Who are the "good Germans" now?
Germany is hiring more teachers -- probably 20,000 by the end of next year -- to teach refugee children than the total number of refugees that will be admitted by the U.S.
About 196,000 children fleeing war and poverty will enter the German school system this school year, and 8,264 “special classes” have been created to help them catch up with their peers, according to a survey carried out in 16 German federal states. Germany’s education authority says 325,000 school-aged children reached the country in 2015 during Europe’s worst migration crisis since WWII.
Germany didn't create this mess. We did. Where is our sense of justice? Just how morally bankrupt are we?
About 196,000 children fleeing war and poverty will enter the German school system this school year, and 8,264 “special classes” have been created to help them catch up with their peers, according to a survey carried out in 16 German federal states. Germany’s education authority says 325,000 school-aged children reached the country in 2015 during Europe’s worst migration crisis since WWII.
Germany didn't create this mess. We did. Where is our sense of justice? Just how morally bankrupt are we?
FDR: Live Like Him
Letting Big Money and the mainstream media narrow our presidential choice to Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber is the electoral version of letting the terrorists win. We should be asking not who stands a hair taller than Donald Trump but who comes closest to measuring up to Franklin Roosevelt.
"How easily some folks forget that FDR is arguably America's greatest president ever and was an avowed Democratic Socialist. He understood that capitalism can only provide a thriving middle class if there is a mixed economy with 'socialist' programs to provide a safety net for the less fortunate and an even playing field for the rest." -- Occupy Democrats
"How easily some folks forget that FDR is arguably America's greatest president ever and was an avowed Democratic Socialist. He understood that capitalism can only provide a thriving middle class if there is a mixed economy with 'socialist' programs to provide a safety net for the less fortunate and an even playing field for the rest." -- Occupy Democrats
A failure to communicate
Let me see if I have this straight.
Hillary Clinton must be supported for president -- just because, despite a lifetime of carrying water for some of the most destructive and rapacious agents of American capitalism, from Walmart to Goldman Sachs.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, must be rejected, because some of his supporters, at risk of harming no one beyond themselves, are rude and immature.
Is that about it?
You have to wonder
To teach a huge influx of immigrant children, Germany is hiring more teachers -- probably 20,000 by the end of next year -- than the total number of refugees that will be admitted by the U.S. About 196,000 children fleeing war and poverty will enter the German school system this school year, and 8,264 “special classes” have been created to help them catch up with their peers, according to a survey carried out in 16 German federal states. Germany’s education authority says 325,000 school-aged children reached the country in 2015 during Europe’s worst migration crisis since WWII.
Germany didn't create this mess. We did. Europe in general, and Germany in particular, would shame us with their generosity if we were capable of. Where is our sense of justice? Just how morally bankrupt are we?
Germany didn't create this mess. We did. Europe in general, and Germany in particular, would shame us with their generosity if we were capable of. Where is our sense of justice? Just how morally bankrupt are we?
Leonard Peltier, too
President Obama has greatly underused his power to pardon. Here's one way he can make up for it.
Why President Obama should pardon Edward Snowden by Anthony Romero (Los Angeles Times)
Laugh while ye may
You know your drunk buddy who always says what he’d do if he was president? Turns out he is actually running this time!
On the road again,
Driving across the country, for hundreds of miles at a stretch with no company but country music stations and christian broadcasting, a question occurs:
Why is it that no one can write a country song in which righteous Yankee soldiers kick the ass of traitorous Confederate militia?
Waiter!
It is reported that our medieval European ancestors were far more adventuresome eaters than are we, feasting as they did on delicacies like Living Eels in Roasted Pig.
How did we lose that?
New New Dealer Same As The Old New Dealer
"Sanders is reminding people that he's part of not only important political tradition in American history, but a winning one. Remember, F.D.R. won four times as essentially a democratic socialist." -- Historian Douglas Brinkley
Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie
Is there anyone on these shores who is not an immigrant or the descendant of immigrants or slaves? Even so-called Native Americans migrated -- from Polynesia or Siberia, the jury's out, but, in any case, did not originate here. And so many of us came to escape religious intolerance, authoritarianism, political chaos, hunger, or just to live a better, freer life. To now lock our doors to people who want the same things we wanted or our forbears sought seems to offer a new measure of ingratitude and callousness.
When the Statue of Liberty (originally, Liberty Enlightening the World: La Liberté éclairant le monde) dedicated on October 28, 1886, it was a gift to the United States from the people of France to celebrate the outcome of the Civil War and the end of slavery. On the tablet cradled in Liberty's left arm is inscribed "JULY IV MDCCLXXVI" to honor the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Ironically, given the current parlous state of liberty in this country, one of sculptor Frédéric Auguste Barthold's inspirations was in the sketches and models he made for a plan, never executed, to build a huge lighthouse in the form of an ancient Egyptian female fellah or peasant, robed and holding a torch aloft, at the northern entrance to the Suez Canal. Female figures often served as cultural symbols of a nation, as Britannia is identified with the UK and Marianne is with France. One symbol, the personified Columbia, was often used by early artists and illustrators to embody the United States. In a further irony, as the model for the Statue of Liberty, Columbia supplanted an earlier figure of an Indian princess that had come to be regarded as uncivilized and thus derogatory toward Americans.
This is a good time to pause over the words by Emma Lazarus, a New York-born Sephardic Jew whose family had emigrated from Portugal before the American Revolution, that appear on the statue's pedestal. The last words -- "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" -- are the most frequently quoted, but the entire text, titled "The New Colossus," written by Lazarus in 1883, should be remembered:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name,
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
If we're not careful, the French may ask for the lady back. There are probably plenty of Americans these days who'd be glad to let them have her.
When the Statue of Liberty (originally, Liberty Enlightening the World: La Liberté éclairant le monde) dedicated on October 28, 1886, it was a gift to the United States from the people of France to celebrate the outcome of the Civil War and the end of slavery. On the tablet cradled in Liberty's left arm is inscribed "JULY IV MDCCLXXVI" to honor the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Ironically, given the current parlous state of liberty in this country, one of sculptor Frédéric Auguste Barthold's inspirations was in the sketches and models he made for a plan, never executed, to build a huge lighthouse in the form of an ancient Egyptian female fellah or peasant, robed and holding a torch aloft, at the northern entrance to the Suez Canal. Female figures often served as cultural symbols of a nation, as Britannia is identified with the UK and Marianne is with France. One symbol, the personified Columbia, was often used by early artists and illustrators to embody the United States. In a further irony, as the model for the Statue of Liberty, Columbia supplanted an earlier figure of an Indian princess that had come to be regarded as uncivilized and thus derogatory toward Americans.
This is a good time to pause over the words by Emma Lazarus, a New York-born Sephardic Jew whose family had emigrated from Portugal before the American Revolution, that appear on the statue's pedestal. The last words -- "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" -- are the most frequently quoted, but the entire text, titled "The New Colossus," written by Lazarus in 1883, should be remembered:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name,
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
If we're not careful, the French may ask for the lady back. There are probably plenty of Americans these days who'd be glad to let them have her.
War here, war there, pretty soon it's war everywhere all the time
Does John Kerry ever wake up in the darkest hours before the dawn and wonder, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"
Organize!
Business as usual, which as each election day approaches expresses itself by the two major parties asserting to their constituencies that to vote for their nominee is to choose the lesser of two evils, has not served us well. For the past 40 years, as the Republicans and Democrats have traded control of the White House and Congress, the middle class has declined precipitously and millions of people have been recruited into the army of the poor, the infrastructure has decayed, and the quality of life of nearly all our citizens has declined, while billions of dollars of the nation's wealth has been transferred into private hands and squandered in military adventures. This state of affairs will be stopped, only can be stopped, when a majority of Americans refuses to join in this game, as 50% of potential voters who choose not to participate have already done. The problem with abstention, of course, is that someone wins anyway. This time around we have been offered a better way to break up the duopoly's hold on power. We ignore it at our peril.
quote unquote: J.D. Salinger
“I’ll read my books and I’ll drink coffee and I’ll listen to music, and I’ll bolt the door." -- J.D. Salinger
A rose is a rose is a rose
Finding Ben Carson acceptable and Donald Trump abominable is a lesson in shallow political thinking.
