The shots of Captain Queeg

 Humphrey Bogart played the part of Captain Queeg in the 1954 movie, “The Caine Mutiny.”

Wikipedia has a detained description of the movie, but a quick summerly can be read in the paragraph below:

·         Plot & Characters: The story follows Ensign Willie Keith, a young officer, serving under the paranoid and insecure Captain Queeg on an old destroyer-minesweeper

 Lt. Maryk, the executive officer, takes command during a typhoon, believing Queeg is mentally incapacitated.

·         The Court-Martial: The core of the story focuses on the trial where Maryk is defended against mutiny charges by lawyer Lt. Greenwald, arguing that removing Queeg was necessary to save the ship.

·         1954 Film Adaptation: Directed by Edward Dmytryk, the film features Humphrey Bogart in an Oscar-nominated performance as Queeg, alongside Jose Ferrer and Van Johnson. It was a major box office success and was nominated for Best Picture.

·         Themes: Wouk’s novel highlights the conflict between strict adherence to authority and the necessity of acting against a flawed leader, while also examining the pressure of war on military personnel

The best example of Queeg’s insanity is the scene involving a quart of strawberries, which you can watch at the link below:

 The Caine Mutiny (1954) - Frozen Strawberries Scene (4/9) | Movieclips

Captain Queeg has a modern counterpart, and it should not be hard to guess who he is.

Former GOP congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene led the furious backlash to President Donald Trump’s foul-mouthed Easter Sunday threat to Iran, writing on social media: “He has gone insane.”

The 79-year-old president raged on his Truth Social platform just after 8 a.m. Sunday morning, writing: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F***in’ Strait, you crazy b*****ds, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!”

He finished the message, posted early on Easter Sunday: “Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

 

 “It’s really difficult to cover him in a way that conveys how unhinged he is,” journalist Aaron Rupar of Public Notice told George Grylls of The Times about President Donald J. Trump. Rupar explained that political journalists are trained to think, “‘OK, what did he say that was newsworthy?’ So you…convey that to your audience. But in reality, when you actually watch his rallies, you see that they’re full of hatred, he’s lying constantly, and a lot of it is incoherent.”

David Graham of the Atlantic had this to say yesterday:

“In an earlier, somewhat more innocent era of Donald Trump’s social-media posting, one could still chuckle darkly at his 2017 declaration that his approach “is not Presidential - it’s MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL.” But as the war in Iran bogs down, his communication has far surpassed the merely bizarre and become entirely unhinged.

 

When Trump feels cornered, I have written, he lashes out most fiercely—which might explain the wild statements and actions emanating from the White House over the past few days.

 

The nadir (for now) was an Easter-morning Truth Social missive in which Trump threatened that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”

Trump reiterated the threat during a press conference this afternoon, saying, “The entire country could be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night.”

Targeting civilian infrastructure such as power plants and bridges is likely illegal. Trump would not be the first U.S. president to flout international law, but he would be the first to advertise it ahead of time on a social-media site he owns. The threat is also strategically dubious. Installing a more pro-American regime in Tehran would require the existence of some authority that is both able to govern and willing to work with Washington; these sorts of strikes, or even threats, make that less likely. (Trump insisted that he’s heard pleas from inside Iran to continue bombing.) And using the threat of martyrdom to scare the religious zealots currently in charge seems possibly counterproductive.

Topping that post will be hard, but this morning the president tried. In a vague and threatening new post, he shared a short clip of a crowd of shoppers—most of whom were people of color, some of whom wore hijab. They were minding their own business and indulging in the quintessentially modern, capitalist American pastime of hanging out at what appears to be Minnesota’s Mall of America, soundtracked with Gary Jules’s rendition of “Mad World” from the Donnie Darko soundtrack.

 

These outbursts come as the administration finds that military might alone is not enough to win a war. Trump is now threatening to attack civilian infrastructure, because nothing else has forced the Iranian government to buckle.

 At the start of the war, he seemed to be feeling smug, emboldened by his quick success in Venezuela, but any sense of joy has evaporated fast. Last week, the president delivered a White House address in which he could have attempted to either deescalate the war or else define what victory would look like. Instead, as my colleague Tom Nichols wrote, Trump did neither.

