Sunday, June 30, 2019
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Friday, June 28, 2019
Another loss for BrexTWIT
EU and Mercosur agree huge trade deal after 20-year talks
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48807161 .
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48807161 .
Biden Caught Out
In law and government, de jure describes practices that are legally recognised, regardless whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, de facto ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally recognised.
In U.S. law, particularly after Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the difference between de facto segregation (segregation that existed because of the voluntary associations and neighborhoods) and de jure segregation (segregation that existed because of local laws that mandated the segregation) became important distinctions for court-mandated remedial purposes.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/28/19102496/biden-harris-busing-desegregation-google-data .
...
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that American state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal," and therefore violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, the decision's 14 pages did not spell out any sort of method for ending racial segregation in schools, and the Court's second decision in Brown II (349 U.S.294 (1955)) only ordered states to desegregate "with all deliberate speed".
.....
The Court's decision in Brown partially overruled Plessy v. Ferguson by declaring that the "separate but equal" notion was unconstitutional for American public schools and educational facilities. It paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the Civil Rights Movement, and a model for many future impact litigation cases. In the American South, especially the "Deep South", where racial segregation was deeply entrenched, the reaction to Brown among most white people was "noisy and stubborn". Many Southern governmental and political leaders embraced a plan known as "Massive Resistance", created by Virginia Senator Harry F. Byrd, in order to frustrate attempts to force them to de-segregate their school systems. Four years later, in the case of Cooper v. Aaron, the Court reaffirmed its ruling in Brown, and explicitly stated that state officials and legislators had no power to nullify its ruling.
Activism - 3.5% Rule
There are, of course, many ethical reasons to use nonviolent strategies. But compelling research by Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard University, confirms that civil disobedience is not only the moral choice; it is also the most powerful way of shaping world politics – by a long way.
Looking at hundreds of campaigns over the last century, Chenoweth found that nonviolent campaigns are twice as likely to achieve their goals as violent campaigns. And although the exact dynamics will depend on many factors, she has shown it takes around 3.5% of the population actively participating in the protests to ensure serious political change.
The S-word for Ds
[Modified article by Paul Krugman] "Nobody in these [Democratic candidate] debates wants government ownership of the means of production, which is what socialism used to mean. [Still does to the educated.] Most of the candidates are, instead, what Europeans would call “social democrats”: advocates of a private-sector-driven economy, but with a stronger social safety net, enhanced bargaining power for workers and tighter regulation of corporate malfeasance [swamp-draining, in other words]. They want America to be more like Denmark, not more like Venezuela.
Leading
Which goes to show the extent to which
To see what I [PK] mean, imagine the media firestorm, the screams about lost civility, we’d experience if any prominent Democrat described Republicans RepuGNicans as a party of fascists, let alone if Democrats made that claim the centerpiece of their national campaign. And such an accusation would indeed be somewhat over the top — but it would be a lot closer to the truth than calling Democrats socialists.
The other day The Times published an Op-Ed that used analysis of party platforms to place U.S. political parties on a left-right-wrong spectrum along with their counterparts abroad. The study found that the Greedy Oligarchic Partisanship is far to the right wrong of mainstream European conservative parties. It’s even to the right wrong of anti-immigrant parties like Britain’s UKIP and France’s National Rally. Basically, if we saw something like America’s Republicans RepuGNican in another country, we’d classify them as white nationalist extremists."
The other day The Times published an Op-Ed that used analysis of party platforms to place U.S. political parties on a left-
Round 2
19-6-27 You go, girl! > .
Performance +/- policy
Kamala Harris ... by a mile
Pete Butigieg
Gillibrand, Bennet
Sanders (too much anarchy, too much magic wand waving to convince me)
Biden (coat-tails and defensiveness are not convincing)
Swalwell (no non-military person needs an assault weapon -- ever!)
Marianne Williamson (some interesting ideas, but a flaky mission statement)
Hickenlooper (nice guy, but uninspiring)
Yang (I am never persuaded by blatant attempts to buy support with taxpayer-funded simple handouts)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/opinion/debate-harris-buttigieg-biden.html .
Yang (I am never persuaded by blatant attempts to buy support with taxpayer-funded simple handouts)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/opinion/debate-harris-buttigieg-biden.html .
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Round 1
Performance +/- policy:
Warren
Klobuchar
Castro
Gabbard
Booker
de Blasio
Inslee
Ryan
Beto ... needs to learn to answer the question without a retrospective about everyone he has met on the campaign trail
Delaney ... pain in the neck
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/26/opinion/democratic-debate.html .
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/26/opinion/elizabeth-warren.html .
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/27/opinion/first-democratic-debate.html .
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Sh*thole countries take children as hostages ...
... and cage those children in concentration camps.
