;)
Sunday
Jan102016
The Commentariat -- January 11, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court seemed poised on Monday to deliver a severe blow to organized labor. The justices appeared divided along familiar lines during an extended argument over whether government workers who choose not to join unions may nonetheless be required to help pay for collective bargaining. The court's conservative majority appeared ready to say that such compelled financial support violates the First Amendment.... The best hope for a victory for the unions had rested with Justice Antonin Scalia, who has written and said things sympathetic to their position. But he was consistently hostile on Monday."
Michael Ruane of the Washington Post: "Almost 75 years after they were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the remains of five U.S. sailors who perished when their battleship was sunk have been identified, the Pentagon said Monday. The five men, who were exhumed last year from their graves in Hawaii and examined in special military laboratories, were among 429 sailors and Marines killed when the USS Oklahoma was torpedoed and capsized. They had been buried as 'unknowns.'"
Kate Mather of the Los Angeles Times: "Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck has recommended criminal charges against an officer who killed an unarmed homeless man in Venice, marking the first time as chief that Beck has called for charges in a fatal on-duty shooting. LAPD investigators concluded that Brendon Glenn was on his stomach, attempting to push himself off the ground, when Officer Clifford Proctor stepped back and fired twice, hitting the 29-year-old in the back, Beck told The Times."
Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: Jeb! was a lousy candidate in 1994, too, when he ran -- and lost -- for governor of Florida. Then, he had the excuse of being a rookie.
*****
Dan Lamothe & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: President & Michelle Obama's guest list for the State of the Union address 'reflects the president's determination to adopt a defiant pose during his speech to the nation. While the first lady's box provides a visual representation of what he has done in office, it also shows where lawmakers have blocked his agenda: One seat will be left vacant to symbolize the Americans killed and injured by guns each year. White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said in an interview that the first lady's guests represent both the trajectory of Obama's presidency and the role everyday citizens have had in shaping it."
David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Obama has invited a Syrian refugee to sit in the first lady's box for the State of the Union address on Tuesday, the White House said Sunday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Margaret Talbot of the New Yorker: "In part, [President] Obama is trying to reframe the gun discussion not as a Second Amendment issue but as one of public health."
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "The Senate returns to Washington on Monday, opening a 2016 in which Republicans will move cautiously on the legislative front to try to protect their endangered incumbents and their Senate majority. The first order of business is to approve the long-delayed nomination of Luis Felipe Restrepo of Pennsylvania to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, a relatively rare vote on an appeals court judge given Republican reticence to allow President Obama to fill more judicial vacancies in his final months."
Jeffrey Jones of Gallup: "In 2015, for the fifth consecutive year, at least four in 10 U.S. adults identified as political independents. The 42% identifying as independents in 2015 was down slightly from the record 43% in 2014. This elevated percentage of political independents leaves Democratic (29%) and Republican (26%) identification at or near recent low points, with the modest Democratic advantage roughly where it has been over the past five years."
Paul Krugman: "... none of the dire predicted consequences of [President Obama's] policies have materialized. It's not just that overall job creation in the private sector -- which was what Mr. Obama was supposedly killing -- has been strong. More detailed examinations of labor markets also show no evidence of predicted ill effects. For example, there's no evidence that Obamacare led to a shift from full-time to part-time work, and no evidence that the expansion of Medicaid led to large reductions in labor supply."
The Sky Is Falling! The Sky Is Falling. Larry Summers in the Washington Post: "Because of China's scale, its potential volatility and the limited room for conventional monetary maneuvers, the global risk to domestic economic performance in the United States, Europe and many emerging markets is as great as any time I can remember. It is time for policymakers to hope for the best and plan for the worst." See also Emily Rauhala's story linked under Way Beyond.
Elizabeth Bruenig of the New Republic: "On Monday, January 11, the Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a case that began working its way through California courts in the spring of 2013. Ostensibly concerned with protecting the free speech rights of public sector workers, Friedrich's outcome will in reality decide the viability of public sector unions in the future." ...
... Noam Scheiber of the New York Times looks at the anti-union moneybags/groups backing the Friedrichs case.