 

American wars in the Middle East have backfired before, but the negative effects of this one have become apparent at record speed. American and Israeli strikes have killed many top Iranian figures, but the regime remains ensconced—and its control of the Strait of Hormuz suggests that Iran may actually be in a strategically stronger position than at the start of the war. (Iranian leaders today rejected a proposal for a cease-fire.) The U.S. military is burning through ammunition reserves. The likely next step, Thomas Wright argued in The Atlantic last week, is a ground war.

 

I have read roughly 25 books about Trump, and all but one of them (Corey Lewasdosky’s book have either implied or stated specifically that Donald J. Trump is insane.

The best book, though, is “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dangerous_Case_of_Donald_Trump

The authors argue that Trump's mental health affects the mental health of the people of the United States and that he places the country at grave risk of involving it in a war and of undermining democracy itself due to his dangerous pathology.

Consequently, the authors claim that Trump's presidency represents an emergency that not only allows but requires psychiatrists in the United States to raise alarms. While it has been repeatedly claimed that they have broken the American Psychiatric Association's Goldwater rule—according to which it is unethical for psychiatrists to give professional opinions about public figures without examining them in person —the authors maintain that pointing out danger and calling for an evaluation is not diagnosis. They have criticized the APA for changing professional norms and standards, saying it is dangerous to turn reasonable ethical guidelines into a gag rule under political pressure.^[

There are two ways to remove this dangerous man from office prior to January of 2029 -  impeachment and the 25^th amendment.

If you read the paragraphs below, you will realize that neither one if likely to happen anytime soon.

U.S. Representative Tashid Talib was the latest to sound the alarm:

US Rep. Rashida Tlaib on Tuesday urged President Donald Trump’s Cabinet to immediately invoke the 25th Amendment and remove him from office following his genocidal threat to wipe out the “whole civilization” of Iran.

“After bombing a school and massacring young girls, the war criminal in the White House is threatening genocide,” Tlaib (D-Mich.) wrote on social media. “It’s time to invoke the 25th Amendment. This maniac should be removed from office.”

As the paragraph in the link below points out, she is far from the only one holding that opinion.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/25th-amendment-trump?utm_source=Common+Dreams&utm_campaign=860f5e0430-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_01_22_03_27_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-941c0cefb1-601493885

Ratified in 1967, the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution clarifies presidential succession and establishes procedures for handling presidential incapacity or vice-presidential vacancies. It ensures an orderly transfer of power if the president dies, resigns, is removed, or is incapacitated, allowing the Vice President to become President or Acting President. 

The 25th Amendment (Section 4) can be invoked against a U.S. President by the Vice President acting together with a majority of the principal officers of the executive departments (the Cabinet). They must submit a written declaration to Congress stating the President is unable to discharge their powers and duties. 

Bipartisan Policy Center +3

 

• Who Initiates: The Vice President leads this process.
• Who Must Agree: A majority of the Cabinet secretaries (or another body designated by Congress).
• Actionable Step: They submit a written declaration to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House.
• Result: The Vice President immediately becomes the Acting President.
• If the President Contests: If the President declares they are fit, the Vice President and Cabinet have four days to contest this, and Congress must assemble within 48 hours to decide the issue. A two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress is required to keep the Vice President in

 

****************************************

 

Impeachment of a U.S. President is a constitutional process where the House of Representatives formally charges the president with "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors". A simple majority vote in the House impeaches the president, followed by a Senate trial requiring a two-thirds vote for conviction and removal from office. 

U.S. Senate (.gov) +3

 

The Impeachment Process

• Initiation: The House of Representatives holds the sole power to initiate an impeachment inquiry, usually through the Judiciary Committee.
• House Vote: Articles of Impeachment (charges) are drafted and voted on. A simple majority of those present and voting is required to impeach.
• Senate Trial:

 The Senate tries the case. For a president, the Chief Justice of the United States presides.

• Conviction & Removal: A two-thirds supermajority of the Senate is required to convict and remove the president. 