It values style over substance.
It's like loving squirrels and hating rats.
They're both rodents.
But one is "cute."
As Columbus Day approaches,
...it's worth giving a thought to following the example of Nicaragua by replacing celebration of European exploitation of the Americas with Indigenous Resistance Day, a national holiday commemorating the battle waged by indigenous peoples against European colonialism.
In a democracy, it's no one's "turn." In politics, nothing is "inevitable."
Hillary Clinton was the inevitable candidate in 2008.
But the more progressive elements of the Democratic Party united on Super Tuesday to stop her; nearly accidentally -- nobody really knew who Barack Obama was, we ended up with a better candidate and arguably a better chief executive. There's no reason this can't happen again, and, this time, because of Bernie Sanders' consistent thirty-year record of service, we know that we'd get not only a better candidate but also an immeasurably better president.
We are told we must support Clinton because it is "her turn," and because she will inevitably win (of course, the same promise was made for John Kerry and Mike Dukakis). But, since she is a militarist and a prime defender of her class' interests, how is that even a good thing?
You don't just get to break things
Since the Middle East refugee crisis is a consequence of America's militarized foreign policy, doesn't it follow that we have a moral responsibility to lend a hand to its victims?
Germany, with a population of about 80 million, is admitting between 200,000 and 300,000 displaced persons; since we are about four times bigger (and have a lot more room), in fairness, shouldn't we invite 800,000 and 1,200,000 souls to relocate here?
Alternatively, or additionally, shouldn't we mount a Marshall Plan-style program targeted on Greece, which not only is suffering the most from the influx of refugees but is also the victim of the predator banks that we unleashed?
The Long War is almost exclusively a U.S. project. Don't we have an obligation to take responsibility for what we've wrought?
FIGHT WAGE THEFT! Support garment workers organizing!
Garment Worker Center in Los Angeles invites all to join September 9, 2015 press conference and benefit performance of award winning play "Real Women Have Curves" at Pasadena Playhouse. FIGHT WAGE THEFT! Support garment workers organizing!
Oh, the horror!
The nadir of the Obama administration. So grateful the free press was there to cover it.
Rep. Peter King Is Angry President Obama Wore A Tan Suit
The duopoly is a flop
The Republican Party is a reactionary enterprise, with a few die-hard old-school conservatives -- a minority within a minority -- waiting around to die. The Democratic Party is a center-right operation, with its own minority -- progressives, powerless and frustrated -- with no place else to go. The Right and Center have their bases covered. We need a party of the Left, and we need it bad.
God made me do it
This is from Naked Capitalism:
In her radio show, Dr. Laura Schlesinger (a popular conservative radio talk show host in the USA) said that homosexuality is an abomination according to the Bible Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, and was attributed to a James M. Kauffman, Ed. D.
In her radio show, Dr. Laura Schlesinger (a popular conservative radio talk show host in the USA) said that homosexuality is an abomination according to the Bible Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, and was attributed to a James M. Kauffman, Ed. D.
Dear Dr. Laura:
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination… end of debate.
I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God’s Laws and how to follow them.
Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighbouring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?
I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual unseemliness – Lev. 15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offence.
When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord – Lev. 1:9. The problem is my neighbours. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
I have a neighbour who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination – Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of abomination?
Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?
I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev. 24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.
Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.
Your adoring fan,
James M. Kauffman, Ed. D. Professor Emeritus Dept. of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education University of Virginia
Political "best practices"
"A combination of the best features of capitalism and socialism has seemed to work well for the United States." -- online comment
That was true through the early 1970s; at least, up until then, we were headed in the right direction. But Richard Nixon was the last president to accept the goals and parameters of the New Deal.
Since then, the country has been in decline, with political power ceded to the corporate sector; infrastructure in decay; social services atrophying, including, appallingly, those provided by public institutions like libraries and schools; income stagnation for poor and working people and an ever smaller middle class; the creation of a prison-industrial matrix and the militarization of law enforcement; a kleptocratic transfer of public wealth into private hands (socialism -- but for the rich); a directionless militarization of foreign policy; the emplacement of a rigid, secret security state.
If there are models for societies that combine the best features of capitalism and socialism they reside in the social democratic areas of Western Europe and Scandinavia, not here.
Further reading:
Wealth and Power: The Bias of the System -- summary by Russ Long (Del Mar College) -- "Problems of U.S. Society result from the distribution of power and the form of the economy."
The Class-Domination Theory of Power by G. William Domhoff, extracted by the author from his book, first published in 1967 and now available in its 7th edition, is presented as a summary of some of the main ideas in that book (WhoRulesAmerica.net).
What is the Prison Industrial Complex? by Rachel Herzing. "'Prison Industrial Complex' is a term we use to describe the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to what are, in actuality, economic, social, and political 'problems.'" (Political Research Associates).
Extra credit: Double Standard: Social Policy in Europe and the United States by James W. Russell analyzes how and why social policy and welfare states evolved differently in Western Europe and the United States. Exploring common social problems -- from poverty to family support to ethnic and racial conflict -- the book shows the disparate consequences of these different approaches. Frances Fox Piven calls it "a sober, well-informed, and temperate overview of the divergent development of social welfare programs" in the two regions.
What happens if Hillary Clinton stalls or stumbles?
At this point, with the Republicans in chaos and Bernie Sanders' insurgency her only significant Democratic opposition, Hillary Clinton should be dominating the polls. That she's not must be scaring the bejesus out of the Democratic establishment. But what are they going to do about it? It's not like they have a deep bench. They don't want Elizabeth Warren or Sanders, though either of them would be electoral gold in November. Joe Biden is older than dirt and goofier than a Shmoo. Andrew Cuomo gives cynicism a bad name and has not been seasoned by a previous national run. The idea of drafting Al Gore is fantastical, as is the thought that they'd find Jim Webb or Martin O'Malley fit to run (who's Lincoln Chafee, again?). That the party kingmakers should have seen this coming is beside the point. What are they going to about it now?
The rest of the story: Hillary Clinton is trailing the 3 strongest Republican candidates in 3 key swing states by Brett LoGiurato (Business Insider).
Reading list: Why Liberals Have to Be Radicals by Robert Kuttner: The reforms needed to restore the country's shared prosperity are to the left of all the candidates, including Sanders.
Addendum: I am asked what I have against former Senator Jim Webb. I don't have any particular issues with Webb that I don't have with any likely Democratic nominee; but I think the party poohbahs would regard him as a minor candidate, too independent, too unseasoned, too Southern, too identified with the military to please the party base, and probably a little too difficult to brand plausibly as a progressive (despite the fact that he voted with the party most of the time that he was in the Senate), something any Democratic Party nominee will have to pretend to be in 2016.
Here's the breakdown:These are all states Obama won both times and they are essential components of a Democratic victory next year. "Trustworthiness," or lack thereof, seems to be what's doing Clinton in, and there's little about her halting, content-less campaign so far to indicate she can overcome people's distrust and dislike. Instead of trying to protect Clinton in the primaries, the Democrats should designate a substitute now or face having her drag the rest of the party's congressional and state candidates down with her when she whiffs in November 2016.
Bush leads Clinton 41-36 in Colorado; 42-36 in Iowa; and 42-39 in Virginia.
Walker leads Clinton 47-38 in Colorado; 45-37 in Iowa; and 43-40 in Virginia.
Rubio leads Clinton 46-38 in Colorado; 44-36 in Iowa; and 43-41 in Virginia.
The rest of the story: Hillary Clinton is trailing the 3 strongest Republican candidates in 3 key swing states by Brett LoGiurato (Business Insider).
Addendum: I am asked what I have against former Senator Jim Webb. I don't have any particular issues with Webb that I don't have with any likely Democratic nominee; but I think the party poohbahs would regard him as a minor candidate, too independent, too unseasoned, too Southern, too identified with the military to please the party base, and probably a little too difficult to brand plausibly as a progressive (despite the fact that he voted with the party most of the time that he was in the Senate), something any Democratic Party nominee will have to pretend to be in 2016.