Judith Shulevitz of the New York Times: "As Marx might have said had he deemed women's work worth including in his labor theory of value (he didn't), 'reproductive labor' (as feminists call the creation and upkeep of families and homes) is the basis of the accumulation of human capital. I say it's time for something like reparations.... The universal basic income is a necessary condition for a just society, for it recognizes the fact that most of us -- men, women, parents and nonparents -- do a great deal of unpaid work to sustain the general well-being.... Basic income proposals are sprouting up again, from the right as well as the left." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Yanan Wang of the Washington Post: "Mark Zuckerberg gets baby vaccinated. Anti-vaxxers go nuts." Zuckerberg's Facebook page announcing the trip to the doctor received more than 70,000 comments, both for & against vaccinations. CW: Maybe it's a coincidence, but the first anti-vaxxer comment Wang cites showed a poor command of English by someone I would guess is an English-speaker.
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.
Ravi Somaiya of the New York Times: After Rolling Stone published an interview of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera in an essay by actor Sean Penn, "questions have been raised about the ethics for the magazine in dealing with Mr. Guzmán, a criminal being sought on charges of drug trafficking and murder, and in allowing him to approve what would ultimately be published about him.... The reporting and editing of the article were closely held, in part, to avoid the authorities.... As for giving Mr. Guzmán final approval over the article, [Rolling Stone founder Jann] Wenner said: 'I don't think it was a meaningful thing in the first place. We have let people in the past approve their quotes in interviews.'... Steve Coll, the dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, said he was concerned by the editorial approval offered to Mr. Guzmán. But, he said, 'scoring an exclusive interview with a wanted criminal is legitimate journalism no matter who the reporter is.'" ...
... Peter Holley of the Washington Post: Mexican journalists note the dangers they have faced covering Guzman & his cartel. "... nobody prints anything without cartel approval, including -- it would seem -- Sean Penn." ...
... Andy Borowitz: "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the terror group known as ISIS, has cancelled a long awaited meeting with the actor Sean Penn, a spokesman for the group announced on Sunday. The spokesman gave no reason for the abrupt cancellation, but said that al-Baghdadi no longer felt that meeting with Penn would be 'prudent.'"
Driftglass: "It must have been a great relief for NBC's Shuck Todd to finally give up trying to walk upright and get 'answers' from Donald Trump and instead content himself with tossing softballs, nodding at the reply and then moving on. The rest of us are screwed, of course, but when has that not been true?"
Presidential Race
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "There are two significant presidential debates over the next seven days, falling as the races hurtle toward the first casting of votes. Each debate will take place in Charleston, S.C." CW: The Republican debate is Thursday night. I won't be watching because the candidates make me sick. The Democratic debate is Sunday night. I won't be watching because "Downton Abbey." Which is how the Debbie Wasserman-Schultz planned it.
Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "White House chief of staff Dennis [sic.] McDonough on Sunday said President Obama will not endorse a candidate in the Democratic primary race.... He added that Obama will be 'out there' campaigning after the primary to support the eventual nominee." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Kyle Cheney of Politico: "President Barack Obama has met privately with Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton several times in recent months, but his chief of staff said Sunday that he's powwowed with her chief rival, Bernie Sanders, too. 'He has seen Senator Sanders, both with the Senate Democratic Caucus and privately,' Denis McDonough said on NBC's Meet the Press. 'And so, we'll continue to do that. He's obviously a leading senator in our caucus and we'll continue to do just that.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Kyle Cheney: "Hillary Clinton continued to thrash Bernie Sanders ... over his past support for legislation cheered by the NRA that protects gun manufacturers from liability for shootings. 'I think he has been consistently refusing to say that he would vote to repeal this absolute immunity from any kind of responsibility or liability,' she said Sunday on 'Face the Nation' on CBS, noting that she joined President Barack Obama in opposition to the legislation while they were both in the Senate.... Sanders sought to defend his record on guns separately during an appearance on ABC's 'This Week.' He argued that his support for the earlier legislation was partly because of how 'complicated' it was, and he said he's open to revising it to ensure that large manufacturers can be penalized if they deliver guns they know are being used in crimes." ...
... Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Hillary Clinton on Sunday defended instructing an aide to send information to her through a 'nonsecure' channel, saying the data she requested was not classified and accusing her presidential rivals of seeking to score political points over a non-issue."
... AP: "... Planned Parenthood is endorsing Hillary Clinton in the race to become the Democratic presidential candidate, but says that will not mean negative campaigning against her primary opponents.... Accepting the endorsement on Sunday in New Hampshire, Clinton sought to energise her Democratic base with a passionate pledge to always protect reproductive rights. She painted a dark picture of women's health care under a Republican president, singling out two of the top Republican contenders."
