Once again as I sit down at my laptop, gather myriad notes on scraps of paper, lay my cell phone next to me for photo access, place my fingers on the qwerty and then ask myself “What goes in and what stays out?” (For those unaware, qwerty is the order of the first six letters on most keyboards; there were other letter arrangements once but Typing 1 class at KCHS back in 1967 is too far in the past to offer more information on that. But I digress.) I will start with just a few sentences that would have appeared last week had I put out a column last week; for those who didn’t notice, I did not.
In keeping with February’s designation as Black History Month, I sought out information I was not taught in public school nor was depicted in books, movies or television. It did not take long to come across the name Bass Reeves, who was the model for Western lawman hero the Lone Ranger. My generation knew the Lone Ranger from television when we heard the rousing music of Rossini’s “The William Tell Overture,” followed by the masked man’s command of “Hi ho, Silver! Away!” The main character was, as the title says, a lone Texas Ranger, traveling with his sidekick Tonto, a generic Indian, upholding the law in a lawless environment. It was a popular Western show like many others of the era, and just as inaccurate in many aspects of real Western life.
The main thing the white boys in charge of television programming at that time were not going to showcase the achievements of a Black man, and Bass Reeves was most assuredly that. Born into slavery in 1838 in Arkansas, his owner relocated to Texas where sometime in 1862 he escaped into Indian Territory where he lived among the tribes, learning to speak four different Plains Indian dialects. In 1875, he signed on as a U.S. Deputy Marshall working under Judge Isaac Parker out of Fort Smith, Ark. For the next 32 years, Reeves rode the 75,000 square miles of Outlaw Territory (most of Oklahoma and large parts of Arkansas) making over 3,000 arrests and killing between 17-20 men before retirement; he died at age 71 years. In 2023, Netflix ran a series on Bass Reeves, the first time many people became aware of Black lawmen of the Old West.
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Yes, we have no French fries, we have no French fries today. That is a nod to the 1923 song “Yes, we have no bananas”; I use it in reference to Donald Trump’s handling of trade relations with Canada. When our president with his bloated ego set his sights on Canada, claiming they were bad trade partners, the same 70-plus million Republicans who voted for a felon and failed businessman followed suit and soon Canadiens were reacting to a sudden turn in the political and economic antagonism with a boycott of travel to the U.S. That hurt many American businesses who depended upon Canadian dollars to stay afloat; some have gone under.
But not content with his damaging tariffs, our vaunted leader demanded Canada keep feeding the U.S. with their products because he knew, or thought he knew, that U.S. business would win out over Canadian national sovereignty. He was wrong, again. Just like he was wrong when he started Trump University, a crooked endeavor forced to shut down, or Trump Taj Mahal (one of two Trump buildings I have been in) and Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, which went bankrupt because he isn’t as smart as the Mafia, which successfully ran casinos for years because they knew only to skim money off the top, whereas Mr. Trump skimmed it all.
Then there was Trump Castle and Trump Shuttle, both went bankrupt and were afterwards sold off. Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, Trump Magazine, Trump Mortgage and GoTrump.com all failed due to bad management. The man is one of the biggest failures in American business history. And in each of these cases, employees and contractors were left holding the bag, and it was also bankrupt.
And now many more Americans will lose their jobs because Donald J. Trump tried to bully Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney who, unlike our Felon-in-Chief, is a real politician and economist, and the result is no frozen French fries are coming south to the USA. And that is about 87% of all frozen French fries in America. Presently, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Burger King and Five Guys in the Midwest states are going without, and that will have major impact on those businesses. Imagine all those deals that for a couple bucks more you can upgrade your burger with a soda and fries are now gone and how that impact will affect business because Americans eat a whole bunch of French fries every year.
And once again employees will lose their jobs due to the down turn in customers all because Donald Trump never knew the art of the deal, all he has ever known is his own ego-driven management failures, which put people out of work. Never in our 250-year history have we had a man in the Oval Office who claims to love America but truly hates Americans.
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The coming of March means we are getting closer to longer, warmer days, which in turn means more folks will get out and about using foot power either walking or jogging. And it is the intent of the City of King to offer more area for those who seek to walk for exercise or pleasure by upgrading and extending existing paths along the Salinas River basin. City staff working alongside Monterey County and Cal Fire want to hear from the public on this issue, so here is how you may do that: go to City of King official website, which will take you to https://outdoorengage.mysocialpinpoint.com/king-city-salinas-river-trail/english (or spanish). It is your opportunity to have your say.
Take care. Peace.