A night to remember on Playboy After Dark
Accompanied by the Count Basie Septet, Annie Ross sings "Twisted," with her lyrics set to a Wardell Gray tune. Then Ross, Dave Lambert & Jon Hendricks draw the great Joe Williams into a definitive version of the classic "Everyday I Have The Blues."
The best of many great recordings by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross: The Hottest New Group in Jazz (Columbia/Legacy 1996; remastered).
Also unbeatable: Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings (Verve 1956).
"Centrist:"
The results of a major poll commissioned by the Progressive Change Institute in January underscore the need to change the way we label political policies. PCI solicited ideas online through an open submission process -- more than 2,600 specific proposals were submitted -- and then let people vote on them; more than a million did. A national poll was then conducted; here are proposals that received more than 70% support:
Who's the centrist?
Allow Government to Negotiate Drug Prices (79%)It doesn't need to be pointed out that these results are in line with Bernie Sanders’ politics and not with Hillary Clinton's. For example, the infrastructure jobs program (a key element of Sanders’ platform) had 91% support from Democrats, 61% from independents and even 55% support from Republicans, compared to only 28% opposed.
Give Students the Same Low Interest Rates as Big Banks (78%)
Universal Pre-Kindergarten (77%)
Fair Trade that Protect Workers, the Environment, and Jobs (75%)
End Tax Loopholes for Corporations that Ship Jobs Overseas (74%)
End Gerrymandering (73%)
Let Homeowners Pay Down Mortgage With 401k (72%)
Debt-Free College at All Public Universities (71%)
Infrastructure Jobs Program — $400 Billion / Year (71%)
Require NSA to Get Warrants (71%)
Disclose Corporate Spending on Politics/Lobbying (71%)
Medicare Buy-In for All (71%)
Close Offshore Corporate Tax Loopholes (70%)
Green New Deal — Millions Of Clean-Energy Jobs (70%) Full Employment Act (70%)
Expand Social Security Benefits (70%)
Who's the centrist?
Zooey and Andria Green, who are seven and eight respectively, only look innocent. With their baby faces and cunning, they managed to lure patrons to their illicit enterprise: a lemonade stand outside their home in Overton, Texas.
The girls were in business for about an hour in June, selling popcorn and lemonade to raise money for a Father’s Day gift, before local police shut the operation down. Not only were they hawking without a $150 “peddler’s permit,” but also the state requires a formal kitchen inspection and a permit to sell anything that might spoil if stored at the wrong temperature.
As authorities are meant “to act to prevent an immediate and serious threat to human life or health,” the officers understandably had to move swiftly. -- The Economist
Is lemonade legal? Testing the limits of silliness in east Texas (The Economist)
Books: Gaza Unsilenced
Gaza Unsilenced, edited by Refaat Alareer and Laila El-Haddad (Just World Books).
GOP to raise standards for office holders.
The Republicans are worried that having too many candidates in the race for president will confuse voters. The party had planned to use the low standing in the polls of some contenders to exclude them from the debates. But polls, especially at such an early stage in a campaign, are notoriously inaccurate yardsticks.
Something more precise was needed.
Since there is no way to gauge hypocrisy, two other widely used and accepted methods of gauging suitability are being proposed: all candidates must submit to drug and IQ tests. Only contestants with IQs over 70 and measurable amounts of cannabis in their blood streams will be permitted to compete. In the event that none of the current aspirants can meet these standards -- not likely in the case of cannabis, the GOP will have time to recruit replacements.
Since all the candidates have supported the use of such determinations by employers, there is little doubt that they won't welcome the application of the same standards to their own jobs. If some do object, perhaps that can be considered as the missing hypocrisy test.
Something more precise was needed.
Since there is no way to gauge hypocrisy, two other widely used and accepted methods of gauging suitability are being proposed: all candidates must submit to drug and IQ tests. Only contestants with IQs over 70 and measurable amounts of cannabis in their blood streams will be permitted to compete. In the event that none of the current aspirants can meet these standards -- not likely in the case of cannabis, the GOP will have time to recruit replacements.
Since all the candidates have supported the use of such determinations by employers, there is little doubt that they won't welcome the application of the same standards to their own jobs. If some do object, perhaps that can be considered as the missing hypocrisy test.
Finding the needle in the GOP haystack.
Republicans are worried that having too many candidates in the race for president will confuse voters. So the party is planning to use the low standing in the polls of some contenders to exclude them from the debates.
But polls, especially at such an early stage in a campaign, are notoriously inaccurate yardsticks. Something more precise is needed.
Since there is no way to gauge hypocrisy, two widely used and accepted methods of assessing suitability are being proposed: all candidates must submit to drug and IQ tests. Only contestants with IQs over 70 and measurable amounts of cannabis in their blood streams will be permitted to compete.
In the event that none of the current aspirants can meet these standards -- not likely in the case of cannabis, the GOP will have time to recruit replacements. Since all the candidates have supported the use of such determinations by employers, they will welcome the application of these standards to their own jobs.
If some do object, perhaps that can be added as the missing hypocrisy test.
Bernie Sanders on gun control
Sen. Sanders is considered by some liberals to be soft on gun control. This is from The Guardian:
“He also defended his record on gun control. Confronted with his past support for legislation regarded by activists as 'pro-gun', Sanders said his most recent grade from the NRA was a D- and added that he voted to ban semi-automatic assault weapons and in favor of instant background checks.
“'We have been yelling and screaming at each other about guns for decades with very little success,' he said.
“'I come from a state that has basically no gun control, but the people in my state understand pretty clearly that guns in Vermont are not the same thing as guns in Chicago or guns in Los Angeles.
“'In our state, guns are used for hunting. In Chicago, they are used by kids in gangs killing other kids, people shooting at police officers, shooting down innocent people.'
"Sanders said 99.9% of gun owners obeyed the law. He suggested the only way the US would see real action on guns was if it managed to reject extreme positions on both sides of the debate.
“'I think I can bring us to the middle,' he said.
“That might be difficult, however, when his own state’s gun-rights group does not support him.
“'We, in Vermont, consider him anti-gun,' Gun Owners of Vermont president Ed Cutler told Politico."
A rose by any other name...
Sen. Bernie Sanders' taking control of the word socialist -- saying: if affordable, universal health care is socialist, then I'm a socialist; if taxing the rich is socialist, then I'm a socialist; if tuition-free education is socialist, then I'm a socialist; if campaign finance reform is socialist, then I'm a socialist; if same-sex marriage is socialist, then I'm a socialist -- is working out just fine. He's making clear the distinction between his policies and programs and those of the neoliberals that have controlled the Democratic Party since the Reagan-Clinton era. "Socialism," as Sen. Sanders uses it, is the new New Deal. It's a rebranding in the political marketplace of tried and true ideas that have been neglected for a generation by the political class.
Loser then, loser now
Shades of 2008, the Clinton campaign is already slip-sliding into panic mode, dispatching bluedog Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri to the talk circuit to shout "Socialist, socialist!"
The thing is, Bernie Sanders' positions are too well-known to surprise and too centrist to cause panic. That Sanders embraces the title Social Democrat helps neutralize the term, too. The last time Clinton ran, her campaign used Barack Obama's middle name a lot and tried to tag him as a kind of associate Muslim; we know how that worked out.
Clinton herself would never stoop to such tactics, of course, but in this tightly controlled campaign, her surrogates will stay on message that Sanders is too far left to be elected president. What the Democrats can't seem to grasp is that Clinton is the one who is out of step both with the party base and with voters in general.
Bernie Sanders may never get to be president, but neither will Hillary Clinton. The Democratic Party kingfishes better hope that Joe Biden or some other mainstream heavyweight enters the fight before, from their perspective, it's too late.
The thing is, Bernie Sanders' positions are too well-known to surprise and too centrist to cause panic. That Sanders embraces the title Social Democrat helps neutralize the term, too. The last time Clinton ran, her campaign used Barack Obama's middle name a lot and tried to tag him as a kind of associate Muslim; we know how that worked out.
Clinton herself would never stoop to such tactics, of course, but in this tightly controlled campaign, her surrogates will stay on message that Sanders is too far left to be elected president. What the Democrats can't seem to grasp is that Clinton is the one who is out of step both with the party base and with voters in general.