Gabriel Debenedetti of Politico: "Former Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords will endorse Hillary Clinton, a person familiar with her plans confirmed." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Maggie Haberman: "Hillary Clinton holds a three-point edge over Senator Bernie Sanders in Iowa, a tightening of the race with roughly three weeks until voting begins, according to a new set of surveys of likely voters from NBC/The Wall Street Journal/Marist." Haberman also reports other polling results. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Jonathan Easley: "... Hillary Clinton said Sunday that attacks against her husband over past infidelities and allegations of sexual abuse 'won't work,' calling them a 'dead end' and a 'blind alley' for her rivals. Speaking Sunday on CBS's 'Face the Nation,' Clinton was asked to respond to an ad released last week by GOP front-runner Donald Trump in which he sought to highlight Bill Clinton's affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinskey [sic.]. 'If he wants to engage in personal attacks from the past, that's his prerogative. So be it," Clinton said...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Hadas Gold of Politico: "ABC is cutting off their partnership with the New Hampshire Union Leader for the Republican primary debate on Feb. 6, an ABC spokesperson has confirmed. The paper was set to have a co-branding relationship for the debate, though it was going to be a comparatively minor role, without any representative on stage asking questions on behalf of the newspaper. In a series of tweets on Sunday, [Donald] Trump took credit for ABC's move, saying he asked for ABC to remove the paper from the debate."
Ben White of Politico: "Many economists say Donald Trump's proposals -- from big import tariffs to mass deportations -- would hurt the very demographic that supports him in the greatest numbers: less educated voters struggling in a tepid U.S. economy. If Trump policies actually went into effect, these economists say, prices for goods lower-income Americans depend on could soar and a depleted low-end labor force could trigger a major downturn.... [In addition,] according to the Tax Policy Center, Trump's tax plan would reduce federal revenue by $9.5 trillion over the next decade. It would also provide an average $1.3 million tax cut for the top 0.1 percent of earners, the Tax Policy Center found. The Trump campaign has disputed these findings." ...
... Bradford Richardson: "Donald Trump says President Obama's irresponsible use of executive orders has paved the way for him to also use them freely if he wins the presidential race. 'I won't refuse it. I'm going to do a lot of things,' Trump said when asked if he would use executive orders in an interview Sunday on NBC's 'Meet the Press.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... digby, on Trump's praising North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un for his brutality: "This isn't actually a joke. It's not really a Reality TV show. This guy has millions of Americans cheering him and what he's saying very clearly is that America needs a strongman dictator. Him.... What's amazing is that most of the people who are supporting him also wave around the Constitution like it was handed down directly from God." ...
... CW: Taking together all of his various promises & his admiration for notorious despots, it is clear that Trump thinks the U.S. presidency also is or should be an absolute, unchecked position of power. It's not possible to know what he would actually do if he became president, but there's every reason to think he would try to run roughshod over the other branches of government, the military, the administrative bureaucracy & the Constitution. I'm not certain impeachment could pry him out of the White House. ...
... ** Update: In a Salon piece, Digby catalogues some of Trump's authoritarian pronouncements. We haven't heard a parade of horribles like this in a long time..
Birtherism, Ctd. Ben Jacobs of the Guardian: "The legal and constitutional issues around qualification for the presidency on grounds of US citizenship are 'murky and unsettled', according to [Laurence Tribe,] the scholar cited by Donald Trump in his recent attacks on Ted Cruz.... Tribe taught both Cruz and Barack Obama at Harvard Law School.... In his emails to the Guardian, Tribe discussed Cruz's own approach to constitutional issues, noting that under 'the kind of judge Cruz says he admires and would appoint to the supreme court -- an "originalist" who claims to be bound by the historical meaning of the constitution's terms at the time of their adoption -- Cruz wouldn't be eligible because the legal principles that prevailed in the 1780s and 90s required that someone be born on US soil to be a "natural born" citizen."'" Read on. ...
... Bradford Richardson: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says the upper chamber won't issue a resolution on whether Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is constitutionally eligible to run for president.... The Senate previously issued a resolution confirming then-nominee John McCain's eligibility to serve as president. The Arizona senator was born on a [U.S.] military base in Panama to American parents." ...
