sviggum's suggested norm would be: a white bread student population of the type that has prevailed in outstate Minnesota for a long time. He subscribes to the Norman Rockwell depiction of America. People of color would be seen as novelties. We accept them but we also know who's in charge. Let's not disrupt the apple cart. 

Let's be clear: the U of M Board of Regents is a landing zone for long-of-teeth, basically washed-up state politicos to keep their name in front of the public. So, Wendell Anderson, Dean Johnson. A quick re-cap: Johnson got in trouble because of someone's little tape recorder. The late Anderson's fall is better remembered. Hubris? 

Now we come to Steve Sviggum. First the Regents tried fooling us by announcing to the media that he had "resigned." Silly rabbit, not really. Though the headlines blared as much - and I had one good friend get fooled - Sviggum did not resign from the Regents, he only resigned as vice chair. 

West says " 'racist Republicans' has become a mantra for some progressives." Listen Mr. West, we progressives do not bite. We are reasonable people, so stash your delusions. We are reacting to Sviggum's words in a most logical way. 

Nothing too crazy for him

West thinks "progressives have become more shrill." Compared to what? Compared to Donald Trump? Compared to Marjorie Taylor Greene or Matt Gaetz? This "clown show" is going to stop being funny if dangerous policies get pushed through. 

Senator Graham has called for his "national abortion ban." Wouldn't a lot of men be concerned if pornography got removed from the Internet? Good luck with such an effort, really. 

The Internet is stronger than all its would-be adversaries, the censors. If consenting adults wish to have sex, have it filmed and have others watch, who cares? I'm actually part libertarian. Perhaps it's people like Mr. West who want to see "big government." 

Too bad I have to navigate through all these noxious weeds before getting to West's points about UMM. That aspect of his writing is really like fresh air, way too scarce to observe out here on the prairie. So he has no blinders on re. the campus. West talks about declining enrollment not only at UMM but also at the U's Duluth and Crookston campuses. He notes "the Morris shrinkage is the most severe."

The numbers he cites: 1,946 in 2013, 1,068 now. Heaven help us if we didn't have diversity, eh? 

I have said all along we should all adhere to the melting pot principle. Hence we would not pay attention to our differences at all. But academia decided long ago it did not like the "melting pot." They opted instead for diversity with all its complexities. Academic people like to make things complex. We have a multi-ethnic building on our campus. It was the music building when UMM was born. 

 

"Little Marshall?" No

Hell's bells, I should've reported higher up in this post that Southwest State University has an enrollment of 8,700. That's the figure West gives us. What would our town of Morris be like with 8,000 students at UMM? I guess the campus is really only tailored for 2,000. And now the number is half that? Talk to UMM-oriented people and they will almost always say our real enrollment number is lower than the official one. A major question has to do with separating out students that may not be on-campus. 

Are the satellite campuses of the U really a headache to the central administration? That's how West assesses things. 

Easy to love this place

Should we exist or shouldn't we? Back in 1960 we in Morris stood as the "winner" in getting our U of M branch, as we overcame the interests associated with south of here. The cheese stands alone? Not really, not with Southwest State U, what my father once called "little Marshall," having 8000-plus. Not so little any more. 

West wisely cites the elephant in the room in connection to UMM: the squeeze or the financial pressure on liberal arts institutions. More people are re-assessing such studies, he says, and I'd add that the cost of college is another elephant in the room. Does liberal arts have enough value?

OK, to give West credit as something other than a reactionary old Republican coot: he writes "perhaps Morris should expand its offerings in the sciences and market itself as a technology hub." 

It's true that the late Chancellor Jack Imholte would roll over in his grave, yes, but times change, they really do. West goes on with more fine-tuned proposals for Morris. Fine, we can weigh all that. But maybe the time has come for the firm resolution that "the status quo is not acceptable." Get your heads out of he sand, pilgrims.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

"Snoopy's Christmas" breaks through with best spirit

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Looks like no problem with having a white Christmas this year. "White Christmas" the movie had a nostalgic outlook on the Second World War. In this way it was similar to another movie I wrote about recently: "The Best Years of Our Lives." The outlook is disturbing because we should never have warm thoughts in connection to war. The nostalgic point of view is from the survivors. We don't get input from those who are gone forever. 

