Sep 6, 2017
Sep 5, 2017
Today's Quote
--John Ehrlichman
Dan Baum uses that quote (in a piece he wrote for Harpers' last year) as a way of illustrating his points on the failure of "The War On Drugs", and to boost his argument on how we could be doing it a whole lot better.
Duly noted, but Ehrlichman's quote is almost text-book Daddy State, and a very nice window into the soul of the wingnuts who just can't stop trying to rule; and to dominate; to do exactly the things they accuse the Lefties of trying to do. And that brings us around (again) to one of the main tactics of "the right" - Every accusation is a confession.
So, again: History doesn't really repeat itself - but it sure as fuck rhymes.
Sleight Of Hand
Donald Trump took time out of his busy schedule of disaster tourism and tweeting about the media to deliver a speech in Missouri on Wednesday about a seemingly far-less entertaining topic — comprehensive tax reform.
An overhaul of the tax code would, Trump promised, “bring back Main Street by reducing the crumbling burden on our companies and on our workers.”
Meanwhile, Paul Ryan’s been touring the nation waiving around a vaguely postcard-shaped piece of paper that he believes Americans will be able to use to file their taxes once the simplification nirvana of tax reform is enacted.
Congress is facing a crowded September full of “must pass” bills to keep the government open, replenish FEMA’s Harvey-depleted coffers, and avoid a debt ceiling crisis. But when those deadlines are in the rearview mirror, tax reform is the next Republican policy priority. And while achieving the sort of comprehensive reworking of the tax system that Trump is talking about is extremely difficult, the stars are far better aligned for Republicans to pass something than they were on the disastrous effort to replace the Affordable Care Act.
My take-away, as always:
Rich people will throw us a few tasty ribs, knowing we won't notice (or we'll deliberately ignore) the simple fact that they're eating the whole fucking pig.
The obvious musical accompaniment:
Everything old is new again - especially the part about how a few uber-dicks will always fuck it up for the rest of us if we're not very watchful.
Today's Tweet
When the payoff is worth the wait
I have no sympathy for these kids.— Ben Wexler (@mrbenwexler) September 4, 2017
Their parents broke the law.
They don't have jobs.
They cost taxpayers money.
Deport Eric & Don Jr.
Sep 4, 2017
Today's Tweet
I'm not that big a fool
Timeless response to "not all white people are racist". When the entire system is rotten, seeking solace in a few good apples is no solution pic.twitter.com/V8tG5SCTK0— Huda🌼 (@hudaelmi_) September 3, 2017
Fun Fact
WaPo, Margaret Sullivan:
Right-wing extremists committed 74 percent of the 372 politically motivated murders recorded in the United States between 2007 and 2016. Left-wing extremists committed less than 2 percent.
- snip -
But it’s safe to say that most news consumers, if they know anything about antifa, know what the president has told them, and what they’ve gleaned from the club-wielding protesters shown endlessly on TV: that it’s roughly the left-wing equivalent of neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
That’s not only untrue, but it has the effect of tarring everyone who protests Trump, as well as those who peacefully march for climate-change awareness or rally against hate-mongering speakers such as Milo Yiannopoulos, the onetime Breitbart provocateur.
The best thing journalists can do is to relentlessly explain the beliefs, scope and scale of antifa, and to resist conflating it with liberal groups. And most important, to challenge politically motivated efforts to create a false equivalency between antifa and the rising tide of white supremacy. There is no comparison.
Sep 3, 2017
Your Bomb Physics Lesson
I have only a low-end bonehead's understanding of this shit. Here's what I think is a fairly reasonable primer:
Today's Tweet
What would you least like to see from a Seismologist, specializing in monitoring underground nuke testing?
oh fuck— Steven J. Gibbons (@stevenjgibbons) September 3, 2017
Small Men, Big Problems
A coupla things about North Korea.
First, it's been less than a full generation since North Korea came relatively close to being wiped out by famine.
Nobody knows for sure what the numbers are - estimates range from 250,000 to 4 million dead N Koreans. That's anywhere from 2% to 18% of the total population. By comparison, what do you suppose happens to this country if somewhere between 3 million and 52 million Americans died over a 5 year period?
Now, some good old fashioned Keynesian Stimulus can do wonders to help you recover from just about anything, so a massive investment in a nationalized push towards (eg) nuclear weapons would definitely boost the economy, but that assumes you have a shitload of credit or the ability to monetize your national debt, neither of which was available to North Korea in the 90s.
One of the big reasons for that famine was the loss of patronage. The Soviet Union cratered and cut their support. China stepped in, but they had their own problems with drought and shortages and lack of hard currency, so they had to bail too.
Anyway, N Korea gets practically nothing done without the help of a Patron State.
Second (to shorten the story), Putin makes out like a bandit if he stirs the shit in SE Asia.
And while he risks creating the monster - a deliverable H-bomb means never having to say, "Yessir, whatever you want, boss" - Uncle Vlad gets a net benefit just by pimping the chaos and looking for the opportunities.
First, it's been less than a full generation since North Korea came relatively close to being wiped out by famine.
