Open Thread - Friday, August 21, 2015

Submitted by NCTim on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 6:52am

The pressure is on. The people who proof read and adhere to style guides have joined and started posting.

Welcome and don't be shy.

Please excuse the lack of current events links. My days are so hectic that I need to prepare the thread well in advance. It's all about pace.

Weekend outro ->

Have a great weekend!

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Submitted by joe shikspack on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 8:51am

mornin' tim...

this is a busy day drive-by. i saw this article while collecting news this morning:

Protesters unveil demands for stricter US policing laws as political reach grows

Leaders in the new civil rights movement campaigning against the killings of African Americans by police set out their most comprehensive set of policies and demands so far on Friday, as they moved to intensify their rapidly increasing influence on US politics.

The coalition of protesters outlined proposals for new laws at federal and state levels such as restricting the use of deadly force by officers, outlawing the supply of military equipment to police departments, instituting training to prevent racial bias and forcing the US government to keep a comprehensive record of fatal incidents.

“We must end police violence so we can live and feel safe in this country,” the group stated on a new website, Campaign Zero, which also establishes an issue-by-issue system for monitoring the policy positions of candidates for the Democratic and Republican US presidential nominations.

The unveiling of the detailed policy platform followed a series of disruptions by protesters affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement of presidential campaign rallies held by presidential candidates across the country, including former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. The actions have succeeded in pushing police and criminal justice reform to the forefront of the race for the Democratic nomination.

i checked out the website for campaign zero and it's really well done. i particularly liked their graphic for tracking and comparing the positions of the candidates.

Submitted by Big Al on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 9:27am

Devil's always in the details.

Looks like they're largely using the President's taskforce for 21st Century Policing. That ain't gonna do it.
I'm wondering who these people are, where they get their money, and how they came to speak for the entire movement.

We can't be too careful these days.
A couple things, end the war on drugs and the war Of Terror. That has to happen. Marijuana should be legalized nationally.
The Department of Homeland Security needs to be abolished. Could definitely go on.

I don't know, I checked out a few of the categories and there's a lot of good recommendations. But I'm left with the feeling
that they're not addressing the root causes and the recommendations don't include numbers. We have way to many cops, law
enforcement, security, national security. Those in the know understand that military, homeland/national security and intelligence
take up about 65% of the discretionary national budget. You'll see roughly the same thing happening at the state, country
and city levels relative to law enforcement. The budgets are taking an increasing percentage of overall budgets becoming in most
cases the largestdiscretionary line item in the budget, just like the U.S. military.

Submitted by NCTim on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 1:34pm

Thanks Joe

I have been doing my one armed paper hanger routine today.

—

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

Submitted by hecate on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 8:56am

whut

doo u meen, pruufreeding &, stile gides?

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoIfB4J3sqU]

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 9:27am

Good Morning Tim and 99%'ers

No one here has more on their plate than you, Tim. This is perfect! Thinking of you and yours, my friend.

—

Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Submitted by NCTim on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 1:37pm

Thanks GG

Did you see Reverend Barber is taking Moral Mondays to DC -> Voting Rights Act.

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/08/19/sights-set-voting-rights-mor...

—

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 6:31pm

NO.....but

This is AWESOME! Us folks in NC know just what an incredibly inspiring man Rev. Barber is. Thank you for highlighting this Tim!

—

Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Submitted by triv33 on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 9:31am

Good morning~

Joantha sings Woody...[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNdNzwOEtJ0]

It all comes down to this
There's a million souls out there
Dying for a wish, living for a kiss
Searching for someone to care

On any given day
You can hear their songs and cries
Kneeling down to pray, Wishing they could say
They had never compromised

—

I shave my legs with Occam's Razor~

Submitted by Big Al on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 9:41am

Here's an interesting article about the Police State and

how we got here. We tend to focus on the changes in the last 20 years toward militarism and privatization, but
in reality, the police state really emerged as a ruling class reaction to the sixties civil right, antiwar and social movements.
Various laws and acts were passed in the sixties and seventies to funnel more money down to the cops and enact tougher
punishments and tactics, such as the war on drugs. An example.

"Congress passed the bill literally in the shadow of smoke from yet another riot — this one in outrage at the murder of Dr Martin Luther King. From the passage of the Omnibus Crime and Safe Streets Act of 1968 emerged a new super agency, the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA), which over the next ten years spent a billion dollars annually rationalizing and retooling state and local law enforcement.