... CW: Because senators really don't like Ted & would enjoy watching him twist in the wind. ...
... The Cheez Stands Alone. Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "Having broken with Trump, Cruz finds himself almost friendless in the Republican Party. And now that Trump has made Cruz birtherism an issue, many others are eager to join in the pile-on." ...
... Kristen East of Politico: "In an interview this weekend with PBS, [NYT columnist David] Brooks tells host Judy Woodruff that Cruz’s world is 'combative,' 'angry,' and 'apocalyptic.' And while he continues to rise in state and national polls, Brooks said other candidates, like Marco Rubio, are starting to use similar rhetoric.... Co-panelist David Corn, the Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones, said he believed the satanic tones actually come from Cruz's dad, Rafael Cruz, who is an evangelical pastor."
Gary Legum of Salon: "This weekend, a few of the Republican candidates for president gathered at the Jack Kemp Foundation to discuss which one of their administrations would screw over poor people the hardest.... There were the usual conservative buzzwords for fighting poverty: empowerment, education (by providing school vouchers, of course), expanding opportunity.... [Jeb] Bush illustrated what everyone should by now know: The GOP has no ideas."
Beyond the Beltway
Benjamin Mueller & Nate Schweber of the New York Times: "Three teenagers suspected of taking turns raping an 18-year-old woman at a Brooklyn playground after ordering her father to leave her side were taken into custody on Sunday, a law enforcement official said.... Charges against them were pending.... The father ran to get help, but the police official said it took him roughly 20 minutes to come upon two officers in a patrol car.... In an area filled with public housing high-rises, delis and other stores, it is unclear why the father was not able to get help from bystanders or call the police. The Police Department said in a statement on Sunday night that no one called 911 in connection with the attack, and that the officers 'immediately responded and located the victim' after being alerted by the father.... Elected officials also questioned whether the police notified the public quickly enough after the attack."
Luke Hammill of the Oregonian: "As law enforcement has continued to take a 'wait-them-out' approach to the occupation [of the Malheur wildlife refuge], more and more outsiders -- many of them armed -- have descended on this remote corner of Eastern Oregon. Many of them are well-meaning and want to help bring the situation to a peaceful resolution. Some are reveling in the international media attention. Others are inspired by the militants and have come to join the protest. Few, if any, of them have been welcomed with open arms by law enforcement." ...
Another guy "protecting the peace."... Sam Levin of the Guardian: "The heavily armed rightwing groups who descended on rural Harney County in eastern Oregon on Saturday -- to protect the peace, they said -- made clear they had no intention of leaving, as the occupation of the Malheur national wildlife refuge entered its second week. Observers, meanwhile, noted that many such groups were extremist entities with histories of promoting bigotry, racism and violence."
... Luke Hammill: "In the latest bizarre turn of events surrounding the ongoing armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge, an Oregon state legislator from outside Harney County arrived here Saturday with out-of-state elected officials in tow and met with the protesters. Oregon Rep. Cliff Bentz, a Republican from Ontario, and Harney County Judge Steven E. Grasty said that they tried to warn state Rep. Dallas Heard against traveling to Burns. But Heard, a Republican from Roseburg, arrived anyway, they said, and brought officials elected to state office in Washington, Idaho and Nevada with him." ...
... Mike Rogoway of the Oregonian: "Oregon Public Broadcasting visited the [Malheur refuge] compound Friday and reported that militants appeared to be using federal computers inside the compound, machines that can be accessed only with employees' ID badges. Lists of names and Social Security numbers were visible, alongside government ID cards." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Sara Burnett of the AP: "A former U.S. attorney will conduct an independent review of the division of Chicago's law department that defends police after a judge last week accused a city attorney of hiding evidence in a lawsuit over a fatal police shooting, the department's chief said Sunday.... [Mayor Rahm] Emanuel said Tuesday that he didn't think it was necessary to expand the investigation to include the city's law department. Two days later, he announced there would be an independent review, but didn't disclose details.
Sarah Kaplan of the Washington Post: "Two days after a Philadelphia cop was shot by a man who said he had pledged loyalty to the Islamic State, the city's police and the FBI are investigating a tip that the man was part of a group with radical beliefs that might still pose a threat."
Way Beyond
Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "China's stock slide showed no signs of easing Monday, steamrolling over attempts by Beijing regulators to stem a dive that has battered markets around the world. The Shanghai Composite dropped more than 5 percent, dragging down Asian and European markets and extending last week's losses."
