Yesterday, I overslept. That was certainly no surpise to me, and some of you may even have been able to read between the lines of yesterday’s Open Thread introduction that I expected to. But I didn’t expect how well it would work for me. I hope I can get a lot done even though the day may be a bit short. Also yesterday, I discovered that Faithful America is co-sponsoring a petition with Daily Kos. You mey remember last week I shared a new web page they have on “False {Prophets” and which they are co-sponsoring with a number of other liberal religious groups. Daily Kos is not one – it’s absolutely a secular group. Of course, I knew that Faithful America was willing to work with secular groups for common goals. But it encourages me that Daily Kos is willing to work with a faith group on common goals too. I can assure you that there are a few indvidual members of Daily Kos who aren’t. And – yes, I am aware that Russia bombed Kyiv (with non-nukes, which are plenty bad enough) but I haven’t had time to dig into the details.
Cartoon – (How TC knew in 2014 that David would die first and Charles would stand alone by 2022 is beyond me.)
Short Takes –
Wonkette – In 1886, When The Rent In New York City Was Too Damn High!
Quote – Henry George made one of the most important forays in solving the problem of industrial capitalism. George started his political life as a Lincoln-supporting Republican in the Civil War but soon came to criticize the growing system of industrial capitalism, especially the dominance of railroads over American life, as well as the influence of Chinese labor on white wages. In 1879, George published Progress and Poverty, arguing for the Single Tax as the surest way to bring corporations under control. The single tax was a basic property tax. At its core was the idea that people earned the value of own their own labor, but that land was a common resource for all and should essentially be quasi-socialized with very high taxes on large landowners. George’s ideas quickly spread beyond the US and were especially popular with the English and Scottish working classes, as well as the Irish resisting British domination. Click through for article – a little lesson in history. We are in a new Gilded Age, and there is still no “one way” to fix it – which should surprise no one. But it’s still true that, to fix it, we have to want to fix it.
[Business] Insider – There’s no such thing as an alpha male
Quote – As the writer Saladin Ahmed pointed out, the concept of “alpha male” wolves that assert dominance over their pack through aggression comes from a debunked model of lupine social groups…. David Mech introduced the idea of the alpha to describe behavior observed in captive animals. Alphas, he wrote in his 1970 book “The Wolf: Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species,” win control of their packs in violent fights with other males. But, as he outlined in a 1999 paper, he’s since rejected that idea in light of research into the behavior of wolves in the wild. Click through for article. This is not new iformation, nor was it new in 2016, when this was first published. But it just won’t go away. You have to feel sorry for David Mach – and for everyone still deluded by this fake idea. Captivity is not the same thing as civilization.
Yesterday, I went to see Virgil. I set my alarm a bit earlier than I had been on days I was going to see him, and that turned out to be a mistake. We live and learn. So I’ll switch it back (after I set it for Thursday’s hearing, of course.) Virgil appreciates and returns all your greetings. The weather was fine and the drive both ways was uneventful. Also, I thought I had enough sleep Saturday night. However, I still felt pretty tired upon return. Oh, yes, and Happy Indigenous Peoples Day.
Cartoon – 10 1010Cartoon.jpg
Short Takes –
HuffPost – What The Weird Conservative Fixation On Electric Vehicles Says About Their Politics
Quote – The Biden administration has made support for EVs a top priority. The Inflation Reduction Act, the spending bill that Biden signed over the summer, included new tax credits for people who purchase EVs as well as businesses that open up charging stations. Greene has been critical of this effort from the get-go, and in February posted a 21-part tweetstorm calling the Biden plan ― which, at that point, was still under discussion ― “a one way ticket to hell.” Greene isn’t alone in making these sorts of arguments. On the contrary, the list of Republican officials who have attacked the Biden administration’s EV agenda in similar terms is long and includes everybody from Florida Sen. Rick Scott to Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw. Click through for three reasons why anyone with a functioning brain and who doesn’t hate Democrats could be expected to be ebthusiastic about EVs. But, Republicans … What do you want to bet that20 or even 10 years from now they will be all in favors of EVs, and will never admit they weren’t always.