U.S. Senate (.gov) +2

Grounds for Impeachment

• The Constitution (Article II, Section 4) limits grounds for impeachment to treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
• "High crimes and misdemeanors" is generally interpreted to mean serious misconduct, abuse of power, or violation of public trust. 

Library of Congress – Constitution Annotated (.gov) +3

Consequences

• Removal: Conviction results in automatic removal from office.
• Disqualification: The Senate may vote to disqualify the individual from holding future federal office.
• Criminal Charges: Impeachment does not protect a person from subsequent criminal prosecution. 

U.S. Senate (.gov) +2

Historical Context & Examples

• Andrew Johnson (1868): Impeached for violating the Tenure of Office Act; acquitted by one vote in the Senate.
• Bill Clinton (1998): Impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice; acquitted by the Senate.
• Donald Trump (2019 & 2021): Impeached twice—first for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, second for incitement of insurrection. Acquitted by the Senate both times.
• Richard Nixon (1974): Resigned before the House could vote on impeachment articles following the Watergate scandal. 

For now, the most that our fellow American’s can do is to keep attending rallies. Even more important than that is to simply voted for enough Democrats in the 2016 midterms in order to place enough people in congress who can enforce some guardrails before Trump does even more damage.

Although Captain Queeg lost control of the Caine, he never suffered any other consequences, and was evenutally transferred to a naval supply  depot in Iowa.

There are two parallels between Captain Queeg and Donald Trump:

1)    Although Trump was impeached twice, the Senate was unable to get enough votes in either case to remove him from office.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_impeachment_of_Donald_Trump

 

The House of Representatives of the 117th U.S. Congress adopted one article of impeachment against Trump of "incitement of insurrection", stating that he had incited the January 6 attack of the U.S. Capitol. The House impeachment managers formally triggered the start of the impeachment trial on January 25 by delivering to the Senate the charge against Trump.^[1] The trial in the Senate started on February 9.^[2] At the trial in the Senate, 57 senators voted "guilty", which was less than the two-thirds majority needed (67) to convict Trump, and 43 senators voted "not guilty", resulting in Trump being acquitted of the charges on February 13, 2021.^[3

The articles of impeachment were submitted to the Senate on January 16–31, 2020, initiating an impeachment trial. The trial saw no witnesses or documents being subpoenaed, as Republican senators rejected attempts to introduce subpoenas. On February 5, Trump was acquitted on both counts by the Senate, as neither count received 2/3 votes to convict.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_impeachment_of_Donald_Trump

2)   There was little doubt that Captain Queeg was insane, just as there is little doubt that Trump is insane, and his Easter Sunday posting on his social media account is more proof.

If you want more details on Trump’s erratic behavior, the best sources are Rachel Maddow on MSNOW, and Heather Cox Richardson in her newsletter “Letters from an American:

 

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/

 

 

 

 

Vickie

 

Vickie was born on April 3, 1953.

Today would have been her 73^rd birthday, but she never got a chance to celebrate it.

She died of a heart attack on January 14, 2020, just prior to the start of the COVID pandemic.

https://www.twincities.com/2020/01/22/victoria-kiekhafer-66/

 

Vickie shares her birthday with Eddie Murphy (1961), Jane Goodall (1934), Alec Baldwin (1958), and Marlon Brando (1924).

Ironically, her mother (Margaret Lennartson) also died in January, Margaret died on January 16, and my wife and I flew to Minnesota to attend both her funeral and Vicki’s funeral 8 years later.

Although Sharon and I both grew up in Minnesota, we had forgotten how COLD Minnesota can get in the wintertime.

It was close to zero outside when the funerals were held, but the weather was even colder when Sharon’s father, Richard Lennartson, was laid to rest.

The actual temperature at the Fort Snelling cemetery was minus 25 degrees. On the same day, the town of Tower, Minnesota hit -60. To use a military term, that was cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_monkey_(colloquialism)

Vickie was one of the three daughters born during the marriage of Margaret Reif and Richard Lennmarton, and they all got along well.

Sharon’s sister has been a snowbird in Mesa for roughly 8 years, and Vickie and her husband Chet also wintered there a few times.

Over time, the sisters developed different interests.

