John Fitzgerald Kennedy would have been 100

I’m old enough to (barely) remember Dwight Eisenhowever as President. But I was paying attention during the 1960 Presidential campaign. I don’t recall having a strong preference between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon initially.

I became sympathetic towards JFK after he gave a speech about his Catholic faith in September 1960 in Houston, TX. It seemed unfair then, and now, that he was forced to defend his religion and his participation in it.

Photowannabe’s high school band played and marched down Pennsylvania Avenue for President Kennedy’s Inauguration Parade.

I liked the Kennedys in the White House. They had a couple children, Caroline, a little older than my baby sister, and the baby, John, Jr., who was born just after the election.

I wasn’t paying attention to the disastrous Bay of Pigs incursion in Cuba in April 1961. But all of us were aware of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, because we had the vague feeling that because of…WHATEVER was happening, we could end up at war, perhaps in the United States.

The cliche that there was a picture of JFK, MLK Jr and Jesus in every black home was an exaggeration, but I surely saw the phenomenon many times. In terms of the 35th president, it seemed more for his POTENTIAL for aiding the civil rights movement, which, by the last year of his life, I was paying a lot of attention to.

Here’s a factoid: “After a meeting with the National Council of Senior Citizens, President John F. Kennedy encouraged all Americans to pay tribute to older people across the country by designating May 1963 as Senior Citizens Month. Every president since has issued a formal proclamation during or before the month of May in support of older Americans.”

I do recall, with some detail, the death of Patrick Kennedy in August 1963, at less than two days old. This made me incredibly sad.

Of course, the shooting in Dallas was etched in the minds of everyone above a certain age. Some months later, the Warren Report on the assassination was released, with excerpts appearing in the local newspaper. I cut out those pages and taped them on paper which I then put in a three-ring binder. I still have that binder in the attic somewhere.

It was only later I thought, it wasn’t even supposed to be John that his father would groom to be President, it was supposed to be Joe, Jr. But he died in the war,the same one that almost took Jack’s life as well.

Of course, there are a bunch of centennial stories out there, from the Kennedy Center and Celebrate JFK at 100 by walking in his footsteps, e.g. Or Inside the Scandalous Life of JFK’s Sister, Kick Kennedy.

Jackie was right: Camelot was over on 11/22/1963. I didn’t know what that meant at the time, but surely I felt it, that loss of innocence and possibility. Lyndon Johnson undoubtedly achieved more for civil rights, using the slain leader as a prod for Congress to take the right action. But things would never be the same.

I collected as many Kennedy 50-cent pieces as I could, which were – alas- stolen, because I wanted to, quite literally, hold onto that time as long as I could.

Spring 2017 HIV Home Test Giveaway

From the New York State Department of Health, AIDS Institute

CAMPAIGN FAST FACTS:
· Free HIV Home Test Giveaway for all eligible participants
o Test technology: OraQuick® in-home HIV self-test (oral fluid)
§ For additional information related to the HIV in-home test click here.
· Campaign dates: May 24th through July 7, 2017
· All campaign messages and participant communication are available in English and Spanish
· NYSDOH will advertise on the NYSDOH Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr pages, on the Gay Ad Network, and via geosocial mobile apps (e.g., Grindr, Scruff).
· All New York State residents that meet the eligibility criteria are able to get a free test
o Eligibility is determined by self-reported characteristics of the following criteria:
§ Gay men, MSM, and transgender or other-gender people who have sex with men
§ 18 years and older
§ Never been diagnosed with HIV
§ Reside in NYS, excluding the 5 boroughs for the NYS giveaway
o If participants are determined to be ineligible they will be referred to the NYSDOH AI website where there will be additional resources and information related to HIV testing

· All eligible participants will be sent a follow-up survey via email
o The survey should take about 10 to 15 minutes to complete
o The survey asks about:
§ Experiences with the home HIV test
§ Sex life and other behaviors
§ Experiences with HIV prevention medicine (PrEP/PEP)
o All participants who complete the follow-up survey are eligible for an incentive
§ $20 Amazon e-gift card
§ One card per email address
§ Emailed out to participants at the end of the campaign with instructions on how to redeem

CONFIDENTIALITY is key to the HHTG team:
o Participation is voluntary
o Data collected will be strictly protected and kept confidential throughout the project period
o All identifying information, including the participant’s email address for receiving the electronic gift card, will be destroyed once the project comes to an end
o NYSDOH staff will not share identifying information with anyone
o By completing and submitting the online survey, participants are giving consent to participate in the evaluation survey and for the information provided to be used for evaluation purposes.

If there are any questions or concerns, please contact Meg Johnson- megan.johnson@health.ny.gov or Sue Flavin – susan.flavin@health.ny.gov or (518)473-8043 or email hhtg@health.ny.gov.

Memorial Day 2017: a worrying recklessness

“His bluster creates a generalized anxiety such that the President of the United States can appear to be scarcely more reliable than any of the world’s autocrats.”

One of the things I want in life more than almost anything is a government that does not, willy nilly, add to the number of people that we remember each year on Memorial Day.

There was a point in the last couple months where the sabre-rattling made me fear that the United States might be going to war in North Korea. AND Syria. AND Iran. Possibly at the same time. OK, we’re already fighting in Syria, but I mean against the Syrian government.

The notion that the current regime wants to increase military spending by tens of billions of dollars is troubling enough. The fact that the plan has been offered by an amateur chicken hawk bereft of military experience is terrifying. Yes, he has some military brass in his Cabinet, and indeed, arguably, an overabundance of them. But the defense of the United States is supposedly under civilian control.