The worst UNpresident in US history
Because only nasty xenophobes would vote for an incompetent, treasonous LIAR ...
How Trump Clearly Obstructed Justice, According to Mueller > .
RepuGNican hypocrisy:
Senator Lindsey Graham 1999 “You don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic if this body determines that your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role. Impeachment is not about punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.”
Senator Charles E. Grassley 1999 "The President's actions are having a profound impact on our society. His misdeeds have caused many to mistrust elected officials. Cynicism is swelling among the grass roots. His breach of trust has eroded the public's faith in the office of the Presidency. The President's wrongdoing has painted all of us in Washington with a rather broad brush. - The true tragedy in this case is the collapse of the President's moral authority. - But once you lose your moral authority to lead, you're a failure as a leader."
Senator Mitch McConnell 1998 "Our nation is indeed at a crossroads. Will we pursue the search for truth or will we dodge, weave and evade the truth? I am of course referring to the investigation into serious allegations of illegal conduct by the president of the United States — that the president has engaged in a persistent pattern and practice of obstruction of justice. The allegations are grave, the investigation is legitimate and ascertaining the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the unqualified, unevasive truth is absolutely critical.”
RepuGNican hypocrisy:
Senator Lindsey Graham 1999 “You don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic if this body determines that your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role. Impeachment is not about punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.”
Senator Charles E. Grassley 1999 "The President's actions are having a profound impact on our society. His misdeeds have caused many to mistrust elected officials. Cynicism is swelling among the grass roots. His breach of trust has eroded the public's faith in the office of the Presidency. The President's wrongdoing has painted all of us in Washington with a rather broad brush. - The true tragedy in this case is the collapse of the President's moral authority. - But once you lose your moral authority to lead, you're a failure as a leader."
Senator Mitch McConnell 1998 "Our nation is indeed at a crossroads. Will we pursue the search for truth or will we dodge, weave and evade the truth? I am of course referring to the investigation into serious allegations of illegal conduct by the president of the United States — that the president has engaged in a persistent pattern and practice of obstruction of justice. The allegations are grave, the investigation is legitimate and ascertaining the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the unqualified, unevasive truth is absolutely critical.”
Monday, June 24, 2019
The attitudes of some Americans are far beyond disgusting
The arrest of a Florida woman who turned in her estranged husband's guns to police after he was held on domestic violence charges has provoked uproar.
On 14 June, following a divorce court meeting, Mr Irby was arrested for domestic aggravated battery after he allegedly ran his wife's vehicle off the road and hit her car with his own, the Lakeland Ledger reported.
Mrs Irby told officers she feared for her life during the incident and had requested restraining orders on Mr Irby in the past. She was subsequently granted another temporary restraining order.
The next day, Mrs Irby went to her husband's apartment, gathered up the firearms and brought them to the Lakeland Police Department.
Mrs Irby told officers she feared for her life during the incident and had requested restraining orders on Mr Irby in the past. She was subsequently granted another temporary restraining order.
The next day, Mrs Irby went to her husband's apartment, gathered up the firearms and brought them to the Lakeland Police Department.
[Since when does ownership of devices-designed-only-to-kill outweigh the right to LIFE?]
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48747994
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48747994
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Religionist Judgmentalism & Hypocrisy
Prior to the 1840s, abortion was widespread and not illegal in our country. In the time of the Puritans, America’s deeply religious founding fathers, abortion was allowed until the fetus was “quick” — when the woman could feel the fetus move. Before modern diagnostic ultrasound, abortion was permissible beyond the first trimester — up to four or five months. Our founding fathers got this right; the choice to have an abortion or a child belonged to the woman.
Beginning in the 1840s, and continuing over decades, abortion was outlawed state by state, becoming illegal everywhere in the United States by 1900 — until 1973, when the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision held that a woman had a constitutional right to an abortion. For more than two centuries, after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, abortion was largely permitted. Why was it prohibited for almost a century?"
......
"The “pro-life” term was adopted by anti-abortion crusaders after the Roe v. Wade decision. The anti-abortion cause didn’t promote itself as “pro-life” until the more punitive-sounding “anti-abortion” label failed. In 1976, with the passing of the Hyde Amendment, prohibiting the use of federal funds for most abortions, opposition to abortion gained support among The prevailing impetus to oppose abortion is to punish the woman who doesn’t want the child. The sacralizing of the fetus is a ploy. How can “life” be sacred (and begin at six weeks, or at conception), if a child’s life isn’t sacred after it’s born? Clearly, a woman’s life is never sacred; as clearly, a woman has no reproductive rights. The Roman Catholic Church, and many
[It would have been demonstrably more accurate if he had said "the protection of pedophile priests is the primary objective of the Catholic Church."]