It was thanks to the LEAA that American police forces first obtained computers, helicopters, body armor, military-grade weapons, SWAT teams, shoulder radios, and paramilitary training, and started new militaristic forms of interagency cooperation. The LEAA also pushed literacy requirements and basic competency tests for police officers. In other words, the LEAA was simultaneously an attempt to modernize American policing and to intensify and expand it."

What it says at the bottom is important and should be considered when reviewing the recommendations made for policing in this country.

"And what is our side’s policy prescription? Less. Not better, just less. Fewer prisons, fewer SWAT teams, less surveillance. Not better-trained cops with body cameras, but rather less gear, less money, and fewer cops."

They got fucking armies out there now. That has to stop. When they can send 19 pigs out to kill a homeless person in Albuquerque then they
have too many pigs and too much firepower.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42499.htm

Submitted by triv33 on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 9:55am

Infuriating, isn't it?

And most of the general population just falls in line. Why wouldn't they? They've been pulling over gladly for drunk driving checks and peeing in bottles for a long time now. Try telling them what a huge violation that is and always has been and they think you're the crazy one. When you're softened up by these "little" violations for the so-called common good, you will later have no problem with the surveillance state. I could cry, but what would that help?

—

I shave my legs with Occam's Razor~

Submitted by Big Al on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 10:11am

I dropped off my son at school one day years ago.

I pulled over across the street from the school to let him out and took off my seat belt to get out my wallet to give him money. He went off to school
and I pulled back on the road and up to a stop light only about 100 feet ahead. I was first in line at the light and a cop took a left from the other direction
and passed in front of me right when I was putting my seat belt back on, stopped at the light. The cop quickly pulled a U-turn and pulled in right behind me.
The light turned green and I proceeded and the cop turned his lights on. I was pissed, I was going to work and I just stopped right in the road.
After expressing my disgust for getting pulled over and telling him why I was putting my seatbelt back on, he took my stuff back to his pig car to do this thing.
He came back and told me to get out of the car and put my hands on the hood. I had no idea what he was doing so I asked what's the problem. He said
I was under arrest for an outstanding warrant., I had no idea what he was talking about. I was trying to think what could I possibly have an outstanding warrant for and couldn't think of a thing. He would not give me more information. He called for backup an no less than 8 cops showed up within minutes. I was only a few hundred yards from my sons school and he and his friends were out watching what was happening to me. They put me in a squad car and took me off to jail. Printed me, took my picture, then finally told me what I was arrested for. I had neglected to pay a fine years back, at least five years, for failing
to sign my registration. I had the proper registration but one time when I was pulled over and showed it to the cop, I hadn't signed it. So that was a ticket I got and a reason a warrant was put out for my arrest. I really had forgot about the whole thing.
So ya, little shit like that. It probably cost tax payers a few grand just for all the people involved in my unlawful transgressions.

Submitted by triv33 on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 10:24am

I'll bet they all felt very manly that day!

Assholes. As I've mentioned before, I live in a pissant town, surrounded by podunk pissant towns. A couple of years back two towns over-- three cops murdered a mentally ill guy in the street. The thing is, they all knew him, knew who he was and that he occasionally went off his meds. He had never hurt a soul. Over the years there had been incidents where he had "gone off" and needed to be taken in, and they had always managed to do it without anybody getting hurt, but this time they decided he needed killing. Why? What changed? Not him. And not a one of them lost a day's pay over it.

—

I shave my legs with Occam's Razor~

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 10:29am

My parents live near Portland

They told me that a couple years ago one cop shot and killed a white, teenage kid who was drunk and naked and dancing on top of a car.
It seemed the female cop felt "threatened". Her bosses agreed that she did the right thing.

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 10:25am

failing to sign my registration

Is that even a misdemeanor? I feel better knowing that dangerous criminals like you are not on the street. Who knows what you might fail to sign next?

Submitted by MarilynW on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 2:22pm

Almost everyone feels a little guilty

when they see a police car near them.

It's so incredible that you were treated like a dangerous criminal over what amounts to a typo!

Thanks for the real life story, Whew!

—

To thine own self be true.

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 10:42am

I'm probably the only one who watches the markets

So I'd like to point out that things are starting to happen.
S&P 500 is giving up the 2,000 level. Nasdaq gave up the 5,000 level yesterday. Crude oil is threatening to drop below $40. China spent about $500 Billion propping up their stock bubble and they haven't managed to move it at all. 23 nations have stock bear markets. There is a global currency war going on in the emerging markets.

In other words, the years of boring markets with thin trading that barely move are coming to an end.

