Hot Air

Submitted by magiamma on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 3:36am

Transformational Government
~

Are we fundamentally going to embrace the idea that we are a multiracial democracy. The history of the country suggests that when we are faced with that question we will double down on violence. That White America will choose violence to defend its way of life. … That they will in fact exact a certain kind of violence to defend that view. … America is always talking about changing but it never changes. … It makes no sense that we would actually go back to the politics that produced Trumpism in the first place.
…
We can’t allow these folks to disentangle Trumpism from the Republican party. … We can’ allow them to disentangle these two things. They are one in the same. So what are you asking for when you talk about reaching across the isle? What are you asking us to do when you talk about reaching across the isle in unity.

We won’t do that again. That’s not going to happen this time. … We need to get beyond these narrow labels. We need to get to transformational government. We need to get beyond big government and small government and smart government and get to transformational government. … We need to understand what defund the police means. Budget your values. Budget your values. That’s what it means at the heart of it. Why are you spending 60 -70 percent of your municipal budget on policing when you have education, social services and the like.

Stop lying. Stop lying. … today begins the hard work. … We have to break the political frame that got us into this political mess in the first place.

Eddie Glaude, Princeton University

The original article he wrote, Don’t Let the Loud Bigots Distract You. America’s Real Problem With Race Cuts Far Deeper is here.
.

[video:https://youtu.be/qLyC7v2gXIw?t=515]
h/t evening blues
.

I was so inspired when I first heard this. But how do we get to a “transformational government”? At a municipal level it might be possible but even that is challenging.

We tried here, at Bernie’s urging, to get involved in down-ballot campaigns. We ultimately failed. Because “money”. Money won and won again. Money from the developers and the Apartment Association. Lots of money. But there is no money for climate change, no money for affordable housing, no money to feed the hungry. Money won and now Money is going to develop the Silicon Beach, people be damned. Money is kicking homeless people from where they are camped, and fencing off these areas, in the name of safety. We now have several fenced-off empty parking lots. Where do these people living in the streets, whose numbers are increasing daily, go?

Santa Cruz homeless camp
.

There is the Peoples Party. This seems to be the only reasonable way out. But given the coordinated and successful push back on Bernie from the PTB, I think it will be extremely difficult to loosen the grip on the levers of power.

In Santa Cruz we formed a coalition of the different “progressive groups” to coordinate with each other during the election. It was insane trying to get different groups to agree. The DSA, SC Climate Action Network, Citizens Climate Lobby, Santa Cruz for Bernie, Extinction Rebellion, among many others, were all in the room. Things got done but it took a very long time and was ~~painful~~ trying.

How on Earth can a national group form a transformational government when it is such a fight at the local level? Especially given the time that is available to make critical change happen. (The net net is that it will likely not happen and we will still be flailing in the wind, untethered. Only the wind is getting stronger as the planet warms and the jet stream wobbles out of control.)

Even the actuality of a government forming now, after the election, has been called into question. And it seems that certain people are lining ducks up in a row to, at the very least, make it as difficult as possible. There has been talk of civil war, civil unrest, revolution, a coup. So far nothing like that has happened.

Your thoughts?

REPORT ALL INJURIES

Report All Injuries Nov 12.jpg
.

All of this is out of our control. If nothing else, we live in interesting times.

It's your open thread, now...

Tags:

Open Thread

Transformational Government

Vote

Comments

Submitted by magiamma on Wed, 11/11/2020 - 6:35pm

Annamie Paul talks climate,

.
.
Annamie Paul talks climate, racial justice and public health: ‘these things are all interconnected’
https://thenarwhal.ca/annamie-paul-green-party-leader-interview/

Paul — who won the Green Party leadership race [in Canada] on Oct. 3 — has a strong grasp of foreign affairs, due in part to her many years working as a diplomat and lawyer across Europe and Africa. Her worldly perspective shows in the way she talks. When asked about an issue, she answers in three parts: impact on a community, impact on the country and impact on the world. ...

In your opinion, what are the challenges facing Canada in 2021?

There are two tracks that we need to be working on at the same time. One is completing our social safety net. We were left really dangerously exposed as soon as the pandemic hit. People in Canada have made it very clear they do not want to end up in this situation again. That’s going to require us to do the work that we have delayed and delayed and delayed on things like reforming our long-term care system, bringing in a guaranteed livable income, bringing in universal pharmacare and creating a true national strategy for affordable housing.

