Sunday Open Thread 12-13-15

Good morning 99percenters!
Sunday morning news dump and music by one of the bands I cut my bluegrass teeth on, Country Gazette.

Historic Climate Deal Reached, But Campaigners say the Work is Just Beginning
'This deal puts the fossil fuel industry on the wrong side of history.'—Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International

The global talks known as COP21 ended Saturday with nearly 200 countries agreeing to a carbon emissions-slashing deal (pdf).  But climate campaigners are saying that the agreement doesn't go far enough, and that the real work is just beginning.

While Reuters described the deal's adoption as "setting the course for a 'historic' transformation of the world's fossil fuel-driven economy within decades in a bid to arrest global warming," commentator George Monbiot writes Saturday of the draft agreement, "By comparison to what it could have been, it’s a miracle. By comparison to what it should have been, it’s a disaster." 

How Rainforest Action Network viewed the deal—"with both hope and disappointment"—captures the takeaway from Monbiot as well as many groups.

Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo's take at the end of the talks was that the agreement marks "only one step on long a road, and there are parts of it that frustrate and disappoint me, but it is progress. This deal alone won’t dig us out the hole we’re in, but it makes the sides less steep."

The DuPont and Dow Chemical Merger: Bad Deal for People and the Planet
Groups are calling on the Department of Justice to reject the deal to protect food supply

Watchdog groups are sounding the alarm after two of the oldest and largest corporations in the United States—DuPont and Dow Chemical—announced Friday plans to merge into a $130 billion giant, thereby establishing the world's biggest seed and pesticide conglomerate.

The new behemoth, named DowDuPont, would then be split into "three independent, publicly traded companies through tax-free spin-offs," according to a joint corporate statement marking one of the the largest deals of 2015.

These companies would focus on agriculture, material science, and "technology and innovation-driven Specialty Products company," the statement continues. Together, they would form the second-largest chemical company world-wide.

The merger, if it goes through, is expected to slash numerous jobs.

We’re officially a country of haves and have nots: The middle class is now less than half the population
Their numbers have been dipping for decades. Now the Pew Research Center confirms we've reached a tipping point

Even without hard and fast numbers in front of them, most Americans are keenly—and more than ever, personally—aware of the erosion of the middle class. It has become a popular talking point in our news media, an issue every politician has to at least pretend to care about. A new study from Pew Research Center makes it official: after four decades as the largest portion of the American populace, the country’s middle class has dipped to less than half, or 49.9 percent, of the population. Researchers, noting that the numbers have been slowly dwindling over decades, suggest this latest finding likely indicates a tipping point in the disappearance of the middle class.

Households of three with incomes between $42,000 and $126,000 were identified as middle-income earners under the terms of the study. As of 2015, that definition fit 120.8 million adult Americans, while a total of 121.3 million adults qualified as low or upper income. The proportion of middle-class Americans has tumbled to where it now stands from 61 percent in 1971. And even that figure seems slightly shaky considering middle class means different things to different people. Even casting aside uber-expensive cities like New York and San Francisco, supporting a family of three on $42,000 a year would present challenges even in the most affordable parts of the country.

If there is good news to be found—and Pew somehow located it, presumably with a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers—it is that some of the middle class dropoff has transferred to upper-income households. Researchers observed that while just 14 percent of American adults were upper-income in 1971, that bloc now represents 21 percent of the population. That outpaced the number of Americans who slipped downward, which grew by only four points, from 25 percent in 1971 to 29 percent in 2015. But this strikes me as almost irrationally optimistic thinking: In a country where the wealth gap between the middle class and the upper class is the widest it has been since the numbers were tracked (another finding from Pew), there’s not exactly cause to celebrate the promise of economic mobility.

We are addicted to war: The simple statistics that help explain how the world views America
Americans like to call themselves a "peace-loving nation." The numbers show that's not actually the case

A 2011 survey, “The Frequency of War,” based on the Correlates of War dataset, from 1870 to 2001, found the U.S. in second place with 161 conflicts, compared to 219 for Russia/USSR and 151 for China.