Submitted by joe shikspack on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 11:54am

i was noticing that, it seems like a big deal in the business...

section of the papers. here are a couple of stories that i'm running about it tonight:

Global capitalism has a boo-boo:

Global stocks in 'panic mode' as Chinese factory slump drags on markets

The FTSE 100 has hit its lowest level this year after further signs of a weakening Chinese economy spooked investors.

Britain’s leading share index fell 1.2% to 6,286 on Friday morning immediately after opening . By lunchtime in London it had fallen further to 6,274.

The drop mirrored stock markets across Asia-Pacific after they went into “panic mode” when further signs of a weakening Chinese economy compounded overnight losses on Wall Street and European bourses.

China’s factory sector shrank at its fastest pace in more than six years in August as domestic and export demand dwindled, a private survey showed, adding to worries that the world’s second-largest economy may be slowing sharply and sending financial markets into a tailspin.

China’s surprise devaluation of the yuan and heavy selling in its stock markets in recent weeks have sparked fears that it could be at risk of a hard landing, which would hammer world growth.

US crude oil prices hit lowest since 2009, eliminating thousands of jobs

America’s oil boom is faltering, and with US crude oil prices hitting lows unseen since 2009 this week, experts believe the fall may continue taking thousands of jobs with it.

Consumers may cheer the lower prices at the pump, but jobs are being lost in the energy industry across the world. In June, the Energy Information Administration said the US petroleum industry lost about 6.5% of its jobs from October to April, or about 35,000 of its 538,000 workers, citing US Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

On Wednesday, Royal Dutch Shell said it would eliminate 6,500 jobs worldwide as the company tries to reduce costs because of the lower oil prices. Declines in oil and natural gas extraction and support employment tend to lag declines in crude oil prices, so given the recent return to lower prices, more job cuts could be on the way.

Global stock markets have been rattled by the fall and continuing woes in China. The Dow Jones Industrial average hit a low for 2015 on Thursday and is expected to come under renewed pressure on Friday.

“Globally there’s probably been approaching a quarter-million layoffs from the oil industry. And hundreds and billions in cancelled projects,” said Walter Zimmermann Jr, vice president and chief technical analyst at United-ICAP. “Houston is getting hit especially hard. You go to Houston and nobody talks about the economic benefit of lower oil prices. And certainly no one is talking about that in the Bakken Field [North Dakota].”

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 2:59pm

Word on the Street:

#banklivesmatter

::: sob :::

Hello QE4.

—

IMAGINE if you woke up the day after a US Presidential Election and headlines around the the world blared, "The Majority of Americans Refused to Vote in US Presidential Election! What Does this Mean?"

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 12:21pm

Oh, I watch the markets.

I spoke of this inevitability in my first essay here. You even asked me how this was going to happen.

I will point out that the other day, John Kerry blurted out that if the Iran deal was not supported that the USD would lose its reserve currency status. People were confused by his leap of logic, but I found it crystal clear.

Now that the Petrodollar is dead (as a result of the US-Ukraine coup), US sanctions no longer work in the world today. Hence the speedy new treaty with Iran and Cuba. The US doesn't want to demo the fact that the Dollar is dead as a hegemonic tool to the rest of the world. I outlined, step by step, what would happen next, leading up to the 2016 election.

As John Kerry pointed out, the Iran agreement is ALL about the Dollar. North Korea will shrug off the sanctions, next. The US is urging China to do a Iran-type agreement with them, post haste. The US is now shooting blanks. The Six Eyes (including Israel) will break apart into regional economic alliances. And, so forth. A whole new world….

—

IMAGINE if you woke up the day after a US Presidential Election and headlines around the the world blared, "The Majority of Americans Refused to Vote in US Presidential Election! What Does this Mean?"

Submitted by hecate on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 12:21pm

these people

are also watching the markets.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdaBbuMhKkk]

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 12:25pm

It's clear from their eye movements

…that they are watching CNBC.

—

IMAGINE if you woke up the day after a US Presidential Election and headlines around the the world blared, "The Majority of Americans Refused to Vote in US Presidential Election! What Does this Mean?"

Submitted by hecate on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 1:14pm

they are

heavily invested in duck futures.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csFI7msKHiM]

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 12:39pm

that's funny!

and the cat is purring too!

