Stone Cold

“If you piss me off, Donald Trump, I’ll open an eight-billion-dollar can of whoop ass and serve it to ya.”  Stone Cold Steve Austin

In 2007, at WrestleMania 23, Donald Trump got in the ring with wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin and as a publicity stunt was the recipient of Austin’s signature move, the Stunner.  Another one of Austin’s gimmicks was to pour two cans of beer toward his mouth at the same time and douse himself with the contents.  Twenty years before, Trump promoted WrestleMania events in Atlantic City in hopes of boosting casino revenue at the Trump Taj Mahal, which nonetheless filed for bankruptcy in 1991.  Last July in a tweet that originally appeared on the rightwing site Reddit (posted by user HansAssholeSolo), Trump used footage from one such event where he body-slammed WWE owner Vince McMahon only the figure had a CNN logo over its face.  CNN responded that it was “a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters.”

At a Chesterton show choirs Open Mike fundraiser held at Val’s Famous Pizza and Grinders, Becca sang “Stone Cold” by Demi Lovato, a breakup song that starts out, “Stone cold, stone cold, you see me standing, but I’m dying on the floor.” Dave backed her up on guitar.  

Christina Hale spoke at IUN’s Women’s Center on the topic “Yes, You Too: What To Do When You Want To Set Your Hair On Fire.” Formerly a Democratic State Representative and candidate for lieutenant-governor in 2016 as John Gregg’s running mate, she described herself as a 46-year-old Latina native of Michigan City and former single mother who graduated from Purdue Northwest and is still paying off her student debt. She is presently CEO of Leadership Indianapolis, whose mission is to recruit and develop community leaders. She was dozing on a plane in rural China when she felt a hand on her breasts. Next to her, the culprit was masturbating.  She tried to report what happened but nobody would listen until she boarded her subsequent flight.  The pilot warned that if she pressed the matter, she might be detained for hours by Chinese authorities and miss her flight. Anxious to get home, she demurred, but the incident brought home to her why many victims fail to report sexual assaults due to the unpleasant consequences.

In addition to talking about the value of the Me, Too Movement, Hale described the frustrations of being in the distinct minority in the Hoosier statehouse.  Republican lawmakers recently made it illegal for people to tattoo their eyeballs but avoided passing legislation defining sexual consent.  In rural Wayne County, she said, ten percent of newborn babies suffer from opiate addiction, and on highway signs FARM stands for “Find and Report Meth.”  Millionaires buying private planes need not worry about sales tax, while struggling mothers pay duties on diapers and tampons.  The onetime reporter is a board member for the Indiana Humanities, the Indiana Commission on Latino Affairs, the Domestic Violence Network, and the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault. When she apologized if she made Chancellor Lowe uneasy bringing up tampons, he said no problem, he has a wife and daughter.

In the audience were students from two Sociology classes, plus several faculty, including Philosopher Anja Matwijkiw.  When Christina asked for questions, nobody initially responded until one of the few males in the audience spoke up, which got things going.  I kept silent but afterwards thanked the speaker and added that, while I agreed with her on the need for new blood in politics, people in the Region will sorely miss retiring  State Representative Linda Lawson, a former police officer and IUN grad.

Joining our Chesterton bridge group were Unit 154 president Gary Chaney and Fort Wayne sectional chair Kim Grant, who presented certificates of accomplishment to Terry Bauer and Chuck and Marcy Tomes. In the hand that kept me thinking afterwards, Dee Van Bebber opened a Spade.  I had five Hearts to the Queen, Ace, King and two other Clubs, 3 Diamonds to the Queen, and a singleton Spade.  I bid 2 Hearts, Dee responded 2 Spades, and I jumped to 3 No-Trump.  Dee had 6 Spades Ace, Queen Jack, Ace spot of Hearts, 4 little Diamonds, and one little Club.  With only 22 combined points, we were in trouble, especially after Chuck Tomes led a Club and my Spade finesse failed.  Marcy led back a Club, which Chuck took, and then forced my Club Ace.  I crossed to the board with a Heart and led out the remaining Spades, which fortunately broke 3-3.  Still, I needed one more trick with a bare Queen of Hearts and a Queen-3 of Diamonds left in my hand and both red Kings out against me.  Marcy took my Diamond lead from the board with her Ace and cashed a good Club.  When I played my Heart Queen on it, Chuck discarded his Heart King, keeping a Diamond King over my Queen.  Marcy then led the 8 of Hearts, which beat dummy’s Heart 7.  So close but no cigar!  It turned out that we ended up with the second highest board since other couples went down 2 or 3.