Bernie Sanders may never get to be president, but neither will Hillary Clinton. The Democratic Party kingfishes better hope that Joe Biden or some other mainstream heavyweight enters the fight before, from their perspective, it's too late.
War Games
"For decades, Hollywood has supplied us with plenty of reasons to be frightened about the roboticization of warfare. But now that drones and autonomous antimissile defense systems have been deployed, and many other forms of robotic weaponry are under development, the inflection point where it must be decided whether to go down this road has arrived."
The rest of the story:
War's scary future will be led by machines, but require a moral framework. Do we have the foresight or standing?: Killer robots are coming next: The next military-industrial complex will involve real-life Terminators by Wendell Wallach (Salon)
The rest of the story:
War's scary future will be led by machines, but require a moral framework. Do we have the foresight or standing?: Killer robots are coming next: The next military-industrial complex will involve real-life Terminators by Wendell Wallach (Salon)
"Those who live in America, or visit it, might do best to regard [gun violence] the way one regards air pollution in China: an endemic local health hazard which, for deep-rooted cultural, social, economic and political reasons, the country is incapable of addressing. This may, however, be a bit unfair. China seems to be making progress on pollution." -- The Economist
A Flat No
A shift to Rand Paul's 14.5% flat income tax would result in a reduction in tax bills for many people, especially since he would repeal the payroll tax. But the 14.5 percent VAT that he also wants would ultimately be paid by consumers in the form of higher prices, hitting the poor and working class the hardest. Taken together, his proposals are a double whammy to progressive taxation, and another potential gift from the GOP to the rich.
Instant Runoff #2763
It looks like some legitimate candidates -- Kasich, Fiorina -- will be excluded from the Republican primary debates because, this early, their polling numbers are low, while bozos, notably Trump, will be let on the bus. It would be in the interest of both the party and the country to try to fix this. One way might be to treat the debates as a kind of instant runoff. Let all the announced candidates participate in the first debate, then drop the lowest polling one or two wannabes afterward. Continue this process until the number is down to a manageable five or six candidates. Someone like Kasich might well survive to the end if he could get a hearing at the beginning. And the party wouldn't be stuck until the end of the process with at least some of the crazies.
Bikeshare should help get people out of their cars.
Bike riding supporters might want to reserve next Tuesday for a visit to Santa Monica's City Hall. The city council will be considering how to proceed with the bikeshare program. As the Santa Monica Daily Press reports, the “bikeshare will allow riders to check out one of the system’s 500 bikes from one of 75 locations in the city and drop it off at another.”
As proposed, the pricing for the system does not seem to be designed to maximize bike use, presumably the intended goal. “For an hour of riding, a tourist or an infrequent user will pay $6....More frequent riders can pay $20 per month for 30 minutes of daily riding time or $25 per month for an hour of daily riding. A basic annual pass — which gives users 30 minutes of usage 365 days of the year — will run $119 and an extended pass, which bumps that ride time to an hour, would cost $149.” This seems like an extension of the metering model used for parking, which runs contrary to the goal of maximizing use.
Why have time limits on use at all? If we really want locals and visitors to use bikes as transportation, it would make more sense to allow people to ride as much as they want. Thus, a user could, for example, ride to work, ride to and from lunch, stop at the library, pick up some groceries, stop for dinner, go the movies, meet for a drink, and go home. System bikes would be required to be returned to stations when not being ridden, thus freeing them up for other users.
“For Santa Monica residents, the basic annual pass will cost only $79 and the extended $99. Santa Monica College students are offered the greatest discount: $47 for six months of 60 minute daily riding.The $6 an hour casual fee simply buys 60 minutes of ride time that never expires. For monthly and annual passes, however, daily minutes do not roll over.”
Why limit the discount to Santa Monica residents? There are many thousands of non-Santa Monica westsiders who will be within walking distance of stations and should be encouraged to take bikes when going to Bergamot Station, Third Street, the beach or the pier. Also, don’t we want to encourage as many of the people who live elsewhere but work in Santa Monica to use bikes? The same discount should apply to employees as to residents.
“One of the things that city officials loved about the operator they selected, CycleHop, is that their technology allows bikes to be returned to locations other than the 75 stations throughout the city. If a bike is returned to a regular bike rack — even if it’s not an official station — within the Santa Monica-area, riders will only pay an additional $2. If a rider hops on that bike, which is not connected to an official Breeze rack, and returns it to a Breeze station, she’ll get a $1 credit for bikeshare usage. If a bike is locked up outside of the Santa Monica-area, the rider will pay a $20 fee. If a bike is returned to a generic bike rack within 100 feet of a hub that is full, the rider won’t be charged $2.”
This is all well and good, but it raises another question. Technology has advanced since the first bikeshare programs were installed in other cities. One change is that there is no longer a justification for a capital-intensive investment in stations. Bikes can be fitted easily with wireless devices that keep track of bikes wherever they are and allow them to be locked and unlocked by a downloadable app that will also keep track of payments. Users would be able to see the location of the nearest available bike. Such a system might make it possible to eliminate passes altogether, replacing them with incremental micro-charges, either capped or greatly reduced by frequent use. Being a laggard should be made to work to Santa Monica’s advantage.
Parenthetically, technology is also available to make the bikes cease to function if they are removed from the city, further lessening the need for expensive stations.
Additionally, it would make sense to explore whether there is a need for a system that would allow employees to pay an extra fee to take bikes home. This might make particular sense for SMC and private school students who live in nearby cities. This would increase the number of bikes available during working (and school) hours and encourage employees (and students) to use bikes on their off days when they return to shop, eat, go to the movies, Pier concerts, the beach, etc. Even if it cost double or triple the standard annual rate (see, next paragraph), it still might be worth it to people who do not want to purchase, maintain and repair a bike of their own.
So, assuming the bike stations are here to stay, here’s a proposal:
$6/day available to anyone for an unlimited number of trips and no limit on time.
$15/month available to anyone for an unlimited number of daily trips and no limit on time. This would encourage tourists staying three days or longer to pay the fee to have use of bikes throughout their stay.
$60/annual pass available to residents and employees for an unlimited number of daily trips and no limit on time. A student discount should be considered for the annual fee.
The rest of the story: Santa Monica bikeshare still on schedule; rates proposed by David Mark Simpson (Santa Monica Daily Press).
Hillary Clnton's Bloviation Seminar
In her official presidential campaign announcement speech, Hillary Clinton said she would reform the tax code, increase public investment in research, help communities transitioning to cleaner energy sources, establish an infrastructure bank, make preschool and child care universally available, increase college affordability, expand leave time for illness and family needs, raise the minimum wage, ban discrimination against gay people, reform campaign finance, and create automatic voter registration. It is impolite to point out that every one of these initiatives is the purview of the federal legislature (or in a few cases, the states) and that the Clinton campaign is pursuing a narrow strategy of targeting only a handful of contested states, meaning that her campaign will almost certainly result in fewer Democrats in Congress? And that about the things that are the purview of the executive, such as military adventurism, the security state, international trade, we are hearing nothing?
The word for the day: "shivaree"
1. a mock serenade with kettles, pans, horns, and other noisemakers given for a newly married couple; charivari.
2. an elaborate, noisy celebration.
As, in, "When Bernie Sanders is elected, there will be a shivaree in this nation such as never heard before."
2. an elaborate, noisy celebration.
As, in, "When Bernie Sanders is elected, there will be a shivaree in this nation such as never heard before."
New Yorkers:
Freshman Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., had been publicly opposing TPP, but in an about-face over the weekend, she said she’d finally been persuaded by the president’s case. She told the AP that "too often, Washington politics muddies arguments about what’s really best for the middle class." You can reach her at https://kathleenrice.house.gov/contact/ if you'd like to change her mind.
WMDs Redux
US intelligence now has “high confidence” that 100-150 have been killed in Syria so far by chemical weapons (aka WMDs), thus crossing POTUS' "line in the sand." 93,000 have been killed by other means in the course of the civil war. Surely, it's only coincidental that this finding follows on the heels of Hezbollah's arrival on the scene last week. Welcome to our latest war of choice.