Anthony Faiola & Stephanie Kirchner of the Washington Post: "The Islamist extremist who staged a failed attack on a Paris police station last week had been living in a home for asylum seekers in western Germany, police said, deepening fears that militants may be infiltrating Europe disguised as migrants." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Ledes
New York Times: "Islamic State militants attacked a shopping mall in eastern Baghdad on Monday evening, killing at least 17 people and turning the neighborhood into an urban war zone at rush hour, with helicopters hovering overhead and snipers taking positions on nearby rooftops."
New York Times: "David Bowie, the infinitely changeable, fiercely forward-looking songwriter who taught generations of musicians about the power of drama, images and personas, died on Sunday, two days after his 69th birthday."
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Reader Comments (27)
For those, like myself, struggling to make sense of the Oregon hole-up, Chistoper Ketcham provides useful context in Harper's Magazine. Once again look to the corporations to see who's pulling the strings.
So it's official. Adolf wants to be Emperor of the U.S. of Trump with
Putin as Sec. of State and Kim Jong-un as Sec. of Defense (or maybe Director of Homeland Security).
So think about this. A candidate for POTUS declared his support for dictators and murderers and the media barely notices. They think this is a joke. NO. Let me say it again (and again), Trump is seriously mentally ill. He not only plans to be dictator, he has no problem announcing it.
Totally agree with Marvin. This man, He, Trump(trademark by C Pierce) is nuts, and I keep writing NBC about MSNBC devoting hours to broadcasting his garbage and then turning around to analyze/criticize it-- to no avail. I keep turning him off, but he seeps in when my back is turned, like a cockroach.
Also, it can't be said too often that if the Oregon crazies were not white, middle-aged, dirt-bag whites, they would be dead or jailed by now. What the heck is the BLM, not to be confused with the BLM, thinking by allowing this sort of thing to prevail?
@Jeanne: Couldn't agree more.
Also, too, now that it appears the nuts in Oregon have hacked into on-site federal government computers, I really, really don't get why the "authorities" are leaving the power on.
Marie
@DC Clark: Thanks for the lesson on the periodic table.
My mother was a chemist. She wouldn't let me take chemistry when I was in high school. She said she had enough trouble getting me thru algebra. She was right. I took general chem in college. I got a "B." The professor definitely graded on a curve.
(See yesterday's comments.)
Marie
Given the vast gulf that Confederates have put between themselves (it would be wrong to attribute the widening gyre to "both sides") and pretty much anyone who doesn't bow to their emotional distress and hate-fueled victimhood, the possibility of even a nominal rapprochement seems as far off as days of yore in which Republican politicians weren't working day and night to undermine a president from the other party and sabotaging the most common sense solutions for a secure and healthy nation.
The fallout from this willful separation, this perverse estrangement from rationality, this severance from moderate legislative engagement by a party that endeavors to ignore or eviscerate any opposing views has created a sort of political nuclear winter that threatens all. The proponents of grim and strident disengagement have little chance of getting what they want which is total victory for their side, even with (especially with?) issues supported by the majority--in some cases, a vast majority--of the polis. Theirs is a suicide pact. But they have decided that should they be unable to win, by hook or by crook (routine resorts employed with abandon), their poison pill must be ingested by all or forced upon those who reject the siren call of the Confederate Jim Joneses, of whom there are many. (The term "dead-enders" used to be one of scorn and pity; now it describes vast swathes of the Confederate Party.)
The fuse for this political melancholia, the consideration of how far we are from a nation of thoughtful, partisan, and determined--but not insane--civic actors, was lit by a couple of lines from an Adrienne Rich essay from her collection, "On Lies, Secrets and Silence". Working out what is important in an honorable human relationship, she suggests, involves "...a process of refining the truths they can tell each other. It is important to do this because it breaks down human self-delusion and isolation. It is important to do this because in doing so we do justice to our own complexity."
Confederate obduracy and ignorance are the antecedents to more than just the inability to govern with civility and wisdom.
"... Peter Holley of the Washington Post: Mexican journalists note the dangers they have faced covering Guzman & his cartel. "... nobody prints anything without cartel approval ..."
La Donald must be green with envy (or is it just his hair color?).