It is Tuesday morning in 2022 with Christmas inching closer. Do you sense less of an outward Christmas spirit out and around? I do in fact sense less. Whether this reflects a retreat of Christianity, it's hard to say. Are we just holding the festive spirit within us? That would be fine. 

If nothing else, I do not sense the Christmas spirit starting right after Thanksgiving. For much of my life, one could plunge right in, even listening to the standard Christmas songs from early-on. I do commend our Morris McDonald's restaurant as it piped in the festive sounds from real early-on. 

The list of popular Christmas songs sometimes gets adjusted, as this is a most subjective thing. What about Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You?" This was a rare example of a fresh composition vaulting into the circle of Christmas standards. Is it holding up? You might recall the lawsuit begun a few months ago, growing out of a previously written song that had the same title. Music legal scholars became rather transfixed. 

This suit was going to be a real test case. It would test the standard thinking that a song title by itself has no IP (intellectual property) protection. I wrote at the time that the length of this particular song title could make it an exception. Still, if the suit were to break through as anything other than frivolous, it would give pause in commercial music. Has news of the suit tarnished the enthusiasm about the Carey recording? So buoyant and happy, the epitome of those qualities. 

 

An "oldie" gets current

As I listened at McDonald's one day, it dawned on me that a Christmas song from the '60s might be rising in popularity. I have heard it multiple times during our current Christmas season. This song is "Snoopy's Christmas" featuring the "Peanuts" character of course. I have been familiar with it from way back. The "Royal Guardsmen" gave us this holiday single. It dates from 1967. 

Any mention of 1967 or '68 should be a reminder that the U.S. was in the depths of the horrific Vietnam war. The daily headlines from the war gave a backdrop to the growing-up years of my generation, the boomers. So we had to live with that while at the same time enjoying the kind of affluence that was quite beyond our parents when they were growing up. 

I have wondered: How could a nation that fought the Vietnam war also be a place for such joyful pop culture like the Don Knotts movies? "Atta boy, Luther!" Remember that? Twig Webster liked that line. It was from "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken." 

The unique comedic talent, Knotts, was also featured in "The Reluctant Astronaut." My late father was a huge fan of that movie. 

Network TV gave us joyous annual Christmas specials. We had so much more of a shared culture back then. People had fewer choices so we could discuss the well-known shows with just about anyone. The 1966 Andy Williams Christmas special is on YouTube. America was sliding into the depths of hell with the Vietnam war. Juxtapose that with the innocent joy of Andy and his regular cast on that show. We'd see Andy's parents, his brothers, his wife Claudine and the Osmonds. 

Claudine went on to enter infamy but let's not get into that. In 1966 these souls were at the top of their game. Remember, you had "one shot" at watching shows back then. A regular series could get "re-run" in summer. We considered re-runs a downer just like late-afternoon (or after-school) television. A "special" on TV was one time. Bob Hope was a staple. Hard to take a bathroom break. Oh, but the commercials!

 

What's old is new

I am happy if "Snoopy's Christmas" is having a resurgence or renaissance or whatever. The song was a follow-up to the earlier Royal Guardsmen song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron." The backdrop for both is war, in this case World War I, but the Christmas song gives us a pause in the fighting. A literal pause actually happened in the real WWI. 

Snoopy goes out to confront the Red Baron on a cold Christmas Eve. The dog is actually on top of his doghouse - you surely remember the motif. Alas, the Baron appears to have our lovable dog at his mercy. The guns go silent, and instead the Baron forces Snoopy to land. The Baron offers Snoopy a "chivalrous holiday toast." 

The song has a very distinctive, very moving beginning: we hear "O Tannenbaum." Translates to "O Christmas Tree." We hear chimes in the song's middle portion. The chimes come back at song's end which is a fade. Do songs end with "fades" any more? There was a time when the fade was quite standard. 

 

A blessed truce

Important: "Snoopy's Christmas" references the 1914 "Christmas truce" of World War I. The soldiers and not the commanders were behind this break. Would you believe, combatants in the trenches exchanged gifts? Troops on both sides shared family pictures. Friendly games of football also! Would that this spirit could have seeped through permanently. But we are so human an animal. 

