Implosion in Georgia

 To be honest, it feels surreal to be living through today. An insurrection at the US Capitol (with one fatality) that disrupted the conduct of business. The Republican Party of Virginia (or at least individual leaders) are condemning the President in his last two weeks of office.

Both US Senate seats in Georgia appear to be going to Democrats Warnock, and yes, Ossoff. The latter seemed to exude the white privilege that has come under scrutiny in recent years: come from money, fail upwards, and be confident that you’re right, even at 33 years of age. (Yes, even Joe Kennedy III hit the wall this year). For him to win is nothing short of an implosion in the Peachtree State. Outgoing President Trump did everything to cause chaos during the campaign, and apparently some of his loyalists sat out this special election in protest. 

Merry Christmas

In a cheap hotel in Marion, Kansas, future news anchor Jim Lehrer's mother gave her sons a few words on Christmas Day, 1946: "I know this is awfully rough on you boys. None of our Christmases have ever been like this. Remember the others and try to forget this one. We're going to be alright. At least we're all together. That's more than a lot of families have". 

In the aftermath of World War Two, Europe and Asia laid in ruins, and millions of Americans were dislocated from their hometowns on account of military service and war work. Gifts and feasts were simpler- sugar was still rationed, and toy makers on a wartime footing.

But out of this war period came great Christmas music, including Bing Crosby's "White Christmas", and Judy Garland's "Have Yourself a Merry Christmas". In lieu of many toys, savings bonds were given as presents: this new tradition continued until bonds went electronic in the last decade. 

In this present year, things have been stripped to basics for the Christmas season: few parties, less travel. I must say this is a good thing, as many stores, including groceries, have chosen to close for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.   Certainly a Merry Christmas for many workers, in spite of the year's challenge. I say this as someone who has worked in 24/7 environment at sea.

References:

We Were Dreamers, book by James Lehrer

Christmas in World War II - The Home Front (sarahsundin.com)

Still No Digital Office?

At the end of an intense had school semester, I tackled the piles of paper on my bookshelf, organizing them into a filing cabinet at home. Anachronistic? You bet. What is the hang-up from embracing full digitalization? 

Security- Those working for the government and in the defense sector find their selection of available collaboration tools to be limited. Marking up PDFs can be done, but third party applications like Slack are not used. 

Portability- Paper is more versatile when a file cannot be transmitted readily due to security concerns. It feels easier to work on a sheet of paper during a 5-10 minute interlude than it is to fire up the work computer. Also, wireless internet service - through WiFi or cellular - is still spotty in many places. 

 Kinematics- It still remains challenging to compare documents between two screens. Perhaps working with one vertical screen and one tablet is the best digital option. In the meanwhile, I continue to use a printout while scanning the computer screen for revisions. 

Cost of omission - I must say that the legal profession has mastered digitalization. For them, the slightest change in wording can tip a costly dispute. Eye fatigue remains a real issue with computer screens, but developments like the eye-friendly Kindle hold promise. 

Cost of software- Adobe democratized the PDF format, but as a business, retained certain controls. Their official, $60 per year software is the only tool that works across all update versions and computers. For information transfer, different databases require plain text, comma separated values, and so forth. Sometimes it’s easier to complete on paper and send it in. 

Incumbency- In my undergraduate studies, correspondence courses completed at sea were for the large part completed in pencil and paper, whether it was writing out nautical “rules of the road” verbatim or performing drawings of engine room equipment. This was meant to prevent cheating, and to eliminate the need for laptops in harsh shipboard environments. Autocad - design drawing software - was relegated to a drafting class instead of being integrated into the curriculum. In the workplace, I sketch on paper and use sticky notes- it’s hard to break old and effective habits. 

Nuances of Law and Order

This year, urban protests and general unrest in society created a mixed reaction in the electorate. In some parts of the country, Trump’s rhetoric of liberal politicians “destroying the suburbs” fell on deaf ears. Elsewhere, it was a resounding success. I have a theory why: as we near the middle of the Suburban Century (summed up by Mark Clapson in 1992), what happens in the inner-city does not physically or vicariously affect the lives of citizens in diverse, self-contained and far-flung suburbs.