In today's Guardian (Australia edition) here are 2 articles:
"Australia bet the house on never-ending Chinese growth. It might not end well."
and
"Deja vu for the Australian economy as China woes portend another bad year."
More than 30% of the Australian export economy is to China. Now they can't export much to China. The Australian economy is in big trouble.
The capitalist message seems to be: extract what you can (mineral ore, technologies, factories, people skills), and make money off of this, then leave. Australia is now one big coal pit; what will be left of the US after the capitalists have had their day?(Think shaved mountain tops, lead poisoning, and methane dumping). I sit screaming at my laptop while the press covers an orange headed lunatic.
Re access to Government computers:
Very long ago, in the early days of the Internet, I ran the server in my workgroup at NASA. Within a few years, that job got so big we hired a contractor to do it. I supervised the contractor, until a few years later that became a full time operation under a separate division.
For as long as I knew anything about it, we had the ability to monitor every keystroke, and could block anyone from access anytime. For example, if someone forgot their password, I could reset it. So of course I could just delete them. I can't say whether this is still the case, but it seems to me that it ought to be.
If the Oregon Mob is connecting via cell phones, I wonder that the Feds can't get a court order for their access provider to cut them off.
"There's got to be a way, to get those stiffs off my property."
~ The Blessed Reverend in 'The Loved One'
Re the Oregon folks, my understanding is that the Feds are keeping the power on to prevent frozen pipes and other damage, e.g., to the computers, that may be caused by the cold.
However, if I were the Oregon officials, I would block any resupply shipments to the interlopers - if they want their food, cigs, and "French Vanilla Creamer" they will have to surrender to the authorities first.
@Rockygirl: Good points. It's apparent, however, that the militants are free to come & go. And they do. One news report I read this weekend said they saw some of them enjoying a meal at a cafe in Burns.
Marie
Dave's post above gives the link to the article in Harpers which is excellent and gives us a broad picture on the Bundy brothers in arms, some history on the land grabs, and an in- depth coverage of the ecological damage that has been done to our lands due to ranchers and their animals. It makes your blood boil (ALEC has its dirty fingers in this big time), but it also, especially reading the last paragraph that describes the beauty of what is still seen in parts of this land, so very sad.
On the other side of this world there are celebrities that had their Golden Globe Award hoopla. I was struck by so many of the women's gowns that were cut on top in order to reveal their breasts–- a regular bosom brigade––something J-Lo paraded last year. I predict that in time––maybe even next year––we'll have bums revealed sprinkled with glittering golden globes. The men are always attired in suits––granted, fashionable, but still suits. Our species, so different from others, have the females flaunt their stuff while the males, for the most part, take their pick.
I wanted to say a couple of things about Ken's exemplary comment yesterday regarding religion.
I do believe, as he suggests, that certain elements of religion can offer spiritual sustenance and clarity, if taken straight with no chasers adulterated by the backwash of organized religion. For instance, the essence of Christianity is supposed to be love. Love your neighbor as yourself. That's a pretty simple and wonderful concept but immensely difficult in practice. In fact, as Ken points out, so many of the most fundamental directives of Christianity, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, help those imprisoned, comfort the afflicted, are routinely ignored as if they were the Satanic laws. A depressing number of Republican politicians and all of their current presidential candidates strive to keep the hungry, the naked, and the afflicted right where they are, adding some additional afflictions just for good measure and to make sure the prison population (especially in for-profit prisons!) continues to soar.
One of the many downsides of organized religion, besides war, child abuse, hatred, discrimination, and the infliction of immense spiritual and physical suffering, that is, has to do with the way the application of religious beliefs seems to curtail rationality and critical thinking and effectively walls off its practitioners from the implications of those beliefs. All homosexuals everywhere in all places and time are going to hell? In fact, everyone who doesn't believe what they believe and act as they tell them to are going to hell right with them? Seriously? What kind of supposedly loving god supports crazy talk like that? Heaven must have a pretty tiny population if that's the case (and as Mark Twain once observed, one might desire heaven for the climate but prefer hell for the company--really, would you rather spend all eternity with Ted Cruz or Oscar Wilde?).