Perhaps I should again cite the line from the "Austin Powers" movies: "Let daddy do his work." Dr. Evil spoke this to make clear to his puzzled son "Scott" why things just had to be done a certain way. So, wars have to be fought from time to time. But maybe that's done now? Donald Trump is a menace to the future of the world but he stumbled upon some wisdom by just saying "no more Middle East wars." Or presumably no more foreign wars or no wars at all. 

It took until now? And it took a morally bankrupt person like Trump to say this? So I guess "we're so human an animal."  Not sure I'm even applying that phrase right, but it surfaces in my head. You can surmise the meaning. You get my drift. 

A song about the spirit of truce is inspiring. The sound of "Snoopy's Christmas" is absolutely delightful after all these years. You don't have to make out all the words to appreciate it. The song just works. Songwriters cannot give a scientific explanation for how this happens. It just does. 

The song makes me happy this time of year. It helps me overcome the feeling that maybe we do not overtly celebrate the Christmas season like we once did. I'm ready to put "Snoopy's Christmas" in the top ten now, at least. A suggestion for one to remove from the top ten: "Jingle Bell Rock."

 

Addendum: Remember when Bob Hope announced the All-American football team each year? He'd make little quips about each guy as the guys smiled. They weren't quite so big then.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Did the "babes" factor play into Idaho tragedy?

Kaylee Goncalves (instagram)

The Idaho quadruple murders would have been a huge news story regardless. Part of what catapulted it to mega-story status is pictures. I'm referring to the bonanza of pictures from when the four young people were alive. And not just the quantity of pictures. I must add here the obvious: the attractive nature of those young people. A more effervescent appearance you could not imagine. 

The four almost always flashed smiles that made it seem like they had gotten past all of life's hurdles already. Being in college is actually a crossroads point in your life: what path will you choose or end up in? Normally one's finances are challenged. You might make do with not exactly a surplus of amenities. 

My point about the plethora of pictures is that it's a gold mine for the media. It's almost a prerequisite for a mega-story. 

Allow me to move into a related point, and this is a delicate one. I have followed at least a couple other commentators who acknowledged the delicate quality. Those like us are forced into some defensiveness. We have to be, because of our obvious value judgments. Us folks are male heterosexual. Once in the driver's seat in our culture, we have been eased off to the side steadily. Popular entertainment when I was a kid presumed that our perspective ruled. 

Exhibit 'A' to illustrate: Bob Hope bringing out Raquel Welch in front of the mass of soldiers in Vietnam at Christmas-time. It is surreal to review those old specials. One can do this on YouTube naturally. Bob Hope had other females at his side who were designed to get all the guys, shall we say, salivating. 

See why commentators such as I must be defensive? We are implying a value judgment that would strike many as base, or as crass, or in the contemporary vernacular "politically incorrect." You are walking on eggshells. So a couple of these YouTube commentators, like myself, take sort of a scared stance, fearing the wrath of God as we talk about certain females being, well, "bombshells." You wouldn't raise an eyebrow talking like this when I was young. 

I would guess many females would want to seethe about that, but they had to cede to the prevailing culture. The prevailing culture was represented by the "Dean Martin Variety Hour" on TV. Consider the opening to the movie "Tony Rome" starring Frank Sinatra. In fact consider the whole "rat pack." They also smoked, part of the badge of being mature. 

The male heterosexual had sort of a primacy. Today the males who wish to share from such a perspective must do so in a scared, self-conscious stance. So we say "you have to understand how 'a guy' thinks." Then we'll repeat it for emphasis. 

One commentator pleads with the "women's libbers" to just understand. Fat chance? Has "women's lib" become an outdated term? The term is not heard as often but the phenomenon is just as real. I would say it has diversified. It's not just about women now, it's about LGBTQ. In fact, it's about a range of aggrieved classes of people, people who were once just told in subtle terms to know their place. Just tune in to Dean Martin and laugh vigorously - men had license to be lecherous. It was mainstream. Not now.