CPR News – As the reparations debate continues nationally, some Denver organizations are stepping up now
Quote – Risë Jones is walking around TeaLee’s, her three-year-old tea shop in Denver’s historically Black Five Points neighborhood. Soft jazz plays in the main seating area with about 10 tables, and in the basement is a bookstore with some hard-to-find titles by Black authors…. Jones is among several Black business owners in Denver who have received grants from groups raising private funds to pay reparations for the centuries of abuse of Blacks forced into slavery…. Jones received an $8,500 reparations grant to open the shop, one of several that have been distributed…. There are several organizations that do precisely that kind of work. One of them is BRIC (Black Resilience in Colorado) a non-profit organization that officially opened on Juneteeth (June 19) of 2020. Click through and scroll down for the article – it’s below a podcast and the picture. Hey, they’re a radio outfit, of course they like podcasts. But they like articles too. There is so much in it for me as a Coloradan to be proud of (and that TomCat would have loved.)
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
I had wanted to share an article about popular culture this week, but thrn this analysis popped up and it’s just too inportant to ignore – and too complicated for a short take.
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The Supreme Court is back in session, with new controversial cases that stand to change many Americans’ lives – here’s what to expect
As a close observer of the court, I think this term’s rulings will continue to reject the court’s previous liberal decisions and instead reflect a conservative interpretation of the historical meaning of the Constitution. At least three of those upcoming rulings are likely to profoundly influence people’s everyday lives in the United States.
One of the Supreme Court’s most publicized cases this term focuses on whether Harvard University unfairly discriminates against Asian American student applicants. Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Affirmative action
College admissions and scholarships can alter the trajectory of a life.
College administrators want diverse student populations but are less clear about which categories – including race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity and wealth – should influence admission and financial aid decisions. When it comes down to the specifics of which people are underrepresented in higher education, and which are overrepresented, the questions become thorny.
Many different groups feel that they are being mistreated when their specific circumstances and histories are taken into account.
The Supreme Court will hear two lawsuits on Oct. 31, 2022, brought by the anti-affirmative action organization Students for Fair Admissions. This group argues that Harvard and other schools blatantly discriminate against Asian students. But the claim is a proxy for all other preferences grounded in identity, including those in favor of Black applicants and those disadvantaging whites.
The two cases – one against Harvard and the other against the University of North Carolina – address private as well as public institutions.
Universities justifying their diversity policies argue that the 14th Amendment and its guarantee of “equal protection of the laws” encourage giving an advantage to historically oppressed groups.
The opponents of affirmative action argue that the 14th Amendment was meant to uphold racial neutrality, meaning all individuals should be treated the same, regardless of race. In this view, the Constitution forbids considering race in almost any decisions that influence individual advancement.
If is it equality – the same treatment of all races, regardless – this supports the argument that universities may not give preferences to applicants of one race over another.
If the 14th Amendment is found to guarantee equity – or trying to create equal outcomes for all by favoring historically disadvantaged groups – this supports the argument that affirmative action policies are constitutionally sound, and perhaps even required in public institutions.
The current court, with a conservative majority, almost certainly favors the argument that the equal protection clause endorses equality, not equity.
Another major case, 303 Creative v. Elenis, asks the court whether state law can compel a private business to serve LGBTQ clients – or whether the First Amendment protects business owners who violate those laws on religious grounds.
The controversy focuses on a website designer who wants to expand her business to offer personal wedding sites – but not for same-sex couples, as required by Colorado’s nondiscrimination laws.
The case comes close to addressing the long-standing conflict between a person’s free exercise of religion, guaranteed by the First Amendment, and a state’s power to enforce the equal treatment of all citizens.
But the question presented in this case focuses on the website designer’s free speech and artistic expression, rather than the religious motivation at the heart of the conflict.
The somewhat arcane question is whether only the U.S. Constitution controls state legislatures’ decisions regarding federal elections rules within their states or whether state constitutions and courts can also oversee the election laws that apply to national elections.
In this case, the court will rule on whether the North Carolina Supreme Court can strike down and replace the Legislature’s congressional map, which the state court found was gerrymandered in violation of the North Carolina Constitution.
In an atmosphere of political distrust and accusations of election fraud, the court will determine who controls federal election law within each state.
The constitutional text on this question is admittedly unclear.
Supporters of the independent state legislature theory argue that because the Constitution states that congressional election rules “shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof,” this power applies solely to state legislatures.
This interpretation means that election rules are not constrained by state constitutions, which often have additional protections of “free and equal” elections, enforced by state courts. Instead, only the U.S. Constitution could constrain state legislatures – and only federal courts, including the Supreme Court, could review these decisions.
Critics of the independent state legislature theory argue that even though the U.S. Constitution tasks state legislatures with overseeing election law, ordinary checks and balances that constrain those legislatures still apply. This would mean that other state officials and state courts maintain their usual role in limiting the power of the legislature, which was not meant to be fully independent.
