Saturday, October 21, 2017

How do you like them apples? Got a favourite?


18 comments:

  1. https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2017/10/20/ethics-watchdog-to-fec-uh-the-dnc-chair-might-have-illegally-appropriated-campa-n2397667

    From the article:

    Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez isn’t having the best week. First, his latest appointees to the various DNC committees were seen as him giving the finger to the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party; he demoted or removed persons that did not support his DNC candidacy. This was done prior to their fall meeting in Las Vegas. Then, there’s the whole notion that he’s pretty much a terrible chairman. Even Democrats are starting to sour on him, noting that he could be doing better to get the party’s machinery in gear—especially since the 2018 midterms are upon us. The Democrats have no real agenda, no message, a crappy campaign war chest, and no leader. And speaking of war chests, a non-partisan ethics group, Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, have filed a complaint against Perez for using campaign funds from a 527 group that he started to pay off the debts of some of his opponents in the DNC chairman’s race. FACT’s executive director, Kendra Arnold, has called on the Federal Election Commission to conduct an investigation. Here’s their statement:

    Sounds like ole Tom has purged all the Progressives from the DNC, is a weak and ineffective leader and is breaking finance laws. Just what we need, huh?

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    1. Yeah, just swell!

      OTOH, last night I also received an e-mail from Our Revolution saying we've elected our first statewide candidate here in Massachusetts, a senator from the eastern part of the state. Good news, but a drop in the ocean.

      This week I joined the monthly Our Revolution phone call, and was not terribly impressed. Two of the speakers were interesting and very informative, one gave some info and one, who I gather was meant to be the star speaker, rather than addressing the topic she was introduced as speaking on, spent the whole time blowing her own horn. Admittedly, her story is rather an inspirational one, but that's not what she was supposed to be discussing. Maybe because she was so obviously her own biggest fan, maybe because the host made such a big deal of her, maybe because she spoke first, for whatever reason, she really turned me off and spoiled the rest of the call for me.

      We don't need egos. We need people like Stan from Phillie, who spoke in a clear, well organized way about the party structure and how exactly we can use it and possibly take it over in that city, indicating that what he and his colleagues are doing there can serve as a model for other cities. Did you know that Philadelphia has divisions instead of precincts? He gave an excellent presentation.

      We need people like Clem from Illinois, who spoke on the Illinois Progressive Convention... Convention, congress, can't quite remember now. Do you know what I'm talking about, Bill? He said they gathered allied groups from across the state, the first such gathering of its kind. That also was a useful and well done presentation.

      The young woman, whose name escapes me, who discussed the OR endorsement process seemed much less professional and organized, considering she is actually on the OR national staff.

      I donno. It was a mixed bag. The girl who spoke on endorsements is a director but she sounded like she was in her early to mid twenties and the girl host, Sandra, sounded even younger. I have nothing against kids, but I'd rather have adults running my revolution, I almost said my party. The guys, who handled themselves so well, were older, though the one from Phillie probably not much. Clem from Illinois was clearly an adult and accustomed to public speaking and to authority, in his forties at least.

      Though, come to think of it, it wasn't really the girls' youth that bugged me so much as their obvious lack of professionalism. That's probably not quite the right word, though it's the only one I can think of. In college, for example, some students gave their presentations in a sober, businesslike manner, having their thoughts marshaled and their facts straight, speaking clearly even if not always with the greatest assurance. Others mumbled their way through an incoherent, disorganized mass of material. The first I would term 'professional,' the second 'unprofessional.' That's what I mean here. It was not reassuring that one of the less than professional presenters was an OR staffer!

      I'm rambling again, sorry about that. Then again, that's why I'll always be an Indian, not a chief, albeit a grumbling Indian.

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    2. I'm not sure about that "Illinois Progressive Congress." I believe Progressive Democrats of America recently had some sort of thing in Chicago -- which I didn't pay a lot of attention to because I didn't feel I had time to go -- but I'm not at all clear whether that is what Clem was talking about.

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    3. Thanks for the link, Susan. I couldn't find anything about the DNC shakeup on either the Tribune or Huffpost, although it apparently didn't happen just yesterday. That could make it hard to find.

      The problem I see with the way official Democratic organizations -- including, would you believe it? the Democratic Governors Association -- is that it seems to be almost all about Trump. As we saw this past November, "I'm not Trump" doesn't cut it.

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    4. Wow! That is certain! They really do seem to have lost their way and they just won't consider any other way. I wouldn't care, but when Republicans get elected we suffer.

