Hot Air
During the 2016 Bernie campaign we opened a campaign office and people showed up. It was chaotic and there was a sense of urgency. Things were moving fast. The California primary was late in the game then, and people from all over the US showed up at our door, willing to work. We found beds and food for them. People showed up at the office with snacks, rides, paper, packs of voter reg whatever. It just happened. Things got done.
.
People bubbled up and took control of what they were naturally good at. I was dubbed the office manager because I showed up every morning at 8 am and am a natural at telling people what to do. Ginny came in at 2 pm every day and relieved me. Stoner cut turfs. Danny ran trainings twice a day. People crowded into our 25’ x 25’ foot space around the tables, chairs and computers, to receive their turf, snacks, training if necessary, and left raring to go door to door. It was chaotically beautiful.
The thing about chaotic situations is that there is little time for hierarchy to develop. Leaders lead and if challenged consider the options and can change quickly. There is little time for interpersonal bickering and no time for empire building. (Maybe we were just lucky. Some of us are still working together eight years later.)
I have been told that this dynamic is similar in the midst of natural disasters and wars. It certainly happened during the protests. I experienced it in the early days of the computer industry. Things moved so fast that the sales guys (yes, they were guys then) kept orders in shoe boxes on their desks. It was competitive and people were there to win. Software development did not go through pre or post reviews. If the compiler did not work you talked to the person who wrote the compiler. Issue resolved. No riffraff, just straight up.
Now, not so much. All things bow to the bottom line. The industry is now hierarchical, top down, run by MBAs, Marketing and Sales without input from engineers. Products are sold based on ‘who do you play golf with’ (although now golf has been replaced by bicycling). Developers work on an ‘assembly-line’ basis to implement products. It is all about who you know with a lot of high-level posturing rather than product quality, features, and performance. Capitalism at its best.
The political system is similar. Oligarchs and the corporate entities operate for their personal gain.
Useless eaters be damned. And to this end the corporatists and elites serve up Chaos on Steroids daily. This functions, it seems, to obfuscate the movement of resources upwards. The ptb are taking advantage of the chaos to benefit themselves.
And of course, we are still ignoring the climate crisis and the destruction of our one and only biosphere, all while ignoring racial injustice and exacerbating the pandemic.
The thread is open
~
This is to say that this very thread is open for any and all comments about anything and everything. It is your Open Thread. It is a vessel from which your wisdom can spring forth, or some such.
Comments
Ain't that the truth.
"High-level posturing", indeed.
Chaos. The current state of affairs reminds me of a line from the old Thomas Dolby tune "Budapest by Blimp":
So are we all, Mr. Dolby. So are we all. It remains to be seen if our minds get broadened by "learning something life-changing", or by "being dashed into bits on the rocks"...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
The way UK elite united against Corbyn reminds me of US & Bernie
How the Guardian betrayed not only Corbyn but the last vestiges of British democracy
Superb link.
What passes for fresh air is darker and darker.
good (late) morning
Made a run to town this morning to recycle and pick up a few groceries. They are finally requiring masks in the grocery store, but some folks still are not wearing them. After all, this is the district which just elected Marjorie Greene who ran on a Stop Socialism platform.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/us/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-qa...
The weather out west looks HOT. Ironically we've had the nicest summer so far...65 F this AM and 80's for highs. It is indeed climate chaos because 100's are common here in August. We've also been getting regular rain, another oddity here in August. Things are looking bad for the ice and now they are saying Greenland's ice is past the tipping point.
https://www.spacedaily.com/afp/200817174806.hrdp1l19.html
Nice story of folks filling needs in your community. I find in blizzards, fires, and calamities people tend to do what we should be doing all the time...helping each other.
Well take care of yourselves and other out there. Be well. Live well. Love a lot.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Today's low 58 (at 7 am) and high predicted to be 80,
which is significant cooling relative to recent past of 90s to 100s.
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 --
They say our heat wave is ending,
I'll believe it when I feel it. Record high temperatures have been recorded on 6 of the last 7 days. Temperatures, both daytime highs and morning lows, have been 10 degrees above normal for 3 weeks. Our summer rains have not happened. Historically, we get 12 inches of rain each year, 6 in the winter and 6 in the summer. Usually by this date we will have had 3 inches of rain, less than 1 inch received so far this year. This is depressing. I fear that this will be the new normal.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
I fear the new normal...
will be best described as chaotic. In other words no weather pattern or reliable pattern. The jet stream is coming apart.
Hope y'all cool off and get some rain soon!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
We finally got some rain last night.
Low of 77 this a.m., double-digit high, 99, is forecast today for the first time this month.
Global Warming Is Accelerating. (In Other News, Democrats Reverse Platform, Won't End Fossil Fuel Subsidies)
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Great!
Glad to hear of the weather break.
Jimmy had a good rant about Perez DNC subsidy reversal.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOwwuQXx7Cc]
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning, magi ~~
It is time for creativity to kick into high gear! What are your dreams? What are your goals? Set your intention and get creative. The time is NOW!