Brenda Ann Love reports: 

Today I thought I may have seen one of three things: 1) a dick measuring contest; 2) a circle jerk; or 3) a literal pissing contest. To give some context, there were three men standing in a circle down the alley. There seemed to be quite a bit of tittering, which could explain any of the three things above.  Upon discussing the above with Sam, he explained to me that they were most likely just three dudes smoking a joint, something he used to catch his students doing back in the day.  My mind is clearly in the gutter.

Ray Smock posted this assessment of House Speaker Paul Ryan, who claims he wants to spend more time with his family but will likely take a lucrative position as a corporate lackey.  As bridge buddy Helen Booth puts it, he is the latest rat abandoning the sinking ship of state:

    Paul Ryan will not seek re-election. The speculation about this is over. He never liked the job and it never fit him well. As the former House Historian who worked with three Speakers, I hereby dub him: The Reluctant Speaker. He was reluctant to take the job. He was reluctant to challenge members of his own party in the so-called Freedom Caucus. He was reluctant to cooperate across the aisle. And he was very reluctant to challenge our demagogue president. Furthermore, he has been reluctant to use his constitutional office to help set the national agenda. He was never able to get the House to work using the regular order of business. He bears a good deal of the blame for the terrible dysfunction in the House during his tenure.

 B-24 Liberator at Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson

At bowling Chris Pfeiffer showed me a WW II-era publication called Tucson Liberatorthat contained a photo of his mother and other defense workers who belonged to a bowling team, as well as other memorabilia.  There is a good chance that she was a real life Rosie the Riveter working on B-24 Liberator planes.  I told his to get in contact with the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tuscon, Arizona, as curators there might be interested in what he discovered.

“Straight Man” takes place in a distressed Pennsylvania city Richard Russo calls Railton, whose demoralized workers, the author writes, “have gone from unemployment to subsistence checks and whose marauding kids roam the streets at night marking time until they’ll be old enough to acquire the fake IDs that will allow them to climb on barstools next to their sad parents in seedy neighborhood taverns that sport out-of-date beer signs in their dark windows.”

 Betty Dominguez at right and below

Jerry Davich moderated a debate held at IUN’s Bergland Auditorium among the candidates running for Lake County sheriff.  He had audience members submit questions and chose the ones he felt were most germane.  Rather than ask for a closing statement, he asked each what their greatest regret in life was.  Richard Ligon said that it was waiting 45 years to get married.  Betty Dominguez, who I’d vote for if I lived in Lake County, said she didn’t have any.  

Longest Day

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.”  Coach Jim Valvano

Phil Lane with Miranda, Alissa, Tori  and Anthony; photo by Delia Soto-Lane

"The Longest Day" (1962) was a rather over-dramatic account of D-Day with big-name stars of a half-century ago, such as Richard Burton, John Wayne, and Robert Mitchum, but the phrase also refers to the summer solstice that literally results in the occurrence of the longest day of the year.

On Fathers Day I got calls from Phil and Dave as well as granddaughter Alissa, who had her dad’s family over for spring rolls and the seventh game of the NBA finals won by Cleveland, led by “King” Lebron James, the series leader in scoring, rebounds, blocks, and assists.

In “Couple share lifelong love of Miller Beach” Post-Trib columnist Jeff Manes  reported that Judy Ayers donated cookbooks to the Calumet Regional Archives.  Judy told him:

              My mother, Barbara Neal, was the owner of Barbara's Cover Girl Beauty Shop for 40 years and her business was always on Lake Street. For most of those years, it was located next to Ayers Realtors where she rented her side of the store from Gene.

Mom's patrons, ladies from Miller, Gary, Ogden Dunes, Portage and Lake Station, sold their community or church cookbooks as fundraisers. My mother bought them to support her customers and their causes. In each cookbook there was the history of the church or organization. After every recipe was the name of who contributed it.

It was always fun to see the recipes friends and neighbors served their families. Many years later, the cookbooks and the names of the recipe contributors serve as reminders of the ladies my mother knew.