The other one is the climate emergency, which has not changed. We have the opportunity to use these enormous sums of money that we’re going to be spending over the next couple of years as an opportunity to have a quantum leap forward in our movement towards a climate-neutral economy, to have a truly green recovery, one that lets us hit our set targets that correspond with the science and hit them maybe even ahead of schedule.

.
Climate change causes landfalling hurricanes to stay stronger for longer
https://phys.org/news/2020-11-climate-landfalling-hurricanes-stronger-lo...

Climate change is causing hurricanes that make landfall to take more time to weaken, reports a study published 11th November 2020 in the journal Nature.

The researchers showed that hurricanes that develop over warmer oceans carry more moisture and therefore stay stronger for longer after hitting land. This means that in the future, as the world continues to warm, hurricanes are more likely to reach communities farther inland and be more destructive.

—

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

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Submitted by Lookout on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 7:19am

Good morning MA and C99

We finally got a rain after a couple of dry weeks...1.25". Got the garden manured and mulched just in time.

Having lived in Alabama most of my life racial injustice is common and blatant. My corner of the state was mainly yeomen farmers and has a small (8-10%) black population. They fit in well here and get along with everyone, but they are the target of the police racking up the most arrests. Statewide it is worse. A large majority of those in (the for-profit) prison system are POC. Keeps them off the voting rolls as well.

I'm working with the People's party here. Yes there will be push back, but I would rather try than simply submit to the current injustice system promoted by both parties. I think it stands a chance of some success.

Progressives have always been their own worst enemy. A clear unified platform will go a long way toward more unity, and it is my understanding the People's party intends to do that. I hope at the top of the platform is an antiwar message. That way when the thugs and dims holler about where's the money? We can say from the military budget. M4A, $15/hr, guaranteed job program focused on green transition and infrastructure are also big priorities in my book. Seems like most folks could unite behind that sort of messaging.

We'll see what we'll see.

Krystal and Saagar went through Trumpolini's suits yesterday. Doesn't sound like they will carry water, but he does have a corporate captured (in)justice system. (about 20 min)

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

Also saw something yesterday you might enjoy...(8 min)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvn1pPPasUY]

At the age of 39, Catherine’s world changed. She discovered the world of ancient craft of basketry weaving. She chose to listen to the voice inside. She chose to follow her passion.

"Don't be afraid. The only thing you need to be afraid of is not listening to yourself, not doing what you feel is right." - Catherine Davies

Gardening and art are a release.

All the best. Have a great day!

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by Blue Republic on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 10:27am

Not (or barely) mentioned on Rising

@Lookout

Krystal and Saagar in dismissing Trump's prospects on legal challenges failed to mention a lot that may end up relevant.

While it's true that nothing has been filed yet (AFAIK) regarding voter system vendor Dominion, it should have rated a mention that various 'glitches' have reported with their software - one of which, when noticed and corrected by a hand count of ballots, resulted in votes improperly flipped to Biden going back to Trump. This resulted in shift from the reported results of around 6000 to Trump - in a single rural Michigan County (Antrim Co.)

Anyway, large scale fraud and a whole range of illegality is being alleged in Michigan, even before you get to issues with electronic voting systems.

Here is an excerpt from the affidavit of just one of the many in support of suits filed against Wayne County, Michigan election officials:

3. During my observations of the normal processing of ballots on November 4th
between about 7:45 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. I was substantially obstructed from performing my
challenger duties of observing and making notes at Board Number 31. The persons involved either directly or indirectly involved: 1. A worker named Joe, 2. A supervisor named Miss Browner, 3.an unknown person with no credentials, 4. a Democratic Challenger with credentials and one of the AVCB leaders named David Nathan.
4. On Wednesday, November 4, 2020, Detroit election officials told us that they were
going to process military ballots last. I did my best to try to observe the processing/duplication of the military ballots.
5. On November 4, 2020, I was surprised to see numerous new boxes of ballots arrive
at the TCF Center in the evening. I first noticed these boxes in the distribution area after many of the military ballots had been distributed and processed. I estimate these boxes contained several thousand new ballots when they appeared.
6. The main list of persons who had registered to vote on or before November 1, 2020,
was listed on an electronic poll book, often referred to as the QVF. As I understand it, the
Supplemental Sheets were the lists of persons who had registered to vote on November 2, 2020 or November 3, 2020.
7. I observed that none of the names on these new ballots were on the QVF or the
Supplemental Sheets.
8. I saw the computer operators at several counting boards manually adding the names
and addresses of these thousands of ballots to the QVF system.
9. When I asked what the possible justification was to counting ballots from unknown,
unverified “persons,” I was told by election supervisors that the Wayne County Clerk’s Office had “checked them out.”
10. I challenged not one ballot, but the entire process as the names were not in the QVF
or Supplemental Sheets and because the DOB’s were all wrong, all being marked as 01-01-1900.
11. An Election Supervisor near board number #86 advised me to go to the podium of
election officials and ask one of them to help me. I did, and I enlisted the help of one of the leaders, a young man named Anthony Miller.
12. Mr. Miller walked me back to board number #86 and asked what I wanted the
challenge to say. I said that I did not want to challenge just one ballot, but the entire process, as I was witnessing several thousand ballots inputted illegally.
13. Mr. Miller advised the computer operator what to type in as a challenge so that it
was part of the Official Record in the Poll Book for Board Number #86.
14. I challenged the authority and the authenticity of all of these ballots that were being
processed late with absolutely no accompanying documentation, no corresponding name in the
QVF, and no corresponding name in the Supplemental List.
15. Every ballot was being fraudulently and manually entered into the Electronic Poll
Book (QVF), as having been born on January 1, 1900. This "last" batch of ballots was processed in the 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. time frame.
16. When I asked about this impossibility of each ballot having the same birthday
occurring in 1900, I was told that was the instruction that came down from the Wayne County
Clerk's office.
17. Mr. Miller was very clear about these late ballots and that the instructions were
coming from the Wayne County Clerk's office.
18. I was surprised and disappointed at the preponderance of dishonesty, irregularities,
and fraudulent tactics at the November 3, 2020 election at the TCF Center.
19. The above information is true to the best of my information, knowledge, and belief

source

This is just one bit of the Michigan situation - but potentially involving the validity of thousands of ballots.
(This suit was filed on 11.11 so K&S may not have been aware of it?)

It's not like Michigan (or Philadelphia, or Nevada...) has stellar claims to election integrity - recount of the 2016 results found (along with a lot of other anomalies) that

voting scanning machines at 248 of the city’s 662 precincts — 37 percent — tabulated more ballots than the number of actual voters counted in the poll books.

New York Post

More Michigan - Dr. Shiva Ayaddurai and colleagues take a deep dive into the numbers of four Michigan counties - special invite for those who fancy their math and statistics abilities:

We finally got a rain after a couple of dry weeks...1.25". Got the garden manured and mulched just in time. Having lived in Alabama most of my life racial injustice is common and blatant. My corner of the state was mainly yeomen farmers and has a small (8-10%) black population. They fit in well here and get along with everyone, but they are the target of the police racking up the most arrests. Statewide it is worse. A large majority of those in (the for-profit) prison system are POC. Keeps them off the voting rolls as well. I'm working with the People's party here. Yes there will be push back, but I would rather try than simply submit to the current injustice system promoted by both parties. I think it stands a chance of some success. Progressives have always been their own worst enemy. A clear unified platform will go a long way toward more unity, and it is my understanding the People's party intends to do that. I hope at the top of the platform is an antiwar message. That way when the thugs and dims holler about where's the money? We can say from the military budget. M4A, $15/hr, guaranteed job program focused on green transition and infrastructure are also big priorities in my book. Seems like most folks could unite behind that sort of messaging. We'll see what we'll see. Krystal and Saagar went through Trumpolini's suits yesterday. Doesn't sound like they will carry water, but he does have a corporate captured (in)justice system. (about 20 min) [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTyQgeetGQs] Also saw something yesterday you might enjoy...(8 min) [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvn1pPPasUY] At the age of 39, Catherine’s world changed. She discovered the world of ancient craft of basketry weaving. She chose to listen to the voice inside. She chose to follow her passion. "Don't be afraid. The only thing you need to be afraid of is not listening to yourself, not doing what you feel is right." - Catherine Davies Gardening and art are a release. All the best. Have a great day!

Submitted by magiamma on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 11:17am

here is an article by Greg Palast

@Blue Republic
on voter fraud.

Election Day Mayhem Began Two Years Ago With Massive Voter Purges
https://www.opednews.com/articles/Election-Day-Mayhem-Began-by-Greg-Pala...