—

Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Submitted by shaharazade on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 2:28pm

The only market

I watch is the one down the street from me. But sooner or later the casino market trickles down and effects the one I buy my food from. Same with our business, it is obvious when things are going awry in the funny money sector, it causes blockage in the cash flow. I used to bank at Washington Mutual back in the day and they had a huge monitor mounted on the ceiling where I could watch the market while waiting in the long line. It was amusing to see WM sliding down as the lines got smaller and smaller. Now I bank at a CU and get to watch the weather numbers as I wait in the long lines. Our local economy seems to be in a frenzied state of cranking up a new housing investment development bubble. What can a poor person see when watching the market other then bracing them selves for another round of artificial scarcity and austerity wherein your fate is tied to the shenanigans of the greedy pillagers. When even your home is threatened by banksters, investors from Shanghai and greedy developers, you know those market numbers are bad news for those of us busy working to keep a roof over our heads.

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 3:07pm

DOW down 500 points just today

That counts as a mini-crash.
What's more, this is going into the weekend. If something bad happens over the weekend there will be a build-up of sell orders on Monday (does anyone else remember Black Monday, 1987?).

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 3:51pm

After hours trading

…is ugly:

I'm looking at Dow -456.00 / -2.70% — at 4:14pm ET on Friday (today)

(Futures based on September 2015 contract.)

Of course, that will change minute by minute over the weekend, until markets open again Monday morning. (Actually Monday begins in Asia on Sunday at 7 PM ET.)

http://money.cnn.com/data/afterhours/

—

IMAGINE if you woke up the day after a US Presidential Election and headlines around the the world blared, "The Majority of Americans Refused to Vote in US Presidential Election! What Does this Mean?"

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 11:13am

The Wall Street/MIC connection

link

Four-star General Ray Odierno retired from his position as U.S. Army chief of staff on Friday. Now, less than a week after mustering out, he’s cashing in. The former general has taken a job as a senior adviser to the investment firm JPMorgan Chase.
In a press release posted on JPMorgan’s website on Thursday, the firm announced that Odierno is joining the company in “a senior advisory capacity,” providing “strategic advice and global insights” to CEO Jamie Dimon as well as the company’s board of directors. The announcement also said Odierno “will represent JPMorgan Chase through engagement with clients, government officials and policy makers in the U.S. and internationally.”

Submitted by lotlizard on Sat, 08/22/2015 - 4:40am

It's not warmongering, it's just "kinetic" ka-ching. n/t

Submitted by janis b on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 1:12pm

Hi Tim

I hope it's not this hectic.

Wishing you both the best.

[video:https://youtu.be/HbMusZvhBqQ width:300 height:250]

Submitted by NCTim on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 2:00pm

A friend of ours

One of my wife's co-workers. She stops by and checks on how we are doing.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/anti-abortion-goons-target-nc-teacher-wh...

BTW, both my kids were in her classroom, The kids all love Ms. Broders. Her daughter was salutatorian of her class of 1400.

I might have to swing by the school for opening day.

—

Submitted by joe shikspack on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 2:57pm

despicable...

almost makes one want to go picket some churches.

Submitted by greenbird on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 4:44pm

my * first * comment ... (blushes)

here, that is.
this is for every drop of blue.
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-sigmund-freud-blues-bands-liner-n...

Submitted by dkmich on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 4:55pm

jump right in.....

We sometimes disagree, but we never bite. Glad you joined us.

—

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Submitted by greenbird on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 8:11pm

read posted link

before you cheer ...

Submitted by JtC on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 5:58pm

Welcome greenbird...

Submitted by greenbird on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 8:13pm

JtC i dood it ...

but read the link i posted, because it was serendipity.

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 6:34pm

Welcome greenbird!

It is good to have you among us here.

—

Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Submitted by greenbird on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 8:10pm

frying pan on fire

this is all new and different and strange and big and i hope you'll just check out my link, because these days, it's tough to think oof something new to learn on top oof all those keyboard equivalents ... why it say "oof ... " ? did i type that ? it this place haunted ? i get lost so easily these days. "who is this elfling" it says, as if to make me feel even less productive.
in wellflleet MA the city shrinks go to congregate in summer ... so now i know what kind of blues they listen to. makes perfect sense. hi, bluesters ! programmed to hang out where big news goes, when i'm not stuck in an old online book. will come as i can. link i posted can sometimes be red-gold, sometimes just septic, depending on tastes.
this is my comment, i don't know how to post it !!!!!!!

Submitted by shaharazade on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 8:16pm

Looks like you posted it

just fine. Welcome greenbird. Hope you get so you can be coherent and we can all read what your saying. It's a really easy format that is user friendly. good luck and welcome.