Call to arms or merely moral outrage?
As NBC News reported in May:
“At least seven children are known to have died in immigration custody since last year, after almost a decade in which no child reportedly died while in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.”
Homeland Security’s own inspector general has described egregious conditions at detention facilities.
And, last week, an attorney for the Trump administration argued before an incredulous panel of judges on the Ninth Circuit that toothbrushes, soap and appropriate sleeping arrangements were not necessary for the government to meet its requirement to keep migrant children in “safe and sanitary” conditions."
......
"I have often wondered why good people of good conscience don’t respond to things like slavery or the Holocaust or human rights abuse.
Maybe they simply became numb to the horrific way we now rarely think about or discuss the men still being held at Guantánamo Bay without charge or trial, and who may as well die there.
Maybe people grow weary of wrestling with their anger and helplessness, and shunt the thought to the back of their minds and try to simply go on with life, dealing with spouses and children, making dinner and making beds.
Maybe there is simply this giant, silent, cold thing drifting through the culture like an iceberg that barely pierces the surface.
I believe that we will one day reflect on this period in American history where migrant children are being separated from their parents, some having been kept in cages, and think to ourselves: How did this happen?
Why were we not in the streets every day demanding an end to this atrocity? How did we just go on with our lives, disgusted but not distracted?"
"I have often wondered why good people of good conscience don’t respond to things like slavery or the Holocaust or human rights abuse.
Maybe they simply became numb to the horrific way we now rarely think about or discuss the men still being held at Guantánamo Bay without charge or trial, and who may as well die there.
Maybe people grow weary of wrestling with their anger and helplessness, and shunt the thought to the back of their minds and try to simply go on with life, dealing with spouses and children, making dinner and making beds.
Maybe there is simply this giant, silent, cold thing drifting through the culture like an iceberg that barely pierces the surface.
I believe that we will one day reflect on this period in American history where migrant children are being separated from their parents, some having been kept in cages, and think to ourselves: How did this happen?
Why were we not in the streets every day demanding an end to this atrocity? How did we just go on with our lives, disgusted but not distracted?"
[I am disgusted, but I don't have the misfortune -- yes, misfortune -- of living in America.]
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/opinion/trump-migrants-camps.html .
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/opinion/trump-migrants-camps.html .
Cyberstrike -- inexorable escalation
The intrusion occurred the same day UNpresident Bully-in-Chief [reportedly had a humanitarian -- woops, the polls -- moment and] called off a strike on Iranian targets like radar and missile batteries. But the online operation was allowed to go forward because it was intended to be below the threshold of armed conflict — using the same shadow tactics that Iran has deployed.
The online attacks, which had been planned for several weeks, were ultimately meant to be a direct response to both the tanker attacks this month and the downing of an American drone this week, according to the people briefed on the operations.
Multiple computer systems were targeted, according to people briefed on the operations, including those believed to have been used by an Iranian intelligence group that helped plan the tanker attacks."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/22/us/politics/us-iran-cyber-attacks.html .
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48735097 .
Susan Rice: How [DUHnocchio] Can Avoid War With Iran: His process of ordering and then canceling military strikes was a mess. But he now has an opening to restart talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/opinion/trump-iran-nuclear-weapons.html .
Another Reason that America is NOT Great
Notes on Excessive Wealth Disorder: How not to repeat the mistakes of 2011.
1. Raw corruption. We like to imagine that simple bribery of politicians isn’t an important factor in America, but it’s almost surely a much bigger deal than we like to think.
3. Campaign contributions. Yes, these matter.
4. Defining the agenda: Through a variety of channels — media ownership, think tanks, and the simple tendency to assume that being rich also means being wise — the 0.1 percent has an extraordinary ability to set the agenda for policy discussion, in ways that can be sharply at odds with both a reasonable assessment of priorities and public opinion more generally."
Friday, June 21, 2019
Behind Incel Resentments?
"It’s noticeable that a lot of the human research on the association between physical strength and extroversion and aggressiveness has focused on men. This is because, according to evolutionary theory, physical strength and fighting ability is more of an asset to men who must compete with each other for mates. One study out of the University of California, Santa Barbara looked at both men and women and found the usual association between physical strength and trait extraversion, but the link was noticeably more robust among men.
The same study measured participants’ attractiveness, another physical attribute that could, in theory, make it advantageous to develop an extroverted personality style. Results showed that for women as much as for men, greater attractiveness tended to go hand in hand with being more extroverted – thus suggesting that some of these body–personality trait dynamics can play out for women too."
......