But today, we clearly stand alone as No. 1: In early 2014, Nick Turse reported in The Nation that “In 2013, elite U.S. forces were deployed in 134 countries around the globe, according to Maj. Matthew Robert Bockholt of SOCOM Public Affairs.” This represented a “123 percent increase during the Obama years.” No one else is even remotely close. But it’s been a long time coming.

Wikipedia’s “Timeline of United States military operations,” based on a 2004 Congressional Research Service report, does not include covert actions like those we wage so freely now. But it’s a useful reference nonetheless, and conveniently divided into decades. The 1800s were the most peaceful, with just three conflicts, followed by the 1930s, with just four. Clearly, we have it in our power to be a much more peaceful, less bellicose nation, since we have been so for whole decades at a time.

Russia Losing Its Battle Against Jihadists in Syria

According to Russia’s Defense Minister on Friday December 11th, Russia had underestimated the jihadist forces in Syria when it entered the war against them on September 30th. Whereas at that time the estimated number of jihadists fighting there was 30,000, the current estimate is 60,000. Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu says, “The Islamic State area of influence is expanding. Militants have seized about 70% of the Syrian territory. The number of terrorists amounts to about 60,000 people.” 

The report from Tass says that, “Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov earlier said that from 25,000 to 30,000 foreigners, including from Russia, were fighting in the ranks of Islamic State. The CIA estimated the number of militants at about 30,000 people.”

The jihadist problem is thus now twice what it was estimated to have been on September 30th. On 2 October 2015, Reuters bannered “Russian air strikes in Syria to last three-four months: Putin ally,” but now this timetable seems almost certain to be pushed way back.

Crimea Loses Power Temporarily, Ukraine Loses Crimea Forever

In an under-reported incident in which Russian Crimea's power lines were severed from Ukraine, leaving the peninsula and over 2 million residents in darkness for over a week, it has become clear to the world the tenuous grip Kiev and its NATO backers actually have over the "Ukraine" they claim they preside over.

It would be Russia through an underwater cable that would begin restoring power to Crimea. While rhetoric regarding Crimea is still strong on both sides, it is the actions of both Ukraine and its NATO backers versus Russia that appear to finally be answering the "Crimea question" if there even was such a question.

Russia Restores Power, Asserts Sovereignty 

In the first week of December, the International Business Times would report in their article, "Vladimir Putin inaugurates Crimea energy bridge during surprise visit," that:

President Vladimir Putin has inaugurated the first leg of a power line between the Russian mainland and Crimea in a surprise visit to the peninsula. His visit to the strategically important territory comes after the region plunged into darkness over widespread power outage. 

Crimea, which Moscow claims to have been hit by Ukraine's energy blockade, will start receiving power supply from Russia once the "electricity bridge" is completed. The undersea cable project was scheduled to have been completed by the end of December but it has been brought forward after Crimean power supply was knocked off.

Blocking Democracy as Syria’s Solution

By Robert Parry

The solution to the crisis in Syria could be democracy – letting the people of Syria decide who they want as their leaders – but it is the Obama administration and its regional Sunni “allies,” including U.S.-armed militants and jihadists, that don’t want to risk a democratic solution because it might not achieve the long-held goal of “regime change.”

Some Syrian opposition forces, which were brought together under the auspices of the Saudi monarchy in Riyadh this past week, didn’t even want the word “democracy” included in their joint statement. The New York Times reported on Friday, “Islamist delegates objected to using the word ‘democracy’ in the final statement, so the term ‘democratic mechanism’ was used instead, according to a member of one such group who attended the meeting.”

Even that was too much for Ahrar al-Sham, one of the principal jihadist groups fighting side-by-side with Al Qaeda’s Nusra Front, the two key elements inside the Saudi-created Army of Conquest, which uses sophisticated U.S.-supplied TOW missiles to kill Syrian government troops.

The Monstrous Foreign-Policy Lie That Goes Unreported by the Mainstream Media
Obama, Hillary, Cheney and others pretend Trump has gone too far, while themselves guiding murderous policies.