Nobody knows for sure what the numbers are - estimates range from 250,000 to 4 million dead N Koreans. That's anywhere from 2% to 18% of the total population. By comparison, what do you suppose happens to this country if somewhere between 3 million and 52 million Americans died over a 5 year period?
Now, some good old fashioned Keynesian Stimulus can do wonders to help you recover from just about anything, so a massive investment in a nationalized push towards (eg) nuclear weapons would definitely boost the economy, but that assumes you have a shitload of credit or the ability to monetize your national debt, neither of which was available to North Korea in the 90s.
One of the big reasons for that famine was the loss of patronage. The Soviet Union cratered and cut their support. China stepped in, but they had their own problems with drought and shortages and lack of hard currency, so they had to bail too.
Anyway, N Korea gets practically nothing done without the help of a Patron State.
Second (to shorten the story), Putin makes out like a bandit if he stirs the shit in SE Asia.
And while he risks creating the monster - a deliverable H-bomb means never having to say, "Yessir, whatever you want, boss" - Uncle Vlad gets a net benefit just by pimping the chaos and looking for the opportunities.
Sep 1, 2017
Today's Podcast
No, not The Professional Left. We'll get to that one a little later.
This one is You Are Not So Smart - Episode 108: Pandora's Lab:
20,000 dead Americans every year - because of Opioids.
This one is You Are Not So Smart - Episode 108: Pandora's Lab:
20,000 dead Americans every year - because of Opioids.
And the idiocy of smart people.
So also too - be cautious about being cautious.
Corporatocracy
Lobbyists, Coin-Operated Politicians and self-subjugating citizens.
Newsweek, DAVID SIROTA, ALEX KOTCH, JAY CASSANO AND JOSH KEEFE:
The French company that says its Houston-area chemical plant is spewing "noxious" smoke—and may explode—successfully pressed federal regulators to delay new regulations designed to improve safety procedures at chemical plants, according to federal records reviewed by International Business Times.The rules, which were set to go into effect this year, were halted by the Trump administration after a furious lobbying campaign by plant owner Arkema and its affiliated trade association, the American Chemistry Council, which represents a chemical industry that has poured tens of millions of dollars into federal elections.
The effort to stop the chemical plant safety rules was backed by top Texas Republican lawmakers, who have received big campaign donations from chemical industry donors.
Representatives from Arkema Americas and the American Chemistry Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Will The Real God Please Stand Up
Joel Osteen took a (mostly) richly deserved slagging this past week because of his ridiculous "response" to the Harvey mess in Houston.
A fellow goddie takes him to task (John Pavolovitz, Stuff That Needs To Be Said):
Dear Joel Osteen,
Over the past few days you’ve faced an unrelenting wave of Internet shaming, and you’ve experienced the wrath of millions of people who watched the week unfold and determined they were witnessing in you and your megachurch’s response to the hurricane—everything they believe is wrong about organized Christianity; its self-serving greed, its callousness, its tone-deafness in the face of a hurting multitude, its lack of something that looks like Jesus.
A fellow goddie takes him to task (John Pavolovitz, Stuff That Needs To Be Said):
Dear Joel Osteen,
Over the past few days you’ve faced an unrelenting wave of Internet shaming, and you’ve experienced the wrath of millions of people who watched the week unfold and determined they were witnessing in you and your megachurch’s response to the hurricane—everything they believe is wrong about organized Christianity; its self-serving greed, its callousness, its tone-deafness in the face of a hurting multitude, its lack of something that looks like Jesus.
They questioned your initial silence and your closed doors.
They watched with disdain as local Mosques and furniture stores rushed to receive newly homeless victims while you waited.
They shook their heads at the conflicting stories of a flooded church and impassable roads.
They lamented you tweeting out that “God was still on his Throne,” while thousands of your neighbors were literally under water.
They saw your social media expressions of “thoughts and prayers” as hollow and disingenuous, knowing the stockpile of other resources at your disposal.
They witnessed with disgust what they deemed as your late and underwhelming act of kindness performed under duress.
They raged at your excuse that Houston didn’t ask you to receive victims—because (whether Christian or not) they realized that Jesus’ life was marked by an overflow of generosity and compassion and sacrifice that rarely required official invitation.
As a result of the pushback and condemnation you received, I imagine you feel like this has been a rough week. It hasn’t. You’ve had the week you probably should have had, all this considered. You’ve had the week that was coming long before rain ever started falling in Houston.
I kinda stepped in my own shit on Facebook a few days ago when I Share-Posted a meme from Occupy Democrats, that got debunked at Snopes:
It sounded about right to me - partly because it confirms my bias. So, as usual, I posted it with the caveat that some of those churches likely had good reasons for not responding.
I was thinking those reasons were all about the flooding, but there was also the point made by FEMA that I missed - sometimes, well-meaning efforts to help can end up making matters worse if they're not done properly.
There are stories about some neighborhood churches taking in the locals without having made adequate provisions for food water sanitation and security.
But none of that makes what Joel Osteen is doing (or not doing) OK.
I have practically no use for anybody who sells nothing as if it were something. Especially when they have a chance to substantiate their baloney in a real-world circumstance and still deliver nothing of substance.
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