"Other research has suggested that your approach to hooking up with relationship partners may also be a strategic adaptation influenced by your bodily and facial features, especially if you are male. For instance, in their research involving hundreds of undergrads, Aaron Lukaszewsk at Loyola Marymount University and colleagues, including Christina Larson and Kelly Gildersleeve at the University of California, found that the men (but not the women) who were stronger – based on a weight-training test – and more attractive were more likely to say that sex without love is okay, and that they could happily have sex with someone without being close to them.
This pattern of findings is consistent with the idea that among our male ancestors, those in better physical shape had more reproductive success by engaging in lots of casual sex and that such a sexual strategy has since evolved as a response to being physically capable. "
.....
"For men, even political views could be implicated. In a study published this year, a pair of political scientists reported evidence from 12 countries, including the US, Denmark and Venezuela, suggesting that stronger, more muscular men were more likely to be against political egalitarianism. The rationale is that in our ancestral past, such men were more likely to thrive in a society where it was everyone for themselves. The findings for women were mixed, with some studies finding strength correlated with a greater endorsement of egalitarianism and others showing the opposite pattern."Honest nations versus dishonest
The ranking of nations is not particularly surprising --- those who live in wealthier, less inequitable nations can afford the luxury of honesty.
"The study, published in Science, looked at how often people in 40 different countries decided to return a lost wallet to the owner, after the researchers handed it in to the institution in which they said it had been found. Surprisingly, in 38 countries, the wallets with higher sums of money were returned more often than those with smaller amounts. This was the opposite of what the researchers had expected, they thought there would be a minimum dollar value at which participants would begin to keep the money.
Overall, 51% of those who were handed a wallet with smaller amounts of money reported it, compared with 72% for a larger sum [with the exception of Mexico and Chile]. The most honest countries were Switzerland, Norway and the Netherlands whereas the least honest were Peru, Morocco and China."
http://theconversation.com/majority-of-people-return-lost-wallets-heres-the-psychology-and-which-countries-are-the-most-honest-119118 .
Toxic "Masculinity" & Gun Violence
One of the disgusting aspects of American society:
Why is American masculinity violence-identification at the center of gun culture, but not the gun debate? > .
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Preventing Narcissists and Psychopaths [like DUHnocchio] from Taking Power
Throughout history, people who have gained positions of power tend to be precisely the kind of people who should not be entrusted with it. A desire for power often correlates with negative personality traits: selfishness, greed and a lack of empathy. And the people who have the strongest desire for power tend to be the most ruthless and lacking in compassion.
But modern psychopaths generally don’t become leaders in affluent countries (where they are perhaps more likely to join multinational corporations). In these countries, as can be seen in the US and Russia, there has been a movement away from psychopathic to narcissistic leaders.
After all, what profession could be more suited to a narcissistic personality than politics, where the spotlight of attention is constant? Narcissists feel entitled to gain power because of their sense of superiority and self-importance.
Those with narcissistic personalities tend to crave attention and admiration and feel it is right that other people should be subservient to them. Their lack of empathy means they have no qualms about exploiting other people to attain or maintain their power.
Meanwhile, the kind of people who we might think are ideally suited to take on positions of power – people who are empathetic, fair minded, responsible and wise – are naturally disinclined to seek it. Empathetic people like to remain grounded and interact with others, rather than elevating themselves. They don’t desire control or authority, but connection, leaving those leadership roles vacant for those with more narcissistic and psychopathic character traits.
http://theconversation.com/narcissists-and-psychopaths-how-some-societies-ensure-these-dangerous-people-never-wield-power-118854 .
Often those who attain power show traits of psychopathy and narcissism [almost identical]. In recent times, psychopathic leaders have been mostly found in less economically developed countries with poor infrastructures and insecure political and social institutions. People such as Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and Charles Taylor in Liberia.
But modern psychopaths generally don’t become leaders in affluent countries (where they are perhaps more likely to join multinational corporations). In these countries, as can be seen in the US and Russia, there has been a movement away from psychopathic to narcissistic leaders.
After all, what profession could be more suited to a narcissistic personality than politics, where the spotlight of attention is constant? Narcissists feel entitled to gain power because of their sense of superiority and self-importance.
Those with narcissistic personalities tend to crave attention and admiration and feel it is right that other people should be subservient to them. Their lack of empathy means they have no qualms about exploiting other people to attain or maintain their power.
Meanwhile, the kind of people who we might think are ideally suited to take on positions of power – people who are empathetic, fair minded, responsible and wise – are naturally disinclined to seek it. Empathetic people like to remain grounded and interact with others, rather than elevating themselves. They don’t desire control or authority, but connection, leaving those leadership roles vacant for those with more narcissistic and psychopathic character traits.
http://theconversation.com/narcissists-and-psychopaths-how-some-societies-ensure-these-dangerous-people-never-wield-power-118854 .
"Better than this"? All appearances to the contrary ...