Will the Democrats choose the only candidate who can lose to Donald Trump?
As Hillary Clinton continues to slide, the Democrats will realize they've walked themselves into a corner. Will they try an end run around the primaries by attempting to hijack the convention for, say, Joe Biden? Or accept that they have a choice between Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley, the latter of whom will have to be repackaged as the lesser-of-two-goods to make him palatable to the powers that be?
From the Won't-Be-Fooled-Again Desk:
It's outrageous that America is the only developed country that doesn't provide paid family leave. If you agree join Hillary's campaign today! -- Daily KosReally? That's the criterion we're supposed to use to choose the next president?
How about out-of-control military spending? Is that outrageous? What's she going to do about that?Banks too big to fail? Pretty outrageous, you'd think. Will Goldman Sachs let her do anything about them?
Economic injustice? Outrageous. She's a big populist now; what's her plan?
Surveillance State abuses: Outrageous. If she has a solution, it's a secret.
Her actions at State that helped to create outrageous messes in Afghanistan, Honduras and Libya. What will she do about them?
The chaos in Syria and Iraq: Outrageous. Does she have a fix?
More outrageous, even, than that America is the only developed country that doesn't provide paid family leave, outrageous as that is.
Tomas van Houtryve's drone's-eye view of America reveals the changing nature of war, privacy, and government transparen
"When a drone looks at a thing, that thing has a way of looking like a target. People become silhouettes at a shooting range. Buildings look vulnerable, their roofs helplessly exposed and defenseless. Most colors disappear, and the remaining blacks, whites and greys evacuate the scene of all human meaning. What we see becomes data: body counts, damage reports, strategic value.
"In these photos, shot as part of an ongoing series, Belgian photographer Tomas van Houtryve looks at America through the eyes of a drone, a small quadcopter he bought online and equipped with a high-resolution camera. “A drone seems particularly appropriate because it’s increasingly how America views the rest of the world,” he says. “I wanted to turn things around. What do we look like from a drone’s-eye view? Suspicious? Prosperous? Free and happy?” Every age brings with it new technology for looking at the world. Van Houtryve has embraced the technology of ours."
Drone Country: See America From Above by Lev Grossman (Time)
"In these photos, shot as part of an ongoing series, Belgian photographer Tomas van Houtryve looks at America through the eyes of a drone, a small quadcopter he bought online and equipped with a high-resolution camera. “A drone seems particularly appropriate because it’s increasingly how America views the rest of the world,” he says. “I wanted to turn things around. What do we look like from a drone’s-eye view? Suspicious? Prosperous? Free and happy?” Every age brings with it new technology for looking at the world. Van Houtryve has embraced the technology of ours."
Drone Country: See America From Above by Lev Grossman (Time)
From the Government Transparency Desk: The dog that didn’t bark
"Watch the feet not the mouth." -- Gabree Family maxim
Despite paying lip service to open government, the administration of Barack Obama has been among the most secretive in our history.
In addition to prosecuting whistle-blowers in record numbers, the White House has dragged its heels over appointments to watchdog positions.
The rest of the story: Senate Panel Says Obama Administration Lacks Watchdogs by Brian Naylor (NPR)
Despite paying lip service to open government, the administration of Barack Obama has been among the most secretive in our history.
In addition to prosecuting whistle-blowers in record numbers, the White House has dragged its heels over appointments to watchdog positions.
Seven of the 33 inspector general posts in the Obama administration are being filled by temporary appointees, according to [a Senate] panel. Permanent IGs have been nominated for just three of the vacancies.Four of the agencies without nominees for permanent inspector generals -- the Department of the Interior, the Veterans Administration, the Export Import Bank and the Central Intelligence Agency -- are among those that need oversight the most.
The rest of the story: Senate Panel Says Obama Administration Lacks Watchdogs by Brian Naylor (NPR)
The Duopoly: They're not the same.
But does it matter?
Democratic Party apologists like to remind us that the two sides are not the same. And everyone to the left of Calvin "The business of America is business" Coolidge has a grand time pointing the finger at all the batty stuff Republicans think they have to say to appease their base.
But, meanwhile, the front runner on the other side is expressing perfectly reasonable but equally fanciful things about economic justice, peaceful foreign policy initiatives, and privacy protections.
This dance happens every four years.
But, at the end of the day, neither party has made a realistic effort to prevent the growth of the military-industrial complex and the rise of the security state, nor to arrest 40 years of disintegrating infrastructure and disappearing middle class.
On the contrary, they've walked hand in hand up Mt. Oligarchy.
You're standing on the street. A guy carrying a machete walks up to you and whacks off a hand and a foot. It's brutal and painful. A second guy approaches you with a chloroform-soaked rag and a scalpel. He knocks you out, carefully lowers you to the sidewalk, then slices off your other hand and foot. You don't feel a thing.
They're not the same, not by a long shot.
But, either way, you don't have hands and feet.
Democratic Party apologists like to remind us that the two sides are not the same. And everyone to the left of Calvin "The business of America is business" Coolidge has a grand time pointing the finger at all the batty stuff Republicans think they have to say to appease their base.
But, meanwhile, the front runner on the other side is expressing perfectly reasonable but equally fanciful things about economic justice, peaceful foreign policy initiatives, and privacy protections.
This dance happens every four years.
But, at the end of the day, neither party has made a realistic effort to prevent the growth of the military-industrial complex and the rise of the security state, nor to arrest 40 years of disintegrating infrastructure and disappearing middle class.
On the contrary, they've walked hand in hand up Mt. Oligarchy.
You're standing on the street. A guy carrying a machete walks up to you and whacks off a hand and a foot. It's brutal and painful. A second guy approaches you with a chloroform-soaked rag and a scalpel. He knocks you out, carefully lowers you to the sidewalk, then slices off your other hand and foot. You don't feel a thing.
They're not the same, not by a long shot.
But, either way, you don't have hands and feet.
I wonder
Do the oligarchs realize that, after the revolution, their militarized cops will be working for the people?
Bikes want to be free
Most bike systems in North America, charge a yearly fee with trips capped at 30 or 45 minutes before extra fees kick in. As things stand, Santa Monica's Bike Share program will do better, with a membership fee of $20 per month for 1 hour of free riding a day, allowing people to avoid the larger upfront cost of an annual fee; and subscribers who, say, only want to ride during warmer weather can also save some money. "Casual riders," which is probably a code word for tourists, will pay $2 per 20 minutes.
By comparison, however, in Philadelphia, the U.S. city with the most bicyclists per capita, the pricing system is more affordable. Philadelphia has a $15 per month fee that offers unlimited rides up to one hour per trip. Another option there provides a year of access to the system for a base fee of $10, with a per-trip charge of $4 for rides up to one hour long. Non-members (tourists) can pay the same $4 rate for rides, but for only up to one half hour, a little higher than here.
If you want people to ride, you have to make it as affordable as possible. At the $15/mo rate, it would cost a commuter about 70 cents a day, with no expenses for bike purchase, maintenance and repairs and no worries about theft. Let's see if we can lower the monthly fee in Santa Monica and have no limit on the number of trips per day, allowing people to, say, go to the market or other errands, then to the library, then to dinner, then to the movies, without the cost and hassle of metering.
Best of all would be free bikes, like Austin's Yellow Bike program. Possible models for a free system are "bike libaries" where bikes are issued to members for specific periods and fines accrue if they are overdue on return; bike share systems that take returable deposits instead of charging fees; and advertising-supported free bikes (a geographical system similar to that used to keep carts from leaving supermarket parking lots could be used to keep bikes from gong past municipal boundaries).
By comparison, however, in Philadelphia, the U.S. city with the most bicyclists per capita, the pricing system is more affordable. Philadelphia has a $15 per month fee that offers unlimited rides up to one hour per trip. Another option there provides a year of access to the system for a base fee of $10, with a per-trip charge of $4 for rides up to one hour long. Non-members (tourists) can pay the same $4 rate for rides, but for only up to one half hour, a little higher than here.