From The Atlantic, way back in December 2016: “‘Appointing too many generals would throw off the balance of a system that for good reason favors civilian leadership,’ writes The New York Times’ Carol Giacomo. ‘The concern is not so much that military leaders might drag the country into more wars. It is that the Pentagon, with its nearly $600 billion budget, already exercises vast sway in national security policymaking and dwarfs the State Department in resources.’ In The Washington Post, Phillip Carter and Loren DeJonge Schulman warn that ‘great generals don’t always make great Cabinet officials’ and add that ‘relying on the brass, however individually talented, to run so much of the government could also jeopardize civil-military relations.'”

And when the person purportedly in charge doesn’t seem to stand by the very words he says, it’s a scary time. He praises international strongmen, such as in the Phillippines and even, seemingly, North Korea.

The New Yorker’s David Remick: He “flouts truth… so brazenly that he undermines the country he has been elected to serve and the stability he is pledged to insure. His bluster creates a generalized anxiety such that the President of the United States can appear to be scarcely more reliable than any of the world’s autocrats… When [he] rushes to congratulate Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for passing a referendum that bolsters autocratic rule in Turkey—or when a sullen and insulting meeting with Angela Merkel is followed by a swoon session with Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the military dictator of Egypt—how are the supporters of liberal and democratic values throughout Europe meant to react to American leadership?”

This letter to the editor of the News Tribute gets to my concerns: “The administration displays a worrying recklessness, and disregard for both international law and constitutional separation of powers. These actions threaten our security and democratic governance. The administration appears to have no/little concern for diplomatic means to conflict resolution.”

My hope and prayer is that the reckless policy does not add to the numbers we memorialize today, but based on history, that is an unrealistic wish.

See what condition my condition was in

Some of you have asked what was the condition my blog between about 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. on Sunday, November 20, Eastern Standard Time, which is who knows when where you are.

I saw this DNS page when I got up:

I emailed the provider at some point early that morning, but then I was in church for several hours, and I didn’t get home until 2 p.m. Around 11:30 a.m., I had received a message that the blog was fixed, but I couldn’t see it, literally.

Briefly, though, I could actually access an altered version of my blog – no pics – long enough to actually copy the text of my current post and throw it on my Times Union blog.

Soon, even that ability went away, and I got first:

Error 520 Ray ID: 304f0526d2f8220a • 2016-11-20 21:33:25 UTC

Web server is returning an unknown error

Then back to the weird ad shots.

When you’re IN the situation, you don’t always record the situation, and afterward, one may not wish to revisit it. Fortunately, the wise and wonderful Dustbury explains it rather fully HERE, and note my comment there as well.

OBVIOUSLY, I need to post the song Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In). It was [listen to all] , written by Mickey Newbury, “recorded… by Teddy Hill & the Southern Soul, [covered by] Jerry Lee Lewis… and a hit for Kenny Rogers and the First Edition.”

The Lydster: are we bad parents?

I came across this article 8 Things Kids Need to Do By Themselves Before They’re 13. The premise is this: “How do we raise competent adults if we’re always doing everything for our kids? Walk away from doing these 8 things for your teen this school year.”

How did the Daughter’s parents do?

1. Waking them up in the morning

Guilty, and it’s usually me. I think it’s a function of the fact that I HATE waking up to the alarm clock, which I hear every weekday morning, not for MY sake, but for my wife’s. The Daughter DOES wake up occasionally on her own.

It’s been a real change from sixth grade, when she could literally wake up 20 minutes before school started, still getting there before the late bell, and now, which involves taking the bus, which sometimes comes early.

I HAVE stopped repeatedly nudging her, though, because that was too exhausting for ME!

2. Making their breakfast and packing their lunch

She usually gets lunch at school, and she could get breakfast if necessary. Still, I’d rather make breakfast, because the cleanup afterwards is much less for me. And left to her own devices, she might just ea that pizza for breakfast that I was planning for lunch.

3. Filling out their paperwork

The only really complicated one involves names and phone numbers of our friends and relatives as emergency contacts. I’m just happy she brings out the paperwork in a more timely fashion, usually.

4. Delivering their forgotten items

I have done that once recently, before a field trip when she needed money to eat lunch on a field trip. I delivered her cash just in time, and I received a rare public hug. OK, I’ll try to do better.

5. Making their failure to plan your emergency

This tends to be more her mother’s failing, getting stuff for her she needs at the last minute, but the Daughter has gotten much better over the school year.

6. Doing all of their laundry

Her mother does do most of the laundry, period. But the summer will be a good opportunity for Clothes Washing 101.

7. Emailing and calling their teachers and coaches

Interesting, a couple teachers have contacted US, saying the Daughter is doing well.

8. Meddling in their academics

In the first marking period, she was doing less well in her favorite subject, probably because she hadn’t handed in some homework she had actually completed. I know this because I’ve sat with her when she did it. But I never got involved with her teachers, mostly because keeping track of her 12 classes in 8 periods was too complicated for ME. And she’s come to do more of her school work on her own.

I’ll admit, though, that I like knowing what she’s learning. 7th grade math that I wasn’t doing until 9th grade. Manifest Destiny, NOT as a given good. And there’s the occasional exercise I find annoying, such as finding words in a puzzle across, down and diagonally, the learning value of which I found dubious; both her parents helped her find those backwards diagonals.

Boy, are we the terrible parents or what? To be fair, she has learned a lot about self-reliance this year, and I’m guessing next year will be more of the same.

The year after that, she’ll be going to high school, and she’ll be able to walk there, which I am looking forward to, a lot.