Wednesday, February 08, 2017

Balance


17 comments:

  1. Four Rooms are FIRST!

    Working on that fourth room, I met with my spiritual guide today.
    Next up is that first room, as I have a dentist appointment in a hour or so.

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  2. This is long and I'm going to have to type it out since there's no way to copy and paste it that I can see:

    Some Wise Advice Circulating:

    1. Don't use his name; EVER (45 will do)
    2. remember this is a regime and he's not acting alone.
    3. Do not argue with those who support him - it doesn't work.
    4. Focus on his policies, not his orange-ness and mental state.
    5. Keep your message positive; they want the country to be angry and fearful because this is the soil from which their darkest policies will grow.
    6. No more helpless/hopeless talk.
    7. Support artists and the arts.
    8. Be careful not to spread fake news. Check it.
    9. Take care of yourselves; and
    10. Resist!

    Keep demonstrations peaceful. In the words of John Lennon, "When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system's game. The establishment will irritate you - pull your beard, flick your face - to make you fight! Because once they've got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don't know how to handle is non-violence and humor."

    When you post or talk about him, don't assign his actions to him, assign them to "The Republican Administration", or "The Republicans". This will have several effects: the Republican legislators will either have to take responsibility for their association with him or stand up for what some of them don't like; he will not get the focus of attention he craves; Republican representatives will become very concerned about their re-elections.

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

    I am particularly guilty of violating #4 because the sight of his mean little piggy eyes peering out from mounds of fat just sets me off. I guess I'm spending too much time in my emotional room.

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    1. This is wonderful! I would set #9 as #1. However, I do not agree that we should focus on his policies more than his mental state. To me that is a form of normalising his Presidency. This isn't just an issue of him having different policies than others, so too bad if our style president isn't in office. This is about the insanity of a severe Narcissist enabling the policies of white supremacists and more.

      Otherwise, though, this has a LOT of merit. Thanks so very much for posting it (the hard way, too!).

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    2. I do, quite strongly, support focusing on policies rather than one individual's personality. For one thing, focusing on Trump in effect gives Congressional Republicans a free pass to promote whatever policies they wish.

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    3. Thank you so much, Susan! This is spot on.

      I agree with Bill. concentrating on his policies forces the focus off him which, as pointed out in Susan's piece, has several useful consequences.

      His insanity is a separate issue, one that needs to be addressed, but one that is distinct from what we're resisting. The creature is ill, and the nature, to say nothing of the severity, of the illness ought to debar him from the presidency. But that's a parallel line of argument that needs to be vigorously pursued. It doesn't have any substantive bearing on the policy/conflict of interest/legal unfitness argument. Either argument by itself is strong; together they're overwhelming.

      I would also lay strong emphasis on the absolute necessity of nonviolence. As is pointed out in Susan's piece, nonviolence is foreign to them and so leaves them at a disadvantage. Any disadvantage on their part, howsoever small or temporary, is to our advantage. Nonviolence is a discipline, and a very difficult discipline at that. I'm not even fully sighted and the sight of his photograph enrages me. But it is imperative that we not lower ourselves to their level.

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  3. Not agreeing with you here, Susan. Occam's Razor would say never blame evil when stupidity will do as an explanation.

    Republicans don't wish to drive us mad. They just don't care. This is not a plot. They're glad to take him if he distracts us.

    Alinsky says one should ENJOY resisting/organizing. Making fun of him enrages him, goads him into error.

    Making fun of him is not making fun of the helpless--his choices are, and always have been his. His color, his hair, his fatness, his tie. Not reading, not seeking, not knowing, not caring. HIS, ALL HIS CHOICE.

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    1. I agree in large part, puddle. I've said elsewhere that the Republicans don't mind having a totalitarian state with a dictator as long as the dictator is Republican. They do not want to govern, they want to rule without dissent. I think Alinsky is absolutely correct in regard to Cheetolini. But I do agree that we should keep making the Republicans accountable for his absolute insanity and their letting it go because it suits their purpose. There is not one single Patriot among the Republicans in Congress. They are for "party uber alles".

      Oh, and I do enjoy making fun of him because he provides so much raw material.

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    2. Understand, I do not suggest making fun of his personality; I advocate highlighting his mental illness. That is a completely different thing. It also helps prove that the Republicans in Congress are responsible for so much of what is happening. I plan to hang around and work for change...but if by 2020 we don't have change, then when we retire we may need to go elsewhere. We'll see.

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    3. The Republican Party nominated him, or allowed him to be nominated. To that extent they are responsible for his actions/behavior. The Congress, to a large extent on a bipartisan basis, has facilitated him by confirming his nominees. To that extent they are responsible for the actions of those nominees and by extension the administration.

      That being so, in my view it is altogether correct to lay that responsibility squarely where it belongs, with Republicans and with Congress as a whole. So, yes, say this administration, the Republican administration, the Republicans.

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  4. This is the sack of sh!t Senator Portman (R) OH in response to my request that he not confirm DeVos: Here's how freaking delusional a rabid Republican is: Read his words.

    ank you for contacting me to express your views on Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of the United States Department of Education. I appreciate you taking the time to contact me.

    I supported Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education because during the confirmation process she committed to strongly support public education and because of her support for local control, instead of having the federal government dictate education policy at the state and local level. I look forward to working with her to improve our K-12 public education system, make college more affordable, stand up for children with disabilities, and close the skills gap by promoting Career and Technical Education (CTE) to give young people more opportunities to succeed.

    In addition, I do give some deference to the President choosing his cabinet, as I did when supporting President Obama’s nominees.