Here is a good thought experiment: Would you rather a country bar you from entry or have that country bomb your house?

This question has not occurred to President Obama, Hillary Clinton, the mainstream media, or bleeding heart liberals like Dick Cheney and Paul Ryan. The nation’s most powerful political leaders, and most influential commentators, seem to find great gratification by puffing out their chests, furrowing their brows, and condemning Donald Trump’s latest exhibition of stupidity – the idea of issuing an immigration ban on Muslims. Ryan was particularly indignant as he attempted to save his party’s already scarred and disfigured face from the ever escalating public relations nightmare that is the Trump candidacy. “What was proposed yesterday,” Ryan referred to Trump’s idea to ban Muslims while pointing his finger in the mode of a disciplinary school teacher, “is not what this country stands for.”

Former Vice President Dick Cheney also questioned that Americanism of the proposal with his own variation on the familiar turn of phrase, claiming that such a ban would “go against everything we stand for.” President Obama, eager to join the fun, denounced Trump’s plan as “bigotry,” and encouraged Americans to “hold fast to our values.”

Have We Hit Peak Inequality?

When should we be alarmed about so much wealth in so few hands?

The Great Recession and its anemic recovery only deepened the economic inequality that’s drawn so much attention in its wake. Nearly all wealth and income gains since then have flowed to the top one-tenth of America’s richest 1 percent.

The very wealthiest 400 Americans command dizzying fortunes. Their combined net worth, as catalogued in the 2015 Forbes 400 list, is $2.34 trillion. You can’t make this list unless you’re worth a cool $1.7 billion.

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These 400 rich people — including Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, and heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune — have roughly as much wealth as the bottom 60 percent of the population, or over 190 million people added together, according to a new report I co-authored.

Top 10 Signs the U.S. Is the Most Corrupt Country in the World

Those   ratings that castigate Afghanistan and some other poor countries as hopelessly “corrupt” always imply that the United States is not corrupt.

While it is true that you don’t typically have to bribe your postman to deliver the mail in the US, in many key ways America’s political and financial practices make it in absolute terms far more corrupt than the usual global South suspects.  After all, the US economy is worth over $16 trillion a year, so in our corruption a lot more money changes hands.

1.  The rich are well placed to bribe our politicians to reduce taxes on the rich.  A nonentity like Donald Trump got filthy rich via tax loopholes, and is now trying to buy the presidency. The way the Supreme Court got rid of campaign finance reform and allowed open, unlimited buying of elections is the height of corruption.  Note that despite his supposed “populism,” Trump never talks about the unfairness of our current tax system, instead dividing and ruling working and middle class Americans by stirring racial and religious hatreds.  As it stands, 400 American billionaires are worth $2 trillion, as much as the bottom 150 million Americans. That kind of wealth inequality hasn’t been seen in the US since the age of the robber barons in the nineteenth century.  Both eras are marked by extreme corruption.

Encryption vs. Surveillance in the New Civil Rights Movement

What if in 1960, instead of performing an act of civil disobedience at the Woolworth lunch counter, the Greensboro Four had been arrested for "attempted disorderly conduct" on their way downtown?

Even if the charge were bogus and had no chance in court, its effect on the movement would have been real. Instead of engaging in a high-profile confrontation with the state that highlighted the cruelty of the United States' racist laws, four young Black people would have been arrested on minor charges - hardly a noteworthy occurrence.

Law enforcement and the intelligence complex are paving the way to preempt activism in this way with their current talk of banning strong encryption while perpetuating an ever-growing system of mass data collection and surveillance. Don't be fooled by their calls of "terrorism." Actual terrorists such as al-Qaeda have known about and subverted electronic eavesdropping for decades and will continue to do so. The current efforts at subverting digital security will not stop the Bin Ladens and al-Qaedas of the world. Rather, they will disrupt this generation's Martin Luther King Jrs., Black Panthers and Greensboro Fours.