Although Donna and her husband liked to fish, they were not as zealous as Vickie and Chet, who went to a resort in Rainy Lake every July for more than 25 years.

Their grandfather, Bill Reif, owned a resort in Balsam Lake, Wisconsin, so the girls spent many years at the lake when they were growing up.

Although Sharon did go fishing a few times, her passion, even as a young girl, was reading. She still reads close to 100 books a year.

Donna and her husband Rick both worked at the same job for roughly 40 years, which enabled them to qualify for defined benefit retirement plans, which are very rare todays. That pension allows them to enjoy a comfortable retirement at a resort in Mesa, Arizona during the winter months.

Donna’s gift is being a “social butterfly”. She and Rick frequently play card games, and both are very active in church activities. Donna is also a creative person, and the greeting cards that she produces are better than most of the cards you would find in a Hallmark store.

Like Donna, Sharon is a master of organizing things, but her main interest is still reading books.

Sharon is the most liberal of the three girls, Donna is the most conservative, and Vickie was more in the middle.

Although Sharon has never had trouble making friends, she had a special bond with Vickie, who she talked to almost on a daily basis.

Regardless of who you are, your siblings frequently wind up being good friends as we all get older. I never had a brother, but am still close to my sister, who is a retired nurse. Mary could well be one of the main reasons why our daughter eventually became a nurse as well.

If you are fortunate enough to have siblings, spend as much time with them as you can, since you never know when your time with them will come to an end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pen is mightier than the sword

 

Societies around the world have long communicated by putting down their thoughts in written form.

Egyptians used hieroglyphics, which first came into use more than 5,000 years ago.

Egyptian hieroglyphs originated around 3300–3200 BC, with the earliest decipherable sentences appearing in the 28th century BC (Second Dynasty). Developed from earlier symbol systems, this writing system was primarily used for monuments, tombs, and religious texts, persisting for over 3,600 years until the 4th/5th century AD. 

Eventually, written thoughts were puts on papyrus instead of stone, and the instrument that was used was the quill.

Papyrus became less popular after the invention of the quill pen.

Quill pens, made from bird feathers, were first used as primary writing instruments around the 6th century AD. They gained popularity as a superior replacement for reed pens, particularly for writing on parchment and vellum, and remained the dominant writing tool in the Western world until the mid-19th century. 

• Origin Era: Often attributed to the 6th century in Spain, though some uses, such as on the Dead Sea Scrolls, date back to the 2nd century BC.
• Replacement of Reeds: The rise of the quill corresponded with the decline of papyrus and the increased use of parchment, for which flexible feathers were better suited than stiff reed pens.
• Preferred Sources: The best quills were made from the primary wing feathers of large birds, primarily geese, swans, and crows (for fine lines).
• Components: The hollow shaft of the feather acted as a reservoir for ink, allowing for longer writing between dips.
• Popularity: They were the primary writing instrument for over 1,000 years, used to draft documents such as the Magna Carta and the U.S. Declaration of Independence. 

www.historyofpencils.com 

The introduction of steel pen points in the 19th century eventually ended the widespread use of quill pens. 

 Two of the most prominent manufactures of steel point pens are the A.T. Cross Company and Montblanc.

 

A. T. Cross Company, LLC is an American manufacturing company of writing implements, based in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest pen manufacturers in the world. Cross' products include fountain, ballpoint, and rollerball pens, mechanical pencils and refills. The company also manufactures accessories for those goods such as cases and wallets.

The company has also owned Sheaffer, another pen manufacturer, since 2014. In August 2022, the Sheaffer brand was sold to the William Penn company.^[

 

Cross has been an official supplier of pens to the White House since at least the 1970s. The pens used to sign legislation are often given out as souvenirs to those who attend the bill signings.

While an official Cross–White House program was begun under president Bill Clinton, the tradition goes back to at least the administration of Gerald Ford. All presidents from Ronald Reagan to Joe Biden signed legislation using Cross pens; it is unknown if earlier presidents did so. Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Clinton favored the Cross Townsend model; Obama later switched to the Century II model in black lacquer, with black medium point refill.