If you want people to ride, you have to make it as affordable as possible. At the $15/mo rate, it would cost a commuter about 70 cents a day, with no expenses for bike purchase, maintenance and repairs and no worries about theft. Let's see if we can lower the monthly fee in Santa Monica and have no limit on the number of trips per day, allowing people to, say, go to the market or other errands, then to the library, then to dinner, then to the movies, without the cost and hassle of metering.
Best of all would be free bikes, like Austin's Yellow Bike program. Possible models for a free system are "bike libaries" where bikes are issued to members for specific periods and fines accrue if they are overdue on return; bike share systems that take returable deposits instead of charging fees; and advertising-supported free bikes (a geographical system similar to that used to keep carts from leaving supermarket parking lots could be used to keep bikes from gong past municipal boundaries).
Terrorism has many faces:
"Eight abortion doctors have been murdered by 'pro-life' terrorists since 1993."
Striking a balance
A January 2015 survey conducted by agricultural economists at Oklahoma State found that 82% of Americans want their food labeled if it contains GMOs. The same survey found that 80% of Americans want their food labeled if it contains DNA.
Before getting too smug, let's stop and think about this. This is where majoritarianism leads when it is matched with a dumbed-down media and institutionalized ignorance fostered by an education system modeled on industry. De Tocqueville worried that egalitarian democracy harbored the seeds of its own destruction: "Society will develop a new kind of servitude which covers the surface of society with a network of complicated rules, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate. It does not tyrannize but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd," the resulting dysfunction revealed most nakedly in ballot initiatives.
Society needs to strike a balance between the romantic notion that everyone's ideas and beliefs are equally valid and respect for knowledge, expertise, and experience. The goal of egalitarianism should be to treat all people equally; the ambition of representative democracy should be to make the best practices and outcomes available to everyone.
Before getting too smug, let's stop and think about this. This is where majoritarianism leads when it is matched with a dumbed-down media and institutionalized ignorance fostered by an education system modeled on industry. De Tocqueville worried that egalitarian democracy harbored the seeds of its own destruction: "Society will develop a new kind of servitude which covers the surface of society with a network of complicated rules, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate. It does not tyrannize but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd," the resulting dysfunction revealed most nakedly in ballot initiatives.
Society needs to strike a balance between the romantic notion that everyone's ideas and beliefs are equally valid and respect for knowledge, expertise, and experience. The goal of egalitarianism should be to treat all people equally; the ambition of representative democracy should be to make the best practices and outcomes available to everyone.
Would Norman Thomas or Eugene Debs been more effective...
...if they'd run as Democrats?
Many of us who support him against Hillary Clinton now, warned before he declared that, by running as a Democrat instead of an independent, Bernie Sanders risks legitimizing the candidate from Goldman Sachs. Come September 2016, when most voters will be just starting to pay attention to the campaign, he will be either silenced or in the uncomfortable position of supporting a candidate for president he knows will pursue policies against which he has stood for his entire career. As Chris Hedges argues,
Many of us who support him against Hillary Clinton now, warned before he declared that, by running as a Democrat instead of an independent, Bernie Sanders risks legitimizing the candidate from Goldman Sachs. Come September 2016, when most voters will be just starting to pay attention to the campaign, he will be either silenced or in the uncomfortable position of supporting a candidate for president he knows will pursue policies against which he has stood for his entire career. As Chris Hedges argues,
If you want change you can believe in, destroy the system. And changing the system does not mean collaborating with it as Bernie Sanders is doing by playing by the cooked rules of the Democratic Party. Profound social and political transformation is acknowledged in legislatures and courts but never initiated there. Radical change always comes from below. As long as our gaze is turned upward to the powerful, as long as we invest hope in reforming the system of corporate power, we will remain enslaved. There may be good people within the system -- Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are examples -- but that is not the point. It is the system that is rotten. It must be replaced.The rest of the story: Make the Rich Panic by Chris Hedges (TruthDig).
Bernie's All In
Here's where you can sign up for Sen. Bernie Sanders's campaign emails and, should you wish, to make a financial contribution to his effort: https://berniesanders.com/
Robert Borosage of The Campaign for America's Future offers a savvy assessment of the upsides of Sanders' run. "Sanders," he writes, "is in many ways the mirror image of Hillary Clinton, the favored candidate in the race. She has universal name recognition, unlimited
funds, and a campaign operation rife with experienced political pros. He is not widely known, has little money, and has never run a national campaign. But in a populist moment, he is the real deal – a full-throated, unabashed, independent, uncorrupted, straight-talking populist. And that is a big deal."
Borosage suggests supporters of Sen. Elizabeth Warren should be full bore for Sanders, on the premise that he could be Eugene McCarthy to her Robert Kennedy.
The rest of the story: The Sanders Challenge by Robert Borosage (The Campaign for America's Future).
Robert Borosage of The Campaign for America's Future offers a savvy assessment of the upsides of Sanders' run. "Sanders," he writes, "is in many ways the mirror image of Hillary Clinton, the favored candidate in the race. She has universal name recognition, unlimited
Borosage suggests supporters of Sen. Elizabeth Warren should be full bore for Sanders, on the premise that he could be Eugene McCarthy to her Robert Kennedy.
The rest of the story: The Sanders Challenge by Robert Borosage (The Campaign for America's Future).
Security check
So.
Logan Airport last night.
TSA.
My hat on. My jacket on. My shoes on. Computer in my bag.
Took off my belt buckle, but left on a welded steel neck piece.
"Empty your pockets. No bottles."
That was it.
Could it be that it has been 13 1/2 years of bullshit?
The story is not THAT citizens are in the streets. The question that needs to be addressed is WHY.
I think that we've got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard. -- Rev. Martin Luther KingThe mainstream media is shocked -- shocked! -- by the damage caused by the protestors in Baltimore, but the real story is the grinding poverty and neglect wrought by capital and the powerlessness of citizens living under the thumb of oligarchy.
"Baltimore," Shawn Gude writes, "is like so many other cities with their own Freddie Grays: a place in which private capital has left enormous sections of the city to rot, where a chasm separates the life chances of black and white residents — and where cops brutally patrol a 'disposable' population."
 |
| (Photo: The Baltimore Sun) |
Is this the beginning of the American Spring?
The rest of the story: Why Baltimore Rebelled by Shawn Gude (Jacobin).
10,000 Strong Peacefully Protest In Downtown Baltimore, Media Only Reports The Violence & Arrest of Dozens by AJ Woodson (Black Westchester).
Eyewitnesses: The Baltimore Riots Didn't Start the Way You Think. Baltimore teachers and parents tell a different story from the one you've been reading in the media. By Sam Brodey and Jenna McLaughlin (Mother Jones)
Reading list: “A corrupt, unresponsive and plutocratic disaster”: How Mitch McConnell and the GOP remade Washington in their image. Now that the GOP's in control, Mitch McConnell is letting some things pass — and taking all the credit. By Elias Isquith (Salon).
Why So Many Americans Feel So Powerless by Robert Reich (robertreich.org).
American Political Passivity, Anti-Authoritarianism, and Building a Base by Bruce E. Levine (WarIsACrime).
Rise of the New Black Radicals by Chris Hedges (TruthDig).
Izzy Stone on Earth Day
Thanks to Naomi Klein for unearthing this:
I.F. Stone: “Con Games,” speech delivered at Sylvan Theater, Washington, D.C., April 22, 1970
In the ancient world, the Caesars did it with bread and circuses. And tonight, I’m afraid, is the first time that our Caesars have learned to do it with rock and roll, and idealism, and noninflammatory social issues. In some ways, I’m sorry to say, we here tonight are being conned. This has many of the aspects of a beautiful snow job. The country is slipping into a wider war in southeast Asia, and we’re talking about litterbugs. The secretary of defense, on Monday, made a speech to the Associated Press sabotaging the SALT talks, presenting a completely false picture of the world balance of power, ending what little hope we had of progress in those talks, preparing the way for a bigger, more expensive arms race at the expensive of mankind, and we’re talking as if we needed more wastebaskets.
The divisions of white and black in this country are getting to the point where they threaten our future, and we’re talking about pollution. And it’s not that pollution is not an important subject, but if the Nixon administration feels so deeply about it, why don’t they do something substantial about it?