Virginia Beach, VA

The Virginia Beach Oceanfront serves as the quintessential, walkable downtown for a military-heavy suburb. This spring and summer, tensions were high as protestors called attention to longstanding law-and-order policing on the beach. Over the Labor Day weekend, local group BLM 757 held its “Shut Down the Oceanfront 3.0” protest. True to form, the police gave citations to protestors who drifted from the sidewalk into the street. As a result of afternoon and night-time activity, families chose alternative locations for rest and relaxation; combined with COVID, this proved harmful to the ecosystem of local beachfront businesses.

At election time, Virginia Beach voted for Joe Biden and Representative Elaine Luria, a Democrat. On the same ticket, incumbent mayor Bobby Dyer, a Republican, was re-elected with 57% of the vote; and “RK” Kowalewitch, a conservative whose campaign signs read: “Law and Order”, won another 5% of the electorate.     

 

Suburban Richmond, VA

The Virginia State Capitol and Supreme Court building in Richmond were targeted by protestors as symbols of conservative political leadership. With much of downtown boarded up, the city provided a backdrop for political advertising. The jarring images did not ‘tip the needle’ in nearby Henrico and Chesterfield counties, who chose Biden and Representative Abigail Spanberger (D) by large margins. Both counties are home to a mix of employment options; heavy industry, light industry, service and some professional work. Freeways criss-cross these suburbs, linking towards northern and southern markets, and the international airport and deep-sea port of Hampton roads. Richmond, home to state government, several universities, and museums, is somewhat irrelevant to new suburbanites. Overall, there was no partisan change in Virginia’s congressional representation this year.    

 

Suburban Atlanta, GA

The land that served as a springboard for one-time House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and other conservative Republicans, helped to tip Georgia for Joe Biden. For 20 years, the Greater Atlanta area has been the nexus of a New Great Migration of African-Americans from the North to the South; the impact in politics, seen by the flipping of congressional seats, is very recent. Atlanta is a city of the New South; sprawling development centers on its record-breaking international airport and its freeways. The firewall between city and suburbs may be crumbling: while decades ago, suburban Gwinnett County blocked subway construction, a referendum for a transit tax may have passed, pending recount.

 

Los Angeles, CA

California is no friend of Donald Trump. But recent years of excessive solicitude given to drug pushers, car thieves and vandals struck a nerve in working and middle-class communities across racial lines. Since the Rodney King riots of 1992, Asian-American small business owners have been concerned about inadequate police protection offered to their communities. Legislation to “defund the police” dug up old pain. Voters in the state narrowly reaffirmed limits on affirmative action in the state, which were first put into effect in 1996; and sent new Republican representatives to Congress.  

 

Long Island, NY

During the George W. Bush years, as war deaths mounted, these traditionalist, conservative-of-the-gut counties questioned its allegiance to the GOP. But this year, as in 2016, their hometown son, Donald J. Trump of Queens, NY, did not produce the electoral revulsion seen in other suburbs of similar educational and demographic profiles.

While it appears that North Shore Rep. Tom Suozzi (D) will retain his long-time seat, his Republican opponent led in early counting. On the blue-collared South Shore, Andrew Garbarino (R) is expected to succeed retiring Rep. Peter King. Lee Zeldin (R) holds his seat in affluent Suffolk County. Nichole Malliotakis (R) has unseated Max Rose (D) in representing Staten Island and part of Brooklyn. These latter three seats were considered toss-ups going into the election. The Long Island suburbs are home to well-paid public servants and tradespeople of a vibrant New York City; COVID shutdowns and Bill de Blasio’s social permissiveness cast a malaise across white-ethnic New York. Upward mobility of strivers, from immigrant grandparents to civil service to Wall Street, created an unwavering patriotism and belief in the institutions of America. This legacy was challenged in 2020 by politicians on the left, who maintain that this upward mobility was not fueled by grit, but by systemic racism and unchecked privilege.     

