Monday, May 28, 2018

It's Memorial Day. Remember and Honour


20 comments:

  1. Parade this morning with Eldest and VT*Grand (age 10), while Wil has a sailing race.

    Messages on the last thread for just about everybody.

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    1. Oops--I just posted a reply on the previous thread re Zephyr Teachout.

      Alan

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  2. I received my (autosomal) DNA test results from ancestry.com. They correctly identified my second cousin and for sure one third cousin, perhaps a number of others. It has to be taken with several grains of salt, but they also provided some evidence arguing against one of the two men I have identified as likely to have been my paternal grandfather.

    Alan

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    1. Make that two verified third cousins ancestry.com DNA testing identified.

      Alan

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  3. Susan, am with you on the missing kids. Thanks for the contact info.

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  4. Woke to 73 degrees and 100% humidity. Can anyone one say cold and clammy? Cooter's opened the house (taken down the storms) so there's air movement. But not liking *this* air much, lol! Yikes.

    He's been pure whirlwind since arriving a bit after noon on Saturday. We've hardly talked. BUT five dead mice, which would be enough if that were all. Second fave, fixed the dropped out drawer on kitchen table. Vacuumed, mopped, burned trash, filled water keeper, washed the outside front window, cleaned the composting toilet, gardened. Well, you get the idea.

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    1. You have a treasure there. I kind of envy that.

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  5. https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-coming-collapse/

    I'm going to post a couple of big chunks from this because it's scary, but it's accurate.

    "The Democratic Party, which helped build our system of inverted totalitarianism, is once again held up by many on the left as the savior. Yet the party steadfastly refuses to address the social inequality that led to the election of Trump and the insurgency by Bernie Sanders. It is deaf, dumb and blind to the very real economic suffering that plagues over half the country. It will not fight to pay workers a living wage. It will not defy the pharmaceutical and insurance industries to provide Medicare for all. It will not curb the voracious appetite of the military that is disemboweling the country and promoting the prosecution of futile and costly foreign wars. It will not restore our lost civil liberties, including the right to privacy, freedom from government surveillance, and due process. It will not get corporate and dark money out of politics. It will not demilitarize our police and reform a prison system that has 25 percent of the world’s prisoners although the United States has only 5 percent of the world’s population. It plays to the margins, especially in election seasons, refusing to address substantive political and social problems and instead focusing on narrow cultural issues like gay rights, abortion and gun control in our peculiar species of anti-politics.

    This is a doomed tactic, but one that is understandable. The leadership of the party, the Clintons, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Tom Perez, are creations of corporate America. In an open and democratic political process, one not dominated by party elites and corporate money, these people would not hold political power. They know this. They would rather implode the entire system than give up their positions of privilege. And that, I fear, is what will happen. The idea that the Democratic Party is in any way a bulwark against despotism defies the last three decades of its political activity. It is the guarantor of despotism."

    and........

    "As a foreign correspondent I covered collapsed societies, including the former Yugoslavia. It is impossible for any doomed population to grasp how fragile the decayed financial, social and political system is on the eve of implosion. All the harbingers of collapse are visible: crumbling infrastructure; chronic underemployment and unemployment; the indiscriminate use of lethal force by police; political paralysis and stagnation; an economy built on the scaffolding of debt; nihilistic mass shootings in schools, universities, workplaces, malls, concert venues and movie theaters; opioid overdoses that kill some 64,000 people a year; an epidemic of suicides; unsustainable military expansion; gambling as a desperate tool of economic development and government revenue; the capture of power by a tiny, corrupt clique; censorship; the physical diminishing of public institutions ranging from schools and libraries to courts and medical facilities; the incessant bombardment by electronic hallucinations to divert us from the depressing sight that has become America and keep us trapped in illusions. We suffer the usual pathologies of impending death. I would be happy to be wrong. But I have seen this before. I know the warning signs. All I can say is get ready."

    The article is long, and in this time of angst and anger it will add more, but we need to keep our eyes open and do what we can to hold safe what we can and who we can. We are in deep trouble.

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    1. Sadly, I agree with this one hundred percent. The hand isn't writing on the wall anymore, it's employing skywriting. And still some people refuse to heed the warning.

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    2. "They know this. They would rather implode the entire system than give up their positions of privilege."

      In a nutshell, that's how we got DT. The DNC was so sure HRC *had* to be President that they dissed Bernie, who had a better chance of beating DT.

      How do they suggest we all "get ready"? Any actionable ideas?

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  6. Listener, though the Amazon label mix up is definitely disturbing; a) I seriously doubt you can get them to refund half your Prime membership. Though that sounds reasonable to you and me, it just doesn't seem like the kind of thing a global behemoth would do. Involves much too much paperwork. b) The accidental revelation of names and addresses doesn't strike me as a privacy issue. After all, anyone can look up your name, address and phone number in the phone book or on the Internet. They aren't exactly private information.

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    1. In fact, I'm reminded of an incident several years ago. I'd written a letter to the editor. Our paper requires your home phone as part of the submission, which I don't understand, but that's the rule. Well, some woman, a complete stranger to me, called and left a long, abusive message on my answering machine. Seems she didn't agree with the opinions expressed in my letter. It's possible that she called the paper to get my phone number, but it's far more likely she simply looked me up in the book.