For Most People in the World, Retirement Is Not an Option

Pensionable retirement ages and government pension programs have been established for men and women in countries around the world. Nevertheless, retirement remains an unlikely option for most people.

Nearly half – 48 percent – of all people above pensionable age do not receive a pension, according to the International Labour Organization. And for many who do, the pension levels are inadequate. Consequently, the majority of world's elderly, especially women who more often work outside the formal labor force, lack income security, have to work as long as they can and in many instances are obliged to rely on family for support and assistance.

Old age pensionable retirement is a relatively recent social institution. Throughout most of the past workers by and large continued to work until death or major disability. They were obliged to continue working to due to the absence of pension systems, little accumulated personal savings and low life expectancies.

Dozens of Nations Back Regenerative Farming Initiative That Can Help Solve Global Warming
The U.S.—a primary driver of the climate crisis—still isn't on board with this historic climate agreement.

France, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the U.K., Germany and Mexico are among more than two dozen countries that have signed on to an agreement that one day may be recognized as the most significant climate initiative in history.

France’s 4/1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate puts regenerative food and farming front and center in the climate solutions conversation. This is why the Organic Consumers Association, its Mexico affiliate Via Organica, IFOAM Organics International and more than 50 other activist allies across the globe have signed on in support of the Initiative.

Unfortunately, the U.S. government is not yet on board with the plan, even though our country’s toxic, fossil fuel-based, heavily subsidized (with taxpayer money), degenerative industrial agriculture system is a primary driver of global warming.

After the COP21 Paris Climate Accord, What We Need Is an International Climate Court

The climate pact forged at Paris lacks real teeth and so in and of itself will not solve our carbon dioxide and methane problem.  But it is still important, as a clear signal of a sea change in world public opinion.  You can’t address a problem unless you recognize it exists.

The argument for moral suasion in international affairs should not be discounted.  The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 began as no more that a set of aspirations for human dignity.  But it has been incorporated into international treaties and instruments, and is the background for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, which has prosecuted war criminals such as Chad’s Hissen Habre. Many of its principles have also been incorporated into European Union human rights law.  It has had a steady practical effect over the decades on positive law, despite starting as ideal law.

That is the way COP21 will work.  The United Nations needs now to establish by treaty an International Climate Court where torts can be decided.

Thank Climate Justice Activists for Doing All They Can to Curb Warming

As climate negotiators at the COP21 summit in Paris celebrated a global accord on greenhouse gas emissions, tens of thousands of activists from all over the world gathered on the city’s streets, having obtained a last-minute permit despite a ban on assembly. A disconnect between the official view on climate change and the popular desire for climate justice remains wide.

During the summit, there were three broad sticking points between wealthy nations and developing nations. First was “differentiation,” which is how rich versus poor nations, or former colonizers versus former colonies, ought to be treated. On that, developing economies like India seem to have scored a victory. The second point was finance, which encompasses the real dollar amounts for what wealthy nations ought to pay to developing countries to mitigate climate change and adapt to it. Wealthy nations won on that score, only aspiring to a $100-billion-a-year fund without making an actual commitment. The third issue was ambition—how deep a cut in greenhouse gas emissions that countries were willing to commit to. For a long time, a 2-degree Celsius rise in temperature was the goal of choice, but island nations and poor nations with weak infrastructures pushed hard for a commitment to 1.5 degrees, saying that any greater rise than that would lead to disastrous consequences. On that point also, wealthier, more powerful nations won out, agreeing to the 2-degree limit while merely aspiring to 1.5 degrees.

A fourth sticking point, which was not raised inside the halls of COP21 simply because it is a non-starter for countries like the United States, was legal accountability regarding any agreement that is signed. The closest the Paris agreement comes to that is a unified accounting system that enables countries to report on their emissions every five years.

Country Gazette - Keep on Pushing

Country Gazette - Down The Road

Country Gazette - I Might Take you Back Again

Country Gazette - Lonesome Blues

Country Gazette - Forget Me Not

Country Gazette - Tried So Hard

Country Gazette - Blue Light

Country Gazette - Sound Of Goodbye

Country Gazette - I Wish You Knew

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A rainy couple of days with temps in the 60's, soggy but mild.