The Real Problem with Warrior Culture: a Cult of the Self

 In certain parts of the commentariat, it is now common to criticize the large presence of recently-returned veterans in the police force, which stands at 1-in-5. Supposedly, they bring home the rules of war: to occupy and to conquer. I do not see veterans in the police force as a problem in itself, since citizen-soldiers have routinely joined the blue line for generations. Where I see room for concern is in how the professional soldier-turned-policeman divorces themselves from life in the civilian world.

During the Cold War, military service- as a servicemember or family member- was a shared experience in every tier of society. The average enlistment was 2-3 years. A soldier would return to his community ties, and find employment with honor established through performing his national duty.  

Today, because of advanced military training requirements, a single enlistment lasts 4-6 years. The world moves faster, the average citizen more mobile, and social media divides geographic communities into tribes. The soldier, especially the combat vet who served multiple enlistments, becomes part of the Warrior Community, mentally separate from the civilian world. This identity applies whether on active duty, on disability pension, in the national security sector or local police. This virtual community has its memes, jokes, common understanding, and values. In contrast to warrior classes of past societies, the American warrior is somewhat detached from the real-politics of institutional power, a holdover from the age of the citizen-soldier.

There are veterans who eagerly reintegrate into civilian society. This has been a national priority since the demobilization after WWII. As a result of GI Bills in 1944 and 2005, the veteran today brings resources to the economy that few younger adults have. Their college education is paid in full, and they have access to good mortgages and business loans. Meanwhile, America's general workforce readiness is in decline: fewer citizens are ready, willing and able to perform in the workplace. Veterans today are hired for the right reasons: proven reliability, hardworking, fit, and with transferable skills. 

The Warrior Community is then one  for a sense of belonging. In previous conflicts, a two-week ocean voyage demarcated the return from the warzone to the homefront. Dislocation was first observed in Vietnam veterans, the first to return home alone on airplanes. Today, the distance is even shorter, as a veteran at home can Skype his friend on the frontlines; and he himself could be recalled to the war zone on 48-hour notice, as a contractor, expeditionary civilian, or reservist. While these post-deployment opportunities are often financially rewarding, the mostly invisible war comes home to the kitchen table. 

Beyond this reality is self-identification. I have curated small libraries onboard warships. Beside the yellowing dime novels were leadership titles with troubling themes.  

-There is the identity of the sheep-dog, protecting sheep (regular people) from wolves (terrorists abroad, street thugs at home). 

-Belonging to a "tribe" is characterized as a binary, all-or-nothing subscription: an 80% ally is nonetheless a traitor to the cause. 

-You are either a superstar or a mediocre failure. 

-One must have a brand of the self. 

- Glorification of lone Special Operations Forces

-"Agile Project Management", with a focus on small, high-performing teams, is taught in STEM colleges. 

Even the Army put out a short-lived campaign advertising "An Army of One", forgetting that only large-scale teamwork liberated Europe and Asia from tyranny. 

In reality, each person works within a larger system of society, and within which is an amalgamation of overlapping communities, tensions and motivators. The Warrior Community operates in a vacuumed ideal. Military housing today reflects the perfect but fictional Mayberry of yesteryear; and beliefs in spartan autonomy can only be practiced in unspoiled wilderness areas. The culture of the warrior must evolve away from the cult of the individual, but reflect the individual as part of the team as part of the whole.

How does this work into present day policing controversies? Many of the shocking misuses of authority, against suspects and innocents, were caused by individuals insulated from wider community interests. Neither were they team players within the police force, who would heed peer advice. As much as it is important for police departments to use community-based policing to integrate with the communities they serve; it is important for individual officers to truly join the community, whether they gained life experience in Baghdad or in Boston.   

     

A Brief History of the Payphone: 1984 to Today

 

This story begins in 1984, around the time of Bell Telephone’s breakup. That year was when the FCC deregulated interstate payphone service, although some states like Illinois and New York maintained strict regulations and taxes for local calls. During this decade and the 1990’s, a multitude of business owners, including shops and restaurant owners, installed payphones as a profit-generating mechanism (NY Times). The most enduring payphone of this deregulated era is the Protel 7000, last revised in 2002, and which can be found as “new unused stock” on two specialty websites. It turned out to be a reliable and easy-to-repair design. The model incorporated integrated circuits, and originally sold for $1,600 or so per unit; today the price is $300 per unit.