In 1922 N. Guy Ayers, Gene’s great-uncle, hung out a shingle to launch Ayers Realty.  Gene’s father Bruce joined the business in 1946 after serving in World War II.  Gene, like Judy a 1965 Wirt High School grad, said:

            When I was really young, we lived in Aetna. They hadn't yet built the 1950s Fifield-Aetna houses, so we lived on Aetna Street at the end of a sand dune. The Fifields took raw land and subdivided it into all those inexpensive homes that were built in that post-war era. Close to 70 percent of the houses in Miller were built from '46 to '66.

My father was in partnership with some people who were going to build a workingman's lakefront housing project where Bethlehem Steel (ArcelorMital) is now. It was going to be called Duna Beach, but Dad's partner became gravely ill and Duna Beach never happened.

At Tom Eaton’s for bridge Pat Cronin mentioned that she is in a knitting club with Judy Ayers.  Last year the group made a hundred caps for kids with cancer.  I finished second to Brian Barnes, who with wife Connie will host next month’s get together.  A great cook, Eaton served Bavarian cream cake.

At Primary Care to renew three blood pressure prescriptions, I learned that Dr. Ostroski's daughter is teaching in the Nursing Department at Valparaiso University.  I wonder if she’s met Chemistry professor Julie Peller, John Ban’s daughter, who who left IUN after getting screwed over for promotion by the old boy network.  I was tempted to suggest that Len  quit the rat race and see about becoming a professor at IUN Medical School.

Chesterton High School hosted a ceremony in honor of 2014 grad Mitchell Alexander Winey, who drowned in Texas along with 8 others in a military training accident when floodwaters washed their transport truck from what was supposed to be a shallow crossing.  Class president and captain of Chesterton’s soccer team, Winey was a West Point cadet.  During the ceremony Indiana senator Joe Donnelly remarked: “I will never make a better nomination or make an easier one than this one [to the military academy.]”

Funeral services took place over the weekend for many of the 49 victims of the terrorist attack in Orlando.  Because it occurred on Latin Night and approximately half of the dead were Puerto Rican, Attorney-General Loretta Lynch announced that the FBI is investigating whether it was a hate crime against Latinos as well as gays.

 

NWI Times photo by John Luke 

Members of the Pokagon band of Potawatomi Indians held a blessing to Mother Nature at the waters of Lake George at Festival Park in Hobart.  NWI Times reporter Chas Reilly wrote:

         The Potawatomi prayed for the healing of the water and those participating in the ceremony at Festival Park.

They used rattles and drums to keep time as they sang. During one song, a copper kettle filled with water was held toward the sky. The large crowd that gathered was later given water from that kettle to drink.

Bob and Rhea Laramie

I attended a party at Woodland Park for Portage High School grad Stephanie Laramie, who will be a freshman at Vincennes University in the fall.  Her grandfather, Bob Laramie, coached Phil on several youth soccer teams, and we reminisced about highlights from years past.  Bob knew the names of all 16 of his grandchildren and his 24 great-grandchildren, many of whom he introduced me to.  On hand was an IUN History major (Tyler) whom I knew from Jonathyne Briggs and Nicole Anslover’s classes.  For Fathers Day son Bobby gave Bob, a former steelworker, “Steel Giants” and said one of the authors had signed it, not Steve McShane but Gary Wilk, who had been at a booth with wife Nancy at European Market.

At the Democratic state convention in Indianapolis John Gregg was nominated to oppose Governor Mike Pence along with running mate Christina Hale, a Michigan City native.  East Chicago former judge Lorenzo Arredondo is the party’s attorney-generalnominee, and Glenda Ritz will seek a second term as superintendent of public instruction.

The Cubs swept the Pirates, and Anthony Rizzo pulled off an unusual play that I’ve long advocated.  On first with bases loaded and two out Ben Zobrist hit a grounder to deep short.  Rather than side, Rizzo ran to second in full stride and beat the throw.  He got tagged out overrunning the base, but the man on third, reaching home beforehand, scored.

Adam Hochschild's “Spain in Our Hearts” profiles American volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, many of whom were demonized during the Red Scare as "Premature Anti-Fascists." Robert Merriman, the son of a lumberjack, received a grant to study in the Soviet Union during the Great Depression while a grad student at the University of California.   One of his Economics professors at Berkeley was Paul S. Taylor, whose account of Mexican-American steelworkers in the Calumet Region Ed Escobar and I excerpted in “Forging a Community.”  Taylor’s wife was photographer Dorothea Lange.

Dorothea Lange; photo by Paul S. Taylor