One important thing about this town is that you can never take very seriously what the officials say. They’re the prisoners of a vast bureaucracy. Much of what they say is merely rationalization of their lack of momentum. But in particular, the president said, and I think quite rightfully and quite truthfully, that in the next ten years it’s now or never for the air we breathe and the water we drink. And then, after making that speech, he put in a budget in which 52 cents out of every general revenue dollar goes to the military, and barely four-tenths of one cent goes to air and water pollution. And that’s a real con game. And that’s a real snow job.
We are spending, on new weapons systems alone, more than ten times as much, in this coming fiscal year, in the Nixon budget, than we’re going to spend on air and water. We’re spending a billion dollars more a year on space than all our expenditure on natural resources. The priorities of this government are lunatic—absolutely lunatic. And we’re not going to save the air we breathe and the water we drink without very many fundamental changes in governmental policy and governmental structure.
Before I came down here tonight, I heard a TV announcer say with great satisfaction that he hadn’t heard a word said about Vietnam all day. Well, I’m going to say a word about Vietnam. We’re not going to be able to save our air and our water, and the resources of our country, for our children and our grandchildren, until we end the militarization of our society, until we bring to an end the effort of American imperialism to rule the world and to waste our resources and our honor and our kids on a futile and murderous and insane task.
The problem of pollution is not going to be solved in isolation. The basic and most important pollution problem that we have to deal with is to prevent the pollution of the atmosphere of free discussion by the Nixon-Agnew-Mitchell administration. A society can only progress and deal with its evils if it is prepared to allow the widest measure of free speech, including free speech for radicals who are completely opposed to the basis of that society. Any society allows you to agree with the government. A free society allows you to disagree fundamentally. And it takes a lot of disagreement, and a lot of hollering and a lot of demonstration, to shake any establishment out of its accustomed ways. And the main menace to the solution of these problems is an administration that thinks they will go away if they just put a few radicals in jail.
The problems are enormous. The source of pollution is man. And man’s technology. And the enormous institutions he has built up that make him a prisoner. And somehow we’ve got to shake loose. And the biggest menace—the institution that ties us down most—that wastes our substance—that threatens to waste more of our youth—is that great big, five-sided building across the Potomac—the Pentagon. They are preparing to do to us at home what they tried to do in Vietnam.
Only this week, General Wheeler, the retiring chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, gave an interview to U.S. News and World Report in which he said that criticism of the military was due to a Communist plot. This is an effort of the military to revive McCarthyism, to preserve its enormous power and privileges in our society. And until its power is broken, until the military is reduced sharply in size, we’re not going to be able to solve these problems.
You know, there is no use talking about Earth Day unless we are prepared to make these fundamental changes. Everybody’s talking about Earth Day, and it comes out of the mouths of so many hypocrites it turns your stomach. What kind of an Earth Day can we celebrate in a country that is spending so much of its money to destroy the Earth? How can we talk of reverence for life when we’re spending so much on our enemy, our genius, our money, and our youth on building up new means of destroying life?
What’s the use of talking about the pollution of air and water when we live under a precarious balance of terror which can, in an hour’s time, make the entire Northern Hemisphere of our planet unlivable? There’s no use talking about Earth Day until we begin to think like Earthmen. Not as Americans and Russians, not as blacks and whites, not as Jews and Arabs, but as fellow travelers on a tiny planet in an infinite universe. All that we can muster of kindness, of compassion, of patience, of thoughtfulness, is necessary if this tiny planet of ours is not to go down to destruction. Until we have a leadership willing to make the enormous changes—psychological, military, and bureaucratic—to end the existing world system, a system of hatred, of anarchy, of murder, of war and pollution, there is no use talking about buying more wastebaskets or spending a couple of hundred million dollars on the Missouri River. If we do not challenge these fundamental causes of peril, we will be conned by the establishment while basic decisions are being made over which we have very little control, though they endanger everything on which our future and the world’s depend.
More at The Website of I.F. Stone.
I.F. Stone: “Con Games,” speech delivered at Sylvan Theater, Washington, D.C., April 22, 1970
In the ancient world, the Caesars did it with bread and circuses. And tonight, I’m afraid, is the first time that our Caesars have learned to do it with rock and roll, and idealism, and noninflammatory social issues. In some ways, I’m sorry to say, we here tonight are being conned. This has many of the aspects of a beautiful snow job. The country is slipping into a wider war in southeast Asia, and we’re talking about litterbugs. The secretary of defense, on Monday, made a speech to the Associated Press sabotaging the SALT talks, presenting a completely false picture of the world balance of power, ending what little hope we had of progress in those talks, preparing the way for a bigger, more expensive arms race at the expensive of mankind, and we’re talking as if we needed more wastebaskets.
The divisions of white and black in this country are getting to the point where they threaten our future, and we’re talking about pollution. And it’s not that pollution is not an important subject, but if the Nixon administration feels so deeply about it, why don’t they do something substantial about it?
One important thing about this town is that you can never take very seriously what the officials say. They’re the prisoners of a vast bureaucracy. Much of what they say is merely rationalization of their lack of momentum. But in particular, the president said, and I think quite rightfully and quite truthfully, that in the next ten years it’s now or never for the air we breathe and the water we drink. And then, after making that speech, he put in a budget in which 52 cents out of every general revenue dollar goes to the military, and barely four-tenths of one cent goes to air and water pollution. And that’s a real con game. And that’s a real snow job.
We are spending, on new weapons systems alone, more than ten times as much, in this coming fiscal year, in the Nixon budget, than we’re going to spend on air and water. We’re spending a billion dollars more a year on space than all our expenditure on natural resources. The priorities of this government are lunatic—absolutely lunatic. And we’re not going to save the air we breathe and the water we drink without very many fundamental changes in governmental policy and governmental structure.
Before I came down here tonight, I heard a TV announcer say with great satisfaction that he hadn’t heard a word said about Vietnam all day. Well, I’m going to say a word about Vietnam. We’re not going to be able to save our air and our water, and the resources of our country, for our children and our grandchildren, until we end the militarization of our society, until we bring to an end the effort of American imperialism to rule the world and to waste our resources and our honor and our kids on a futile and murderous and insane task.
The problem of pollution is not going to be solved in isolation. The basic and most important pollution problem that we have to deal with is to prevent the pollution of the atmosphere of free discussion by the Nixon-Agnew-Mitchell administration. A society can only progress and deal with its evils if it is prepared to allow the widest measure of free speech, including free speech for radicals who are completely opposed to the basis of that society. Any society allows you to agree with the government. A free society allows you to disagree fundamentally. And it takes a lot of disagreement, and a lot of hollering and a lot of demonstration, to shake any establishment out of its accustomed ways. And the main menace to the solution of these problems is an administration that thinks they will go away if they just put a few radicals in jail.
The problems are enormous. The source of pollution is man. And man’s technology. And the enormous institutions he has built up that make him a prisoner. And somehow we’ve got to shake loose. And the biggest menace—the institution that ties us down most—that wastes our substance—that threatens to waste more of our youth—is that great big, five-sided building across the Potomac—the Pentagon. They are preparing to do to us at home what they tried to do in Vietnam.
Only this week, General Wheeler, the retiring chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, gave an interview to U.S. News and World Report in which he said that criticism of the military was due to a Communist plot. This is an effort of the military to revive McCarthyism, to preserve its enormous power and privileges in our society. And until its power is broken, until the military is reduced sharply in size, we’re not going to be able to solve these problems.
You know, there is no use talking about Earth Day unless we are prepared to make these fundamental changes. Everybody’s talking about Earth Day, and it comes out of the mouths of so many hypocrites it turns your stomach. What kind of an Earth Day can we celebrate in a country that is spending so much of its money to destroy the Earth? How can we talk of reverence for life when we’re spending so much on our enemy, our genius, our money, and our youth on building up new means of destroying life?