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    2. I was so angry that it took a phone call and 5 emails to even get them to own up to the reality that the mistake was made by their own distribution center!! I do not care one wit how big they are. In fact, the bigger they are the more responsibility they ought to take. They have so much money they could afford to be kind to a long time customer. Well, screw them. If they can't be decent, then there isn't anything they have that I need.

      And it is still not okay that they sent my name and address to a stranger. That is different than it being online. That stranger would have had no way to think to look up my name or know where I live. It was a mistake. Why couldn't they have just owned up to it to begin with? That's what any decent company would do. But they have at least four layers of protection and denial built into their system. Do you know how I got through the layers? Because at each point I was gracious to the individuals I was in contact with and I advocated for Amazon to treat their employees better. The last note I received included:

      "[my first name], trust me, this was something in my hands. I'd help you right away. However, in situation like this. I request you to understand my limitation on this. Your understanding is appreciated."

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    3. Hey, guess what. I might be getting somewhere, but I'd appreciate hearing what you all think.

      First, here's what I wrote back to the nice woman who told me that if it were in her power she'd do something to help right away:

      "Yes, I understand your personal limitation here, but I do not accept Amazon having a limitation to do the right thing by me. My personal information was mailed by Amazon’s people to a stranger!! This is unacceptable and likely illegal. Amazon should be deeply concerned about privacy concerns and safety issues. What does Amazon plan to do about it? I do not accept the weak concept that Amazon cannot reimburse me for half a year’s Prime membership because of some self-serving idea that if services are used at all there is no responsibility to do the decent thing. Amazon is showing it’s true stripes and should be shamed. Having tried all through this holiday weekend to get things set to rights, to no avail, I have learned that Amazon does not care about even long time good customers...even if Amazon’s employees wish it otherwise. I have no other recourse than to share this story far and wide, so that others will not venture to become Prime members, since the company does not care about its customers.

      "But I will wait until later this week, in hopes that once the holiday weekend has ended someone in Amazon management will care to make amends.
      "All the best to you. If you can pass this along to someone with authority to do something compassionate, I would be most grateful."

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    4. As you can see, the nice woman I wrote back to escalated my concern. Here is part of the response I received this evening. I wasn't up to calling them tonight. Just exhausted. And anyway, I want to contact the Plattsburgh post office tomorrow and hear from them why they crossed off the Plattsburgh address and sent the package along to me. But this might yet get resolved. Or maybe they just want to tell me that their hands are tied but the employees are rooting for me. Or maybe they want to do something that is rare (like a refund?) and they don't want it in writing. Stay tuned. Anyway, here's the message (from the 7th person I've communicated with via one call and 7 emails)...

      "We appreciate you bringing this issue to our attention. I understand the inconvenience this issue has caused you. I'll do my best to help you with this.

      "First of all, please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused to you by this. I can completely understand how frustrating and annoying the situation can be when something like this happens but believe us it was never our intention.

      "It is certainly not our intention for our customers to have anything but a pleasant experience. However, this is something that we need to take serious consideration.

      "As a customer myself as well, I do understand how you feel right now and rest assure that we are doing our best to help. You're one of our most valued customer and it is never our intention to cause inconvenience to our valuable customers like you. Unfortunately, we have fallen short in providing the service you expected from us on this occasion.

      "To correct this and to also assure you that this issue will be taken cared of properly, I've immediately forwarded your issue to our shipping and head department as I know they'll want to read about your experience, so that this will not happen again. Please be assured that we take this kind of information seriously as it is valuable to us in helping us to continue to improve our program.

      "After thoroughly reviewing your query, I've determined that we'll need to speak with you directly. In this case, I'd request you to contact us via phone or chat as we need some more information from you and as this is a sensitive issue, email preference is not a secure medium to converse such issues. I am suggesting this procedure, so that we can discuss some important and sensitive information about your inquiry.

      "We have ways to help you however, due to security concern that is only allowed to be done and shared with you via phone call.

      "I realize that at this point of time asking you to contact us again would be disappointing, but in a situation like this, we make sure that your account is secured.

      "On a personal level, I highly appreciate your patience, cooperation and understanding in this matter. It is our privilege to have you as our valued customer & we want to make sure you are always taken care of."


      One thing I want (even more than a refund) is an assurance that no one's job is on the line because of the mistake). It wasn't the mistake that infuriated me, but their layers of denial of responsibility.

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    5. Well now, why couldn't someone have written you this letter to begin with? If they had, you would have been a lot less aggravated, right? Good grief!

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  7. Replies
    1. That's a powerful essay, puddle, and I think it is vital for the sorts of wars we find ourselves faced with in modern times. I would like to say, though, that the people who went to war to counter Hitler deserve to be remembered and honoured. Also, Woodrow Wilson waited a really long time to get us into WWI, not rushing in the way modern leaders would.

      On Memorial Day, we stand up and remember and honour, and that is right to do. Even those poor souls who went to war blindly, serving undeserving leaders, gave their lives in hopes of creating lasting peace. I salute them. And I desire with all my heart that we would stop asking people to go to war. The sooner we can help people not act blindly, the sooner we will actually have a chance at lasting peace.

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    2. I agree with Listener. However much one may hate war in general or individual wars in particular, the dead and the veterans deserve deepest honor and respect, not to be spat upon, either literally or metaphorically.

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