Here's how the purge game got started. Two years ago, the Supreme Court's right-wing five authorized a new method of "cleaning" voter rolls. The Court agreed with GOP voting officials, beginning with Ohio and Georgia, to purge voter rolls of those who "moved."

The idea sounds fair in theory: If you don't live in Atlanta, you shouldn't vote there, and to do so is a felony crime. But in practice, reality does not line up with officials' claims. At an Atlanta poll, I met Christine Jordan, a 94-year-old who had just been tossed out of the poll. Records said she'd moved, but I went to her home where she showed me photos of her cousin, Martin Luther King, Jr., having dinner with her in that home half a century ago.

In Wisconsin, I met Sequanna Taylor, accused of moving from Milwaukee. Unlikely: Taylor is a Milwaukee County Supervisor! But Jordan, Taylor, and the hundreds of purged voters we filmed and called almost all had one thing in common: They were guilty of voting while Black, or voting while Latinx, Asian American or a student.

Though Michigan has now been called for Biden, we saw the same game there. The rolls were "cleansed" of 313,000 voters, many victims of an older purge scheme called "Interstate Crosscheck." For Democracy Now!, I confronted the Republican secretary of state's spokesman with his secret purge sheet showing that the state had removed thousands of voters with names like Garcia and Brown on grounds that they were registered in other states.

The GOP purge operation claimed that Michael Kelly Brown of Georgia is the same voter as Michael Wayne Brown of Michigan. Yet, most of the Michael Browns and Jose' Garcias lost their votes.

Biden has taken Wisconsin. And that's thanks to new Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who made this ugly vote suppression tactic an issue and so far, has blocked The Purge in that state.

Michigan? Despite warnings from the Black Voters Matter Fund and others, the new Democratic leadership of the state simply looked at its shoes and whistled. The purged remained purged, putting Michigan into the potential steal zone.

#2 Krystal and Saagar in dismissing Trump's prospects on legal challenges failed to mention a lot that may end up relevant. While it's true that nothing has been filed yet (AFAIK) regarding voter system vendor Dominion, it should have rated a mention that various 'glitches' have reported with their software - one of which, when noticed and corrected by a hand count of ballots, resulted in votes improperly flipped to Biden going back to Trump. This resulted in shift from the reported results of around 6000 to Trump - in a single rural Michigan County (Antrim Co.) Anyway, large scale fraud and a whole range of illegality is being alleged in Michigan, even before you get to issues with electronic voting systems. Here is an excerpt from the affidavit of just one of the many in support of suits filed against Wayne County, Michigan election officials: 3. During my observations of the normal processing of ballots on November 4th between about 7:45 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. I was substantially obstructed from performing my challenger duties of observing and making notes at Board Number 31. The persons involved either directly or indirectly involved: 1. A worker named Joe, 2. A supervisor named Miss Browner, 3.an unknown person with no credentials, 4. a Democratic Challenger with credentials and one of the AVCB leaders named David Nathan. 4. On Wednesday, November 4, 2020, Detroit election officials told us that they were going to process military ballots last. I did my best to try to observe the processing/duplication of the military ballots. 5. On November 4, 2020, I was surprised to see numerous new boxes of ballots arrive at the TCF Center in the evening. I first noticed these boxes in the distribution area after many of the military ballots had been distributed and processed. I estimate these boxes contained several thousand new ballots when they appeared. 6. The main list of persons who had registered to vote on or before November 1, 2020, was listed on an electronic poll book, often referred to as the QVF. As I understand it, the Supplemental Sheets were the lists of persons who had registered to vote on November 2, 2020 or November 3, 2020. 7. I observed that none of the names on these new ballots were on the QVF or the Supplemental Sheets. 8. I saw the computer operators at several counting boards manually adding the names and addresses of these thousands of ballots to the QVF system. 9. When I asked what the possible justification was to counting ballots from unknown, unverified “persons,” I was told by election supervisors that the Wayne County Clerk’s Office had “checked them out.” 10. I challenged not one ballot, but the entire process as the names were not in the QVF or Supplemental Sheets and because the DOB’s were all wrong, all being marked as 01-01-1900. 11. An Election Supervisor near board number #86 advised me to go to the podium of election officials and ask one of them to help me. I did, and I enlisted the help of one of the leaders, a young man named Anthony Miller. 12. Mr. Miller walked me back to board number #86 and asked what I wanted the challenge to say. I said that I did not want to challenge just one ballot, but the entire process, as I was witnessing several thousand ballots inputted illegally. 13. Mr. Miller advised the computer operator what to type in as a challenge so that it was part of the Official Record in the Poll Book for Board Number #86. 14. I challenged the authority and the authenticity of all of these ballots that were being processed late with absolutely no accompanying documentation, no corresponding name in the QVF, and no corresponding name in the Supplemental List. 15. Every ballot was being fraudulently and manually entered into the Electronic Poll Book (QVF), as having been born on January 1, 1900. This "last" batch of ballots was processed in the 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. time frame. 16. When I asked about this impossibility of each ballot having the same birthday occurring in 1900, I was told that was the instruction that came down from the Wayne County Clerk's office. 17. Mr. Miller was very clear about these late ballots and that the instructions were coming from the Wayne County Clerk's office. 18. I was surprised and disappointed at the preponderance of dishonesty, irregularities, and fraudulent tactics at the November 3, 2020 election at the TCF Center. 19. The above information is true to the best of my information, knowledge, and belief source This is just one bit of the Michigan situation - but potentially involving the validity of thousands of ballots. (This suit was filed on 11.11 so K&S may not have been aware of it?) It's not like Michigan (or Philadelphia, or Nevada...) has stellar claims to election integrity - recount of the 2016 results found (along with a lot of other anomalies) that voting scanning machines at 248 of the city’s 662 precincts — 37 percent — tabulated more ballots than the number of actual voters counted in the poll books. New York Post More Michigan - Dr. Shiva Ayaddurai and colleagues take a deep dive into the numbers of four Michigan counties - special invite for those who fancy their math and statistics abilities:

—

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

Submitted by edg on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 2:58pm

About the MI ballot flip.

@Blue Republic

In Antrim County, MI, a county with Republican leadership and election officials, a worker placed an entry of 6,000 votes for President Trump into the wrong column on an internal spreadsheet used to temporarily store vote tallies. This resulted in an apparent 6,000 votes for Biden. The error was quickly caught and revealed. The erroneous data was NEVER entered into the official election software. The Republican Supervisor of Elections reported the discrepancy.

If you're suggesting that a Republican County Board of Elections deliberately flipped 6,000 votes to Biden in the official count, I have some nice beachfront property here in Arizona you may be interested in purchasing. Plenty of sand, water not included.

#2 Krystal and Saagar in dismissing Trump's prospects on legal challenges failed to mention a lot that may end up relevant. While it's true that nothing has been filed yet (AFAIK) regarding voter system vendor Dominion, it should have rated a mention that various 'glitches' have reported with their software - one of which, when noticed and corrected by a hand count of ballots, resulted in votes improperly flipped to Biden going back to Trump. This resulted in shift from the reported results of around 6000 to Trump - in a single rural Michigan County (Antrim Co.) Anyway, large scale fraud and a whole range of illegality is being alleged in Michigan, even before you get to issues with electronic voting systems. Here is an excerpt from the affidavit of just one of the many in support of suits filed against Wayne County, Michigan election officials: 3. During my observations of the normal processing of ballots on November 4th between about 7:45 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. I was substantially obstructed from performing my challenger duties of observing and making notes at Board Number 31. The persons involved either directly or indirectly involved: 1. A worker named Joe, 2. A supervisor named Miss Browner, 3.an unknown person with no credentials, 4. a Democratic Challenger with credentials and one of the AVCB leaders named David Nathan. 4. On Wednesday, November 4, 2020, Detroit election officials told us that they were going to process military ballots last. I did my best to try to observe the processing/duplication of the military ballots. 5. On November 4, 2020, I was surprised to see numerous new boxes of ballots arrive at the TCF Center in the evening. I first noticed these boxes in the distribution area after many of the military ballots had been distributed and processed. I estimate these boxes contained several thousand new ballots when they appeared. 6. The main list of persons who had registered to vote on or before November 1, 2020, was listed on an electronic poll book, often referred to as the QVF. As I understand it, the Supplemental Sheets were the lists of persons who had registered to vote on November 2, 2020 or November 3, 2020. 7. I observed that none of the names on these new ballots were on the QVF or the Supplemental Sheets. 8. I saw the computer operators at several counting boards manually adding the names and addresses of these thousands of ballots to the QVF system. 9. When I asked what the possible justification was to counting ballots from unknown, unverified “persons,” I was told by election supervisors that the Wayne County Clerk’s Office had “checked them out.” 10. I challenged not one ballot, but the entire process as the names were not in the QVF or Supplemental Sheets and because the DOB’s were all wrong, all being marked as 01-01-1900. 11. An Election Supervisor near board number #86 advised me to go to the podium of election officials and ask one of them to help me. I did, and I enlisted the help of one of the leaders, a young man named Anthony Miller. 12. Mr. Miller walked me back to board number #86 and asked what I wanted the challenge to say. I said that I did not want to challenge just one ballot, but the entire process, as I was witnessing several thousand ballots inputted illegally. 13. Mr. Miller advised the computer operator what to type in as a challenge so that it was part of the Official Record in the Poll Book for Board Number #86. 14. I challenged the authority and the authenticity of all of these ballots that were being processed late with absolutely no accompanying documentation, no corresponding name in the QVF, and no corresponding name in the Supplemental List. 15. Every ballot was being fraudulently and manually entered into the Electronic Poll Book (QVF), as having been born on January 1, 1900. This "last" batch of ballots was processed in the 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. time frame. 16. When I asked about this impossibility of each ballot having the same birthday occurring in 1900, I was told that was the instruction that came down from the Wayne County Clerk's office. 17. Mr. Miller was very clear about these late ballots and that the instructions were coming from the Wayne County Clerk's office. 18. I was surprised and disappointed at the preponderance of dishonesty, irregularities, and fraudulent tactics at the November 3, 2020 election at the TCF Center. 19. The above information is true to the best of my information, knowledge, and belief source This is just one bit of the Michigan situation - but potentially involving the validity of thousands of ballots. (This suit was filed on 11.11 so K&S may not have been aware of it?) It's not like Michigan (or Philadelphia, or Nevada...) has stellar claims to election integrity - recount of the 2016 results found (along with a lot of other anomalies) that voting scanning machines at 248 of the city’s 662 precincts — 37 percent — tabulated more ballots than the number of actual voters counted in the poll books. New York Post More Michigan - Dr. Shiva Ayaddurai and colleagues take a deep dive into the numbers of four Michigan counties - special invite for those who fancy their math and statistics abilities:

Submitted by TheOtherMaven on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 7:05pm

There was also a down-ballot embarrassment

@edg

where a totaling error (the same one, as I recall) temporarily cost an incumbent his seat. Correcting the error ousted his challenger and gave him another term.

But most people are JUST paying attention to the Presidential race.

—

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Submitted by magiamma on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 11:10am

morning lo

@Lookout
Yes imho we should put everything we can into the People's Party. I am admittedly jaded at this point because it is so damn hard. And getting harder because people are trying so hard to survive. Thanks for the links. Got go out and work in the garden, a good thing.

Take good care and think good thoughts.

We finally got a rain after a couple of dry weeks...1.25". Got the garden manured and mulched just in time. Having lived in Alabama most of my life racial injustice is common and blatant. My corner of the state was mainly yeomen farmers and has a small (8-10%) black population. They fit in well here and get along with everyone, but they are the target of the police racking up the most arrests. Statewide it is worse. A large majority of those in (the for-profit) prison system are POC. Keeps them off the voting rolls as well. I'm working with the People's party here. Yes there will be push back, but I would rather try than simply submit to the current injustice system promoted by both parties. I think it stands a chance of some success. Progressives have always been their own worst enemy. A clear unified platform will go a long way toward more unity, and it is my understanding the People's party intends to do that. I hope at the top of the platform is an antiwar message. That way when the thugs and dims holler about where's the money? We can say from the military budget. M4A, $15/hr, guaranteed job program focused on green transition and infrastructure are also big priorities in my book. Seems like most folks could unite behind that sort of messaging. We'll see what we'll see. Krystal and Saagar went through Trumpolini's suits yesterday. Doesn't sound like they will carry water, but he does have a corporate captured (in)justice system. (about 20 min) [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTyQgeetGQs] Also saw something yesterday you might enjoy...(8 min) [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvn1pPPasUY] At the age of 39, Catherine’s world changed. She discovered the world of ancient craft of basketry weaving. She chose to listen to the voice inside. She chose to follow her passion. "Don't be afraid. The only thing you need to be afraid of is not listening to yourself, not doing what you feel is right." - Catherine Davies Gardening and art are a release. All the best. Have a great day!

—

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

Submitted by Granma on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 10:31am

The homeless camp

Looks like a picture of refugees. Make all the tents white, put them in rows and it would be like the pictures we've seen over and over around the world after earthquakes, floods, etc.