For those that may wonder, the site's new name is still being pondered upon, there's just too many good ones to pick from.

I lurves me some Country Gazette, wore their records out in the early 70's. Byron Berline is one of my fave fiddle players, Allen Munde on banjo, some of the best in bluegrass filling in at times, good stuff.

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NCTim's picture

He he

Seventies and sunny.

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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 -

love the harmonics in that song. Moving to Hawaii has really put Taj in a different mood musically. Thanks for stopping by my friend.

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mimi's picture

thanks for keeping on going and for the list. I value the news and music collection enough to always come back and have a look.
Sometimes one needs to retire to one's own thoughts and then one stops talking. It happens, but I am nevertheless still "out there".

Good morning, hope the rain doesn't make you stuck in the mud. Smile

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a big slow down is not unusual this time of the year. Back when DKos was my primary hangout I would occasionally take months off from participating, I can't do that now. But every once in a while I will disappear for a couple of days and vanish into the mystic.

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NCTim's picture

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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 -

NCTim's picture

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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 -

what's on that other side...

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enhydra lutris's picture

babatunde olatunj

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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 --

joe shikspack's picture

just back from running some errands and getting ready to paint some radiators that i stripped and derusted (is that a word?) yesterday. getting ready, of course, means sitting down at the computer for a while... Smile

see you all later!

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hot water heat is a beautiful thing, I miss it. Stripping old paint can be very hallucinogenic, are you OK?

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joe shikspack's picture

i've been taking advantage of the outrageously warm weather to open up the house and ventilate the areas where i'm working. some of the chemicals are kinda aromatic.

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enhydra lutris's picture

until I went to kindergarden. Having no knowledge what one was, I most casually leaned on it, receiving a hellacious burn over the entire palm of my hand. The blister was as thick as my hand.

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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 --

enhydra lutris's picture

Nonetheless, good to be hear to read & listen - thanks.

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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 --

thanks for dragging in amigo. How's the el nino going out on the left coast?

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shaharazade's picture

West coaster the el nino is wet. Flood warnings and clogged street drains all over the city. Mud slide warnings also in the SW hills and the bulldozing developers demolition sites in the SE are like lakes of mud. Basement flooding and leaky roofs abound. The temperature is holding steady in the 40's for the next week. We did have an early freeze and wind/rain storm's this fall which for now are gone. The last week or so the storms seem to be coming up from CA rather then from Alaska and the Arctic. A pineapple express hit last week and the temperature went soaring up to 59 degrees. Getting across town requires finding routes which have no underpasses or dips in the road as they become rivers and lakes as the drain system can't handle the water. Out side of Portland the real rivers are rising and flooding the valley that run through the coastal range. The cows that graze in pastures on the mouth of the Tillamook river valley are most likely underwater or have been moved to higher ground.

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enhydra lutris's picture

here yet, these are allegedly just regular winter storms that are amped up a bit by the el nino conditions offshore.

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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 --

NCTim's picture

& I had a three hour head start.

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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 -

mimi's picture

... really...?

A+ for effort. Smile

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NCTim's picture

I am battling my way through the present challenge. When resolved, I will not jump back on the treadmill. I am going forward on my terms.

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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 -

gulfgal98's picture

and your present challenge every day. I hope peace will find you.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

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

mimi's picture

the challenges you go through, are certainly giving you the strength to do so later on. Thinking about you a lot. Just can't put it in words. Wishing you all you need, friend (if I may call you that), hang in there and may you walk on through all of it.

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JayRaye's picture

I have nothing but respect for you as you battle your way thru this challenge.

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Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth.-Lucy Parsons

shaharazade's picture

and my heart goes out to you and all of your family. You seem up to the challenge you face and are an inspiring human, an example of the power of love.

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NCTim's picture

The oligarchs plan is to impoverish the population and stoke division that causes the impoverished to fight among themselves. Future speak is here. History is being rewritten. The economy is sustained by war. Pleasures of the flesh are reserved for the entitled class. Welcome to 1984.