Concerns about independent state legislatures are partly driven by two fears. One is that if legislatures are truly independent, they may impose discriminatory laws that benefit their party – often Republicans at the state level.
The other fear is that Republican legislatures may attempt to alter the final slate of electors in the 2024 presidential election if former President Donald Trump runs and loses the popular vote in states with GOP legislatures.
This case is partially about trust – whether Americans trust state legislatures or state courts to oversee legitimate elections. And trust among the American public is in short supply.
The year at the court
The outcomes of this term’s cases will deeply influence American lives and values, especially for college applicants, LGBTQ citizens and people with strong religious beliefs.
The state legislature case is the most difficult to understand, and also perhaps the most influential, because it reflects the broader decline of trust in elections and the growing suspicions of fraud along many dimensions. I believe that this case – however resolved – will lower perceptions of the legitimacy of many future election outcomes.
============================================================== Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, it isn’t pretty. But we need to look at it, and not put our heads in the sand. And, to the best of our ability, be ready to respond to it. So, ladies, please also be ready – to share your righteous indignation with us when it’s needed – and your determination not to allow evil to stand.
Glenn Kirschner – Three former Oath Keepers/military veterans testified at trial today. Here’s why it left me hopeful
Meidas Touch – Fox News Guest STUNS NETWORK says Biden was RIGHT on Marijuana LIVE on TV
The Lincoln Project – Mitch Found Out
MSNBC – Oath Keepers Trial Is DOJ’s ‘Biggest Case And Biggest Challenge
Steve Schmidt – trailer for documentary AMERICAN THEOCRACY. He encourages all to share it widely before the midterms because it won’t be released until January and we can’t wait.
Beau – Let’s talk about Trump packing the boxes himself….
Yesterday, the radio opera was “A Village Teacher” in Mandarin. While it is an opers, it is in Chinese, and was written by Chinese people, it is not a “Chinese Opera” – it is a “Chinese contemporary classical opera.” Traditional Chinese opera, which goes back thousands of years, had its golden age in the 13th century under the Song dynasty (It’s pure coincidence that the dynastic name sounds musical to us.) The art form’s name – well, one of its Chinese name – is Xipu. There are regional variations, including the name of the form. Tan Dun (who scored the film “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” has written several western operas, including one for Placido Domingo, called “The First Emperor,” in which he inlcuded a traditional Chinese opera character and trraditional style – I saw that one on TV so long ago I think I have a VHS of it. But I digress. “A Village teacher,” just as it sounds, is about a teacher and her efforts to teach and help her students be their best selves. It premiered in 2009.
I also learned (I am now listening on the internet – my local station decided not to finish carrying the full season) that Chicago is already calling the holiday of October 10 “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.” And I got confirmation to see Virgil tomorrow.
Cartoon – 09 Manhattan Project RTL
Short Takes –
Steve Schmidt – The Warning – Christian nationalism
Quote – Christian nationalism is evil and dangerous. It is antithetical to Christianity. It is profoundly dangerous. It is on the ballot all across America. Christian nationalism is incompatible with American democracy and pluralism. When political extremists take power in the name of God there is always death…. The separation of church and state and religious freedom are profoundly important foundational achievements of the American republic. The extremists who seek power in God’s name are not benign men and women. I hope this will be a warning. Click through for the article and a video, which will also appear in today’s Video Thread (It has CC but you may need to enable it.) To share it with others, this is the link to use: https://youtu.be/XzKc748F34g
The Daily Beast – Russians Terrified by Putin’s Bunker Mentality as He Turns 70 With His Finger on the Nuclear Button
Quote – Russians are growing increasingly worried about their leader’s state of mind. In his most recent public appearance, Putin’s eyes looked sunk and foggy. He spoke to a group of teachers from a small office over Zoom. The idea was to celebrate Wednesday’s “Teachers’ Day”—but Putin couldn’t resist ranting about the so-called “neo-Nazis” in Ukraine. “That part looked really insane,” 17-year-old student Vitaly Shatrov from St. Petersburg, whose last name has been changed for privacy reasons, told The Daily Beast. “Putin, who many compare to Hitler for the violence against Ukrainian people, speaks with teachers from some bunker about Nazis.” Click through for story. I’m 7 years older than he is, and my doctor says I look around that much younger than he is (I think I’ve already shared this.) A different source says he has mobilized about 200,000 – and also that 335,000 have fled to avoid the draft. And he’s well aware what the repercussions would be of even a “small” (“tactical”) strike. I cannot get into the mindset well enough to predict what he might do. But I might point out that for four years we were all terrified that Trump** would press that button.