    In the 21st century economy, a high quality education is critical to the social and economic well-being of our nation. I believe that the most important role in educating tomorrow's workforce is played by parents, teachers, mentors, and community leaders at the state and local level. At a time when young people are leaving our state, we must work collaboratively in our communities to give students the tools necessary to compete in high demand fields in Ohio.

    Thank you again for taking the time to contact my office. For more information you can visit my website at www.portman.senate.gov. Please keep in touch.

    As if ANY child will get a "high quality education" from an idiot wealthy woman who has never even BEEN IN a public school.

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    1. Save the letter and ask your Senator, on a regular basis, for updates on these specific promises.

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  5. Ended up at the Dentist today and turns out I have a badly cracked molar. While waiting for the novocaine to work, the dentist office music played Hallelujah: "It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah!" Heh. So, I need a crown (tomorrow), but at least I don't need a root canal!

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  6. OH CRUD! I just heard on NPR that Bannon has connections in the Vatican who don't like Pope Francis' gentle approach. Bannon "painted an almost apocalyptic view" of ISIS. He also doesn't like Pope Francis' leniency wth gays and others. The upshot is that Pope Francis is under more scrutiny from the Vatican and is feeling like "an isolated Progressive on the world stage." Bernie and Francis need all the help they can get. 😥

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  7. On March 15th, each of us will mail Donald Trump a postcard that publicly expresses our opposition to him. And we, in vast numbers, from all corners of the world, will overwhelm the man with his unpopularity and failure. We will show the media and the politicians what standing with him — and against us — means. And most importantly, we will bury the White House post office in pink slips, all informing Donnie that he’s fired.
    Each of us — every protester from every march, each congress calling citizen, every boycotter, volunteer, donor, and petition signer — if each of us writes even a single postcard and we put them all in the mail on the same day, March 15th, well: you do the math.
    No alternative fact or Russian translation will explain away our record-breaking, officially-verifiable, warehouse-filling flood of fury. Hank Aaron currently holds the record for fan mail, having received 900,000 pieces in a year. We’re setting a new record: over a million pieces in a day, with not a single nice thing to say.
    So sharpen your wit, unsheathe your writing implements, and see if your sincerest ill-wishes can pierce Donald’s famously thin skin.
    Prepare for March 15th, 2017, a day hereafter to be known as #TheIdesOfTrump
    Write one postcard. Write a dozen! Take a picture and post it on social media tagged with #TheIdesOfTrump ! Spread the word! Everyone on Earth should let Donnie know how he’s doing. They can’t build a wall high enough to stop the mail.
    Then, on March 15th, mail your messages to:
    President (for now) Donald J. Trump
    The White House
    1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
    Washington, DC 20500

    Not my original post but someone else's great idea!

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  8. Don Berryman

    Don’s FAQ-ushima – What’s really going on over there.

    It seems activity about this report – http://news.sky.com/story/fukushima-reactor-hit-by-2011-tsunami-shows-record-radiation-levels-10754023 – has died down a bit. But I did say that I’d say something about this, so here goes. I really don’t want my Facebook friends and family believing there is some new threat brewing in Japan, when there is none.

    Each of the 4 units at the Fukushima site is in various stages of damage and various stages of disassembly [i.e. decommissioning]. This report has to do with work currently going on at Unit 2. It is believed that during the original accident, there was some degree of core meltdown in this reactor – meltdown, referring to a condition where the temperature inside the central reactor core rises so high that the uranium oxide fuel bundles and their supporting structures all melt, then on the re-application of the cooling water, everything congeals together as one ‘blob’ at the bottom of the container – a somewhat more difficult problem to deal with during decommissioning. Work on Unit 2 at the moment is to the point that the outer building (the one that covers the inner reactor core) has been mostly cleaned up – large pieces of scrap and debris have been removed – and most of the walls and flat surfaces have been ‘scrubbed’ (i.e. dust particle-sized radioactive particles and debris removed). They’ve ‘looked inside’ the inner core chamber with a new X-Ray-like form of scan called muon imaging and found out that yes, a large portion of the fuel and its storage racks have probably been melted down and sit on the bottom of the container. And they’ve cut a small access hole in the side of the container and are just now sending in cameras and monitors to have a closer look at what remains of the core. This SKY News report is referring to one of the first trips inside the core.

    So in answer to the headline that is on my Facebook Trending list now: “Fukushima nuclear reactor radiation at highest level since 2011 meltdown” – no, it’s not. It will actually be less than what it was in 2011 due to 6 years of radioactive decay. What is more is their measurement of this radiation. And this is because, for the first time since the accident, they have entered a highly radioactive area inside the core where they have not been before. There is no increased radiation at the Fukushima site. What has increased is the level of radiation that their instruments have measured because they’ve moved closer to an open nuclear pile – well, d’uh! In answer to: “Readings from reactor No 2 … are so high they threaten to shut down the robot camera probe being used to monitor the site.” (from the linked article). Cameras don’t work well in radioactive environments and they never have. I’m not a camera/radioactive field guy so I couldn’t tell you the reason without a lot of extra research but I do know that when I worked with robotics and cameras in nuclear environments many years ago, we were always replacing cameras that would be knocked out – we’d have dozens of them for spares when we went to the sites to do work. So this overly-dramatic statement basically, means nothing.

    So there you go. That’s what’s going on in Japan right now and that’s how the media has reported it. If anyone has any serious concerns about these things as the media escalates them beyond the truth, feel free to inbox me. I’ll do my best to answer what I can.

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