And, of course, the idea pushed by so many religiously infected politicians is that anyone who is not religious is, ipso facto, immoral, unmoored from any understanding of what is just and good. As to that, I cannot improve upon the words of the excellent Amanda Marcotte (which I may have linked before) who not long ago vivisected the most prevalent myths religious people seem to hold about atheists (and, I suppose, agnostics as well). Here's her answer to the morality "problem":
"Believers, listen to me carefully when I say this: When you use this argument [that religion is needed to maintain morality], you terrify atheists. We hear you saying that the only thing standing between you and Ted Bundy is a flimsy belief in a supernatural being made up by pre-literate people trying to figure out where the rain came from."
So next time Ted Cruz instructs us that what this country needs is more Jesus worship, remind him that we figured out that rain thing a long time ago, thanks very much.
Could there be a more obvious example of white privilege, especially that of white, armed, bearded, Duck Dynasty wannabe douchebags than this bullshit in Oregon?
Take over federal property, threaten to kill anyone who tries to make them leave, then mosey into town for burgers and beer. The correct procedure would be (well, okay, the best solution would be to drag those pretend tough guys out and throw their treasonous asses in jail to await trial), anyone who comes out gets arrested right away. No other gun-toting Confederate loons are allowed to join the traitors. No creamer, no comfy restaurant trips, no ciggie butts and definitely no use of computers. Surely there's a way to cut the cord, as D.C. suggests. If it were black kids in there (if they were still alive, that is) surfing the web looking for other "revolutionaries" online on our dime, they'd cut them off soon enough.
This is abysmal and embarrassing. No wonder winger pols are all on the side of the traitors. I thought the guv'mint was supposed to be a coterie of tyrannical martinets. It appears the officials "handling" this latest Confederate show of treason wouldn't be tough enough to contain an outbreak of hurt feelings at a pre-adolescent beauty pageant.
Breakthrough in Oregon! Bundy supporters on the rise!
(I must have missed this one.)
Well, hey, it looks like the Bundy Boobs have found an ally; a group that understands their pain and is urging other Americans to follow in their path, do like they do, and revolt against the government:
ISIS!
"Supporters of the Islamic State terrorist group are urging American sympathizers to try to instigate more anti-government demonstrations like last week’s armed takeover of a federal building in rural eastern Oregon."
So let's hear if for Ammon Bundy and the gun-toting boobs. They've struck a chord with like-minded supporters of aggression and chaos.
Lame attempt to lighten the mood:
Since Akhilleus just had to mention Oscar Wilde. Some years ago in the Port of Dublin, I saw a large ship taking on passengers, cars, and trucks. Her name: The Oscar Wilde.
The Oscar Wilde... an Irish... Ferry. (snort, gasp, wheeze, guffaw...)
OK, OK, I know... couldn't help it... I'll stop now.
Anyway, I'll bet Oscar would have loved it. And, by the way, its true:
http://www.irishferries.com/uk-en/ships/oscar-wilde/
And it's not just Australia.
The coal trains that rumble past my house, heading to Vancouver from the Powder River Basin for export to China have almost disappeared. Even the number of oil trains delivering Bakken crude to the local refineries has significantly diminished.
China is definitely in a downturn, and it's affecting more than our stock market. Many railroad workers (union members, of course) are on indefinite furlough. I suspect contract negotiations are in the offing.
Will send a more detailed analysis of the China coal situation when I get to my own computer later today.
Inevitably, bubbles that rush money to the top one percent burst, and when they do, it's the workers who feel the effects first, longest and most profoundly.
What a system!
D.C.,
I suppose, Wilde being a native "Dub" as they say, it wasn't too much of a stretch. Which brings me to (since you've moved us off the depression dime), a little soiree attended by Wilde and another Irish writer from Dublin, G.B. Shaw. (Suddenly reminded of a rubber-necker in a restaurant who rushed over to G.B.'s table to inquire "Are you Shaw?" "Postive" was the reply. Oh god! Don't get me going!)
Of cream filled donuts, bat's piss, and the clap.
(A night at Chez Bundy, perhaps?)
Am glad Akhilleus mentioned Ken's post from yesterday which I found thought provoking and the admonition by Marcotte needs to be repeated often to those particular people like a Ted Cruz. Thought about Ken's words while driving yesterday in torrential rains––suddenly the rain stopped, the sky turned an eerie yellow and a beautiful big rainbow appeared. How many people on the road were praying (the rains were frightening–-couldn't see in front of you) and by george, those prayers were answered. But the main thing I was thinking about was Ken's message about religion's irrelevance re: their everyday behavior
. And isn't that what the message was in "The Wizard of Oz?"