Today’s movement for reparations places as much emphasis on the racist public policies of the 20th century, which denied black Americans opportunities to build wealth and left them vulnerable to all manner of economic exploitation, as it does on the crimes of slavery.
.......
Slavery and Jim Crow not only excluded generations of black Americans from benefits and opportunities enjoyed by white Americans; it also exposed them to the most predatory features of our capitalist system. It turned black people’s earnest attempts to build wealth the American way — through property ownership — into an opportunity for others to profitat their expense.
If we ever hope to repair the damage racism has done to America, and address the dividends it continues to pay to white Americans, we cannot simply open to black Americans previously closed doors of opportunity or merely provide some form of compensation for past injustices. We must also work to dismantle the laws and policies that sanction the continued extraction of property and resources from black communities.
If we ever hope to repair the damage racism has done to America, and address the dividends it continues to pay to white Americans, we cannot simply open to black Americans previously closed doors of opportunity or merely provide some form of compensation for past injustices. We must also work to dismantle the laws and policies that sanction the continued extraction of property and resources from black communities.
Monday, June 17, 2019
Friday, June 14, 2019
Bye Bye, Democracy
Needless to say, he has moonwalked on this admission of conspiratorial guilt. "Russher, if you're listening." "About that Russher thing ... I decided to fire Comey."
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
DISinformation Explosion - Fight On
Twitter, for example, has employed algorithms aimed at identifying bots and shutting down shady accounts. By their accounts, they have recently rid Twitter of 1 million such accounts per day. But when Twitter gets smarter, so do the bots. A recent report noted a new bot network on Twitter specially designed to outwit detection algorithms. (Another new trend – pernicious actors hijacking real accounts.)
What is important to recognise about such a situation is that whatever tactics are working now won’t work for long. The other side will adapt. In particular, we cannot expect to be able to put a set of detection algorithms in place and be done with it. Whatever efforts social-media sites make to root out pernicious actors will regularly become obsolete.
The same is true for our individual attempts to identify and avoid misinformation. Since the 2016 US election, ‘fake news’ has been widely discussed and analysed. And many social-media users have become more savvy about identifying sites mimicking traditional news sources. But the same users might not be as savvy, for example, about sleek conspiracy theory videos going viral on YouTube, or about deep fakes – expertly altered images and videos.
What makes this problem particularly thorny is that internet media changes at dizzying speed. When the radio was first invented, as a new form of media, it was subject to misinformation. But regulators quickly adapted, managing, for the most part, to subdue such attempts. Today, even as Facebook fights Russian meddling, WhatsApp has become host to rampant misinformation in India, leading to the deaths of 31 people in rumour-fuelled mob attacks over two years."
....
"Participating in an informational arms race is exhausting, but sometimes there are no good alternatives. Public misinformation has serious consequences. For this reason, we should be devoting the same level of resources to fighting misinformation that interest groups are devoting to producing it. All social-media sites need dedicated teams of researchers whose full-time jobs are to hunt down and combat new kinds of misinformation attempts."
https://aeon.co/ideas/the-information-arms-race-cant-be-won-but-we-have-to-keep-fighting
https://aeon.co/ideas/the-information-arms-race-cant-be-won-but-we-have-to-keep-fighting
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Monday, June 10, 2019
Pandering to Homophobes
Homophobic? Maybe You’re Gay
"In recent years, Ted Haggard, an evangelical leader who preached that homosexuality was a sin, resigned after a scandal involving a former male prostitute; Larry Craig, a United States senator who opposed including sexual orientation in hate-crime legislation, was arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct in a men’s bathroom; and Glenn Murphy Jr., a leader of the Young Republican National Convention and an opponent of same-sex marriage, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge after being accused of sexually assaulting another man.
One theory is that homosexual urges, when repressed out of shame or fear, can be expressed as homophobia. Freud famously called this process a “reaction formation” — the angry battle against the outward symbol of feelings that are inwardly being stifled. Even Mr. Haggard seemed to endorse this idea when, apologizing after his scandal for his anti-gay rhetoric, he said, “I think I was partially so vehement because of my own war.”
It’s a compelling theory — and now there is scientific reason to believe it. In [April 2012] issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, we and our fellow researchers provide empirical evidence that homophobia can result, at least in part, from the suppression of same-sex desire."
......
"Thus our research suggests that some who oppose homosexuality do tacitly harbor same-sex attraction.What leads to this repression? We found that participants who reported having supportive and accepting parents were more in touch with their implicit sexual orientation and less susceptible to homophobia. Individuals whose sexual identity was at odds with their implicit sexual attraction were much more frequently raised by parents perceived to be controlling, less accepting and more prejudiced against homosexuals.