What kind of a people are we to see this, know this and not be screaming our heads off about getting all of these people housed? In fact, we are crueler now than in the 1930s when there was a homeless encampment in Central Park in New York. And it was allowed.

I've lost friends to homelessness. They both were in lousy health, not able to work, couldn't afford rent anymore. They traded their minivan for a small, very small motor home and "went on the road" as they put it.

Submitted by magiamma on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 11:13am

morning granma

@Granma
So true. It's a mess because a lot of the homeless folks are using drugs and when new comers arrive, downtrodden, they are susceptible. It's nothing a good group of concerned citizens couldn't solve without all the city bureaucracy.

Take good care.

—

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

Submitted by Granma on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 10:37am

I don't know what it takes

To unite people around a common goal and change what is going on in this country. I wish I did. The budget allocation for the US military is immoral, insane.

Submitted by usefewersyllables on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 12:01pm

Well, I suspect that it will take

@Granma

regular US Army tanks in the streets, and regular US Army soldiers garrisoned in some people's homes, before a lot of the upper-percenters will look up from Brunch and say "Hey, wasn't there something about mumble posse mumble commitatus at some point?"

The 1981 modifications to the Act specifically "guarantee the states protection against invasion or usurpation of their 'republican form of government,' and, upon the request of the state legislature, against 'domestic violence.'”

When the Army starts setting up encampments on some of the better golf courses, maybe, or the Gulfstream gets pushed into the ditch to make room on the ramp for those A-10s that were strafing the demonstrators.... Dunno. The rest of us will have been ground to dust under the tank treads long before that.

—

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 12:05pm

Good morning magi. Transformational government, of

course, won't come of itself or evolve out of what we have, but will need to be both created and forced. I particularly liked this point, btw:

Budget your values. That’s what it means at the heart of it. Why are you spending 60 -70 percent of your municipal budget on policing when you have education, social services and the like.

As Lookout noted, if you make anti-war and anti-militarism a key plank in your program, the answer to "where will the funds come from" is a major gimme, as is, to a lesser degree "'defund" the police" and roll-back or rein-in ICE, DEA, CIA and all the other bad actors.

The fight for a third party is a natural part of the program and could be a unification of all of the marginalized "progressive" agendaa into one big organization. I put progressive in quotes because so many of those things are really things that should've been accomplished ages ago and it is crazy that they are still being argued about, let alone suppressed and resisted.

Working with activists is, unfortunately like herding cats, so one has to start with very elementary concepts like "you can support to goals, agendas or organizations at once, both as individuals and as organized mission oriented groups." That more or less must be hammered home a few times a day and certainly at any and every gathering.

It seems to me that Climate change most seriously or urgently impacts all other things so we should make it a part of everything to some extent and similarly there should always be at least a nod to ending war(s) (and militarism, imperialism and weaponizing the universe) both as an aspect of the solution to climate change and as a necessary ingredient of a livable world in its own right. (That it can fund everything else
is a very important driver.)

In my experience (very dated):
every org or cause wants to be top priority
every org or cause wants to be at least included and addressed
it is always treated as a zero sum game and it somewhat is, to the extent that every org or cause wants to be completely resolved/funded.

This again is reason to constantly emphasize cooperation and cooperative/multipurpose activism and activities, like maybe an anti-racist beach clean up, for example.

So, a couple of weird ideas that came to mind --

one solution is for the reps of each org to do a ranked choice vote on their priorities and then establish those as the priorities with a the greater combined unified "movement" for the next calendar quarter or two with a caveat that there be a floor, that everybody gets at least a small of the action

an alternative refinement is to set a ceiling and floor either uniformly for each and every, or for each stratum of priority.

this can apply equally to requests and/or demands of government (and corporates if you can swing it) and dividing up effort and expenditure at the coalition level.

Back on March 20, 2019 I did an OT on Dismantling Racism (https://caucus99percent.com/content/dismantling-racism-ending-racism-us) but didn't really do a goog job of getting across an embedded idea which was that the overall technique could be applied to any cause, ending violence against women, or children, or, of course, both; extending the franchise to the incarcerated, attacking the climate emergency or reducing pesticides or plastic pollution, etc. Essentially, every organizatin or event could, as an included feature support other additional agendas.