And yet the basic brain functioning of heterosexual males has not changed. We just have to plead with people to "please understand." And, after a little speech to that effect, we'll launch into a particular analysis of the terrible Idaho murders. Here's the take: the three females were attractive. The two blondes were especially attractive. And of the two blondes, one in particular: well, it was Kaylee. 

We talk about this because we are leaving no stone unturned in coming up with theories on the murder. Might a spurned boyfriend be especially enraged if the girl was "knockout" attractive? Would he care far less if the female was, well, "ordinary." Yes, women's libbers might want to put us in the stockade at this point. We have to plunge past that obstacle to try to complete our crime analysis. So-called "looks" could be a factor. 

Can I get any more "base" than this? Yes I can, sorry. It was Arianna Huffington who brought to light the phenomenon of "sugar babies." She went on Larry King. College has become so expensive, right? So as a means of adapting, some women found it advantageous to become sugar babies. The man gets a certain kind of gratification, the college girl might graduate with no debt. Compare this option to "waiting on tables." 

Men are going to exercise the kind of judgment I am talking about. All women are not created equal in men's eyes. Reality or hormones reigns. So let me assert that a girl with an appearance like Kaylee could easily market her attractiveness. If she chose, she could go into the AV field (adult video) and spring toward the top of popularity quickly. Facilitating all this would be the Internet which facilitates all things exponentially. 

There are websites to get college girls paired with men in an orderly way. Also, orderly ways to put adult videos out there post-haste. 

I mean, in the old days "pornography" was underground, in the shadows, heavily stigmatized. A sense of morals would be a huge looming barrier. 

When you watch interviews with porn stars today, they seem relaxed and happy, in many cases with the most robust laughter you could hear anywhere. No one would think to confront them with an admonition like "you should be ashamed of yourself," or "how can you live with yourself?" 

Or if you tried that, no one would care. 

"Pornography" was rather an underworld. Spoken of in hushed tones. The "adult film" genre of today seems almost to bear no resemblance. 

So, do the sugar babies have inhibitions? Probably little if any. We might wonder if this whole new world, which is what it certainly is, is liberating. Or if there might still be a foreboding side. 

Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves (instagram)

Were the three murdered girls involved in non-traditional relationships? Relationships where they allowed themselves to be "objectified?" The girl and the man might not know each other well enough. Hell, marriages happen where the two partners don't know each other well enough. Could someone turn out to be a psychopath? We cannot rule anything out, because law enforcement in Moscow ID has not given us any answers. 

Alas, the playing field for speculation is wide-open. Maybe that's the part that accents the veil of sadness now - there are no boundaries. My thesis is that "attractiveness" might have been a factor in what happened. Then again, it could have been drugs. Drugs and sex? One assumes there has to be something verboten going on. Just a kid who suddenly felt resentful? Who had gotten shunted aside? 

But for that individual to take such unspeakable drastic action? Right out of the depths of hell? 

Look, if law enforcement can just start hinting to us that they're honing in, we can turn off the speculation spigot. What a blessing that would be. 

In the meantime, look for the endless photos of the three "lookers" or "babes" to keep appearing before us, from the media. Pictures are the lifeblood of such a sensational story, make no doubt about it. What fabulously attractive young women, especially the blondes, the one blond in particular. 

Sorry, that's just the way it is. The truth shall set us free. Remember how Frank Sinatra sang about "dames?" Just because something is retro doesn't mean it's gone.

 

Addendum: Remember Adrienne Barbeau and Carol Wayne from 1970s television? I wonder what they thought when they realized that the mere sight of them caused erections in young males. I mean, what did they think?

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Tigers bested by Melrose in low-scoring affair

Boys: Melrose 39, Tigers 33

Pretty low-scoring game in our second time out Tuesday. We're talking boys basketball. We're into a new coaching regime. Same last name of coach though. It'll probably be "Torgerson" for the rest of my natural life. And maybe far beyond. 

Right now the system looks a little low-scoring. Unless the Tuesday game will be an aberration. The Tigers scored just 33 points. Is it fair to say that's anemic? I'd guess the fans would get bored if this is a sign of things to come. One thing can compensate for that, at least some. And that's winning! After all this is America. One political party, the Republicans, have decided that losing is their thing right now. They have a hard time recognizing the hole they've fallen into. 