Here's a good report on the importance of unions in democracies:
http://apps.tcf.org/how-defunding-public-sector-unions-will-diminish-our-democracy
PD,
Hey, at least you knew how that rainbow was formed, suspended water droplets, angle of sunlight, refraction, etc. You didn't pull a Bill O'Reilly "duh", "A rainbow appears, who can explain it?"
If there is a god, he, she, or it must have quite a good time screwing with human expectations and desires.
Ferocious rains. People pray. Rain stops, rainbow appears. It's a miracle!
Ferocious rains. People pray. Rain worsens. Accidents. People die. God must be angry.
God wins no matter what (sounds like a Republican running in a gerrymandered district. Is heaven gerrymandered?).
Randy Newman pondered this situation years ago in "God's Song: That's Why I Love Mankind":
"I burn down your cities-how blind you must be
I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we
You all must be crazy to put your faith in me
That's why I love mankind
You really need me
That's why I love mankind"
...and Ted Cruz too. I'm Shaw.
"Sightline," a citizen-supported Northwest environmental watchdog, which publishes daily briefings, is always worth a look. "Sightline's" briefings are available on the web at www.sightline.org
One of their researchers, Clark Williams-Derry had this to say recently about coal. Unfortunately, his brilliant summary of the coal situation is not all in one place so I can't give an address for it. But the following taste may be of interest:
"Every optimistic prediction by coal industry executives from 2010 on has been proven wrong. They misread the situation. They thought that high prices were the “new normal.” They weren’t. It was just a bubble, a lot like the housing bubble. Think about the hype in 2005-2006: “Housing prices can never go down, so now’s the time to invest in houses.” It was the same with coal: “China’s coal demand will grow forever, so now’s the time to invest in coal.” The coal execs drank their own Koolaid, took on massive debt, and they’re facing the financial consequences. (Some of the biggest victims of their hubris were their own workers and retirees: the companies can’t pay back their bondholders, so they’re cutting retirement benefits. Meanwhile, the coal execs are paying themselves millions in bonuses for driving their industry into the ditch. Same old same old from King Coal.)"
"Sightline" is more than worth the time.
From TPM -
Nevada Assemblywoman, Michele Fiore, Offers Her Support To Oregon Militia
(Perhaps by donning apron & rubber gloves to assist the Women-Folk with their cooking & cleaning tasks?)
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/michele-fiore-calls-oregon-militia-bundy
"Anti-vaxxers go Nuts". http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/VaccineSafety/UCM096228; "The CFR also requires that the preservative used ...[s]hall be sufficiently non-toxic so that the amount present in the recommended dose of the product will not be toxic to the recipient. [21 CFR 610.15(a)]. A problem by the aforementioned standard is testing "sufficiently non-toxic" on infants who are immunized. I'm the first to say that far more lives have been saved by vaccinations than thimerosal poisoning. Yet, when you see your beautiful, bubbly baby withdraw into a cocoon a autism spectrum symptoms shortly after vaccination you sort of want to offer a hale and hearty 'piss off' to those who say the obvious hasn't occurred. That said, until something better comes along vaccines are better than dead children.
Akhilleus -
Many thanks for . . .
"Shaw?" => "Positive."
and
The Monty Python!
Effective (if momentary) analgesics for Major Depressive Disorders resulting from National & World "To-Hell-In-A-Handbasket" trajectories.
From Truthout -
"Navy Uses US Citizens as Pawns in Domestic War Games"
"Shake Me, Wake Me . . .
Somebody Tell Me That I'm Dreaming"!
(The Four Tops / Lyrics: Eddie Holland of Holland.Dozier.Holland)
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34367-exclusive-navy-uses-us-citizens-as-pawns-in-domestic-war-games
More Regarding The Brownsville, Brooklyn Gang Rape
The four subhuman teens (one has a prior arrest for attempted murder with a bat & one for robbery), who are now in custody, have claimed that the sex was consensual. Nice try, boys. Then again . . .
Aside from such a moronic claim in the face of irrefutable evidence, if not in their own minds - often in the minds of other rapists - sexually assaulting a woman her against her will is an act that can be experienced (at the very least, rationalized) as "consensual".
Regarding the 5th perp, still missing in action: Some recent bits & pieces may lead to his identity & arrest.
We're hoping so.