It’s important to stress the obvious: Not all those who campaign against gay men and lesbians secretly feel same-sex attractions. But at least some who oppose homosexuality are likely to be individuals struggling against parts of themselves, having themselves been victims of oppression and lack of acceptance. The costs [to society of Authoritarian Personality Disorder] are great, not only for the targets of anti-gay efforts but also often for the perpetrators.
Continuing relevance of 1984
1984 1 > .
1984 2 > .
Dystopias & Apocalypses (Brave New World, 1984, etc) >> .
Brave New World Aldous Huxley Audiobook > .
"In 1919, a British writer named Rose Macaulay published What Not, a novel about a dystopian future—a brave new world if you will—where people are ranked by intelligence, the government mandates mind training for all citizens, and procreation is regulated by the state.
You’ve probably never heard of Macaulay or What Not. However, Aldous Huxley, author of the science fiction classic Brave New World, hung out in the same London literary circles as her and his 1932 book contains many concepts that Macaulay first introduced in her work. In 2019, you’ll be able to read Macaulay’s book yourself and compare the texts as the British publisher Handheld Press is planning to re- release the forgotten novel in March. It’s been out of print since the year it was first released.
The resurfacing of What Not also makes this a prime time to consider another work that influenced Huxley’s Brave New World, the 1923 novel We by Yvgeny Zamyatin. What Not and We are lost classics about a future that foreshadows our present. Notably, they are also hidden influences on some of the most significant works of 20th century fiction, Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984."
.......
"There is a clear connection between What Not and 1984,via Brave New World. Orwell was familiar with Huxley’s novel and gave it much thought before writing his own blockbuster. Indeed, in 1946, before the release of 1984, he wrote a review of Zamyatin’s We (pdf), comparing the Russian novel with Huxley’s book. Orwell declared Huxley’s text derivative, writing in his review of We in The Tribune:
The first thing anyone would notice about We is the fact—never pointed out, I believe—that Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World must be partly derived from it. Both books deal with the rebellion of the primitive human spirit against a rationalised, mechanized, painless world, and both stories are supposed to take place about six hundred years hence. The atmosphere of the two books is similar, and it is roughly speaking the same kind of society that is being described, though Huxley’s book shows less political awareness and is more influenced by recent biological and psychological theories."........
"Although We is barely known compared to Orwell and Huxley’s later works, I’d argue that it’s among the best literary science fictions of all time, and it’s highly relevant, as it was when first written. Noam Chomsky calls it “more perceptive” than both 1984 and Brave New World. Zamyatin’s futuristic society was so on point, he was exiled from the Soviet Union because it was such an accurate description of life in a totalitarian regime, though he wrote it before Stalin took power.
When he died in Paris in 1937, it had never been published in Zamyatin’s mother tongue. We was published in French, Dutch, and German. An English version was printed and sold only in the US. When Orwell wrote about We in 1946, it was only because he’d managed to borrow a hard-to-find French translation."
Sunday, June 9, 2019
Malevolently-wrong fan-(mostly)-boys
The tension was evident on Tuesday, when YouTube said a prominent
In the videos, that creator, Steven Crowder, a
On Wednesday, YouTube appeared to backtrack,
“We came to this decision because a pattern of egregious actions has harmed the broader community,” the company wrote on Twitter.
The whiplash-inducing deliberations illustrated a central theme that has defined the moderation struggles of social media companies: Making rules is often easier than enforcing them.
.....
The kind of content that will be prohibited under YouTube’s new hate speech policies includes videos that claim Jews secretly control the world, that say women are intellectually inferior to men and therefore should be denied certain rights, or that suggest that the white race is superior to another race, a YouTube spokesman said.
Channels that post some hateful content, but that do not violate YouTube’s rules with the majority of their videos, may receive strikes under YouTube’s three-strike enforcement system, but would not be immediately banned.
The company also said channels that “repeatedly brush up against our hate speech policies” but don’t violate them outright would be [demonetized].
In addition to tightening its hate speech rules, YouTube announced that it would tweak its recommendation algorithm, the automated software that shows users videos based on their interests and past viewing habits. This algorithm is responsible for more than 70 percent of overall time spent on YouTube, and has been a major engine for the platform’s growth. But it has also drawn accusations of leading users down rabbit holes filled with extreme and divisive content, in an attempt to keep them watching and drive up the site’s use numbers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/05/business/youtube-remove-extremist-videos.html .
Alt-Wrong Radicalization
How to become a brainwashed A-hole online:
.....
"Over years of reporting on internet culture, I’ve heard countless versions of Mr. Cain’s story: an aimless young man — usually white, frequently interested in video games — visits YouTube looking for direction or distraction and is seduced by a community of far-right far-wrong creators.