We are in record high temperatures, and like Azazello, drought persists. We have not had our summer rains either. We have had a 20% chance for 7 days with zero result. The Santa Fe forest is on fire and the smoke-filled skies are difficult to take. The sun is a red ball in the sky. Rain would be a relief. Temperatures in the 90's. Supposed to cool next week, we'll see. Fingers are crossed.
Live in the present, be grateful, and live spreading love to all.
Enjoy the day!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Good morning magi. Chaos has its own order, and is,
arguably, the state of nature, yet organization and especially self organization persists.Spontaneous organization, imho, is the correct organization, especially in human endeavors. A task, chore, project or process need doing and people group up to do it. Some analysis and discussion and, if none of those oppressive "here, let me take chrge" types emerges, then people divide it into the natural component sub-tasks and activities that comprise it and assorted participants attack various pieces depending upon their skills and understanding and it gets done. Efficiency experts, project/process engineers and management experts will just fuck it up and delay everything if they get involved. They will also fracture and fragment the ongoing teams and teamwork. Pretty soon you will have flow charts for every process, an org chart so big that somebody's only job is to maintain it, 5 layers of management and a lot of bickering, animosity and dissatisfaction.
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 --
Please clap
DNC mocked for failing to find 30 people to cheer for Kamala Harris as duplicates spotted on live feed
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.
The fires are getting bigger
Now Scotts Valley and some of East Santa Cruz are being evacuated. UCSC is on notification. Pasatiempo south of Highway 17 is being evacuated. More expected to come.
Zero containment. No attempt to contain. Only to move people out of the way. 45K acres and counting. Too many fires to count.
I am just so weary. Here we are okay with a fire wall of greater Santa Cruz between the fire and here.
More fires to the south. I already know of several people who have lost their homes. And many who have evacuated.
And then there will be such a great loss of lives in the forest - all the little beings that live there. There is not enough fire crew to even make a dent.
Thanks for you comments people. Be well, take good care.
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook
There was lots of grief hanging in the air this morning
but I didn’t understand where it was coming from. Then I read about how California is burning and I did. The lightening storm you guys had started a lot of them, but is there any word of PG&E involvement? My thoughts are with everyone affected by this. Big Basin is a truly sad story. I have very fond memories of spending time there. Lots of the original buildings have been destroyed. Very sad.
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.
No word on pg&e so far.
They have been doing rolling blackouts and gotten taken to task for it by newsom. All fires I know of are from lightning.
If the winds pick up we are fucked. They use prisoners for firefighters and the have been impacted by covid19 due to over crowding and not taking precautions. Capitalism at its best.
I have spent my afternoon on the phone to people trying to help figure out game plans.
No end in sight at this moment. Trying to keep a good face on this. ‘Pray’ for gentle rain in whatever manner you do that kind of thing.
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook
We have a trillion dollar military and spy apparatus, but
it’s only good for spreading destruction and death to those the 1% deems enemies, rather than being able to preserve and defend anything at home.
I don't know that words or pictures
can convey how unusual the CA weather has been for the past week. Hotter than a usual annual hot day but it cools down within forty-eight hours. Summer lightning storms are equally rate. As a native Californian, can't recall ever seeing one like the two in the past week. (Got used to them during the few years I lived in PA.) Very little rain came with those storms, but summer rain is also rare.
Residents are currently being reminded to have a "to go" bag ready and know your evacuation route. However, the evacuation centers that were at capacity during the 2017 and 2019 fires won't do at all because of COVID-19, and the numbers on that have been rising for the past two months. Then there's also the uncertainty of PG&E power cuts. I tend to be complacent about weather related stuff, but now emergency vehicle sirens have me checking Nixle.
Hey mage
I really love your fractal zoom.
It is a good representation of this secret
theory I have had since the awakening
on the coast of northern cali many moons ago
the absolute tiniest representation of nature
is a mirror of the vast grasp of major macro
representations of our observable universe
the micro looks the same as the the macro
given the limits of our awareness
thanks for this and that
north valley fires
Here in the land of Hecate, just down the hill a bit, ash falls on the pepper plants. Friends in the woods have evacuated. All this just less than 2 yrs since the camp fire. My lungs once again feel tight. It does not bode well in these parts.
Sounds bad
I can not imagine how bad it is there and that so many people are affected by the fires. Stay safe.
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.
Heaven’s cosmic order & the spirits in the sequoias preserve us
and spare community and health and land, where peregrinate Hecate and Tipper among the multitudes of sentient souls of all species.
@lotlizard thank you
thank you
Well wishing
Thank you for bringing to mind our friend Hecate. I'm sure many kind thoughts moved in your direction when you brought up that name.
Hot Air - is it a coincidence that the title
is to be taken literally?
WhaddoIno.
https://www.euronews.com/live
I'm just reading
about the CA fires this morning. I'm thinking about you all out there. I have family in the Bay Area and they have given me some idea about the situation. I'm so very sorry to hear how bad it is. It is yet (another) tragedy. When snoopy says there is grief in the air, she is right.
Please stay safe everyone, keep us informed if you can.