According to Pew Research, cell phone adaption in the US has increased from 60% to 95% from 2004 to present times. A decline in the number of payphones was first recorded in 2002, and over the past 3 years, the FCC has also noted that payphone revenue has decreased from 300 million to 250 million. The declining cost of long-distance calling meant that organizations such as hospitals and airports have set up no-cost phones. Without a coin mechanism, these are easier to maintain and replace.

Payphones continue to have a use where cell phones are prohibited, expensive or useless. Prisons, rural areas, courthouses, immigrant communities (who use low-rate phone cards to dial their home countries) are among current users. The last installation I have been able to find was in a North Carolina courthouse in 2014, where a new cell phone prohibition was put into place. Other devices have been labelled as “public interest payphones”, such as in New Jersey, where the state’s transit authority subsidizes payphones at transit centers.

Payphones may survive indefinitely in public buildings, at least while spare parts are still available. Under the PBX system, where a large number of office or hotel room phones route to a few outgoing lines (“Please dial your party’s extension”…”All lines are busy, please try again later”), there is no monthly cost to maintain a payphone. On the street, a payphone requires and individual line, which ups the margin of sustainability to three calls per day.

As of 2018, New York City possessed one-fifth of the United States’ 100,000 payphones. By a single action of the metropolis’ City Council, there are perhaps only 85,000 payphones left in the US. New York City has converted most payphones to free Wi-Fi, information kiosk, and telephone service under the name “City Link”. The most frequent call is made to the state’s EBT benefits hotline. This single-franchise system is subsidized by advertising revenue from CBS Outdoors, which had supported the city’s payphone network long after it had been dismantled in other cities. (NY Times).  New York City’s independent payphone operators, who emerged after major provider Verizon left the payphone business in 2011, were put out of work: “I guess I can become a taxi driver, later”, John Porter quipped. In other locales, the rules are more laissez-faire, and providers are free to enter and leave the trade. A private initiative, “Futel”, aimed at preserving payphones in the name of personal privacy and anonymity, has begun in Portland Oregon.

In theory, the payphone is an essential public service during a prolonged blackout. This was proven to be a benefit after Hurricane Sandy hit New York City in 2012. In practice, an average citizen without electricity could charge their cellphone using a car’s power port. With declining availability and reliability of the payphone network, citizens switched to using cell phones, a phenomenon recorded as early as 2003.  

I was last a regular payphone user in 2007, when my parents gave me my first cell phone. I last used a payphone in 2016, when my Apple iPhone had failed, leaving me stranded at an exurban trailer park after Sunday mass (I used Uber to get there, and needed a taxi to get back to the ship). What prompted my newfound interest in the old technology? I had a payphone in basement storage, which I had to move by June 1. I had purchased it on a whim two years earlier, fearing that it was the last chance to buy such a device. Weighing 50 pounds, I refused to store it on the second floor, so mounting it outside was the only sensible option. Intrinsically, it is an electronic device operating outside. Parts break, like the solenoid that I had to replace after two years in storage. There is a real possibility that I will lose the time and focus to service the device.

As a marine engineer, working with digital devices was a weak spot in my education and work. I had always deferred that work to shipboard electronics technicians, who were often retired from the US Navy. As a payphone owner, I had to run through troubleshooting procedures myself. 1990’s style programming, still used onboard many ships, was demystified enough for me.

When talking to the landline phone company, I was offered the “lowest business rate”, as required under state law; a savings of approximately $20 per month for a landline. The phone company (“incumbent local carrier”) also provided free use of the payphone booth, and additional assistance in repairing the line at no cost. As a selling point, I was offered a monthly contract, so I could pull this experiment at any time.

I got my hands wet in regulatory compliance. Reading the Code of Virginia and visiting the State Corporation Commission website, I paid my $4 payphone tax, and insert a “booth card” with the statutory language. More or less, I also gained experience in talking with the curious public.