The Trump administration placed an initial order for 150 Cross Century II pens in January 2017. Sometime before November 2018, Trump broke with tradition and ceased using the Cross pen, saying "it was a horrible pen, and it was extremely expensive." Thereafter, he signed documents using a customized Sharpie marker manufactured by Newell Brands. Joe Biden returned the tradition of Cross Pens to the White House, favoring the same model as Obama, the Century II Rollerball in a black lacquer finish with 23-karat gold-plated appointments.^[Biden is reported to use the felt-tip refill unit.

^{https://cross.com/collections/zodiac}

According to the company’s website, prices range from $52 to slightly over $300.

There was a time in my life when I owned a Cross pen, but I have no idea where it is now.

The reason that I thought of that relic from the past was that I found one in a teacher’s desk drawer about a week ago – and it brought back some memories.

If you wanted to spend even more money on a pen, you may want to consider buying one made by Mont Blanc.

Montblanc is a German manufacturer and distributor of luxury goods, which was founded in Berlin in 1906 and is currently based in Hamburg. The company is most known for its luxury pens, but it also designs and distributes bags, perfumes, small leather goods, and watches. Since 1993, Montblanc has been part of the Swiss Richemont group. The brand is named after Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps.

https://www.montblanc.com/en-us/writing-instruments?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21840371487&gbraid=0AAAAADmBEK4cGNT8c4O4_3Ro9z3xQ0Kde&gclid=CjwKCAjw-J3OBhBuEiwAwqZ_h9bW5chaSAYkUpne1kXT7La9XRqLioXLjSptOiKgDNitNDel88onYxoCIe4QAvD_BwE

Mont Blanc pens are a lot more expensive that Cross pens, since they can cost more than $2000. The least expensive pen I found on their website was $360.

I sampled one of the pens on our last trip to Las Vegas. Admittedly, it was a fine writing instrument, but it was simply too expensive for my needs.

 If you have more money than you know what to do with, you can buy pens that are even more expensive than the standard Montblanc pens.

Here are some of the most expensive pens in the world:

• Tibaldi Fulgor Nocturnus ($8 Million): This unique piece was sold at a Shanghai charity auction and is crafted with 18-carat gold, 945 black diamonds, and 123 rubies.
• Montblanc Taj Mahal Limited Edition ($2 Million): Only 10 pieces were produced, featuring diamonds, sapphires, and malachite set in champagne-tone gold.
• Montblanc Johannes Kepler High Artistry Stella Nova Limited Edition 1 ($1.5 Million): A one-of-a-kind pen honoring the 16th-century astronomer, featuring diamonds and sapphires.
• Montblanc Boheme Royal Pen ($1.5 Million): A highly exclusive pen known for its extensive diamond-focused design.
• Aurora Diamante ($1.47 Million): Produced by the Italian firm Aurora, this pen is encrusted with over 30 carats of De Beers diamonds.
• Caran d'Ache 1010 Diamond Edition ($1.28 Million): A luxurious Swiss pen merging fine writing instruments with watchmaking, featuring diamonds, white gold, and rubies.
• Caran d'Ache La Modernista Diamonds ($1.2 Million): Designed as a tribute to architect Antoni Gaudí, it features 5,072 diamonds and 96 rubies.
• Heaven Gold Pen by Anita Tan ($995,000 - $1 million+): The first luxury pen designed by a woman, crafted from 24K rose gold and adorned with 1,888 tsavorite gemstones.
• Mystery Masterpiece by Montblanc and Van Cleef & Arpels ($730,000 - $750,000): A collaboration featuring 70 gemstones in a signature "mystery setting".
• Caran d'Ache Gothica ($406,000): A pen that sold for a high price in 2006, inspired by Gothic architecture with sterling silver and gems. 

Executive Pens Direct +7

These writing instruments function more as high-end jewelry and investment pieces than everyday tools, often featuring bespoke gems, rare materials, and intricate craftsmanship. 

Just as quill pens got replaced by steel point pens, they eventually were largely replaced by the computer – which is how most of us communicate today. If you happen to receive a hand written note today, it is a genuine rarity, and hand written notes by a distant relative can take us back in time several decades, which is why they should be treasured.