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  2. It's enough to have one major political party imploding at a time.

    Alan

    P.S.: We had a bit of rain last night; it cleared the air nicely. There was a story that one of the nearby ski resorts got some snow, and outside it sure felt like there was snow in the mountains.

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  3. https://www.alternet.org/trump-trauma/how-cope-trauma-trump

    An article worth reading and an excerpt:

    "For those surprised by how shaken they feel by President Trump’s aggressive, unstable and unreasonable behavior, these feelings and experiences are valid. Now, as trauma survivors, we must hasten to stabilize ourselves and to create a sense of communal safety by coming together in solidarity. Only then can we take appropriate and mindful action to demonstrate our strength. We must demand that all of our elected officials, from our city council persons to Trump himself, make every effort to serve our American body politic, not themselves. Now more than ever, we must hold each elected politician accountable to their responsibility that they ensure that every American—particularly those targeted and demonized by President Trump—has the safety, stability and strength not only to survive, but to thrive. It is these ideals, not President Trump’s bullying and self-serving actions, that define the United States as a true democracy."

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    1. Great article. Thanks, Susan. I shared.

      BTW it seems Google's new fake news fighting algorithm targets Progressive and other independent news sites, including Alternet. :P

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    2. BTW recently Robert Reich talked in a Facebook cast about trauma, using the analogy of Trump as an abusive parent. The point being, this is something a lot of people are experiencing and talking about.

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  4. WaPo opinion piece (worth consideration even if one does not agree with all the columnist’s political assumptions): The [political] Party is Over[Click]
    P.S.: I think I have modified the link to bypass the paywall.


    Wow! Easy diagnosis and promising treatment for dyslexia![Click]

    —Alan

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  5. The Green Party gained ballot access in Utah last month, while this month North Carolina just passed a law drastically reducing their petition threshold, which should facilitate ballot access there. No link, as this is from an e-mail update.

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  6. Paul Krugman: Trump, Trade and Tantrums[Click] Re Trump’s anti-NAFTA tirades, there is on thing I wonder about: Can the President unilaterally cancel a trade agreement? It seems to me that Congress, in particular the Senate, would have a say in that.

    Seems it’s that and a lot more. Here are some press items:

    LA Times[Click]

    Law 360[Click]

    The Hill[Click]

    The Atlantic[Click]

    National Review[Click]

    —Alan

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  7. Well, dammit, the hits just never stop. Discovered tonight that my oven no longer works and I've got family coming for Thanksgiving. Just one more thing to deal with when I'm already on overload.

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    1. Gas oven? Pilot light? Igniter? Does it have a touch hole in the bottom? [The last item reveals my antiquity...]

      Electric oven? If it has twist knob controls, run them back and forth a few times to clean the contacts?

      Not that you haven't tried these things before, just the first things that come to mind. Then there is the supermarket-prepared dinner; easier on the homemaker, and a big step up from C Rations [rats--dating myself again; make that MRE's].

      Alan

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    2. Nope, I noticed it was taking WAY too long to come up to temperature. It finally did, but when the timer went off the things I was baking clearly were not done. It's an electric oven, 15 years old and I'm just going to get a new one. After what it did tonight I'd never trust it again anyway and I'm already twitchy with anxiety overload.

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    3. Fifteen years old? That sounds like it might have those new-fangled electronic controls. For durability I'd be inclined to get older technology (if one still can, it is likely to be on the bottom-of-the-line models, which are also the least expensive).

      Alan

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  8. http://www.bluedotdaily.com/theres-a-russian-reason-trump-didnt-call-families-of-four-fallen-soldiers-killed-in-niger/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=LL&utm_campaign=facebook_LL

    From the article:

    Rachel Maddow reported on-air on Wednesday night that Donald Trump nixed a prepared statement mourning the loss of the four U.S. soldiers. We also know that Trump didn’t call the families of those four soldiers until the media called him out on it. It’s become clear that Trump and his regime really didn’t want the public or the media to focus on the military op in Niger – which we know had to have been a Russian op – hence he refused to even mention it or make any calls. Trump got four U.S. soldiers killed by lending out the U.S. military to Vladimir Putin, and now he’s desperate to keep the details from coming out. We all know why.

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    1. Well, Susan, I'm more readily inclined to think that it is a matter of the Trump administration simply not knowing shit from Shinola rather than being knowing agents of Moscow. Hell, Trump probably doesn't have any idea where Niger is. Here is what The Atlantic [Click] has to say about it.

      --Alan

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