Some young men discoverfar-right far-wrong videos by accident, while others seek them out. Some travel all the way to neo-Nazism, while others stop at milder forms of bigotry.
The common thread in many of these stories is YouTube and its recommendation algorithm, the software that determines which videos appear on users’ home pages and inside the “Up Next” sidebar next to a video that is playing. The algorithm is responsible for more than 70 percent of all time spent on the site.
The radicalization of young men is driven by a complex stew of emotional, economic and political elements, many having nothing to do with social media. But critics and independent researchers say YouTube has inadvertently created a dangerous on-ramp to extremism by combining two things: a business model that rewards provocative videos with exposure and advertising dollars, and an algorithm that guides users down personalized paths meant to keep them glued to their screens.
Some young men discover
The common thread in many of these stories is YouTube and its recommendation algorithm, the software that determines which videos appear on users’ home pages and inside the “Up Next” sidebar next to a video that is playing. The algorithm is responsible for more than 70 percent of all time spent on the site.
The radicalization of young men is driven by a complex stew of emotional, economic and political elements, many having nothing to do with social media. But critics and independent researchers say YouTube has inadvertently created a dangerous on-ramp to extremism by combining two things: a business model that rewards provocative videos with exposure and advertising dollars, and an algorithm that guides users down personalized paths meant to keep them glued to their screens.
.....
In recent years, social media platforms have grappled with the growth of extremism on their services. Many platforms have barred a handful of YouTube, whose rules prohibit hate speech and harassment, took a more laissez-faire approach to enforcement for years. This past week, the company announced that it was updating its policy to ban videos espousing neo-Nazism, white supremacy and other bigoted views. The company also said it was changing its recommendation algorithm to reduce the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories." [About effing time!]
.......
In reality, YouTube has been a godsend for hyper-partisans on all sides. It has allowed them to bypass traditional gatekeepers and broadcast their views to mainstream audiences, and has helped once-obscure commentators build lucrative media businesses.
It has also been a useful recruiting tool for far-right extremist groups. Bellingcat, an investigative news site, analyzed messages fromfar-right far-wrong chat rooms and found that YouTube was cited as the most frequent cause of members’ “red-pilling” — an internet slang term for converting to far-right far-wrong beliefs. A European research group, VOX-Pol, conducted a separate analysis of nearly 30,000 Twitter accounts affiliated with the alt-right Ultra-Wrong. It found that the accounts linked to YouTube more often than to any other site.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/08/technology/youtube-radical.html .
It has also been a useful recruiting tool for far-right extremist groups. Bellingcat, an investigative news site, analyzed messages from
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/08/technology/youtube-radical.html .
Friday, June 7, 2019
World's Guiltiest Witch
4 of the most surprising Mueller Report details that readers might have missed — and none of them are favorable to the incompetent, treasonous, rigged-into-office, cognitively-challenged, emotionally-unstable, guilty-of-multiple-crimes UNpresident.
Raising the Bar
Senator Kamala Harris of California proposed at the start of June to stop abortion laws from going into effect unless the federal government agrees they comply with Roe v. Wade.
This idea, known as preclearance, is widely considered the single most effective civil rights tool in American history, because it blocks bad policies [a RepuGNican specialty] before they can take root and spread harm across generations.
Ms. Harris modeled her idea on a section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which for decades allowed the Justice Department or a federal court in Washington to prevent harmful voting laws in places with chronic discrimination. Preclearance was created to combat the pernicious methods Southern states used to stop black people from voting after the 15th Amendment prohibited the states from doing so outright.
This idea, known as preclearance, is widely considered the single most effective civil rights tool in American history, because it blocks bad policies [a RepuGNican specialty] before they can take root and spread harm across generations.
Ms. Harris’s proposal focuses on laws that harm women. But the concept ought to be extended to racial disadvantage [et cētera]. Every presidential candidate should offer similar proposals in areas like policing, housing, education and transportation. It’s the best way to stop discrimination.
Ms. Harris modeled her idea on a section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which for decades allowed the Justice Department or a federal court in Washington to prevent harmful voting laws in places with chronic discrimination. Preclearance was created to combat the pernicious methods Southern states used to stop black people from voting after the 15th Amendment prohibited the states from doing so outright.
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Angela gegen Trumpismus
Angela Merkel Gets Standing Ovation for Rejecting Trumpism > .
Tear down walls of ignorance and narrowmindedness.' — Angela Merkel got a standing ovation for her rebuke of Trumpism at Harvard's commencement. [Ironic so close to the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.]
Tear down walls of ignorance and narrowmindedness.' — Angela Merkel got a standing ovation for her rebuke of Trumpism at Harvard's commencement. [Ironic so close to the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.]