The Tigers did show promise for victory Tuesday. The scoreboard showed a 31-28 score with the orange and black on top. We did not stay on top. We missed our last six shots, according to the kmrs write-up. Thank God for the timely news service of kmrs-kkok radio. It is effective even if many summaries are rather brief. And thank the Lord there is no paywall. 

I'm waiting for the fans to turn on the West Central Tribune because of this. If you are happy to jump through their hoops and pay some, you should know that everyone is not going to be on board with you. These sports programs benefit from good PR. Just thought I'd mention it. Kudos to Brett Miller who I've never met. And to Deb Mattheis my old high school contemporary. 

While the Tigers fell into their 0-for-6 funk, the Melrose Dutchmen got going with an 11-2 run to finish things off. So Melrose was the 39-33 victor at our Tiger Center. We're 1-1 now. Melrose was playing its first game. 

I will never forget how Melrose had a major college prospect on the court when I was high school age. The name is etched in my memory: Mark Olberding. He went on to not only play Division I, he was a pro. 

Our new coach at MACA could bemoan some turnovers toward the end. The winning  Dutchmen had Conner Engelmeyer put in 14 points. His teammate Gor Ruey scored ten. Our Owen Anderson scored ten points and had nine rebounds. Drew Huebner contributed ten points, and Tyler Berlinger had nine.

 

Girls: Tigers 54, Melrose 45

The MACA girls bounced back from their two season-opening losses to win Tuesday. As with the boys, Melrose was the opponent. So it was destination Melrose via I-94 for coach Dale Henrich's squad. Henrich had to feel pleased seeing his team coming forward with a winning personality. Our loss to New London-Spicer had been a bit stunning, but of course the Wildcats have a long track record of winning ways. 

It was the Tigers with the winning flair vs. Melrose at the Melrose court. Maddy Grove led the charge with 24 points, eight rebounds and five steals as the orange and black won 54-45. Kaylee Harstad was sharp with her ten points and nine boards. Maddie Fehr came through with eight points/eight rebounds. 

Both teams sported a 1-2 record coming out of the game.

 

Girls hockey: Storm 6, Detroit Lakes 5

It was hockey night in Morris Tuesday. I'm remembering the Minnesota sportscaster of many years ago (in other words, my youth) who'd start out by boisterously proclaiming "it's hockey night in Minnesota!" Those were the J.P. Parise days. The North Stars! 

On Tuesday our MBA girls hockey team treated fans to winning form, 6-5 over Detroit Lakes at Lee Center. It was an overtime thriller. Karlie Bruns was the OT hero with her goal at 4:32. It was her second goal of the evening. Her earlier goal put us up 4-2 early in the third period. 

MBA had trouble putting this one away, as Detroit Lakes got the puck in the net twice in a 66-second span, Brett Miller reports. 

It looked momentarily like MBA would win in regulation - that's because Kortney Sanasack scored for MBA. This was her second goal of the game. DL fought back with a Haley Stattelman goal. Stattelman scored with 51 seconds left. Bring on overtime! BTW yours truly spent one summer in Detroit Lakes when I was young, and I learned that "DL" is a common reference.

The Bruns goal in OT did the job. Bruns and Sanasack each had two assists in the game. Charli Erdahl picked up three assists along with her goal. Aubrey Ramirez got the puck in the net. In goal we had Ava Breuer whose save total was 26. The Storm achieved their fourth win of the season against six losses. That's a lot of games to have in by the second week of December, n'est-ce pas? 

Leaders for DL included Kaydence Thorsteinson with two goals and Talyn Anderson with 42 saves in goal. 

Onward to more MBA victories, we hope!

Media note: The popular "Minnesota Scores" website seems to assume that all home games are at "Benson Civic Center." They aren't attuned, I guess, to how we have two home ice places. Maybe someone could give them a heads-up on this. I hope I haven't been fooled on this in my own writing in the past, but I may well have been.

 

Free at last! We rejoice Brittney Griner, free at last from Russian detention!

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com