While servicing my payphone, I had my first encounter with a Karen, or a neighbor who regularly calls law enforcement over quality-of-life issues. A concerned citizen had called the police about “someone messing with the payphone”. I had the proper keys, no big deal. The police officer, slightly younger than me, was impressed that somebody was practicing “a lost art”, an archaic trade that I recently learned.

 

References

Video Documentaries:

Dead Ringer, 2016. 

The Pay Phone Repairmen of New York City, Mashable, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH-FqLdqWLo

Hang Up, Hugo Massa, 2014.

https://vimeo.com/95554820

Articles:

A Payphone Can Be Yours and the Toll is Negotiable, NY Times, 1/18/1986

There are still 100,000 Pay Phones in America, CNN Business, 3/19/2018

https://money.cnn.com/2018/03/19/news/companies/pay-phones/index.html

What are those tall kiosks that have replaced payphones in New York?, NY Times, 1/11/2018

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/nyregion/what-are-those-tall-kiosks-that-have-replaced-pay-phones-in-new-york.html

On the Reasonable Use of Force

 

Duty to Retreat

In contrast to the Wild West, crowded East Coast cities discouraged the possession and use of weapons in self-defense, especially among the often-immigrant proletariat. In the book “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”, set in 1910’s New York, a father who shoots a child predator is congratulated by his neighbors and the responding police officer, but was ultimately fined for having an unregistered handgun.

The Baltimore Catechism notably favored state power in the form of just war and capital punishment, over the individual action of self-defense. This statist logic was followed by Congress through the 1990’s, when a decade-long Assault Weapon ban and effective death penalty statues were both put into law to combat crime. On taking a life in self-defense, the Baltimore Catechism (1891) stated: “When we are unjustly attacked and have no other means of saving our own lives”.

 

Castle Doctrine

In the midst of late-1960’s protests, Law-and-Order politicians told anxious voters that “your home is your castle”. Rising crime rates, overtaxed police, and inner-city blight made it more plausible than ever that citizens would need to exercise lethal force to protect their homes and businesses.

Bernie Goetz had had enough in 1984 when he was robbed in a New York City subway car. He fired off his handgun, injuring the four muggers. A New York jury affirmed Bernie Goetz’s right to self-defense, and he was only charged with illegal handgun possession. He earned the title of “Subway Vigilante”. Gary Fadden of Virginia, meanwhile, had the run-through by a prosecutor. Chased down on the country road by two armed drunks, he keyed into his workplace for refuge. Instead, the armed drunks had barged through the gate, and Fadden was forced to take a last stand. As part of his job with the firearm manufacturer, he had a machine gun in his possession, and fired it. “F--- you and your high-powered weapon”, one assailant shouted. Empty bullet casings were found near the assailant’s seat. Fadden was cornered in his workplace. Even so, the prosecutor chose to take Gary Fadden to court. The jury sided with Fadden; this was a clear-cut case of self-defense. While vindicated, Fadden was left with over $30,000 in court costs and legal fees; and ultimately lost his job.

 

Stand-Your-Ground

On the eve of passing its stand-your-ground law, Georgia had to reckon with a ghost in its closet. Lena Baker, a Black woman, was sent to the electric chair in 1945 for using deadly force against a White attacker, who happened to be her employer as a maid. She was posthumously pardoned in 2005, and Georgia’s stand-your-ground law took effect in 2006. Then as now, the benefits of stand-your-ground laws are seen as subject to the whims and prejudices of the jury.

 

What was Kyle Rittenhouse thinking?

Kyle Rittenhouse, age 17, the alleged shooter in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was neither owner, employee, neighbor, nor a duly registered security guard protecting an auto dealership across state lines from his Illinois home. Teen access to firearms has been a contentious issue this past decade. Most recently, the Virginia legislature affirmed the right of a 14-year old to use a firearm in home defense. (The premise of the new law is that firearms must now be secured from children under 14).

 Most likely, Rittenhouse was a teenager caught in the tenor of the times. In 1976, 17-year old Joseph Rakes jabbed a man with the American flag in protest of Boston school integration. He was later convicted of assault. Rittenhouse, of course, carried a deadly weapon. A Wisconsin jury will decide if the state should lock him up and throw away the key.