Monday, June 3, 2019
Saturday, June 1, 2019
Because a subset of Americans are obstinately ignorant
To read the prosecutors' full statement and learn more, visit https://protectdemocracy.org/sign-up
My Early June RANKINGS -- subject to change
1) Elizabeth Warren / Kamala Harris / (Stacey Abrams - not running, alas) / Pete Buttigieg
2) Amy Klobuchar / Michael Bennet / Julián Castro / Eric Swalwell
3) Jay Inslee / Kirsten Gillibrand /
.......
2) Amy Klobuchar / Michael Bennet / Julián Castro / Eric Swalwell
3) Jay Inslee / Kirsten Gillibrand /
.......
4) Cory Booker
.....
5) Bernie Sanders
.....
5) Bernie Sanders
.....
6) Joe Biden / Beto O'Rourke
6) Joe Biden / Beto O'Rourke
.....
7) Seth Moulton and others
.......................
-10) DUHnocchio
Choice versus Control
The issue is not between fetuses and babies, but between safe, legal abortions and unsafe, backstreet abortions in which maternal lives are at increased risk. Those who genuinely wish to reduce the rate of abortion ought to support and fund contraceptive measures. Access to affordable birth control, in other words.
The anti-abortion mania is not about "pro-life" and functional moral-compasses, but about a hypocritical, judgmental, authoritarian desire to control women, promulgated by CONservatives who are typically pro-gun-ownership, pro-war, and pro-death-penalty. Genuine Christians, as distinct from judgmental holier-than-thou authoritarians, believe as Stacey does.
Mueller, politics is now inescapable for patriots
De Niro is correct, Mueller wrong (thus far)
Robert De Niro: Robert Mueller, We Need to Hear More: You said that your investigation’s work “speaks for itself.” It doesn’t.
In your news conference, you said that your investigation’s work “speaks for itself.” It doesn’t. It may speak for itself to lawyers and lawmakers who have the patience and obligation to read through the more than 400 pages of carefully chosen words and nuanced conclusions (with all due respect, as good a read as it is, you’re no Stephen King).
You’ve characterized the report as your testimony, but you wouldn’t accept that reason from anyone your office interviewed. Additional information and illumination emerge from responses to questions. I know you’re as uncomfortable in the spotlight as the UNpresident is out of it. I know you don’t want to become part of the political spectacle surrounding Russia’s crimes and your report on them. I know you will, however reluctantly, testify before Congress if called, because you respect the system and follow the rules, and I understand why you’d want to do it away from the public glare.
You’ve characterized the report as your testimony, but you wouldn’t accept that reason from anyone your office interviewed. Additional information and illumination emerge from responses to questions. I know you’re as uncomfortable in the spotlight as the UNpresident is out of it. I know you don’t want to become part of the political spectacle surrounding Russia’s crimes and your report on them. I know you will, however reluctantly, testify before Congress if called, because you respect the system and follow the rules, and I understand why you’d want to do it away from the public glare.
......
But the country needs to hear your voice. Your actual voice. And not just because you don’t want them to think that your actual voice sounds like Robert De Niro reading from cue cards, but because this is the report your country asked you to do, and now you must give it authority and clarity without, if I may use the term, obstruction.INDICT him!
After all, DUHnocchio does only harm in office, and "don't indict a sitting UNpresident" was mere legal opinion, not Constitutional law. Besides, the impeachment "jury" is rigged and, thanks to FAUX News and inadequate education, 40% of well-armed American are consumed by their counterfactual hatreds.
JUST IMPEACH HIM - Randy Rainbow Song Parody > .
Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Mueller Report & Impeaching DUHnocchio > .
Hundreds of thousands watch the short videos he produces every 10 days or so, featuring show tunes and pop songs he has refashioned with biting new lyrics. These DIY productions are funny and oh-so-topical and include clever video manipulation of news footage to create sassy mock interviews with prominent political players — mostly of the Trumpian variety — topped off with costumes ordered online.
It’s no secret that in 21st-century America, power over public opinion doesn’t reside exclusively with editorialists or news anchors. We are now Entertainment Nation, and society’s jesters — Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Trevor Noah, Bill Maher, etc. — have become as influential as the Walter Cronkites and David Brinkleys of yore.
Hundreds of thousands watch the short videos he produces every 10 days or so, featuring show tunes and pop songs he has refashioned with biting new lyrics. These DIY productions are funny and oh-so-topical and include clever video manipulation of news footage to create sassy mock interviews with prominent political players — mostly of the Trumpian variety — topped off with costumes ordered online.
It’s no secret that in 21st-century America, power over public opinion doesn’t reside exclusively with editorialists or news anchors. We are now Entertainment Nation, and society’s jesters — Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Trevor Noah, Bill Maher, etc. — have become as influential as the Walter Cronkites and David Brinkleys of yore.
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