Who are Libertarians? They claim to be the party of minimal government. They repeat the old saw that government is best when it governs least. This idea appeals to a lot of people, especially those who have first-hand experience dealing with governmental red tape and sluggish bureaucracies.
On the surface, it looks great – low taxes and minimal governmental interference. However, if you really think about it, a libertarian system would be a nightmare.
Minimal government leaves a power vacuum. And who will fill it? Whoever is large and in charge – namely, big corporations that want no regulations on mergers, pollution, or worker safety. If Libertarians get control, we won’t have utopia, we’ll have Animal Farm. Powerful CEOs will be our new rulers.
To those who don’t like government regulation, I have just a few questions: Do you breathe? Do you eat? Do you drink – that is to say, beverages in general? You (usually) enjoy reasonably clean air thanks to government restrictions on pollution. Ever see pictures of U.S. cities before the Clean Air Act? If you can count on the water coming out of your tap being potable, thank the government regulations in place to make sure it is. If you can count on any food that you buy at a grocery store or a restaurant to be reasonably free of contamination and adulterating substances, thank the people who demanded, and those who passed, the laws to protect you from tainted chow.
Regulations give us the 40-hour work week, overtime pay, minimum wage, job safety, and more. Regulations protect the environment we need to survive, make sure that our buildings and infrastructure are reasonably safe, and guard us from shady business practices. A Libertarian system would remove all of these laws, and once again the Little Guy and Gal would be at the mercy of greedy corporations whose sole interest is raking in the moolah to keep their CEOs and shareholders fat and happy.
China has almost no anti-pollution regulations. The air in its biggest cities is often choked with smog thanks to the Chinese Communist Party’s blatant disregard for the environment. Many of China’s rivers are so contaminated that their water is unsuitable not just for drinking but also for agriculture. More than once I have read that China will run out of fresh water sometime around 2030. Stick that in your bong and smoke it.
Minimum taxes mean a lot less money for police and fire departments, public parks, schools, bridges, roads, public transit – and, wait for it, defense. You want the mighty USA to have an imposing presence worldwide, but how will you pay for all that when the wealthy and mega-corporations enjoy fat tax breaks and corporate welfare, while the working class can barely feed itself?
Libertarians have the idea that government should be run like a business. You can’t do that anymore than you can fly a plane the same way you drive a car. Privatization has proven to be disastrous in the health care sector. Many hospitals put profit ahead of patients, resulting in ridiculous fees, obscene overcharging, and hundreds of thousands of personal bankruptcies every year. Do NOT get me started on how atrocious the USA’s health “care” system is!
Once upon a time, fire departments were privately run affairs. You paid your dues to the local fire station and displayed a plaque showing which brigade you supported. Firefighters not from the firehouse you shelled out to would go right past your house if it was on fire, even if your children and your little dog too were trapped inside. Can you imagine the howling and screaming when somebody came up with the concept of public fire departments?
Police departments would probably become privatized, too. Remember the movie RoboCop, in which an evil corporation takes over Detroit’s police department? Every big corporation would have its own police force, which would not be enforcing the law of the land but the will of the Board of Directors. This country has enough problems with cops already. Now imagine if an officer’s loyalty was to the Mega-Corp that runs the police force rather than the community. So much for Protect and Serve.
What with police in the U.S. being increasingly militarized, it’s no big jump to major corporations having their own armies. Imagine soldiers with logos for Amazon, Disney, Wal-Mart or Nestlé instead of national flags.
So, Libertarians, let’s see how you enjoy breathing smoggy air while walking to your job because you can’t afford a car and there’s no public transit. Let’s see how happy you are working 16 hours a day for slave wages, subsisting on adulterated cheap food, dwelling in a vermin-infested one-room hole in the wall with all the rest of your family, and living in fear of Monsanto’s heavily armed goons, all while hoping you don’t turn an ankle or break an arm because then you won’t be able to work and will wind up homeless. Welcome to the new Guilded Age.
Libertarianism and Communism both promise utopia but deliver dystopia. We have already seen that Communism is a failure; a Libertarian government would be the same, just for different reasons. Communism puts too much in the public sector, while Libertarianism puts too much in the private sector. Government is not best when it governs least, but when it governs where it should govern and does not govern where it should not govern.