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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 -

there's plenty of room for more inequality. Abolishing cash, negative interest rates and raiding bank accounts are in our future.

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gulfgal98's picture

and posted something to that effect over at the other place recently.

The oligarchs plan is to impoverish the population and stoke division that causes the impoverished to fight among themselves. Future speak is here. History is being rewritten. The economy is sustained by war.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

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

gulfgal98's picture

I have been pretty much AWOL lately. I have been baking up goodies to give to friends and neighbors and hope to have that done either today or tomorrow. Probably tomorrow.

I can hardly wait until after the first of the year when everything settles down and I can get back on my regular walking program. Here in NC, our social life is constantly bustling. Small town and people give parties all the time. Back in Tall. there will be a lot less of that, thank goodness.

BTW, we hit 70 degrees here yesterday and it is about the same today. No snow this year. In fact, it has been a number of years since we last had any snow here.

One more thing, I hope to write some substantive diaries after the first of the year too. Smile

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

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

we've been pushing close to record temps here for the last few days, supposedly el nino means a mild winter for us in the great lakes region, we shall see.

Wow, I can smell those goodies right through my monitor! Around the 1st of the year is when I'll be busy upgrading this place and hopefully make some big improvements.

Looking forward to your upcoming essays.

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have left our kids w/nothing but debt, a polluted planet, and little opportunity.

We’re officially a country of haves and have nots: The middle class is now less than half the population
Their numbers have been dipping for decades. Now the Pew Research Center confirms we've reached a tipping point.

A new study from Pew Research Center makes it official: after four decades as the largest portion of the American populace, the country’s middle class has dipped to less than half, or 49.9 percent, of the population. Researchers, noting that the numbers have been slowly dwindling over decades, suggest this latest finding likely indicates a tipping point in the disappearance of the middle class.

Households of three with incomes between $42,000 and $126,000 were identified as middle-income earners under the terms of the study. As of 2015, that definition fit 120.8 million adult Americans, while a total of 121.3 million adults qualified as low or upper income. The proportion of middle-class Americans has tumbled to where it now stands from 61 percent in 1971. And even that figure seems slightly shaky considering middle class means different things to different people. Even casting aside uber-expensive cities like New York and San Francisco, supporting a family of three on $42,000 a year would present challenges even in the most affordable parts of the country.

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

JayRaye's picture

I've been a Socialist who mostly voted for Democratic Party for 46 long years. It was on the theory that the democrats were the "lesser evil" for working class people.

This is where that theory of voting has gotten us. At long last it's time to wake up and realize that that strategy has been an abysmal failure.

I won't be voting for Hillary if she wins the primary. A corporatist war-monger is a corporatist war monger whether she has a D or R after her name. They both serve the same interest.

I'll be voting Green if Hillary wins the nomination.

If the Democrats want my vote, then they'll have to put forth a candidate that I can vote for.

This video disqualifies Hillary from being President of the United States, just as McCains little "Bomb bomb bomb Iran" ditty disqualified him. The D and the R are merely window dressing. They prove themselves by their actions.

There is nothing funny about war. I'm not a pacifist, and there are times when we have to fight (WW II, for example) but there is absolutely nothing funny about killing people.

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Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth.-Lucy Parsons

Long overdue.

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

This is interesting. Love the idea of suing the Democratic Party. Anybody interested in being a plaintiff? I know it is a FB link, but it is where it lives.

www.facebook.com/dkmich/posts/10153795421579402

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

shaharazade's picture

I was tempted with Gore as there was in my liberal (then) neighborhood a movement to swap votes if you lived in a safe state like OR and vote for Nadar. I didn't like Nadar anymore then the DLC'er Gore. I also was so alarmed at shrub so I followed the leadership. Husband went to see Gore speak i9n 2008 and said he was a parody of a wrestler in his macho cowboy boots. He also really pissed me off when he would not let the black caucus speak out about their Florida massive voting disenfranchisement in the infamous farce of the Bush selection. So I regret my wasted vote for Gore. Then came Obomber's bait and switch. In 2012 I voted for Jill Stein who got less then 5% of the vote.

I'm done with them including the weak tea so called Dem. progressive in DC and in my state,and city. I do FB so I'll gladly sign this petition. I often think 'we outta sue their asses'. After all it's the American way. Better do it fast as tort (an old right) is going to be illegal as it interferes with the god given right for the global pillagers to profit.

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lotlizard's picture

This past week I've been helping take care of a 77 year old German guy from the Episcopal church in Frankfurt. Also getting ready for the move to Dresden after the holidays.

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mimi's picture

Wishing you luck with your move to Dresden. Can't wait to hear from you from there in the next year. Have ... a happy ... whatever you celebrate around the 24/25 th of December - (a big fat Greek party... ahem). I heard they have great wedding parties, usually. Well, I don't care, Merry Christmas to you. I have no idea how the native Hawaiians celebrate "Christmas". I think there all sorts of people, who believe in something over there and all in something different. They seem to do so happily. Am I wrong?

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shaharazade's picture

the world and though out history all seem to be hooked to the seasons and the revolving planet. Regardless of what religion or culture I like humans happily getting down to celebrate the movements of mother earth around the sun.. I like the winter ones as in the northern lands we all need a festival of light to help get us through the long night. In Australia on the 25 of December it's summer. Many Aussies celebrate 'Christmas in July' which is their winter solstice. Never mind me I'm essentially a pagan who comes from a long ago line of Scottish and Welsh Celtic tribes.

My Mom used to say when the Greeks were at their pinnacle your ancestors where busy painting themselves blue. Let the global celebrations rip where ever and when ever they occur. It really pisses me off that the authorities be they secular or religious have always co-opted and curtailed the joyous celebration of life and nature. Something different really does not matter, just a variation on the theme we all some where deep inside respond to unless our carefully taught 'beliefs' put a damper on the joy of living on the earth we all are part of. Let the festival of lights proceed and in the hot places let the humans celebrate the season they find themselves in.

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MarilynW's picture

The breakwater in my painting being battered by the angry ocean.
[video:https://youtu.be/cdqr6M7bmb8]

Some houses along Beach Avenue and Dallas Road were flooded with seawater.
I'm safe on the 3rd floor downtown.

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To thine own self be true.

shaharazade's picture

scary sounding battering by the angry ocean. Mother nature on a rampage is something to behold, literally awesome. They can blame this winters Pacific west coast ferocity on el nino but that explanation ignores the causes of the magnitude of the lastest greatest el nino. Just like with our politics focusing on issues or segment within the whole seems to invalidate the overview and primal factors that are causing the severe weather storms and world's reactionary turmoil be it human societies or nature. No balance anywhere insight and no connectivity at all. Cause and effect have become an obsolete concept as we measure everything with data from hell. Are you painting breakwaters and angry nature? Or was this comment metaphorical?

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MarilynW's picture

here
http://www.caucus99percent.com/comment/20988#comment-20988

as you can see my breakwater is abstracted. This photograph from which I got the painting was captured at a moment just before a storm as
you can see by the turbulent clouds.

There's a link between the fossil fuel tanker behind the breakwater and the ferocity of our storms, yes, cause and effect.

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To thine own self be true.

the numbers

First, where Americans are generally uninformed about domestic politics, they know even less about international affairs. In 2012, for example, just 50% of Americans could identify Syria as one of four choices when it was highlighted on a map (here). A more recent survey (here) found roughly a third of Americans do not know what country ISIS is based in, perhaps indicating that Ambrose Pierce was right when he observed that "war was created to teach Americans geography."
...
A recently released Harvard Institute of Politics survey, for example, reports that 60 percent of Millennials supported ground troops in Syria or Iraq but only 14 percent would definitely join or consider joining if the U.S. needed additional troops to win that fight. Millennials are not alone. When asked if they would be willing to fight for their country if there was another war in the World Values Survey in 2011, 42 percent of Americans said no.
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