What’s the use of talking about the pollution of air and water when we live under a precarious balance of terror which can, in an hour’s time, make the entire Northern Hemisphere of our planet unlivable? There’s no use talking about Earth Day until we begin to think like Earthmen. Not as Americans and Russians, not as blacks and whites, not as Jews and Arabs, but as fellow travelers on a tiny planet in an infinite universe. All that we can muster of kindness, of compassion, of patience, of thoughtfulness, is necessary if this tiny planet of ours is not to go down to destruction. Until we have a leadership willing to make the enormous changes—psychological, military, and bureaucratic—to end the existing world system, a system of hatred, of anarchy, of murder, of war and pollution, there is no use talking about buying more wastebaskets or spending a couple of hundred million dollars on the Missouri River. If we do not challenge these fundamental causes of peril, we will be conned by the establishment while basic decisions are being made over which we have very little control, though they endanger everything on which our future and the world’s depend.
More at The Website of I.F. Stone.
Block the Kochs
When Dylan sang "Your old road is rapidly agin'/Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand/For the times they are a-changin'," he was sending out a warning to the establishment of the day, the old order, the holders of the reins of authority, the guardians of business-as-usual.
And the times changed all right, just not the way he predicted. Now, it is we the people who need to heed the warning. The counter-revolution is nearly over. The oligarchs' final victory is around the next turn the road. Despite the valiant resistance of individuals all over the planet, there are still too few willing to lend hand. Difficult as it will be, we must find the way to collective action.
"We must all hang together," Franklin said, "or assuredly we shall all hang separately."
Poor us
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| A Japanese officer watches as a Landing Craft Air Cushion transports US Marines and sailors and soldiers from Japan during a joint military exercise in California in 2014 (Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty images) |
"In fact, this world of threats is an illusion. The United States has no potent enemies. We are not only safe, but safer than any big power has been in all of modern history.
"Geography is our greatest protector. Wide oceans separate us from potential aggressors. Our vast homeland is rich and productive. No other power on earth is blessed with this security.
"Our other asset is the weakness of potential rivals. It will be generations before China is able to pose a serious challenge to the United States — and there is little evidence it wishes to do so. Russia is weak and in deep economic trouble — not always a friendly neighbor but no threat to the United States. Heart-rending violence in the Middle East has no serious implication for American security. As for domestic terrorism, the risk for Americans is modest: You have more chance of being struck by lightning on your birthday than of dying in a terror attack."
The rest of the story:
The world of threats to the US is an illusion by Stephen Kinzer (Boston Globe)
They're baaaaack!
Having failed to inflict sufficient damage on Santa Monica's planning process last year with its ill-conceived but successful referendum to hogtie the development of the admirable Hines project (you can see the not-unexpectedly mediocre aftermath of that effort here), nimby-oid Residocracy is back with a
non-binding digital petition designed to short circuit the reasonable, common-sense updating of the city's zoning ordinance, recently advanced by the planning commission after many months of study and debate.
According to the Santa Monica Daily Press, "Residocracy is asking for a 25 percent reduction of all proposed heights and densities under the first and second tier development standards. They want an amendment to another planning document (The Land Use and Circulation Element or LUCE) that eliminates third tier developments. They’d like a second amendment to the LUCE that would eliminate all activity centers, which would allow larger scale development. And finally, they want an ordinance requiring that all development agreements be approved by Santa Monica voters."
This is not how representative democracy works. In fact, representative government was established precisely to prevent the highjacking of the political system by highly motivated minorities. Even the heart of Residocracy's complaint -- that the proposed ordinance and LUCE are complex 500 page documents that took seven years to put together -- points to the inadvisability of deciding complex issues by referendum. The other complaint -- that, despite extensive public input in Santa Monica decision-making, the outcomes seem predetermined by city staff -- has some merit, but the solution is to give elected representatives more sway over city employees (council members need their own staffs, for example, or, shy of that, there should be a full-time independent auditor with his or her own staff).
Residocracy presents itself as the voice of Santa Monica residents. but in actuality it is a single-issue interest group with a very specific and very negative agenda. Using intimidation, sloganeering, over-simplification and scare tactics. it attempts to bully its way to its desired outcomes (go to a public meeting where its members have been turned out in numbers and you'll think you're at a cage fight not a civic event). During the lead up to the Hines ballot initiative, out off curiosity I took a walk around town randomly asking people what they thought of the project. Although it is anecdotal not scientific, what I found is nonetheless instructive: of the people I spoke to who'd heard of Hines. not a one was opposed to it as approved and a number expressed the hope that it would be built.
Maybe this time the city council -- charged with looking out for the general welfare, after all, not the interests of one group, however clamorous -- will not let itself be bullied. And before you allow yourself to be bullied into endorsing Residocracy's abstinence appeal ("just say no" to all development it dislikes, whether useful, necessary, desirable or popular), consider this: what do you know about land use; tax law and revenue generation; infrastructure and utilities; zoning; federal and state regulations affecting development; the influence of local bylaws, ordinances and regulations on our environmental, economic and housing goals and whether such rules are prescriptive or proscriptive; the effects on traffic, air quality and other elements of urban life of concentrating development near transportation hubs; the mix and condition of the city's housing stock; public benefits that can be achieved from easements and development agreements; the possible differences, relationships and sound mix of residential, commercial and industrial uses; the need for public facilities; and how your concerns dovetail with others who have an equal claim on what happens here? That's what a city council is for.
By all means, participate! Go to community workshops, express yourself at planning commission and city council meetings, call and write your elected and appointed representatives. And when Residocracy turns up again, as they will, with a plebiscite on a complex development matter, don't play along. Just say no.
Follow: Santa Monica Mirror; Santa Monica Daily Press; City of Santa Monica.
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| 26th Street as it might have been |
According to the Santa Monica Daily Press, "Residocracy is asking for a 25 percent reduction of all proposed heights and densities under the first and second tier development standards. They want an amendment to another planning document (The Land Use and Circulation Element or LUCE) that eliminates third tier developments. They’d like a second amendment to the LUCE that would eliminate all activity centers, which would allow larger scale development. And finally, they want an ordinance requiring that all development agreements be approved by Santa Monica voters."
This is not how representative democracy works. In fact, representative government was established precisely to prevent the highjacking of the political system by highly motivated minorities. Even the heart of Residocracy's complaint -- that the proposed ordinance and LUCE are complex 500 page documents that took seven years to put together -- points to the inadvisability of deciding complex issues by referendum. The other complaint -- that, despite extensive public input in Santa Monica decision-making, the outcomes seem predetermined by city staff -- has some merit, but the solution is to give elected representatives more sway over city employees (council members need their own staffs, for example, or, shy of that, there should be a full-time independent auditor with his or her own staff).
Residocracy presents itself as the voice of Santa Monica residents. but in actuality it is a single-issue interest group with a very specific and very negative agenda. Using intimidation, sloganeering, over-simplification and scare tactics. it attempts to bully its way to its desired outcomes (go to a public meeting where its members have been turned out in numbers and you'll think you're at a cage fight not a civic event). During the lead up to the Hines ballot initiative, out off curiosity I took a walk around town randomly asking people what they thought of the project. Although it is anecdotal not scientific, what I found is nonetheless instructive: of the people I spoke to who'd heard of Hines. not a one was opposed to it as approved and a number expressed the hope that it would be built.
Maybe this time the city council -- charged with looking out for the general welfare, after all, not the interests of one group, however clamorous -- will not let itself be bullied. And before you allow yourself to be bullied into endorsing Residocracy's abstinence appeal ("just say no" to all development it dislikes, whether useful, necessary, desirable or popular), consider this: what do you know about land use; tax law and revenue generation; infrastructure and utilities; zoning; federal and state regulations affecting development; the influence of local bylaws, ordinances and regulations on our environmental, economic and housing goals and whether such rules are prescriptive or proscriptive; the effects on traffic, air quality and other elements of urban life of concentrating development near transportation hubs; the mix and condition of the city's housing stock; public benefits that can be achieved from easements and development agreements; the possible differences, relationships and sound mix of residential, commercial and industrial uses; the need for public facilities; and how your concerns dovetail with others who have an equal claim on what happens here? That's what a city council is for.
By all means, participate! Go to community workshops, express yourself at planning commission and city council meetings, call and write your elected and appointed representatives. And when Residocracy turns up again, as they will, with a plebiscite on a complex development matter, don't play along. Just say no.
Follow: Santa Monica Mirror; Santa Monica Daily Press; City of Santa Monica.
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