Thanks for the OT.

be well and have a good one

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by magiamma on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 2:03pm

afternoon el

@enhydra lutris
wow. Great comment. yes to climate chaos first. yes to defunding the military and endless wars. yes to a movement of our own for the people. maybe I need to reboot so I can contribute. we all do and every bit helps. herding cats is a bitch. especially when everyone has to have their turn and their say. I get impatient with that process that is an integral part of the way young people and university students operate. things move faster when there is an urgency such as in a war or in the 2016 Bernie campaign. maybe there is a middle way that can work. anyway we must move forward until we cannot.

Take good care and have a very good one.

course, won't come of itself or evolve out of what we have, but will need to be both created and forced. I particularly liked this point, btw: Budget your values. That’s what it means at the heart of it. Why are you spending 60 -70 percent of your municipal budget on policing when you have education, social services and the like. As Lookout noted, if you make anti-war and anti-militarism a key plank in your program, the answer to "where will the funds come from" is a major gimme, as is, to a lesser degree "'defund" the police" and roll-back or rein-in ICE, DEA, CIA and all the other bad actors. The fight for a third party is a natural part of the program and could be a unification of all of the marginalized "progressive" agendaa into one big organization. I put progressive in quotes because so many of those things are really things that should've been accomplished ages ago and it is crazy that they are still being argued about, let alone suppressed and resisted. Working with activists is, unfortunately like herding cats, so one has to start with very elementary concepts like "you can support to goals, agendas or organizations at once, both as individuals and as organized mission oriented groups." That more or less must be hammered home a few times a day and certainly at any and every gathering. It seems to me that Climate change most seriously or urgently impacts all other things so we should make it a part of everything to some extent and similarly there should always be at least a nod to ending war(s) (and militarism, imperialism and weaponizing the universe) both as an aspect of the solution to climate change and as a necessary ingredient of a livable world in its own right. (That it can fund everything else is a very important driver.) In my experience (very dated): every org or cause wants to be top priority every org or cause wants to be at least included and addressed it is always treated as a zero sum game and it somewhat is, to the extent that every org or cause wants to be completely resolved/funded. This again is reason to constantly emphasize cooperation and cooperative/multipurpose activism and activities, like maybe an anti-racist beach clean up, for example. So, a couple of weird ideas that came to mind -- one solution is for the reps of each org to do a ranked choice vote on their priorities and then establish those as the priorities with a the greater combined unified "movement" for the next calendar quarter or two with a caveat that there be a floor, that everybody gets at least a small of the action an alternative refinement is to set a ceiling and floor either uniformly for each and every, or for each stratum of priority. this can apply equally to requests and/or demands of government (and corporates if you can swing it) and dividing up effort and expenditure at the coalition level. Back on March 20, 2019 I did an OT on Dismantling Racism (https://caucus99percent.com/content/dismantling-racism-ending-racism-us) but didn't really do a goog job of getting across an embedded idea which was that the overall technique could be applied to any cause, ending violence against women, or children, or, of course, both; extending the franchise to the incarcerated, attacking the climate emergency or reducing pesticides or plastic pollution, etc. Essentially, every organizatin or event could, as an included feature support other additional agendas. Thanks for the OT. be well and have a good one

—

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

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Submitted by edg on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 2:51pm

Arrrrgggggghhhh!!!!!

Why can't these people get their idioms correct?!?! It's "one AND the same", not "one in the same".

[/rant off]

Submitted by magiamma on Thu, 11/12/2020 - 9:14pm

A Coup Is Underway':

Experts Warn Election Lies by Trump and GOP Leaders Could Unleash Violent Wave

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/12/coup-underway-experts-warn-...

"Underestimating Donald Trump is a mistake that people should not go on making. Laughing at him will not make him go away. If it did, he would have vanished decades ago."

'Stolen election' rhetoric: more dangerous than you might think

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/525654-stolen-election-rhetoric-mor...

Instead, Belew finds these groups are diverse — except for race — and "are found in all parts of the country, in rural, suburban and urban areas." They include "religious leaders and felons and veterans" — have volleyball games and spaghetti dinners and "even match-making schemes to help young white power activists meet one another."

They aren't conservatives; they are radical haters, Belew notes: “many of these activists would proudly proclaim their allegiance with Hitler.”

They have been given license by the Trump administration. Elizabeth Neumann, assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Counterterrorism, resigned after she and others couldn't get the president to address the "dramatic rise in white nationalist violence." Instead, she charged, “his rhetoric was a recruitment tool for violent extremist groups.”

—

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook